Manchmal frage ich mich, wie bestimmte Personen zu medialer Berühmtheit gelangt sind. Dabei möchte ich jetzt mal solche sogenannten Castingsshows wie Supertalent , DSDS oder Popstars außen vorlassen. Da weiß man schließlich, wie die häufig eher talentarmen Stars zum ersten Mal ins zweifelhafte Licht der Bühenwelt gerückt wurden.

Es geht vielmehr um Personen, die mich seit ihrem ersten Auftritt dazu bewegen, den Kanal zu wechseln oder den Fernseher ganz auszuschalten. Menschen wie Mario Barth etwa. Irgendwann war er da, und bleibt da. Nicht nur, dass der Comedian auf allen möglichen Sendern präsent ist. Sogar die Werbeindustrie zieht ihren Nutzen aus seiner Beliebtheit.

Interessant ist dabei, dass die neuen Werbespots von Mediamarkt das Konzept “Mario Barth” noch nicht einmal modifizieren mussten. Die Spots erscheinen wie Auszüge aus seinem Bühnenprogramm.  Mit dem für ihn typischen Monologstil soll er nun auch die Hallen der Mediamärkte mit konsumwilligen Kunden füllen.

Denn der Mann scheint mit seinen simplen Gags den Geschmack der breiten Masse zu treffen.

Ein  Comedian, der in einem müden Aufwasch ausgelutschte Gags über die männlich-weibliche Interaktion zum Besten gibt.  Man sollte  mich hier nicht falsch verstehen, das Verhältnis von Mann und Frau bietet zahlreiche Ansatzpunkte für eine unterhaltsame und humorvolle Analyse. Loriot, den ich hier in Abgrenzung zum allgemeinen Comedian lieber als Humorist bezeichnen möchte, hat das eindrucksvoll bewiesen.

Aber simple Stereotype und Sexismus sind in unserer scheinbar aufgeklärten Gesellschaft immer noch Garant für Erfolg. Das hat auch Mediamarkt erkannt. Gar keine besonders kreative Leistung der Marketingabteilung also, möchte man meinen. Da lässt man den Mann einfache Werbetexte ohne tiefgründigen Humor aufsagen, Witze auf Kosten des weiblichen Geschlechts inklusive,  und lässt ein Showpublikum so reagieren, wie es auch die ins Stadion strömenden Menschen tun würden.

“Das ist mein Laden!” Diesen Satz schleudert Mario Barth als Gallionsfigur der breiten Masse  jedem mehr oder minder konsumkritischen Fernsehzuschauer entgegen. sein Laden, der Laden für die breite Masse.Und an der Stelle gestehe ich erhrlich: Gar nicht so dumm, diese Mediamarktleute!

Woher wusste Abraham Ortelius wo Vineta lag? Er hat 1584 auf seiner Ostseekarte Vineta eingezeichnet. Man braucht ein gutes Auge, um den Namen der Stadt Vineta zu erkennen. Aus diesem Grunde habe ich Vineta mit roter Linie unterstrichen. Mit scharfem Auge lassen sich auch die Städte Wolgast, Barth und Stralsund erkennen.

Not sure who to credit this to, but I'd like to find out. If you know who did this please tell me.

Karl Barth is easily one of the most important theologians of the past 100 years. He’s interesting, brilliant, poetic, unique, innovative, helpful, stretching, provocative and frustrating. He’s a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.

Here’s a quote where Barth explains how he views the importance of both preaching and sacraments and also how he thinks preaching and sacraments should be related to each other:

“[The Reformers] regarded the representative event at the centre of the Church’s life as proclamation, as an act concerned with speaking and hearing, indicative of the fact that what is at issue in the thing proclaimed too is not a material connexion but a personal encounter. In this light they had to regulate the mutual relations of preaching and sacrament in a very definite way. To be sure, they could not and would not assign to the sacrament the place which falls to preaching according to Roman Catholic dogmatics. Proclamation of the basis of the promise which has been laid once for all, and therefore proclamation in the form of symbolic action, had to be and to remain essential for them. But this proclamation presupposes that the other, namely, repetition of the biblical promises, is taking place. The former must exist for the sake of the latter, and therefore the sacrament for the sake of the preaching, not vice versa. Hence not the sacrament alone nor preaching alone, nor yet, to speak meticulously, preaching and the sacrament in double track, but preaching with the sacrament, with the visible act that confirms human speech as God’s act, is the constitutive element, the perspicuous centre of the Church’s life [...] Evangelical Churches can and must be termed the churches of preaching.”

                                     Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics I.1.70

 Barth’s point is that both preaching and sacraments are vitally important to the life of the church. But it is always sacrament tied to the preaching of God’s Word. Sacrament alongside preaching. Not preaching alongside sacrament. Not preaching and sacrament on equal level. But preaching with sacrament.

 But this isn’t to say sacraments aren’t important, or that they’re optional. Far from it.

Preaching is to be preeminent. And both preaching and sacrament – verbal and visual proclamation – are essential.

Ich stecke momentan in §14 (KD I/2) mit dem Titel “Die Zeit der Offenbarung”. Unter anderem geht es darum, dass Gott in seiner Fleischwerdung “Zeit für uns hat”; Barth meint das wohl in seinen beiden Bedeutungsspielarten: Gott hat in Christus Zeit für uns, so wie er einen Körper hat, anfassbar wird. Und im ganz praktischen Sinn: Gott hat Zeit für uns, nimmt uns also wichtig. Und hier setzt ein nettes Zitat an, mal wieder aus den kleingedruckten Exkursen:

Wir mögen dabei [dass Gott Zeit für uns hat] wohl daran denken, daß Zeit haben für einander (…) in Wirklichkeit den Inbegriff aller Wohltaten bezeichnet, die ein Mensch dem andern erweisen kann. Wenn ich jemandem meine Zeit wirklich schenke, dann schenke ich ihm eben damit das Eigentlichste und Letzte, was ich überhaupt zu verschenken habe, nämlich mich selber. Schenke ich ihm meine Zeit nicht, so bleibe ich ihm gewiß alles schuldig und wenn ich ihm im übrigen noch so viel schenkte. (KD I/2, 60)

Predestination and Reason

There is a particularly unsettling reason for why Calvinists, or Reformed Christians, shirk philosophy and natural theology as “idolatry,” in the tradition of Karl Barth. It is because, I believe, in a nutshell, philosophy offers a valid critique against the Catch-22 shortfalls of Calvinism, having primarily to do with how a person is a Christian.

In Calvinism, a person isn’t a Christian because they chose to be, but because God “elected” them to be a Christian, and so regenerated them from their sinful lifestyles which they otherwise wouldn’t have chosen to leave. That is how a Calvinist would put it; the reality is that, according to Calvinists, a person is only a Christian because God made them to be, and the reason a person isn’t a Christian is because they are unable to because God won’t save them.

So, let us talk about the Calvinists and the non-Calvinists in their own language; the elect and the damned.

Why is philosophy untenable to the Calvinist? The first question might be “How can the Calvinist go without philosophy?” This question arises because, as a Christian, the only real way to explain Christianity to the unbelieving world, to explain to an unbeliever why they would want to become a Christian, is because it is the Truth, and this Truth could be shown through philosophy. This presupposes a choice, however; that there is a choice to accept God or reject God.

To Calvinists, we do not have this choice. Hence, there is no need for philosophy, since the Calvinist’s only responsibility is to tell someone to convert; if God has chosen for them to be converted, then they will be converted, and if they choose not to, then it is because God hasn’t chosen them. The elect convert, the damned don’t convert, for no reason other than that is what God chose for them to do.

That is why Calvinists can shirk philosophy; the people they engage in evangelism with don’t convert, not because of unconvincing arguments on the Calvinist’s side, but because that person is inherently sinful and will view the Calvinist’s arguments as flawed as a matter of (sinful) principle. This is the conclusion of the Calvinist premise of predestination.

Why does this make God a tyrant?

Simply said, a person who was unable to be responsible to something (through ontological or epistemological insufficiency) cannot be reasonably damned for that. The person who is the damned is only damned because God wouldn’t rescue them from a plight they had no way of even knowing they were in. They aren’t damned for being sinners, they are damned because they were passed over, and some others elected.

From my observation of contemporary preaching, neither “conservative” nor “liberal” preachers are immune from the temptation to take the grace of God into our hands and justify our sermons on the basis of our own rhetorical efforts, though we do this in different ways. Too many who fancy themselves as “expository,” even “biblical” preachers tend first to reduce the bubbling biblical text to a set of propositions, such as “six biblical principles for success” or “ten steps to a happier family life,” and then preach those conceivable steps, using bits of the Bible as a sort of gloss on the principles that they derived from contemporary culture rather than from the scripture. Preachers of a more liberal disposition devise some story, an extended illustration, whereby they hope to evoke–more typically, to induce–some feeling of God’s nearness to and affirmation of the listener in the listener. Both methods tend to be evasions of the truth that “the just shall live by faith.”
- William H. Willimon, Conversations with Barth on Preaching (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006) 174.

Public Safety Commission Meeting Thursday

November 19, 2009, 10:30 a.m.

