If Bosnia is headed back toward chaos...

...then what are our hopes to create a long-term democracy in Afghanistan? Such is the question George Will is asking in his newest column. Bosnia was the unique challenge of the Clinton years, and an unprecedented commitment of resources by Western nations funneled over $14 billion into the small country. But already, we are seeing the fragile peace beginning to fray.

Today, the centrifugal forces of the rival ethnic nationalisms of Bosnia's Muslims, Croats and Serbs have, McMahon and Western say, stalled reform and the economy -- unemployment is 27 percent, 25 percent of Bosnians live in poverty, and the public sector, with a ludicrous 160 ministers, swallows almost half the GDP. International organizations, suffering Balkan fatigue and eager to declare "mission accomplished,'' are withdrawing, leaving Muslims isolated and vulnerable, and, as Bosnia is, McMahon and Western say, "drifting toward chaos."

This humbling news is a good reminder to us that the creation of a new form of government is NOT a matter of money. Or even of military power. It is a matter of changing minds and hearts. And this seems to be something we have done in Iraq, but are failing to do in most of the other hot spots around the world.

Long Odds

Two great truths are that everything except a contradiction has a non-zero probability of happening and truth is stranger than fiction. In that vein, there is the unemployed mortgage worker who won the lottery twice in one week and the 14 year old German boy who was hit by a meteorite and survived. As proof that I'm a geek, I'm still not sure whether I would rather have the $142,919 lottery winnings or having a scar from a falling meteorite.

Romanian Leader Elevates Priority of Saving Money

A leader in a Romanian district has decided that saving money in these tough economic times should be a higher priority than some people's comfort. He has ordered that the elevators at the Prefects office only run from 7am-9am and 3pm-5pm. This seems like a good idea to me as that will let most people use the elevators, but will cut out the inefficient times. I know this can't happen in the US because of Disability laws, but I hope this will spur other on to creative ways to save money.

A root of many kinds of evil

More and more these days, it is clear that money is an illusion - an artificial means of tracking value that is more game than reality. So why do we remain obsessed with money? Why are so many willing to do evil things to get more of it? New studies indicate that love of money really is about making yourself God... which cuts you further and further off from your fellow man.

Vohs suggests there is a simple dynamic at work here. "Money makes people feel self-sufficient," she says. "They are more likely to put forth effort to attain personal goals, and they also prefer to be separate from others." The touchy-feely social side of us may disapprove of such behaviour but it is useful for survival...Numerous psychological studies have found a general trade-off between the pursuit of so-called extrinsic aspirations - such as wealth, but also fame and image - and intrinsic aspirations, such as building and maintaining strong personal relationships. People who report a focus on the former score low on indicators of mental health, and those strongly motivated by money are also more likely to find their marriage ending in divorce.

Cities Line Up to Apply for Bailout Money

Now that banks, credit card companies and the auto industry have applied for federal bailout money, the next group to apply are cities. Major cities such as Philadelphia are asking the federal government to loan them money from the $700 Billion. I will lose the little respect I have left for the President if he allows cities and towns to be part of this bailout package. Once that happens, there will be no end to it all.

Ocho Cinco is Expensive

The NFL player formerly known as Chad Johnson would like to have his new name on the back of his NFL uniform. He legally changed his name this August to Chad Ochocinco. The "Ocho Cinco" is in reference to his number which is 85. Well the NFL is saying that if he wants to wear a different name than "Johnson" on his uniform then he has to buy all of the unsold C. Johnson jerseys in the country first. This rule is meant to protect the official apparel companies of the NFL from having wasted merchandise if players change numbers or names. The NFL estimates that there are thousands of unsold "C. Johnson" jerseys out there and that they would have to be bought for at least $45 each to recoup costs. Talk about putting a true price on changing your name.

Does analyzing poverty require a new economics?

I hate economics. I did very well in it in high school, and when forced to deal with it in college. But I simply hate dealing with it. Mostly because economists want us to treat it like a science - on the order of physics or chemistry - when in actuality it is an extension of psychology. Economists hate it when I say it, but they know it is true.

One problem which has defied classical economic analysis is poverty. Why do people who are poor tend to stay poor and have children who stay poor? This despite the many counterexamples from American society where people have "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps." Now, one economist claims to have the answer. For the rich, economics is all about managing scarcity. For the poor, it is all about dealing with the most urgent problem first, which may or may have anything to do with scarcity.

