I don’t like this. But I am best to “accept the things I cannot change.”

I have supported both Commissioner Batts and the mayor in everything they’ve done so far. An possible exception: in hindsight, it may have been unwise to shut down the subway Monday afternoon, April 26, as this rendered high school students at Mondawmin Mall unable to leave the area.

I have not studied the various calls for Batts’ resignation, but note that they come from many different directions. That doesn’t, in itself, give any of them merit.

The F.O.P. does not currently appear to me to be a friend of the people.

Reblogged 2021-11-25.

* A landmark study

July 8, 2015Clippings, Justice, National news, OUR BEST POSTS, Poverty, ScienceArrested development, Chaos, Chaos and order, Chaos overwhelms the poor, Developmental psychology, Tohu, University of RochesterWilliam Tell

Stress in low-income families can affect children’s learning

I am very excited about this.

This is, as far as I know, the first study to attempt to measure the degree of chaos in the home.

The researchers in an earlier-mentioned study (Related: Poor children have smaller brains) speculated that “poor families tend to live more chaotic lives, and that stress could inhibit healthy brain development.” The current study seems to indicate that it is directly so.

As of this writing, my hypothesis has become as follows: the chaos of a growing child’s environment causes comparatively more resources to be devoted to the limbic system and less to the cerebral cortex, resulting in a body with reduced capacity to learn.

(Reblogged 10/13/16, 11/18/21.)

* This is how you become a white supremacist

July 6, 2015Clippings, National newsBlack agency, Drugs, Dylann Roof, Dylann Storm Roof, HIV, Inclusive Communities Project, Race, Racial profiling, Racism, Red states, Supreme Court, White supremacyWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
This is how you become a white supremacist • Dylann Roof’s role model • Red states, drugs and HIV • Romance 101 • Desegregation case follow-up • Who gets pulled over? •

Continue reading * This is how you become a white supremacist →

x Some prayer exercises

July 4, 2015UncategorizedAmbrose Worrall, Centeredness, Gaslighting, Haters, Here - Now - Can, Jesus, Prayer, Presence, Robert Leichtman, SublimationWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
1. Trash day
2. Prayer for enemies
3. Dealing with haters
4. Prayer in spirit
5. Following guidance

* A martial arts movie I liked

June 29, 2015Clippings, National media, National news, World mediaAnthea Butler, Arthur Chu, Colin Ferguson, Dylann Roof, Dylann Storm Roof, Free Speech Handbook, Job scams, Kelly Hu, Racism, Scams, The TournamentWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
The Tournament • What to call Dylann Roof? • The secret shopper scam

Continue reading * A martial arts movie I liked →

* In West Baltimore, open carry is now.

June 22, 2015Clippings, Local news, National newsArnesha Bowers, Crime, Dylann Storm Roof, Gun control, Handguns, Jamarion Lawhorn, Lacey Spears, Open carryWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
Wild West Baltimore • Burglars rape, murder, burn high school junior • Dylann Storm Roof • Jamarion Lawhorn update • Lacey Spears update

Continue reading * In West Baltimore, open carry is now. →

* I don’t believe in belief. Here’s why.

June 20, 2015Bible, HomelessnessBelief, Believe, Delusions, Dual diagnosis, Faith, Heart and soul, Prayer, Twelve StepsWilliam Tell

Arnie (not his real name) has been the sole student of my course on effective prayer.

Sunday after church he told me he’d found a couple online resources about effective prayer, that he hoped we could review together. Each of them begins with the necessity of “belief.”

When he said this, I became nervous. There are many such sources online, but I’m not comfortable with them. On the one hand, trying to make myself “believe” that the outcome I pray for is inevitable, feels too much like wading into the world of delusion. On the other hand, although there are many New Testament references to “belief” in connection with prayer, I’m convinced that either (a) those expressions don’t come from the historical Jesus himself, or else (b) Jesus used that term to mean something very different from what we normally take it to mean today.

None of those whom I regard as experts in the field ever refer to belief this way. Never. Not once. Ever.

By Monday afternoon, I would feel my reservations had been powerfully confirmed.

* A job at Popeye’s won’t get me my own place.

June 15, 2015Clippings, Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, National newsAnimal souls, Minimum wageWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
A job at Popeye’s • Animal souls •

Continue reading * A job at Popeye’s won’t get me my own place. →

o Reducing our carbon footprint – by design

June 13, 2015OUR BEST POSTS, UncategorizedWilliam Tell

Grateful as I am for air conditioning, Baltimore’s current heat wave brought this post to mind, and it may be good to re-blog it just now.

The Homeless Blogger

I don’t hold with those who want to blame global warming wholly on American industry and American cars. The slashing-burning of hundreds of square miles of Amazon rain forest each day, and the air pollution in Mexico City and Beijing, show the need for a global response.

There are two principal ways human beings can reduce greenhouse gases: (1) covering more land with green plants that will consume carbon dioxide from the air; and (2) reducing our carbon dioxide emissions.

Some simple considerations of architecture address both concerns.

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* A solution for homelessness?

June 8, 2015Clippings, Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, Local news, National news, World NewsCarter Scott, Crime, Dual diagnosis, Housing First, McDonald's, McDonald's #2763, Rapid rehousing, Terrence McCoyWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
Meet the outsider who accidentally solved chronic homelessness • McDonald’s issues again • Carter Scott update

Continue reading * A solution for homelessness? →