BEIJING – China’s largest cell phone service provider successfully tested a transmission station on Mount Everest on Tuesday, making it possible for climbers and those on next year’s Olympic torch relay to make calls, a state news agency reported.

Decrying “political stalemate” in Baghdad and Washington, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will reiterate its call for a “responsible transition” that gets U.S. troops home without a sudden, precipitous withdrawal from Iraq.

“We don’t advocate for retreat. Neither do we advocate staying the course. We advocate for responsible transition” that takes into account the humanitarian crisis that the war has precipitated, said Bishop Thomas Wenski, of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Fla., chairman of the bishops’ Committee on International Policy.

This is at least the sixth statement that the bishops or their representatives have issued on Iraq since September 2002 when they raised “serious questions about the moral legitimacy of any preemptive, unilateral use of military force to overthrow the government of Iraq.” But, at the time, their words were all but lost in the avalanche of media attention to reports about the failure of some bishops to respond to reports of sexual abuse by priests. But, regarding Iraq, the bishops were far quicker with their qualms than they were 40 years earlier during the Vietnam war. Although they condemned the war in 1971 — which made an impact on a middle America that often disapproved of protesting “hippies” — their statements earlier in the war were more equivocal.

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Watch it carefully and watch it all.

Forty-five percent of black children whose parents were solidly middle class in 1968 — a stratum with a median income of $55,600 in inflation-adjusted dollars — grew up to be among the lowest fifth of the nation’s earners, with a median family income of $23,100. Only 16 percent of whites experienced similar downward mobility. At the same time, 48 percent of black children whose parents were in an economic bracket with a median family income of $41,700 sank into the lowest income group.

This troubling picture of black economic evolution is contained in a package of three reports being released today by the Pew Charitable Trusts that test the vitality of the American dream. Using a nationally representative data source that for nearly four decades has tracked people who were children in 1968, researchers attempted to answer two questions: Do Americans generally advance beyond their parents in terms of income? How much is that affected by race and gender?

“We are attempting to broaden the current debate” beyond the growing gap between higher- and lower-income Americans, said John Morton, Pew’s managing director for program planning and economic policy. “There is little out there on the question of mobility across generations, and we wanted to examine that.”

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Update: An AP article is here.

Eighty-five bungalows dot the cul-de-sac that joins West Ontario Avenue and East Ontario Avenue in Atlanta. Twenty-two are vacant, victims of mortgage fraud and foreclosure. Now house fires, prostitution, vandals and burglaries terrorize the residents left in this historic neighborhood called Westview Village.

“It’s created a safety hazard. And if we have to sell our house tomorrow, we’re out of luck,” said resident Scott Smith. “Real estate agents say to me ‘We’re not redlining you, but I tell my clients to think twice about buying here.'”

As defaults surge on mortgages made to borrowers with spotty credit and adjustable-rate loans, more people are noticing that their neighbors are caught up in the meltdown. Their misfortunes are haunting those left living on the same streets. The effects aren’t confined to just low-income or redeveloping communities; they are seeping into middle-class neighborhoods and brand new developments.

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More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year – the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease, federal health officials said Tuesday.

“A new U.S. record,” said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr. of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More bad news: Gonorrhea rates are jumping again after hitting a record low, and an increasing number of cases are caused by a “superbug” version resistant to common antibiotics, federal officials said Tuesday.

Syphilis is rising, too. The rate of congenital syphilis – which can deform or kill babies – rose for the first time in 15 years.

“Hopefully we will not see this turn into a trend,” said Dr. Khalil Ghanem, an infectious diseases specialist at Johns Hopkins University’s School of medicine.

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In what is believed to be a first for the Diocese of El Camino Real, a United Methodist Minister has taken a role in the celebration of the Eucharist. The 8 a.m. service at Trinity Cathedral, San Jose, Calif., on Nov. 11 included the installation of Canon-vicar Lance Beizer.

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No crosses at the Western Wall was the message sent by a rabbi to a group of Austrian Catholic bishops who refused to hide their Christian crosses before entering the courtyard of the Western Wall, the Jewish people’s holiest prayer site.

Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch refused to give the bishops access to the site and avoided meeting the ecclesiastic delegation of approximately 20, led by Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Schonborn.

Rabinovitch denied that the incident, which took place Thursday, smacked of religious intolerance.

