Exit stage left

It is now four days since the general election, and Britain still does not know who will have No 10 Downing Street as their mailing address. Today in a desperate effort to keep Labor in office Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced he will step down, although not before September. Meanwhile Nick Clegg continues to play the role of Hamlet on the Thames.

Updates here, here and here.

Nice to see the Republicans aren't the only ones eating their own

LITTLE ROCK -- Frustrated that Congress has not enacted a more liberal agenda under big Democratic majorities, national labor unions are making a high-stakes stand this primary season in a most unlikely place: Arkansas.

This small Southern state is more Mississippi than Michigan, a right-to-work jurisdiction where Wal-Mart was born and where unions have never been particularly powerful.

Nevertheless, labor is blanketing the airwaves here with multimillion-dollar expenditures designed to deny Sen. Blanche Lincoln a third term in the May 18 Democratic primary. In a mark of their unhappiness with Lincoln -- and their limited options -- they are rallying behind Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who is hardly a poster boy for progressivism.

Read the rest here.

Busy weekend

Little or no posting til Monday. Have a great weekend.

Russian President Medvedev attacks historical revisionists and the cult of Stalin

President Medvedev has issued a stinging repudiation of the Soviet Union, condemning it as a totalitarian state that had deprived Russians of their basic rights.

He also condemned Joseph Stalin’s record of repression before Victory Day celebrations on Sunday marking the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, an event that many elderly Russians attribute to the leadership of the Soviet dictator.

The President’s outspoken verdict on Russia’s Soviet legacy contrasted sharply with that of his predecessor Vladimir Putin, who called the collapse of the Communist state “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century”. Mr Putin, the Prime Minister, has also been much more equivocal about Stalin.

Mr Medvedev said that Stalin had committed unforgivable crimes regardless of any progress made by the Soviet Union under his rule. In an interview with Izvestia newspaper that was also broadcast on state television, he rejected arguments that Stalin was responsible for the victory over Hitler in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War.

“The Great Patriotic War was won by our people, not by Stalin or even the generals,” Mr Medvedev said. “Their role was undoubtedly very serious but, at the same time, the people won the war at the cost of great efforts and a huge number of lives.

“Stalin committed mass crimes against the people. And despite the fact that he worked a lot, despite the fact that under his leadership the country achieved successes, what was done to his own people cannot be forgiven.”

Read the rest here.

The Russian Orthodox Church also recently issued a strongly worded attack on the renewed veneration of Stalin.

Britain finds oil near the Falklands and Argentina fumes

Argentina reacted with fury last night to the news that British company Rockhopper Exploration had made significant oil discoveries in waters around the Falkland Islands.

As news broke that the company had encountered a 53m-thick deposit of oil 220km (135 miles) north of the islands, that could lead to the discovery of up to 200 million barrels of oil worth £17 billion at current prices, Argentina’s Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana condemned British actions in the region as “illegal” and “unilateral”.

Argentine media labelled the British as “pirates” and said that British action in the region “would push Argentina to its limits”.

Read the rest here.

Jim Rickards on Greece and the U.S. Debt

Grrrr the embed codes for CNBC videos really suck.

Metropolitan Filaret: It's Time to Take a Step Toward Unity

(Note: This is not the schismatic Filaret.)

VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The time is now for the Orthodox and Catholic Churches to take a step toward unity, and for Benedict XVI and the Orthodox patriarch of Moscow to meet, says the Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus.

Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Sluck said this Tuesday at the international conference held in Rome on "The Poor Are the Precious Treasure of the Church: Orthodox and Catholics Together on the Path of Charity.

During the conference, which was promoted by the Sant'Egidio Community, participants reflected on the reception of the most frail in our societies, the testimony of the Fathers of the Church, and the challenges dictated by new social problems.

According to Metropolitan Filaret, the time has come to take decisive steps toward unity, reported the country's Catholic news service.

The Orthodox leader added that both Churches seek to establish full unity, and stressed that he has come to this conclusion based on the fraternal dialogue and the meetings that they have held with representatives of the Catholic Church"

Read the rest here.

Thanks to an anonymous emailed tip to which I sent the following reply...

"Very interesting. I applaud the sentiment (which the story is long on) but question the particulars (which the story is short on). Very serious doctrinal issues still separate Rome from Orthodoxy. As far as I am aware no great progress has been made in resolving those issues. Zenit has a reputation for posting these kinds of fluff stories from time to time. When I see a story reporting major breakthroughs on doctrinal questions then I will become a bit less skeptical. Thanks for sending this."

Prayers requested

In your charity please pray for Matushka Jeannette, wife of Fr. Gabriel Seamore (OCA), who has been struggling with numerous health issues for years and very nearly died during Holy Week. I am informed that she has just been readmitted to the hospital in critical condition.

