Thanks to Ormonde at Through The Dust for the tip on the statement by Bishop Charles Jenkins on the plan to tear down public housing in New Orleans. Ormonde says:
My bishop, Charles Jenkins, has issued a statement opposing FEMA's decision to evict refugees from trailers and HUD's decision to bulldoze federal housing in New Orleans (already a city with many homeless).
This is, as Bishop Jenkins says, very much a moral issue. Bishop Jenkins' statement is here.
In this holy season, the decision has been made by FEMA that tens of thousands of families or individuals must leave their trailer homes by the spring of next year. Eviction notices are being posted even now. At the very same time, it has been decided by the Housing Authority of New Orleans and HUD that the bulk of the Federal Housing Projects in New Orleans are to be bulldozed to the ground this month. Many of those living in FEMA trailers do not have the resources to find other housing in the notoriously expensive New Orleans housing market. The Case Management system, which is designed to help citizens of the diaspora and those returned home deal with such challenges, is scheduled to end in March of 2008.
As a Christian, I am compelled to speak of the morality of these decisions. The issue is not simply one of housing or even subsidized housing. Rather, the issue before us is primarily a moral issue. The issue before us is not buildings, but people. As the Christ Child had no place but a manger to lay his head, so it is that many children in New Orleans and of the New Orleans diaspora have no place to call home. Shall America by policy treat our citizens as mere statistics or shall we respect the dignity of each person as a child of God? The numbers are huge, but as we were reminded by a thoughtful rabbi in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center, each number represents a human being. It is not that tens of thousands shall be further displaced but that multitudes of human beings shall again be put out - one human being at a time.
The buildings are in disrepair, but they are well-built. They have good bones and could be repaired for much less money than rebuilding from scratch. The New Orleans Housing Authority was corrupt, and they mismanaged public housing in New Orleans for a good number of years. The feds, through HUD, took over management of the housing and didn't do much better in maintaining the buildings and keeping them safe for the residents who lived there. HANO is now back in charge.
Yesterday the bulldozing of the B. W. Cooper project was to begin, but protesters got in the way, and the operations were suspended. The New Orleans Times-Picayune has the story.
Dozens of protesters stalled plans by the Housing Authority of New Orleans to begin demolition of vacant buildings at the B.W. Cooper public housing development Wednesday, signaling the start of a contentious battle between what the government calls progress and dissenters view as an attack on the poor in post-Katrina New Orleans.
....
That fact meant nothing to the protesters, who managed to claim a victory, if only for one evening, as HANO and the city attorney's office agreed to halt demolition late Wednesday and possibly start fresh today.
....
Many residents of public housing reacted to the sight of the excavators with expressions of sadness and voiced distrust of the government's plans for "revitalization" of HANO's properties.
'It's home'
"It's not the lakefront, but it's home," said Ralph Lewis, 51, who was born and lived at Cooper until he evacuated before Katrina struck.
....
Tanya Davis, 44, said many of her missing neighbors are stuck in Texas or Georgia or Arkansas, waiting to come home.
....
Davis applied for her first "project," a one-bedroom apartment, more than a quarter-century ago, when she was a young mother. She got it.
"I started from there," she said. She's been working steadily ever since like most of her neighbors, she said. The ones who didn't work were disabled or senior citizens on a fixed income, people whom she and others helped by paying cab fare or fixing meals. "It was a tight-knit community. Everybody was close," she said.
The majority of the residents were working people, or they were elderly or disabled. The were not the deadbeats that we hear so much about. The powers have said that there is public housing that is now sitting vacant, but Bishop Jenkins addresses that point too.
Beware the claim that low cost housing is available and going unclaimed in New Orleans. There is more to this than empty apartments. The capacity of the growing homeless population in New Orleans and those of the Diaspora to qualify for these apartments, should they exist, is compromised. Without assistance, without case management, many do not have the ability to qualify for these apartments. So, if FEMA is putting people on the streets, many will decide that if they are going to be homeless, they would rather be homeless in New Orleans than in Houston or Atlanta. We face the potential of an extended situation not unlike that we saw in the Superdome immediately after Katrina.
