MY PET LIZARD

My pet lizard, Izzy by name, (Original, yes?) lives behind the shutter on the window I face when I'm at my desktop. Izzy visits every day, but not inside. We see each other through the window and screen. I've wanted a picture of Izzy for some time now, but each time he'd get away from me before I had my camera ready. Today, I was lucky and caught a few snaps.

I'm not sure Izzy is a male, but I think of him so, and why not?  In the picture above, I tried and succeeded in getting a close-up, but Izzy eyed me warily.

Below is lagniappe with my pet post - photos from the flower beds in front of our house that Grandpère suggested I add.

Vincas

More Vincas

d

Marigolds

And more Vincas

UPDATE: Izzy's name is updated to Eddy Izzard Lizard, thanks to a creative-thinking Facebook friend.

DASTARDLY DEEDS

The Jindal administration is preparing to roll out about $860 million in cuts to the government’s insurance program that delivers health care to Louisiana’s poor — the result of newly authorized federal Medicaid funding reductions critics call disastrous.

Major health care providers said Friday they are preparing for something they know cannot be good for them or the poor, elderly and disabled once the funds are stripped from the $7.7 billion Medicaid program.

One association that provides community services to the developmentally disabled is already calling for a special legislative session to generate revenues to offset more cuts in the fiscal year that began Sunday.

Another association executive wondered whether the state could still have a viable program that meets federal Medicaid “access to care” requirements.

Jindal will have his balanced budget on the backs of the poor, the ill, the disabled, the suffering, because we can never, ever raise taxes on the rich.  In fact, we can never raise taxes on anyone.
  
But wait!  Jindal has a plan, which has not yet been announced.  What will it be?  Stretchers in the streets to save hospital costs?  Will the administration close down the primary care clinics, so that the poor will have to wait until they are so sick that they go to the emergency room, and the state and the rest of us will pay for care that's far more costly than primary care in a clinic?

“There’s not a lot of good choices,” said state Senate Health and Welfare chairman David Heitmeier, D-New Orleans, who said discussions can begin once the plan is laid out.

“It’s going to be devastating. There’s no way to sugar- coat it,” said Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Scott Simon, R-Abita Springs.
....

Louisiana State Medical Society Executive Vice President Jeff Williams said whatever the administration comes up with is going to have to be system-wide and a systemic change.

Williams said a provision in the federal law that requires reimbursement rates to physicians and other providers to be sufficient enough to ensure Medicaid patients have the same access to health care as a private-pay patient.

Whatever the proposed plan, it will not solve the looming catastrophe that will result from the severe budget cuts in state Medicaid services.  Perhaps Jindal counts on supernatural help to solve the state's budget problems, as he did in his university days when he performed an exorcism on his friend.

Note: You have to pay to read the entire article on the exorcism, but you get the idea from the first page.

BOROWITZ REPORT - ROMNEY HAILED IN BEIJING

Chinese Workers Hail Romney’s Record as Job Creator

Mass Pro-Romney Rally in Beijing

BEIJING (The Borowitz Report) – After a brutal week in which he was booed by the NAACP and grilled by the media, Republican presidential choice Mitt Romney got some support from an unlikely place today: Beijing.

Manufacturing workers from across China flooded downtown Beijing to show their gratitude for Mr. Romney’s robust record of job creation in China while at the helm of the private equity firm Bain Capital.

Ha, ha, ha!

Read the rest.

UPDATE: And there's Doonesbury on the same subject.

A HUGE DEBT OF GRATITUDE

       
    
         THANK YOU!

...to everyone who participated in General Convention 2012 of the Episcopal Church.  Although the time period for you to accomplish your tasks was compressed, you completed your work and served our church admirably.  Those of us who were not in attendance owe you a huge debt of gratitude for your dedication and fortitude in facing the difficult challenges.  May God bless you and give you rest, refreshment, and peace.

STORY OF THE DAY - BROKEN DOWN

this is a machine that's supposed to 
make people good & true & kind & the 
funny thing is that it works best when 
it's completely broken down so everyone 
has to stop what they're doing & get 
together & figure out how to fix it. 

