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Parishioners from local churches set out Sunday for a mission trip to Alabama.

Four of the eight churches in the Piedmont Convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina were represented by 26 people. They will help assist areas ravaged by tornadoes that claimed lives and destroyed structures in April.

Parishioners will clear debris and do construction work during the week-long mission trip, said the Rev. Fergie Horvath. She coordinates outreach in the Convocation and is a deacon at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church.

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Mark Shea points us here to see a letter to the editor which begins thus:

The lowest temperature this year was minus 22 in January, while on Tuesday, the high was 103 — a range of 125 degrees. We Minnesotans take that incredible diversity in stride like few other places in the world…..

Now consider–this is “the Letter of the Day” the paper says. What is he arguing for? Guess before you click–KSH.

Check out all seven.

Photos of St George’s Church, Linwood, Christchurch–take a look.

Is there any better way to start the day?

During the first Sunday service since three tornadoes ravaged central and western Massachusetts, worshipers including volunteers and veteran congregation members packed the nave to hear a message of hope and community.

“Any time there is a disaster, even people of faith have questions,’’ [The Rev. Bob] Marrone said. “Why did this happen? Where was God?’’

Since Wednesday, volunteers have used the church as a relief hub, keeping it open round-the-clock to provide free food, clothing, and guidance. For two hours yesterday, the church also gave the weary a quiet place to relax, reflect, and be thankful.

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Economists have found themselves repeatedly making excuses. First it was the snowstorms. Then it was Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster which crimped the supply of parts to car assembly plants in America. Then, as the snow melted, floods ravaged Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, and tornadoes battered Alabama and Missouri. America has suffered five incidents of extreme weather this year, each inflicting at least $1 billion in damage.

The most important special factor has been petrol. Prices jumped from $3 per gallon at the end of December to $3.90 in early May. That has siphoned off much of the purchasing power that consumers should have extracted from December’s tax agreement and subsequent gains in employment. Total consumer spending rose at just a 6.7% annual rate in the three months to the end of April, but most of that increase was eaten up by inflation. Real spending grew by a paltry 2.2%.

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According to a new report from the National Institute for Safety Management, on any given day, the average American’s life is entrusted to more than 2,000 different people who are complete strangers.

The report, which shows how any one of these anonymous individuals making a single mistake can easily cause another person’s death, concluded that it is only through sheer luck that anyone ever makes it through a 24-hour period alive.

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I happened to catch this yesterday morning courtesy of the BBC News and when I showed it to family members last night the agreement was it was something else. Watch it all–KSH.

Businesses, nonprofits and informal groups of friends in southwest Missouri are joining together to offer what help they can to victims of the Joplin tornado.

The generosity pouring into Habitat for Humanity in Springfield has, on a couple of occasions, choked up Eric Allen, director of the ReStore.

He estimated 30-40 people came with donations on Tuesday. Some were low-income families who have received homes through Habitat. Others were tradespeople who regularly make donations to the organization or shoppers who appreciate bargains at the ReStore.

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Recently some people stuck a needle into my arm, then put me into a tightly confined space and ordered me to hold my breath repeatedly for nearly an hour. This was not an abduction; I paid them to do these things to me.

Why? I’ll tell you why: karma.

Karma is the ancient Indian belief that what goes around comes around. For example, if you kill a mosquito, that mosquito’s soul will be angry at you, and it will wait patiently ”” for decades, if necessary ”” for the chance to be reincarnated as the Comcast customer-service representative you reach by phone when your cable goes out during the Super Bowl. You’ll know it’s the mosquito, because there will be a slight whine in the representative’s voice when he tells you he’s placing you on hold.

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A multi-faith rebuild of the quake-shattered ChristChurch Cathedral is unlikely, says Anglican dean, Peter Beck.

“It’s a holy place, a sacred space for people of all faiths, [but] at the heart of it, it is a Christian church. It’s the Anglicans’ cathedral.

“The Anglican Church was part of the foundation of this city and has been a living part of its growth and heritage for all these years and we have no intention of doing anything other than continuing to contribute to the life and spirit of our city.”

He said Christchurch was a multi-faith society, and the Anglican Church would work with other religions “in all sorts of ways ”“ but the cathedral will continue to be the cathedral”.

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St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is helping tornado victims get back on their feet through the use of a disaster emergency response trailer.

This trailer does not carry your usual non-perishable items. Instead, it is outfitted with heavy duty tools and equipment, such as chainsaws, nails, generators and power tools, for home repairs.