Altogether, this statement from Bishop Jenkins is excellent. I admire greatly his advocacy on this issue. We need to hear from the leadership in the churches on matters of justice such as this. Thank you, Bishop Jenkins. Thank you, Ormonde, for calling attention to the bishop's statement.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Don't Blame Me, Blame Doug
Recently, while going through an airport during one of his many trips, President Bush encountered a man with long gray hair and beard, wearing a white robe and sandals, holding a staff.
President Bush went up to the man and said, "Has anyone told you that you look like Moses?" The man didn't answer. He just kept staring straight
The president said, "Moses!" in a loud voice. The man just stared ahead, never acknowledging the president.
The president pulled a Secret Service agent aside and, pointing to the robed man, asked him, "Am I crazy or does that man not look like Moses to you? The Secret Service agent looked at the man and agreed.
"Well," said the president, "Every time I say his name, he ignores me and stares straight ahead, refusing to speak. Watch!" Again the president yelled, "Moses!" and again the man ignored him.
The Secret Service agent went up to the man in the white robe and whispered, "You look just like Moses.Are you Moses?"
The man leaned over and whispered back, "Shhhh! Yes, I am Moses. The last time I talked to a bush, I spent 40 years wandering in the desert and ended up leading my people to the only spot in the entire Middle East with no oil."
Easy blogging. Good night.
President Bush went up to the man and said, "Has anyone told you that you look like Moses?" The man didn't answer. He just kept staring straight
The president said, "Moses!" in a loud voice. The man just stared ahead, never acknowledging the president.
The president pulled a Secret Service agent aside and, pointing to the robed man, asked him, "Am I crazy or does that man not look like Moses to you? The Secret Service agent looked at the man and agreed.
"Well," said the president, "Every time I say his name, he ignores me and stares straight ahead, refusing to speak. Watch!" Again the president yelled, "Moses!" and again the man ignored him.
The Secret Service agent went up to the man in the white robe and whispered, "You look just like Moses.Are you Moses?"
The man leaned over and whispered back, "Shhhh! Yes, I am Moses. The last time I talked to a bush, I spent 40 years wandering in the desert and ended up leading my people to the only spot in the entire Middle East with no oil."
Easy blogging. Good night.
Return To Me
Back to Advent, with the prophet Joel (2:12) speaking the word of the Lord:
"Yet even now," says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;..."
Followed by Amos, from "The Daily Office", reminding us of the thread of darkness that runs through the readings for Advent:
Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who lives in it,
and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?
Amos 8:4-8
And then from Matthew, in "The Daily Office", the call to repentance and righteousness, another great theme of the season, one that we so easily forget in our scramble to shop and decorate:
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
Matthew 23:1-12
Finally, an excerpt from the post by Vicki Black on "Food For the Soul" at the Episcopal Café:
Behold, you come. And your coming is neither past nor future, but the present, which has only to reach its fulfillment. Now it is still the one single hour of your Advent, at the end of which we too shall have found out that you have really come.
O God who is to come, grant me the grace to live now, in the hour of your Advent, in such a way that I may merit to live in you forever, in the blissful hour of your eternity.
From “The God Who Is to Come” by Karl Rahner, in Encounters with Silence, translated by James M. Demske (St. Augustine’s Press, 1999).
Ahhh! Those lovely words of Rahner's are, indeed, food for the soul.
"Yet even now," says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;..."
Followed by Amos, from "The Daily Office", reminding us of the thread of darkness that runs through the readings for Advent:
Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who lives in it,
and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?
Amos 8:4-8
And then from Matthew, in "The Daily Office", the call to repentance and righteousness, another great theme of the season, one that we so easily forget in our scramble to shop and decorate:
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
Matthew 23:1-12
Finally, an excerpt from the post by Vicki Black on "Food For the Soul" at the Episcopal Café:
Behold, you come. And your coming is neither past nor future, but the present, which has only to reach its fulfillment. Now it is still the one single hour of your Advent, at the end of which we too shall have found out that you have really come.
O God who is to come, grant me the grace to live now, in the hour of your Advent, in such a way that I may merit to live in you forever, in the blissful hour of your eternity.
From “The God Who Is to Come” by Karl Rahner, in Encounters with Silence, translated by James M. Demske (St. Augustine’s Press, 1999).
Ahhh! Those lovely words of Rahner's are, indeed, food for the soul.
Priestly Behavior?
From Elrena Evans at Episcopal Life:
Ten minutes before the service starts, a priest is pounding down the aisle in full stride. As my one-year-old daughter spots him, she squeals in recognition and holds out her hand. He whirls around to face her.
