Seriously | White Privilege II

in the wind | tweets from space ending 02.21.16

cognitive dissonance | sometimes I can hardly believe I believe http://buff.ly/1PKaIp2

it's complicated | assessing HIV risk in underage Black, Hispanic + White US high school boys http://buff.ly/1PR7gZZ

teach your children | limits > training > responsibility > feedback > autonomy http://buff.ly/1KkJ7ur 

watching what they want | @commonsense on kids' Wild West YouTube viewing habits http://buff.ly/1QdGyGx

15-24 year-olds | rate of US White drug poisoning deaths 3x higher than Hispanics + 4x higher than Blacks http://buff.ly/1ol0EIz 

shoot me now | glad somebody finally did some polling on this = - ) http://buff.ly/1ol0EIz 

in the wind | tweets from the space ending 02.06.16

Study: Abuse by family members + other adults far more common than in youth-serving organizations http://buff.ly/1nZxyyE

Boomers + drugs | US drug overdose deaths in people aged 45–54 are more than 3x greater than in those aged 15–25 http://buff.ly/1X27a2Y

take 4 of these... | advice on making gun violence harder from the Journal of the American Medical Association 

thinking about all my friends who visit mosquito-rich environments... | MMWR http://buff.ly/1SAk1e2

in the wind | tweets from the space ending 01.31.16

1991-2014, US birth rate for 15–19 year-old females dropped 61%, from 61.8 to 24.2 per 1,000 http://buff.ly/1RXn3In

it ads up | day-to-day e-cigarette advertising impressions + teenagers http://1.usa.gov/1OiOKJ4

sick of political correctness http://buff.ly/1OF3pOR 

Yes, some types of screen time are better than others http://buff.ly/1Pwf52S

Liars, Tyrants + Beers (Oh my!) | What worries parents right now http://buff.ly/1RLjq8Q 

What's your school district's policy dealing with student-on-student sexual assault allegations http://buff.ly/1P0ESnC

"the crouch before a leap" | a brief history + long view on digital reading http://buff.ly/1T2KJKQ 
teaching kids to neutralize trolls + haters http://buff.ly/1nIJTam

87% of US kids 0 - 14 engage in non-screen traditional play each week http://buff.ly/1UnL7Cf 

Ad features regular girl with regular body | everybody freak out http://buff.ly/1KDUaJM 

"...it appears that Gen Z may not be as enamored with luxury goods as millennials were" http://buff.ly/1PRl2aT

are your kids' favorite Minecraft video channels "family friendly"? http://buff.ly/1nTC01T 

read it yourself | 2016 State of the Union Address

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

January 13, 2016

Remarks by the President in the State of the Union Address

United States Capitol
Washington, D.C.  

9:10 P.M. EST

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, my fellow Americans:  

Tonight marks the eighth year that I’ve come here to report on the State of the Union.  And for this final one, I’m going to try to make it a little shorter.  (Applause.)  I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa.  (Laughter.)  I've been there.  I'll be shaking hands afterwards if you want some tips.  (Laughter.)  

And I understand that because it’s an election season, expectations for what we will achieve this year are low.  But, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach that you and the other leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget and make tax cuts permanent for working families.  So I hope we can work together this year on some bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform -- (applause) -- and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse and heroin abuse.  (Applause.)  So, who knows, we might surprise the cynics again.  

But tonight, I want to go easy on the traditional list of proposals for the year ahead.  Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty, from helping students learn to write computer code to personalizing medical treatments for patients.  And I will keep pushing for progress on the work that I believe still needs to be done.  Fixing a broken immigration system.  (Applause.)  Protecting our kids from gun violence.  (Applause.)  Equal pay for equal work.  (Applause.)  Paid leave.  (Applause.)  Raising the minimum wage. (Applause.)  All these things still matter to hardworking families.  They’re still the right thing to do.  And I won't let up until they get done.

But for my final address to this chamber, I don’t want to just talk about next year.  I want to focus on the next five years, the next 10 years, and beyond.  I want to focus on our future.

