Should Christian churches have armed security guards?

I am conducting a little poll. Vote if you'd like.

more at twiigs.com...

The sustainable border conflict

Rice said the border needed to be drawn up in a way that was "sustainable" for both sides.

If this is accurate reporting of what U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, there should be no wonder that the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea seems to be heading nowhere good. It is not the drawing of the border that needs to be sustainable. Rather, it is the ways the parties relate to one another about the correct border that needs to be sustainable.

In 1998-2000 the two countries fought a war that took 70,000 lives over this border. They ended the war with an agreement to submit their dispute to final and binding arbitration. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, part of Permanent Court of Arbitration, established the legal description of the boundary between Eritrea and Ethiopia, but the two countries did not permit the boundary to be demarcated.

Rice's statement as reported by Reuters is likely to be heard by Eritrea as further evidence that the US is backing Ethiopia's desire to re-open the whole question of where the boundary is or ought to be. Constantly re-opening settled questions is a sure recipe for sustained conflict.

Imagine you were having a boundary dispute with your neighbor. Thorough surveys of the legal descriptions of your property establish that your neighbor has built a fence, or a garage, or an extension of his own home, across the boundary between your property and his. There is nothing unsustainable about establishing where the boundary legally is. But once you and your neighbor know where the line lies, you will be in a position to work out what the consequence of his -- or your -- trespass should be.

The undemarcated boundary between Eritrea and Ethiopia will have consequences for the people who live and work on each side thereof. The time for talks about how sustainable relationships can be established around the border is after its demarcation, once all those involved can see exactly where they stand with respect to the border.

Sadly, Ethiopia and Eritrea have opted to allow the border not to be demarcated, and have each moved large numbers of troops into the border region. There was a much better way to resolve this dispute.

File under : Eritrea, Ethiopia, peacemaking

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful time at the Community Thanksgiving Dinner this afternoon. We had a record number of volunteers helping us serve over eighty meals to people who came for many different reasons. Some came because they could not afford to get the ingredients to make a Thanksgiving meal at home; some couldn't cook; some came because they did not want to have their Thanksgiving meal alone; and some came to serve. Some came promptly at 1:00 when the meal began; and some came at 2:45 when we were in the process of cleaning up and putting away our leftovers.

There was a good spirit in the room as old friends and new gave thanks for God's many blessings.

File under : Central Presbyterian Church, Tarentum, Thanksgiving, holiday

Steel City Grill House continues great traditions

At risk of having to wait for a seat at a nice local restaurant, I just want to add a ditto to today's review in the Valley News Dispatch of Steel City Pizza.

I first learned about Steel City early in the summer when some young people were passing out menus/fliers in Riverview Park in Tarentum. They explained that Tarentum was part of the area to which Steel City would deliver. I learned that Steel City was at that time in the same place locals had come to know as Portofino Pizza (that had a reputation for a great place to get a gyro). "Steel City Pizza and Wings" (as it was named on the sign out front) was being run by the same family that had operated Portofino for 16 years. I found that Steel City was a great place to order pizza, wings, or gyros earlier in the summer.

A few months later a banner appeared in front of the former Babe's Restaurant at 2709 Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell, announcing that "Steel City Pizza and Grill" would be there. Once they opened I paid a visit for dinner, and was not sorry.

I can't make any comparisons with the former Babe's Diner (that closed just before I moved to the area). The gyros are still great at the new restaurant, as are the pizzas and sandwiches. It is also a good place to go for an evening meal. They offer a few very nice pasta entrees.

I am only mystified by the constantly changing name. In addition to the banner out front they now have letters on the high illuminated sign, naming the restaurant the "Steel City Grill House." I am sure that eventually they will settle on one name. But in the meantime I just like the fact that the food is great.

File under : Lower Burrell, food

What is a small church without a trophy case supposed to do?

I had mentioned earlier that one of the big events this month was the 2007 Tarentum Brackenridge Holiday Parade.

The parade was a lot of fun, as I described in the last post. When the parade ended the children who had been on the float went on to the other events happening in Tarentum, while some of us set to work taking the float apart so that we could return the trailer to the person who let us use it. In the middle of our work I received a text message that our float had won Second Prize among the floats that had been in the parade.

This was really funny because all the people who had been involved in the project had not been aware that there would be any judging of the floats. We just went into the parade as an opportunity to participate in a community event and show a little bit about what our church was like.

The kids who went to receive the trophy were just delighted.

I've been told that our church does have a few trophies from various events over the years, but we have no trophy case. We probably don't need one. I hope we'll continue to be involved in events around Tarentum without feeling that we have to compete with other organizations.

There is a full list of the prizes awarded for the 2007 Tarentum Brackenridge Holiday Parade here.

File under : Brackenridge, Central Presbyterian Church, Tarentum, parade

Tarentum Brackenridge Holiday Parade 2007

The Tarentum Brackenridge Holiday Parade on Saturday, November 17 continued the great tradition the two towns established last year. The parade took about 40 minutes to pass the place where I viewed it, and it is clearly become the kind of community event people turn out to support.

While I was waiting for the parade to start, the Highlands Education Association was giving out free cups of hot cocoa and hot apple cider.

The parade had a number of marching units.











There were lots of local fire departments in the parade, and it seemed that some came from further than the previous year's parade.

There were floats from a number of organizations.







In addition to all the politicians who made an appearance, we even had a meteorologist in the parade. But with the weatherman busy riding in the parade I was wondering who was making sure the rains would hold off?



And there were mascots of all sorts:















And of course the parade concluded with the arrival of Santa.

File under : Tarentum Brackenridge Holiday Parade, pictorial

You can't always see the gritted teeth behind the smiley

This is the kind of lawsuit that I think will give lawyers and litigation a bad name among the public. (HT: Pittsblog for writing about the suit and some of its anticipated problems.) The notion that a company can claim an exclusive right to draw a facial expression that is at least as old as the human race on a cookie seems absurd. Although lawyers can picture how the case might go either way, I think the public is going to see through it all to recognize the fierce greed that motivates a lawsuit like this.

If you give someone a smile you lose nothing, and can gain so much. If you sue to defend a claimed exclusive right to draw smiles, there is nothing to gain but perhaps a lot of money. I am likely to remember the obvious greed behind the smiley the next time I dine at an Eat'nPark and see the display of cookies at the counter as I leave.

Those aren't friendly smiles on the cookies. They are just the distracting smiles of someone who is eyeing your wallet.

File under : Pittsburgh, business, food, law