2009 June | Halbrook.net

28Jun/091

The great global warming swindle

"Global warming" & "swindle" in the same title? Uh oh. Glad cap and trade passed the House on Friday.

the.great.global.warming.swindle

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27Jun/090

Wow. Are our City Council meetings like this?

So not everyone is always happy with what their elected representatives. But now, thanks to Santa Cruz, CA, we can all get a glimpse of what our elected representatives sometimes have to see of us. And it ain't all pretty. Actually, some of it's downright funny.

This week in Public Comment...

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27Jun/090

New Deacons in Worcester – One is 35

In the diocese of Worcester, MA last week, Bishop McManus ordained seven men as permanent deacons, including the youngest yet in the diocese, Colin M. J. Novick, who at age 35 is the youngest a man can be ordained a permanent deacon. At ordination, he had two daughters, ages 3 and 7.

At Mass at St. Paul Cathedral Bishop McManus ordained the seven husbands and fathers: John N. Barton, Michael T. Chase, William M. Griffin, Colin M. J. Novick, Paul F. Pizzarella, Court J. Shields and Anthony J. Xatse. The bishop offered special thanks to their wives and families.

Permanent deacons are clergy who are ordained to the ministry of service, not the ministerial priesthood, the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults says. They may baptize, proclaim the Gospel, preach, preside at funerals, assist at and bless marriages and assist the bishop or priest in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Congrats, Deacons! Read the whole article.

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27Jun/090

Christ and the Centurion

The Gospel from today's Mass readings is from Matthew 8, and is one of my favorites - it includes Matthew 8:8, which is the line when Christ, who was asked the the centurion to come to his home to heal his paralyzed servant, comes to the home and is exhorted by the centurion: "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed."

Some might recognize that as what is currently translated in the Mass in the English-speaking world as "Lord, I am not worth to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."

For the last several years, I've been repeatedly and particularly drawn to this section of Matthew... I love the book of Matthew...

On a related notw, Father Martin Fox wrote a fantastic blog entry on the forthcoming updates to the English translation of the Missal, including a summary of a talk that was given last year by Bishop Arthur Serratelli, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship. I shared it with the Ensemble this week, and I share it with you here.

In his blog entry, Father Fox points out one of the many adjustments:

The words we speak together currently as the priest shows us the Eucharist before communion are a weak translation of Matthew 8:8, which will be restored as follows: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word..."

Check out the whole thing... Enjoy!

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26Jun/090

Amazon’s “Make Our Ad” Appeal

I was intrigued last night by Amazon.com's request for fans to make their new ad for them (read about it at FutureLab.)

Basically, they'll give $10,000 each to the creator of two winning entries.

FutureLab is down on it, criticizing Amazon for not capitalizing on the strengths of their brand (books, writers, words, etc.) and for relying on TV and promoting it through old school PR channels.

But, I'd like to just continue the intelligence for a moment.

Let's assume Amazon had already made the strategic decision to run a TV ad - maybe it's for holiday this year.

They could pay an agency. Assuming a blended hourly rate of $150/hour, $10,000 buys them about 65-70 hours of time - that's less than a week of an art director and a copywriter. (Yep, no account service time, etc., etc.)

Or for 2 x $10,000, they get two spots from fans, the potential for a ton of social media hype (like this blog post), and a flood more ideas for future spots.

Crowdsourcing your creative, anyone? Haven't we been reading and writing about this very idea for almost a decade?

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25Jun/094

Neighbor + Water Bottle + Neighbor =

= What the heck is wrong with our society?

Tonight, I was standing at our kitchen sink, cleaning up after dinner, looking out the window onto 25th Street and beyond.

Across the street, our neighbor Kyle was cutting his grass, and I noticed that he had a water bottle on the hood of his car.

As I was watching, from left to right, a woman was walking down the sidewalk across the street, pushing a stroller with her two young children.

When she got to the neighbor's car, she stopped, stretched her neck to look around the corner of the house to look for him. Seeing that he was cutting away from her - with his back to her - she slyly grabbed his water bottle and slipped it into her oversized purse. And then she kept watching.

I was flabbergasted.

So I immediately opened our back door, walked onto the porch, and yelled across the street: "Excuse me, ma'am... are you going to take that, or are you putting it back?"

After looking at me dumbfounded for a moment, she just stomped and said "Well d@mn!"

She went to pull the water bottle out of her purse and put it back on Kyle's hood. She mumbled something about her boy just needing water. So I apologized and explained that I'd be happy to give her a cup of water if they needed it.

To which she changed her reply yet again, saying "No, my boy just wanted the bottle, so I thought I'd take it."

I was even more flabbergasted.

What the heck is she teaching her kids by this kind of behavior? "Oh... I want it... so why don't I just take it? That's okay."

