And another.
And another.
From Doug.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Case Closed!
From the New York Times:
After coming under suspicion by the FBI in the anthrax investigation:
Perry Mikesell began drinking heavily, as much as a fifth a day, and died.
A doctor in New York's marriage failed and his practice was adversely affected.
Two Pakistani brothers, Dr. Irshad Shaikh and his brother, Dr. Masood Shaikh, were forced to leave the US to find jobs after FBI "agents in bioprotection suits began hunting for germ-making equipment and carted away computers." Neither had ever worked with anthrax. The story played on TV for days.
Stephen Hatfill was hounded by the FBI, lost his job At LSU, but finally won a lawsuit against the government after they ruined his life. "...in one remarkable encounter, a car that was trailing him ran over his foot. (Dr. Hatfill, not the agent, was given a ticket.)"
FBI agents broke down the door and invaded and searched the home of Asif Kazi, a citizen of the US. Footage of the investigation was on TV for days. He had never worked with anthrax.
And those were the innocent.
Now the FBI wants to close the case, stating that they are certain that Bruce Ivins, acting alone, is the guilty party in the anthrax mailings. Bruce Ivins committed suicide.
Too many loose ends are still hanging. The FBI wants to close this case quickly because they bungled the investigation badly and want to put it behind them. They messed up many lives along the way in their botched investigation. This is not going away.
After coming under suspicion by the FBI in the anthrax investigation:
Perry Mikesell began drinking heavily, as much as a fifth a day, and died.
A doctor in New York's marriage failed and his practice was adversely affected.
Two Pakistani brothers, Dr. Irshad Shaikh and his brother, Dr. Masood Shaikh, were forced to leave the US to find jobs after FBI "agents in bioprotection suits began hunting for germ-making equipment and carted away computers." Neither had ever worked with anthrax. The story played on TV for days.
Stephen Hatfill was hounded by the FBI, lost his job At LSU, but finally won a lawsuit against the government after they ruined his life. "...in one remarkable encounter, a car that was trailing him ran over his foot. (Dr. Hatfill, not the agent, was given a ticket.)"
FBI agents broke down the door and invaded and searched the home of Asif Kazi, a citizen of the US. Footage of the investigation was on TV for days. He had never worked with anthrax.
And those were the innocent.
Now the FBI wants to close the case, stating that they are certain that Bruce Ivins, acting alone, is the guilty party in the anthrax mailings. Bruce Ivins committed suicide.
Too many loose ends are still hanging. The FBI wants to close this case quickly because they bungled the investigation badly and want to put it behind them. They messed up many lives along the way in their botched investigation. This is not going away.
Now They Tell Them
Continuing the saga of incompetence and lack of oversight by the city officials in New Orleans, from the Times-Picayune:
City officials have been unable to verify work allegedly done by 19 contractors under a taxpayer-financed home-remediation program, including a company owned by Mayor Ray Nagin's brother-in-law and another firm whose owner has had business partnerships with the former head of the embattled New Orleans Affordable Homeownership Corp., records released by City Hall late Saturday show.
The companies have been asked to repay as much as $103,517 in taxpayer money if they cannot provide proof of the work billed to City Hall for 46 of the 870 addresses at which the agency has claimed its contractors completed work, an analysis of the records shows.
Didn't you just know that there'd be a relative or two in the mix? Happens every time. It's a tradition. Good luck with collecting the people's money, guys. It might have been better not to have paid it out in the first place, but it's too late now.
City officials have been unable to verify work allegedly done by 19 contractors under a taxpayer-financed home-remediation program, including a company owned by Mayor Ray Nagin's brother-in-law and another firm whose owner has had business partnerships with the former head of the embattled New Orleans Affordable Homeownership Corp., records released by City Hall late Saturday show.
The companies have been asked to repay as much as $103,517 in taxpayer money if they cannot provide proof of the work billed to City Hall for 46 of the 870 addresses at which the agency has claimed its contractors completed work, an analysis of the records shows.
Didn't you just know that there'd be a relative or two in the mix? Happens every time. It's a tradition. Good luck with collecting the people's money, guys. It might have been better not to have paid it out in the first place, but it's too late now.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
But What Does It Mean?
From Bishop Mark Lawrence of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina:
"This morning while saying Morning Prayer in my dorm room and having my meditation time before the final day’s session, I begin to write down a few impressions forming in my mind. Before the day was out I had read them before my Indaba Group....Here’s what I wrote in my journal. For me it is primarily a metaphor of hope."