“Crosses are a symbol that hurts Jewish feelings,” said Rabinovitch who refused to elaborate on precisely how or why the crosses were so offensive.

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Educators and psychologists have long feared that children entering school with behavior problems were doomed to fall behind in the upper grades. But two new studies suggest that those fears are exaggerated.

One concluded that kindergartners who are identified as troubled do as well academically as their peers in elementary school. The other found that children with attention deficit disorders suffer primarily from a delay in brain development, not from a deficit or flaw.

Experts say the findings of the two studies, being published today in separate journals, could change the way scientists, teachers and parents understand and manage children who are disruptive or emotionally withdrawn in the early years of school. The studies might even prompt a reassessment of the possible causes of disruptive behavior in some children.

“I think these may become landmark findings, forcing us to ask whether these acting-out kinds of problems are secondary to the inappropriate maturity expectations that some educators place on young children as soon as they enter classrooms,” said Sharon Landesman Ramey, director of the Georgetown University Center on Health and Education, who was not connected with either study.

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Press release received via email:

FAIRFAX, Va. (November 13, 2007) ”“ The trial began today in which The Episcopal Church and Diocese of Virginia are attempting to seize property from 11 Anglican churches in Virginia. The Episcopal Church and Diocese abruptly broke off settlement negotiations and filed lawsuits against the churches, their ministers and their vestries. The decision of The Episcopal Church and the Diocese to reinterpret Scripture caused the 11 churches to sever their ties. The trial is being held in the Fairfax County Circuit Court. (Multi-Circuit Property Litigation, Case No. CL-2007-0248724)

“Although we remain confident in our legal position, we call upon the leaders of both The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia to embrace the recommendation of the Primates and withdraw their lawsuits. We did not choose this path. Even today, our churches remain open to negotiating a reasonable solution with The Episcopal Church and the Diocese. The legal proceedings have been an unfortunate distraction from all the good work our churches are doing to advance the mission of Christ,” said Jim Oakes, vice-chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia, an association of Anglican congregations in Virginia and a part of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). All 11 churches named in the lawsuit are members of ADV.

“At the core of this case is that The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia claim they have a ”˜trust’ interest in the congregations’ properties. But the Virginia courts have held time and again that denominations cannot claim an ”˜implied trust’ in member congregations’ property. The Episcopal Church even admitted in its complaint that it does not hold title to any of these eleven churches and that the churches’ own trustees hold title for the benefit of the congregations.

“The Episcopal Church has continually walked away from the scriptural foundation of the Anglican Communion. When we objected, they chose intimidation through lawsuits as their solution. Regardless of the actions of The Episcopal Church, ADV members will continue to hold steadfast in their faith, based on the authority of Scripture. We continue to pray for The Episcopal Church and its leaders.”

The soil of the Commonwealth of Virginia has been the scene of many momentous battles throughout the history of this country. In the American Revolution and Civil War, we as a people spilled our blood for freedom and the future of this country on the battlefields of war. In later times, Virginia was often at the forefront of the battles to end racial segregation in our schools and public places; I know, for I grew up in Virginia in those times. Today, Virginia is hosting another battle for freedom, as the “Virginia Eleven” go to court to begin a hearing against the Diocese of Virginia and TCGC over who shall retain ownership of such historic church properties such as Truro Church in Fairfax, and the Falls Church, both of which existed as Anglican congregations before those first Revolutionary battles were fought.

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It appears that, if someone can actually talk with Rowan Williams, the fellow isn’t really a bad chap. But then his Wormtongue managers at Lambeth Palace and the heavily US-funded Anglican Communion Office regain their control over him, and he becomes once again entranced to do nothing while evil prospers.

Actually, the ABC seems to be acting under the assumption that the best way to keep the Anglican Communion together is to keep the Episcopal Church together. Thus, he is remaining silent while the litigious (did I mention that already?) Presiding Bishop crushes all dissent. American Conservatives are apparently supposed to reconcile themselves to being casualties in a war Rowan would like to pretend doesn’t exist.

In reality, the only way to save the Anglican Communion is to discipline the Episcopal Church for its departure from Anglican Communion norms. The Archbishop of Canterbury can accomplish this discipline through his prerogative of invitations to the Lambeth Conference. The Primates can accomplish this discipline by censuring the American Church and limiting TEC’s participation in the instruments of unity. If this does not happen, not only the Episcopal Church, but the Anglican Communion will fly apart under the centrifugal forces of the orbit into which the anarchic deviations of the American Church have cast it””and it will happen sooner rather than later.

