The final outrage

I've pretty much given up responding trying to parse out specific items from the endless torrent of vileness and lies, but I have to say something about this. From CBS News (yes, Bari doesn't seem to have gotten her grimy little hands on the web site quite yet): 

The Trump administration has effectively shut down most of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's activities, closing the spigot on federal funding estimated to have saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars over the past 27 years by improving medical practice.

In a July 15 letter, the small Department of Health and Human Services agency known as AHRQ told researchers it was halting at least 104 grants, many aimed at improving patient safety. Although Congress appropriated $345 million for AHRQ for this fiscal year, the agency has spent less than $15 million on grants and hasn't issued a new one in over a year, according to a review of federal records. About 75% of agency staffers have been fired or quit since President Donald Trump took office last year, according to HHS.

It may seem a mystery why they are doing this. AHRQ funded a few kinds of studies, but one important focus has been identifying procedures or medications that are used inappropriately, in situations in which they aren't effective, or the risk and costs outweigh the benefits. You would think Bobby Brainworm would be all for this. But here's a little bit of history that will help explain it. 

The predecessor of AHRQ was called the Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research, established in 1989. In 1985 AHPR issued findings that widely performed, and very expensive surgeries for low back pain were ineffective. This was, in fact true. However, the news understandably was not welcomed by the surgeons who got obscenely wealthy doing these useless operations, so they raised an uproar with congress, backed of course by their substantial political donations, and tried to get the agency abolished. Congress didn't quite go along, but they did severely cut the agency's funding. In 1999 it was reauthorized under its new name, with less emphasis on clinical practice guidelines. 

Nevertheless, AHRQ's activities were still a threat to the incomes of medical specialists, so you can see why the unabashedly corrupt administration would bow to demands to shut it down. Here's why I took the trouble to write this post. I am a health services researcher. I have been a member of Academy Health, the relevant academic society. My membership has lapsed -- I'm a member of the Academy of Communication in Healthcare and I can't belong to everything -- but I have presented at several of their meetings and of course most of my colleagues are members.  Now they're being put out of business.

I don't know what is going to happen to schools of public health, including my own. They're going to have to find ways to survive in greatly reduced fashion until these lunatics are thrown out of office. But meanwhile it's your friends and family and neighbors who they are killing. 

 

 

Wednesday Bible Study: Yet more endless tedium

Don't worry, this is almost over, unless you're needing a soporific. Here we get to hear the story of Paul's conversion for the third time. It's always the same, nothing new. I won't say anything more because this is all just repetition and aimlessness. Fortunately, nobody ever bothers to read it. 

 

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”

So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: ² “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. ⁶ And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. ⁷ This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. ⁸ Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

⁹ “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

¹² “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. ²⁰ First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. ²¹ That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. ²² But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— ²³ that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”

²⁵ “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. ²⁶ The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”

²⁹ Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰ The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. ³¹ After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”

³² Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Footnotes

1. Acts 26:14 Or Hebrew

 

 

 

Commended to your attention. . .

I copped this image from The Big Picture blog by Barry Ritholz. He's an investment adviser and wealth manager with exceptionally sane politics for someone in that business. Most days he rounds up ten or so interesting stories and a video from around the Internet, most of which I find well worth reading. I will say, however, that his investment advice is basically "Buy index funds and don't actively trade," which kind of makes it hard to know why I should hire him. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't bookmark him.

 

 

Regarding the WHCD . . .

Digby agrees with me. But obviously, it's just a symptom. As Paul Campos never tires of screaming about, the oval office occupant is utterly insane and demented, but the corporate media think it would be impolite to say that, even though it's purportedly their job to report the news and that would seem to be a true fact worth noting.

 

The situation could go a few different ways. The last marbles could fall out of the bag and it would become impossible for him to present in public. When that has happened before, as with Woodrow Wilson, FDR and Ronald Reagan, we had Weekend at Bernie's presidencies. In Woodrow Wilson's case his wife was acting president. I'm not sure about the other two. I don't know who the puppet master would be in this case, but I'm pretty sure it won't be J.D. However, if Dump just dies, then Vance will assume the power of the office, with entirely unpredictable results.

 

The worse case is that he starts issuing insane commands -- I mean even more insane than presently -- and they are obeyed. Anything might be possible then. The best case is that we muddle through until November and then keep muddling through until the new congress is seated and they manage to put him in a playpen. I'm not betting on that, but it's all we've got to hope for.

Sunday Sermonette: Yawn on

 Chapter 5 has 27 verses and, in the NIV, consists of 732 words. Here's the entire substance of what it says, thanks to the Skeptics Annotated Bible.