Not there yet, but... | measurable progress

read it yourself | Remarks by the President on Common-Sense Gun Safety Reform 01.05.16

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

January 05, 2016

Remarks by the President on Common-Sense Gun Safety Reform

East Room

11:43 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you, everybody.  Please have a seat.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.

Mark, I want to thank you for your introduction.  I still remember the first time we met, the time we spent together, and the conversation we had about Daniel.  And that changed me that day.  And my hope, earnestly, has been that it would change the country. 

Five years ago this week, a sitting member of Congress and 18 others were shot at, at a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona.  It wasn’t the first time I had to talk to the nation in response to a mass shooting, nor would it be the last.  Fort Hood.  Binghamton.  Aurora.  Oak Creek.  Newtown.  The Navy Yard.  Santa Barbara.  Charleston.  San Bernardino.  Too many.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Too many.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Too many.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Too many.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thanks to a great medical team and the love of her husband, Mark, my dear friend and colleague, Gabby Giffords, survived.  She’s here with us today, with her wonderful mom.  (Applause.)  Thanks to a great medical team, her wonderful husband, Mark -- who, by the way, the last time I met with Mark  -- this is just a small aside -- you may know Mark’s twin brother is in outer space.  (Laughter.)  He came to the office, and I said, how often are you talking to him?  And he says, well, I usually talk to him every day, but the call was coming in right before the meeting so I think I may have not answered his call -- (laughter) -- which made me feel kind of bad.  (Laughter.)    That’s a long-distance call.  (Laughter.)  So I told him if his brother, Scott, is calling today, that he should take it.  (Laughter.)  Turn the ringer on.  (Laughter.) 

I was there with Gabby when she was still in the hospital, and we didn’t think necessarily at that point that she was going to survive.  And that visit right before a memorial -- about an hour later Gabby first opened her eyes.  And I remember talking to mom about that.  But I know the pain that she and her family have endured these past five years, and the rehabilitation and the work and the effort to recover from shattering injuries.

And then I think of all the Americans who aren’t as fortunate.  Every single year, more than 30,000 Americans have their lives cut short by guns -- 30,000.  Suicides.  Domestic violence.  Gang shootouts.  Accidents.  Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost brothers and sisters, or buried their own children.  Many have had to learn to live with a disability, or learned to live without the love of their life. 

A number of those people are here today.  They can tell you some stories.  In this room right here, there are a lot of stories.  There’s a lot of heartache.  There’s a lot of resilience, there’s a lot of strength, but there’s also a lot of pain.  And this is just a small sample.

The United States of America is not the only country on Earth with violent or dangerous people.  We are not inherently more prone to violence.  But we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency.  It doesn't happen in other advanced countries.  It’s not even close.  And as I’ve said before, somehow we’ve become numb to it and we start thinking that this is normal.

And instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our most polarized, partisan debates -- despite the fact that there’s a general consensus in America about what needs to be done.  That’s part of the reason why, on Thursday, I’m going to hold a town hall meeting in Virginia on gun violence.  Because my goal here is to bring good people on both sides of this issue together for an open discussion. 

in the wind | tweets from the space ending 12.31.15

the year in gun violence | If you're OK with things as they are for a little longer, no action is required http://buff.ly/1RkjFXx 

"Take the redemption of the ungodly and the love of enemy out of the Christian faith, and you un-Christian it" http://buff.ly/1O93buU

2002–14 teen DUI-alcohol fell from 16.2 - 6.6%. DUI-alcohol+pot dropped from 2.2 - 1.4% http://buff.ly/1MioB7E

what would cool Jesus do? | a remarkable piece of writing in this season of longing http://buff.ly/1NZoaVf 

a bracing - and, I think, fair - commentary on male fragility in these United States - you … http://buff.ly/1QBmmnu 

