Sadly, Tory Christian Lost Her Seat.

Miriam Joy Cates is a British politician who was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge from 2019 to 2024. Wikipedia

Born: 23 August 1982 (age 41 years), Sheffield

Party: Conservative Party

Previous office: Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom (2019–2024)

Candidate for: 2024 United Kingdom House of Commons election - Penistone and Stocksbridge

Previous campaign: United Kingdom House of Commons election, 2019

The Lamb Will Triumph.

Birdie.

 

Two Great 'Mediterranean Christians.'

When two Mediterranean Christians transformed the English Church.

Martyn Whittock  28 July 2024.

The ruins of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.(Photo: Getty/iStock)

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds Christians that they are surrounded by a great "cloud of witnesses." (NRSV) That "cloud" has continued to grow in size since then. In this monthly column we will be thinking about some of the people and events, over the past 2000 years, that have helped make up this "cloud." People and events that have helped build the community of the Christian church as it exists today.

In the 7th century AD, the Christian Church in England was transformed by the work of two remarkable men. Neither was born in England, or for that matter in the British Isles. The two men in question were Theodore of Tarsus (now in modern Turkey), also known as Theodore 'the Syrian,' and Hadrian 'the African' (from North Africa).

Though well known to historians of early medieval England and Britain, most modern believers in the UK will never have heard of them. Yet, between them, these two Christians from the Mediterranean world helped to transform the Christian community in early England. And their influence spread across the British Isles. They were two remarkable men of faith, learning, and influence.

The British Isles in the 7th century

Politically and culturally, the British Isles in the 7th century were complex, fragmented, multi-cultural, ethnically and linguistically diverse, and experiencing a time of tremendous change.

In the early 5th century, formal Roman rule had ended in Britain. Prior to that, Roman political and military control and cultural influence had dominated what is now England and Wales and had extended well into what is today southern Scotland (none of these countries then existed).

Further north, the highlands of Scotland were never conquered (after a failed Roman attempt in the late 1st century) and remained outside direct imperial control. Ireland was never invaded by Rome. During the time of the Roman Empire in Britain (basically from AD 43–410) much of Britain was plugged into a vast, multi-cultural political unit that stretched from southern Scotland to Syria (and at times further east); from the Rhine and Danube frontiers to North Africa and southern Egypt.

As a result, it was possible to find Syrian archers and Tigris boatmen operating on Hadrian's Wall (begun c.122), rubbing shoulders with cavalry drawn from Frisia and even from the steppe lands of modern Ukraine and southern Russia (Sarmatians). CT.

Sickening!

A convicted child rapist is competing – it is one of most shameful episodes in Olympic history.

Steven van de Velde should be nowhere near Paris Games – the principle of rehabilitation does not cover being feted as an Olympian

OLIVER BROWNCHIEF SPORTS WRITER. DT.

Oliver Brown

Winter Fuel Payments Abolished.

                                  Thanks, Rachel!

Why On Earth Is Suzanne Moore Employed By The DT?

Prison is no place for women like Cressida Gethin.

The Just Stop Oil activist is now serving four years in HMP Bronzefield – but she shouldn’t have been sent there in the first place.

SUZANNE MOORE29 July 2024 • 

Fixing The NHS Isn't All That Complicated.

 Dear Wes Streeting, 

Last week, in the pages of this newspaper, you wrote about the crisis consuming the NHS. You repeated what you said on the day you were appointed Health Secretary — that the NHS was 'broken'. 'Sunlight is the best disinfectant,' you wrote, asking for frontline staff and patients to diagnose problems so you could 'write the correct prescription'.

Well, I have worked full-time in the NHS for more than 20 years and I can certainly lift the curtain for you. I am truly shocked by the state of the health service.

The most important thing is that people are scared — of getting ill, of going to A&E, of needing to see a GP or an operation. They're scared because they fear they won't get the treatment they need, when they need it.

There is enormous will among staff to turn this around, but you will need to take some very bold decisions. In the long-term, we might need to change the NHS fundamentally — how it operates and how it's funded. In the meantime, here is what needs attention now!

More beds to solve corridor crisis

In recent years we've tried to save money by cutting the number of hospital beds and moving services into the community. It doesn't work. The UK now has shockingly low numbers of beds: 2.43 per 1,000 population versus 5.73 in France and 7.82 in Germany. 

