England lead New Zealand by 533 runs with 5 wickets remaining
Saturday, December 07, 2024
Friday, December 06, 2024
If You Do Still Send Christmas Cards, Please ...
... please only choose cards which honour the Saviour's birth. They may be more difficult to find in these sad days but they are still to be found!
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Labour Budget Will Lose, IMHO, More Than A 100,000 Small Businesses. Extrapolate From This Letter.
Letters to the Editor
04 December 2024 12:01am GMT
SIR – I am the part-owner of a small shop in a nearby town. It has been occupied by a well-respected and extremely competent professional for the past 25 years. Earlier this year he approached me for an extension to his tenancy, which will expire next March, to which I and my co-owner were happy to agree.
Last week he contacted me to say that he had decided not to take an extended tenancy. His main reasons were the substantial increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions, and the hike in the minimum wage, which, he said, his business quite simply could not afford. This means two good part-time jobs have been lost that will not be replaced, thanks to the mindless attack on employers by Rachel Reeves.
I have no doubt at all that this scenario will be repeated thousands of times in towns and villages up and down the country, demonstrating only too well the damage caused by the Chancellor’s tax raid. Why on earth did the country vote into power a party that experience has shown cannot be trusted?
Richard C Male
Little Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
Little Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
Age UK.
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Tracey Cox: Affairs - They Rarely Have A Clear Villain.
'My best friend is having an affair and some of his friends cut him dead the minute it came out. I knew the real story: he hadn’t had sex with his wife for four years (her choice) and put up with blistering, withering put-downs daily. Who could blame him for seeking kindness, sex and love elsewhere?'
Affairs are often painted in black-and-white terms: the cheater is the villain, and the betrayed partner is the victim. But relationships are complex, and infidelity is rarely so straightforward.
Both partners usually contribute to the dynamics that led to the affair, even if one acted on those dynamics inappropriately.
Understanding this doesn’t absolve blame but it does help paint a fuller, more realistic picture of where it all went wrong.
Blogger: 100% inexperienced as I am in such matters, I am only slightly surprised with the conclusions above. I seem to recall that my marriage vows did require each party to assuage the sexual needs of the other. Where the vows have not been kept by one person, it does seem rather unfair on the victim not to be allowed to seek solace outside the marriage. In fact, I am certain that the 'withholding sin' is equally as bad as adultery itself.
I strongly suspect that this is the cause of the majority of affairs and consequent marriage breakdowns. The cuckolded, withholding partner gets the sympathy - and yet, their sin is the cause of the sin by their marriage partner. Blame attaches for this!
In a Christian marriage, so-called cheating is simply not permissible. Many matters work against Christians 'doing the right thing' across many difficult questions but that is what God expects of us. We must play the hand that we are dealt.
Thursday, December 05, 2024
Stop Blaming 'Climate Change' For Spanish Flooding!
We can’t let the authorities off the hook for this horrific tragedy.
The devastating impact of the flash floods in Spain has shocked the world. Heavy rainfall first hit eastern and southern regions on Monday last week. The resultant flooding submerged villages and transformed roads into rivers. In the worst-hit region of Valencia – and in the city of the same name – water and mud tore through densely populated areas causing death and destruction. So far over 200 people have been reported dead. But the death toll is expected to rise still further as rescue teams enter hitherto inaccessible areas.
The scale of the human tragedy in Valencia is vast. The city itself has been inundated and surrounding towns and villages have been ravaged by the ferocious flooding. But the devastation and huge loss of life hasn’t stopped Western media from using it all to advance a climate-alarmist agenda. As a BBC News headline put it, ‘Scientists say climate change made Spanish floods worse’.
It’s very easy today to blame the horrific impact of a particular extreme weather event on climate change. It is also misleading. What turned last week’s deluge in the Valencia region into a disaster can’t be explained by the single, catch-all answer of ‘climate change’. Rather this disaster was the result of several complex factors, involving geological and climatic conditions, and human interventions.
For a start, Valencia has always been a fairly dry and hot region, surrounded by hills and mountains. It doesn’t rain much – the city of Valencia averages about 450 millimetres per year and averages just one day of rain in July. When it does rain, the water hits dry, hard ground. This means that when it lands on the hills and mountains, the rainwater runs off rapidly downhill and towards the population centres on the coastal plain. It’s no surprise, then, that Valencia has a long history of serious flooding. There was a major flood in October 1957, for instance, which caused 81 deaths.
