W. H. Auden
Sure liked his Gordon’s;
Of course the intoxicated sod
Was also drunk on God.
Wendell Berry
Is very, very
Farmy.
And some would say barmy.
In the latest in a series of unusual efforts to make Paris green, the city is now offering residents free sparkling water to try to wean Parisians not from red wine, but from overconsumption of plastic bottles.
....
“We chill the water between 6 and 8 degrees Celsius,” said Philippe Burguière, the spokesman for Eau de Paris, “and then we inject carbon dioxide into regular tap water to make the bubbles thin and tasty.” Those temperatures translate to 42.8 to 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
The new water fountain is part of an operation “aimed at promoting tap water in a country where we invest a lot to preserve its quality,” Mr. Burguière added.
The fountain is connected to the public water system and uses six taps to provide both sparkling and flat water.
The idea was conceived in Italy and grew very popular there, Mr. Burguière said.
Italians, who are known as the world’s biggest consumers of sparkling water, have installed 215 fountains of the same type in the country’s northern regions.
0 God, you created all that is, and you love all that you have made: we come to you this day in grief and with thanksgiving. We grieve the death of Lisa's beloved Scotty, who has been her companion on the way, and we thank you for the gift of his presence with her as an effective sign of the richness of your creation and of the generosity of your love; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Wormwood's Doxy said...
Mimi--I started writing and couldn't stop. So I turned my comment into my first blog post in 3+ months.
You have only yourself to blame... ;-)
Pax,
Doxy
Republicans really must have believed they had this whole gay issue settled once and for all—then along come voters, and prominent Republicans, showing support for gay rights and even coming out. That’s left some hard-line religiously conservative Republicans confused and angry.
Witness the vehemence of such conservatives as WorldNetDaily founder Joseph Farah who took on Christopher Barron, the co-founder and chairman of the gay Republican group GOProud, at the Take Back America conference over the weekend in Miami. (You’ll remember, this is the conference Ann Coulter was disinvited from because she agreed to speak at GoProud’s “Homocon” event.)
Barron argued that gay people can be true conservatives, listing his organization’s support for conservative causes like “tax cuts, repealing health-care reform, social-security reform, and a neo-conservative defense for the Global War on Terror.” To Barron, one’s sexual orientation has nothing to do with whether one can be conservative or not.
...the “conservative movement” is filled with gays and lesbians like Ken Mehlman, who led the Republican National Committee, and author and radio host Tammy Bruce. Gay and lesbian people, closeted or not, have long been a part of the “conservative movement.” What Farah does not like is that right now, these people are speaking up. They are no longer being silent about who they are - not just as conservatives, but as human beings.
Many have speculated on the death of the religious right—and it always seems to survive predictions of its demise—but a new Associated Press poll released this week echoes an earlier CNN poll showing majority support for same-sex marriage (52 percent to 46 percent). The poll also shows 58 percent say gays and lesbians should “be entitled to the same government benefits as married couples of the opposite sex.” Only 38 percent opposed.
Saying Goodbye to Scotty
In the name of God the Father,
who created you and all the animals,
in the name of Jesus the Son,
who spoke of you in parables and stories,
in the name of the Holy Spirit,
in whom every creature lives, moves, and has their being,
go now in peace, dear friend.
May you find rest near refreshing waters,
may you lie in cool, green pastures,
and may you warm yourself under the sun that never sets.
You have been my constant companion,
my shadow and confidante,
my comfort and playmate.
You filled my days with life and brought me endless joy.
For this I give thanks to God who gave you to me.
Now return to your Maker who eagerly waits for you
as you waited for me at the end of each day.
In the Father’s arms, let there be no more pain.
Let there be no more suffering.
Let there be only light as it was on the day God created you.
For our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and forever. Amen.
At a time when gays have been gaining victories across the country, the Republican Party in Montana still wants to make homosexuality illegal.
The party adopted an official platform in June that keeps a long-held position in support of making homosexual acts illegal, a policy adopted after the Montana Supreme Court struck down such laws in 1997.
The fact that it's still the official party policy more than 12 years later, despite a tidal shift in public attitudes since then and the party's own pledge of support for individual freedoms, has exasperated some GOP members.
"I looked at that and said, 'You've got to be kidding me,'" state Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, said last week. "Should it get taken out? Absolutely. Does anybody think we should be arresting homosexual people? If you take that stand, you really probably shouldn't be in the Republican Party."
The Vatican declared Pope Benedict XVI's four-day visit to Britain a "great success" Sunday, saying the pontiff was able to reach out to a nation wary of his message and angry at his church's sex abuse scandal.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the important thing wasn't so much the turnout — crowds were much smaller than when Pope John Paul II visited in 1982 — but that Benedict's warning about the dangers of an increasingly secularized society had been received "with profound interest" from Britons as a whole.
Prime Minister David Cameron, in his farewell speech before Benedict's departure ceremony, said the pope had "challenged the whole country to sit up and think, and that can only be a good thing."
At the same time, he seemed to take issue with Benedict's contention that secularization was taking hold more and more in Britain.
"Faith is part of the fabric of our country. It always has been and it always will be," Cameron said shortly before the pope left on a flight from Birmingham Airport. Benedict arrived back in Rome late Sunday night.
That was certainly evident on Sunday, as Benedict beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman before tens of thousands of faithful who paid 25 pounds ($39) to attend. This trip marked the first time pilgrims had been asked by their church to pay to see the pope.
Saturday saw one of the biggest anti-pope protest of Benedict's five-year papacy as some 10,000 people marched against him through central London, opposed to his policies on homosexuality and contraception and disgusted by the clerical sex abuse scandal.
Sunday marked the first time Benedict celebrated a beatification. Under his own rules, popes don't beatify, only canonize.
♫ Lambeth you've never seen,
The skies ain't blue, the grass ain't green.
It hasn't got the Mayfair touch,
But that don't matter very much.
We play the Lambeth way,
Not like you but a bit more gay
And when we have a bit of fun
Oh, Boy.
Anytime you're Lambeth way
Any evening, any day,
You'll find us all doin' the Lambeth walk.
Ev'ry little Lambeth gal
With her little Lambeth pal,
You'll find 'em all doin' the Lambeth walk.
Ev'rything's free and easy,
Do as you darn well pleasey,
Why don't you make your way there,
Go there, stay there,
Once you get down Lambeth way,
Ev'ry evening, ev'ry day,
You'll find yourself doin' the Lambeth walk.♫
The Rev. Dan Martins was elected the 11th Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield this afternoon on the third ballot. Martins led in all three ballots in the clergy, and was nearly elected on the second ballot when lay supporters of Canon Mark Stevenson appear to have shifted their support to Martins. Martins' election, as are all elections, dependent on the successful completion of the consents process.
“There is a process, which is in our constitution and canon, that he now goes through the consent process,” said the Rev. Christopher Ashmore, rector of Trinity Church in Jacksonville.
The process calls for a majority of U.S. bishops and Standing Committees to consent to the vote during a 120-day period following Martins’ election, Ashmore said.
Martins may have difficulty getting consent if he sticks with his conservative views on same-sex unions and gay clergy.
Ashmore said there was an overarching feeling of doing God’s work within the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 815 S. Second St., where the election took place.
Martins voted with the majority in San Joaquin who left the Episcopal Church when he was Rector in that diocese, says he is not planning to leave the Episcopal Church.
....
Martins has been affiliated with Communion Partners, who support the Covenant.