The head of the Red Cross in the Philippines has described the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan as “absolute bedlam”.
Officials estimate up to 10,000 people have died in Tacloban city and elsewhere. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced.
Rescue efforts are being hindered by damage to roads and airports.
[92 year old] Arthur Cobert remembers what it was like to be flying high above China, scanning for Japanese Zeroes.
Perched in the top turret of a B-25 bomber, the terrain below varied from mountains to jungles and the beaches of the South China Sea.
But when the Japanese planes pounced, the beauty of the Asian landscape was soon forgotten as Cobert’s attention turned to the hundreds of rounds of ammunition ready to be fed into his twin .50-caliber machine guns.
Flashbacks and post-traumatic stress from combat were trapping one Ohio female veteran in her home.
Judy Sallerson, whose Army unit was hit by a series of mortar attacks in Iraq, had been sent to Walter Reed Medical Center outside Washington in 2010 where she recovered for two years. For nearly a year of that time she didn’t do much at all and stayed inside, she said.
But with the help of a therapist, Sallerson finally started to venture out and even signed up to be a mentor in a local court.
“I felt like I couldn’t go anywhere because I was afraid someone would see and judge me,” said Sallerson.
Read it all and watch the video report.
My favorite resource–read it all.
You can find four pages of graphs here. There is also a very helpful interactive state by state map there. There are approximately 421,500 Veterans in South Carolina where I live–check the numbers for your state if they apply.
There is also a map to find Veterans Day events near where you live.
In a world tormented by tension and the possibilities of conflict, we meet in a quiet commemoration of an historic day of peace. In an age that threatens the survival of freedom, we join together to honor those who made our freedom possible. The resolution of the Congress which first proclaimed Armistice Day, described November 11, 1918, as the end of “the most destructive, sanguinary and far-reaching war in the history of human annals.” That resolution expressed the hope that the First World War would be, in truth, the war to end all wars. It suggested that those men who had died had therefore not given their lives in vain.
It is a tragic fact that these hopes have not been fulfilled, that wars still more destructive and still more sanguinary followed, that man’s capacity to devise new ways of killing his fellow men have far outstripped his capacity to live in peace with his fellow men.Some might say, therefore, that this day has lost its meaning, that the shadow of the new and deadly weapons have robbed this day of its great value, that whatever name we now give this day, whatever flags we fly or prayers we utter, it is too late to honor those who died before, and too soon to promise the living an end to organized death.
But let us not forget that November 11, 1918, signified a beginning, as well as an end. “The purpose of all war,” said Augustine, “is peace.” The First World War produced man’s first great effort in recent times to solve by international cooperation the problems of war. That experiment continues in our present day — still imperfect, still short of its responsibilities, but it does offer a hope that some day nations can live in harmony.
For our part, we shall achieve that peace only with patience and perseverance and courage — the patience and perseverance necessary to work with allies of diverse interests but common goals, the courage necessary over a long period of time to overcome…[a skilled adversary].
Do please take a guess as to who it is and when it was, then click and read it all.
Lord God of hosts, who didst clothe thy servant Martin the soldier with the spirit of sacrifice, and didst set him as a bishop in thy Church to be a defender of the catholic faith: Give us grace to follow in his holy steps, that at the last we may be found clothed with righteousness in the dwellings of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Governor of Nations, our Strength and Shield:
we give you thanks for the devotion and courage
of all those who have offered military service for this country:
For those who have fought for freedom; for those who laid down their lives for others;
for those who have borne suffering of mind or of body;
for those who have brought their best gifts to times of need.
On our behalf they have entered into danger,
endured separation from those they love,
labored long hours, and borne hardship in war and in peacetime.
Lift up by your mighty Presence those who are now at war;
encourage and heal those in hospitals
or mending their wounds at home;
guard those in any need or trouble;
hold safely in your hands all military families;
and bring the returning troops to joyful reunion
and tranquil life at home;
Give to us, your people, grateful hearts
and a united will to honor these men and women
and hold them always in our love and our prayers;
until your world is perfected in peace
through Jesus Christ our Savior.
–The Rev. Jennifer Phillips
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who leadest Joseph like a flock! Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before E’phraim and Benjamin and Manas’seh! Stir up thy might, and come to save us!
–Psalm 80:1-2
Under ordinary circumstances, Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch are probably not in the habit of attending the birthday parties of elderly Christian preachers in the North Carolina mountains.
But they were both among the hundreds of well-wishers at the party on Thursday marking Billy Graham’s 95th birthday.
Graham spent his career leading revivals around the globe, following a long tradition of evangelists who have traveled far and wide to urge sinners to accept Christ. But his birthday guest list shows that he is no ordinary preacher. He is a cultural icon, the most famous face of traditional Protestant Christianity.