Canterbury, England
I am glad I came here for this Lambeth and worshipped one last time in the Cathedral home of Augustine and Dunstan, Anselm and Becket, Cranmer and Laud, Temple and Ramsay. I had come to speak a word of hope and perhaps to intervene on behalf of our beloved, but in the last resolve the family refused the long needed measures. So he just slipped away, our noble prince, one dreary morning in Canterbury with hardly even a death rattle.
The new prince was born last month in Jerusalem. I was there—arriving late, departing early. I was never quite sure what I was witnessing. It was an awkward and messy birth. He hardly struck me as I gazed upon him there in the bassinet as quite ready to be heir to the throne. I even wondered at times if there might be some illegitimacy to his bloodlines. But that I fear was my over wedded ness to a white and European world. May he live long, and may his tribe increase—and may he remember with mercy all those who merely mildly neglected his birth.
As for me my role for now is clear, to hold together as much as I can for as long as I can that when he comes to his rightful place on St. Augustine’s throne in Canterbury Cathedral he will have a faithful and richly textured kingdom.
In all fairness, I urge you to read Bishop Lawrence's entire statement. Perhaps, the rest of his words will clarify the impressions from his journal. I don't know what to make of it, except that he was at GAFCON, he was at Lambeth, and that he has hope.
Thanks to Fr Christian for the link.
"This morning while saying Morning Prayer in my dorm room and having my meditation time before the final day’s session, I begin to write down a few impressions forming in my mind. Before the day was out I had read them before my Indaba Group....Here’s what I wrote in my journal. For me it is primarily a metaphor of hope."
Canterbury, England
I am glad I came here for this Lambeth and worshipped one last time in the Cathedral home of Augustine and Dunstan, Anselm and Becket, Cranmer and Laud, Temple and Ramsay. I had come to speak a word of hope and perhaps to intervene on behalf of our beloved, but in the last resolve the family refused the long needed measures. So he just slipped away, our noble prince, one dreary morning in Canterbury with hardly even a death rattle.
The new prince was born last month in Jerusalem. I was there—arriving late, departing early. I was never quite sure what I was witnessing. It was an awkward and messy birth. He hardly struck me as I gazed upon him there in the bassinet as quite ready to be heir to the throne. I even wondered at times if there might be some illegitimacy to his bloodlines. But that I fear was my over wedded ness to a white and European world. May he live long, and may his tribe increase—and may he remember with mercy all those who merely mildly neglected his birth.
As for me my role for now is clear, to hold together as much as I can for as long as I can that when he comes to his rightful place on St. Augustine’s throne in Canterbury Cathedral he will have a faithful and richly textured kingdom.
In all fairness, I urge you to read Bishop Lawrence's entire statement. Perhaps, the rest of his words will clarify the impressions from his journal. I don't know what to make of it, except that he was at GAFCON, he was at Lambeth, and that he has hope.
Thanks to Fr Christian for the link.
Anniversary Of The Bombing Of Nagasaki
Sixty-three years ago today, President Harry Truman gave the order for an atomic bomb to be dropped on the Japanese city, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima.
PRAYER FROM HOLY TRINITY CHURCH IN NAGASAKI:
For those who died in the atomic bombing
O Lord God of all in this world and of all who have passed from it, we now remember and pray for all those who passed from the world through the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, especially the 29 believers of Nagasaki Holy Trinity Church, and we entrust their souls into the deep tenderness of your hands. We ask that we may not let their sacrifice be in vain, but may always be enabled to seek after the peace that you give. We ask this through the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray in remembrance of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and all who died in it, especially those from this church: Goto Giichiro, Goto Teruko, Hayashida Yukie, Hayashida Shizue, Hayashida Baku, Hayashida Masako, Hayashida Akiko, Shin Tamie, Shin Fujiko, Iga Yukitomo, Miyamoto Fuji, Miyamoto Tomoko, Miyamoto Hiroshi, Miyamoto Fumiko, Miyamoto Hiroko, Miyamoto Tomoko, Miyamoto Noritoshi, Date Masumi, Date Hideko, Date Toru, Date Akio, Tagawa Yasuji, Tagawa Tsuru, Tagawa Sadanori, Tagawa Sai, Ishibashi Tomoe, and two whose names are lost.
A prayer for all those who are still suffering from after-effects, especially those victims of the atom bomb from Korea and other Asian countries who do not receive assistance from Japan.