Climate change might well make a burst of rainfall more intense. But the truth is swathes of eastern and southern Spain have long been at risk of serious flooding.
Likewise, the particular cause of the recent floods is not new. It is attributable to a long-standing seasonal phenomenon known as depresión aislada en niveles altos (‘isolated depression at high levels’), otherwise known as gota frÃa (‘cold drop’). This occurs when cold air passes over the Pyrenees and hits the warm air of the Mediterranean coast. This creates atmospheric instability, causing the warm, moist air to rise rapidly and quickly form into huge clouds that then dump heavy rain across Spain’s eastern regions.
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So much for ‘the adults in the room’
Tom Slater
Given flooding is an age-old problem in Valencia and elsewhere, the key questions now should centre on what flood-prevention measures were in place to mitigate the impact of heavy rainfall. Was water being diverted towards less populated areas (like farm or park land)? Were a sufficient number of dams and reservoirs in place to hold rainwater back and regulate its outflow?
At this stage it’s difficult to tell exactly what went wrong. But it’s clear that state decision-making will have played a significant role in turning this extreme weather event into a human disaster. Questions about everything from investment in flood-prevention infrastructure to where people live, should now be asked of the government at all levels.Some have claimed that a European Union directive calling for the removal of dams, so as to benefit river-dwelling wildlife, might have increased the flood risk. But local reports have played down this claim. Journalists insist that no major dams or reservoirs have been demolished since 2001. They say that just 28 small river barriers (weirs and small dams) have been removed in accordance with the EU directive. They also claim that these small water obstructions would likely have made the flooding even worse should they have remained in place.Others have suggested that the decision of Valencian authorities, after the 1957 floods, to re-route the Turia river three kilometres to the south of its original course through the city centre may have played a role. As geologist Matthew Wielicki argues,
this was initially a brilliant technical fix to the problem of flooding. But the authorities then undid their good work by allowing ‘unchecked development right around this newly created flood channel’, placing people ‘directly in harm’s way’. Wielicki may well be right, given the area he identifies was the worst affected by last week’s floods. Although it should be said that the devastation extended well beyond the city of Valencia itself.
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Isn't This A Bit More Like How Bishops Should Be?
Archbishop Steve Wood on where the ACNA has been, and where it's headed.
Archbishop Steve Wood(Photo: ACNA)Before he was elected as the third archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, Steve Wood was one of the earliest Covid-19 patients in the United States, placed on a ventilator for 10 days in March 2020.
Two years earlier, as bishop of the Carolinas and rector of St. Andrew's Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Wood watched as his church building was engulfed in a fire.
"I wouldn't trade any of those experiences for where I am right now, because God has been so extraordinarily gracious to me through every one of them," said Wood.
In adversity, he said, he's learned to trust God's faithfulness. And while he readily admits the denomination isn't perfect, he sees the Anglican Church in North America, which formed in 2009 after splitting from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, as another testament to the graciousness of God. During his term as archbishop, he hopes that message will be not only reinforced in the pews, but shared widely throughout the continent.
On the heels of denominational dustups over women's ordination to the priesthood and accountability for the misconduct of clergy — in particular bishops — Wood is beginning his five-year term as archbishop focusing on transparency and compassion as the young denomination continues to mature. A week ahead of his investiture, or formal installation, in South Carolina on October 30, Wood spoke to Religion News Service about where the ACNA has been and where it's heading. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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As you step into this role, is there a word or theme you hope will guide your work as archbishop?
The ACNA determined some years ago that its principal vision was to reach North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ — 130 million people in North America don't know Jesus, and that is the compelling motivation in ministry for me, to hold forth the good news of Christ to the continent. I also want to tell good stories. Our Matthew 25 Initiative is extraordinary; they're ministering to people on the margins of society. The work we're doing with church planting is spectacular, but it's not being talked about.
When you look back at the past 15 years, what are some of the things you think ACNA has done well, as a denomination?
I find enormous satisfaction looking back over the last 20 years and saying the Lord established us, preserved us, and he's growing us. That's extraordinary, coming out of a meltdown of the Anglican world in North America. We're not perfect by a long shot. But at one level, 20 years into this process, we've made it. The other thing the ACNA has really done well is brought people together across the spectrum of Anglicanism. You'll have low church Protestants, high church Anglo Catholics, people in the middle, and the ACNA has really created a place where all of those folks find a home. I think the other thing is, a number of church plants that started, they went into a community with a vision to make a long-term commitment to live there and become incarnate in that. And for me, that's classic Anglicanism.