 

After three days, Festus came to Jerusalem from Caesarea. The high priest and the Jewish leaders told him about Paul, and asked him to bring Paul to Jerusalem (because they wanted to kill him). But Festus said that Paul would remain in Caesarea, where he would soon be going. He welcomed them to come with him and accuse Paul there. Ten days later, Festus arrived in Caesarea, and commanded Paul to be brought to him. The Jews came from Jerusalem and accused Paul of many things that they couldn't prove. Paul defended himself by saying, I've done nothing wrong against the temple or Caesar. Festus said, Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there? Paul said, I am on trial in Caesar's court, so I should be tried in Rome by Caesar himself. Festus said, Very well, then. You will be tried by Caesar. Sometime later, King Agrippa and Bernice came to visit Festus in Caesarea. Festus told Agrippa about Paul's case. Agrippa said to Festus, I will hear Paul's case tomorrow. So Paul was brought in the next day. Festus said to King Agrippa and the others who were present, Here's Paul.

 

That's it. Everything else is just repetition. Luke really needed an editor. 

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, ² where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. ³ They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. ⁴ Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. ⁵ Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

⁶ After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. ⁷ When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them.

⁸ Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”

⁹ Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

¹⁰ Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹ If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

¹² After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Festus Consults King Agrippa

¹³ A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. ¹⁴ Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner. ¹⁵ When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned.

¹⁶ “I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. ¹⁷ When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in. ¹⁸ When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. ¹⁹ Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. ²⁰ I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. ²¹ But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.”

²² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.”

He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”

Paul Before Agrippa

²³ The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴ Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. ²⁶ But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. ²⁷ For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.”

 

 

Abolish the WHCD

We fought a horrific civil war to abolish slavery. It ought to be at least a little easier to abolish the White House Correspondent's Dinner, which is not quite as evil as slavery but it's up there. 

 

There could be no better proof of the corruption of the journalism profession, how they fundamentally misconceive their role in society, than this disgusting spectacle of the people who are purportedly in the business of telling us the truth about the most powerful people, rubbing elbows and telling jokes with those very same people while wearing tuxedos and eating $150 meals. It's enough to gag a maggot.

 

No journalist with the least self respect and the dimmest awareness of the nature of their job should ever participate. We the people must put an end to this atrocity.

Wednesday Bible Study: The tedium drones on

Chapter 24 has the high priest accusing Paul before the governor Felix, and then Paul defends himself with a long, vapid speech, then Felix decides to keep him in jail to please "the Jews" and in hope of extorting a bribe, but treats him humanely. That's it. Paul spends two years in jail but we don't learn how he may have managed to amuse himself.

 

24 Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. ² When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. ³ Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. ⁴ But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.

⁵ “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect ⁶ and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. ^{[7] [a] 8} By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.”

⁹ The other Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.

¹⁰ When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense. ¹¹ You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. ¹² My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. ¹³ And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. ¹⁴ However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, ¹⁵ and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. ¹⁶ So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

¹⁷ “After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. ¹⁸ I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance. ¹⁹ But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to be here before you and bring charges if they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin— ²¹ unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”

²² Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “I will decide your case.” ²³ He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

²⁴ Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” ²⁶ At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

²⁷ When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

Footnotes

1. Acts 24:7 Some manuscripts include here him, and we would have judged him in accordance with our law. ⁷ But the commander Lysias came and took him from us with much violence, ⁸ ordering his accusers to come before you.

 

Sunday Sermonette: This is completely ridiculous

Chapter 23 describes Paul's trial before the Sanhedrin. It is completely ridiculous for several reasons. First of all, Paul's claim that he didn't know who the high priest was is preposterous. Anyone familiar with Jewish religion and politics would know that. Paul goes on lying by claiming to be a pharisee. Note, first of all, that Jesus condemned the pharisees as hypocrites. If Paul ever was one he certainly isn't now, since his conversion. 

 

As I have said before, his claim to be a Roman citizen is highly unlikely, but even if he was, there is no way that the captain would have been so concerned about this safety that he'd assign 200 soldiers, 60 horsemen, and 200 spearmen to escort him to the governor. This whole story is absurd.

 

23 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” ² At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”

⁴ Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!”

⁵ Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’^[a]”

⁶ Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” ⁷ When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)

⁹ There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” ¹⁰ The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹ The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

The Plot to Kill Paul

¹² The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³ More than forty men were involved in this plot. ¹⁴ They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

¹⁶ But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.

¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸ So he took him to the commander.

The centurion said, “Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹ The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

²⁰ He said: “Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. ²¹ Don’t give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”

²² The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.”

Paul Transferred to Caesarea

²³ Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen^[b] to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. ²⁴ Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.”

²⁵ He wrote a letter as follows:

²⁶ Claudius Lysias,

To His Excellency, Governor Felix:

Greetings.

²⁷ This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. ²⁸ I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. ²⁹ I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. ³⁰ When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.

