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Wall Street’s major players catch big bonuses

14 Feb 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the Sunday gospel the rich are warned not to expect further consolation. But when it comes to compensation, Wall Street is “in the money” once again even as Main Street continues to reel from the recession. The federal bailout has lifted investment bank profits to surprisingly robust levels, and major financial firms are doling out billions of dollars in salaries and bonuses. President Obama said he doesn’t “begrudge” the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon or the $9 million issued to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, noting that some athletes take home more pay. “I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth,” Obama said. “That is part of the free-market system.” Obama sought to combat perceptions that his administration is anti-business, pointing out in an interview Tuesday that corporate leaders have had a strong influence on his economic policies. He plans to reiterate that message when he speaks to the Business Roundtable, which represents the heads of many of the biggest U.S. companies, on February 24 in Washington. Source: An article by Julianna Goldman and Ian Katz for Bloomberg.com

barack obama bailout bonuses wall street compensation jpmorgan chase co jamie dimon goldman sachs lloyd blankfein
Voters show their primary colors

23 May 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The parts of the body, though many, are one, we hear in this Sunday's reading option from 1 Corinthians. Primary elections in several states this Tuesday demonstrated that the body politic is deeply divided. Insiders were turned out, suggesting potential political upheaval for incumbents this fall. Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, despite endorsements from President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, saw his 30-year career in the U.S. Senate come to an abrupt end at the hands of Rep. Joe Sestal. In Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell failed in his home state to crown Secretary of State Trey Grayson the GOP Senate nominee in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Jim Bunning. Grayson fell by a double-digit margin to Rand Paul, a political neophyte, Tea Party favorite, and son of libertarian Ron Paul. In Arkansas, moderate Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln failed to beat back a challenge from the liberal wing of her party and will face Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in an unpredictable primary runoff in several weeks. Although poles apart ideologically, Sestak and Paul both struck anti-Washington themes in their victory statements Tuesday night. "This is what democracy looks like," Sestak said to a crowd of cheering supporters. "A win for the people, over the establishment, over the status quo, even over Washington, D.C." "I have a message, a message from the tea party, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words," Paul said at his victory rally. "We've come to take our government back." Source: Articles by Mark Preston for CNN, Jeff Zeley and Carl Hulse for the New York Times, and Michael Scherer for TIME

blanche lincoln arkansas rand paul trey grayson kentucky pennsylvania joe sestal arlen specter primaries
Another reason to bow your head in church?

10 Feb 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s gospel relates how crowds gathered around Jesus to listen to the word of God, just as worshippers head to churches each Sunday to hear that word proclaimed. The state of Arkansas appears to be ready to join a small group of states that allow those worshippers to bring their concealed weapons with them.Arkansas’ House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that Governor Mike Beebe is expected to sign into law. The “Church Protection Act” would allow individual places of worship to decide whether to allow concealed handguns and determine who could carry them. A handful of other states, including South Carolina, Wyoming, and Louisiana, allow guns in churches, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.Nicholas Stehle, a member of the board of directors of the advocacy group Arkansas Carry, said that it was a smart bill. "It was past time for the legislature to get out of the business of our churches," Stehle said. "This pro-First Amendment bill gives churches that can't afford private security staff the ability to provide a safe environment for their congregants."Robert Klein, a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock, expressed concern. "I speak only for myself, but I am opposed to anyone other than trained law enforcement professionals carrying guns into a church—and with them, only when they are required to carry their weapons by their agency or are requested to do so by the congregation," he said.Klein pointed out that tensions are often high in religious communities because of life stresses. "I want to offer those who come into congregations the safety and sanctuary that has traditionally served as a hallmark of congregations," he said. "To add the uncertainty about who might be carrying a weapon into the mix is an unnecessary and inappropriate result of this legislation."In related news, data from church-violence researcher Carl Chinn shows that 75 deaths from attacks at faith-based organizations occurred in 2012—a 36 percent increase over the previous year. Chinn's tally of 135 "deadly force incidents" last year brings the total number to 638 since Chinn first began recording them in 1999. Guns were used in 389 (58 percent) of the incidents.Homily hint: Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. Can church assemblies be places of peace when concealed guns are allowed? This legislation offers the opportunity to explore the Christian attitude toward violence and gun violence in particular. It also raises questions: Do guns belong in church? Are communities safer because of the presence of concealed weapons? Sources: An article by Suzi Parker for Reuters and a blogpost by Melissa Steffan for Christianity Today

guns nicholas stehle arkansas carry robert klein church violence carl chinn concealed weapons arkansas churches guns in churches
Another reason to bow your head in church?