In the run-up to the June Assembly, nearly 300 ACNA clergy and a diocese voiced opposition to women's ordination and said disagreements on the subject imperil the denomination. Do you believe ACNA's approach to women's ordination is still up for debate? During your term as archbishop, do you foresee any changes to ACNA's strategy of allowing dioceses to individually decide how they approach women's ordination?
Probably no, as to how we're structured. In the constitution and the canons this is our governance structure, and the dioceses have the authority to make those decisions. And so, short term, it's not practical to think that the constitutions and canons are going to be changed anytime soon. That being the case, the question for me then becomes, how do we live together? And I prefer a more irenic, compassionate voice. I'm big on having conversations. I encourage others to listen, not to defend a position, but to hear where the other person's coming from. Do I think it's a threat to the ACNA? No, but I do think it's going to be an ongoing conversation point, and I think how we have the conversation is critical.
Last year, my understanding is a Governance Task Force committee made of lay folks and clergy recommended a complete revision of Title IV. Can you catch us up to speed on what happened to that recommended overhaul, and if and when we can expect it to be considered for ratification?
I would say it never got to the point where a recommendation was made. The last time I saw it in January, the College of Bishops had a presentation on it. The presentation was not finished, and I think Governance Task Force decided not to advance it because it wasn't ready. So they put their energy into completing the Title I revision, another part of our canons that deals with disciplinary matters.
One of the groups that were not fully included in last year's discussion were the bishops and the chancellors, who are the ones principally responsible for enforcing Title IV. I've asked all the diocesan bishops and their chancellors for current evaluations of Title IV, and I expect that process will be done in the next few months. That report will go to the Governance Task Force, which will evaluate the current Title IV in light of that input. GTF will come back to the executive committee, and I'd like them to make a presentation to Provincial Council this summer, get input from those two bodies, and come up with more of a proposal by the fall. That way, when we come back into our College of Bishops meeting next year, they can put something before us. Then we can start the sign-off process with all the different bodies. We're growing up as a church, and the canons need to grow up with us.
I've heard some concerns that the review of Title IV is starting again from scratch. But I'm hearing you frame this as another layer of input?
We're not throwing anything out. This is not a replacement, this is supplemental information. We have a very good GTF, and I know they had a very good process. And the draft copy that I saw last year, I was pleased with it. I'm very happy we revised Title I, and I would be very happy to have Title IV on the table as well.
ACNA has the unique feature of including nongeographic dioceses united by affinity, rather than region. Do you think this approach has been successful?
Historically, Anglicanism has been geographically based, not necessarily affinity based. But we're in a missional era right now, and my goal is to have as many people in the fields working for the harvest as possible. We can sort out the geographical issues downstream. I don't think we should create any more nongeographical dioceses, and I do anticipate a day when these things get sorted, but today we're a new denomination, 15 years old, still trying to reach North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. That takes precedent.
This year we also saw open letters asking for increased transparency and expediency regarding trials for bishops. Can you talk about changes that have already been made, and any you'd like to see, regarding the pace of and communication around bishop trials?
I am a fan of transparency. I've begun implementing quarterly provincial letters bringing people up to date. Sometimes people don't understand the limits of authority. For instance, the archbishop cannot demand that the court do anything, but the archbishop can request. The first request I made of the court elected this June was that they would publish their rulings and schedule on the provincial website, which they agreed to. I'm thrilled with that. Timeliness I'm certainly concerned about, but I'm more concerned about justice. I'd rather go slower and get it right than rush to something and get it wrong. Having said that, things need to be timely. We had two trials (involving bishops) up simultaneously, but our system only allows one at a time to proceed. That was another element I communicated this summer in my provincial letter.
In recent years, many Anglican churches in the Global South have voiced concern about perceived liberal drift in the Church of England. What's your view on what some have called a "crisis" in the Anglican Communion? What role, if any, might the ACNA have to play in this moment?