Fr. Gabe served for many years as our deacon here in Merced before he answered the call to be ordained as a priest. Both he and Matushka are much missed here.

Britain's Election: Early returns...

...Are suggesting that the conservative party has made broad gains, but will fall short of an absolute majority in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Labor) has indicated that he may attempt to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. This however is very likely to still fall short of a majority. Similarly David Cameron (Conservative party leader) may attempt to form a government by bringing in the Unionist MPs from N. Ireland. In either case it appears increasingly likely that Britain will have its first hung parliament since 1974.

There are significant fears in the British financial markets about the consequences of a hung parliament. Many fear that a minority government will not be able to impose the necessary (and painful) measures to bring Britain's exploding national debt under control. The Pound has been hit hard in foreign exchange rates over these fears and this could also impact the bond market and interest rates for Gilts (British treasury bonds).

Results are still coming in as of this writing and exit polling has in the past not always been reliable. Also many areas of the country where Conservatives tend to do better often report their results later. Thus nothing has been firmly decided. However, it is likely that in the overnight hours leaders in all of the major parties will be putting out feelers to some of the smaller parties about possible coalitions. Further complicating things are reports that one or more prominent Labor MPs are prepared to challenge Gordon Brown for leadership in the party if the results go badly. It would seem Mr. Brown may have a limited amount of time to try and patch something together, if he can. That said, there is at least one indicator that there is no urgent rush.

British media and press are reporting that H.M. the Queen has no plans to summon anyone to the palace before noon.

Today in numbers and what they mean...

Setting aside for the moment a near 1000 pt drop in the DOW over the space of about 15 minutes (that was probably at least partly a technical glitch) today was the latest in a string of very ugly days as the world appears to be finally taking notice of the oceans of red ink out there.

Some quick numbers for consideration...

The DOW ended down 347.8 or 3.4%
The S&P 500 down 37.2 or 3.24%
The NASDAQ down 82.65 or 3.44%
Oil down 2.81 to 77.21 per barrel (It was over $86 just last week)
The Euro was slammed, dropping to 1.2529 to the dollar

The only things that rose were the dollar which made new highs for the year against the Euro and and the Pound, US high grade bonds which rallied across the curve and gold which rose 33.20 to $1209.80 oz an advance of some 2.8%.

Conclusions... there is a growing alarm at the vast amount of sovereign debt in the world and the possibility of a cascading debt crisis. As per normal in times of alarm there was a flight to the dollar and the most conservative of dollar denominated securities. However this time, unlike in 2008, we are also seeing a large move into gold which has been rising steadily for well over a month. Of particular noteworthiness is that gold has been rallying IN TANDEM with the dollar. This has been going on for weeks and does not appear to be an aberration. If in fact gold, which has historically done the opposite of the dollar, is in the process of decoupling from the USD it could signal investors increasing concern over US sovereign debt levels and the anticipation of large scale intervention by the FED and other central banks around the world. In effect gold may be in the process of becoming once again the world's defacto reserve currency.

A Picture is worth a thousand words

Click on the image to see full size.
Source

Hat tip BondSquawk

Wall Street: It's not over

I believe we may be in the early stages of a cascading debt crisis.

An Episcopalian's Creed

This from a blog post I found via a link on Perry Robinson's blog (blame him!). I am going to repost the entire "creed"as I believe it is worth reading. Caution: Put down your coffee cup before proceeding.

I believe in One God: God that was First Cause and God that continues to be, running through all of creation. I believe God created all through scientific and natural laws, which God created as well. I call the aspect of God that runs through all Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is what activates the image of God that already exists in all of us when we allow it into us; Holy Spirit allows us to bring the good of God out of us and into the world where it can transform other people and situations. I believe that some of us are more open and receptive to Spirit; the prime example to me of one who was so open to Spirit that the line between the humanity of that person and the divinity of God blurred into One is Jesus Christ.

I believe I am to follow Jesus and live as he taught. In Jesus I found my entry-point to the wholeness and trueness of One God and as such I have a responsibility to seek Justice, love mercy, and walk in kindness. I am to seek Christ in the heart of the poor, the homeless, the outcast, the rejected, and the unloved—I am to spread the love of God to all I interact with and I am to seek to transform this world into a more just and fair world in whatever ways that I can.

I believe the Bible is a human attempt at understanding God and the meaning of life in relationship with God. I believe that in certain moments of private reflection and meditation and in communal readings scripture from the Bible can become the Word of God when they touch our soul and awaken in us a deeper love for God and neighbor and stronger thirst for justice. Although I believe other texts from other traditions can become the Word of God for those respective traditions, as one with roots in Christianity I most often find that Word in the Hebrew and Christian testaments.