O Lord of deep tenderness, your son Jesus Christ has through the cross removed the dividing barriers of hatred and opened up a way to reconciliation in you, so that all people can live in peace as members of your family. Please take pity on all those in all lands, and especially those from neighbouring Asian countries, who are still suffering from the atomic bombing, and fulfil all their needs. We ask this through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
A prayer for the abolition of nuclear weapons
O God our heavenly father, because of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, we know how terrible these weapons of slaughter are, how they destroy people's lives from the very root, and how they cause suffering to people over a long time. There are now in the world nuclear weapons capable of causing ruin and destruction that would be many times more terrible. Please O Lord, guide the hearts of the people of the world, so that a peace can be realised that comes not from weapons and a balance of military might but from dialogue, and so that all forms of nuclear weapons may vanish from the face of the earth. We ask this through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thanks to Le Bestiare for the reminder.
Image from Wiki.
A Palate Cleanser From Bishop Gene
From Bishop Gene's final post at Canterbury Tales From The Fringe:
I selected two quotes from the final post to entice you click the link to read the whole post.
Scotland was exhausting, but a real joy! The welcome at the Cathedral in Glasgow (pictured above) was phenomenal, with a packed church, despite a few protesters outside. The Edinburgh Festival of Spirituality and Peace, beneath the castle that dominates the city, is a remarkable offering by St. John's Church and the Interfaith Council. It was my privilege to speak at its opening event, and then address a packed audience of 300+ on the first evening. Numerous other events and interviews filled up my time, but it was a wholly welcoming and warm atmosphere. Scotland was a wonderful place to once again celebrate the eucharist, something denied me in England for three weeks -- the same Church who gave America its first bishops, when the English bishops refused to do so. The Scots reminded me that, in doing so, THEY, not the English, created the Anglican Communion!
Those of us in the Episcopal Church owe a tremendous debt to the Scottish Church that we should never, ever forget. And hundreds of years later, the Scottish Church welcomed Bishop Gene to preach and preside at the Eucharist, and what a welcome it was!
Clearly, the value of the Conference was the sharing of stories among the bishops about how they are trying to live out the Gospel in their contexts, and how the actions of one Province affect the life and ministry of another. My diocese and I were denied that experience, and so I can only learn from the stories of those conversations from others. But this, it seems to me, is the essence of Communion. To stay independent enough to be able to follow God's will as best we can discern it, in OUR context, while staying connected and caring deeply about how that plays out across the Communion.
It's truly unfortunate that Bishop Gene (of all people!) was not permitted to share his story and the stories of his people in the Diocese of New Hampshire. Oh yes, it was. Bishop Gene's picture of the Anglican Communion is much more to my liking than the Archbishop of Canterbury's world-wide Anglican Church.
But please read the entire post.
I selected two quotes from the final post to entice you click the link to read the whole post.
Scotland was exhausting, but a real joy! The welcome at the Cathedral in Glasgow (pictured above) was phenomenal, with a packed church, despite a few protesters outside. The Edinburgh Festival of Spirituality and Peace, beneath the castle that dominates the city, is a remarkable offering by St. John's Church and the Interfaith Council. It was my privilege to speak at its opening event, and then address a packed audience of 300+ on the first evening. Numerous other events and interviews filled up my time, but it was a wholly welcoming and warm atmosphere. Scotland was a wonderful place to once again celebrate the eucharist, something denied me in England for three weeks -- the same Church who gave America its first bishops, when the English bishops refused to do so. The Scots reminded me that, in doing so, THEY, not the English, created the Anglican Communion!
Those of us in the Episcopal Church owe a tremendous debt to the Scottish Church that we should never, ever forget. And hundreds of years later, the Scottish Church welcomed Bishop Gene to preach and preside at the Eucharist, and what a welcome it was!
Clearly, the value of the Conference was the sharing of stories among the bishops about how they are trying to live out the Gospel in their contexts, and how the actions of one Province affect the life and ministry of another. My diocese and I were denied that experience, and so I can only learn from the stories of those conversations from others. But this, it seems to me, is the essence of Communion. To stay independent enough to be able to follow God's will as best we can discern it, in OUR context, while staying connected and caring deeply about how that plays out across the Communion.
It's truly unfortunate that Bishop Gene (of all people!) was not permitted to share his story and the stories of his people in the Diocese of New Hampshire. Oh yes, it was. Bishop Gene's picture of the Anglican Communion is much more to my liking than the Archbishop of Canterbury's world-wide Anglican Church.
But please read the entire post.