Are you listening, Rowan?

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Most of the scaffolding that covered Trinity Cathedral in Downtown is gone, but there is still much work to be done before the 120-year-old landmark is again presentable to the public.

Since June, workers from Carnegie-based Young Restoration Co. have worked diligently to remove more than a century’s worth of grime, soot and acid runoff from the cathedral’s blackened exterior. It looks like the cleaners, who have been using baking soda and water to wash away the industrial muck of decades, are close to making the holiday deadline.

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In the case of TEC, moreover, the issue is complicated by a polity that seeks to frustrate the maintenance of any stance which views women’s ordination in strict terms of reception, not done-and-dusted acceptance: that is, as an innovation being tested and received – or not. Because TEC has rejected this understanding, and because a PEV (provisional Episcopal visitor) scheme was not adopted, the traditional position has been maintained not across the geographical spectrum (as in the UK; or as in the Communion at large), but in specific dioceses of TEC: dioceses which now feel they have nowhere to go but into zones of special integrity and survivalism – and into the company, though they may not say it too loudly, of those who are chiefly friends of expedience and not of core ”˜catholic’ principle.

I mention this because in TEC, while there may be a general spirit abroad for carving out a special province in the light of theological innovations by ”˜the revisionist majority,’ the number of bishops actually seeking such a solution are relatively few at present (perhaps the three hard-pressed anglo-catholic dioceses; and Pittsburgh). This is because hope still exists on the part of a number of bishops, and of a large number of parishes outside their dioceses, that another way forward is possible. This may be due to not liking what they are seeing-legally, emotionally, morally, practically-when dioceses seek to move out of TEC or otherwise form a new province or structure; it may be for lack of having a clear sense of what to do, for godly or for less salutary reasons; it may have to do with belief in a communion accountability that simply will take more time, at a time when time feels short all the same.

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The Church of England is striking back against an “epidemic” of thefts from churches by “DNA-proofing” their roofs.

An “explosion” in the number of thefts ”“ from 80 in 2005 to 1,800 already this year ”“ has forced insurers, which have already paid out £6 million this year, into drastic action.

Churches are seen as an ideal target for thieves because of the high copper and lead content in their roofs.

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It is our contention that reasonable and godly Christian people, through deliberation, and perhaps through a mediation process, can arrive at reasonable solutions that are equitable to all parties, such as possibly leasing, or even selling the property to the congregation that is becoming a part of a different Anglican jurisdiction. Such financial payments, whether through paying on a lease or a mortgage, could at least partly make up for the lost income incurred by the diocese in the departure of most or many in the congregations.

Certainly such a process has to be preferable to what is happening now. What is the merit in TEC and its dioceses, by litigation, driving congregations completely off the properties in which they have at least some interest, requiring them to purchase other properties, and to build anew, with TEC, as it did in 2006, according to the treasurer, spending $900,000 more than was budgeted for such litigation? This does not take into account the resources that the dioceses are expending for this litigation ”” funds that were given by faithful church members for the doing of the business of the church, the winning of more people to Christ, and the planting of new churches.

How does it further the kingdom of God to relegate the smaller remnant congregations that are left after the majority are gone and have vacated the church to those all but empty church buildings? These churches were built for much larger congregations, and the remnant will struggle to maintain them without the ongoing support of their dioceses. And how does it further the kingdom for the dioceses, even if they win all of their litigation, to gain back all but empty church buildings for them to maintain, for the new, smaller congregations? They might even be faced in the future with a financial requirement that they sell the property to someone else.

And who is to blame? One side says it is the other side that has departed from some of the historic teachings of the apostolic Church and the authority of holy scripture. The other side declares that it is those who are walking out of TEC who are to blame. To argue this way is like two young boys arguing after a fight over who started it.

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ADD $100 OIL to billions in bank write-offs and it should come as no surprise that the word “recession” is being heard with increased frequency. As is the view that circumstances have combined to neuter the Fed, making it powerless to use its monetary policy weapon to prevent a downturn.