Criminal Law Enforcement Auditorium
6100 Guadalupe, Bldg E

Austin, TX 78752

SUMMARY

(This report represents a summary of events of the meeting,
 and is not necessarily complete nor an exact transcript of testimony.)

The Public Safety Commission convened as posted to consider and take formal action, as necessary, on the following agenda items:

I. CALL TO ORDER

10:37 am: Chairman Polunsky called the meeting to order. In attendance: Chairman Alan Polunsky, Commissioners Tom Clowe, Carin Barth, Ada Brown and John Steen. Also present were Director Steve McCraw, Dep. Dir. Lamar Beckworth, Dep. Director Brad Rable, and General Counsel Stuart Platt.  A quorum is present.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes were approved unanimously.

III. PUBLIC COMMENT (members of the public wishing to address the Commission are subject to a time limit of 5 minutes and must complete a Public Comment Registration Card located at the entry table)

Donald W. Dickson, Parker Law Firm on behalf of TSTA: I offer a prayer for the safety of our officers throughout the holiday.

I would like to address the proposed “Integrity Policy” which admittedly I haven’t seen. I’m not sure why we need a new policy since the Supreme Court laid out guidelines as far back as 1972.  I haven’t seen a lack of integrity is any more or less of an issue now.  The Department already has a 5 inch thick policy.  What concerns me is that with the incredible amount of paperwork that an officer has to fill out, that the Department has been inconsistent as to when the “truth” requirement is absolute, such as when officers finish an in-service at 3:00, they are told to fill in their paperwork as having left at 5:00.  Integrity means everything to officers, and when they are tripped up by a detail, it shouldn’t have to follow them for their entire career.
Commissioner Brown explained why the Commissioners feel that this integrity policy is so important.  If there are supervisors that are instructing a trooper to do something that is not ethical, we want to talk to that supervisor.  I don’t think that it is our intention to trip up officers on typos or honest mistakes.  We do want to send a clear message from the top to the bottom that we demand integrity throughout the Department.
Col. McCraw added that the core value of the Department is integrity.  The vast majority of our ranks follow this down the line.  We want to draw a clear line that if you are caught in any lie that could jeopardize the ability of the state to prosecute a crime, it will not be tolerated, and they will no longer be a trooper.
Comm. Barth – That is just what we are trying to do, end the environment of fudging. 
Chairman Polunsky -  This commission is doing everything we can for the rank and file troopers on the road, but we will have a zero policy for anything other than the truth.
Mr. Dickson suggested that perhaps a non-disciplinary ruling could be made by council when there is a question of which version of the “truth” should be entered into the record.

IV. DIRECTORS REPORT

Colonel Steve McCraw – Our next step in our charge to improve homeland security is to lay out a strategic plan.  We anticipate an 18% increase in population along our border.

• Another Deloitte recommendation was to create a counter-intelligence initiative which is what we are doing with our fusion center and we are building a policy to coordinate other fusion centers, like the one in Laredo/Webb County, activities across the state.
  
• TXDOT – The barrier cables along our highways are an impediment to DPS responding to accidents.  We are asking for access points that will allow emergency vehicles to cross the median in response to incidents.  We are also wanting TXDOT to address the problem of setting up CVE inspection stations like the one in San Marcos that puts our officers and the public in danger due to the backup that such inspections necessarily cause.
  
• Later today you will hear about DPS’s response to the horrific incident at Ft. Hood, and I would like to commend everyone for the excellent job that they did in this difficult situation.
  
• We continue to work to improve coordination with Public Prosecutors to improve communications across various law enforcement agencies.
  Chairman Polunsky questioned Col. McCraw about the need and duplicity of regional fusion centers when we are working hard to make the DPS fusion center in Austin the finest in the state.  Col. McCraw stated that some of these centers have been funded by various grants, and have some significant track record.  It is our focus to coordinate these centers and benefit from their expertise and communication.
  Comm. Steen asked what Col. McCraw feels are his major accomplishments  and challenges in his four months as the Director.
  Accomplishments:
   
   
   
  • 1. The leadership team that I have been able to build with the Commission’s help
    2. The demonstrated efficacy of the Regional system that was recommended by Deloitte and has proven to be an efficient model
    3. The TXDOT partnership that we have just discussed. Coalitions and partnerships are going to be critical to our success when competing for limited financial resources

  Challenges:

   
   
  • 1. As Don Dickson pointed out, the 5 inch policy manual poses many challenges and we are working to address this.
    2. On the service side, Dep. Dir. Rable is working to address our HR from recruitment to retirement.
    3. We are challenged by getting the additional black and whites that the legislature and the governor has given us outfitted and on the roads in a timely manner.

  Comm. Clowe thanked him but suggested that he left out a few accomplishments, including progress in cleaning up the DL Division, and improving the concealed handgun licensing issuance timeline, and your hands on approach to improving recruiting.
   

   

V. NEW BUSINESS

A. Discharge appeal hearing and possible action regarding DPS Employee Jonathan Barnett

Mr. Barnett has dropped his appeal, having been convicted in a criminal matter.

B. Report, discussion and possible action on the Fiscal Year 2010 Operating Budget

Sheryl McBride, Asst. Director for Finance at DPS.  Comm. Barth’s assistance in preparing this budget has been invaluable. Some months ago it was identified that there were non-funded items that need to be addressed.  We have identified $23,409.822 in unfilled salary positions of which we propose using approximately $17,300,000 towards the non-operating expenses, leaving a shortage of $6,056,950, and another $10,164,965 in motor vehicle inspection fees  and crime records receipts that could be applied to the operating costs leaving a shortage of $776,662. Our total unfunded shortage is $6,834,612.

First – Budget Variance Framework FY 2010 Item Description:

Non-Operating

• 1. Stipends for bi-lingual officers cannot be covered out of the highway patrol budget – $608,988
  2. State Auditor classification costs – $406,959
  3. Lump Sum Retirement Payments – $2,125,000 (not included in the LAR)
  4. Non-Commission Salaries – $3,091,212
  5. HP HQ, Regional Staff & Breath Test – $4,034,360 (51 additional positions + bldg costs)
  6. Reorganizational Expense – $2,242,499
  7. Drivers License Salary Civilian Model – $1,600,000
  8. Concealed Hand Gun Demand Projection – $2,842,854
  9. Generator Finish Out – $400,000

Operating Costs

• 1. Utilities – $2,071,323 (requested in the LAR but not approved by the legislature)
  2. Gasoline (Appd at $1.38/gal) $6,966,980 (again requested but not approved)
  3. DPS Building Assessment – TFC – $350,000

Total:  $26,740,175

Comm. Clowe – The latest organizational chart was approved 10/29/2009.

Comm. Barth asked Col. McCraw about the 11.5% overage cost and how the Department was going to deal with it.  Col. McCraw explained that because of a newly mandated procedure of having to purchase cars like all other state agencies due, through a dealership.  To address this, we are going to be forced to accept 11.5% fewer cars.  We used to be able to negotiate purchasing our vehicles directly from the manufacturer and were able to make better deals.

Items for Future Consideration

• 1. HQ Security TFC Design Specs – $350,000
  2. HQ Security Construction – TBD
  3. Recruit School Dorm Safety and Water – $4,000,000
  4. Recruit School 10 Weeks 2010 – $921,761
  5. Recruit School Starting 7/2010 – $645,233 (first 7 weeks – remainder to fall into 2011)
  6. Information Technology Critical Salary – $1,100,000
  7. General Counsel Additional Staff – Procurement – $443,050
  8. Texas DPS 75th Anniversary – $25,000
  9. Private Security Technology Request – $2,200,000

Total – $9,685,000

Asst. Dir. Bowie –  in response to Chairman Clowe’s question, we hadn’t considered passing along the additional funding request for the Private Security Bureau to the beneficiaries of that request.  We will look into that.

Comm. Barth questioned the significant costs of running the recruit schools and upgrading the academy.

Col. McCraw said that they are considering doing in-service training at regional facilities, which could provide a significant savings.

Comm. Barth suggested that the Department look at putting in a “Ford” fix for now, rather than the Fire Marshal’s “Cadillac” solution.

Chairman Polunsky put the Director on the spot by asking how much the “patch” solutions are costing the Department. He asked Col. McCraw that if he didn’t know that number, who is responsible for knowing what that cost is.

Comm. Barth moved to approve the $26,740,000 as laid out, with the stipulation that no new, unfunded non-commissioned positions or hires are added.

Chairman Polunsky admonished Finance that he does not feel that going back to the “unfilled positions salaries” cookie jar year after year.

Commission passed the motion unanimously.

Comm. Clowe moved to approve the HQ Security ($350,000) and the 10 Week Recruit School ($921,7610 and leave the remaining Future Consideration items for further discussion and action at the next PSC Meeting.

Comm. Clowe withdrew his motion until later in this meeting or perhaps the next PSC Meeting.

Valarie Fulmer, Assistant Director for Administration, reported back to the Commission that the recruit classed utilize a total of 25 commissioned personnel and 14 non-commissioned personnel.

Chairman Polunsky asked where Ms. Fulmer got the information, and she replied from the Academy staff.  He suggested that all departments should consider having more support staff on hand for the Commission meetings.  He has noticed that the crowd has thinned at these meetings.