Friday, August 8, 2008
My Therapy Session
For now, I seem to be mentally blocked from posting anything substantial until I tackle the specific parts that trouble me the most in the The Archbishop of Canterbury's concluding Presidential Address at the Lambeth Conference. If you like you can skip this post and write it off as my therapy session, because it will, very likely, be boring to most people.
The archbishop says:
What I am saying, in effect, is that every association of Christian individuals and groups makes some sort of ‘covenant’ for the sake of mutual recognition, mutual gratitude and mutual learning.
Of course we do. First of all, we have the New Covenant of Our Lord Jesus Christ, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself." We have the Creeds, in which we affirm our beliefs each time we gather in a Eucharistic celebration. Then, we have the Baptismal Covenant. Each time a Baptism takes place in a church, those baptized and the members of the congregation who are present affirm the Baptismal Covenant. Why another covenant? I don't see the need.
But let me turn briefly to another dimension of all this, so as to draw in considerations of other matters we’ve discussed. I have just said something of what might be involved in a covenanted future, and I believe - as I said on Thursday - that it has the potential to make us more of a church; more of a ‘catholic’ church in the proper sense, a church, that is, which understands its ministry and service and sacraments as united and interdependent throughout the world.
Now I find that statement downright scary. One of the reasons that I moved from the Roman Catholic Church to the Episcopal Church was my discomfort with the top-down governance in the RCC. This statement increases my suspicion that the archbishop and others in positions of authority want to move toward a more authoritarian structure in the Anglican Communion.
Speaking for myself, I don't want to be a world-wide Anglican Church. I want to remain an Anglican Communion. The world-wide Anglican Church is a pretty big pill to swallow, especially after the archbishop has already said:
A fellow-Christian may believe they have a profound fresh insight. They seek to persuade others about it. A healthy church gives space for such exchanges. But the Christian with the new insight can’t claim straight away that this is now what the Church of God believes or intends; and it quite rightly takes a long time before any novelty can begin to find a way into the public liturgy, even if it has been widely agreed. Confusion arises when what is claimed as a new discernment presents itself as carrying the Church’s authority.
The archbishop seems to be pushing a fresh insight, so how can he "claim straight away that this is now what the" Anglican Communion intends? Of course, the archbishop uses the expression "Church of God", instead of Anglican Communion, which confuses me further. "Church of God", "world-wide Anglican Church", Anglican Communion, which is it?
In 1998, the Windsor Report called for the moratoria on same-sex blessings and consecration of new bishops in faithful, partnered same-sex relationships. In 2008, the archbishop asks for the same moratoria. For how long? Ten more years? Until the next Lambeth? Until the "mind of the church" comes together? Until kingdom come?
But that’s a powerful reminder that a global church and a global faith are not just about managing internal controversy. Our global, Catholic faith affirms that the image of God is the same everywhere - in the Zimbabwean woman beaten by police in her own church, in the manual scavenger in India denied the rights guaranteed by law; in the orphan of natural disaster in Burma, in the abducted child forced into soldiering in Northern Uganda, in the hundreds of thousands daily at risk in Darfur and Southern Sudan, in the woman raising a family in a squatters’ settlement in Lima or Buenos Aires. This is the Catholic faith : that what is owed to them is no different from, no less than what is owed to any of the rest of us. That was the faith to which we witnessed in our march in London. And if the message of this Conference is silent about this, something has gone very wrong.
Aside from the "global church" thingy, it's a fine statement of what the Anglican Communion should be about, except that he neglects to mention the affirmation of "the image of God" in those who are arrested, tortured, beaten, and killed, even in his own land and my land, in the name of homophobia. What about them, Archbishop Williams?
In the months to come, we will see, according the archbishop, the appointment of a Pastoral Forum to support minorities (which minorities?), an Anglican Consultative Council meeting, a Primates Meeting, and a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the ACC. In addition, in the year 2009, the Episcopal Church will meet at General Convention. Many meetings. We shall see.
Well, that seems to be enough for now. Catharsis! Perhaps, now I can move on.
The archbishop says:
What I am saying, in effect, is that every association of Christian individuals and groups makes some sort of ‘covenant’ for the sake of mutual recognition, mutual gratitude and mutual learning.
Of course we do. First of all, we have the New Covenant of Our Lord Jesus Christ, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself." We have the Creeds, in which we affirm our beliefs each time we gather in a Eucharistic celebration. Then, we have the Baptismal Covenant. Each time a Baptism takes place in a church, those baptized and the members of the congregation who are present affirm the Baptismal Covenant. Why another covenant? I don't see the need.
