STORY OF THE DAY - RESET BUTTON

He discovered his reset button early on
& there were not many things that
bothered him all the rest of his days just
because of that.

From StoryPeople.

Like.

ROMNEY WISHES HE WAS POORER...

From the Wall Street Journal:

If elected president, Mitt Romney might consider ending a tax break that helped the former Massachusetts governor accumulate his fortune, an aide suggested Tuesday.

The comments came as the Romney campaign made available more than 500 pages of tax-return data for 2010 and 2011 amid signs the issue was hurting him with some voters.

No, wait! He's happy to be richer.

Later in the day, in a signal of how the tax issue is roiling the GOP campaign, the Romney camp tried to step back from the aide's remarks, underscoring that the former Massachusetts governor didn't want to raise anyone's taxes.

Romney closed down his Swiss bank account but retains accounts in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and other tax havens.

How rich is Romney?

Also from the WSJ.

So rich, that he makes the one percenters look like the 99 percent.

According to a calculation from Emmanuel Saez, the economist at the University of California at Berkley, who has become the top expert on top incomes, Mitt Romney’s income of $21.7 million puts him well above the 1%.

In fact, his income puts him in about the 99.9975% income bracket. Put another way, Mitt is in the top 0.0025%.

Whoa! That IS rich. But we all knew Romney was extremely wealthy. He should have released the tax returns early on and not shown such reluctance. Who did he think he was kidding?

Picture from Wikipedia.

UPDATE: And further, I hear complaints that the Occupy Wall Street folks have no coherent message. Well, at least one coherent message seems to have been sent out that even the Wall Street Journal understood: the 1% compared to the 99%. I don't remember seeing the percentages mentioned in the media before the OWS movement. "We are the 99%," is brief, pithy, and quite easy to understand. Yo, everyone! OWS has a coherent message.

H/T to Charles Pierce, who sees evidence that President Obama also understands the message.

PONDERISMS - PART 4

11 * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.

13 * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box

18 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

19 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY

20 *Save the earth..... It's the only planet with chocolate !*

More ponderisms from my brother-in-law, Frank.

See No. 18? I did that. My plan was to go by train from Manchester to Leeds in the UK, and I took the wrong train. The train stopped seemingly at every village along the way, some of them quite pretty, with interesting old train stations. The views of the Pennines were gorgeous. I thought I had mistakenly taken a commuter train to Leeds, but I ended up in Sheffield at the end of the line. When I told the conductor where I'd intended to go, he said, "Oh, there's a train for Leeds in 5 minutes on the next track over." How about that? I didn't even have to buy another ticket. Although, I was twice as long reaching my destination, I would not, for the world, have missed my wonderful detour.

I traveled southeast instead of northeast on, I believe, the Hope Valley Line, which passes right through the Peak District National Park. A mistake? Maybe, but a mistake that I would not have wanted corrected.

THEY HAVE NAMES

Total Coalition War Deaths: 7678

Iraq: 4802
-no casualties this past week

Afghanistan: 2876

BATEMAN, Jon-Luke, 22, CPL, USMC, Tulsa, OK, I Marine Expeditionary Force
COCHRAN, Kenneth E., 20, LCPL, USMC, Wilder, ID, III Marine Expeditionary Force
WISE, Benjamin B., 34, Seaman, US Army, Little Rock, AR, 1st Special Forces Group
BENSON, Keith D., 27, SPEC, US Army, Brockton, MA, 172nd Infantry Brigade
McGEATH, Phillip D., 25, CPL, USMC, Glendale, AZ, II Marine Expeditionary Force
LOGAN, Joseph D., 22, CPL, USMC, Willis, TX, III Marine Expeditionary Force
McHONE, Nathan R., 29, CAPT, USMC, Crystal Lake, IL, III Marine Expeditionary Force
STITES, Jesse W., 23, CPL, USMC, North Beach, MD, III Marine Expeditionary Force
BARTLE, Daniel B., 27, CAPT, USMC, Ferndale, WA, III Marine Expeditionary Force
REINHARD, Kevin, 25, CPL, USMC, (home not reported), III Marine Expeditionary Force
RIDDICK, Travis, 40, MSGT, USMC, Centerville, IA, III Marine Expeditionary Force

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to those who love the service members who died.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

List from The Daily Office.

