We had a celebration at St. John today. We honored the man who has been a lay minister of the congregation for about 34 years. He turns ninety years old in August and is still going strong in ministry. It was just great to hear how many people he has touched. In addition to ministering to St. John's members (shut-in, hospitalized, grieving, and others), Ed led worship out at Disney every six weeks, worked closely with Great Oaks Village (a local children's home/shelter), worked with the Christian Service Center (homeless shelter, "soup kitchen") and I'm sure much, much more....I only wish I had his energy and drive!
Disney gave Ed a Mouscar, their answer to an Oscar, and had a representative there to present it to him. Orange County and the City of Orlando each had a representative there to read a proclamation from his respective municipality. One, I think it was Orange County, declared today to be Ed Soistman Day!
The church was packed. There were people from many years of St. John's life. I so enjoyed seeing folks I have not seen in years as well as people who are still friends living in the area. I know it must have meant a lot to Ed to see that so many people love him and care enough to come out and honor him in such a way.
Of course, nothing goes without a glitch...we arrived at church to find that the bathrooms, all of them, were out of order. Thank goodness they worked at the two houses the church owns across the street! Of course, with over 400 guests, lines got long!
My one negative comment - seeing all the love poured out on Ed today, seeing how important he has been to the community, not just St. John, it really made the FL-Bahamas Synod look small and petty for way they have treated him. I'm proud of Ed for sticking to his principles and and standing up for those who were being mistreated at St. John. He paid a price, but he did the right thing.
Thanks Ed! God bless you!
---Katie
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Presidency is a Step Down For Obama
This just leaves me speechless....
"Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran gave an interview on Friday to the Media Bistro's "Morning Media Menu" podcast and compared Barack Obama to George Washington. Talking to host and editor Steve Krakauer, Moran gushed, "I like to say that, in some ways, Barack Obama is the first President since George Washington to be taking a step down into the Oval Office." (For those who have forgotten, George Washington defeated the strongest military power in the world. Barack Obama was a community organizer.)
Moran continued, "I mean, from visionary leader of a giant movement, now he's got an executive position that he has to perform in, in a way."
On his Twitter page later, the ABC journalist attempted to explain his over-the-top comparison. Moran, who can be seen in the above file photo, contended, "I said like only Washington, Obama came to office as more than a politician, a visionary leader for many. Now 's he's got a job."
And while Moran seemed to link Obama to Washington, a man that many consider the greatest president ever, he still found time to critique other journalists. Speaking of Matt Lauer's pre-Super Bowl interview with the President, he described the NBC host's tone as "kind of, 'Hey, it must be neat to be president.'" Moran derided, "Which to me struck kind of an off-note, because you know, now he is President, and there is a necessary bit of distance there, which I detected."
Co-host Glynnis MacNicol, also an editor at Media Bistro, asked the "Nightline" anchor about journalists who have gone to work for the Obama administration and whether they're in the pocket of the Obama. Moran admitted, "I don't think its any secret, and it hasn't been for 30 plus years, that journalists in their personal views at the national level tend to be more liberal than the rest of America. And I think that every poll has basically shown that."
Moran then added that he didn't think this bias skewed coverage in the President's favor. Predictably, he offered up a common journalist canard about the Iraq war: "Many people said that the coverage of the run-up to the Iraq war was skewed to the right, rather than the left." In fact, as a study by the Media Research Center found, the media, and ABC in particular, was extremely negative and critical of the Bush's motives for going to war in Iraq.
----
Um...ok....
Click on the title for the article at NewsBusters.
---Katie
"Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran gave an interview on Friday to the Media Bistro's "Morning Media Menu" podcast and compared Barack Obama to George Washington. Talking to host and editor Steve Krakauer, Moran gushed, "I like to say that, in some ways, Barack Obama is the first President since George Washington to be taking a step down into the Oval Office." (For those who have forgotten, George Washington defeated the strongest military power in the world. Barack Obama was a community organizer.)
