Kenedeno & Associates (E Advocacy Architecture)

Specializing in South Texas Social Structure.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

“There can be no Rule of Law unless there is access to the basic sources of law.”

Transparency of the Legal System

“There can be no Rule of Law unless there is access to the basic sources of law.”

— Theuns Viljoen, Executive Director, LexisNexis South Africa

Rule of Law cannot exist without a transparent legal system, the main components of which are a clear set of laws that are freely and easily accessible to all, strong enforcement structures, and an independent judiciary to protect citizens against the arbitrary use of power by the state, individuals or any other organization.

In some countries the average citizen, businesses trying to operate in those countries, and even practicing lawyers have limited access to laws or legal decisions. Recognizing this challenge, LexisNexis is working in Ghana, Mauritius and three Nigerian states to update laws, to issue them in prin ted volumes, and then to make them publicly available.

For the past seven years, LexisNexis South Africa has worked throughout Africa to consolidate and update laws in Kenya, Swaziland, South Africa, Malawi, and Zimbabwe—fourteen nations in all. As Theuns Viljoen, Executive Director, LexisNexis South Africa, observes, “Our approach is that there can be no Rule of Law unless there is access to the basic sources of Law.”

LexisNexis also has joined the Southern Africa Litigation Center (SALC) in a joint initiative with the International Bar Association and Open Society of Southern Africa. The SALC trains attorneys, supports human rights cases, and carries out other programs to advance the Rule of Law.

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Friday, March 21, 2008

Jaime is Just


Good Friday.........
Posted on March 14, 2008 at 04:24:16 AM by d1



Any thing less would be "Uncivilized".

May God and His Son Jesus continue to Bless us all!

You think Maybe we could get a Leche Rendon Law School?

Or is Cost/ benefit analysis favoring the Prison building Business better?

I bet the autobahn does not require as much "patch work"?

Why is that?

Jaime is Just

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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

watt is proper??????????

the cross as the only source of knowledge who God is and how God saves. It is contrasted with the theology of glory (theologia gloriae), which places greater emphasis on human abilities and human reason.

[edit] Theologia Crucis as Defined by Luther

The term, theologia crucis is actually used very rarely by Luther. He first uses the term, and explicitly defines it in contrast to the theology of glory, in the Heidelberg Disputation of 1519. During this debate, he represented the Augustinians and presented his theses that later came to define the Reformation movement.

The pertinent theses of the debate are:

1. The law of God, the most salutary doctrine of life, cannot advance man on his way to righteousness, but rather hinders him. 2. Much less can human works, which are done over and over again with the aid of natural precepts, so to speak, lead to that end. 3. Although the works of man always appear attractive and good, they are nevertheless likely to be mortal sins. 4. Although the works of God always seem unattractive and appear evil, they are nevertheless really eternal merits. 5. The works of men are thus not mortal sins (we speak of works which are apparently good), as though they were crimes. 6. The works of God (we speak of those which he does through man) are thus not merits, as though they were sinless. 7. The works of the righteous would be mortal sins if they would not be feared as mortal sins by the righteous themselves out of pious fear of God. 8. By so much more are the works of man mortal sins when they are done without fear and in unadulterated, evil self-security. 9. To say that works without Christ are dead, but not mortal, appears to constitute a perilous surrender of the fear of God. 10. Indeed, it is very difficult to see how a work can be dead and at the same time not a harmful and mortal sin. 11. Arrogance cannot be avoided or true hope be present unless the judgment of condemnation is feared in every work. 12. In the sight of God sins are then truly venial when they are feared by men to be mortal. 13. Free will, after the fall, exists in name only, and as long as it does what it is able to do, it commits a mortal sin. 14. Free will, after the fall, has power to do good only in a passive capacity, but it can do evil in an evil capacity. 15. Nor could the free will endure in a state of innocence, much less do good, in an active capacity, but only in a passive capacity. 16. The person who believes that he can obtain grace by doing what is in him adds sin to sin so that he becomes doubly guilty. 17. Nor does speaking in this manner give cause for despair, but for arousing the desire to humble oneself and seek the grace of Christ. 18. It is certain that man must utterly despair of his own ability before he is prepared to receive the grace of Christ. 19. That person does not deserve to be called a theologian who looks upon the invisible things of God as though they were clearly perceptible in those things which have actually happened. 20. He deserves to be called a theologian, however, who comprehends the visible and manifest things of God seen through suffering and the cross. 21. A theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theologian of the cross calls the things what it actually is. 22. That wisdom which sees the invisible things of God in works as perceived by man is completely puffed up, blinded and hardened. 23. The law brings the wrath of God, kills, reviles, accuses, judges, and condemns everything that is not in Christ. 24. Yet that wisdom is not of itself evil, nor is the law to be evaded; but without the theology of the cross man misuses the best in the worst manner. 25. He is not righteous who does much, but he who, without work, believes much in Christ. 26. The law says "Do this", and it is never done. Grace says, "believe in this" and everything is already done. 27. Actually one should call the work of Christ an acting work and our work an accomplished work, and thus an accomplished work pleasing to God by the grace of the acting work. 28. The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it. The love of man comes into being through that which is pleasing to it.