If, for example, our car has several dents on it, and then we get one more, we're far less likely to get that one fixed than if the car was pristine before. If we have a sink full of dishes, the prospect of washing a few of them is much more daunting than if there are only a few in the sink to begin with. Karelis's name for goods that reduce or salve these sort of burdens is "relievers."

Karelis argues that being poor is defined by having to deal with a multitude of problems: One doesn't have enough money to pay rent or car insurance or credit card bills or day care or sometimes even food. Even if one works hard enough to pay off half of those costs, some fairly imposing ones still remain, which creates a large disincentive to bestir oneself to work at all.

I am not sure I buy the argument exactly, but it certainly forces us to take a new look at poverty.

I believe the phrase is "Penny wise, pound foolish"

One wonders if some politicians have any memory for history. Apparently, they have no memory of the troubles Michael Dukakis had, or else some ideas would never return from the dead.

At least eight states are considering freeing inmates or sending some convicts to rehabilitation programs instead of prison, according to an Associated Press analysis of legislative proposals. If adopted, the early release programs could save an estimated $450 million in California and Kentucky alone.

A Rhode Island proposal would allow inmates to deduct up to 12 days from their sentence for every month they follow rules and work in prison. Even some violent offenders would be eligible but not those serving life sentences.

Should Iraq Pay For Its Own Reconstruction?

Iraq is sitting on a bunch of oil which is worth quite a lot these days. This has prompted Senators Carl Levin (D - Michigan) and John Warner (R - Virginia) to ask, "Where's the money?" Estimates are that Iraq will earn at least $100 million because of oil for 2007 and 2008 combined. To date, we've spend around $47 billion trying to reconstruct Iraq. Iraq can't even figure out how to spend the $10.1 billion it has allocated for reconstruction.

Is it fair to require Iraq to spend on its own reconstruction or will this just create resentment like in the post-Civil War South?

How can we enforce the requirements we've put on Iraq? On the one hand, if we say, "Do this by X date or we will leave," we've given the terrorists a timetable. We've told them that all they have to do is create enough havoc until that date. On the other hand, if we don't somehow enforce it, then we give the Iraqi government no incentive to not have us foot the bill.

I honestly believe that there are people in Iraq that want to be free, but does Iraq as a country really want to be free? Is this just a case of being under a dictator for so long that it takes a while to get the concept of freedom like post-Soviet Russia?

I believe that we want Iraq to be stable. I believe that if we leave now, we'll have sent a message that the terrorists won and we'll just have to redo what we've done before. That being said, if Iraq wants a ruler, I'm not sure I like the idea of having the U.S. holding Iraq as a territory, at least from a PR standpoint.

Always Check Your Pockets

It's always nice to hear about someone who returns lost money. Barbarita Nunez, a thrift store employee was going through donations and found a box. Inside the box was an envelope. Inside the envelope? $30,000. Barbarita notified her manager and they were able to give the money back to the family. What is she doing with her cash reward? Helping her mother back in Mexico get a needed eye operation and then, with what's left, buying a digital camera.

Is Christian Tithing Biblical?

I have been having some discussions recently with my friends about tithing at church. One of my friends who graduated from seminary said to me that teaching on tithing isn't found in the New Testament. I decided to do some checking myself and dusted off my book from Larry Burkett on the Bible and Money where he lays out all the verses in the bible that talk about money in a topical format. I was surprised that I think there was only one verse in the New Testament that mentioned tithing and it had no real teaching on that subject for a believer. Google provided me with a link to an interesting article which I would encourage you to read. It is mostly aimed at those who teach that if you don't tithe to the church then you are sinning. But it lays out a lot of scripture and argues that among other things, there isn't any evidence that Jesus tithed. The most interesting minor thing in the article is on how Jesus paid his Temple tax. Jesus states that he does not need to pay the temple tax, but will do so to avoid offending anyone. In the end, he doesn't even pay it out of his own money, but this is where the story of the coins in the fish's mouth comes in. I encourage you all to read this article even though it is long (44 pages when pasted into a Word document). Lest you think he argues not to give any money to church, he doesn't say that at all. He just says that what you decide to give to the church is an offering, not a tithe. You shouldn't feel obligated by scripture to give any certain percentage.