Interesting.

In a statement, Governor Palin said: “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows that she has our unconditional love and support….

The family’s statement [went on to say] “Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media, respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”

At a rally at a ballpark Saturday evening in Washington, Pa., Bristol did not join the rest of her family on stage.

“Then we have our daughter Bristol, she’s on the bus with the newborn, and then we have our daughter Willow, who is here, and our youngest daughter Piper,’’ Ms. Palin said as she introduced her family. “On that bus we have our son Trig, who is a beautiful baby boy we welcomed into the world just in April. It’s his naptime, so he is with his big sister on the bus. But we thank them for being here. “

Read it all.

Update: The official press release is here.

Another update: There is more from the LA Times here as well.

I enjoyed this–watch it all.

Americans are changing the game plan for retirement, with millions laboring right past the traditional retirement age and working into their late 60s and beyond.
While the average retirement age remains 63, that standard may be going away as baby boomers close in on retirement without sufficient savings.

For 64-year-old John Lee, “retirement” bears a strong resemblance to his full-time working career ”” full of 40- and 50-hour weeks as an IT technical support specialist. He’s not strapped but likes the extra cash and the feeling of being needed.

But for Melissa Fodor, a retired travel agent who works part-time as a caregiver for the elderly, the extra work “keeps my head above water” and there’s no end in sight to that financial need at age 68.

Although the work is satisfying, she confides that “financially I’m kind of scared most of the time. Because what should happen if my health and my body fail?”

Read the whole article.

On the other hand, if Palin exceeds expectations, and her selection ends up looking both bold and wise, McCain could win.

The Palin pick already, as Noemie Emery wrote, “Wipes out the image of McCain as the crotchety elder and brings back that of the fly-boy and gambler, which is much more appealing, and the genuine person.” But of course McCain needs Palin to do well to prove he’s a shrewd and prescient gambler.

I spent an afternoon with Palin a little over a year ago in Juneau, and have followed her career pretty closely ever since. I think she can pull it off. I’m not the only one. The day after the V.P. announcement, I spoke with an old friend, James Muller, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. He said that Palin “has been underestimated over and over again. She took on the party and state establishments here in Alaska, and left them reeling. She’s a very good campaigner, a quick study and a fighter.”

Muller called particular attention to her successes in passing an increase to the oil production tax and facilitating the future construction of a huge natural gas pipeline. “At first the oil companies thought she was naïve, and they’d have their way. Instead she faced them down and forced them to compromise on her terms.”

Read it all.

Dear All,

What we’re seeing now is some overtopping of the Industrial Canal toward the Gentilly side. Please pray the water level doesn’t rise any further and that all the levee walls hold. There is also some concern that barges — which shouldn’t be there in first place, some heads are going to roll — could break loose and damage a wall a la Katrina. We need to make it through this surge period. Obvious the walls were not rebuilt high enough. If this were a CAT 4, as originally projected, we’d really be in the soup (literally).

Also, folks closer to the coast are really getting thumped. Please pray for their safety and provision. We’ll be ready to help them all we can once this passes.

Bottom line: we need serious and continuous prayer coverage. Blessings,

–The Reverend Jerry and Stacy Kramer, Church of the Annunciation, New Orleans

Read it carefully and read it all. I caught this on podcast during the morning run, and should have figured that one of my favorite analysis programs did so well. The punditocracy this week was just really poor on the Palin pick, and nearly all the responses said so much more about the analyst than about Governor Palin. Quite revealing, really–KSH

Check it out.

Dear All,

We are in the worst of Gustav until about 12p – 1p. Thank you so much for prayers. And God be praised. Much, much better than we had feared. Moving from cautiously optimistic to optimistic. New Orleans will not see hurricane winds. Some 70mph gusts. But sustained 45mph only. Whipping up pretty good here on the North Shore but still have power.

About 100,000 people without power. Concern now tornadoes.

Dry air from Texas kept Gustav from exploding over the Gulf. The eye-wall is breaking up and approaching the coast as only a CAT 2. Sudden turn to the west, hugging the LA coast, good for New Orleans. Storm surge less than anticipated. The parishioner we are staying with insists that angels ripped Gustav apart overnight.

Word is that power workers will be out tonight restoring the downed lines, etc.

2,000,000 people evacuated. Less than 10,000 people left in New Orleans (50,000+ stayed behind during Katrina).NOPD found only 15 people on the streets yesterday. Handicapped/elderly/indigent all moved to safety. No arrests for looting. Pretty good for an area that is still very broken and knee deep in recovery. Biggest problem was slow traffic flow.

Please keep prayers coming. Pray especially for the folks directly on the LA and Mississippi coast where they’re getting hammered. We could possibly be home by tomorrow afternoon or thereabouts if things hold the same. Know of our prayers.

