And apparently also my father’s.

PAJ = Paul Alex Jenkins.

This book is published by Warner Press which is the press of the Church of God, my parent’s denomination.  It is written in a very readable prose and tells the story of Sankey and his work with Dwight L. Moody, the preacher.

More on it later.

I called my representative in Congress  yesterday, Bill Huizenga,

and left a message urging him to vote against bill HR 1076 titled: “To prohibit Federal funding of National Public Radio and the use of Federal funds to acquire radio content.” I had to call before I left for my early ballet class. There was no one inh is office so I left a message. Later I noticed that he voted for this bill (link to the final tally).

I didn’t find this surprising.  It seems pretty dire to me in a democracy that public officials have the idea that there is no need to fund public media.  The ideas behind this are not coherent to me.  It’s probably not as simple as punishing NPR, although I’m sure politicians are alert to how this appears to its constituency. But could it be that their view is more that free enterprise and the market concept will eventually solve all problems if government just gets “out of the way.”

My first response to this is that this is a different way of thinking of our country’s government. We have never had a true democracy in this country, but we have had it as our goal on occasion.  I guess I believe in the idealism of American democracy and the best voice of the people is the government even when it’s corrupt (which it usually is) not the free market.

It seems so obvious to me that there are limits to private enterprise and the open market due to it’s inevitable considering the “bottom line” of profit.  And that a democracy needs a press unfettered by the need to cater to consumers to the point that it doesn’t do its job of journalism (This describes all network TV “news”).

But as Governor Rick Snyder commented yesterday after being booed at a public appearance,  people who disagree with him and the ideas of Republicans are just going to have to get used to these kinds of changes.

I’m running out of time to write. I’m meeting my Mom for a breakfast date in 25 minutes.  I am feeling pleasantly exhausted today and due to spring break do not have a class.

My boss at church pointed out to me that doing as many ballet classes as I am (4) is equivalent to a full-time teaching load.  I pointed out to her that I’m not really teaching, just playing for the classes. But still it makes me realize that even though the dance department is paying me as much as they can ($35 dollars an hour?), it’s probably still less than it’s worth. Story of my life. Heh.