³¹ So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. ³² The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. ³³ When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. ³⁴ The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.

Footnotes

1. Acts 23:5 Exodus 22:28
2. Acts 23:23 The meaning of the Greek for this word is uncertain.

 

A word about football

Not foobaw this time, but the original football, that grew up on the imperial and imperious fields of Eton. The English invented it, but their football team, like their empire, has long been in eclipse.

 

Here's a bit of advice. When you are winning, press your advantage, keep attacking, finish them off. Do not go into a crouch and invite your opponent to attack you. This goes double if Lionel Messi is among your opponents. The Argentine coach was smart and put Messi on the wing where he could get the ball down low, nullify the offsides, and set up his teammates with astonishingly beautiful, immaculate crosses. Yes, they had to finish the play, but I would say that his two assists were more impressive than two goals would have been. In fact, if Messi had been in the middle, he likely would not have scored, because he didn't have Messi to pass to him. 

 

But I digress. The English are eating bitterness right now, but in fact they've been drowning in their own excrement for a decade. They did it to themselves.  Now, as for the United States . . . 

Wednesday Bible Study: Still in need of an editor

In Chapter 2, Luke quotes Paul repeating the story of his prior persecution of Christians, his revelation on the road to Tarsus, yadda yadda yadda. A skilled writer would not simply repeat verbatim information the reader already has. The only other thing I'll say about this is that the claim that Paul was a Roman citizen is probably false, but in any case would not have availed him as it is claimed.

 

 

22 ¹ “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”

² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, ⁵ as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰ “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ ¹¹ My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

¹² “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. ¹³ He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵ You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

¹⁷ “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸ and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹ “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. ²⁰ And when the blood of your martyr^[a] Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’

²¹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”

Paul the Roman Citizen

²² The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”

²³ As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. ²⁵ As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷ The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

²⁹ Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

³⁰ The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.

Footnotes

1. Acts 22:20 Or witness

Sunday Sermonette: Still in need of an editor

This interminable and repetitive story just drones on and on. Now, all of a sudden, without explanation, it's in first person. The self-effacing narrator is accompanying Paul, but this has not been clear before. As always, characters are named once and then disappear. As always, some people are for Paul and some are against him, notably the Jews. So he goes to Jerusalem and, as many times before, is accused of leading people away from the law of Moses and nearly gets himself killed, yadda yadda yadda.

I will just note that they spend seven days in Tyre. Ezekiel, in chapters 26 and 27, prophesied that Tyre would be completely destroyed and never rebuilt. Oops!

 

21 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. ² We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. ³ After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴ We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵ When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. ⁶ After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

⁷ We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. ⁸ Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰ After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

¹² When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵ After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.

Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

¹⁷ When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us warmly. ¹⁸ The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰ When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. ²¹ They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. ²² What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, ²³ so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. ²⁴ Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. ²⁵ As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶ The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

Paul Arrested

²⁷ When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, ²⁸ shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

³⁰ The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. ³¹ While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³ The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. ³⁵ When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶ The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”

Paul Speaks to the Crowd

³⁷ As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸ “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness some time ago?”

³⁹ Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic^[a]:

Footnotes

1. Acts 21:40 Or possibly Hebrew; also in 22:2

 

A country gone insane

That would be the United States. Just yesterday the Pretzeldent, on foreign soil, ordered his treasury secretary to cut off all trade with Spain, evidently because the country didn't join his criminal and idiotic war against Iran, which by the way he recently called the Islamic Republic of Japan. He has no authority to do that, but it would be impossible anyway because, as the Dumpster evidently is unaware, Spain is a member of the European Union which has no economic borders. The only way to stop trade with Spain would be to stop trade with all of the EU. (The U.S. has a trade surplus with Spain anyway.) The treasury secretary, BTW, responded "Yes sir." 

 

I'm sure I don't have to show you further evidence that the guy's marbles are spilling from the bag.  But that's not the point of this post, we all know it. The point is that in any country with a functional political system every member of the legislature with the possible exception of a few who are as crazy as the head of state would react to this national emergency by acting to remove him from power. And the news media would make this the screaming, front page, most urgent story ever -- maybe even bigger than the use of a private email server by the secretary of state. Instead, they go out of their way not to report at all on most of his insane and aphasic outbursts, and to clean up the ones they do feel compelled to mention so they seem defensibly coherent.

 

But why? How is this in anyone's interest? Most of the people in positions of relative power and influence are evidently just as insane as he is. I do not get it. 

 

 

The collapse begins

We got an email today from our research center director informing us that three of our programmer/analysts have been laid off because of declining grant funding. I don't know the exact ratio, but this has to mean at least one or two fewer grad students and one or two fewer faculty. It also means we must be down at least one grant manager. Since we have fixed costs -- building maintenance, utilities, computer network administrators, receptionists, you name -- those will have to be spread over less grant support which means a downward spiral that will feed on itself.