It’s not the write-offs so much as the inability of the chiefs of the major banks to come close to estimating the magnitude of the problem. In “Evita” Juan Peron complains that “The knives are out, would-be presidents are all about.” That about describes what is going on in the board rooms of major financial institutions. Stan O’Neill might have survived at Merrill Lynch, and Charles O. (Chuck) Prince III at Citigroup, if their first public estimates of the extent of their firms’ exposure to losses from subprime and related lending had been correct. Or almost correct. It turns out that original reports were massive understatements, leading the boards of these institutions to doubt that the CEOs were in control of events, and the markets to believe that enough shoes to fill Imelda Marcos’ closets have yet to drop. Morgan Stanley is less exposed–estimates are in the $6 billion range, which is small by the standards of Merrill’s $8 billion and Citigroup’s $11 billion (going on $13 billion according to CreditSights Inc.), but enough so that CEO John Mack might just be wondering if he will be able to negotiate a golden goodbye as generous as those pocketed by O’Neill and Prince.

Julian Jessup, chief international economist at Capital Economics expects to see more heads roll. “It looks like it will require a change of management for banks to come clean and admit the full scale of their losses,” he said.

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The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado moved Friday to sue individual parishioners who support the breakaway congregation at Grace Church and St. Stephen’s Parish in Colorado Springs, according to documents filed in El Paso District Court.

The petition asks the court to add 18 people to the diocese’s existing countersuit, which is seeking monetary damages as well as repossession of the church.

The targeted members include everyone on the parish’s governing board as well as the church’s main spokesman, Alan Crippen, and its rector of 20 years, the Rev. Don Armstrong.

The diocese’s action is part of a lawsuit already under way to determine the rightful owner of the historic, multimillion-dollar church property located in the central part of the city.

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A judge in Fairfax County will hear evidence starting today in the church-property dispute between the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and a group of congregations that left to affiliate with the Anglican Church of Nigeria.

The case involves 11 Northern Virginia congregations in which the majority of members voted to break with the Episcopal Church — the U.S.-based wing of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The votes occurred because of disagreements about what one of the group’s leaders called the Episcopal Church’s “blatant rejection of the authority of Scripture.” The consecration of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003 brought the disagreements to a boiling point.

“That made us take a look at what was going on — and we were appalled,” said Jim Oakes, vice-chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia, which formed to unite the breakaway congregations and others with similar beliefs. “What that told us was we couldn’t even agree on the ground rules for discussing the issue.”

The Anglican District of Virginia belongs to a larger organization called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, which describes itself as a missionary branch of the Church of Nigeria.

After the votes, the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia filed suit to retain the property occupied by the departing congregations. Their stance is that “Episcopal Church property, while held by local trustees, is held in trust for the benefit of the Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Virginia and Episcopalians throughout the generations,” according to a statement from the diocese.

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His five arguments are:

–Present Anglican polity has severe design flaws.
–Our doctrinal boundaries are too vague.
–Current “Instruments of Communion” are not up to current challenges.
–Liturgical chaos prevents unity.
–Doctrine trumps polity and Scripture trumps tradition, not vice versa.

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Here are some representative answers to our question. You can also add your own thoughts here.

“Centralized management structure will seem most antiquated as the speed of business will continue to accelerate companies that thrive will be unencumbered with the command/control ways of the past.”

“The need for large, expensive & highly trained information technology departments will have disappeared because reliable, robust & highly configurable solutions will be available via the Internet.”

“Structural characteristics—already we are seeing the dissolution of almost any defined form (certainly any fixed form) reflected in network analyses that illuminate the real, or necessary, paths of process flows and communications, and the essential ongoing art of ad hoc organization.”

“Hierarchies with people called superiors will be perceived as antiquated given that most of the connections that are important to business (ie customer contact…) are in the hands of what we today imply are inferiors!”

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Surveillance cameras rolling inside our local schools is nothing new, but what’s taking place inside Demarest’s public schools is truly cutting edge: a live feed from more than two dozen cameras with a direct connection to the police.

It’s an expensive, but effective tool that could be a sign of the times with an increase in school shootings over the years.

The system, which cost about $28,000, can even track movement in a crowded room.

“When they arrive, they can pull up the school’s live feed and do a sweep instantly,” Demarest Police Chief James Powderley tells CBS 2.

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Morley Safer reports on the new generation of “millennials.” They are in their late teens to early twenties and could be ill prepared for a demanding workplace.