Goodness gracious. These are the kids my boys will be alongside in school and in life. Scary.

When she walked off and Kyle stopped cutting his grass, I explained to him what had happened. Funny... his first reply was exactly the same "What the heck is she teaching her kids?"

I'll be the first to admit - it's hard enough being a parent. When you're in severe need, I can imagine it's that much harder.

And I would do just about anything for my boys. But I wouldn't steal. That's just too much. And goodness, if I was even going to do something that bad, I wouldn't do it on their request, in sight of them. Not that I ever even would, mind you.

So I'm still in disbelief, and go to bed praying even harder for a conversion of our culture; a righting of our moors, if you will. Would you pray with me for that?

All comments count toward the June giveaway of the $25 Borders gift card. Remember... through the month of June, every WORD in every comment you make on a post here on BreadAlive.com will earn one entry into a drawing - to be held July 1 - for a $25 Borders gift card.

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24Jun/090

The Most Influential Tag Lines. Ever.

"Tag Line Guru" has named the Most Influential Advertising Tag Lines Since 1948.

My opinion? Someone forgot a few.

I don't use the brand, but shouldn't "Can you hear me now?" be up there above at least one or two of these? It's not even in the top 100. And some of those down in th 40s and 50s. Seriously? Below some of those in the 20s and 30s? What culture have some of the voters been living in? Under a rock, perhaps?

Here are the top ten:

1. Got milk? (1993) California Milk Processor Board

2. Don't leave home without it. (1975) American Express

3. Just do it. (1988) Nike

4. Where's the beef? (1984) Wendy's

5. You're in good hands with Allstate. (1956) Allstate Insurance

6. Think different. (1998) Apple Computer

7. We try harder. (1962) Avis

8. Tastes great, less filling. (1974) Miller Lite

9. Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. (1954) M&M Candies

10.Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. (1956) Timex

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23Jun/091

More good news on U.S. Steel Granite City

Even more good news today, via Reuters (full article): US Steel is seeing better orders, and is eyeing the re-opening of a blast furnace in the U.S. Granite is called out as the possible one.

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21Jun/090

More on U.S. Steel Granite City

The Beacon has more up on the great news about the mill re-opening, and the number of workers going back at this time.

I know that my dad seemed really happy to be heading back today, even though he's been blessed with work of one sort or another through most of this downturn at the mill.

It's great to read good news, of steel workers "ecstatic" to be heading back.

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21Jun/090

A Violent Sqall Came Up

Singing the Psalm this weekend, and hearing the Gospel, were interesting to me, as the story from both readings - and a particular line in the Gospel - brought back vivid memories of a day on the Chesapeake last summer with coworkers.

The Gospel

This week's Gospel (Mark 4: 35-41) was about a time, at sea, when a storm arose and challenged the disciples in the boat. Frightened, they found Jesus asleep in the stern, awoke him, and he calmed the sea. The line in the Gospel that stuck out to me was "A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat."

The Squall

Last August, I made a trip to Herndon, VA (where my office and many coworkers are) for a few days of company meetings. Thursday of that week, our group had an outing - starting with a morning on the Schooner Woodwind, departing Annapolis, Maryland, past the U.S. Naval Academy, out into Chesapeake Bay.

We were about 20 minutes into our cruise when the captain said similar words: "It looks like we're going to run through a little rain squall."

The "little rain squall" actually ended up being a nearly 45-minute storm with wind that left the boat rocking while turning in and out of the wind to stay on course. We would alternate leaning one way or the other, and with no real protection between us (on deck) and the bay except how we were holding on and a thin rope along the edge of the boat, it got a bit frightening.

It was a great day, though. We were all drenched before we made it back to shore, but still in good spirits. After all, we had survived quite a storm together "at sea."

So the imagery of the Gospel hit home for me quite strongly this week.

The Reflection

For me, the natural result of the experience with the proclamation of the Word this week was asking myself a question for reflection: How good am I at trusting, in the squalls of life, that the Lord really is still there. Sure, he might be sleeping in the stern, but that doesn't mean he isn't present and aware of my challenges or fears. In fact, it should be a comfort that my fears might not be as warranted as I think. Or my challenges as insurmountable.

Christ's mere, ongoing, presence - if I only ask for it - is enough for me.

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This is the online home of Michael Halbrook, Suzanne Halbrook, and their growing family. We're a family of five living out our Catholic faith and vocation in the St. Louis, Missouri area.

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The great global warming swindle

Wow. Are our City Council meetings like this?

New Deacons in Worcester – One is 35

Christ and the Centurion

Amazon’s “Make Our Ad” Appeal

Neighbor + Water Bottle + Neighbor =

The Most Influential Tag Lines. Ever.

More good news on U.S. Steel Granite City

More on U.S. Steel Granite City

A Violent Sqall Came Up

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