Who caused the "Mortgage Crisis?"

As banks fall all around us and our financial markets take a beating, the media is pointing the finger at "greedy" capitalists.

However, are they really to blame?

Neal Boortz makes a compelling case that it we aren't being told "The Rest of the Story."

In his editorial, Neal recounts that 20 years ago or so the "BIG NEWS STORY" was that minorities and the poor could not get home loans. The media would run story after story showing where RACISM had prevented a minority from getting a loan, excluding the facts that the person seeking the loan had no money saved, no consistent job history, and a large pile of consumer credit card debt.

Congress told lenders that if they didn't shape up and find a way to get mortgages to these people, then congress would start regulating the industry even more. SO...the mortgage companies did find a way to give loans to people who weren't necessarily qualified. They developed a product called the "sub-prime" mortgage.

So. Who caused the mortgage crisis? Was it the "greedy" companies or was it an overzealous government? Or, was it a combination of both?

Book Survey: I Timothy

Erin and I are attending the Sunday School class on 1 Timothy this quarter. When I am a teacher, I hate it when people come to class unprepared. People want to have discussions in class about the subject matter, but how can I, as a teacher, facilitate a discussion when I am the only person who has taken the time to study the subject? That's one of the reasons most of classes are more "lecture" style than "discussion." I've studied the subject. I've become the expert.

Anyway, the teacher of the 1 Timothy class is a discussion teacher, so I am studying 1 Timothy so that I can contribute in a positive manner. I am using the methods that I taught to do the study. So, when studying a book, the first thing to do is the Book Survey method. Here is my Book Survey study of 1 Timothy.

Recent Scripture Slides

I've only created two new scripture slides recently.

Genesis 1:2

Hebrews 2:10

Twittering

Last week during in-service, the administration (after going to some conferences) of Erin's school was really pushing incorporating new technology in the classroom. They suggested that teachers make blogs, join MySpace, etc...

What is funny here is that when I was consulting for the school two ago, the administration wanted access to all that kind of information blocked. Now, they want to use it.

I think it is a futile idea because as soon as adults move into a student community, the students migrate away. As soon as something becomes mainstream enough that teachers use it, the students find some other technology or place to socially network.

The key, then, is to be ahead of the main stream adults. I told Erin if she really wants to be ahead of the curve, then she needs to begin using Twitter, because that is the next "big" social-networking type application. I am going to play with the service and see how it can be used for business and maybe how Erin can use it for school.

She can be the cool teacher for using it. It hasn't made it main stream yet, so it'll be a year or two before the school Administration gets wind of it. Of course, I fully expect them to want to block it first.

Mihaela prays

Part of the bed time routine is prayer. Usually, though, the kids will not pray and I have to pray "with" them. That's fine. I am modeling the behavior I want them to exemplify later in life.

Tonight I prayed with Noah and then went to pray with Mihaela. I said, "Let's pray" and she said, "I want to pray." I replied, "Of course you can pray."

She said:

Dear God, Thank you for today. Thank you for mommy, daddy, Noah, and Lannom. Please help me to do good at school tomorrow. I love you Jesus. Amen

I cried a little.

My little girl starts school tomorrow and she is growing up too fast.