From the New York Daily News:
A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.
The 34-year-old employee, a temporary maintenance worker, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.
Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.
....
A 28-year-old pregnant woman was knocked to the floor during the mad rush. She was hospitalized for observation, police said. Early witness accounts that the woman suffered a miscarriage were unfounded, police said.
Three other shoppers suffered minor injuries, cops said.
Wal-Mart spokesman Dave Tovar called the incident a "tragic situation."
Damn right it's tragic - and preventable. This is insanity! Shop till you drop or get trampled to death?
Hilary linked to this story in the comments.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Deep Thought For The Day
Death can be an adventure, but not everyone lives to tell about it.
From the Young Adult Library Association.
From the Young Adult Library Association.
300,000 Deaths From AIDS Due To Mbeki's Denial
From the Guardian:
South African president's refusal to accept medical evidence of virus was major obstacle to providing medicine, say Harvard researchers.
The Aids policies of the former South African president Thabo Mbeki's government were directly responsible for the avoidable deaths of more than a third of a million people in the country, according to research by Harvard university.
South Africa has one of the severest HIV/Aids epidemics in the world. About 5.5 million people, or 18.8% of the adult population, have HIV, according to the UN. In 2005, there were about 900 deaths a day.
But from the late 1990s Mbeki turned his back on the scientific consensus that Aids was caused by a viral infection that could be fought – though not cured – by sophisticated and expensive medical drugs. He came under the influence of a group of maverick scientists known as Aids denialists, most prominent among whom was Peter Duesberg from Berkeley, California.
....
Following Mbeki's ousting from the leadership of the African National Congress in September, South Africa is now urgently pursuing new policies to get treatment to as many people as possible under a new health minister, Barbara Hogan.
I search in vain for words to comment on this horror.
Thanks (or no thanks) to Lapin for this, too.
South African president's refusal to accept medical evidence of virus was major obstacle to providing medicine, say Harvard researchers.
The Aids policies of the former South African president Thabo Mbeki's government were directly responsible for the avoidable deaths of more than a third of a million people in the country, according to research by Harvard university.
South Africa has one of the severest HIV/Aids epidemics in the world. About 5.5 million people, or 18.8% of the adult population, have HIV, according to the UN. In 2005, there were about 900 deaths a day.
But from the late 1990s Mbeki turned his back on the scientific consensus that Aids was caused by a viral infection that could be fought – though not cured – by sophisticated and expensive medical drugs. He came under the influence of a group of maverick scientists known as Aids denialists, most prominent among whom was Peter Duesberg from Berkeley, California.
....
Following Mbeki's ousting from the leadership of the African National Congress in September, South Africa is now urgently pursuing new policies to get treatment to as many people as possible under a new health minister, Barbara Hogan.
I search in vain for words to comment on this horror.
Thanks (or no thanks) to Lapin for this, too.
Police Raid Grace And St. Stephen's Church
From the Colorado Independent:
More than 20 police officers raided the landmark Grace Church and St. Stephen’s in downtown Colorado Springs on Wednesday, marking the latest in the ongoing criminal investigation into whether the controversial Rev. Don Armstrong embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that police raided Grace Church and St. Stephen’s Wednesday morning as part of the ongoing criminal investigation and seized financial records and computers.
The development is the latest in a complex story involving Armstrong and his followers who split form[sic] the Episcopal Church and joined the Episcopalian[sic] Diocese of Nigeria, whose archbishop once supported a law imposing five-year prison terms for gays and their supporters. Since then, Armstrong and his faction have kept physical possession of the historic and architecturally inspiring Grace Church and St. Stephen’s. The Episcopal Church of Colorado wants it back.
....
Read on about the Rev. Armstrong, who dodged a banana cream pie thrown at him and apparently parked illegally to buy a frappucino. As the reporter says, "Things have recently gotten a bit kooky."
Thanks to Lapin.
An Old Picture Of Me From Another Life
You didn't know that I was once in the movie business, did you? B-movies, I believe they were called, but I think that was a bit unfair. They seemed fine to me. I'm on the right in my Whirlpool Hollywood-Maxwell Bra. And I'm on the left holding the guy down with a gun. I can't quite remember the plot, but I'm wondering if the bra didn't do it for me, and the only way I could get a man was with a gun, although Annie Oakley says otherwise. My arm around his neck seems more fond than hostile, don't you think? You'll note that the movie is in color, too.
The picture is blurry, but if you click on it you'll get a clearer view. The words on the left say:
FLAMING PASSIONS AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF WEIRD ADVENTURE
Renz found the poster of the old movie and very kindly sent it to me.
UPDATE: I keep trying to get the poster clearer, but on second and third thought, it may be better left blurry. Clarity here may not fall into the category of "a good thing".
Proof That Men Have Better Friends
Friendship among Women:
A woman didn't come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house. The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.
Friendship among Men:
A man didn't come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends. Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.
For your Black Friday morning pleasure.
UPDATE: Thanks to Doug.
A woman didn't come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house. The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.
Friendship among Men:
A man didn't come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends. Eight confirmed that he had slept over, and two said he was still there.
For your Black Friday morning pleasure.
UPDATE: Thanks to Doug.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thought For The Day
Christianity is not so much a religion of optimism as a religion of hope.
Jane Redmont in When In Doubt, Sing.
I'm reading the book now, slowly, along with other books and magazines. Yes, I read more than one book at a time. Jane's book is quite good. You should buy it and read it. Buy from your locally owned bookstore, if you'd like to support them.