–The Reverend Jerry and Stacy Kramer, Church of the Annunciation, New Orleans

Ugh.

Sunday 5:30p

Dear All,

We had a $7 pork roast in the fridge which we didn’t want to go to waste (my frugal wife still has her first Communion money). So our family is finishing up a nice pre-evacuation dinner at home. It’s actually a lovely evening right now. A little sun, a little breeze with some gusts.

Awfully quiet outside! More than 1 million people have bugged out of the area in ample time. The National Guard are here and in place patrolling. Nice to have a new governor who doesn’t need adult supervision.

Besides the vastly improved government response, our church and Broadmoor neighbourhood have performed brilliantly. A lot of really amazing and talented people working together — with some hard earned experience under their belts — can make all the difference.

None of this would be possible without God’s grace and our many, many friends from all over. The emails and text messages (no calls please, need to keep the lines free) have been most encouraging. We’re especially grateful to all whose prayers and resources have helped us with the gas, supplies, etc. needed to evacuate.

Personally I’ve been near catatonic when it’s come to packing up. And now I’m having a hard time getting in the car and heading out. Neither Max the guinea pig (who still has terrible PTSD) nor I really want to leave.

Feeling a bit better, however, as the latest weather updates show a weaker Gustav staying a bit more west of us. All good news. I’m praying to be back on campus in a couple days or so. Maybe this will just be a good rehearsal and confidence builder. Last time I thought we’d be back in a few days we spent nearly two years in the parking lot! Whatever comes our way, God is good.

Sign-off blessings from New Orleans,

–The Reverend Jerry and Stacy Kramer serve at Church of the Annunciation, New Orleans

Today I found myself bemused by the thought that C. S. Lewis, regarded by many Evangelicals as their patron saint, could teach at nary an Evangelical school or lead nary an Evangelical church. In the majority of their schools today, his opinions on gender matters would be an issue of first concern, and his stolid regard of egalitarianism as non-Christian would land his resume straight in the circular file without further review. In most of the schools and churches that remain more conservative, his plain Anglicanism, which would look too Catholic–not to mention his smoking and drinking–would do him in….

If unfailing kindness and forbearance is what we seek in the Good, Christ was deficient; if we have high standards for honoring father and mother, it is far from clear that he met them; if we prize strictly predictable traditionalism in religion, he disappoints, likewise if our views on such matters are more liberal. He often demonstrated a lack of what we would consider charity. He deliberately used degrading ethnic slurs, had too much or too little to do with women, wasted time on small things when larger ones needed doing, frequently criticized people with no apparent regard for their feelings, alienated those who might come around to being his allies if he had been more diplomatic, went to sleep instead of taking care of his friends, but later turned around and criticized them for sleeping when he needed them. He made and consumed alcoholic wine. He murdered an innocent tropical plant. He ate the flesh of animals. He didn’t show proper respect for duly constituted authority. He showed excessive respect for duly constituted authority: He was highly inconsistent. Examples of his imperfections could be multiplied, multiplied, in fact, to the point where he could have no more repute in our eyes (apart from the pious traditionalism that whitewashes the tombs of the prophets) than he did in the eyes of most of his countrymen. One could appreciate him for his thaumaturgic abilities, and admit that he said some good things. But God come in the flesh? Hardly.

The difference between Lewis and St. Paul on one hand and Christ on the other, is that the courageous and discerning eye could find good men in the former–but not in Christ, whom to see as the Good Master he claimed to be requires more than wisdom. While we might find a great teacher in Lewis or (exponentially more difficult), an Apostle in Paul, Christ–although no one can at last understand Lewis or Paul without knowing Christ first–is categorically different. He meets no man’s requirements for the righteousness of God, so that when he comes among us he not only is not, but cannot be, recognized–not in the first order because of our sensitivity to sin, but our standards for goodness, which he does not meet.

It is because all our righteousness is filthy rags that we are utterly hopeless sinners, hopeless because we cannot know God when he appears in flesh and blood, so cannot lay hold of him for our salvation….

Read it all. This is a much needed word–we were discussing exactly this last point in Adult Sunday School yesterday–KSH.

On the eve of the Republican convention, a new national poll suggests the race for the White House remains even.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Sunday night shows the Obama-Biden ticket leading the McCain-Palin ticket by one point, 49 percent to 48 percent, with the statistical margin of error.

The survey was conducted Friday through Sunday, after both the conclusion of the Democratic convention and Sen. John McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

A previous CNN poll, taken just one week earlier, suggested the race between McCain, R-Arizona, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, was tied at 47 percent each.