"Shhh!" he hisses. "Be quiet."
And with a swoosh of his robes, he is gone.
My daughter drops the hand she was holding out to him, confused. She doesn't understand why this man she was so happy to see wasn't happy to see her. And I don't understand why I am sitting here in the pew where I sit every Sunday with my extended family, allowing a man in clerical garb to rebuke my daughter.
Ten minutes before the service? I know that some churches reserve the time before the service as a quiet time, but this sort of rudeness to a child on the part of the priest is shocking.
I shift in my pew. I live in a world of the body. My spirituality is twined with flesh, with bodies that birth and nurse their young. That is the high calling of motherhood: a demand that we learn to negotiate the spirit world while remaining firmly rooted in our earthly humanity.
This isn't the image of the church I want to give my daughter, that we allow men in fancy dresses to tell us we're not welcome -- for being women, for being flesh, for being noisy, for being young. I contemplate walking out. But I don't want to leave. I want to stay right here, with my daughter, visible symbols of the messy realities of life. We who are steeped in the blood and milk of motherhood will not hide ourselves to make anyone else more comfortable. That's not the example Jesus set.
And then later in the Eucharistic service:
I kneel down at the Communion rail with her in my arms, and she holds her hand up to the chalice bearer, my father. He smiles as he tips the chalice to my lips. "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation," he says. Then he rests his hand on my daughter's head. "The blessing of Jesus be upon you." She laughs, and snuggles into my arms.
Thanks be to God for the loving touch. Let's pray that, as she grows, the little child experiences more love than rudeness from the other members of the Body of Christ.
Thanks to Ann.
Ten minutes before the service starts, a priest is pounding down the aisle in full stride. As my one-year-old daughter spots him, she squeals in recognition and holds out her hand. He whirls around to face her.
"Shhh!" he hisses. "Be quiet."
And with a swoosh of his robes, he is gone.
My daughter drops the hand she was holding out to him, confused. She doesn't understand why this man she was so happy to see wasn't happy to see her. And I don't understand why I am sitting here in the pew where I sit every Sunday with my extended family, allowing a man in clerical garb to rebuke my daughter.
Ten minutes before the service? I know that some churches reserve the time before the service as a quiet time, but this sort of rudeness to a child on the part of the priest is shocking.
I shift in my pew. I live in a world of the body. My spirituality is twined with flesh, with bodies that birth and nurse their young. That is the high calling of motherhood: a demand that we learn to negotiate the spirit world while remaining firmly rooted in our earthly humanity.
This isn't the image of the church I want to give my daughter, that we allow men in fancy dresses to tell us we're not welcome -- for being women, for being flesh, for being noisy, for being young. I contemplate walking out. But I don't want to leave. I want to stay right here, with my daughter, visible symbols of the messy realities of life. We who are steeped in the blood and milk of motherhood will not hide ourselves to make anyone else more comfortable. That's not the example Jesus set.
And then later in the Eucharistic service:
I kneel down at the Communion rail with her in my arms, and she holds her hand up to the chalice bearer, my father. He smiles as he tips the chalice to my lips. "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation," he says. Then he rests his hand on my daughter's head. "The blessing of Jesus be upon you." She laughs, and snuggles into my arms.
Thanks be to God for the loving touch. Let's pray that, as she grows, the little child experiences more love than rudeness from the other members of the Body of Christ.
Thanks to Ann.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Teenagers Ask The Archbishop
From Ruth Gledhill, at the Times Online in London, via Ann Fontaine at the Episcopal Café.
According to Gledhill, who doesn't always get things right, three teenagers from Oi! magazine conducted an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Mylie Veitch, 18, asked him his views on a gay friend of hers who is considering adopting with his partner.
Dr Williams said: “This is a big one. I have questions as to whether same sex couples can provide the same stability as ‘normal parents’. I have no answers really, just questions.
“Many would argue that we need a balance of men and women to bring a child up. However, I have seen one fantastic example of same sex parenting first hand and I suppose stability is another key consideration.”
Asked about his support for gay clergy, he replied: “I have no problem with gay clergy who aren’t in relationships, although there are savage arguments about the issue you might have heard about. Our jobs mean we have to adhere to the Bible, gay clergy who don’t act upon their sexual preferences do, clergy in practicing homosexual relationships don’t. This major question doesn’t have a quick fix solution and I imagine will be debated for many years to come.”