The internal affairs of the Church of England are the internal affairs of the Church of England. Now, how that affects the global church I care about. I do think ACNA will continue to play a role in helping to reshape global Anglicanism. Most of our churches lost everything to come out of the Episcopal Church. They showed what's possible when you follow your understanding of the gospel. You look at the growth of the ACNA, it's been nothing other than extraordinary. And I think that is a very good example for the Global Communion, for other people in other countries that are still having to deal with, we might lose everything. Well, you also might gain everything, right? I think the ACNA can communicate to a larger Anglican world that God is faithful.
© Religion News Service. CT.
A Reminder Why The Donald Won The Presidential Election.
Donald Trump’s triumph among minority voters is a nightmare for the Left.
His surge in support among Latinos, in particular, will shake progressives to their foundations
Donald Trump may be heading back to the White House. And one of the explosive sub-plots for the Left is that it was a surge in ethnic minority support – particularly among Latinos – that may have propelled his campaign to victory.
Although exit polls showed Kamala Harris capturing a larger proportion of the Latino vote overall, Trump seems to have increased his share by eight points compared to 2020. There had, of course, been furious speculation about whether he had alienated swathes of Latino voters – and ultimately botched his chances of triumphing in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania – when a comedian at one of his rallies called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”. Although Pennsylvanian votes are still being counted, the very opposite seems to be transpiring: several counties with sizeable Latino populations have trended towards Trump.
Amid an apparent doubling of his support among black voters in the key battleground state of Wisconsin, it also seems that Trump’s voter share among African-Americans is up since 2020.
Such numbers threaten to shake the Democratic Left to its foundations. They challenge many of their assumptions about the “minority vote”, as well as the dominant progressive identitarian ideology.
One is that the voting inclinations of ethnic minorities are rigidly, predictably Left-leaning “in line with historic norms”. In fact, in recent years, such “historic norms” have slowly but surely started to crumble. Latinos have been gravitating towards Trump since 2016, and the voting preferences of African-American males have been diverging from their female counterparts for several years. Neither group inevitably sees themselves as structural victims who require a benevolent Left to protect their interests.
The second, closely linked Leftist assumption is that Right-wing inclinations among ethnic minorities are isolated deviations, rather than generalised trends. But minority voters have been, in line with national trends, slowly but steadfastly shifting to the Right on issues like mass immigration, due to concerns about the impact on wages and the cohesion of their communities.
It really shouldn’t come as any surprise to Democrats that minorities prioritise the same bread-and-butter issues as white voters. This applies not only to immigration but also to the economy. It is notable that Trump’s outreach campaign targeting Latinos heavily leaned into a message of prosperity and sought to generate a feeling of nostalgia for the pre-pandemic economy under his last presidency. It seems to have paid off.
If a Trump victory is confirmed, there will be an attempt by the Left to pathologise “deviant” minority voters. Implicit in such discussions will be the sentiment that people of colour – particularly young males – are so “disenfranchised”, “angry”, “brainwashed” and “marginalised” that they have somehow allowed themselves to be duped by a white supremacist party, at the same time as betraying one of their own.
The reality of the matter – that many have voted for Trump simply because they prefer his policies and have a greater confidence in his ability to deliver – will be lost in the noise. DT.
Whither Next For That Remnant of Christians in The CofE?
https://www.christiantoday.com/article/what.now.after.those.welby.comments/142305.htm
Chagos - A Labour-Masterminded, Anti-Democratic Piece of Lunacy!
Mauritius’s secret deal
SIR – The Prime Minister and his Foreign Secretary are at best naive and at worst disingenuous when they say that the proposed Chagos Islands deal guarantees the legitimacy of the Diego Garcia US military base for the next 100 years (Letters, December 3).
Are Sir Keir Starmer, David Lammy and Jonathan Powell, the UK’s national security adviser, aware that the last Mauritian prime minister appears to have ceded the island of Agalega to India, in return for cash to prop up the country’s economy?
Are they aware that Agalega is now a fully operational Indian military base, and that the terms of this deal are being kept secret, despite repeated requests for full disclosure?
It is time for Sir Keir and his team to wake up and smell the coffee, instead of playing student politics with global security.
Jean de Robillard
London SW6. DT.
London SW6. DT.
Wednesday, December 04, 2024
Hebrews 12 - Discipline.
10) God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11) No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
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SO One-Sided!
Christians take issue with 'one-sided' engagement over conversion therapy ban. (Photo: Getty/iStock) The Christian Institute (CI) h...
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£650,000 appeal launched to save two crumbling churches. St Tyfi’s Church, Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire (Photo: Friends of Friendless Churches...
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