Jane Redmont in When In Doubt, Sing.
I'm reading the book now, slowly, along with other books and magazines. Yes, I read more than one book at a time. Jane's book is quite good. You should buy it and read it. Buy from your locally owned bookstore, if you'd like to support them.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Giving Thanks
This picture from our back yard shows a satsuma tree with an orange tree behind it. I'm thankful to God and to Grandpère for the satsumas and oranges, and especially for the fresh orange juice that GP squeezes.
I'm thankful for my faith, my family and friends, my health, my home, my new president-elect, and all the bountiful riches in my life. The choicest riches are those which cannot be bought with money.
Prayer of General Thanksgiving
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p.101)
In honor of our Native American brothers and sisters:
An Iroquois Prayer
We return thanks to our mother, the earth, with sustains us. We return thanks to the rivers and streams,which supply us with water. We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases. We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters, the beans and squash, which give us life. We return thanks to the bushes and trees, which provide us with fruit. We return thanks to the wind, which, moving the air, has banished diseases. We return thanks to the moon and the stars, which have given us their light when the sun was gone. We return thanks to our grandfather He-no, .., who has given to us his rain. We return thanks to the sun, that he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye. Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in whom is embodied all goodness, and who directs all things for the good of his children.
A Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Thanks to Diane and her post titled What We See for the inspiration to post the Iroquois prayer.
And The Winner Is....
In this corner is Ruth Gledhill in the London Times:
A conservative province in the Anglican church faces “punishment” this week for offering a safe haven to conservatives.
Senior bishops and laity meeting in London are to consider suspending the Anglican church in South America for taking rebel US dioceses under its wing.
The move will bring the Anglican Communion closer to a formal split. Early next month, rebel conservatives are expected to finalise plans for a new Anglican province in the US, to sit as a parallel jurisdiction alongside the existing Episcopal Church.
Unless this new province is recognised as part of the Anglican family by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams and the other 38 primates, it will in effect become a new Anglican church.
In a further indication that the liberals are winning the Anglican wars, The Episcopal Church of the US, which was suspended at a previous meeting, is expected to be welcomed back into the fold after sticking by its pledge not to consecrate any more gay bishops
And in this corner is Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefforts-Schori at Episcopal Life:
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was among those attending the JSC meeting, which was held behind closed doors at the Anglican Communion Office and Lambeth Palace in London. She noted that a November 26 report in The Times of London newspaper, that suggested the JSC had discussed plans to discipline the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone for its recent incursions into other provinces, was untrue. "The subject has not come up," she told Episcopal News Service.
And the good news:
Anglican Communion provinces have until the end of March 2009 to respond to the St. Andrew's Draft. The Covenant Design Group will next meet in London in April 2009 and is expected to issue another draft which will be reviewed by the ACC during its May meeting. The ACC could decide to release that version to the provinces for their adoption.
Jefferts Schori told a recent meeting of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council that if the ACC decides to do so, she will "strongly discourage" any effort to bring that request to the 76th General Convention in July.
"My sense is that the time is far too short before our General Convention for us to have a thorough discussion of it as a church," Jefferts Schori told the Executive Council on October 21.
I said that I'd believe it when it happened that the senior bishops would discipline "the Anglican church in South America for taking rebel US dioceses under its wing". Is it possible that it will not happen? Was Ruth wrong? Someone needs to explain to Ruth the difference between a province and a church.
A conservative province in the Anglican church faces “punishment” this week for offering a safe haven to conservatives.
Senior bishops and laity meeting in London are to consider suspending the Anglican church in South America for taking rebel US dioceses under its wing.
The move will bring the Anglican Communion closer to a formal split. Early next month, rebel conservatives are expected to finalise plans for a new Anglican province in the US, to sit as a parallel jurisdiction alongside the existing Episcopal Church.
Unless this new province is recognised as part of the Anglican family by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams and the other 38 primates, it will in effect become a new Anglican church.
In a further indication that the liberals are winning the Anglican wars, The Episcopal Church of the US, which was suspended at a previous meeting, is expected to be welcomed back into the fold after sticking by its pledge not to consecrate any more gay bishops
And in this corner is Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefforts-Schori at Episcopal Life:
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was among those attending the JSC meeting, which was held behind closed doors at the Anglican Communion Office and Lambeth Palace in London. She noted that a November 26 report in The Times of London newspaper, that suggested the JSC had discussed plans to discipline the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone for its recent incursions into other provinces, was untrue. "The subject has not come up," she told Episcopal News Service.
And the good news:
Anglican Communion provinces have until the end of March 2009 to respond to the St. Andrew's Draft. The Covenant Design Group will next meet in London in April 2009 and is expected to issue another draft which will be reviewed by the ACC during its May meeting. The ACC could decide to release that version to the provinces for their adoption.
Jefferts Schori told a recent meeting of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council that if the ACC decides to do so, she will "strongly discourage" any effort to bring that request to the 76th General Convention in July.
"My sense is that the time is far too short before our General Convention for us to have a thorough discussion of it as a church," Jefferts Schori told the Executive Council on October 21.
I said that I'd believe it when it happened that the senior bishops would discipline "the Anglican church in South America for taking rebel US dioceses under its wing". Is it possible that it will not happen? Was Ruth wrong? Someone needs to explain to Ruth the difference between a province and a church.
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