Gledhill's final words are:
Many insiders believe that the dispute will move across the Atlantic to Britain next year.
Ruth, a number of us would say that the dispute has already jumped the pond.
The interview will be published on December 16.
UPDATE: A report on the interview from ICWales does not include the longish quote about gay clergy. We'll see. Thanks to Ann in the comments for the tip.
UPDATE 2: Here's a link to what appears to be the full article in a PDF file at Creative Solutions. Thanks to Anonymous in the comments.
UPDATE 3: From Anonymous in the comments:
Anonymous said...
no we did not record the interview and hes words were 'adhere' not 'try to live by' i dont know why it has been changed but a number of other things have been chnaged along the way by varous other sources that i am not too happy with and i shall be adressing.
FWIW. I have asked anonymous if she is one of the interviewers.
According to Gledhill, who doesn't always get things right, three teenagers from Oi! magazine conducted an interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Mylie Veitch, 18, asked him his views on a gay friend of hers who is considering adopting with his partner.
Dr Williams said: “This is a big one. I have questions as to whether same sex couples can provide the same stability as ‘normal parents’. I have no answers really, just questions.
“Many would argue that we need a balance of men and women to bring a child up. However, I have seen one fantastic example of same sex parenting first hand and I suppose stability is another key consideration.”
Asked about his support for gay clergy, he replied: “I have no problem with gay clergy who aren’t in relationships, although there are savage arguments about the issue you might have heard about. Our jobs mean we have to adhere to the Bible, gay clergy who don’t act upon their sexual preferences do, clergy in practicing homosexual relationships don’t. This major question doesn’t have a quick fix solution and I imagine will be debated for many years to come.”
Gledhill's final words are:
Many insiders believe that the dispute will move across the Atlantic to Britain next year.
Ruth, a number of us would say that the dispute has already jumped the pond.
The interview will be published on December 16.
UPDATE: A report on the interview from ICWales does not include the longish quote about gay clergy. We'll see. Thanks to Ann in the comments for the tip.
UPDATE 2: Here's a link to what appears to be the full article in a PDF file at Creative Solutions. Thanks to Anonymous in the comments.
UPDATE 3: From Anonymous in the comments:
Anonymous said...
no we did not record the interview and hes words were 'adhere' not 'try to live by' i dont know why it has been changed but a number of other things have been chnaged along the way by varous other sources that i am not too happy with and i shall be adressing.
FWIW. I have asked anonymous if she is one of the interviewers.
Floating Fur Christmas Pageant
In the comments to the post on the lavish Christmas pageant at First Baptist in Ft. Lauderdale,
Paul said...
Ah, Mimi, you mean you've never had the "pleasure" of going with relatives to a church that looks like a school auditorium to witness a "living Christmas tree"?
Actually, although I have never seen a "living Christmas tree" pageant in an auditorium-type church setting, I have seen more than one Christmas pageant in an Assembly of God church, which looked like a school auditorium. It has a massive sound system installed on a platform in the rear of the church. Perhaps the style of the building we worship in really shouldn't matter that much, but I have a bias against auditorium-type churches. Mea culpa.
Two of my grandchildren attended the nursery school run by the church, simply because it was one of the best in town. The workers were kind and loving, and the church paid their employees well beyond minimum wage and gave them raises, so they were able to keep good people when they hired them. From ages two to five, the children were taught Bible stories, but not much indoctrination beyond that.
Of course, the obligatory sheet about the dangers of Halloween was sent to the parents, but beyond that I saw nothing objectionable that would affect the children adversely. My granddaughter learned to read at the age of three at the nursery school. The pastor of the church lived a few houses down from us at one time, and he seemed to be a sensible man within the constraints of serving as a pastor in an Assembly of God church.
My granddaughter was two years old for the very first Christmas pageant we attended there. I don't remember what she was supposed to be, but she was dressed in a fur-trimmed costume with hat. Maybe she was a lamb. After the two year olds were on the stage, my granddaughter promptly took off her hat and lay down on the floor on her side, propped on her elbow, to enjoy the proceedings. Someone finally got her up, and once she was standing she began plucking the fur off her costume and throwing it in the air where it floated, and the other children began to try to catch the floating fur. It was a sight to behold as the main characters in the pageant tried to carry on with acting their roles. My now ex-daughter-in-law was mortified and scowling, but the rest of us were doubled over with laughter.