10 Feb 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s gospel relates how crowds gathered around Jesus to listen to the word of God, just as worshippers head to churches each Sunday to hear that word proclaimed. The state of Arkansas appears to be ready to join a small group of states that allow those worshippers to bring their concealed weapons with them.Arkansas’ House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that Governor Mike Beebe is expected to sign into law. The “Church Protection Act” would allow individual places of worship to decide whether to allow concealed handguns and determine who could carry them. A handful of other states, including South Carolina, Wyoming, and Louisiana, allow guns in churches, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.Nicholas Stehle, a member of the board of directors of the advocacy group Arkansas Carry, said that it was a smart bill. "It was past time for the legislature to get out of the business of our churches," Stehle said. "This pro-First Amendment bill gives churches that can't afford private security staff the ability to provide a safe environment for their congregants."Robert Klein, a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock, expressed concern. "I speak only for myself, but I am opposed to anyone other than trained law enforcement professionals carrying guns into a church—and with them, only when they are required to carry their weapons by their agency or are requested to do so by the congregation," he said.Klein pointed out that tensions are often high in religious communities because of life stresses. "I want to offer those who come into congregations the safety and sanctuary that has traditionally served as a hallmark of congregations," he said. "To add the uncertainty about who might be carrying a weapon into the mix is an unnecessary and inappropriate result of this legislation."In related news, data from church-violence researcher Carl Chinn shows that 75 deaths from attacks at faith-based organizations occurred in 2012—a 36 percent increase over the previous year. Chinn's tally of 135 "deadly force incidents" last year brings the total number to 638 since Chinn first began recording them in 1999. Guns were used in 389 (58 percent) of the incidents.Homily hint: Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. Can church assemblies be places of peace when concealed guns are allowed? This legislation offers the opportunity to explore the Christian attitude toward violence and gun violence in particular. It also raises questions: Do guns belong in church? Are communities safer because of the presence of concealed weapons? Sources: An article by Suzi Parker for Reuters and a blogpost by Melissa Steffan for Christianity Today

guns nicholas stehle arkansas carry robert klein church violence carl chinn concealed weapons arkansas churches guns in churches
Privacy advocate goes public as intelligence leak source

16 Jun 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Questions of law, guilt, and justification are front-and-center in this Sunday’s readings. “Blessed is the one whose fault is taken away,” says the psalmist, while the second reading reminds us that “by works of the law no one will be justified.” Now that the source of the recent leaks of classified intelligence has been revealed to be a 29-year-old National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, the debate has begun: Has Edward Snowden committed a crime that should be punished or an act of public service worthy of praise?Snowden’s emergence from the shadows puts him at risk of prosecution by the U.S. government. It also has made him a hero to critics of government secrecy. More than 15,000 people already have signed a petition demanding that Snowden be given "a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs."Others are not convinced that Snowden qualifies as a whistle-blower in the sense of someone who discloses government information in order to expose illegal activity. The two surveillance efforts he was apparently responsible for revealing—an electronic dragnet of Americans' phone records and the monitoring of the contents of foreigners' electronic communications—are legal, authorized by the U.S. Congress, and overseen (at least to some extent) by federal judges.Even more complex is the question of whether the widespread surveillance programs Snowden exposed last week, though technically legal, are ethically justified in a society that values the right to privacy. Army Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the NSA, certainly thinks so and told Congress Wednesday that the snooping helped thwart dozens of terrorist threats.But pressure has mounted this week on the intelligence community to curb its surveillance activities or at least make them more transparent. The American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday filed a lawsuit challenging the NSA's extensive collection of telephone records, while members of Congress have started filing legislation on the matter. A bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday introduced a bill that would mandate declassification of significant Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinions.Homily hint: One commentator on this story pointed out that while we protest government surveillance of bundles of communications data, we seem perfectly fine handing over much more sensitive personal information to huge corporations that use it to make money, even selling it to others to do the same. At any rate, all this talk of invasion of privacy should encourage us to lead our lives in such a way as to have nothing to hide! Sources: Articles by Stephanie Condon for CBS News and the Los Angeles Times

terrorism congress surveillance leaks edward snowden nsa national security agency keith alexander
Security agency leaves privacy advocates insecure

