Saturday Notes

TWO MORE OF CHERYL'S SONGS have received CCLI registration numbers and are now up on the Camino Merced Music site.

IF IT IS HIP TO BE UNHIP, then it is unhip to be hip. According to an LA Times article there is a whole microtrend of people turning their backs on being "cool." Now, of course, some of us were never cool in the first place, nor ever aspired to coolness. So, does that make us cool trendsetters? As I once heard some cool people say in the mid-90's -- whatever.

LAS VEGAS -- Residential water usage is going to eventually crash the city. Also, developers have a plan to drop a slice of New York's East Village into Vegas.

THE TJ HAS BEEN RUNNING an online poll asking people what they think of the fact that water metering is coming to Turlock. Most people think it's a horrible idea. Whether it is horrible or not, it is a necessity given the growth patterns and the limited availability of water in the state.

This is a change that has been in process for years. When our house was built 10 years ago the builders had to install meters in anticipation of when they'd be required. (All eight of the communities I lived in prior to moving to Turlock regulated water through meters so I was surprised that no one was reading ours here.) And now state law is going to require it. So, in a sense it doesn't matter what we think. The greater good of the state requires it.

FROM BONO INTERVIEW: "At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics -- in physical laws -- every action is met by an equal or an opposite one... And yet, along comes this idea called grace to upend all that... Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff." Link

THE OLD YOSEMITE HALL, the first dormitory for CSU Stanislaus students, is being demolished. When Cornerstone was first looking for property we investigated the possibility of converting these abandoned buildings. But when we realized how much asbestos was involved we quickly turned to other options. The demolition is apparently costing $620,000 -- a high tab because of the contamination. Link

It kind of makes one wonder what nasty things we're using now, that we don't know are nasty, but will ding future generations.

A FORMER EPISCOPAL PRIEST in Redlands is going to be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. The uniqueness is that Gregory Elder, a professor of history and humanities at Riverside Community College, is married. He describes the process in his Redlands Daily Facts column.

MEANWHILE, EVANGELICALS AND ROMAN CATHOLICS are increasingly finding themselves on the same page says Wheaton College's Mark Noll. Books & Culture has an excerpt from the book Mark has written with Carolyn Nystrom, Is the Reformation Over?

THE US ABORTION RATE is the lowest it has been since 1974 -- for lots of reasons. Still, about one in five pregnancies in the US ends in abortion. Link

THE MERCED RESCUE MISSION does a weekly food and clothing distribution on Tuesday evenings in Stevinson. Lots of community groups and businesses such as Hilmar Cheese, Pepsi of Fresno, and Foster Farms are making this happen. The mission also does a Monday night distribution in Hilmar. Kudos. Link