"Expanding Lending Capacity"

This is Rep. Bobby Scott's phrase to describe the fix for what's acutely ailing the economy. Short-term business credit must be unfrozen to finance things like payroll and inventory. Otherwise, the problems that have been limited mostly to the banking sector will expand into the larger economy.

I like Ad Orientem's insight here.

Paranormal Issues

Orrologion has devoted a couple of postings pointing out the irony of atheists believing in paranormal phenomena. Here and here.

Well, it really depends what you mean by paranormal. All sorts of nonsense gets thrown into that category, you know, like Loch Ness, astrology, Sasquatch, Atlantis, and whatnot.

Let's talk about the psychical stuff. I'm an empirical person, and I'm fascinated by empirical phenomena that can't be measured.

Like human consciousness, for instance. Velocity and direction, two parameters that describe material phenomena, don't apply to consciousness. We're talking about a qualitatively different phenomenon. It exists, but it can't be measured. We have introspective evidence, and sensory evidence of affects, but none of that counts as measurement.

Once one accepts the existence of consciousness and its ability to affect material phenomena, the only remaining step to accepting an incarnational world is determining whether the survival of the personality makes sense.

Or, maybe a religion that treasures each human personality should be adopted for that reason alone.

Concerned About Wall Street?

You should be. The free allocation of capital to opportunities is the key determinant of economic growth. Low marginal tax rates, low regulatory burdens, concretely specified property rights, and the easy transferability of such rights play an important role.

The two Presidential demogogues and their journalist groupies are spouting meaningless cliches about greed and free-wheelin' Wall Street megabuxters.

What they don't tell you--perhaps they don't know--is that Wall Street is already heavily regulated with rules designed by smart attorneys. Maybe that means that more regulations designed by more smart attorneys would have a low probability of solving anything, but a high probability of getting in the way.

Let's go back in time, say, six or seven years ago, when the Federal Reserve dumped liquidity into the financial system with a 1% Federal Funds rate target. The commercial banking system lent the excess moola, Wall Street created hedge funds and customized securities, and Main Street bought or flipped or refinanced mortgaged real estate.

Then, the Fed decided that liquidity was causing "imbalances" and decided to jack up interest rates, and, after a respectable period of time, the liquidity disappeared, hedge funds blew up, securities tanked, and Main Street got stuck with a big house that won't sell or excess condos or a pesky ARM.

Boiled down to its essence, recent economic history is easy to understand. You should be concerned about Wall Street. You should be concerned also about government involvement.

OCA?

The proactive money is already handicapping the prospect of an OCA corpse, not that the hierarchical bumpkins on Long Island don't richly merit such pessimism.

Let's see. Former Met. Herman lent himself $150k by taking a mortgage against St Tikhon's.

Lent himself?

Well, modernist concepts like carefully-specified ownership rights and responsibilities don't apply to Bishops, who are addressed as Master (despota).

But...but...what about the...by-laws? Yeah, right.

My experience with day-to-day Church matters tells me that the disedifying and disillusioning cult of personality drives more faithful away from Orthodoxy than the saccharine call of Protestant megachurches. Let's blame ourselves for tempting our clergy to act as ringleaders of bootlickers, rather than as the servants of servants.

.

I stopped over at Gabriel's place to briefly ponder the dissonance of an OCA/AA merger.

Here's To You, Mr. Robinson

Perry Robinson, a prime mover of the web's finest Orthodox blog, finds himself in financial straits. I'm sure that he'd appreciate your prayers, but your cash spends better.

Russian Paper Tiger, II

When Judy Shelton speaks, I listen. Her article, "The Market Will Punish Putinism," in today's Wall Street Journal dealt with Russia's positioning itself for another financial failure. Let's see: the seizure of foreign business interests, the outflow of international capital, the threat to withhold natural resources from Western supporters of Georgia, and so on.

Commenting on another blog, I asserted that Canada's reliance on prosperity through selling natural resources made its economy a one-trick pony. Magnify that reliance, and you'll have an idea about how desperately Russia relies on high commodity prices. The recent run-up in those prices and the concomitant increase in revenue put some spring in Putin's noisy step. As Shelton notes, "Today, oil revenues ostensibly provide a bulwark against economic losses caused by government misjudgments".

Unfortunately, for Putin, we're seeing a reversal of fortune as prices slide with the global economic slowdown. Much as I hope that a poorer Putin will lower his grumbling volume, I suspect that he'll increase it.

You know, I used to think that, perhaps, Putin's grievances had merit. It's kind of hard, however, to take any of his protestations seriously when his smoking gun proving Western complicity in the Georgian affair is an American passport that's been canceled for three years.

I love free capital flows. Capital seeks opportunity and flees tyranny. Capital seeks property right protections and flees legal whimsy. Putin's about to find out that his fiat doesn't extend to eradicating economic laws.

Sex

Throw a bunch of theologians into a room and the discussion will revolve around sex, sooner or later.

Andrea Elizabeth tackled it from another angle.

Russian Paper Tiger

Russian military potency appeared unstoppable during its Georgian invasion and occupation only because the Georgian military was so puny. Russia has been preoccupied with its high-status nuclear arsenal and has neglected its more fundamental military capabilities. Now that the wind is escaping from Russia's oil-price windfall, its ability to enhance those capabilities will be diminished.

Anti-Plato Has My Back

The guys over at Energetic Procession have my theological back. Not my back, specifically, but the Orthodox back in their valiant defense of the Church. I'm especially thrilled with the latest contribution.