 

The current fascist administration wants to destroy the U.S. scientific enterprise because it is a source of truth they cannot suppress or control. Hitler and Stalin did the same thing. When Hitler invaded Poland, he didn't get around to murdering the Jews until he had purged the so-called intelligentsia, the college professors. Stalin had his own pet crank scientists who set back Soviet agriculture and industry by decades. That's what they do. It is happening here. 

Hair on fire in academia

A couple of days ago we got a well-nigh hysterical message from the provost about proposed new regulations from OMB on the use of federal grants. He didn't actually say what was in the proposal, but he steered us to some resources. Here's a good one. As the Education Council tells us, "The OMB proposal is long, complex, and most easily summarized as an attempt to exert more political oversight and control over federal funds." I'll just give you a few highlights.

The . . . proposed regulations . . . seek to prevent federal funds from being used “to fund, promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate” the “denial by the recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic,”

Proposed section 200.205(b)(2), which applies to discretionary grants and cooperative agreements, would also seek to prohibit the use of federal dollars to “to fund, promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate . . . initiatives that compromise public safety or promote anti-American values.” These terms are vague and recipients may not know how funding agencies will interpret them or what conduct or program content would be considered a threat to public safety or as something “anti-American.”

Proposed section 200.218, which applies to grants and cooperative agreements, instructs agencies to “eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in all contexts relevant to Federal awards." . . . The proposed regulation includes, as part of this prohibition, using federal funds to support “disparate-impact studies, disparate impact litigation, or other related activities.” The scope here seems sweeping, especially for grantees that conduct research “studies,” which often focus on issues that disproportionately affect people of certain races or sexes.

Proposed section 200.202, which applies to grants and cooperative agreements, would require agencies, among other things, to design federal programs with clear goals and objectives that “[a]lign with administration policies and priorities.” Likewise, section 200.205(b)(1), which applies to discretionary grants and cooperative agreements would require that “where applicable and to the extent consistent with applicable law” discretionary awards “demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities.”

OMB’s proposal also includes procedural changes that could pose major obstacles to recipients’ receipt and continuity of federal funds. The Administration has an unprecedented record of attempting to freeze, cancel, and terminate federal grants. Many of these attempts have been successfully challenged in court. With this proposed rule, OMB seeks to further codify into agencies’ regulations its preferred funding process—one that infuses political and policy preferences into grantmaking and provides the Executive Branch with broad power over appropriated funds.

Academy Health, the association for health services research, writes:

Unlike recent executive actions that may be reversed by future administrations or the courts, this proposed rule would codify sweeping changes to federal grantmaking in regulation. AcademyHealth argues that the proposal would introduce political review into the grantmaking process by requiring senior political appointees to approve awards, fundamentally changing the role of peer review in determining which research receives federal support. The rule would also prohibit federal funding for activities related to DEI, gender ideology, and disparate-impact liability. These are restrictions that could significantly limit health disparities research and other studies that rely on demographic analyses. It would expand agencies’ authority to suspend or terminate grants and restrict researchers’ ability to publish, collaborate internationally, attend scientific conferences, and disseminate findings.

In other words, if I get a federal grant for research I have to use it to promote far right, racist ideology, and I cannot study any subjects that they don't want me to. Research grants will no longer be awarded based on scoring by peer reviewers, but by political appointees. This means the end of any meaningful science in public health. We might as well go out of business.

 

Wednesday Bible Study: Boring us to death

This endless, tedious, pointless account of Paul's peregrinations, in which various characters pop up and instantly disappear for no apparent reason, is undoubtedly one of the most inept pieces of literature ever created. Not only is Luke boring us to death with the endless story, but in this chapter Paul manages to bore a man to death with one of his all night sermons. Fortunately, Paul resurrects the guy. 

 

There's also more undiluted slamming of "the Jews" for not believing his crap. Paul also quotes Jesus as saying "It is more blessed to give than to receive," which I suppose is a valid sentiment depending on the context, but the saying appears nowhere in the gospels. Paul seems to have made it up. Anyway, I have something important to say so I'll step on this boring post fairly soon.

 

20 When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia. ² He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, ³ where he stayed three months. Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. ⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ⁵ These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. ⁶ But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

Eutychus Raised From the Dead at Troas

⁷ On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. ⁸ There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. ⁹ Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” ¹¹ Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. ¹² The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

¹³ We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. ¹⁴ When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷ From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. ¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. ¹⁹ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. ²⁰ You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

²⁵ “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. ²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,^[a] which he bought with his own blood.^{[b] 29} I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶ When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

Footnotes

1. Acts 20:28 Many manuscripts of the Lord
2. Acts 20:28 Or with the blood of his own Son