4:45 pm,  Chairman Polunsky asked to return to this agenda item, and after discussion in executive session, the Commission would like to take further action.  Comm. Barth, despite reservations of the $4,000,000 price of the Dorm Safety and water issue, I would recommend that we move the academy off campus.  Comm. Clowe agreed and said that the long term fix has to be addressed.

Comm. Barth moved to authorize $1,000,000 of the $4,000,000 to take appropriate emergency actions to move off campus for the interim and to move forward with getting a engineering and cost proposal for making the necessary remodel to the Academy to meet the Fire Marshall’s required updates.

Passed unanimously.

Comm. Brown moved to postpone the 10 week recruit school and not extend further offers.  Second by Comm. Clowe.

Passed unanimously.

All other items will be deferred to later meetings.

 
C. Discussion and possible action to define Contract Review Board and role of
Commissioner on the Board

Comm. Barth – I’ve been working with Valarie Fulmer to differentiate between the large contracts from those that don’t need direct Commission oversight.  She asked Stuart Platt to review the contracts and recommend the ones that are appropriate for oversight, and particularly the ones involving exigent matters.

D. Discuss and possible action on proposed Mission, Vision, Goals and Values statements for the department

Col. McCraw – I’ve been working with my Leadership Team to develop these statements:

Mission – What we do… – “Protect and Serve” (Texas)
Vision – How we do it…
Goals – Where we are going…- “Combat Terrorism and Crime, Public Safety, Lead in Response and Recovery, Provide World Class Services” (these are not prioritized).
Values – Why we do it… – “Integrity, Teamwork, Excellence, and Accountability”

We recommend keeping our same motto: “Courtesy, Service, Protection”.

Comm. Clowe moved to adopt the recommended statements.  Comm. Brown seconded.  Approved unanimously.
    

VI. ADJOURN INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION (if required) to consult with legal counsel regarding pending or contemplated litigation or settlement offers or to receive legal advice on items posted on this agenda; deliberation regarding real estate matters; consideration of any other items authorized by law, including personnel matters, the Directors action of discharging employees as identified in this agenda; ongoing criminal investigations

Commission adjourned to Executive Session at 1:30 pm.
Reconvene: 3:50 pm.

VII. ONGOING BUSINES
Reports, discussion and possible action regarding the following:
A. Report, discussion and possible action regarding recruitment policy committee

Comm. Ada Brown – Almost half of the current recruit class come from current DPS Troopers, and only 11% came from the current recruiting efforts. We have 5 recruiters in Austin and 7 regional recruiters, and 0 full time recruiters.  We have a Lieutenant, 4 Sergeants and 4 Corporals in Austin.  These recruiters primary responsibility is to THP not to HR.  I recommend that we: 1. add at least one full time recruiter; 2. Move the recruiter office on the HQ campus (currently in Bldg C on HQ campus) or move to a public venue like a Mall; 3. Create and distribute a uniform recruit data form that our troopers in the field can carry with them to hand out when appropriate; encourage troopers to have a community presence – wear uniforms to events etc. (Asst. Dir. Baker has been very supportive for this) ; we have 7 wrapped recruitment vehicles (one per region) and I would like to see more; we have no materials to distribute – we need a brochure;  we need more of these pop-up “billboards” for use at recruiting fairs; if we bumped the Corporal to a full Sergeant position it would help to retain recruiters and compensate them for not being able to have secondary employment; I recommend a $1,000 incentive to employees that bring in a recruit that gets commissioned.; diversify our skill set recruiting; our website is inadequate in the recruiting area; buy a “joindps.org” domain address…easier to jot down or remember; Consider adding the pop-up displays at all of the DL offices; create a marketing advisory board to create great branding too; consider guaranteeing a duty assignment before the Academy start; develop a mentor program for recruits and families; create a regional liaison program for recruits and families for relocation; advertize the college credit available from the Academy; try to get the legislature to allow college tuition reimbursement for troopers and their immediate families.

Col. McCraw commented that these were very well thought out and he felt that he would like to move quickly to adopt them. Comm. Barth commented on the tuition reimbursement being tied to longevity, but that would have to be approved legislatively.

Comm. Clowe commented that the recommendations are rife with great ideas, and now we have a new Assistant Director of Human Resources, Jesse White, and I feel that we need to turn these recommendations over to him to get these things done.

Chairman Polunsky asked Col. McCraw for an update on progress at each of the PSC meetings.

B. Report, discussion and possible action regarding overtime and compensatory time policies for Department employees

Comm. Brown, asked that this item be move to a future meeting, perhaps in March.

C. Office of Inspector General interview process, status report on the search, discussion and possible action on the appointment

Comm. Barth – I am moving along and hope to have something to report at the next PSC Meeting.

D. Report, discussion and possible action on procedures for appointing and monitoring the status of specially commissioned persons under Government Code

411.023 and 411.024 as well as Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 2.121 and
2.125:
1. Review and commissioning process for retired and former Department personnel
2. Review and commissioning process for persons not retired or previously employed by the Department

Duncan Fox – Asst. Counsel – replying to Comm. Clowe’s previous inquiry regarding the Special Ranger Commission, these are limited enforcement .

E. Report, discussion, and possible action by the Commission regarding modification and transformation of the DPS organizational structure  approval of personnel placements and salaries pursuant to Government Code chapter 411, Secs. 411.005, 411.006 and 411.0071

F. Report, discussion and possible action on Departmental proposal for policy on integrity expectations for employee conduct

Col. McCraw laid out the Integrity Policy in a presentation and made the motion to have the Integrity Policy approved by the Commission.

Passed unanimously. (Commissioner Steen had already left.)

G. Report, discussion and possible action regarding purchases using seized funds

Already covered.

H. Report, discussion and possible action on department recruitment

Already covered.

 
I. Discussion and possible action regarding security measures for Department

Barbara Hinesly – Asst. Counsel.  We have 18 subcommittees and have had great support from affiliated associations including the DPSOA. We have met twice, we have a website up, we have an accounting plan being assisted by Mr. Haas.  Memorabilia, the commemorative Badge should be available in January.  DPSOA will be handling all of the other memorabilia materials.  We’re working on a 75th Anniversary yearbook.  We are looking at a kickoff date of April 10, 2010, in conjunction with the graduation date of the B-09 recruit class. The main HQ celebration is scheduled for August 6, 2010, and we have much of the activity already mapped out. We will have contingency plans for inclement weather.  Our next scheduled meeting is set for Dec. 10, and we will vote on the logo at that meeting.  This is also a great recruiting tool as well.

J. Update report, discussion and possible action on 75th Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of the Department from the Diamond Jubilee Committee

VIII. REPORTS
A. Commission member reports and discussion

None

B. Finance Report

Cheryl McBride – CFO DPS – Reported the amount of seized funds that are available and listed possible items for its use.  Commissioner Barth said that she does not like relying on and using seized funds for ongoing budget items.  Col. McCraw agreed that seized funds are not a sure thing.

D. Audit & Inspection Report

Ferrell Walker, Audit and Inspection – you have my report, and we are working on two special projects for the Director.

E. Division status reports on activities and action

OIG – Interim Assistant Director (did not introduce himself). – request input from the Commission to set a budget for the Department.  We have several options.  Comm. Clowe suggested writing up his recommendations and distribute it to the Commission for review. It is recommended that it would be less expensive to handle this in house rather than outsourcing it.

Administration – Valarie Fulmer – nothing

CID – Nothing

Drivers License – Michael Kelley – Duke Bodisch has lent us Brian Smallwood to help us with our strategic implementation. We are going to remove phone answering duties from DL office personnel so that they can spend their time assisting customers.

Our new $48,000,000 system is being implemented much more efficiently through coordinated teamwork of the IT, Deloitte, training, and supervisors.

Chairman Polunsky suggested that we place signage on the DL facilities that automated defibrillators are on site and available to the public.

Emergency Management – Jack Colley – Nothing

Government Relations – Amanda Ariaga – Nothing

Highway Patrol – Chief Baker –

IT –  Nothing

Mike Simpson – Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services – One of our charges is to better coordinate with other law enforcement agencies in the State.  We have worked out a trade of radio band width that we have but currently are not using to Houston, in trade for millions of dollars worth of resources that they will make available to us.  We are working out the details of the agreement.

We will be testing the field biometric fingerprint capabilities for on road DPS Troopers.  We will have to go out for bids and select a vendor.

We are purchasing a $1,000,000 DNA Robot, that should be able to double our DNA testing capabilities.

Regulatory Licensing – Nothing

Texas Rangers – Nothing.