But let me turn briefly to another dimension of all this, so as to draw in considerations of other matters we’ve discussed. I have just said something of what might be involved in a covenanted future, and I believe - as I said on Thursday - that it has the potential to make us more of a church; more of a ‘catholic’ church in the proper sense, a church, that is, which understands its ministry and service and sacraments as united and interdependent throughout the world.
Now I find that statement downright scary. One of the reasons that I moved from the Roman Catholic Church to the Episcopal Church was my discomfort with the top-down governance in the RCC. This statement increases my suspicion that the archbishop and others in positions of authority want to move toward a more authoritarian structure in the Anglican Communion.
Speaking for myself, I don't want to be a world-wide Anglican Church. I want to remain an Anglican Communion. The world-wide Anglican Church is a pretty big pill to swallow, especially after the archbishop has already said:
A fellow-Christian may believe they have a profound fresh insight. They seek to persuade others about it. A healthy church gives space for such exchanges. But the Christian with the new insight can’t claim straight away that this is now what the Church of God believes or intends; and it quite rightly takes a long time before any novelty can begin to find a way into the public liturgy, even if it has been widely agreed. Confusion arises when what is claimed as a new discernment presents itself as carrying the Church’s authority.
The archbishop seems to be pushing a fresh insight, so how can he "claim straight away that this is now what the" Anglican Communion intends? Of course, the archbishop uses the expression "Church of God", instead of Anglican Communion, which confuses me further. "Church of God", "world-wide Anglican Church", Anglican Communion, which is it?
In 1998, the Windsor Report called for the moratoria on same-sex blessings and consecration of new bishops in faithful, partnered same-sex relationships. In 2008, the archbishop asks for the same moratoria. For how long? Ten more years? Until the next Lambeth? Until the "mind of the church" comes together? Until kingdom come?
But that’s a powerful reminder that a global church and a global faith are not just about managing internal controversy. Our global, Catholic faith affirms that the image of God is the same everywhere - in the Zimbabwean woman beaten by police in her own church, in the manual scavenger in India denied the rights guaranteed by law; in the orphan of natural disaster in Burma, in the abducted child forced into soldiering in Northern Uganda, in the hundreds of thousands daily at risk in Darfur and Southern Sudan, in the woman raising a family in a squatters’ settlement in Lima or Buenos Aires. This is the Catholic faith : that what is owed to them is no different from, no less than what is owed to any of the rest of us. That was the faith to which we witnessed in our march in London. And if the message of this Conference is silent about this, something has gone very wrong.
Aside from the "global church" thingy, it's a fine statement of what the Anglican Communion should be about, except that he neglects to mention the affirmation of "the image of God" in those who are arrested, tortured, beaten, and killed, even in his own land and my land, in the name of homophobia. What about them, Archbishop Williams?
In the months to come, we will see, according the archbishop, the appointment of a Pastoral Forum to support minorities (which minorities?), an Anglican Consultative Council meeting, a Primates Meeting, and a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the ACC. In addition, in the year 2009, the Episcopal Church will meet at General Convention. Many meetings. We shall see.
Well, that seems to be enough for now. Catharsis! Perhaps, now I can move on.
Just The Headline
"Mayor says NOAH Probe reveals some 'discrepancies'"
Read the article and weep. A related post on the subject is here.
UPDATE: Edited to provide a link to the article. Duh!
UPDATE 2: According to WWL-TV, the FBI, HUD, and the US Attorney's office have begun an investigation into NOAH's "discrepancies".
Read the article and weep. A related post on the subject is here.
UPDATE: Edited to provide a link to the article. Duh!
UPDATE 2: According to WWL-TV, the FBI, HUD, and the US Attorney's office have begun an investigation into NOAH's "discrepancies".
It's The Pen In The End
A very tired nurse walks into a bank,
Totally exhausted after an 18-hour shift.
Preparing to write a check,
She pulls a rectal thermometer out of her purse
And tries to write with it.
When she realizes her mistake,
She looks at the flabbergasted teller
And without missing a beat, she says:
"Well, that's great....that's just great....
Some asshole's got my pen!"
From Doug.
Totally exhausted after an 18-hour shift.
Preparing to write a check,
She pulls a rectal thermometer out of her purse
And tries to write with it.
When she realizes her mistake,
She looks at the flabbergasted teller
And without missing a beat, she says:
"Well, that's great....that's just great....
Some asshole's got my pen!"
From Doug.
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