AS the Anglican Church gets ready for its next round of royal commission public hearings, the Bishop of the Diocese of Newcastle has sent out a letter warning of the potential for news that “this diocese could have done better”.
Diocese of Newcastle administrator Bishop Peter Stuart’s pastoral letter will be read out in parishes diocese-wide.
The first day of the British royals’ visit to Mumbai was marked by gaiety, the second by solemnity. On Sunday, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, attended Remembrance Day service for martyred soldiers at the Anglican Afghan Church in Colaba.
The prince’s mother Queen Elizabeth is the supreme governor of the Church of England which is Anglican.
The United Nations should seize this opportunity, make concrete demands for access by specific deadlines, and report any further resistance promptly to the Security Council. Unfortunately, Valerie Amos, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, has remained vague in public about the main obstacles to distributing humanitarian aid. Apparently fearful that blaming the Syrian government would jeopardize UN access to government-controlled areas, Amos has too often resorted to anodyne statements about the problem. One can only hope that, with the Security Council now behind it, the UN will find a more assertive voice.
Yet even if the disastrous humanitarian situation begins to improve, no serious effort is underway to stop the killing of civilians by conventional weapons. As front lines have hardened, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths has dropped, but some two thousand of the recent average monthly death toll of five thousand have been civilians. What can be done to stop this slaughter?
The Obama administration’s primary answer has been peace talks. Kerry has revived efforts to convene “Geneva II” negotiations””a follow-up to the accord negotiated in June 2012 under UN and Arab League auspices that called on the warring parties to agree to a cease-fire and begin a political transition. Yet prospects for Geneva II are not encouraging. The rebel groups are not unified and say they won’t negotiate with Assad. Assad, in turn, says he won’t negotiate with most of the rebel groups.
Imagine you are an entrepreneur in Greece, a town of 96,000 in upstate New York, wanting to open a restaurant inside a billiard parlour. Before you pitch the idea at a public hearing, hoping to win a special-use permit, a Catholic priest delivers a prayer, a tradition in Greece since 1999. Suppose you’re not a believer. Do you bow your head with everyone else? Glare? Walk out?
In Town of Greece v Galloway, the Supreme Court is considering whether Greece’s brand of public prayer violates the constitution’s ban on the establishment of religion. It is 30 years since, in Marsh v Chambers, the court upheld the Nebraska legislature’s right to a chaplaincy. If religious invocations in legislative bodies were acceptable to the men who drafted the first amendment, the court reasoned in Marsh, they are all right now.
Shady dealing in militaria is nothing new, but the internet ”“ in particular, special interest forums and the lawless so-called “darknet” ”“ have opened up what used to be a tiny pursuit to a worldwide market, increasing demand.
In particular, with the centenary of the First World War coming up, its relics are rapidly rising in value. If you know where to look, you can find posts on websites hawking some of the most dangerous pieces ”“ everything from poison gas canisters to live hand grenades ”“ which the dealers handle with incredibly blasé contempt.
If Dowd was only in Charleston to support evolution, then many of us could agree with Sgt. Joe Friday’s inimitable words in Dragnet: “Just the facts, ma’am.”
Dowd clearly wanted to take us beyond the facts.
He paraded before us a great number of scientific and religious figures who supposedly support his thesis that traditional religious concepts, especially those describing God, are part of “private revelation” and therefore not based on hard evidence. In their place, he says that there is such a thing as “public revelation.”
Read it all from the faith and values section of the local paper.
David Moyes has been waiting for a signature victory to kickstart his short, erratic tenure at Manchester United.
Who better to get it against than the Premier League leaders?
After falling short against title rivals Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City so far this season, United finally delivered when it really mattered by beating Arsenal 1-0 on Sunday thanks to Robin van Persie’s 27th-minute goal against his former club.
Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century, was born on November 11, 1922, in Indianapolis. Vonnegut studied chemistry at Cornell University from 1940 to 1943. After graduating from college he enrolled in the US Army and was given the opportunity to study engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. A year later, Vonnegut was sent to Europe and was captured as a prisoner of war by the Germans during the Battle of Bulge. Vonnegut was living as a prisoner in Dresden when the city was bombed. He managed to survive the bombing because he was working in an underground meat locker. “Slaughterhouse-Five,” the novel many people consider to be Vonnegut’s masterpiece, is based on his experiences during the war. After the war, Vonnegut attended the University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology. There he submitted his novel “Cat’s Cradle” as his thesis project. Vonnegut is known for his blend of satire, science fiction, and humor.
