I am currently forming study groups for:  

- Chem101, Math106 Math150, Math151 & ENES 101 

Has anyone spotted the trend in GOP nomination races? No, not the say-crazy-stuff-to-win rule. Not the astronomical number of debates (and counting). Not even the anybody-but-Romney rule.

It’s the Curse of the Front Runner.

It seems spending any period of time as the GOP front runner is a death sentence to your candidacy. The progression went Trump, Gingrich, Bachman, Perry, Cain, now Gingrich once more.

1. First Donald Trump slid because he made the critical error of behaving like Donald Trump.
2. Next Newt Gingrich criticized GOP darling Paul Ryan, thus committing a cardinal sin… Don’t throw salad when you should be throwing red meat.
3. Then people heard Bachman speak.
4. Perry or George Bush 2.0, had the hair and the swagger but doesn’t talk real good. And we found out just how uncomfortable it is to watch a grown man try to remember “Department of Energy.”
5. Cain had the charisma, the element of surprise, but also an alleged history of sexual harassment that negates everything else.

And now comes Gingrich again. He’s polished, he’s smart, as a former speaker of the House he’s got a history of political success. Following Cain’s snafu, Gingrich roared to the front of the pack.

But will he stay there? There are those who think Gingrich is the real deal. The guy to break the Front Runner Curse.

Enter Freddie Mac.

You must understand: to Republican stalwarts, a relationship with Freddie Mac is the moral equivalent of satanism. Gingrich was a paid helper–and, believe me, he didn’t get paid $1.6 million to lecture the organization on the failures of government intervention in the market

Can Newt wiggle his way out of this? Maybe.

But honestly, his relationship with Freddie Mac is not the only issue that will get the microscope. It only took a few days at the head of the pack before this came out.

And so the curse continues….

Maybe lowly Jon Huntsman or Rick Santorum will get a chance in the spotlight after Gingrich has been spit out.

But the same thing is likely to happen until the lacklustre Mitt Romney is selected the nominee.

Or until Ronald Reagan Rises from the dead.

Who do you think will get the nomination?

Thanks to Flickr!

Here’s a hint: The answer isn’t Fox News viewers.

Research conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University finds that those who watch the network are less informed than those who don’t watch news at all. It is one of several studies to find similar results.

Participants were asked to answer questions about their news habits, followed by inquires about current events. Those who identified as Fox viewers proved to know the least on the matters.

The results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all.”

Those who go to sources like NPR, USA Today, and the New York Times were generally more informed. Followers of “The Daily Show” were also found to have a better understanding of the issues.

Jon Stewart has not spent a lot of time on some of these issues. But the results show that when he does talk about something, his viewers pick up a lot more information than they would from other news sources.”

Where are you getting your news?

Image from Oregon Live

Oregon’s governor has halted all executions for the remainder of his time in office.

This move grants temporary reprieve to the state’s 37 death row inmates, one of whom was scheduled to be put to death on Dec. 6.

Citing his personal beliefs, Gov. John Kitzhaber announced his decision on Tuesday.

It is time for Oregon to consider a different approach. I refuse to be a part of this compromised and inequitable system any longer; and I will not allow further executions while I am governor.”

At the same time, he addressed two executions which took place during his previous terms as governor.

They were the most agonizing and difficult decisions I have made as governor and I have revisited and questioned them over and over again during the past 14 years. I do not believe that those executions made us safer; and certainly they did not make us nobler as a society. And I simply cannot participate once again in something I believe to be morally wrong.”

Oregon is now the fifth state to put a hold on the death penalty since 2007.

What is the policy in your state?

Luke 4:38-39 (NIV)

³⁸Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. ³⁹So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.

Reflection

What do we do if we are asked to help someone with a high fever? It seems like an ordinary thing, since we have all suffered through fevers. We think of cool baths, damp towels, and medicine. Then if those things don’t work, we have another armory of treatments: drink hot chicken noodle soup, stay under the covers, sweat it out, call the doctor. What comes out in this passage is that Jesus didn’t have an armory of treatments, he didn’t have to go to powers greater than his own. His power was enough. Jesus simply rebuked the fever and it left. To the ancient world, it was rare and a marvel, but it wasn’t a fluke, a magic spell, or a show. It was real, it was supernatural, and it was Jesus healing the ordinary in ordinary life circumstances.

Responding to the Transmission

While we also need to continue to take care of ordinary life circumstances, let’s live ordinarily by surrendering in faith to the healing that can take place in our lives and in others because Jesus is here and God’s kingdom is with us. If we need healing physically or in our hearts and minds, let’s pray in faith that Jesus would heal us in those areas. It doesn’t have to be special or dramatic, but agreeing and believing that God can do it.

In the November issue of his monthly podcast, “The EMS Squadcast,” Emergency Health Services alumnus Tim Perkins ’97 interviewed UMBC paramedic program director Dwight Polk about Polk’s recent EMS World Expo presentation “HIV/AIDS: Why Don’t We Talk About It Anymore.”

Perkins, who works for the Virginia Office of Emergency Management Services, began his 20-year career in EMS as a volunteer fire fighter in rural New York.

To read more about The EMS Squadcast and to hear the podcast, click here. Polk appears 8 min 51 sec into the recording.

To learn more about UMBC’s EHS program, click here.