IX. CONSENT ITEMS
The following items may be discussed and acted upon in a single motion or discussed
separately as determined by the Commission
A. Discussion and possible action on the Directors action of discharging probationary employee: John Hellman
B. Discussion and possible action on appointments of Special Rangers and Special
Texas Rangers pursuant to Government Code chapter 411, Secs. 411.023 &
411.024:  Special Rangers: Richard Leroy Alexander, Dwight Lee Gray, Jay Michael Griffin, William Lawrence Hill, Donald Myrl Jones, Kevin Lee McCasland, Garry Lee Parker
C. Review of pending contract: Information subscription service (Dallas Computer
Services, Inc.)
D. Discussion and possible action regarding donations as provided under Govt. Code Ch. 575:
1.  Authorization of Department to accept gifts of money or property
2. Acknowledgement of donation of the Economic Development Corporation of Weslaco of approximately 21.29 acres in Hidalgo County to the Department to build a regional office
3.  Acknowledgement of proposed donation of a radio tower, communications shelter and a generator in Colorado County
E. Discussion and possible action on adoption of proposed rules:
1.  Proposed amendments to Chapter 15: Rules 15.5, 15.7, 15.21-15.23, 15.25-15.31, 15.33-15.40, 15.42, 15.44, 15.48, 15.52, 15.54, 15.56, 15.59, 15.81-15.83, 15.85, 15.87, 15.91-15.93,  15.101, 15.113, 15.114, 15.131, and 15.163, 37 TAC Secs.15.5, 15.7, 15.21-15.23, 15.25-15.31, 15.33-15.40, 15.42, 15.44, 15.48, 15.52, 15.54, 15.56, 15.59, 15.81-15.83, 15.85, 15.87, 15.91-15.93, 15.101, 15.113, 15.114, 15.131, and 15.163, regarding Driver License Rules, as published in 34 TexReg 5327-5344, August 7, 2009
2.  Proposed repeal of Rule 15.8, 37 TAC Sec. 15.8, regarding Classified Driver
License, as published in 34 TexReg 5328, August 7, 2009
3.  Proposed repeal of Rules 15.41 and 15.47, 37 TAC Secs. 15.41 and 15.47, regarding Application Requirements-Original, Renewal, Duplicate, Identification Certificates, as published in 34 TexReg 5333, August 7, 2009
4.  Proposed repeal of Rules 15.111 and 15.112, 37 TAC Secs. 15.111 and
15.112, regarding Denial of Renewal of Driver License for Failure to Appear for Traffic Violation, as published in 34 TexReg 5341, August 7, 2009
5.  Proposed amendments to Chapter 16: Rules 16.3, 16.4, 16.8, 16.9, 16.11,
16.12, 16.34, 16.47, 16.48, 16.50, 16.51, 16.71-16.73, 16.75, 16.99, and
16.103-16.105, 37 TAC Secs.16.3, 16.4, 16.8, 16.9, 16.11, 16.12, 16.34,
16.47, 16.48, 16.50, 16.51, 16.71-16.73, 16.75, 16.99, and 16.103-16.105, regarding Commercial Driver License, as published in 34 TexReg 5344 –
5355, August 7, 2009
6.  Proposed repeal of Rule 16.91, 37 TAC Sec. 16.91, regarding Noncommercial Motor Vehicle Permits, as published in 34 TexReg 5353, August 7, 2009
7.  Proposed amendments to Chapter 18: Rules 18.1-18.4 and 18.21-18.25, 37
TAC Secs. 18.1-18.4 and 18.21-18.25, regarding Driver Education, as published in 34 TexReg 5355 – 5360, August 7, 2009
F. Discussion and possible action on proposed rules for publication:
1.  Proposed new Rules 28.171 – 28.175, 37 TAC 28.171 – 28.175, regarding preservation, cataloging, and delivery of biological evidence
2.  Proposed amendment to Rule 27.1, 37 TAC 27.1, regarding review of personal criminal history record

Comm. Clowe moved to approve all items except for D. 1 – which was a placeholder in case needed.

Passed unanimously, without Comm. Steen.

XI. DATE FOR FUTURE MEETINGS

December 11, 2009

XII. ADJOURN
 

Adjourn: 5:38 pm.

The Commission may take items out of the order in which they are posted on this agenda. Also, an item that has been adopted, passed upon, delayed or tabled for a later meeting may be considered or reconsidered at the same meeting.

The Public Safety Commission may meet and discuss in Executive Session and have action taken in an Open Meeting where required on the following items:
Government Code Sec. 551.071 Consultation and deliberation with legal counsel about pending or contemplated litigation or a settlement offer, or on a matter where the Commissioners seek the advice of their attorney as privileged communications under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas, and to discuss the Open Meetings Act and the Administrative Procedures Act with their attorney
Government Code Sec. 551.074 Appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of director, assistant director, and persons appointed to management team positions pursuant to Govt. Code Sec. 411.0071
Government Code Sec. 551.076 Deliberations about security audits, security devices, including deployment and implementation of security personnel and devices Government Code Chapter 411, Sec. 411.0041 Ongoing criminal investigations
Government Code Sec. 551.072  Deliberation of the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property, if deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the governmental body in negotiations with a third person
Government Code Sec. 551.073 Deliberation of a negotiated contract for a prospective gift or donation to the state or the governmental body if deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the governmental body in negotiations with a third person

Hilfe! Ich werde verfolgt! Von Mario Barth! Ja, der Mario Barth! Ich sehe und höre ihn überall! Im Fernsehen, in der Werbung, im Radio, im Kino… Ich weiss nicht mehr weiter, überall wo ich bin ist Mario Barth auch!

Ok, ernsthaft. Ich bin aber doch in dieser weiten Welt nicht der einzige, dem dieser Barth sowas von auf den, äh, Zeiger geht, oder? Anfangs fand ich ihn wirklich lustig, mittlerweile verdrehe ich schon die Augen wenn ich ihn nur sehe.

Ich prognostiziere (und das sage ich meiner Frau bei jeder Werbung in der er vorkommt) das er sich selbst grade total verheizt und seine angekündigte Tour 2011 nicht der Bringer (für ihn) wird. Ich jedenfalls habe erstmal die Nase voll!

Wie seht ihr das? Nervt er euch auch oder könnt ihr euch den Comedian Nummero Uno noch ansehen und hören? Würde mich über Kommentare freuen.

Über die Erfolge des witzlosen Komikers Mario Barth hat der Weltverschwörungsblog bereits berichtet, hier und hier. Obiges Video lässt nunmehr vermuten, dass dem Agieren dieses Wichts ein umfassender Plan zur Verdummung der Bevölkerung zugrunde liegt. In diesem Zusammenhang ebenfalls interessant: Ein Spiegel-Online Artikel aus dem Jahre 2007.  Auch damals war die Verblödungs-Verschwörung also schon in vollem Gange.

A few weeks back, a Barth post of mine led to a good discussion in the comments.  This post is a sort of answer to that using Gustaf Wingren (20th C. Lutheran theologian) and Cornelius Van Til (20th C. Reformed theologian) to speak about one weakness found in Barth’s theology.  Basically, both Wingren and Van Til noted a glaring irony: Barth’s loud voice speaking of God was quite anthropocentric after all.

Wingren, for example, accused Barth of substituting revelation in place of justification and forgiveness.  Wingren said Barth overemphasized human knowledge instead of redemption from the guilt and corruption of sin.  Barth, Wingren noted, had a sort of Schleiermachian bent.  “It is strange that we must make this statement, but it is necessary: In Barth’s theology man is obviously the center.  The question about man’s knowledge is the axis around which the whole subject matter moves.”  (Sources: Wingren’s Theology in Conflict: Nygren, Barth, Bultmann p. 28-29; this is also mentioned in William Willimon, Conversations with Barth on Preaching, p.80 & 279.  Willimon, who loves Barth, even admitted this was “true,” since for Barth, “sin is mostly a form of unknowing” [ibid, 80].)

Van Til, independent of Wingren’s conclusion, wrote similarly.  Barth’s “theology is still nothing but an anthropology.”  Elsewhere he says that Barth’s ontology coalesces with this epistemology.  According to Barth, Van Til wrote, “all human beings who exist, that is, really exist in the Christ, and all human beings who have knowledge of anything at all have this knowledge because they are one with the process that is Christ and that is God.” (See Van Til’s New Modernism p. 375.)

After reading Barth for a few years now, I do believe these are legitimate concerns, but I’m still reading.  He has “tossed around” my furniture, but I’ve not yet crossed the 1,000 page mark so I best not comment too much.  When I cross the 1,000 page mark, perhaps I’ll have something to say (although one never knows with Barth!).

shane lems

sunnyside wa

Seit knapp zwei Wochen befinde ich mich in einem kleinen Experiment, das da heißt: Karl Barths “Kirchliche Dogmatik” lesen. Ganz. Möglichst in einem Jahr. Knapp 3% habe ich bis jetzt geschafft. Wer Lust hat, diesen Irrsinn ein bisschen mitzuverfolgen, kann das hier (Blog) und hier (Twitter) tun.

Ich hatte in den vergangenen Wochen schon mehrmals über die Kraniche geschrieben. Zum Abschluss der Saison hatten wir uns zu einer abendlichen Fahrt von Zingst in Richtung der Schlafplätze in der Boddenlandschaft aufgemacht. 16.00 Uhr  Sommerzeit legten wir von Zingst ab und führen auf dem Bodden vorbei an Barth in Richtung Stralsund, Hiddensee und Rügen bis an die Spitze der Halbinsel. Dann begann das große Warten, denn er Einflug der Kraniche ist von verschieden Faktoren wie z.B. Wetter und Futterangebot abhängig.

