Fran is an in-home case manager for a program that visits young parents (mothers mostly) who, because of their age, education and economic circumstances are at risk for abusing or neglecting their children.This week, as she does every week, Fran visited a new mother: just sixteen, she held her new baby with love and pride. … Continue reading Teach Your Children Poorly

The Early Gourd Gets the WormHe must have been quite a sight, when he finally walked into Nineveh. Stinking like rotting fish, his flesh bleached white with acid, his prophet robes mottled with seaweed and sand. And when he carried that homemade placard that read: “Repent the End is Near!” they did. There was crying … Continue reading

My friend, David Britt, President of the United Way of Central Louisiana, sent me this letter he wrote to his community. It's too good not to share.For Sunday, September 11It’s been almost two weeks since the good people of New Orleans braced for Hurricane Katrina, a mere fortnight as they used to say in the … Continue reading

It’s New Year’s Day, in the Fourth Year of our War Against Terrorism. There will be solemn observances today, of course; and for the families who lost loved ones in the attacks on New York and Washington, the hurt remains as fresh as ever. But for most of the rest of us, the pain has … Continue reading Dreaming On 9-11

The conditions of the poor in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are serving as fodder for the argument that "welfare provides financial incentives for people to be enrolled in it."Rather than argue with this logical nonsequitor, I am reproducing the facts of "TANF" in Louisiana. Then you go explain it to Jesus how welfare … Continue reading Stupid Idea Dethroned: Welfare Causes Riches

Ten months after the Great Flood, the Bible says that Noah started sending out birds, to see if it was safe to leave the Ark. First he sends a raven, which comes back shortly, wings still wet with water. Then, a week later, he sends out a dove, which returns with an olive branch in … Continue reading The Halliburton Dove