My grandson, who is now seven went to that nursery school until he was five, and we attended several more Christmas pageants there, but never one that was as much fun as the first.
Paul said...
Ah, Mimi, you mean you've never had the "pleasure" of going with relatives to a church that looks like a school auditorium to witness a "living Christmas tree"?
Actually, although I have never seen a "living Christmas tree" pageant in an auditorium-type church setting, I have seen more than one Christmas pageant in an Assembly of God church, which looked like a school auditorium. It has a massive sound system installed on a platform in the rear of the church. Perhaps the style of the building we worship in really shouldn't matter that much, but I have a bias against auditorium-type churches. Mea culpa.
Two of my grandchildren attended the nursery school run by the church, simply because it was one of the best in town. The workers were kind and loving, and the church paid their employees well beyond minimum wage and gave them raises, so they were able to keep good people when they hired them. From ages two to five, the children were taught Bible stories, but not much indoctrination beyond that.
Of course, the obligatory sheet about the dangers of Halloween was sent to the parents, but beyond that I saw nothing objectionable that would affect the children adversely. My granddaughter learned to read at the age of three at the nursery school. The pastor of the church lived a few houses down from us at one time, and he seemed to be a sensible man within the constraints of serving as a pastor in an Assembly of God church.
My granddaughter was two years old for the very first Christmas pageant we attended there. I don't remember what she was supposed to be, but she was dressed in a fur-trimmed costume with hat. Maybe she was a lamb. After the two year olds were on the stage, my granddaughter promptly took off her hat and lay down on the floor on her side, propped on her elbow, to enjoy the proceedings. Someone finally got her up, and once she was standing she began plucking the fur off her costume and throwing it in the air where it floated, and the other children began to try to catch the floating fur. It was a sight to behold as the main characters in the pageant tried to carry on with acting their roles. My now ex-daughter-in-law was mortified and scowling, but the rest of us were doubled over with laughter.
My grandson, who is now seven went to that nursery school until he was five, and we attended several more Christmas pageants there, but never one that was as much fun as the first.
Monday, December 10, 2007
"Commercialization of Christmas?"
Photo and story from ABC News:
First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale Spent More Than $1 Million on Its Pageant
"We're having to compete against many theatrical things around the country, whether it's MTV or the Rockettes or any show you might see on Broadway," said the Rev. Mike Jefferies of the First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale. "We have made a conscious decision to pull out all the stops."
....
"I really believe it is such a great story. I'm sure we couldn't actually compete with what really happened 2,000 years ago," he said on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition" today.
The Rev. Mike's humility is astounding. What makes him think he can't compete with the story of the God Incarnate? What would Jesus say about the spectacle? The Rev. Mike thinks he has the answer.
Thanks to the Weird Rabbit for the link.
Faint Condemnation?
From an article at Digital 50 on the decision of the Diocese of San Joaquin to withdraw from the Episcopal Church:
Bishop Frank Lyons of Bolivia read a statement from Archbishop Gregory Venables [of the Southern Cone], "Welcome Home. And welcome back into full fellowship in the Anglican Communion."
And then there's this posted by Ann Fontaine at the Episcopal Cafe from an email from The Rev. Canon Dr. James M. Rosenthal, Anglican Communion Office:
"Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has not in any way endorsed the actions of the Primate of the Southern Cone, Bishop Gregory Venables, in his welcoming of dioceses, such as San Joaquin in the Episcopal Church, to become part of his province in South America," a spokesman for the Anglican Communion said.
Where's the stern rebuke from the Archbishop of Canterbury? You've heard of faint praise, I'm sure. Can we call this faint condemnation? Is it condemnation at all? Is it mere disassociation?
Further thoughts from Mark Harris at Preludium.
UPDATE: Go read Fr. Jake on Ruth Gledhill's "reporting" for the Times of London.
Bishop Frank Lyons of Bolivia read a statement from Archbishop Gregory Venables [of the Southern Cone], "Welcome Home. And welcome back into full fellowship in the Anglican Communion."