Moran continued, "I mean, from visionary leader of a giant movement, now he's got an executive position that he has to perform in, in a way."
On his Twitter page later, the ABC journalist attempted to explain his over-the-top comparison. Moran, who can be seen in the above file photo, contended, "I said like only Washington, Obama came to office as more than a politician, a visionary leader for many. Now 's he's got a job."
And while Moran seemed to link Obama to Washington, a man that many consider the greatest president ever, he still found time to critique other journalists. Speaking of Matt Lauer's pre-Super Bowl interview with the President, he described the NBC host's tone as "kind of, 'Hey, it must be neat to be president.'" Moran derided, "Which to me struck kind of an off-note, because you know, now he is President, and there is a necessary bit of distance there, which I detected."
Co-host Glynnis MacNicol, also an editor at Media Bistro, asked the "Nightline" anchor about journalists who have gone to work for the Obama administration and whether they're in the pocket of the Obama. Moran admitted, "I don't think its any secret, and it hasn't been for 30 plus years, that journalists in their personal views at the national level tend to be more liberal than the rest of America. And I think that every poll has basically shown that."
Moran then added that he didn't think this bias skewed coverage in the President's favor. Predictably, he offered up a common journalist canard about the Iraq war: "Many people said that the coverage of the run-up to the Iraq war was skewed to the right, rather than the left." In fact, as a study by the Media Research Center found, the media, and ABC in particular, was extremely negative and critical of the Bush's motives for going to war in Iraq.
----
Um...ok....
Click on the title for the article at NewsBusters.
---Katie
Friday, February 13, 2009
A View of Things to Come
I found this interesting in general, but specifically because Anderson is my mom's hometown, also close to where I went to college and close to my husband's hometown! This is in South Carolina.
Protest at Anderson fire station construction site enters second day
ANDERSON — Civil unrest escalated Thursday while protesters stood outside the Anderson construction site of a city fire station and said the workers on the project were not documented as legal United States residents.
Chad Summerall, the owner of Summerall Masonry Inc. in Anderson, organized the protest on Simpson Road and asked a half-dozen people to hold up signs. He is frustrated because he thinks companies have been relying on illegal immigrants to push bids so low his company cannot compete.
Officials for the fire station project have said that the workers are documented as legal residents.
Summerall said that two truckloads of Hispanics drove by protesters on Thursday and angrily asked the protesters to meet them down the street.
He also said that a plumber working on the fire station site told the protesters to “go to McDonald’s and get a job.”
“I will be out here until I get a job,” Summerall said.
More than 40 residents have also signed a petition from protesters stating they were concerned about social justice and the hiring of legal workers. The petition will eventually be presented to city of Anderson officials, Summerall said.
--------------
Click on the title to read the entire article.
I think as economic times get tougher and people find it harder to get jobs and get contracts, there is going to be much less tolerance of companies that cut costs by hiring illegals.
---Katie
Protest at Anderson fire station construction site enters second day
ANDERSON — Civil unrest escalated Thursday while protesters stood outside the Anderson construction site of a city fire station and said the workers on the project were not documented as legal United States residents.
Chad Summerall, the owner of Summerall Masonry Inc. in Anderson, organized the protest on Simpson Road and asked a half-dozen people to hold up signs. He is frustrated because he thinks companies have been relying on illegal immigrants to push bids so low his company cannot compete.
Officials for the fire station project have said that the workers are documented as legal residents.
Summerall said that two truckloads of Hispanics drove by protesters on Thursday and angrily asked the protesters to meet them down the street.
He also said that a plumber working on the fire station site told the protesters to “go to McDonald’s and get a job.”
“I will be out here until I get a job,” Summerall said.
More than 40 residents have also signed a petition from protesters stating they were concerned about social justice and the hiring of legal workers. The petition will eventually be presented to city of Anderson officials, Summerall said.
--------------
Click on the title to read the entire article.
I think as economic times get tougher and people find it harder to get jobs and get contracts, there is going to be much less tolerance of companies that cut costs by hiring illegals.
---Katie
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