Example #1 in point: Bishop M. Thomas Shaw of Massachusetts has himself “abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church (USA)”, by an “open renunciation of the Discipline of the Church” — exactly as the DBB, on which he sits, has proclaimed that +Mark Lawrence has done. Bishop Shaw, as we know, defied both the marriage canons and the Book of Common Prayer rubrics by interpreting Resolution C056 (“Liturgies for Blessings”) adopted by General Convention in 2009 to allow him to authorize clergy in his Diocese to perform same-sex marriages, and then performed such a ceremony himself. According to Bishop Shaw, he and his suffragan bishops are the final authority on what the Canons and Resolutions of General Convention mean in their Diocese. So why is not Bishop Lawrence just as final an authority on the meaning of those same Canons in his Diocese, as well? And how can Bishop Shaw, having made that assertion (which in fact, is entirely correct), now seek to hold Bishop Lawrence liable for the latter’s own judgment of the meaning they are to have in his Diocese?

Talk about hypocrisy — but the members of the DBB (as well as David Booth Beers himself) are immersed in it up to their necks, day in and day out….

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Indeed, the impact of this latest round of unconventional monetary policy is already fading. Analysts at Morgan Stanley this week decided that returns in the high-yield market were no longer attractive in the face of deteriorating fundamentals. The stock market is struggling to make further headway, while yields on mortgage-backed securities have started to turn up after an initial drop. A drop in third-quarter capital expenditure suggests the Fed policy hasn’t been a catalyst for corporate investment at all.

One major reason for the lack of effectiveness of this latest round of quantitative easing may well be a growing concern with the “fiscal cliff”, automatic US tax rises and spending cuts due to kick in on January 1. Uncertainty over “cliff risk” ”“ and the prospects of a deal in Congress on deficit reduction ”“ seems to be offsetting any positive impact of Fed policies.

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…even though survey accuracy is difficult to achieve and experts are by no means unanimous, it would appear that women are, indeed, catching up. In my own work as a psychologist and in my social circle, I see more women not only having affairs but actively seeking them out. Their reasons are familiar: validation of their attractiveness, emotional connection, appreciation, ego””not to mention the thrill of a shiny new relationship, unburdened by the long slog through the realities of coupledom.

Researchers also point to other factors that might be leading women to stray more. One is what might be called “infidelity overload.” Scan the plots on any given week in television, and there seems to be more extramarital sex than marital sex. (Few spouses stay put in “Mad Men.”) With women portrayed as eager participants and aggressive instigators, there may be a feeling that infidelity has become more acceptable.

And then there is the opportunity factor””more travel, more late nights on the job and more interaction with men mean that the chances and temptations to stray have multiplied for the new generation of working women….

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A generation of children risks growing up with obsessive personalities, poor self-control, short attention spans and little empathy because of an addiction to social networking websites such as Twitter, a leading neuroscientist has warned.

Young people’s brains are failing to develop properly after being overexposed to the cyber world at an early age, it was claimed.

Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, said a decline in physical human contact meant children struggled to formulate basic social skills and emotional reactions.

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When Bishop-elect Dorsey McConnell was chosen to lead an Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh still deeply wounded from a 2008 schism, he prepared to face anger, resentment and grief. He wasn’t prepared for the drivers.

“I had to get used to driving here because people are so polite,” said the bishop-elect, who hails from Boston. “I’ve been unnerved by the kindness of people in traffic. They let you turn left in front of them. I love this city.”

The question is whether the diocese will turn left. Pittsburgh has been among the most theologically conservative dioceses in an increasingly liberal denomination. That culminated in a 2008 split in which its last tenured bishop led a majority of parishes and clergy out of the Episcopal Church in a dispute over biblical theology and gay ordination. But some conservatives believed schism was wrong and remain in the Episcopal diocese, which is still fairly conservative by Episcopal standards. It has 9,000 members in 33 parishes.

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The Adelaide diocese of the Anglican Church must change radically as it faces the tough choice of closing at least a third of its parishes within the next five years.

This was the blunt message from Archbishop Jeffrey Driver to the church last night as he opened its senior decision-making forum, the diocesan synod.

Resources had been drained and the church had endured nine years of turmoil from dealing with the hurt caused by abuse perpetuated by its own ranks.

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The Rev. Gregory Kronz of St. Luke’s Church on Hilton Head Island supports Lawrence. He said the bishop did not push the church away; rather the church has strayed from its own laws.

“There’s continual fast-and-loose playing with canons with the national church,” Kronz said. “In my mind, if anyone has changed, it’s the Episcopal Church.”

The media focus on policies regarding transgender or homosexual people, but the issue is the national church has adopted changes that violate biblical laws, according to the Rev. Jeff Miller of the Parish Church of St. Helena in Beaufort.

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The US Episcopal Church’s disciplinary board for bishops has ruled that the Bishop of South Carolina, the Rt Revd Mark Lawrence, has “abandoned the Episcopal Church”.

The ruling means that Bishop Lawrence – who has been engaged in a long-running battle with the Episcopal Church in the US, particularly over the issue of openly gay clergy – is “not permitted to perform any acts as an ordained person”, an official statement said.

The diocese of South Carolina said in response that the ruling had “triggered” a resolution which “disaffiliated” it from the Episcopal Church….

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“The Episcopal Church took unnecessary and illegitimate action against us which triggered our own previously agreed upon actions and caused us to withdraw to protect ourselves and our Gospel witness,” said [Kendall] Harmon.

The Rev. Canon Jim Lewis, spokesman for the diocese, explained to The Christian Post that there “is no explicitly described process in the national canons of the Church” regarding the process of dismissal for a diocese.

“Our Diocesan canons give the Bishop the absolute authority to interpret the canons. At the express written request of the Standing Committee, our bishop was asked to answer that question,” said Lewis. “His determination ruled that the Board of Directors of the Diocese does indeed have the authority to make that decision on behalf of the Diocese.”

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O God, our Father, we are exceedingly frail, and indisposed to every virtuous and gallant undertaking: Strengthen our weakness, we beseech thee, that we may do valiantly in this spiritual war; help us against our own negligence and cowardice, and defend us from the treachery of our unfaithful hearts; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Saint Augustine (353-430)

Now I know that the LORD will help his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand. Some boast of chariots, and some of horses; but we boast of the name of the LORD our God. They will collapse and fall; but we shall rise and stand upright. Give victory to the king, O LORD; answer us when we call.

–Psalm 20:6-9

Newsweek, the 80-year-old US current affairs magazine, is to become an online-only publication.

The last print edition will be on 31 December, reflecting the trend for newspapers and magazines to move online as traditional advertising declines.

Newsweek merged with the internet news group the Daily Beast two years ago.

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Deanna Medina and Ever Gutierrez of Los Angeles have been engaged for three years and have lived together for 12.

They also have three kids together, ages 17 months to 11 years.

While more of the USA’s cohabiters are childless (59% ”” almost 9 million ”” as of March, when Census counted current cohabiters), they’re not the only ones driving the rise in cohabitation. There are also 6.3 million who, like Medina and Gutierrez, have kids and make up the other 41%. About half of those have kids from a partner’s previous relationship, and half are children from the cohabiting relationship, researchers say.

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