And then there's this posted by Ann Fontaine at the Episcopal Cafe from an email from The Rev. Canon Dr. James M. Rosenthal, Anglican Communion Office:
"Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has not in any way endorsed the actions of the Primate of the Southern Cone, Bishop Gregory Venables, in his welcoming of dioceses, such as San Joaquin in the Episcopal Church, to become part of his province in South America," a spokesman for the Anglican Communion said.
Where's the stern rebuke from the Archbishop of Canterbury? You've heard of faint praise, I'm sure. Can we call this faint condemnation? Is it condemnation at all? Is it mere disassociation?
Further thoughts from Mark Harris at Preludium.
UPDATE: Go read Fr. Jake on Ruth Gledhill's "reporting" for the Times of London.
Watch Out For The Scam, Guys
Many of you may know about the scam already, since it is part of a mass email warning campaign, but just in case you haven't, I offer it here:
A 'heads up' for those men who may be regular **** ***** customers. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends. Here's how the scam works:
Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look.
When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to another **** ***** store. You agree and they get in the backseat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet. I had my wallet stolen September 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th 29th. Also October 1st, 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, three times last Saturday and very likely again this upcoming weekend. Just wanted to alert you to this Shopping scam.
Happy Holidays!
The mailing I received originated from the development officer of a Roman Catholic high school. I wonder if he used his work computer.
A 'heads up' for those men who may be regular **** ***** customers. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends. Here's how the scam works:
Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look.
When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to another **** ***** store. You agree and they get in the backseat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet. I had my wallet stolen September 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, & 24th 29th. Also October 1st, 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, three times last Saturday and very likely again this upcoming weekend. Just wanted to alert you to this Shopping scam.
Happy Holidays!
The mailing I received originated from the development officer of a Roman Catholic high school. I wonder if he used his work computer.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Lord Have Mercy!
From the Observer:
The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. This southern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil and gas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. In the small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty has delivered an opportunity for a new and terrible
phenomenon that is leading to the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of children. And it is being done in the name of Christianity.
....
But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.
Sam Ikpe-Itauma is one of the few who does not believe the stories of the children being witches. He began taking in the abandoned, abused children and now has 131. The children are packed onto a concrete hut, three to a bed. The stories that the children tell are horrifying. I can tell you that I could hardly read to the end of the article.
In some areas every fourth building is a church, so competition among the "pastors" is fierce. The names on the churches are New Testament Assembly, Church of God Mission, Mount Zion Gospel, Glory of God, Brotherhood of the Cross, Redeemed, Apostalistic. The "pastors" get most of their income from "deliverances". Even if the parents abandon or even kill the child who is thought to be a witch, the "pastors" must do a "deliverance" on them because a spell has been cast. The exercise sometimes costs three or four months salary for the family. The first "deliverance" is not guaranteed to work, and a second may be required.
Ikpe-Itauma says that children disappear, but no one turns in reports.
There is a video at the site, but I could not finish watching.
By the end of the story, Sam Ikpe-Itauma has 133 children living in the hut, with the addition of five year old twin boys, whom their mother and their whole village have declared to be witches.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. This southern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil and gas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. In the small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty has delivered an opportunity for a new and terrible
phenomenon that is leading to the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of children. And it is being done in the name of Christianity.
....
But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.
Sam Ikpe-Itauma is one of the few who does not believe the stories of the children being witches. He began taking in the abandoned, abused children and now has 131. The children are packed onto a concrete hut, three to a bed. The stories that the children tell are horrifying. I can tell you that I could hardly read to the end of the article.
In some areas every fourth building is a church, so competition among the "pastors" is fierce. The names on the churches are New Testament Assembly, Church of God Mission, Mount Zion Gospel, Glory of God, Brotherhood of the Cross, Redeemed, Apostalistic. The "pastors" get most of their income from "deliverances". Even if the parents abandon or even kill the child who is thought to be a witch, the "pastors" must do a "deliverance" on them because a spell has been cast. The exercise sometimes costs three or four months salary for the family. The first "deliverance" is not guaranteed to work, and a second may be required.
Ikpe-Itauma says that children disappear, but no one turns in reports.
There is a video at the site, but I could not finish watching.
By the end of the story, Sam Ikpe-Itauma has 133 children living in the hut, with the addition of five year old twin boys, whom their mother and their whole village have declared to be witches.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
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