children

Crossposted over at themontanamaven.com
Might be a good idea to have a Weasology Handbook. To his credit yesterday Chris Hayes on his show "UP" signaled a problem with the words "high quality" as in "high quality charter schools" after one of his guests, Darrell Bradford of something called "Better Education For Kids" praised some charters in Chicago. Yeh, of course high quality charter schools are just great, Chris laughed. Who doesn't love "high quality" anything? So he was right to warn us about this phrase. But he let the phrase "high quality pre-school education" be defined by his guests without real analysis*. As defined by most of his guests this morning, high quality preschool education was about learning...get this..."persistence, "discipline" and my favorite, "finishing things." The professor (and to my chagrin a woman) also emphasized how spongy little brains are at 4 years old. Ugh.

My psychological type in Myers/Briggs Jungian land is an ENTP (extroverted intuitive thinking perceiver). Didn't discover this until I was around 42. Much to my relief, my type just doesn't finish things. Once we mostly master something, we move on. We are notorious for not completing things like degrees and we rarely put the degrees we do achieve up on the wall. We move from project to project. My former husband was quite kind but used to lament the many different piles of dirt and stones around our cabin of projects I had started and then grown bored with. I didn't finish my dissertation for my Ph.D in theater and film. Ran off to New York instead. My friend and I wrote a whole book about what it was like for two Hollywood New York movie agents to fly the coop; her moving to Italy and me moving to Montana. We got through many drafts and then both of us started other projects. What a relief to discover that it is just my nature to not always finish things. I do finish making dinner. I finish most books although I am simultaneously reading 5 books right now (four non-fiction and one fiction). I'm pretty loyal and probably should have finished one marriage sooner than I did. If I do finish, I often make a strong finish. But nobody really knows if I will finish or take a turn and jump over the fence and run away. Read below the fold...

Heh, there aren't many better opportunities to Go For It. The Facts: male, my nephews, twins, new on the scene, right around this astrological sign, eastern yurpean, likely pale and blonde, well off, it's still unclear if they'll be raised in any particular "tradition." Very American, in that way. So... names, anyone? Think twin boys. You've got 7 days. Last name starts with "d" and rhymes with "eat." We're shooting for first, or middle. My vote? Berengar. What kid wouldn't want a cool name like that? Second choice/twin #2: Joachim Sebastian. Hokey, but there you go. Read below the fold...

Over the past few weeks, I've written about a particular aspect of Rick Warren that has so far seen very little formal media attention--his extensive connections to groups and persons connected to the "New Apostolic Reformation" aka "Joel's Army", a particularly virulent "Christian Nationalist" movement (which had its initial origins in neopentecostal dominionist churches but has since spread via "cuckoo" cell-churches to even some mainstream denominations). Read below the fold...

Nearly two and a half years to the day, I wrote an early article detailing Rick Warren's connections with Paul Yonggi Cho nee David Yonggi Cho--a figure who is practically at Ground Zero regarding the continued perpetuation and promotion of what has been termed "Latter Rain", evolved into "Joel's Army", and is known now as the "New Apostolic Reformation".

This early post has gained sudden relevance now with Rick Warren now being chosen as the pastor to give the inauguration prayer on 20 January.

This is also rather unfortunate, as it turns out that Rick Warren's connections to "Elijah's Army" go farther than trading tips with Cho on megachurch growth...far deeper. Read below the fold...

In yesterday's post, I went into some of the initial detail on a statement given by Thomas Muthee in the infamous sermon where he "annointed" Sarah Palin and also claimed to literally run a traditional religious practitioner out of his home base.

Muthee's statement referred to a popular concept in Joel's Army circles--the concept of the "seven mountains", that is, seven pillars of society that these groups see as a major priority for takeover "by hook or by crook". (Of note, Palin was actually used as an example for the takeover of "government".) Read below the fold...

Today's diary is--and yes, I know, this is a shocker--NOT going to be about Sarah Palin. At least, not directly. This is more towards some of her supporters...and especially in light of Palin throwing stones whilst in a glass house re the Jeremiah Wright controversy, a deeper look is warranted into one group Palin is associated with in particular. Read below the fold...

Over the past few weeks, folks on the Internet have turned up an impressive amount of info re Sarah Palin's questionable judgements--including scandals involving the Alaska State Police (now known as "TrooperGate") and similar hijinks with the Wasilla PD, info re Palin trying to make rape victims pay for their own evidence collection kits (which led to the state stepping in), and Palin's disturbing connections with "Joel's Army" neopentecostal dominionists.

What has not been publicised so far is that the first two scandals have direct connections to the third--and, even worse, there's the most damning evidence yet that the very "Joel's Army" folks Palin is linked to may have been grooming her explicitly as a "stealth candidate". Read below the fold...

A few days ago, I had reported on Palin's linkages to "Bible-based cult" promoter Bill Gothard...and, sadly, followup info proves that this may be far from her only links to religiously motivated abuse.

It turns out that Palin--and Wasilla A/G--are intimately connected with "Joel's Army" promoters directly responsible for not only harassment of critics, but also a little-reported and growing humanitarian crisis in sub-Saharan Africa: namely, the growth of "Joel's Army" "exorcists" and people--including young children--fleeing for their lives from a literal "God Warrior" progrom.

Palin's links to Thomas Muthee, Witchfinder General Read below the fold...

A few days ago, I wrote an article detailing several more links between Palin and particularly disturbing elements of the "Joel's Army" movement--namely, apparent links between Palin and Bill Gothard's network of groups, and some very disturbing dog-whistles from some of the "Joel's Army" faithful comparing her to the prophetess Deborah.

Now that I have my power restored...we can get to "the *rest* of the story", so to speak...and now you get the background as to why the latest revelations are quite disturbing.

Sarah Palin a Gothardite? Read below the fold...

[Welcome, Digby readers! I'm really not sure this series of posts has stood the test of time. The basic problem is that information on Palin was so polluted by her detractors in 2008 that it's almost impossible to assess accurately, and much of this series is self-referential. --lambert]

Much like the US Postal Service, neither rain nor snow nor 70% of my hometown's power infrastructure being eaten by Ike will stop me from posting the latest on Palin's connections with dominionists. Read below the fold...

Obviously, I agree with the idea: you don't smoke in front of nor around young children. Period. That's pretty obvious to me, most parents, and smokers of all kinds everywhere. Yet I have some fond memories of sitting with Grandpa after dinner at the ranch, sometimes inside and sometimes out on the porch, watching the sun go down over the lake, the sweet smell of his pipe a perfect compliment to fading odors of the fried fish and greens Grandma used to cook for him. Read below the fold...

“We’ve worn handmade peace shirts every Thursday since the first week of school, without fail,” Skylar said.

But what started out as a light-hearted gesture soon started to be taken out of context.

Students started approaching the group members, yelling obscene things at them, said Lauren.

Read below the fold...