By reading the theses, one can see that Luther insists on the complete inability of humanity to fulfill God's law. As one would find consistent with his Evangelical breakthrough, he emphasizes the grace of God in role of salvation. Works of the law cannot improve one's standing.

According to Luther, the theologian of the cross preaches what seems foolish to the world (1 Cor. 1:18). In particular, the theologian of the cross preaches that (1) humans can in no way earn righteousness, (2) humans cannot add to or increase the righteousness of the cross, and (3) any righteousness given to humanity comes from outside of us (extra nos).

In contrast, the theologian of glory preaches that (1) humans have the ability to do the good that lies within us (quod in se est), (2) there remains, after the fall, some ability to choose the good, and (3) humans cannot be saved without participating in or cooperating with the righteousness given by God.

As Luther understood it, these two theologies had two radically different starting points: they had different epistemologies, or ways of understanding how we know about God and the world. For the theologian of glory, we use reason and our own perceptions to increase our knowledge about God and the world. Thus, because an action appears to be good, it must be good. For the theologian of the cross, it is only from the self-revelation of God that we can learn about God and our relation to God -- and the most perfect self-revelation of God is God's Word become flesh, Jesus the Christ. Thus, even if an action appears good still Christ died on the cross for my sins and sinfulness, so it must not be as good as it appears.

In Martin Luther's sermon on the Two Kinds of Righteousness, he refers to theology of the cross as alien righteousness and theology of glory as proper righteousness owing to its origin in the person presuming that they justify themself by works.

[edit] See Also

* Martin Luther
* Theology of Martin Luther
* Justification
* Free Will
* Lutheranism

[edit] References

* Forde, Gerhard. On Being a Theologian of the Cross. Eerdman's, 1997. ISBN 0-8028-4345-X .

* Hall, Douglas John. Lighten Our Darkness. Academic Renewal Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7880-9900-0.

* McGrath, Alister. Luther's Theology of the Cross. Blackwell Publishing, 1990. ISBN 0-6311-7549-0.

* von Loewenich, Walter. Luther's Theology of the Cross. Augsburg, 1976. ISBN 0-8066-1490-0.

