Anglican Communion strife

Our diocese and congregation are "liberal Episcopalians", which would not be in the same group as the "conservative Episcopalians" that are mentioned in this article. Ever since Aug'03, when Gene Robinson (aka "the gay bishop") was made bishop, churches in Africa have threatened to leave the Anglican Communican if the Episcopal Church (the US Anglican Church) did not. I'm guessing that the conservative Episcopalians have been discussing how awful the liberal Episcopalians have been . . .

From Religions & Ethics Newsweekly:

News Feature: Anglican Communion Network Meeting

This week, the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes is hosting a special conference in Pittsburgh that brings together conservative Episcopalians from the U.S. Church and primates from Africa, South America and Asia.

The conference, entitled "Hope and a Future," represents an historical effort to forge an alliance between American evangelical mainstream and the Anglican Churches of the Global South in response to the current crisis faced by the Church over the issue of homosexuality. Relationships in the 77-million-member global Communion have been severely strained since the Episcopal Church USA consecrated an openly gay bishop -- Gene Robinson of New Hampshire -- and permitted the blessing of same-sex unions. Leaders of more conservative Anglican churches in Africa, Asia, and South America called these actions a violation of Scripture and Church teaching, and many American conservatives expressed their desire to no longer be a part of the U.S. Church. In February 2005, the primates formally rebuked the Episcopal Church USA for consecrating Robinson and allowing the blessing of same sex unions.

Kim Lawton reports from Pittsburgh on the conference and how this gathering could impact the future direction of the Anglican Communion.
Read the full story

science class

from Bridges.com

Center for Science Education

Improving the quality of science education is the goal of the National Center for Science Education. Educators will find this site a useful resource to learn more about new trends in science education and advice on how to incorporate new teaching methodologies into their school's science programs.

Visit the site: http://cse.edc.org/
____________________

My son thinks science class is boring, yet he gets 100+ grades on his tests! I wonder what his teacher might think of this site.

software forensics

from Bridges.com:

Cyber Crimes Increase Demand for Software Forensics Experts

With computer crime on the rise, opportunities are expected to bebooming for computer forensics investigators in the next severalyears. [the story]

maps R cool

I can't get enough of Google satellite maps. I mentioned an article about it back in October. Here's our neck of the woods:

more gifted youth sites

last month I researched some gifted youth sites. Here are some more:

• NAGC - National Association for Gifted Children
• AGATE - Advocacy for Gifted and Talented Education in New York State
• Mensa
• "links" from CTY

low-down on riots in France

from BBC News:

Urban crisis
France's response to riots exposes depth of society's wounds [the story]

poli-sci

from Arts & Letters Daily:

George Bush may be the most powerful man on earth, but he will never change the nature of politics. It’s time for the U.S. to get real... more»

Unity church

I played hookey from our Episcopal church today and went to an online Unity church instead. The Episcopal Church is the most liberal of the mainline protestant denominations, but still I feel too liberal for it. So I very frequently don't go. Instead I do some reading, or visit another live church, or visit an online church broadcast.

The speaker for the sermon today was very motivational. I recommend his message to anyone, secular or religious.

soccer mom (& dad!) politics

It is very sad that parents of super kid-athletes get angry at each other over volunteer positions. I don't know what happened between some parents in our kids' team, but all of a sudden we got a note from the coach telling us to chill out. I am clueless as to what might've happened, but my curiosity is eating me up (kinda like wondering why everyone is slowing down so much when passing a car accident). My husband and I are like, "wtf, mate?" [WARNING: R-rated language]

dance lessons

When my husband and I were about to be married, we took some ballroom dancing lessons. Initially, we took them so that my soon-to-be husband would feel at least a little comfortable doing the occasional slow dance that would happen during the wedding reception (occasional as opposed to frequent in that he would only be willing to dance occasionally). By the time the first set of lessons were through, though, we'd signed up with the instructor to choreograph a "first dance" for us - that is, the first dance we would dance as husband and wife.

We really enjoyed ballroom dancing, and intended to continue our practice after the wedding & honeymoon, then after our busy schedules let up, then after having children, then after the business of buying a second home (when the only child was four), then after . . .

So we never did re-enlist in ballroom dance lessons. But every once and a while I'll see something that looks interesting. Like the following:

• tango article in Rochester Democrat & Chronicle

These days our son is in ballroom dancing lessons. He is 11 next week, and is very uncomfortable dancing with a girl. He even found a loophole in the "put your hand on the girl's back" rule. Apparently he holds his hand close to the girl's back but doesn't touch it (cheater!). His Dad and I noted that not touching the girl makes it difficult to lead. Maybe by the end of the lessons (this year or next?) he'll have gotten the point. Hopefully he won't understand *too* much yet, but alas . . . (my little boy :-} )