Und dann waren „Sie“ zu hören und zu sehen, in riesigen Schwärmen kamen die Kraniche über die Meinigen Brücke und aus Richtung Morrdorf geflogen, Ein Schwarm, nach dem anderen, mal in der typischen V-Form, mal als diffuser sich immer ändernder Schwarm. Das Wetter spielte mit und umrahmte das Geschehen mit einem wunderbaren Abendrot. Ich hoffe, dass Sie sich an Hand der Bilder einen kleinen Eindruck von der Stimmung verschaffen können. Es war ein imposantes Erlebnis. Nun dauert es nur noch ein paar Tage und die Kraniche fliegen gut gemästet weiter in ihre Wintergebiete nach Spanien u.a.

Im nächsten Herbst werden wir versuchen, mal die Kraniche aus einer anderen Perspektive zu verfolgen und uns mal zu einem der Beobachtungspunkte an Land begeben, um die Kraniche zu beobachten.

I posted this as a comment to Ben Myers’ latest post, but since it’s somewhat off to the side of the post’s topic, it seemed appropriate to turn it into a fresh post of its own:

I say this as a great admirer of Barth, but I’ve always found the “theological” critique of Nazism to be weirdly disconnected from reality. For instance, Barth’s self-congratulation that the church somehow did the right thing insofar as a small sect of it rejected natural theology in the midst of Nazism strikes me as downright chilling. The test here is that you could take it the opposite direction: for instance, the lack of a viable natural theology produced a disconnect between the gospel and the world, which led to the unlimited rise of technological instrumentality that was then ultimately turned against the human race itself most horrifically in Nazism, etc. Or you could say that the artificial either/or of Christ or nature led necessarily to the embrace of natural “paganism,” etc. Or basically you could make up any “theological” cause you like and congratulate yourself for bravely coming down on the right side of the debate, but that doesn’t make what you’re saying relevant. If anything, wouldn’t it have been more immediately relevant and more obviously connected to Nazism if the church had staked its identity on the opposition to anti-Semitism rather than the somewhat obscure point of natural theology?

Public Safety Commission Meeting Friday, October 23, 2009, 10:30 a.m. Criminal Law Enforcement Auditorium
6100 Guadalupe, Bldg E Austin, TX 78752

SUMMARY

(This report represents a summary of events of the meeting,
 and is not necessarily complete nor an exact transcript of testimony.)

 
The Public Safety Commission convened as posted to consider and take formal action, as necessary, on the following agenda items:

I. CALL TO ORDER

10:32 am: Chairman Polunsky called the meeting to order. In attendance: Chairman Alan Polunsky, Commissioners Tom Clowe, Carin Barth, Ada Brown and John Steen. Also present were Director Steve McCraw, Dep. Dir. Lamar Beckworth, Dep. Director Brad Rable, and General Counsel Stuart Platt.  A quorum is present.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes were approved unanimously.

III. PUBLIC COMMENT  (members of the public wishing to address the Commission are subject to a time limit of 5 minutes and must complete a Public Comment Registration Card located at the entry table)

District Attorney Esparza, El Paso – Asked to speak by Col. Steve McCraw.  I met yesterday with the leadership of DPS, and I am very excited to have Skyler Hearn as a Regional Director for Border Security as a primary, go to, contact.  Other District Attorneys along the Board are equally happy to have this type of connection with DPS to deal with border crime. We feel that this will greatly improve communication with our Law Enforcement partners.

IV. DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Director Steve McCraw -  Along those lines, I would like to discuss the operation that culminated yesterday in the takedown of a large faction of La Familia.  La Familia has taken over the largest distribution of the methamphetamine drug trade in the US.  They had set up Dallas as the primary gateway.  Through multi-agency cooperation, Jack Webster, the DPS Regional Commander in Dallas, was the point person, acted as regional commander, we had 80 Troopers, 5 Texas Rangers, and two helicopters.

During the operation, officers arrested 81 people and seized:
•       220 pounds of methamphetamine
•       23.1 pounds of cocaine
•       1 gallon of liquid methamphetamine
•       $960,000 in cash
•       54 guns
•       53 vehicles
•       1 jet ski
•       1 recreational vehicle
•       2 ATVs

 
V. ADJOURN INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION (if required) to consult with legal counsel regarding pending or contemplated litigation or settlement offers or to receive legal advice on items posted on this agenda; deliberation regarding real estate matters; consideration of any other items authorized by law, including personnel matters, the Directors action of discharging employees as identified in this agenda; ongoing criminal investigations

Interview and deliberate regarding applicants for position of Office of Inspector General as authorized under Government Code 551.074

10:53 am – adjourn to executive session.

RECONVENE

Reconvene – 2:07 pm

VI. NEW BUSINESS
A. Report, discussion and possible action pursuant to Government Code 411.062
relating to the Commission’s authorization of the Director to determine and impose necessary measures to protect the safety of persons and property within the Capitol Complex

Col. McCraw – we have a plan in place and we have $2.7 million in stimulus money to add additional security at the Capitol.  Upon questions from Chair Polunsky, Col. McCraw added that the $2.7 million would be for infrastructure, and does not necessarily address any additional personnel.  Col. McCraw said that he had met with the Governor’s office, the Sec. of State’s office and other stakeholders, and if the security plan is approved by all stakeholders, I would like the PSC to approve moving forward with the plan.  Both Comm. Barth and Chairman Polunsky questioned not needing more personnel to operate the additional personnel.  Dir. McCraw restated that the current plan would not require additional personnel.  He did not, however, state unequivocally that situations may crop up (such as heightened alerts related to specific threats, may require additional personnel.  Heightened threat assessments will be adjusted to as the happen.

 
Comm. Steen read the specific responsibility regarding the security of the state Capitol and surrounding complex, and made a motion to approve the Director’s recommendation for security at the Capitol complex.
Chairman Polunsky added an amendment that the Commission urge the legislature to move quickly to support the Directors heightened security measures.

B. Report, discussion and possible action on recipient eligibility of Purple Heart award

Col. McCraw – asked that the Commission for authorization to begin establishing procedures and guidelines for awarding Purple Hearts when appropriate for Troopers injured in the line of duty.  Col. Beckworth stated that there may be 4 or 5 available for this award at this time.  We may look at awarding them retroactively, and would consider posthumous awards as well.
Motion passed unanimously.

C. Report and discussion and possible action on the statewide DPS tactical training center in Williamson County.

Deputy Director Brad Rable – we have a phenomenal facility started in Florence, and I recommend formally naming the training facility the Tactical Training Center.

There is an 11 acre concrete slab that can be flooded to practice controlled skids; there is a 4.2 mile track on 150 acres, there is a state of the art firing range.

D. Report, discussion and possible action on Departmental proposal for policy on integrity expectations for employee conduct

Col. McCraw – I have submitted some recommended language that I would like adopted to add in to the policy.  Comm. Clowe suggested that as important as this policy is, and since the Commission is just seeing it for the first time, that the PSC delay action until further study and can be considered at the November PSC meeting.

Chair Polunsky, admonished that any item that is to be considered and acted upon need to be included in the Commission Packet and added on the agenda as an action item.

E. Report and discussion on Border Prosecutor Partnership with DPS

Previously discussed in the Director’s report.

F. Report, discussion and possible action on procedures for appointing and monitoring the status of specially commissioned persons under Government Code 411.023 and
411.024 as well as Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 2.121 and 2.125:

1. Review and commissioning process for retired and former Department personnel
2. Review and commissioning process for persons not retired or previously employed by the Department

General Counsel Stuart Platt announced that the process is now changed to allow for additional vetting and scrutiny of applicants (especially non-DPS applicants that we do not have prior information about).  We also will be looking at additional rule changes that will help to limit our liability for these persons carrying a DPS badge.

G. Report, discussion and possible action on DPS Recruitment

Comm. Brown asked to defer this issue to the November meeting.

VII. ONGOING BUSINESS
Reports, discussion and possible action regarding the following:
A. Report, discussion and possible action regarding the recruitment policy committee

Asst. Director Valarie Fulmer, Administration – We graduated 69 recruits this month, and we will have a modified class beginning in March for already commissioned officers (approximately 30). We hope to have another class starting next July.  I estimate, with the current class of about 100, we would have approximately 190 new Troopers this year.  Last year we had about 212, and the previous year we had about 350.  Chairman Polunsky asked why these numbers are going down, especially when we have placed an emphasis on increasing our recruits. 

Chairman Polunsky asked for the number of retire-rehires that the Department has.  He also asked for the demographics of the Department.  Asst. Dir. Fulmer did not have these numbers on hand, but would have to get the numbers together for the Commission.  Col. McCraw added that the Department would have to put 768 recruits in the pipeline each of the next two years to meet our goals.  Asst. Dir. Fulmer acknowledged that DPS is trending in the wrong direction. 