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Related topics on Martin Luther
Works A Mighty Fortress is Our God · Large Catechism · Luther Bible · On the Bondage of the Will · On the Freedom of a Christian · On the Jews and their Lies · Smalcald Articles · Small Catechism · The Adoration of the Sacrament · Theology of the Cross · The 95 Theses · To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation · Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
Topics Augsburg Confession · Decet Romanum Pontificem · Diet of Worms · Lutheranism · Luther rose
People Albert of Mainz · Bartholomaeus Arnoldi · Desiderius Erasmus · Georg Rörer · Johann Cochlaeus · Johann von Staupitz · Justus Jonas · Katharina von Bora · Philipp Melanchthon

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Columnists Editorial Board interview: Scott Elliff

Columnists
Editorial Board interview: Scott Elliff
With the community's backing, there's no reason CCISD can't become a world-class school district


Monday, April 30, 2007

The Editorial Board recently interviewed Scott Elliff, finalist for superintendent of the Corpus Christi Independent School District. He is expected to be hired at tonight's board meeting. Elliff was accompanied by Louis Garza, board president. The comments have been edited for brevity and clarity.





Question: What do you bring to the position of superintendent?

Elliff: I bring the perspective of someone who knows this district inside and out as well as knowing some of the challenges that other districts around the country have faced and how they have worked through those. I bring an understanding of this community and a willingness to hear what the community's highest hopes and dreams are for our schools. I think I bring a solid knowledge of curriculum instruction.

Question: Knowing the district as you do, what needs to be worked on first?

Elliff: I think we've gotten a good start in the last two years on some important pieces that need to be finished. The district before 2003, when we had a curriculum audit, had no written curriculum for any of our subject areas. After several false starts, over a period of six months, with 400 teachers under the leadership of our staff, we were able to create curriculum guides for all of our core content areas, Pre-K through 12, English, math, science and social studies. The district had tried on two occasions to buy curriculums from other districts, because it was felt we wouldn't be able to do it. But our teachers showed it could be done.

What this really is, is the road map for what our teachers are supposed to teach in the classrooms in order for our kids to be successful. Without that, what the district essentially was doing was to give teachers a textbook and a list of objectives and say, "Good luck."

Now, 53 curriculum guides in core content areas have been developed; they are comprehensive.

The second big challenge is finding highly qualified teachers, particularly in mathematics and science. Starting with next year's freshman class, all students will have to take four years of math and science, in addition to four years of English, in order to graduate. That's going to put a press on us to be able to find the teachers to staff those classes.

Our district is only as good as our lowest-performing school. Right now, for a variety of reasons, Miller is our biggest challenge. We're taking some dramatic steps, some of which are required by law. We are reconstituting staff at the school. That is a big challenge for us. We know what we need to do. We know about strong instructional leadership, clear focus on mission, safety and security.

But there are things that impede the ability for those things to work. One is will. If you don't have the will to make changes, that's one. The other is sustainability. As a district, we've had considerable turnover. It's been difficult to keep people in key positions long enough for major reforms to take hold.

We've chosen to focus on a few things and keep doing them long enough that we believe they will make a difference. One is working on this curriculum and being relentless about our expectations that people will actually use the road map for instruction. The second is the relationship we have with the Schlechty Center for Leadership in School Reform (based in Kentucky) and what is called "Working on the Work." The curriculum guides are about what we're teaching. "Working on the Work" is about how we teach. We're in the third year of that program. Keeping some things in place long enough for them to take root is going to help us.

Question: You talk about the "will" to change. Do you have a mandate for change?

Elliff: There is a real sense of urgency to get some things fixed in terms of our academic performance, improving our graduation rate and getting our kids ready to go to college. I guess you can call that a mandate for change.

Our board hasn't established a set of goals yet. I have ideas and have articulated those to the board about things I think we need to be doing to be a world-class school district. But we all have to be on the same page about what that looks like. I had a conversation with a parent from Ray about whether I would be able to make tough decisions. Clearly, some things we need to change are going to make people feel uncomfortable; they are going to require people to think differently about what their roles are.

When it comes to making tough decisions, I'm trusting in the fact that the support I've gotten has been because people have seen who I am, and who we at the central office are, and they know we have their best interests at heart.