In a San Francisco hotel room not long ago, I absently flipped through one of those forgettable in-room lifestyle magazines aimed at the casual visitor. Set amid ads for marbled steak and glistening sushi, a tourist map occupied the last pages. As do most urban maps, it had segmented the city into its various and iconic neighborhoods””Pacific Heights, the Mission, Haight-Ashbury.
Gazing at this depiction of a city I know only from a smattering of disjointed visits and impressions, I was struck by the regularity in the distribution and size of its neighborhoods. I had the sense that what I was looking at was the expression of some kind of logic””but whether it was the result of government fiat or some curious social alchemy was beyond me. It left me wondering: Is there some human penchant for breaking up space to better fit our cognitive maps?
Guess what you would say if you had to name five and then go read it all.
With thanks to Kevin Kallsen at Anglican TV
The Vatican has secured the use of the new Internet domain name “.catholic,” but bloggers hoping that platform could ramp up their own digital pulpit will be disappointed ”” the Holy See says it’ll be reserved for church-related organizations, not individuals.
The new rules on how to assign rights to the “.catholic” domain name are part of the larger issue of how to adapt a tradition-bound, 2,000-year-old institution to the fast-paced digital present.
O Lord of life, who didst raise from the sleep of death the daughter of Jairus the ruler: Extend to us, we pray thee, thy quickening power, that we may know the life more abundant which thou didst come to bring; for the glory of thy holy name.
–Frank Colquhoun
The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed, he is girded with strength. Yea, the world is established; it shall never be moved; thy throne is established from of old; thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty! Thy decrees are very sure; holiness befits thy house, O LORD, for evermore.
–Psalm 93
In 1888, speaking about the possibility of Mormon literature, the church leader Orson F. Whitney made an audacious promise to his fellow Mormons: “We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own.” Yet 125 years later, there is no Mormon Milton. There is no Mormon Milosz, no Mormon Munro.
Mormons are, on average, better educated than most Americans, and they have written popular fiction. But Mormon authors tend to cluster in genre fiction, like fantasy, science fiction, and children’s and young adult literature. Orson Scott Card, who wrote “Ender’s Game,” the sci-fi novel on which the country’s current top-grossing movie is based, is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So is Stephenie Meyer, author of the “Twilight” series.
In the United States, Jews, blacks and South Asians, while they have produced no Milton or Shakespeare ”” who has, lately? ”” have all had literary renaissances. Mormons are more likely to produce work that gets shelved in niche sections of the bookstore. And as it turns out, Mormon authors themselves wonder if their culture militates against more highbrow writing….
The Archbishop of Canterbury has become president of Livability, the national Christian disability charity which works with churches to help thousands of disabled people in the UK and overseas.
Archbishop Justin Welby’s presidency will help continue the close and historic relationship between the Church of England and Livability, which was formed after two older Christian charities, John Grooms and the Shaftesbury Society, merged in 2007.
In his inaugural letter to the charity, the Archbishop said that “disabled people have much to offer to our local communities, workplaces and to society in general” but that they face “real financial hardship and unacceptable barriers when trying to access education, training, housing, transport and the care they require.”
Consider giving to local church organizations in the Philippines that are capable of handling donations and capable of empowering local churches, such as the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches or Philippine Relief and Development Services.
Affiliating with international aid organizations that have established relationships and resources (such as the Micah Network, Integral Alliance, World Relief, World Vision, and Samaritan’s Purse) is another way you can ensure you will help rather than hurt.
Overall, our research has found that one of the most effective ways to help after a disaster is to make financial contributions to recognized aid organizations. Financial contributions make sure that the right assistance is available at the right time.
While legal disputes continue over the name and property of The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, the two competing parties are holding their annual church conventions separately.
In 2008, the leadership of the Texas-based diocese voted to cut its ties with The Episcopal Church over growing theological differences. Since then, dispute over who owns the diocese’s property has been debated in court….
Read it all from the Christian Post.
The Rev. Michael Last, retired bishop of the Western Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has been called as the interim rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church.
Last, 67, began his new position on Nov. 1.
The previous rector, the Rev. Wendy Abrahamson, left at the end of April to become rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Grinnell.
Read it all and the parish website is here.
He screened his last sermon, a 30-minute short film called “The Cross – Billy Graham’s Message To America,” to the assembled crowd, as his waning strength has made it difficult for him to preach from behind a lectern.
“Our country is in great need of a spiritual awakening. There have been times that I have wept as I have gone from city to city and I have seen how far people have wandered from God,” he said. “With all my heart, I want to leave you with the truth– that God loves you.”
Focusing on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the film was filmed over the course of last year, partly at Graham’s home in North Carolina.