25 Aug 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the first reading this Sunday, the Lord asserts that when it comes to the nations of the world, “I know their works and their thoughts.” The highly secretive National Security Agency (NSA) has similar ends in mind when it engages in extensive worldwide electronic surveillance. Under increasing pressure because of programs that at times capture communications of U.S. citizens, the agency is going to unusual lengths to try to reassure the public its activities are lawful and any infringements unintentional.In a sign of how much heat it has taken since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden started disclosing details of highly classified U.S. surveillance programs, the ultra-secretive federal intelligence organization held a rare conference call with reporters to counter public perceptions that NSA transgressions were intentional violations of rules against eavesdropping on Americans.The Washington Post reported that the NSA had broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since 2008, citing an internal agency audit and other top-secret documents. The NSA's presentation was an attempt to calm the latest firestorm."These are not willful violations, they are not malicious, these are not people trying to break the law," John DeLong, NSA director of compliance, told reporters. NSA employees know their actions are recorded and the agency's culture is to report any mistakes, he said, repeatedly stressing that "no one at NSA thinks a mistake is OK."New revelations this week suggest the NSA's surveillance network also has the capacity to spy on 75 percent of all U.S. internet traffic. According to current and former NSA sources who spoke with the Wall Street Journal, the agency can observe more of Americans' online communications than officials have publicly acknowledged.The new revelations differ from the programs described in the documents leaked by Snowden, which described a process to acquire Americans' phone records as well as another program, known as PRISM, that made requests from internet companies for stored data. By contrast, the internet monitoring systems revealed in recent days have the capability to track almost any online activity so long as it is covered by a broad court order.Homily hint: We live in an age where the lines have blurred between private and public, but there is one place we can go that no spy agency or internet spammer can reach: the deepest recesses of our hearts, where God is waiting for us. Encourage folks to make time each day for the most important conversation they will have—the one no one but God will hear. Sources: Articles by Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball for Reuters,citing the Washington Post, and Fox News, citing the Wall Street Journal

internet privacy online privacy edward snowden nsa national security agency john delong
Spy outcry continues

03 Nov 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Lord will “rebuke offenders” to warn them of their sins “that they may abandon their wickedness,” the first reading this Sunday says. European Union lawmakers this week rebuked the United States for alleged widespread spying, insisting that the surveillance stop. While justifying its national security interests, the U.S. has promised an extensive review of the monitoring programs.The 23-nation-member European Parliament met Monday with U.S. lawmakers and officials in several government agencies, including the National Security Council. U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein on Monday called for a '"total review'' of all U.S. intelligence programs in response to the allegations, which the California Democrat said she was not told about.But even with diplomatic efforts under way, European officials continue to look for a way to pressure the U.S. to provide details of past surveillance. They also want assurances that the practice will be curbed.On the domestic spying front it was learned Wednesday that the National Security Agency (NSA) has secretly broken into the main communications links which connect Yahoo and Google data centers around the world, according to documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with knowledgeable officials.In a statement, Google’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, said the company has “long been concerned about the possibility of this kind of snooping” and has not provided the government with access to its systems. “We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone to intercept data from our private fiber networks, and it underscores the need for urgent reform,” he said.There were also unconfirmed reports that the NSA may have intercepted communications at the Vatican before and during the recent papal conclave.Homily hint: While there are serious concerns about a government that seems to stop at no ends to gather information in the interests of national security, we also should strive to live personally in such as way that we have little to hide or be ashamed of. Integrity in public begins with integrity in private. Nothing is hidden from the God who sees into the human heart. Sources: Articles by by Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani for the Washington Post, Voiceof America, Adam Taylor for Business Insider, and Clelsea J. Carter and Jason Hanna for CNN

spying dianne feinstein edward snowden nsa national security agency intelligence european parliament
Privacy advocates claim big win over “Big Brother”