I'll give you an example of what needs to change. Our parental involvement and parent education program is all over the map. We don't have an organized, coherent strategy. We have people working very hard, but not in a way that is connected. A part of that is because we have people assigned out to every campus who have no connection to the whole. That's a support function that ought to be provided by the district and not left to chance. That's going to make people uncomfortable when we centralize that work.

Question: Are you going to have the autonomy to make decisions?

Elliff: Conversations I've had with board members lead me to believe that's the direction in which we'll be moving, particularly when it comes to personnel decisions. I've made it known that when it comes to selecting assistant principals and other posts, I don't see that as being within the realm of the board.

If the board is going to hold me accountable, then I need to be able to have people in key leadership positions who I believe can move forward with me as the leader of their team. That will require a change in policy. There's a policy that previous boards adopted that required certain positions to be taken to the board for action.

Question: Will you ask for that policy to be changed?

Elliff: I will.

Question: The school board approved the hiring of a Miller football coach the other night, so football coaches apparently are on the list of positions that require board approval.

Elliff: Yes, and assistant superintendents, executive directors, directors, athletic coordinators, principals and assistant principals are on that list. In some school districts, it's in the superintendent's contract that the board employs the superintendent, but the superintendent employs all other people.

Question: Is that what you're seeking?

Elliff: No. But, the existing policy reaches too far into the organization. I think there would be consent of the board on some positions, but I don't think the board needs to be voting on assistant principals or a football coach.

Louis Garza: I can't remember that we ever said "no" to any recommendation brought by the staff.

Question: Well, it doesn't work that way. What happens is that a trial balloon is floated and if the superintendent decides he doesn't have enough votes, the name is withdrawn. We know that goes on. We're advocating that you (Elliff) have the accountability so you can state your objectives and provide a report card to the community.

Elliff: Let me say something about that (accountability). If the state tells you you're doing a good job, they give you a label and that's the label you report out. I've come to believe parents aren't as gratified by "exemplary" and "recognized" as we are. I want us to develop - with input from the community to tell us what they're looking for - into a world-class system. There isn't anything that should keep us from being as highly regarded as a Plano or an Aldine (near Houston) or a Northside (in San Antonio.)

Question: Not long ago we had a debate in this community about dropouts. What would you do about dropouts?

Elliff: The district does not have a well-coordinated strategy to prevent dropouts. One thing in the next 100 days would be to bring that together and probably have a lot of activity working out of Coles High School. Coles is truly to be a center of options.

Question: Will we need to close more schools?

Elliff: I think we're going to take a serious look at facilities across the district. This may mean consolidating or replacing some aging facilities. We know because of the growth (on the Southside) that we're going to need a couple of elementary schools there sooner rather than later. There's going to have to be a question put to the community about how we do that.

Question: What do you see as impediments to your success?

Elliff: Low expectations. People have high hopes, but low expectations for our district. There is no reason we can't have a great system of schools. I'm not saying that money is the answer, but we're kind of static in terms of funding from the state. We don't get any less money than we got in 2005, but we don't get any more, either. That's going to present challenges.

If all we talk about is TAKS scores, then I think the focus on TAKS scores as an end in itself begins to eat away at the soul of what our organization is supposed to be about. There's nothing exciting about getting ready for the TAKS test.

Nick Jimenez is editorial page editor of the Caller-Times. Phone: 886-3787; e-mail: HYPERLINK mailto:jimenezn@caller.com jimenezn@caller.com.

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Friday, April 20, 2007

"IN THE KNOW": Remember The Crime Stoppers "Vandalism" of the Corpus Christi Country Club Golf Coursehigh powered members who control our nation’s eco

"IN THE KNOW": Remember The Crime Stoppers "Vandalism" of the Corpus Christi Country Club Golf Course? Were there not high powered CCCC members who control our nation’s economy & industry. This work of fiction written by Hal Bray set here in Corpus Christi; I just thought you guys might like it. BTW, cant find that particular Crime Stoppers announcement. They tore up the CCCC Golf Course. Who is they?

Saturday, May 27, 2006

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