BISHOP MARK LAWRENCE WRITES A LETTER

Following the early departure from General Convention 2012 of all but two of the deputation from the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, Bishop Mark Lawrence wrote a letter to the congregations in the diocese.

Some of you have actively followed the decisions of the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Others have been blissfully unaware that our denomination even had a General Convention. We have. And the actions taken mark a significant and distressing departure from the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this church has received them.

Read the letter in its entirety at the link above.

THANK YOU, SISTERS!

Message to Nuns on the Bus from members of Congress.

SAYS IT ALL

From ASBO Jesus.

"BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS"

I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

Psalm 100

Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.
Know this: The Lord himself is God;
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE...

...since I've posted a liturgical vestment fashion statement from His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Burke, so I thought it was time for another.

Other liturgical fashion statements from His Eminence are here, here, and here. And no, I am not obsessed.

Cardinal Burke is Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

Photo from "The Cost of Looking Good in the Magic Kingdom" (pdf) from a link from Lapin.

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.