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	<title>The Least, First</title>
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	<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com</link>
	<description>Monte Asbury's blog</description>
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		<title>The Least, First</title>
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		<title>G8 balks at fulfilling aid pledges; 10 million to die?</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/g8-balks-at-fulfilling-aid-pledges-11-million-to-die/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/g8-balks-at-fulfilling-aid-pledges-11-million-to-die/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:05:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Race]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[preventable deaths]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aid to Africa]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/g8-balks-at-fulfilling-aid-pledges-11-million-to-die/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[May result in 11 million preventable deaths; only 2% of G20 stimulus package needed to keep promises. From an article by World Vision:











clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com






Today&#8217;s communiqué from the G8 leaders contains neither an acknowledgement they are off track on fulfilling their aid pledges, nor any concrete plans to get them back on track. In fact, [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2749&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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		<title>When atheists come to church (sermon of July 5)</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/when-atheists-come-to-church/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/when-atheists-come-to-church/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:06:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[ 
Last week, Jesus, pushing through a crowd, was secretly touched by a woman who&#8217; d been bleeding for 12 years; her bleeding stopped.  She who&#8217;d been untouchable by the rules of the day touched him; she was then well, and he became untouchable.  She gets well. He takes on her &#8220;uncleanness.&#8221;
And then he touched [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2735&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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		<title>18,000 dead: The moral issues of health care</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/the-moral-issues-of-health-care/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/the-moral-issues-of-health-care/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:32:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://masbury.wordpress.com/?p=2727</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s not just politics.
Jim Wallis at Sojourners describes three moral issues that live at the center of the health care debate.  Here&#8217;s an excerpt.  Read the entire article by clicking here:
The Truth
For decades now, the physical health and well-being of our country has been a proxy battle for partisan politics.









When Truman tried to pass a [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2727&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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		<title>Homosexuality: a theologically conservative—and inclusive—view</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/homosexuality-a-theologically-conservative-and-inclusive-view/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/homosexuality-a-theologically-conservative-and-inclusive-view/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:22:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s almost a truism that Christian conservatives see homosexuality as evil.

But consider this courageous 1999 paper of the late Dr. J. Kenneth Grider, long regarded as a voice of conservatism among theologians of the Church of the Nazarene* (and of Wesleyans generally).  You just might be surprised.
I&#8217;ve reproduced the first two pages to give you [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2714&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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		<title>Nazarenes elect non-North American General Superintendent</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/nazarenes-elect-non-n-american-general-superintendent/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/nazarenes-elect-non-n-american-general-superintendent/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:19:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[The denomination of which I am a member (the Church of the Nazarene) has officially aspired to international leadership since shortly after its beginnings in 1908. But, like so many organizations that were first mostly North American, coming to a point where we of the USA and Canada would allow others to lead us has [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2707&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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		<title>Feds offer lower payments on some existing student loans</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/feds-offer-lower-payments-on-some-existing-student-loans/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/feds-offer-lower-payments-on-some-existing-student-loans/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:23:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Poverty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debt consolidation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education Department]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[higher education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Student loan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[student loan debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[student loan payments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[student loans]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s New York Times includes a story detailing a new payment plan available to people with lower incomes who are paying off student loans.
Perhaps it would be a help to you, or to someone you know.  Here are a few excerpts and links:











clipped from www.nytimes.com







New Plan Ties Reduced College Loan Payments to Income







For the first [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2702&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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		<title>Health insurers near monopoly control of most markets</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/health-insurers-near-monopoly-control-of-most-markets/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/health-insurers-near-monopoly-control-of-most-markets/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:44:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[government health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HCAN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health care ad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health care costs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Care for America Now]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health care reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health care TV ad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health insurance premiums]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[healthcare industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insurance premiums]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iowa healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public insurance option]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Richard Shelby]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Senator Richard Shelby]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[universal healthcare]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/94-of-health-insurance-markets-have-no-real-competition-insurer-profits-up-428-since-2000/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[



Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr



I thought I understood why insurance companies were the main threats to a &#8220;public option.&#8221; It&#8217;s easy.  Their overhead—exec salaries, advertising, political lobbying, etc.—averages 31%.  Medicare&#8217;s overhead is 1%.  No duh they don&#8217;t want to compete.
Today, I found out there&#8217;s another reason:  they mostly don&#8217;t even compete against each other. [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2694&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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			<media:title type="html">Private insurance makes a lot of cents for the...</media:title>
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		<title>Myths about Canadian health care</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/myths-about-canadian-health-care/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/myths-about-canadian-health-care/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Single-payer health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tax credit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. However]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Are taxes high? Is bureaucracy huge? Author has used both US and Canadian systems, and finds the Canadian better.











clipped from www.boingboing.net









Myth: Taxes in Canada are extremely high, mostly because of national health care.
In actuality, taxes are nearly equal on both sides of the border. Overall, Canada&#8217;s taxes are slightly higher than those in the U.S. [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2682&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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		<title>Public Option is bipartisan &#8211; everywhere but Congress</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/public-option-is-bipartisan-everywhere-but-congress/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/public-option-is-bipartisan-everywhere-but-congress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:32:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chuck Grassley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kaiser Family Foundation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public option]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Republican]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Universal health care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/public-option-is-bipartisan-everywhere-but-congress/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Fivethirtyeight.com observes that over 50% of Republicans and 74% of Americans overall favor a strong public insurance option.  Then, an obvious conclusion: The public option has strong bipartisan support.
1/2 of Republicans and 3/4 of all Americans.  It doesn&#8217;t get much better than that.
But in the Congress, dogmatic opinions prevent such unity.
So here&#8217;s an irony:  America [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2662&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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			<media:title type="html">{{w&#124;Chuck Grassley}}, U.S. Senator from Iowa.</media:title>
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		<title>The anti-whaling &#8217;spaceship&#8217; ship</title>
		<link>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/the-anti-whaling-spaceship-ship/</link>
		<comments>http://masbury.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/the-anti-whaling-spaceship-ship/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:11:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Monte</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Australia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiesel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Earthrace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[humane]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Watson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sea Shepherd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sea Shepherd Conservation Society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steve Irwin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[whales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whaling]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Just for fun:  Ever seen anything like it?











clipped from www.smh.com.au















JAPAN has asked Australia to prevent the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin leaving port to harass its whalers in the Antarctic next summer, but the plea may have little effect.






The anti-whaling activists plan to upgrade their fleet from an ageing, former North Atlantic fisheries patrol boat [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=masbury.wordpress.com&blog=89257&post=2679&subd=masbury&ref=&feed=1" />]]></description>
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			<media:title type="html">Looking more like a giant spider ... the activists' new Earthrace, which last year circled the globe in 61 days, fuelled by biodiesel.</media:title>
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