“The convention and particularly Obama’s speech seems to be well-received. And the selection of Sarah Palin as the GOP running mate, also seems to be well-received. So why is the race still a virtual tie? Probably because the two events created equal and opposite bounces assuming that either one created a bounce at all,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Read it all.

Check it out.

Make me to know thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long.

–Psalm 24:4,5

On this weekend, when we rest from our usual labors, loving Father, we pray for all who shoulder the tasks of human labor””in the marketplace, in factories and offices, in the professions, and in family living. We thank you, Lord, for the gift and opportunity of work; may our efforts always be pure of heart, for the good of others and the glory of your name. We lift up to you all who long for just employment and those who work to defend the rights and needs of workers everywhere. May those of us who are now retired always remember that we still make a valuable contribution to our Church and our world by our prayers and deeds of charity. May our working and our resting all give praise to you until the day we share together in eternal rest with all our departed in your Kingdom as you live and reign Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

—The Archdiocese of Detroit.

In the final installment of the Race & Politics series, listeners talk with Liane Hansen about how race affects their political positions. Early in the series listener Greg Harden, of Rochester, N.Y., said that he felt race relations would not improve. His comments motivated another listener, Leon Wynter, of New York City, to reach out to him and start an online discussion. The two remain hopeful that Barack Obama will help usher in a new era in race relations.

Listen to it all.

As forecasters warned Hurricane Gustav could hit Louisiana on Monday with devastating effect, officials pleaded with Gulf Coast residents to flee and Republicans said they’d abbreviate the opening day of their national convention.

As of 5 p.m. ET, the eye of the Category 3 storm was about 215 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said.

Hurricane-force winds could hit Louisiana’s southern coast by sunrise Monday, and the storm’s center could hit southwest of New Orleans by early Monday afternoon, CNN meteorologists said.

Read it all.

But I am a bit worried that…[Obama’s] knowledge of economics may not be as extensive as his legal background. In particular, he’s been campaigning with an idea of a second round of economic stimulus to combat the evident slowdown in the economy, to follow President Bush’s first round that is now wrapping up. The first round hasn’t succeeded, and Senator Obama’s ideas aren’t very promising, either.

In that first round, the government has basically borrowed $80 billion to $100 billion and used it to send out checks to most American taxpayers. The hope was that the extra money in taxpayers’ pockets would stimulate consumption.

As Martin Feldstein, the Harvard economist, has said recently, that hope was largely misplaced. The overwhelming bulk of the money borrowed and distributed went to pay down debts and into saving. Only 10 to 20 percent of the money the Treasury borrowed went to bolster consumer spending, Professor Feldstein said.

Of course, the final word on this stimulus package isn’t in. Some economists say that the package has helped avoid deeper short-term problems, and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. says we need more time to assess the true impact of the rebate checks. (And the stronger-than-expected G.D.P. numbers for the second quarter may be attributed mostly to the export boom from the weak dollar, which turns out to be powerful medicine indeed.)

The rebate matter, however, leads us to a major issue: Do we really want to increase federal indebtedness to stimulate consumption, anyway?

Read it all.

CLEARLY, there are major differences between the economic policies of Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. Mr. McCain wants more tax cuts for the rich; Mr. Obama wants tax cuts for the poor and middle class. The two men also disagree on health care, energy and many other topics.

Such differences are hardly surprising. Democrats and Republicans have followed different approaches to the economy for as long as there have been Democrats and Republicans. Longer, actually. Remember Hamilton versus Jefferson?

Many Americans know that there are characteristic policy differences between the two parties. But few are aware of two important facts about the post-World War II era, both of which are brilliantly delineated in a new book, “Unequal Democracy,” by Larry M. Bartels, a professor of political science at Princeton. Understanding them might help voters see what could be at stake, economically speaking, in November.

I call the first fact the Great Partisan Growth Divide. Simply put, the United States economy has grown faster, on average, under Democratic presidents than under Republicans.

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The dead city is slowly awakening, but there is still an element of dread in the air. The grand return from the summer holidays ”” la rentrée ”” is preoccupying France, but anxiety abounds about what exactly is being re-entered.

La rentrée is a new beginning, as if the new school year provides new chances for everyone here to reform, renew, replenish and re-engage. People make resolutions, as at New Year’s, to be thinner, faster, smarter, better.

But this year, the public mood remains sour, with optimism hard to find and open worries about inflation, purchasing power and the position of France in what seems a suddenly less stable world.

The French are like “eternal children who return to school,” said Alix Girod de l’Ain, a columnist at Elle magazine. “There is a sacralization of vacation,” since nearly everyone takes August off, with la rentrée as “an important moment because we officially change our rhythm and enter a new cycle.”

Read it all.