Don't listen to the management consultants who tell you it's the answer. You said you wanted to know if patients 'are being left unattended, unsafely on trolleys in corridors for hours'. Just go to any A&E anywhere and see for yourself. It's happening now.

Scrap university fees

There simply aren't enough frontline staff. We need to encourage the best to train and to keep them when they graduate. Scrap university fees for nursing and medical students and reinstate a full grant. In return, they have to commit to working in the NHS for a minimum of, say, seven years. 

This will help restore the sense of loyalty and duty present in my generation of doctors (who didn't pay fees and got grants) but is often lacking in the younger generation (who did pay). Resist the temptation to plug gaps with physician associates — it takes years to train a doctor for a reason and I worry about patient safety with PAs taking the brunt.

Take an axe to management

There are many layers of management that do very little for patient care, and we doctors spend far too long filling out pointless forms for them.

A consultant friend says the hour and a half of NHS paperwork after a patient assessment takes just 20 minutes in the private sector. When he works privately all he has to do is write a letter to the patient's GP.

It's interesting that when time is money, all these forms become obsolete and unnecessary.

You need to axe entire layers. There's no excuse for having managers who just manage managers. Those who survive should spend the equivalent of one day a week on the frontline. This already happens in some trusts — where I work, for example, the medical director spends one day a week in the dementia service assessing patients. It should be mandatory across the NHS.

Make waiting lists your top priority

These are out of control. There's no magic answer — but increasing beds, staff numbers and efficiency will all help. Use the private sector in the short-term, but be wary of relying on it for long because it will push up costs.

EMBERTON 

Root out slackers

Matrons have been reintroduced, but we need them on the wards, pushing up care, not in management offices where they spend too much of their time.

It should be much easier to fire staff who aren't pulling their weight or who don't care. And we need cast-iron protection for whistle-blowers.

In some areas, there has been a real deterioration in attitude and productivity since the pandemic, with some staff having got used to doing less. It's a painful truth to acknowledge, especially when so many are working their fingers to the bone, but we do need to root out slackers.

Tougher A&E targets

It's often pandemonium in A&E. Various policies have tried to improve this and the 'four-hour rule', stating 95 per cent of patients should be seen and dealt with within four hours, certainly focuses minds.

I think it's more than reasonable to ensure that, from the moment someone registers at reception, they wait no longer than an hour before they are seen and, if they need more complex care, they are admitted or referred elsewhere within those four hours.

Put other specialists into GP surgeries

GPs are the whipping boys —everyone blames them for the problems in the NHS, yet most are working very hard. Is it any wonder so many are quitting?

Yes, sometimes it's near-impossible to get an appointment. We need to encourage more young doctors to enter primary care as a career and we need to think creatively about keeping them.

In my trust, psychiatrists have been placed in GP surgeries to see patients with mental health problems and to offer support with less acute psychological diagnoses. It's a genius idea and means fewer referrals to secondary mental health services. Surely something like this can be introduced nationwide — and with other disciplines?

Those suggestions are just for starters, Wes. I'm sure there will be readers who will be able to tell you their own stories, and many who will have smart and clever solutions.

I trained as a doctor because I wanted to work in the NHS. I hate to see it on its knees. Please, do your best. We might not agree on everything politically, but from the bottom of my heart, I wish you success.

Max. Daily Mail.

Every Eye Will See Him.

 

Birdie.

 

Er ... Quite So!

 

Bob Ballard Sacked By Eurosport For Silly Remark.

 The commentator has been removed from the broadcaster's coverage of the Olympic Games after he made 'a sexist remark' regarding female swimmers. After securing gold in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay, the quartet made their way out of the Paris Aquatic Centre. At this point, experienced commentator issued a sexist comment. Mail.

Blogger: Isn't it funny how easy it is to sack someone for a sexist or perhaps a racist remark whether real or imagined?

Yet, in the UK try sacking anyone for: bone idleness; rank incompetence; dishonesty; theft; failure to follow basic instructions; bringing your employer into disrepute; causing grief to work colleagues etc, etc. 

It can often take months; will almost certainly mean having to employ a solicitor; will cost a great deal of money; may well involve tribunals whose balance is designed to favour the unemployable.

He made a stupid, ill-considered, crass observation. If an equivalent had been directed against people such as myself - I would have growled slightly and it would have all been forgotten.

Had he been previously warned about his conduct?

I simply do not know but find it oh-so hard to believe that he has done something worse than the list above of offences - for which sacking someone varies between difficult and impossible.