I believe that sin occurs when we act in ways that damage our relationship with God or neighbor. I believe these actions occur in us all, but that we all can be forgiven and redeemed from them daily as we try to follow more closely in the ways of love for God and neighbor.

I believe we live in a broken world but we must live as if it can be restored, redeemed, and renewed and that we must live so as to make this world as it ought to be—I believe the Church cab be the primary institution in bringing about this global, temporal yet eternal, transformation and salvation. I believe our personal salvation occurs when we place our faith and trust in a proper place and we thus are free from the chains of greed, apathy, failure, pain, death, and sin so that we can move forward with acts of mercy.

I believe the Christian faith best exemplifies for me the way to live—personally and communally, but I do not discount other ways for other people whose roots are in their own traditions. I believe that as we move deeper into the 21st century, we must all—Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, and Atheist—find ways to work together for the betterment of all humankind. We must have respect for our differences, security for our individualism, and love for each other and ourselves.

Source

In some of my darker moments I have wondered if the current state of the Episcopal Organization (TEO) is not a consequence of God's amusement (or lack thereof) at the old cliche about Episcopalians being the Republican Party at prayer.

I apologize in advance to any of my Episcopal readers (I do have some). I am fairly certain that what I am about to write will be hurtful to you. But I think it needs to be said.

On a side note; this tends to reinforce the conviction that has been growing in me for a few years now, that the time has come for the various Orthodox churches to end the policy of giving more or less automatic "close enough" status to Episcopal baptisms among converts. The simple truth is that we just don't know what is going on among the "clergy" of that body anymore. Perry Robinson is correct in his observations that the Episcopal Organization is not a Christian body in any sense that could be accepted by the Church Fathers. Mormons have a stronger claim to that title.

This is not to say that here are no Christians left in TEO. But they are a rapidly diminishing minority. And if they are in TEO they are also in full communion with bishops that are so far gone in heresy or outright apostasy as to be beyond the pale. I hardly need to point out that TEO is a body with no real doctrine to speak of, beyond the Left Wing flavor of the week socio-political cause. I think it is sufficient to point out that when we accept an Episcopal baptism from the last 25 years or so, we are accepting a baptism performed by someone who was in full communion with John Shelby Spong.

If we are going to accept theirs, on what grounds do we reject anyone's?

Arab Israelis urge boycott of goods manufactured in "settlements"

Arab leaders in Israel are preparing a boycott of settlement-made products, following Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s call for such a ban by West Bank Arabs.

Starting on Thursday, Israeli-Arab retailers will be urged to place lists of settlement-made items in their establishments, notifying shoppers which products to avoid. Among the 1,000 companies slated to be boycotted are Ahava Dead Sea health products, Beigel & Beigel pretzels, Super Drink soft drinks and Openheimer chocolates.

Analysis: Arab-Israeli boycott puts social cohesion at risk

“We are launching a campaign across the entire Arab sector to boycott all goods manufactured in the West Bank settlements,” said Mansour Dahamshy, chairman of the Kafr Kana public committee. “We mean to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and wage battle against the settlements and the occupation.”

Read the rest here.

Truth in advertising

I found this on Damian Thompson's generally excellent blog. Anyone else find it somewhat amusing?

Quote of the day

"Stalin is our father, our idol. The historical truth should be glorified."

-Sergei Obukhov (Russian Member of Parliament- Communist Party)

From a Newsweek article on the revival of Stalin's cult in Russia.

BRAVO ZULU

The keys found in the ignition of the sport utility vehicle that was left to explode in Times Square on Saturday evening did more than just start cars: one opened the front door to Faisal Shahzad’s home.

The young woman in Bridgeport who last month sold Mr. Shahzad the rusting 1993 Nissan Pathfinder prosecutors say he used in the failed attack did not remember his name. But she had his telephone number.

That number was traced back to a prepaid cellular phone purchased by Mr. Shahzad, one that received four calls from Pakistan in the hours before he bought the S.U.V.

It was 53 hours and 20 minutes from the moment the authorities say Mr. Shahzad, undetected, left his failed car bomb in the heart of Manhattan until the moment he was taken off a plane at Kennedy Airport and charged with trying to kill untold numbers of the city’s residents and tourists.

Read the rest here.

Many of us (including your truly) are quick to belittle government incompetence. Sometimes we get so used to it we need to be reminded that YES there are things we need the government to do. And further, there are some very competent and dedicated public servants who do great work for the people who employ them, often at considerable personal risk.

