FOR THE UNBELIEVING

MY FRIEND ANN FONTAINE

Ann and Jim

A lovely article about my good friend Ann Fontaine in the The Daily Astorian:

Fontaine has lived in Cannon Beach full-time for two years since she and her husband, Jim, retired. Though the couple lived in Lander, Wyo. for nearly 35 years, they owned a house in Cannon Beach for nearly as long. Ann, a professional interim minister ordained in 1996, realized long ago that the heart of her spirituality lay at the Oregon Coast.

Early in life, Fontaine’s ties to the North Coast grew. “I grew up in Portland and spent all my summers with my grandparents in Seaside,” she said. “My uncles – Norwegians and Scots – all fished the Columbia River and put down deep roots in this area.” As an adult, she raised three children in Wyoming where her husband was a doctor. Whenever possible, the Fontaines made the trek west to their home in Cannon Beach. “We owned a home here for years and always knew we’d retire here one day,” she said. “It was always like coming home.”

Read more at the Astorian.

Ann and I were virtual friends for a few years before we met in person at General Convention 2009 of the Episcopal Church.   Looking back over the time I've known Ann, I'm grateful for her good company, sympathetic listening, wise advice, guidance and support through the highways and byways of Episcopal Blogland, and source of jokes, cartoons, and funny pictures.

From my description, Ann sounds downright pastoral, doesn't she?  I expect that the churches where she has served during the interim from one rector to another are grateful for her gifts.  Wise guidance through an interim period is, as I've come to see from my experience in my own church, a vital bridge toward a smooth transition from the departure of a rector to the arrival of another.

Ann says the North Coast has always been "the home of my heart", and I'm pleased that she and Jim, who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, are settled in their home on her beloved Oregon coast.  Ann can't seem to settle into retirement, but maybe it's not yet time. 

OPEN LETTER FROM SENATOR MARY LANDRIEU ON MEDICAID EXPANSION IN LOUISIANA

Sen. Mary Landrieu

Dear Friend,

When Gov. Jan Brewer announced Arizona's Medicaid expansion, she explained that her state "can leverage nearly $8 billion in federal funds over four years, save or protect thousands of quality jobs and protect our critical rural and safety net hospitals."

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said of his state's expansion: "The federal health department has committed to working with us to ensure we have all the flexibilities we need to make Medicaid best meet the needs of Floridians."

Govs. Brewer and Scott are part of the growing chorus of Republican governors who understand that expanding Medicaid by accepting 100 percent of federal funds for three years and no less than 90 percent thereafter is a smart economic move for their states. Despite their opposition to the Affordable Care Act, these governors understand that the time for political posturing is over.

But Gov. Jindal's posturing has continued, as he falsely argues that a Medicaid expansion would be too expensive and not flexible enough for Louisiana. Mounting evidence from multiple, independent sources shows otherwise.

The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette agrees that Gov. Jindal should take another look at expanding expanding Medicaid in Louisiana.

Currently, when people without insurance go to the hospital and cannot pay, the state and the hospital pick up the cost, passing it on to people with private insurance for an estimated cost of $1,000 per family each year.

Expanding access through Medicaid would give up to 400,000 Louisianians access to basic medical care. These are mostly working people who simply cannot afford health insurance. Not only does this save hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money from being spent on so-called "uncompensated care," it also boosts the budgets of our state, our hospitals and the many businesses and suppliers that work with them in urban and rural areas alike.

By all estimates, including a study commissioned by the Jindal Administration, the Medicaid expansion would bring billions of federal dollars into our state's economy. A recent Families USA report estimates the expansion would bring 15,600 new jobs to our state by 2016 and $1.8 billion in additional economic activity for 2016 alone. Figures like these are why governors across the country are saying yes to expanding health coverage for their people.

There are even more reasons why the Medicaid expansion is best for Louisianians, as the Times-Picayune editorial board points out.

Gov. Jindal also claims that adequate flexibility has not been granted—that's simply not true. In Arkansas for example, Gov. Mike Beebe worked out an agreement with the federal government to allow his state to use the federal funds to extend private insurance to Medicaid-eligible people. In Florida, Gov. Scott secured a federally approved plan allowing the state to extend its version of Bayou Health to all Medicaid-eligible people.

In fact, the creation of Bayou Health, the Governor's initiative to give Medicaid enrollees the opportunity to select a private plan to oversee their care, required a waiver from the federal government, which he has secured.

Louisiana's Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein wrote in a health care journal that Bayou Health is "the most significant transformation of Louisiana's Medicaid program in its more than 40 years of existence." Now that it is transformed, why can't it be expanded to give more working people a chance for quality health care?

As Gov. Brewer said, "the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land." Whether Louisiana expands Medicaid or not, our citizens will still pay for it, only that money will go to states like Arkansas, Florida and Arizona. Does it make sense for our taxes to only support health coverage for people in other states?

It's time for Gov. Jindal to put the needs of Louisianians above his own political posturing. It is the right thing for our people, our health and our economy.

Keep in touch,

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - DOROTHY DAY

The Gospel takes away our right forever to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.

---Dorothy Day

Thanks to several Facebook friends.