From StoryPeople.

TEC GENERAL CONVENTION 2012 LEGISLATION

Legislation passed at General Convention which causes me to rejoice.

• Authorized blessings for same-sex unions in dioceses with the agreement of bishop of the diocese.

• Explicitly included transgender people in the work and witness of the Episcopal Church and as candidates to the ordained ministry.

• The Rev. Canon Gay Jennings elected President of the House of Deputies.

•  Byron Rushing elected Vice President of the House of Deputies.
--------------------

About the legislation on restructuring, we'll see who is appointed to the task force and how that goes.  What I do not want to see is more power yielded to the bishops.  The hierarchical structure of TEC is entirely a good thing, but our shared governance by laity, clergy, and bishops is, I believe, our great gift to Anglicanism.

The budget?  That's not my area of expertise or even understanding, so I'll leave the commentary to others more knowledgeable.
--------------------

Legislation passed at General Convention which saddens me.

The resolution on the Anglican Covenant at its core says, "as a pastoral response to The Episcopal Church, the General Convention decline to take a position on the Anglican Covenant.”

Both Elizabeth Kaeton, who was present at GC, and SCG, who, like me, observed from afar, write with excellence about the failure of the Episcopal Church to take a position on adoption of the Covenant.

Elizabeth:

I understand the politics. Honestly, I do. But, I think the statement is inherently dishonest.

We could have easily said "no" to the Anglican Covenant in the House of Deputies.

I think we could have even released ourselves from being held hostage from a very few purple shirts in the House of Bishops and let our 'yes' be 'yes' and our 'no' be 'no'.

The folks on the legislative committee, however, chose to be careful. I keep hearing a line from the Sondheim play, Into the Woods, "....and I was so careful, I forgot how to care...."

I don't know when "pastoral response" became synonymous with "weak" and borderline duplicity.  We kicked the can down the road on this one, sacrificing a great chunk of our integrity on the altar of expediency. 

I can't imagine that our friends around the Communion can't see right through this one.

Given the other acts of courage in which this convention has engaged, this one is an embarrassment.

Le sigh.

SCG:

It's as if we are on a game show of "Who Wants the Anglican Covenant?" and the Episcopal Church is sitting on the hot seat, saying, "Gee, Meredith.... ummm... we think it's "No," but, well, gosh, "Yes" means we get to go meet with important people.  Ah, gee, ummmm...maybe, well, maybe we could ask the audience, but ummmmm...."

Meanwhile, those of us sitting at home are screaming at our computer screens: "No!!!  The answer is No!!!!"

Perhaps they needed the "Phone-A-Friend" option.  Call Scotland.  Call the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia.  Heck, call the 26 diocese in the Church of England who had the guts to say "No"!

Please read both posts in their entirety.

From everything I've heard from those who were there and from what I've read here at home, the representatives of No Anglican Covenant Coalition, moderator, Malcolm French, and US convener, Lionel Diemel, both did a terrific job of advocacy at GC for a polite but firm "no" to adoption of the Anglican Covenant, and I thank them from my heart for their hard work.  The results were not what we hoped, but that is no fault of theirs. Well done!

Those of us in NACC who walked with our English friends (virtually speaking) through their courageous vote to defeat the Covenant in the dioceses in the Church of England and with the Scots through their clear vote against adoption at General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church, so wanted TEC to support their brave stands against the odious Covenant with a polite but firm vote against adoption.  That TEC was unable to demonstrate support of our friends causes me shame and disappointment.  The legislation  that was passed smacks of hypocrisy, since there is no money in the budget for the "task force of Executive Council to continue to monitor the ongoing developments with respect to the Anglican Covenant" (whatever that means). Does it mean we'll sit and watch while other churches have the courage to make a decision one way or another?

Meanwhile, General Synod of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia passed legislation stating that the church is "unable to adopt" the Covenant. Congratulations!

