Tinkerbell

I apologize. I haven't been doing my part. But in my defense, until yesterday, I didn't realise that all we needed to do to keep our country safe is pray harder:

Section 1. Establishment of a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security.

(a) The Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) shall establish within the Department of Homeland Security (Department) a Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Center).

Look, I'm not a huge fan of the whole "faith-based initiative" thing to begin with, since I think it's largely a renaming of government subsidies to (certain denominations and orientations of) religious groups - not exactly where I think my tax dollars are best spent. That being said, W did run on this to a degree, so you gets what you paid for. But is it too much to ask that Homeland Security be a reality-based department.


I mean we keep doing things like this, and people might speculate that there is a religious war going on, Islam = religion of peace notwithstanding.

But my favorite part of the executive order is this:

Sec. 4. Reporting Requirements.
(a) Report. Not later than 180 days from the date of this order and annually thereafter, the Center shall prepare and submit a report to the WHOFBCI Director.

(b) Contents. The report shall include a description of the Department's efforts in carrying out its responsibilities under this order, including but not limited to:

(i) a comprehensive analysis of the barriers to the full participation of faith-based and other community organizations in the delivery of social and community services identified pursuant to section 3(a) of this order and the proposed strategies to eliminate those barriers; and

(ii) a summary of the technical assistance and other information that will be available to faith-based and other community organizations regarding the program activities of the agency and the preparation of applications or proposals for grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and procurement.

(c) Performance Indicators. The first report shall include annual performance indicators and measurable objectives for Departmental action. Each report filed thereafter shall measure the Department's performance against the objectives set forth in the initial report.

Objective measurement? That sounds disturbingly like...science. Irreducible complexity is the new theory of port security, apparently. It's just as good as any other 'theory.'

At this point today, I feel like I'm on the other side of the looking glass.
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