“Our parish stocked it with 50 pounds of nails and screws and other emergency needs, including first aid kits,” said Father Ray Waldon, parish priest at St. Peter’s.

Read more: The Daily Home – Church uses trailer to help tornado victims….

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Check them out–31 in all.

Dogs have been fighting alongside U.S. soldiers for more than 100 years, seeing combat in the Civil War and World War I. But their service was informal; only in 1942 were canines officially inducted into the U.S. Army. Today, they’re a central part of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan — as of early 2010 the U.S. Army had 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed (the largest canine contingent in the world). And these numbers will continue to grow as these dogs become an ever-more-vital military asset.

So it should come as no surprise that among the 79 commandos involved in Operation Neptune Spear that resulted in Osama bin Laden’s killing, there was one dog — the elite of the four-legged variety. And though the dog in question remains an enigma — another mysterious detail of the still-unfolding narrative of that historic mission — there should be little reason to speculate about why there was a dog involved: Man’s best friend is a pretty fearsome warrior.

Simply amazing stuff from Foreign Policy Magazine and yes, read it all.

The number of injured in Alabama was 2,219, state emergency management officials reported, and 56,000 homes and businesses in the state remained without electrical power Sunday morning. Some 2,000 Alabama National Guard personnel are patrolling neighborhoods, helping residents and preventing looting.

There were 659 people in shelters across Alabama, Yasamie August of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency told Reuters.

Meanwhile, those states most impacted are reporting thousands of homes and other buildings destroyed or damaged: 5,700 in the Tuscaloosa area alone, 2,600 in Mississippi, and 500 in Virginia. In all, some 10,000 buildings may have been destroyed, according to initial estimates.

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Although emergency officials have cautioned people to not simply show up with trucks or cars filled with donations, Elisabeth Omilami, executive director of the Hosea Feed The Hungry and Homeless program in Atlanta, already had a couple of truckloads of water and toiletries ready to take to churches in Alabama.

“Why would you say don’t send stuff?” she asked. “How much can you hurt another family by giving them clothes when they don’t have any?”

Other people are doing what they can. Grocery stores set up trucks in parking lots to hand out free water. Amy Audette, a special effects makeup artist in Los Angeles who grew up in Alabama, started soliciting donations of food and clothing via her Twitter account. She said she would send whatever she gets to family in the state to distribute.

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This is an absolutely must listen to–it will touch your heart; KSH.

Michele Norris speaks with Reginald Eppes, who survived the deadly tornado in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with his wife Danielle and three sons, RJ, James and Joel. Reginald is in the hospital recovering from fractured ribs and a deflated lung.

[MICHELE] NORRIS: What happened yesterday?

Mr. EPPES: Alarms went off at 5 o’clock, and my wife got up. And she does her routine. She does her normal reading and praying in the morning, and I walked into the kitchen. And right when I did that, the wind started howling really good. And I said, well, where’s the flashlights at? So she said in the toy room, so I go to the toy room. I get that flashlight, and I come back out. And my wife actually and she says we need to get the kids up, and I said oh.

NORRIS: The kids were still in bed at that point.

Mr. EPPES: The kids were still in bed, and I said oh….

Listen to it all (a little over four minutes) [Hat tip: Elizabeth]

Over 200 people have died throughout the South and Southeast, as severe storms and tornadoes continue to batter the region, causing widespread damage to homes and civic infrastructure. This new wave of storms comes shortly after an earlier cluster of storms that barreled through the Southeast over the weekend of April 16. Episcopal Relief & Development has been in contact with impacted dioceses, and is working with local churches to respond in a number of locations. As the area braces for future potential bouts of severe weather, the organization encourages prayers for people who are at risk or who have suffered losses, for the families of those who have died, and for the rescue and relief teams who are working to save lives and address immediate needs.

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Go here, then click on the link under the first picture (Aerial view of tornado damage). if you have any trouble, try there.

This is just wonderful–check it out.

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Craig Robinson heard the wind turn violent outside Refuge Temple of St. Stephen, where he cleans up every Saturday afternoon to prepare for the next morning’s services.

Curious, the 50-year-old Moncks Corner resident made his way from the sanctuary to the front of the church. That’s when he saw the tornado outside.

“I bent down on my knees and asked the Lord to have mercy,” Robinson said, standing before the wood, brick and glass remains of Refuge Temple on Saturday evening. Shortly after he began his prayer, he heard the roof collapse and, over the next five minutes or so, nearly everything around him turned to rubble while he stayed on the floor.

Read it all from the front page of the local paper.