CATS ON THE BACK OF THE CHAIR

Stormy on the left and Wendy on the right

If I say so myself, these are splendid pictures of the two cats who allow my son and his family to live with them.  Wendy settled herself comfortably on top of the back of the recliner, and, with not much space left, Stormy decided that he wanted to relax on top of the chair back, too, and squeezed his large self into the small space. 
 

Wendy on the left and Stormy on the right

Above is another view of Wendy sprawled out and Stormy in the small space left over.  The two have the occasional confrontation, but they mostly get along well.  Stormy and Wendy are well-loved and well-spoiled by the family.

Click on the pictures for the larger view.

UPDATE: Please pray for our friend whiteycat's Sammy Cat who has been ill for the past week.

BLOGGER REVEALS BOBBY JINDAL'S "FIXES" FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION IN LOUISIANA

Blogger, Lamar White, has done brilliant reporting, yes, real reporting, on Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and his gradual destruction of public education in Louisiana.  To all you professional journalists who mock the efforts of bloggers, and not all paid journalists do, my advice would be to learn from the likes of Lamar and other fine bloggers.  Lamar explores the results of the efforts of the out-of-towners whom Jindal has brought in and paid high salaries to "fix" public education in Louisiana.  I don't mean to imply that our education system did not and does not need fixing, but Jindal's failing gurus are most emphatically not doing the job of improving public education in Louisiana.

John White and his team at the Department of Education, in an effort to demonstrate how the public school system is failing Louisiana school children, are diverting millions in funding every year from public schools in order to enrich some of the worst schools in the United States– religious zealots posing as educators, fly-by-night operators who don’t even have the necessary infrastructure, and bigoted and religiously intolerant “church schools” that specialize in utilizing thoroughly debunked textbooks and materials to stifle dissent, schools that seek to enrich themselves with taxpayer dollars while reserving their right to expel any student on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation or religion.  

There you have it - the fix for public education by the well-paid out-of-towners, who are no more than flim-flam artists paid generous salaries by our flim-flam artist governor.  I am no xenophobe, but please, Governor Jindal, if you're going to bring in people from other states and pay them high salaries, even as you lay off thousands of state employees and raise the unemployment figures here in Louisiana, at the very least, hire people who are knowledgeable and competent in their jobs, and not the likes of John White and his cohorts.  

PRAYERS FOR POPE FRANCIS I

 

Almighty and everlasting God, from whom comes every good and perfect gift: Send down upon Pope Francis, and upon the congregations committed to his charge, the healthful Spirit of your grace: and, that he may truly please you, pour upon him the continual dew of your blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honor of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.

(Adapted from The Book of Common Prayer)

The present College of Cardinals was never going to elect a progressive pope.  The cardinals' choice of a 76 year old man signals that they wanted a caretaker leader rather than a long-reigning pope at this time.  My prayer is that Francis will be a caretaker in the mode of John XXIII, who will surprise us all and bring needed change to the Roman Catholic Church.

The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a doctrinal conservative, who turned his back on liberation theology during the reign of John Paul II, so he's no Oscar Romero, as of now.  But Francis has great care and concern for the poor and lived a simple life as archbishop and cardinal, which count in his favor.

His care and concern seems not to extend to promoting equality for our LGTB brothers and sisters.  Same-sex marriage has been legal in Argentina for nearly two years.  During the debate over marriage equality, Francis said:

Let’s not be naïve, we’re not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.

He's also said that allowing gay adoption is discrimination against children, who need both a mother and a father.

On the other hand, Francis has shown compassion for persons afflicted with AIDS, going so far as to visit them and wash and kiss their feet.

And on a very personal note, I am pleased that Francis did not choose to wear the ermine and velvet mozzeta, or cape, as shown in Gammarelli of Rome's shop window.

For Pope Francis:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

(Numbers 6:24-28)

Yes, it's the priestly blessing, but as a member of the priesthood of all believers, I'm allowed to pray the prayer.  Peace.

WEDNESDAY EVE

 

A distraction from pope news.

SEAGULL PERCHED ON SISTINE CHAPEL CHIMNEY

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- As the world awaits smoke signals from the Sistine Chapel that indicate whether a new pope has been chosen, a seagull perched atop the chimney. (Source: Bloomberg) --

UPDATE: White smoke issued from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signaling that a pope has been elected. The bells of St Peter are ringing.

UPDATE 2: The new pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio,76, of Argentina, has chosen the name Francis.  The 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church is the first non-European leader of the church in more than 1,000 years.

OH DEAR!

A day ahead of the papal conclave, faces at the scandal-struck Vatican were even redder than usual after it emerged that the Holy See had purchased a €23 million (£21 million) share of a Rome apartment block that houses Europe’s biggest gay sauna.

The senior Vatican figure sweating the most due to the unlikely proximity of the gay Europa Multiclub is probably Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples, who is due to participate in tomorrow’s election at the Sistine Chapel.

This 76-year-old “prince of the church” enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of the imposing palazzo, at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the steamy flesh pot. There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests.

And the conservative Cardinal Dias never knew, even though information about the gay sauna is on the internet.  Perhaps the cardinal is not a techie.  How embarrassed he must be.  Will he move?  He can always choose to look the other way when he comes out of his front door.  One thing for sure, the Vatican keeps its cardinals in style.