Source: iCasualties.org

THE FRAT BOYS OF WALL STREET

From the New York Times::

The chandelier-filled ballroom was teeming with 200 men in tuxedos — and a smattering of women — whose daily decisions can collectively make or break the global financial markets. Most were picking over a lavish dinner that included rack of lamb and crème brûlée. Others were preparing to sing bawdy show tunes.

Kappa Beta Phi, an exclusive Wall Street fraternity whose members include big-name bankers, hedge fund billionaires and private equity titans, met at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan on Thursday night for its 80th annual black-tie dinner and induction ceremony.

As always, the event was held in strict secrecy, with members being told that “what happens at the St. Regis stays at the St. Regis.”

But wait!

A reporter, however, was able to walk in unquestioned and observe the proceedings.

At least this year the secret is not so well kept. The name of the fraternity is the reverse of Phi Beta Kappa. Once a year, the merry band of hard-working rich men and a "smattering" of rich women let off steam at a jolly party which includes performances by the members. According to the report, most of the jokes are at the expense of the members themselves, but they also move out of their own circle to find humor.

The Occupy movement was fodder for several after-dinner skits. In one, a documentary filmed during the protests, James Lebenthal, a bond specialist, joked with a protester whose face was appeared to be tattooed.

“Go home, wash that off your face, and get back to work,” Mr. Lebenthal told the protester.

Several anonymous members did not attend the gala, because they feared to appear insensitive to those adversely affected by the dismal state of the economy, and one admitted that he found the skits offensive. Why not resign? I guess it counts for something to be able to mingle with the likes of "Ace" Greenberg, formerly of Bear Stearns, and Robert H. Benmosche, chairman of AIG.

Fellas and "smattering" of gals, you've had your "lavish dinner" and your fun, but I hope you feel a little ashamed now that your fun time is exposed to the light. You raise my ire when you mock the Occupy Wall Street folks who put themselves out there to awaken the rest of the citizenry, the 99%, to the mess you and the politicians who are indebted to you have made of our country. Shame on you.

H/T to Occupied Bishop George Packard for the the link posted on Facebook.

GATHERING UP THE CHICKENS

The farmer's son was returning from the market with a crate of chickens his father had entrusted to him, when all of a sudden the box fell and broke open.

Chickens scurried off in all different directions, but the determined boy walked all over the neighborhood scooping up the wayward birds and returning them to the repaired crate.

Hoping he had found them all, the boy reluctantly returned home an hour late, expecting the worst. "Pa, the chickens got loose," the boy confessed sadly, "but I managed to find all twelve of them."

"Well, you did real good, son," the farmer beamed. "We only had seven to begin with."


Cheers,

Paul (A.)

Does the farmer keep the extra chickens? THAT is the question. Never mind, "To be or not to be..."

Picture from Wikipedia.

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER - 'THERE IS A HAPPY LAND'

Today Ormonde Plater remembers the anniversary of the death of Yona Kanamuzeyi, deacon and martyr, killed in Rwanda on 23 January 1964. Yona walked to his death singing the 1938 Scottish hymn “There Is a Happy Land”.

There is a happy land, far, far away,
Where saints in glory stand, bright, bright as day.
Oh, how they sweetly sing, worthy is our Savior King,
Loud let His praises ring, praise, praise for aye.

Come to that happy land, come, come away;
Why will ye doubting stand, why still delay?
Oh, we shall happy be, when from sin and sorrow free,
Lord, we shall live with Thee, blest, blest for aye.

Bright, in that happy land, beams every eye;
Kept by a Father’s hand, love cannot die.
Oh, then to glory run; be a crown and kingdom won;
And, bright, above the sun, we reign for aye.