Chair Polunsky stated to Col. McCraw that he has a problem understanding why DPS, with all that we have to offer and all the improvements that we are making, cannot get quality recruits to sign on.  Col. McCraw stated that he can’t disagree; if the Marines can uniform 40,000 troops per year, we should be able to meet our goals.  Chair Polunsky, obviously very concerned, asked what specifically Dir. McCraw and DPS leadership is doing to fix the problem.  Deputy Dir. Rable stepped in stating that he, Asst. Dir. Fulmer, and others have been working on some steps to attract quality, qualified applicants.  Comm. Brown, who also has been working with the Department leadership on this issue, added that DPS has to do a better public relations job, and change our image from “Click it or Ticket” to a more comprehensive image of Public Safety that the DPS provides for this state.  Pay is always going to be a key issue when the starting salary for Austin Police Department is $13,000 more per year than new DPS Troopers. Col. McCraw added that we may need to look at the length of the academy…does it need to be 28 weeks? When Col. Beckworth and I graduated from the academy, the 18 weeks that we spent seemed too long.  We are not in line with other law enforcement agencies.  69% of the current class stated that they heard about the DPS through a current employee.  We are looking changing the incentive of a $200 Savings Bond for a referral to a more immediate, higher cash incentive.  Only 18% of applicants make it to the field.  Comm. Steen suggested following the Marine model of advertising on the TV.  This is expensive but the exclusivity is perhaps a selling point.
Comm. Brown asked for a joint report to be on the agenda for the November meeting.

B. Report, discussion and possible action on the appointment of an Inspector General

Comm. Barth asked this item to be moved to the November agenda.

C. Report, discussion and possible action on equipment and armor

Col. McCraw – we are approaching exceeding funding for three specific items (including body armor and tasers) and we will prepare a request for extending the funding by $3.3 million. Part of this funding would come from seized funds. Comm. Barth asked if the procedures for the use of tasers have been reviewed in light of recent publicity.  Col. McCraw said that he was currently reviewing these procedures.

Motion was made by Barth and seconded to allow the Director to request the authority of the Legislative Budget Board to fund these needs.
Motion passed unanimously.

D. Discussion and possible action regarding purchases using seized funds

As discussed above.

E. Report, discussion and possible action approving the implementation of a Contract
Review Board to include:
1. The designation of a Commission member to serve on the Contract Review Board, with an alternate appointee designated to serve upon the unavailability of the first designated member to participate at meeting (s);

Asst. Director Fulmer, Administration – we have hired an IT manager, and we have identified contract management software that has been used by the Comptroller’s Office and will have more information at the next meeting.

The Commission voted unanimously to approve the Contract Review Board.

2. The Commission approving an exception to the current Contract Review Policy adopted October 16, 2008 to allow for exigent circumstances approval of certain procurements through the action of the Contract Review Board and designated Commission member

Counsel Platt asked for approval of the above request that was discussed at the last meeting but was not on the agenda at the last meeting as an action item.

Motion passed unanimously.

F. Report, discussion and possible action regarding security measures for the Department

Asst. Director Fulmer – will pass until the November Meeting.

G. Update report, discussion and possible action on 75th “Diamond Jubilee” Anniversary of the Department from the Diamond Jubilee Committee

Deputy Director Lamar Beckworth – The Committee met in Austin on October 8th and we’ve moved forward with several initiatives, and assigned Committee Chairs.  We have identified the many memorial items to be available, a commemorative firearm, commemorative coins, t-shirts, etc. Next scheduled meeting is November 12 at 9:00 am.

Comm. Clowe asked the Commission to commit to attending the 8 regional meetings. This will be a motorcycle ride.
Houston celebration, July 26
Dallas celebration, July 27
Lubbock celebration, July 28
El Paso celebration, July 30
McAllen celebration, Aug. 3
San Antonio celebration, Aug. 5
Austin, Aug celebration, 6.

VIII. REPORTS
A. Commission member reports and discussion

None

B. Budget Matters

Dep. Director Brad Rable – our budget is what the legislature has given us to work with.  I would like to address unfunded variances to the budget.  I have identified funding for many of these variances.  We hope to define these further with our new Asst. Dir. of Finance, and report back to the Commission  in the next 2 ½ – 3 weeks. I would like to move this item to our November meeting.  Comm. Clowe recommended that the variances will be a rather long discussion due to the Commissions interest and concern about this, and recommended that Deputy Director Rable get the Commission early on and get their input throughout the process.  Perhaps a workshop would be warranted.

C. Audit & Inspection Report

None

D. Division status reports on activities and action

Division reports have been added to the Commission’s binders (packets).

Comm. Brown asked for an overview of the DPS Chaplin program.  Dep. Dir. Beckworth explained what this program entails.  In one month 150 hours were volunteered.

Comm. Clowe asked for a physical update on Sgt. Lopez(CID Dallas shot while serving warrant).  Col. McCraw said that he has been released from the hospital, but his recovery is moving forward exceptionally well and expects a full recovery and return to duty.

Chair Polunsky asked to be notified when his Purple Heart is awarded.

Comm. Barth asked for an update on the fire code violation at the Academy.  Col. McCraw said that the remedial changes have been made but we are not in full compliance.  Comm. Barth stressed that this must be made a top priority.

Comm. Steen asked for an update from Asst. Dir. Colley on the Swine Flu.  We have a collaborative effort across several state agencies.  We have used the existing private sector partners (HEB, Brooks, Walmart, etc.) to distribute the serum across the state.  We are being proactive with conference calls each week. Vaccines are coming, but the virus is spreading very quickly.

Comm. Steen asked for an update from Asst. Dir. Michael Kelley on the DL Division.  We are looking at other states who have improved their business processes.  We are taking our 4 compliance officers around the state.  We have added an email system.  The DL computer system is still being modified.  We are going to roll out 11 more offices with a newer system, and will use these offices in the training of other regional offices.  The rollout will begin in January.

Comm. Clowe asked for a Concealed Handgun License update. Renearl Bowie, Interim Asst. Dir. of Regulatory Licensing stated that all applications that do not have an error are currently being processed within our 60 day goal. As of October 20, we have 6,700 applications in October so we will likely have about 9,000 applications for the month, down from our high months of 12,000.

IX. CONSENT ITEMS

The following items may be discussed and acted upon in a single motion or discussed
separately as determined by the Commission
A. Discussion and possible action on the Director’s action of discharging probationary employee:  Cary Brown
B. Discussion and possible action on appointments of Special Rangers and Special
Texas Rangers pursuant to Government Code chapter 411, Secs. 411.023 &
411.024: Special Rangers – Gregory S. Bedford, Robert G. Bourland, Ruben R. Elizondo, Paul K. Frazier, Bradley T. Hardin, Caroline Y. Knauth, Rodney W. Knox,
Gilbert S. Lozano, Rosendo L. Martinez, James D. Murray, Richard Pinon, Albert
Rodriguez, and Douglas Vance;  Special Texas Rangers -  Lance D. Coleman, Israel
Pacheco, Jr., and Ray G. Ramon
C. Report, discussion, and possible action by the Commission regarding modification and transformation of the DPS organizational structure  approval of personnel placements and salaries pursuant to Government Code chapter 411, Secs. 411.005,
411.006 and 411.0071

D. Contracts for discussion, review and possible action by Commission :

1. Review of pending contract: Information subscription service (Dallas Computer
Services, Inc.)
E. Discussion and possible action on proposed amendments to Rule 3.171, 37 TAC Sec. 3.171 regarding Parking and Traffic Administration

F. Discussion and possible action on proposed repeal of Rule 13.86, 37 TAC Sec.
13.86, regarding Controlled Substances
G. Discussion and possible action on proposed amendments to Chapter 13: Rules 13.1,
13.7, 13.10, 13.21, 13.25, 13.26, 13.28, 13.30, 13.71 – 13.73, 13.75, 13.76, 13.86 –
13.99, 13.131 – 13.134, 13.137, 13.161, 13.182, 13.208, 13.233, 13.234, 13.237,
13.253, 13.254, 13.272 – 13.276, 13.278, 13.301, and 13.304, 37 TAC Secs. 13.1,
13.7, 13.10, 13.21, 13.25, 13.26, 13.28, 13.30, 13.71 – 13.73, 13.75, 13.76, 13.86 –
13.99, 13.131 – 13.134, 13.137, 13.161, 13.182, 13.208, 13.233, 13.234, 13.237,
13.253, 13.254, 13.272 – 13.276, 13.278, 13.301, and 13.304, regarding Controlled
Substances

Comm. Steen asked, and Chair Polunsky agreed, that item C be moved into ongoing business in future Commission Meetings.

Moved to pass items A, B, E, F, & G be approved as laid out.

Passed unanimously.

X. ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDAS

XI. DATE FOR FUTURE MEETINGS

Thursday. November 19, 2009.

XII. ADJOURN

Adjourned, 4:30 pm.

Robert L. Short, The Parables of Dr. Seuss (WJKP, 2008), 95 pp.; Karl Barth, Fifty Prayers (WJKP, 2008), 63 pp. (review copies courtesy of WJKP)

Here’s a couple of nice little books (Thing One and Thing Two), both just released from WJKP. In our first book, Robert Short offers an entertaining reading of Dr Seuss’s stories as Christian “parables.” I adore Dr Seuss – I’m always begging my kids to let me read more Dr Seuss, instead of those bland and banal Disney books that clutter their shelves. So I enjoyed this book’s playful engagement with Dr Seuss’s stories.

Admittedly, Robert Short’s analysis is not a very nuanced one; and it’s a shame he neglects both Dr Seuss’s sharp political edge and his extraordinary aesthetics (first and foremost, these books are great because they’re works of true poetry).