Teleology

Over at Fr. Stephen's blog, I suggested that a scientific view of humanity would incorporate the notion of teleology, rather than causality. Here's part of what I said:

Just for clarification, you may want to differentiate between causation, which pertains to non-human entities and objects, and teleology, which encompasses humans’ purposeful behavior. The element of purpose is missing from all natural phenomena, except man. Purposeful behavior–action–is the fundamental datum of social sciences, and any social science paradigm that ignores human action in an attempt to unthinkingly ape the natural sciences is completely devoid of meaning.

The notion of teleology, however, is more commonly used in connection with God's actions and purposes. For the Orthodox, divine teleology isn't open to question.

That the notion of human teleology isn't widely employed attests to the captivity of our scientific method to a more materialistic perspective that discards introspective evidence.

Since man is created in the image and likeness of God, the idea of human teleology isn't much of a stretch. The stretch emerges, however, in the intersection of divine and human teleology.

Man investigates creation and uses hypotheses to succeed materially. How far can man exercise his teleology before he exalts himself above God?

Particular Realities

Getting away from abstract nothings

Clearing Up An Ambiguity

Clearing the air about war and Orthodox glorification.

Co-Redemptrix?

I'm scared. Fr. Stephen can read my mind. Though, maybe that should scare him more.

The Osteen Question

Fr. Joseph Huneycutt and I are disagreeing about Joel Osteen over at Orthodixie. You may care to traipse over there to see what's going on. I don't want to reiterate the arguments here, but I want to emphasize that I'm a fan of Fr. Joseph and his blog. I have disagreements with just about everyone about lots of things, and I don't take these things personally.

What do I like about Osteen?
He's pleasant.
He wants people to succeed in life.
He's positive.
He urges people to rely on God.
He urges the adoption of good habits including politeness, civility, patience, understanding, charity, and so on.


What don't I like about Osteen?
He's not Orthodox.
His sweet sermons begin to grate on me after ten minutes.
I'm uncertain about whether there's any systematic theological content.
I'm uncertain what role the New Testament plays in his ministry, other than mentioning Christ, utilizing an immersion baptismal rite, and so on. One year's Easter message talked about the "can-do" Resurrection, which I'm still puzzling over.

I've watched a few sermons, and I know a few people who like him. You know, one thing I've admired about Protestantism is its high standard of personal holiness. Osteen seems to inspire people to act well and to rely on God.

It reminds me of the old joke about would happen to an unattended umbrella in Methodist and RC churches on a rainy day--the owner would get back his umbrella in the Methodist church. I came across this joke again--at Arturo's blog I think--and I'm grateful for the reminder. At the risk of overstretching an analogy, let me say that Osteen leaves me with the impression that he would exhort his followers not to glom umbrellas. You can say what you want about the pedestrian nature of bourgeois virtues, but I'm all for them.

If my impression is correct, then I'm not interested in seeing Osteen unfairly dumped on.

Third Romism Rolls On, Maybe

Does your blood boil? Mine does. The pro-Western, pro-democracy, pro-market underdog, Georgia, gets kicked around by the Russian bully...again.

Well, here's another view.

What is the motivation behind Georgia's urge to join NATO? To get away from the traditional Russian interference in Georgia's affairs. Present-day Georgia contains two regions that want to break away from Georgia. NATO membership would hinder Russia's support for the two break-away regions.

Let's get real about NATO. It's a military alliance, not a democracy-spreading miracle. Its primary purpose is to oppose Russian expansionism. That's the attraction that membership provides for former Soviet satellites and republics. Russian membership in NATO would not only alienate the former Warsaw Pact members, but also render it ineffective--similar to including the entire world in a military alliance. Why shouldn't Russia be upset at the prospect of new NATO members outside Eastern Europe encircling from the South?

Let's go a step further. Vladimir Putin is very aware that his bountiful oil revenue is a cyclical phenomenon. He's arguably an expert on energy; he did his dissertation on the subject. That's quite a contrast to the hysterical and self-absorbed Western media that can't handle an economic explanation that takes longer than five seconds. Putin is rolling in dough right now, but that bounty is about to dry up with the global economic slowdown. Now is the opportunity to send the right message and set up the right bargaining chips on the Georgia issue as well as the larger NATO issue involving both Georgia and Ukraine. He's seizing the opportunity with gusto, and he's truly screwing with Georgia by cutting the country in half. Never say that Putin doesn't have a sense of humor.

Now, I haven't even begun to talk about the parallels operating in Georgia and Kosovo. Other folks have talked about that aspect at length, and everyone I've read is correct--Georgia is a continuation of the Kosovo principle.

Yeah, my blood boils...but...don't you think that someone should get nominated for 2008 Moron Of The Year for giving Russia this golden opportunity?

Popular Preacher's Perks

Joel Osteen's wife has been sued for assaulting a flight attendant, and the trial judge encountered problems in seating jurors. A significant problem was the number of potential jurors whom had been helped by Rev. Osteen's ministry and wouldn't be impartial.

This is one of the perks awaiting the next St. John Chrysostom!

It may not be much, but let's face it. In a world in which parishioners would rather keep up with the latest MP3 player than pay their priests decently, every little bit helps.

Gap Pap

Gabriel hosted a lively discussion about Orthodoxy's "filling the gaps". As usual, I averred another view. Orthodoxy is about an alternative, not filling gaps.

When provoked, I can get positively long-winded.

Caste Issue

I sympathize with Arturo's revulsion against castes.

Bourgeois Efficacy

de Tocqueville speaks

Imaginatively Conceived

I'm referring, of course, to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.