[Source: Proposition Sound Track] [Original Source: There Is a Happy Land" 1850] [Music by Leonard P. Breedlove (1850)] [Words by Andrew Young (1838)]

After I read the lyrics of the hymn, I looked on YouTube to see if here was a version of the hymn and found the video above. The hymn, along with other sad and haunting music, which was composed (except for the hymn) and performed by Nick Cave and violinist Warren Ellis, is on the soundtrack album of the movie "The Proposition".

UPDATE: Sadly, the soundtrack album includes only an instrumental version of the hymn.

TWO STORIES OF THE DAY

seems to be digging a really deep hole
for himself, but, really, he doesn't like to
get dirty, so he'll probably stop & clean it
all up pretty soon now

GOOD TRICK

this is a special balancing trick that
requires a small child to stay completely
still (so it's still only theoretical)

From StoryPeople here and here.

DEACON SERVES AS PASTORAL PRESENCE

From The Advocate in Baton Rouge:

At 60, Camille Carpenter Wood answered a calling to become a deacon in the Episcopal church.

“I come from generations of Episcopalians,” Wood said. “The church has always been important to me. I wanted to be sure that my children were always involved with the church.”
....

The journey to her ordination on Dec. 4, 2010, was both intense and lengthy.“It was a very gradual process,” Wood said. It began about 2007 at Baton Rouge’s Trinity Episcopal Church.
....

She joined the altar guild, became a Eucharistic minister, did readings as a lector and even served as senior warden for a while.

“The more I got involved, the more I just sort of had a passion to do more,” she said. “It led to other things. I truly felt a call. It’s hard to explain, but it’s something that kind of grabs you and takes over. You can’t deny it, really.”
....

After her ordination, Wood stayed at Trinity for almost a year as director of lay ministry, a position she had held even before she was ordained.

She was in Seattle at her niece’s wedding when Bishop Morris Thompson called her to serve as a pastoral presence at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Clinton.
....

Wood immediately accepted the bishop’s call. “I didn’t have to think about it,” she said. “It was not only something I needed to do but something I wanted to do.”

She has served the church since the first Sunday in September. She appreciates St. Andrew’s history of support for the local community, its history of serving the needs of the community.

The article about Deacon Camille Wood was featured on the front page of the Religion section of the Advocate, along with an article on the history of St Andrew's Church in Clinton, Louisiana.

Two retired priests, the Rev. Maggie Dennis, who is originally from Liberia, and the Rev. Don Brown, conduct services at St. Andrew’s three Sundays a month.

One Sunday a month, Wood leads morning prayer the way services were done at Trinity Episcopal Church, in Natchez, Miss., where Wood grew up.

“I grew up having morning prayer three time a month and Eucharist once a month,” she said. “We have morning prayer with hymns and sing canticles (songs taken from Biblical passages), and I give a homily. There is just no Eucharist because a deacon cannot consecrate the bread and wine.”

I expect we may see deacons acting as the permanent pastoral presence in Episcopal parishes more and more often. St Andrew's is blessed to have the service of Deacon Camille Wood and fortunate to have the same two priests presiding at the Eucharist, rather than an ever-changing roster of priests.

I've heard folks who are long-time members of the Episcopal Church and remember the period before the Eucharist became the norm for Sunday worship say they miss Morning Prayer. I love the Eucharist, and one reason I chose to attend the Episcopal Church after I left the Roman Catholic Church was because of the frequent eucharistic services. Recently, I've heard and read a good many discussions about the pros and cons of communion before baptism. I know that the Canons of the church say all baptized Christians are welcome to receive communion, but I also know that some Episcopal churches welcome everyone to communion, baptized or not.

Whether communion should or should not be available to all is not my point, but I wonder whether it might be a good thing to have a service of Morning Prayer at least once a month. All are welcome to participate in the entire service without question. No one is excluded. Especially when we've been between rectors and without a priest, I've wondered why we don't have Morning Prayer in my church, led by one of the two members of our congregation who are qualified to lead the prayers, rather than having a supply priest for every service.

PONDERISMS - PART 3

1 * Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!

2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

4 * Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.

5 * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

8 * Never buy a car you can't push.

9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

10 * Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

More ponderisms from my brother-in-law. This time I name and shame...don't blame me, blame Frank.