Meet Your Second Wife | SNL (+ comedy) at its best http://buff.ly/1OHckve 

short + sweet | The Editorial Board of the Washington Post on the spirit of Jesus this Christmas http://buff.ly/1RKmhhy 

comfort + joy | "scaring people is a fantastic way to sell things" http://buff.ly/1U7NOHw 

Pastor: "my family of faith is wrong on guns." http://buff.ly/1JHiNot 

No father should ever have clear cause to feel this... but here we are. Let's get busy http://bit.ly/1UfcKgt  [h/t @EphremSmith]

Thanks, @InterVarsity, for affirming that #BlackLivesMatter. May your tribe increase http://bit.ly/1Oruroz 

think of it as video dim sum @ the closing of the year http://bit.ly/1PzZ52v  #

At $2, think of it as video dim sum.

All the video at thetinycompanycalledme.com me is now just $2 a serving - except the stuff that's free.

Under the Moon + Stars (feat. Mark Yaconelli)

The newest piece is called Under the Moon + Stars, featuring Mark Yaconelli telling a delightful story about something that happened the summer he was 13 years-old. It's a great way introduce a conversation about the future, about dreaming, about growing up, about being the person who believes in people + about the people who believe in us...

All the videos at thetinycompanycalledme.com are short, sweet, cheap and tuned to ignite reflection + conversation about faith + spiritual formation, about taking risks, going deep, growing up.

Know anyone who cares about things like that? Send them on over for a free taste, or an inexpensive meal, you know for... the soul.

Happy New Year.

jh

Meet Your 2nd Wife | SNL (+ comedy) at its best

As husband, father, brother, son, youth worker - all of me - I don't think it gets much better than this...

2015 | the year in US gun violence

The costs and benefits of cheap and easy access to firearms are written between the lines of this summary from the Gun Violence Archive.

You can find out how many people have been shot near you this year right here (one murder/suicide .57 miles from my home this year).

Click here to connect with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America — the movement birthed in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut three years ago today. 

Use these links to communicate your passion directly to your US Senators and Congressional Representative.

If you're good with things as they are for a little while longer, no action is required at this time.

total embarrassment two | how it maybe came to this...

How did Jesus become an embarrassment to the Christian faith? Perhaps this snapshot tells part of that story…

My friend lamented, among other unsettling developments, the taking down of 10 Commandments displays in public spaces - as if most, or even many, of us care the tiniest bit about keeping those commandments personally or collectively. 

I said, “I think, if you care about the 10 Commandments, then live them out. Be the public display, carved in flesh and bone." I didn't mean to be glib... at least not entirely. 

If we were talking about taking down public displays of The Sermon on the Mount, I might have to think a little harder, but there's no danger of that. Nobody wants to be reminded of what Jesus said about how we are to conduct ourselves - the behavior and motives of those who learn his way. This is where Jesus is an embarrassment to the Christian faith. He prohibits exactly what most people seem to relish and demands exactly the sort of things almost no one likes or wants to do. He forbids retaliation and revenge, commands us to love our enemies and persecutors, and make peace with them or die trying. He calls us to be merciful, to forgive those who wrong us, to give up anger, to negotiate and reconcile, to settle out of court. Jesus commands us to love God as if nothing else matters, and he commands us to treat everyone we encounter with the loving kindness we want for ourselves. Christians hate this stuff so much we almost make it disappear by never talking about it, or talking about it only to explain it away. Most folks don't know how disagreeable the demands of Jesus are, because we've hidden them away where they can't do us any damage - or do us any good either... 

The rollup to Christmas has long been dedicated to considering and expressing our longings. What I long for this Christmas looks something like being the sort of person, and living in the company of people, who might be willing to love Jesus as Jesus is; not as we have attempted to remake him in our own image. I say "attempted" because the effort has failed so spectacularly that even a child - perhaps especially a child - can spot the fake a mile away (which is about as close as many of our neighbors want to get to anything like "church"). 

I want to welcome the embarrassing Jesus, and anyone he brings with him, to the feast of Christmas this year. To me, rest of it sounds like noise.