Ultimately, Dr Seuss’s writing can’t be turned into neat theological “parables” (although many of them are certainly political parables). So I can’t help cringing a little when Short tells me that Christ = the Cat, or that Christ’s body and blood = green eggs and ham, or indeed that Sam-I-am represents the name of God! (I’ll let you in on a secret: he’s called “Sam-I-am” because it rhymes with “eggs-and-ham”…) But all this can be taken in good fun, and Short is clearly enjoying himself with bucketloads of playful exaggeration.

In any case, there are some nice insights along the way – for example, in the chapter on I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew, Short remarks: “The difference is that Christian faith has an infinitely greater appreciation of trouble than the world does” (p. 51). An excellent point!

And Short is right to observe that Dr Seuss’s stories possess a “profundity-in-simplicity” which allows them to make a real impact. These stories, he remarks, are deceptive in their simplicity. “Charming, childlike little tales suddenly become meaningful…. They sneak up on us. They become Trojan horses or sugar-coated medicine. They are the wise Cat in the otherwise empty hat” (p. 66).

On a somewhat more serious note, our second book brings together fifty of Karl Barth’s prayers, written for before and after his sermons. In the foreword (these prayers were originally published in German in 1962), Barth explains his growing discomfort with the traditional liturgical prayers, since they remained too disconnected from the language and content of his sermons. “For a while,” he says, “I sought help by replacing the petitions of the order of liturgy not with extemporaneous prayers (I have never dared to risk such a thing), but with freely bringing together biblical passages from the Psalms.” Only in his later years did he begin to write his own prayers as part of his sermon preparation. The resulting prayers are stirring, colloquial, often profound, and always blissfully concise – as Barth remarks in the foreword, “the spice for all parts of all spiritual and theological sayings should consist in brevity!”

Barth decided to publish these prayers in the hope that they would be used both in assembled worship and privately. The book thus arranges the fifty prayers according to the liturgical year, with some additional thematic sections (e.g. prayers for funerals). The prayers will certainly be of interest to researchers and students of Barth – but if we are to use the book as it was intended, our proper response should be to pray these prayers, to call upon God in weakness and humility and gratitude and joy. Here are a few short excerpts:

“Lord, our God, you know who we are: People with good and bad consciences; satisfied and dissatisfied, sure and unsure people; Christians out of convictions and Christians out of habit; believers, half-believers, and unbelievers. You know where we come from…. But now we all stand before you…” (p. 1).

“Lord our God, you wanted to live not only in heaven, but also with us, here on earth; not only to be high and great, but also to be small and lowly, as we are; not only to rule, but also to serve us; not only to be God in eternity, but also be born as a person, to live, and to die” (p. 11).

“None of us is a great Christian; rather, we are all very small Christians. But your grace is sufficient for us. Awaken us to the small joy and thankfulness that we are capable of, the timid faith that we bring, the incomplete obedience that we cannot refuse – to the hope in the greatness, wholeness, and completeness that you have prepared for us in the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and that you have promised us in his resurrection from the dead” (pp. 29-30).

Ben Myers reposted, with permission, from Faith and Theology.

It’s confession time:  I began my sermon tonight with “”a joke”".  You know, feed-line, punch-line, wait for response, polite church laughter, tenuous link to sermon.

ugggh.  I think I need a shower.

I post this quotation as penance.  Here’s Barth warning us all away from such ‘plain heresy’:

The theological damage of sermon introductions is in any event incredibly extensive… For what do they really involve at root?  Nothing other than the search for a point of contact, for an analogue in us which can be a point of entry for the Word of God.  It is believed that this little door to the inner self must first be found and opened before it is worthwhile to bring the message.  No! This is plain heresy…. We have simply to approach people knowing that there is nothing in them that we can address, no humanum, no analogia entis of any kind that we can put in touch with the divinum, but only the one great possibility which has no need of our skills, which alone is efficacious, and which does not need us as advocates… We have simply to assume the attitude of a messenger who has something to say.  We have no need to build a slowly ascending ramp, for there is no height that we have to reach.  No!  Something has to come down from above.  And this can happen only when the Bible speaks from the very outset. (Homiletics, p124-125)

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Over at clavi non defixi, Evan has an interesting post on local canons. I’m pretty new to the Div. School at Yale, so I don’t want to comment on Yale yet. I do think the idea of local canons is useful, but I will deviate a bit from it and connect it to my impressions of Michael Welker’s Taylor lectures, which he finished today.

I was deeply impressed by the end of the three lectures. I have heard a reliable rumor that Welker is being considered for the Senior position in Systematics at Yale, I can only hope he gets the position. Welker exemplifies a major difference in educational systems, namely, the size and quality of the “local” canons. In Germany, if you want to be a pastor in the Lutheran church, you will be required to do six years of post-Abitur (roughly the equivalent of an American college degree, although people say two years of college) university training. You will be expected to read Latin, Greek, Hebrew, English and (normally) French. This is to be a pastor, now, not to get a PhD. Clearly, we are talking about a different culture, not just a different academic culture. My friend currently studying at the University of Heidelberg tells me some classes say: “Latin required” or “English required,” because the expectation is that you’ll be reading in whatever the relevant languages are for the course material.

Welker has a PhD in Theology (and his dissertation was on Fichte! Amen) and a PhD in philosophy, under no less than Dieter Henrich (one of the greatest scholars of Idealism, with seminal work on all the idealists, particularly Fichte; Henrich’s work played a large role in my honors thesis as an undergraduate), with a dissertation on Hegel, and then his Habilitationsschrift was on Whitehead. This is not unusual for Germans, and it’s one of the reasons I am eager to gain greater proficiency in German and study in Germany, at least for a year. The “local” canon, at a place like Heidelberg or Tuebingen, is, I’m going to bet, going to include a serious knowledge of doctrinal and philosophical history, in terms of direct knowledge of the seminal texts. 

I have no doubt Germans have their fads as well, and thus also “local canons” in a sense that is closer to what Evan was describing, a sort of distinctive frame of reference for a certain place. However, it is worth taking the idea of a local canon and using it as a critical tool: how deep and broad is the local canon of any given community? Charles Taylor, in an interview in Philosophy Now, speaks of his frustration at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and, in the context of ideal philosophical situations, say this:  

At the time of Max Weber – maybe we nostalgically magnify that – and even slightly later, you found that philosophy students in Germany, were given an incredibly broad course in Greek philosophy and the history of philosophy, and Kant and German idealism; but they also read Weber, Durkheim, Troeltsch, and Dilthey. So they had a broad understanding of how the questions then being debated had got to that stage.

That was one of the things that struck me when I managed to see the tail end of it – because I think it’s dying out, even in Germany. When I visited Habermas, he was handing on that kind of education to his students, even though he didn’t necessarily agree with a lot of the stuff that he was conveying to them. That’s what got me riled up when I went to Oxford – they were so narrow, those people: they weren’t even reading one tenth of the tradition that had got them to where they were.

Here we can use local canons not only as valuable ways of understanding an academic culture (a descriptive task) but also as a means of evaluating and comparing academic cultures. I don’t see a difference in the standards for philosophy and theology: both most know their own history, and not in an external sense, but as an internal history of the task that the contemporary theologian is taking up and contributing to. Now, a theoretical analysis would require distinguishing the differences between the role of history in both disciplines, but the practical point stands.

John Hare, in my first conversation with him about philosophy, noted that analytic philosophers like 1) articles that are 2) less than fifteen years old. I have written before about the patricidal nature of most academic disciplines, and this, I think, normatively if not descriptively distinguishes the Geisteswissenschaften from the Naturwissenschaften: Certain kinds of sciences (meaning Wissenschaft, not just natural science) are constituted by their history. Now I recognize this is itself a philosophical position, but I think it’s unescapably the correct one with respect to the humanities and social sciences. Theology is not as bad as analytic philosophy in terms of disliking books and preferring the new, but theology does share certain disturbing characteristics with all the other humanities. There is a focus on journal articles (I accept this as part of the academic game, don’t get me wrong, and I am going to try to publish before my PhD for my career’s sake) which is simply deleterious to the discipline as a whole.

I’ve heard more English folks complaining about this than others, so I’ll use a literary example: one of my undergraduate English teachers wrote on Bleakhouse, and she said there were over three-hundred (I think it was closer to five-hundred, but I’m going to guess low) articles found on an MLA Bibliography search. She read all of them. Now, that makes her a good Victorian scholar (and she is a very good Victorian scholar). But that’s simply unmanageable, and I don’t think anyone would be bold enough to suggest most of the articles on a topic are worth reading. This is precisely why articles are so quickly forgotten, and why article-based disciplines that are not, like the natural sciences, making demonstrable additions to knowledge,  are such a mess. In the natural sciences, the idea is that if an article is forty years old, it won’t be that helpful because research has moved on (assuming it’s in an established field, etc.). So, you master the current state of knowledge on your problem, then through a long process (maybe a year running your own lab after you PhD and post-doc), you contribute to that state, advancing knowledge through your contribution in the form of a lead-authored journal article. Now, everyone working on the problem needs to read your article, assuming it was sound. Through this process, scientific progress emerges. Now, I’ve read my Kuhn, but Kuhn, at least in the early years, was simply wrong: science does progress, and that’s quite obvious to everyone, paradigm shifts notwithstanding.