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Citing data from Commercial Mortgage Alert, a trade publication, the FT reports that issuance of US commercial-mortgage-backed securities fell to $6.3B in October, down 84% from a record $38.5B in March. The paper adds the sharp contraction is particularly of concern when considering that these securities have provided an estimated 40%-60% of funding for new commercial property purchases in recent years. According to the article, Moody’s index of commercial real estate prices is expected to reveal that prices leveled off or even fell in September, after rising 14% in the 12 months through August. In addition, the FT points out that RBS Greenwich Capital is predicting that US commercial property prices will fall 10%-15% next year. The article goes on to note that the upheaval in the credit markets is also raising the cost of commercial mortgage borrowing, as the spread on AAA-rated CMBS has more than doubled since June, reaching its highest level since Oct-98.

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It is highly inappropriate for you to attempt to interfere in the internal life of this diocese as we prayerfully prepare to gather in Convention. The threatening tone of your open letter makes no attempt to promote reconciliation, mediation, or even dialogue about our profound theological differences. Instead, it appears designed to intimidate our delegates and me, in an attempt to deter us from taking any action that opposes the direction in which you are leading our Church. It is deeply troubling that you would have me prevent the clergy and laity of this diocese from openly discussing our future place in the life of the wider Anglican Communion, as we debate a variety of proposals. As you well know, the polity of this Church requires the full participation of the clergy and lay orders, not just bishops, in the decision making process. It grieves me that as the Presiding Bishop you would misuse your office in an attempt to intimidate and manipulate this diocese.

While I do not wish to meet antagonism with antagonism, I must remind you that 25 years ago this month, the newly formed Diocese of Fort Worth voluntarily voted to enter into union with the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. If circumstances warrant it, we can likewise, by voluntary vote, terminate that relationship. Your aggressive, dictatorial posturing has no place in that decision. Sadly, however, your missive will now be one of the factors that our Convention will consider as we determine the future course of this diocese for the next 25 years and beyond, under God’s grace and guidance.

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Nov. 11: Some 70 years after he first joined the Army — and after fighting in Vietnam and Korea — Harold Dinzes is fulfilling his dream and going to college. NBC’s Contessa Brewer reports.

See the link under “A Veteran Student” on the top right.

When the Rev Dr Jennifer Cooper was ordained at Bristol Cathedral a month ago, it was a moment of uncomplicated joy. “I was overwhelmed to be surrounded by so many people, sharing in this very powerful moment,” she says. “I was finally going to fulfil my calling.”

On the surface, few ceremonies could offer more hope to a Church of England fighting for survival than an ordination. It is a sign of new life, at a time when Sunday attendance threatens to dip below a million.

And, since the ordination of women was approved exactly 15 years ago tomorrow, their presence is now taken for granted: more than 2,000 out of 9,500 Anglican clergy are women, as are almost half of trainee priests. And yet no issue has divided the Church so violently in recent times as that of women priests.

From the moment it became a reality, after a vote of the General Synod in November 1992, there was talk of schism and threats of an exodus to Rome. “This is the death of the Church,” concluded one opponent. “You can no more ordain a woman than a pork pie,” suggested another.

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Recent surveys have painted an appalling picture. Almost half a million of the nation’s 24 million veterans were homeless at some point during 2006, and while only a few hundred from Iraq or Afghanistan have turned up homeless so far, aid groups are bracing themselves for a tsunamilike upsurge in coming years.

Tens of thousands of reservists and National Guard troops, whose jobs were supposedly protected while they were at war, were denied prompt re-employment upon their return or else lost seniority, pay and other benefits. Some 1.8 million veterans were unable to get care in veterans’ facilities in 2004 and lacked health insurance to pay for care elsewhere. Meanwhile, veterans seeking disability payments faced huge backlogs and inordinate delays in getting claims and appeals processed.

The biggest stain this year was the scandalous neglect of outpatients at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and a sluggish response to the needs of wounded soldiers at veterans clinics and hospitals. Much of this neglect stemmed from the Bush administration’s failure to plan for a long war with mounting casualties and over-long tours of duty to compensate for a shortage of troops.

Thus far, more than 4,000 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, many more than died in the almost-bloodless Persian Gulf war, but only a fraction of the body counts in Vietnam (58,000) or Korea (36,000). A higher percentage of wounded soldiers are surviving the current conflicts with grievous injuries, their lives saved by body armor, advances in battlefield medicine and prompt evacuation. A study issued last week estimated that the long-term costs of their medical care and disability benefits could exceed the amount spent so far in prosecuting the war in Iraq.

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