Case in point; the NYPD mounted policeman who after being alerted to a suspicious vehicle raised the alarm, and helped evacuate Times Square. Had the car bomb gone off many people would have owed their lives to his quick thinking and professionalism. And it's quite possible that they would have had to express their gratitude at his wake since he remained on the scene until the bomb squad took over.

And then there are the scores of cops from New York and other jurisdictions along with the FBI's G-Men who through very aggressive good old fashioned police and detective work cracked the case and arrested the perp in 53 hours and 20 minutes. Yea they caught a lot of breaks with evidence. But that is still good police work... damn good.

In the Navy there is a tradition that when a ship does something extraordinary and worthy of recognition the admiral used to hoist the signal flags B and Z with the pennant for the ship to whom the recognition was directed. This strikes me as a good excuse to run up the signal BRAVO ZULU!

A Royal Dilemma: The role of a constitutional monarch in the event of a hung parliament

H.M. The Queen at the State Opening of Parliament attended by H.R.H. Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh, the royal pages, ladies in waiting and the Peers of the Realm in the House of Lords

She makes no speeches on the hustings; she remains aloof from the political fray. She admits no party affiliation and is not permitted to vote or stand for office. Yet, she addresses Parliament with bejeweled and regular fanfare; for more than half a century, she has held secret conversations with a cavalcade of 11 prime ministers; and, in a peculiarly British way, she could be cast in a central, yet largely powerless, role if Britain’s elections on Thursday stray into the gray zone known as a hung Parliament.

Read the rest here

As I was saying...

From one of yesterday's posts...

So what are we left with? Another massive bailout of banks by tax payers in an effort to prop up a zombie country that was broke yesterday, is still broke today and I am willing to bet more money than I have will still be broke three years from now. When and where does this end? How much money can the EU (or the Congress here in the USA) shell out to prop up bankrupt institutions whether countries, states, or private corporations?

Today major financial markets across Europe and in the United States dove as nervous investors began to take a hard look at Europe's problems. The DOW was down over 2% and the Euro was slammed down to its lowest exchange level versus the dollar in a year. I wonder how long before people notice that the United States has a massive sovereign debt problem of its own? Once they do the dollar and Treasuries (now sporting record low yields) will become very unattractive in a hurry.

A rather insightful comment from a discussion board over at yahoo...

Debt to GDP ratios and all that math are good. But pretty much, when people decide it is over,...It is over. It is a human thing. Sovereign debt and currency is not like the stock market. It is never backed by anything. Not these days anyway. The money and debt cannot be converted into assets during a bankruptcy. Once faith is gone, it is gone. And the truth of fiat currency is slowly coming to forefront of global consciousness.

Central bankers may struggle to hold the system together. But we are looking at a global currency episode. Most Americans still think the dollar is backed by gold, just like Europeans thought the Euro was partially backed by gold. The learning curve sharpens fast when questions start being asked.

Trust requires ignorance.

Source.

Great and wondrous are His works

OK. It's not the parting of the Red Sea. But I'm sill chalking this one up to Divine Intervention. As longtime readers may have gleaned from occasional references, our mission parish in Merced CA has been going through some very challenging times over the last several years. Money has been a tough subject here with debts piling up (our priest is now several months behind on pay) and the economic situation here is simply horrific. The Central Valley of CA is one of the hardest hit areas in one of the hardest hit states in the country. The New York Times called Merced "ground zero" for the real estate collapse that triggered the current Great Recession. The local unemplyment rate is around 25%. (That's depression level.) And I think it may be higher in our congregation. Things have been so bad that there have been moments where we were not altogether sure we were gong to make it.

And yet this last weekend we celebrated our 25th anniversary as a parish. In the small borrowed chapel we use for our services we managed to cram into the altar area one bishop, our own priest and some 14 (I think) visiting clergy who came to help us give glory to God on our Parish Feast Day. (Yes. It's the lesser feast for Saint Mary Magdalene but it's just too hot here in July for us to keep the major feast.) After one of the most wonderful hierarchical liturgies (with an incredibly timely sermon on putting our trust in God) I have been privileged to participate in we repaired to a reserved hall for a feast fit for royalty.

Well OK... maybe more like greater nobility, but still; it was pretty awesome with much wine, champagne, dancing and general merriment over great food with great company. All in all a very classy affair that was really fun. That by itself was a minor miracle.

Then today comes the second demonstration of divine favor. We on the parish council get an email from our Treasurer reporting the receipt of a wholly unexpected check from PG&E for enough money to cover Fr. David's back pay. Apparently PG&E owed us a refund for some work we had done many years ago for which they were overpayed.

We are still up to our chin in red ink. But we are no longer sinking. Our other financial obligations, although by no means unimportant, do not pose a realistic threat to our survival as a mission parish.

Glory to God!