The Geisteswissenshaften are simply not like that, yet many of the academic processes and  institutional frameworks of theology, for example, seem to rely on something like the progress model of the natural sciences. The only problem is, absent actual progress and identifiable “puzzles” to solve in “normal science,” a gap is created that is filled by fashions and other forces that are not internal to the discipline itself. Now, not everything that results largely from fashion is bad; some clothes from a long time ago look nice; most just look bad to us now. Moreover, not all fashions are equal: some are ephemeral, even if relatively long-lasting (say a decade or more), like post-modernism, deconstruction, etc, some are quite weighty because they are more than fashions, e.g. neo-orthodoxy. Still, fashions are fashions, and they are thus necessarily impermanent and more likely than not to produce stuff not worth remembering.

The great problem with this is that people caught in a modish discipline or area will likely not read much past work because of an implicit, and drastically errant, assumption that what’s truly relevant and important is what is happening right now. Thus fads tend to produce highly localized canons of recent books or at least recent interpretations of older books that are difficult to integrate into a broader framework not connected to the current fashion. Hence the enormous pressure to “specialize” or read narrowly.

Let me offer two unequal examples of this. This is partly predictive, so I take my life into my own hands here.

Barth scholarship: the recent tiff about Barth and election. That’s not merely a fad, it’s more properly a trend in a specialized sub-field of theology with highly competent scholars who are at its center (e.g. McCormack and Molnar). However, I think history will make quite clear that the whole trajectory of scholarship in this area that stems from McCormack’s work is a bit narrow, and is pretty clearly connected to a move away from neo-orthodoxy’s Barth, with a major tendency to downplay the influence of Kierkegaard and to play up the influence of 19th century liberalism and Barth’s closeness to it (obviously there are major dissenters here, like Molnar and, from what I can tell, Webster).

One of the reasons I’m fairly, some would say absurdly, confident that this is an overly narrow trend is because I see a parallel trend in an area that I have done a lot more reading in: German Idealist scholarship, including Kant. I’ve been reading in this area since I was a sophomore, and I eventualy got a sense of things that Frederick Beiser confirmed (I asked him a specific question about this topic). Hegel scholarship is the prime example. Some of the influential readings, say from Robert Pippin and Terry Pinkard and the whole school indebted to Klaus Hartmann, are explicitly anti-metaphysical. Pippin et al. try to come up with all kinds of ingenious interpretations of Geist that don’t embarrass their modern, anti-metaphysical sensibilities. Now, as an interesting way of selectively reconstructing Hegel for palatable modern purposes, there is no denying a kind of rigor and insight in someone like Pippin’s work (who I’ve drawn quite a bit on, but for different reasons), but, and here is the crux, you don’t have to be a Hegel scholar to realize that, as history, this kind of thing is just untenable. Hegel clearly believed and taught in his philosophy all kinds of uncomfortably grand, metaphysical things, as did Schelling (who Pippin ignores, failing even to note that the description of nature “as slumbering spirit” is from Schelling). I won’t even mention Brandom and Sellars, who Beiser notes are not even trying to be historical, yet they get a huge amount of “press,” in terms of articles. I will only study them if I’m interested in contemporary philosophy (which I am), but I don’t study them because I’m interested in Idealism as a historical movement.

So, my hunch is that Barth scholarship is in some ways similar to Idealism scholarship, in that there is a tendency to read the thinkers in a way that avoids some now embarrassing past ways of reading while also coming across as more palatable to contemporary sensibilities. That and, as with Hegel, I don’t think you need to be a Barth scholar to see that Kierkegaard had a huge influence on Barth (I got to Barth’s Romans after having read about 12 books by Kierkegaard, and I was shocked when I read McCormack’s interpretation). The big difference is that no one could accuse the relevant Barth scholars of being unhistorical, but I think the parallel is still worth drawing.

So, where does that leave me? Well, depressed, obviously. But also resolute that I’ll have a crummy career before I enter into what I actually know is a passing trend. And I think one way of doing this is by keeping an eye our for people’s local canons, trying to ensure that the texts one takes as seminal transcend any given locality or phase, and then integrating one’s work into this broader community. This seems to be the only way to make one’s work, which necessarily will reflect a particular time and emphasis, transcend its local origins and be of value when the particularities of one’s situation have passed away.

The ontological determination of humanity is grounded in the fact that one man among all others is the man Jesus. So long as we select any other starting point for our study, we shall reach only the phenomena of the human. We are condemned to abstractions so long as our attention is riveted as it were on other men, or rather on man in general, as if we could learn about real man from a study of man in general, and in abstraction from the fact that one man among all others is the man Jesus. In this case we miss the one Archimedean point given us beyond humanity, and therefore the one possibility of discovering the ontological determination of man. Theological anthropology has no choice in this matter. It is not yet or no longer theological anthropology if it tries to answer the question of the true being of man from any other angle (Church Dogmatics, III/2, 132-33).

Barth is such a great example of the twentieth century shift in theological anthropology from the doctrine of creation to Christology. Later Pannenberg would propose an eschatological orientation, then Zizioulous and others would retrieve from the church fathers a home in the doctrine of the Trinity. Honestly, when I read Barth I find him so incredibly persuasive (darn him), but I still have misgivings about this move. Anyone want to comment on Barth’s move to dogmatically order anthropology in the doctrine of Christ?

Barth
Hayatın her anı bir karar zamanıdır

This is where we really start to get to the good stuff. What is perhaps the most distinguishing mark of Evangelical Calvinism is its doctrine of election. Following a basic christologically conditioned doctrine of election as advanced by Barth, Evangelical Calvinism advocates a universal atonement, even a universal pardon. However it maintains a traditional reformed emphasis through the doctrines of the carnal and spiritual union with Christ which we shall outline in the next post. The purpose of this post is to outline in brief the way in which Evangelical Calvinism thinks of election as christologically conditioned.

Basic to the Evangelical Calvinist understanding is that Jesus Christ acts as the elect one. Jesus acts as the elect man on behalf of humanity. Election is then a pre-temporal act of God in which God determines that he will enter into creaturely existence to bring glory to himself in the glorification of his creatures. This act of God is the foundation of all other acts of God. As Barth states:

The doctrine of election is the sum of the Gospel because of all words that can be said or heard it is the best: that God elects man; that God is for man too the one who loves in freedom. It is grounded in the knowledge of Jesus Christ because he is both the electing God and the elected man in One. It is part of the doctrine of God because originally God’s election of man is a predestination not meerely of man but of Himself. Its function is to bear basic testimony to eternal, free and unchanging grace as the beginning of all the ways and works of God.

There is a very interesting logic to Barth’s approach to the doctrine of election. He places it as a part of the doctrine of God, something which, as far as he can see, no one else has done. There is good reason for this however. 2/1 deals with God as he is in his perfections. Having done this, Barth then moves to tell us about this election of Jesus Christ as God-man. This is the foundation of all God’s ways and works ad extra. Barth will then move into the doctrine of creation, then reconciliation and redemption having laid the ground work for this all in the election of Jesus Christ for us. God has then determined himself to be God for us before the act of creation. God is wholly invested in becoming incarnate in Jesus Christ. However, in grounding this is the divine perfections, Barth does not want to say that election is constitutive of God’s being, but rather that God in his divine perfection can stretch forth and act in the creation on behalf of the creature. (This is of course tied up with recent debates over election and triunity which I do not want to enter into here. If you want to know what I think there, email me.)

It is interesting to think biblically here. If we understand Israel as elect on behalf of all nations ‘you will be a light to the nations’ Gen 12:1-3, Israel’s election was never just for itself. God was in fact bringing all of humanity into his purposes by electing Israel. And we see glimmers of hope in their history, but through their failure light does not go forth, but rather they are destroyed by God and taken into exile. Jesus then comes along and acts as the true Israelite. We see in Matt 1-5 this pattern of Jesus as the true Israelite who God calls and sends to Egypt (Matt 2) then brings him back through the waters (Matt 3) and into the desert for temptation (Matt 4) and then he gives his Law through this new Israelite (Matt 5-7). There is a pattern which Matthew is working with which suggests Jesus is in fact the true Israelite, the elect one. Jesus has then come to act as Israel was always meant to: ‘as a light to the nations’. But this man is not just a man, this is the visitation of Yahweh himself. Yahweh has come to do what we could not do; Yahweh has come to redeem us.

Barth was concerned in his construal of election to safeguard against an abstract divine decree which, quite apart from the act of election, condemns some to hell and others to eternal life outside of Christ. What Barth’s construction of election does however, is allow us to say that both eternal life and destruction are found in the person of Christ. As the elect one, Jesus acts on behalf of all humanity as we have already seen. However, not all are saved. Judgement then takes place on the basis of rejection of Christ, and in the phrase of TF Torrance ‘repeating the sin of Adam all over again’. But at this point i have gone beyond my intention for this post.

The next post in this series will deal with the carnal and spiritual union. Having outlined in brief the way in which election is re-framed for the Evangelical Calvinist, I will turn to see how this then accounts for the fact that we still have both reprobate and saved.