400-408 – Scot McKnight, Professor of Religious Studies at North Park University in Chicago, author of several books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed (2004), and now he's out with his latest The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited, with forwards by Dallas Willard and N.T. "Tom" Wright. He blogs regularly at patheos.com/community/jesuscreed.
413-423 – Scot McKnight
428-438 – Scot McKnight
443-452 – Scot McKnight
458-508 – Sean Dunn, president and voice-behind the GroundWire (groundwire.net) commercials that "Broadcast Hope" on stations like MTV and the Cartoon Network, right here in the Los Angeles market. These are messages of hope, and there's an invitation to chat with an online spiritual coach with each commercial. Your gift of $50 will reach about 15,000 people. To help, call (877) 301-7414. And, big thanks to Robert and Magili Ortega who own The Gourmet Tamale Factory in San Fernando on Maclay for their matching grant of $6,000.
• To become an online "coach" go to groundwire.net/coaching, and you can email Sean at Sdunn@groundwire.net.
512-523 – Sean Dunn
TH 523 – Don Rohde @ Galpin Ford (818) 262-2092 (galpin.com) For the past 39 years, Don's been sales manager at Galpin, the #1 volume Ford dealer in the world for the past 21 years.
528-539 – Sean Dunn
544-554 – Sean Dunn
558-608 – Ted J. Smith, III, Deputy District Attorney for San Bernardino County and former Chairman of the African-American Caucus of the California Democratic Party from 1999 to 2007. Today, we talk about how the Democratic Party has moved away from core Democratic values and embraced a Progressive agenda.
612-623 – Ted J. Smith, III,
628-639 – Ted J. Smith, III,
644-654 – Ted J. Smith, III,
• AP (9/22/2011) Census: Recession taking toll on young adults. From the story: "Many young adults are essentially postponing adulthood and all of the family responsibilities and extra costs that go along with it," said Mark Mather, an associate vice president at the private Population Reference Bureau. He described a shift toward a new U.S. norm - commonly seen in Europe - in which more people wait until their 30s to leave the parental nest. The story also claims "about 1 in 4 families with children is headed by single mothers, a record high." Calls: How can we, as Christians, encourage young people in this economy? Can we encourage them to get married instead of shack up and to work and make independence and employment a priority in a difficult job market?
• CNN (9/21/2011) Italian parents fight to evict 41-year-old son. Calls: Parents, do you have a hard time kicking out your adult children? What keeps you from doing so? Where is the line between enabling and helping when it comes to adult children?
• Peter Wehner (Commentary, 9/22/2011) From "Yes We Can" to "But It's Hard".
• Jason Grotto (Chicago Tribune, 9/21/2011) One-day rehiring nets former Chicago labor leader a $158,000 city pension.
Most city workers spend decades in public service to build up modest pensions. But for former labor leader Dennis Gannon, the keys to securing a public pension were one day on the city payroll and some help from the Daley administration.
And his city pension is more than modest. It's the highest of any retired union leader: $158,000. That's roughly five times greater than what the typical retired city worker receives.
In fact, his pension is so high that it exceeds federal limits and required the city pension fund to file special paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to give it to him.
Gannon's inflated pension is a prime example of how government officials and labor leaders have manipulated city pension funds at the expense of union workers and taxpayers. Like other labor leaders, he was able to take a long leave from a city job to work for a union and then receive a city pension based on a high union salary.
But in a new twist, a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation has found that Gannon is eligible for the lucrative pension deal only because City Hall rehired the former Streets and Sanitation Department worker for a single day in 1994, then granted him an indefinite leave of absence.
Gannon quickly rose to become one of the most powerful labor leaders in the city, speaking on behalf of more than 300 Chicago-area unions as president of the Chicago Federation of Labor.
State law allowed Gannon to retire from the city in 2004, the year he turned 50; since then, he has received about $1 million from his city pension. He stands to collect approximately $5 million during his lifetime, according to an analysis based on the fund's actuarial assumptions.
Until last year, that pension came on top of Gannon's union salary, which had grown to more than $240,000. He now draws the pension while working for a hedge fund, Grosvenor Capital Management, that does work with public pensions, including the Teachers Retirement System of Illinois. The firm also was one of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's largest campaign contributors.
• Victor Davis Hanson (NRO, 9/22/2011) Can Israel Survive? The country has never been in more danger.
• Fox News (9/22/2011) Another Nightmarish Day: Economic Gloom Incites Dow's Worst 2-Day Plunge Since '08.
The Fed's gloomy economic outlook, coupled with apprehension that little can be done to keep the global economy from skidding into another recession, sent market participants ditching risky assets and fleeing into Treasuries in the worst two-day plunge since the financial crisis in 2008.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 391 points, or 3.5%, to 10,734, the S&P 500 fell 37.2 points, or 3.2%, to 1,1230 and the Nasdaq Composite plunged 82.5 points, or 3.3%, 2,456. The FOX 50 shed 24.8 points to 826.
The selloff was broad: more than a quarter of S&P 500 components touched 52-week lows. Volatility, as measured by the VIX, spiked 11%. In a sign of the conviction of the selling, volume was at the highest level since early August.
With global markets and U.S. equities in selloff mode, Treasury prices rallied, shoving yields down. The yield on the 10-year Treasury sunk to 1.726% from 1.868% -- briefly touching a record low multiple times during the session.
Overall, the blue chips have shed close to 700 points, or 6.1% in two trading days. The broader indexes have performed poorly as well: the S&P 500 has shaved 6.2% and the Nasdaq has lost 6%.
• Karl Rove reminds us "At this point four years ago, Rudy Giuliani led the GOP field with 28%, trailed by former Sen. Fred Thompson at 23% and John McCain at 15%, with everyone else in single digits. When the dust finally cleared, neither Messrs. Giuliani nor Thompson was a serious contender—and Govs. Romney and Mike Huckabee pressed Mr. McCain hard before he prevailed. All of which means the 2012 Republican sweepstakes is far from over."