Bishop Hannington's Martyrdom.

 James Hannington - Wikipedia

James Hannington - Wikipedia James Hannington (3 September 1847 – 29 October 1885) was an English Anglican missionary and martyr. He was the ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hannington

Southport.

 The Southport abomination DEMANDS a death sentence!

Sabina.

 

Phew!

Wood takes five as England win third Test.

Timothy Abraham

BBC Sport Journalist at Edgbaston

Published
28 July 2024
761 Comments

Third Rothesay Test (day three of five), Edgbaston

West Indies 282 (Brathwaite 61; Atkinson 4-67) & 175 (Louis 57; Wood 5-40)

England 376 (Smith 95; Joseph 4-122) & 87-0 (Stokes 57*)

England won by 10 wickets

Mark Wood took five wickets in a devastating spell of fast bowling as England wrapped up a 3-0 series victory over West Indies with an emphatic 10-wicket win in the third Test.

A raucous day three Edgbaston crowd roared Wood on after the lunch interval as his 5-9 in 21 deliveries spectacularly blew away the tourists, who began the day on 33-2, for 175 in their second innings.

Set 82 for victory skipper Ben Stokes then hit England's fastest-ever Test half-century off just 24 balls, as he stepped in to open the batting.

Stokes, who finished unbeaten on 57, had opened with fellow left-hander Ben Duckett after regular opener Zak Crawley suffered a broken finger in the field.

He thrilled supporters with some archetypal Bazball hitting in a carefree knock which included nine fours and two sixes as the hosts romped to the target in just 7.2 overs.

West Indies had earlier shown some resistance thanks to a maiden Test fifty for Mikyle Louis, while Kavem Hodge also made a measured half-century, before Wood supercharged the atmosphere with a superb spell. BBC.

I have long been aware of this terrifying situation.

 https://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/1908763/General-Election-UK-economy-national-debt-US-debt-inflation-Donald-Trump-Rachel-Reeves

Tragedy Of The Nelon Family.

Three members of beloved gospel group die in plane crash.

Jennifer Moreno  28 July 2024

From L-R, Amber Nelon Kistler, Kelly Nelon Clark, Jason Clark and Autumn Nelon Streetman.

The Nelons, a popular family gospel group, has been struck by tragedy after the death of three of its members in a plane crash. 

Jason and Kelly Nelon Clark, and their daughter Amber Nelon Kistler were killed in the crash while taking a flight to perform on a cruise ship.

The crash also claimed the lives of Nelon Kistler's husband, Nathan Kistler, the band's assistant, Melodi Hodges, pilot Larry Haynie and his wife, Melissa.

They were on their way to Seattle where they were to join the Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska, hosted by gospel veterans Bill and Gloria Gaither. 

The fourth member of The Nelons and the Clarks' youngest daughter, Autumn Nelon Streetman, was not on the plane at the time.

She had travelled to Seattle on a different flight with her husband Jamie Streetman, and received the devastating news upon landing. 

She said in a statement, "Thank you for the prayers that have been extended already to me, my husband, Jamie, and our soon-to-be-born baby boy, as well as Jason's parents, Dan and Linda Clark.

"We appreciate your continued prayers, love, and support as we navigate the coming days."

Gaither Music Group said: "One of the best loved Gospel music families in America, The Nelons were involved in a tragic, fatal plane crash on Friday afternoon on their way to join the Gaither Homecoming Cruise to Alaska."

It added: "Autumn, Jason and Kelly's youngest daughter, and her husband, Jamie Streetman were not on the plane and arrived safely into Seattle and were notified of the accident.

"They were brought to the hotel where artists were gathered with Bill and Gloria Gaither to pray, sing and embrace them in their grief, pledging to support them in whatever needs arise."

The Pilatus PC-12/47E aircraft came down just north of the town of Gillette, in Campbell County, Wyoming, around 1pm local time on Friday, sparking a wildfire. An investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash.

The Nelons were founded in 1977 by the late Rex Nelon, Kelly Nelon Clark's father. They were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2016. CP.

The King.

 

28 Christian Athletes to Cheer On at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

 28 Christian Athletes to Cheer On at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

28 Christian Athletes to Cheer On at the Paris 2024 Olympics Meet Olympians who love God from around the world.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2024/july-web-only/christian-athletes-paris-2024-olympics-believers.html