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPUTATION LEAVES GC

Due to the actions of General Convention, the South Carolina Deputation has concluded that we cannot continue with business as usual. We all agree that we cannot and will not remain on the floor of the House and act as if all is normal. John Burwell and Lonnie Hamilton have agreed to remain at Convention to monitor further developments and by their presence demonstrate that our action is not to be construed as a departure from the Episcopal Church. Please pray for those of us who will be traveling early and for those who remain.

Thanks to Susan on Facebook.

TODAY'S LESSON

And God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the world.

Then he made the earth round....and laughed and laughed and laughed...

 Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

NACC STATEMENT ON VOTES ON ANGLICAN COVENANT

                                              No Anglican Covenant Coalition

Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity

noanglicancovenant.org

NEWS RELEASE

JULY 11, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COALITION STATEMENT ON THIS WEEK’S VOTES ON THE ANGLICAN COVENANT

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – Two days ago, the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia rejected the Anglican Covenant.  Yesterday, the Episcopal Church voted to “decline to take a position on the Anglican Covenant,” and to continue to monitor the progress of the Covenant until the next General Convention in 2015.  No Anglican Covenant Moderator, the Rev. Malcolm French, has issued the following statement:

The wind has clearly gone out of the sails of the Anglican Covenant.  There was not even a single dissenting vote when the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia declared itself unable to adopt the Covenant.  While our Coalition would have preferred a clearer “no” from the Episcopal Church, the resolution passed in Indianapolis is scarcely more than an abstention – and the commitment to “monitor the ongoing developments” rings hollow when we consider that the same General Convention phased out funding for the Episcopal Church staff position for Anglican Communion affairs.  Perhaps they will monitor the situation by following #noanglicancovenant on Twitter.

The next major step in the Covenant process will be at the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, this fall.  We understand that there will be an attempt to introduce a ratification threshold and a sunset date to the Covenant process.  Depending on the details, our Coalition is likely to be broadly supportive of both initiatives.

--------------------------------

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is an international group of Anglicans concerned about how the proposed Anglican Covenant would radically change the nature of the Anglican Communion.

noanglicancovenant.org

The Rev. Malcolm French (Canada)                        +1-306-550-2277

The Rev. Jean Mayland (England)                            +44 07966 921247

The Ven. Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand)        +64 3 981 7384

The Rev. Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland)                +44 1334 470446

Dr. Lionel Deimel (USA)                                            +1-412-512-9087

THINGS THAT DEPRESS ME

As many as 500,000 Louisiana residents — mainly working adults — won’t get government health insurance as a result of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s decision to reject a Medicaid expansion in the law overhauling the federal health care system.

Jindal has said on national television that the new health care law recently found constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court is too costly and allows government to intrude too much into private lives.
Executives of the LSU-run and community hospitals voiced concern that Louisiana could suffer a “double whammy” because the new law decreases money to pay for the care of the uninsured, while increasing funding for Medicaid coverage for many of those same people. Jindal opposes state expansion of Medicaid.

Insurance executives also say they’re worried about Jindal’s opposition to setting up a state-run clearinghouse that allows consumers to shop and compare policies, according to Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.
....

DHH Secretary Bruce Greenstein, who is Jindal’s chief public health lieutenant, declined comment again Monday.

He has refused a dozen requests for an interview about the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, since June 28.

If Louisiana expanded Medicaid, the federal government would pay 100 percent of costs for the first three years, then 95 percent for the following three years and 90 percent after that, under the provisions of the ACA. (My emphasis throughout)

So tell me how Jindal's decision not to participate in expanding Medicaid makes any %#@&*$ sense at all.  Why is the secretary of the DHH in hiding and refusing to comment?  Greenstein will have to say something sometime.  What will he say? 

The man who has the title of governor is running around the country, making a fool of himself trying to get Mitt Romney elected, and, in the meantime, leaving the Gret Stet of Loosiana in the hands of surrogates to run...the Gret Stet, which is at the bottom of the surveys in all the positives and at the top in all the negatives, and who, when he does take action, runs the state further to the ground.  By the time Jindal finishes his term, the state will be underground.