22 Dec 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Creator has a stake in all things of creation—including creatures, the psalmist reminds us this Sunday. Does the National Security Agency (NSA), however, have a stake in everything you do on your computer or phone? That is the constitutional question of the hour after a federal judge ruled Monday that the NSA program which collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from, or within the United States is likely unconstitutional.Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia described the NSA technology as “almost Orwellian” and suggesting that James Madison would be “aghast” to learn that the government was encroaching on liberty in such a way.“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary’ invasion than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval,” Leon wrote in a 68-page ruling. “Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment,” which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.The judge ordered the government to stop collecting data on the personal calls of the two plaintiffs in the case and to destroy the records of their calling history. But Leon, appointed to the bench in 2002 by President George W. Bush, stayed his injunction “in light of the significant national security interests at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues,” allowing the government time to appeal it, which he said could take at least six months.In related news a panel of outside advisers urged President Barack Obama on Wednesday to impose major restrictions on the NSA, arguing that in the past dozen years its powers had been enhanced at the expense of personal privacy.Homily hint: While citizens have a right to privacy from intrusive government searches, there are no secrets when it comes to one's relationship with God. Encourage those in your community to partake of the healing available through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Sources: Articles by David E. Sanger and Charlie Savage for the New York TImes

cell phones surveillance privacy nsa national security agency richard j leon
Arkansas on death watch this week

23 Apr 2017 - Preaching the News for the Solemnity of the Second Sunday of Easter; Divine Mercy Sunday, Cycle A

“The mystery of Divine Mercy Sunday,” says PREPARE THE WORD scripture commentator Alice Camille this Sunday, “is that Jesus . . . moves through the greatest violence history can muster and comes out the other side as dedicated to peace and forgiveness as before. . . . No excuses, no reprisal. Peace and forgiveness. God’s answer to the world’s hostility is in gently extended wounded and glorified hands.” Capital punishment is one of those complex issues that tests our understanding of mercy, forgiveness, punishment, and justice. The death penalty is center-stage this week as the state of Arkansas deals with pushback on its unprecedented plan to continue with the executions of eight men scheduled over a period of 11 days. Arkansas officials vowed to press on with a frantic schedule of lethal injections, moving on after court orders blocked two executions Monday that would have been the state’s first since 2005. Although the state’s efforts to resume executions Monday night were thwarted by courts and called off at the last minute, Arkansas also won a pair of key legal victories that, for the moment, seemed to clear a path for five other lethal injections on the calendar, beginning with two set for Thursday night. The state entered this week hoping to begin a planned flurry of executions with no parallel in the modern death-penalty era, scheduling eight lethal injections for a period of 11 days. If this slate of executions proceeds as planned, it would be a grisly record, one that only Texas can currently claim. Eight men were originally scheduled for execution over 10 days, because the state's store of a controversial lethal injection drug is about to expire. After one man's life was saved by a late-night U.S. Supreme Court decision and two other death-row inmates received temporary reprieves, Arkansas now plans to execute five men over eight days. Ever since Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the historic execution schedule in February, the state's plan has gained national attention from activists and media organizations — leading to death penalty protests in Little Rock and a response from faith leaders across the state. Whether or not the remaining five death sentences are fulfilled will likely depend on pending and soon-to-be filed litigation on behalf of the inmates. Here's what's next for the remaining Arkansas executions. The state plans to put Stacey Johnson and Ledell Lee to death on Thursday. Jack Jones and Marcell Williams are scheduled to follow on April 24, and Kenneth Williams' death warrant is signed for April 27. Legal roadblocks have come down at the last minute in many individual death penalty cases—much like Davis' case Monday night. But there's still the possibility of a blanket injunction that would stop all of the executions, which was originally provided by District Judge Kristine Baker on Saturday. Meanwhile, McKesson Medical-Surgical—a pharmaceutical company—has claimed that the Arkansas Department of Corrections duped them into providing one of the key drugs used for executions, believing they were providing the drug for medicinal reasons. Though it had previously earned a temporary restraining order against the state, the company moved to dismiss its case because Baker had ordered a temporary injunction over the weekend. With her ruling overturned, the organization filed a new complaint on Tuesday to stop the Department of Corrections from using its drugs—which would effectively stay all five executions. Lessons drawn from the readings The words of the Risen Lord to the huddled disciples in this Sunday’s gospel captures the ambivalence many feel about the issue of forgiveness and justice: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Does forgiveness come with some conditions? Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge argued for moving ahead with the executions: “The families have waited far too long to see justice, and I will continue to make that a priority.” Yet the church has been clear in its opposition to capital punishment, and the U.S. bishops issued a statement calling on Arkansas to abandon its plan. Final thought in light of the news Pope John Paul II spoke eloquently of the need to defend life, even in the most difficult of circumstances: “The new evangelization calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate, and serve the gospel of life in every situation. A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.”

death penalty lethal injections executions arkansas pro-life capital punishment