As the number of death sentences declined nationwide in 2009, death verdicts in California rose to their highest total in nearly a decade, the American Civil Liberties Union said Tuesday.
All but five of the 29 California death sentences last year were handed down in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties, the ACLU said.
Only two of the death sentences came from Bay Area courts, both in Contra Costa County. Darryl Kemp was sentenced in June for a 1978 rape and murder in Lafayette, a case in which he was identified through DNA evidence in 2000; and Edward Wycoff was condemned in December for murdering his sister and her husband in the couple’s El Cerrito home in 2006.
Nationally, death sentences fell to 106 in 2009, their seventh straight year of decline and the lowest total since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to an earlier report from the Death Penalty Information Center, a separate organization.
[The New York Times]… carried a very troubling article on the front page on Monday. It detailed how President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan had invited Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Kabul  in order to stick a thumb in the eye of the Obama administration  after the White House had rescinded an invitation to Mr. Karzai to come to Washington because the Afghan president had gutted an independent panel that had discovered widespread fraud in his re-election last year.
The article, written by two of our best reporters, Dexter Filkins and Mark Landler, noted that “according to Afghan associates, Mr. Karzai recently told lunch guests at the presidential palace that he believes the Americans are in Afghanistan because they want to dominate his country and the region, and that they pose an obstacle to striking a peace deal with the Taliban.â€Â
The article added about Karzai: “ ‘He has developed a complete theory of American power,’ said an Afghan who attended the lunch and who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. ‘He believes that America is trying to dominate the region, and that he is the only one who can stand up to them.’ â€Â
That is what we’re getting for risking thousands of U.S. soldiers and having spent $200 billion already. This news is a flashing red light, warning that the Obama team is violating at least three cardinal rules of Middle East diplomacy.
What a marvelous life, bearing much fruit…and she loved Jesus. I think we can see where Greg got some of his interests and talents, as well.
Prayers for the family, for those who loved her and do not have her with them, for now.
She grew up on a farm near Enterprise, and finished high school at Enterprise High where she played on the varsity basketball team her junior and senior years.
After graduating from high school, her older brother Johnny offered to pay her tuition to attend nursing school in nearby Meridian. She jumped at this chance to leave the hard work of the farm. Mrs. Brett graduated near the top of her class and passed the state board examination to become a Registered Nurse in 1941. She spent the next 30 years doing what she loved most  nursing and caring for others.
Soon after graduation, she married her soul-mate, JB Griffith, and they had three children. Her husband died in 1962, and she was widowed twice more after marrying Everett Crudup in 1966 and Willard Brett in 1974. JB gave her his love and her children, while Everett encouraged and shared her joy of life, and Willard gave her warm companionship.
She endeared herself to all who knew her for her plain speaking, her quick mind, and for having the perfect witticism for any occasion, including her legendary Saturday and Sunday dinners. Friends and relatives would drive hundreds of miles, through the night if necessary, in order to arrive in time for dinner, where they were assured of greens, lima beans, black-eyed peas and okra, all cooked in the proper southern style. And of course corn bread, the best there ever was. And chocolate pie for the ages.
At these dinners children and grandchildren learned more than the virtues of good food. They learned the importance of family, and of dedication and service to others. Mrs. Brett learned these values growing up during the depression as a farm girl and later as a nurse at Rush Memorial Hospital in Meridian, where she rose to the position of nurse supervisor. Years after she retired, former patients looked her up and told how she had helped them through a critical time with a special kindness. She considered it simply good nursing care. They considered her an angel on Earth. Her example was such that both daughters became nurses.
She has always loved music, and enjoyed listening to almost all types of music, especially big band and the oldies of the 40’s and 50’s. She was quick to tell you that “nobody loves music more than I do.”
Leaders of the Evangelical Laodicean Church in North America last week announced the publication of a new hymnal. “This is truly a hymnal for the new century,” said Presiding Bishop Luke W. Arm. “This collection of hymns really captures the essence of our tradition,” Bishop Arm explained. “At the core of our belief is the motto, ‘Moderation in all things,’ and that applies to our faith life as well. We just don’t like to get carried away.”
When asked if the new hymnal will help the Laodicean Church attract new members, Bishop Arm replied, “People in today’s society get kind of uncomfortable with too much talk about things like commitment and dedication. They’d much rather have a religion that they can turn on or off at will. Our church seeks to meet that need. This hymnal will help with that, I think.”
I already know it was featured on NPR and Dave Ramsey.
Here’s an email a friend of mine received:
Dear Potential Medi-Share Member:
I am writing today to share with you what we believe is great news … Christians everywhere are eligible to receive a special exemption from the taxes, penalties and mandates in the Patient Affordable Care Act.
Our economy is bad enough and according to a recent study by Price Waterhouse Coopers, our government has passed a law that will make health insurance premiums rise by 40% in the next three years. Christians everywhere are already looking at their finances and wondering, “How am I going to be able to afford decent healthcare?”
But there is good news! As a health share ministry, Medi-Share has provided Christians will an alternative to the high cost of insurance since 1993. Healthcare Sharing Ministries like Medi-Share are the only organized healthcare concept to receive an exemption from the regulations and costs of the recently passed law. (page 327, H.R. 3590 as passed).
We are grateful to God for His mercy, favor and protection over our ministry. Since 1993, Medi-Share members have saved more than $470 Million in healthcare expenses through sharing and discounting. But best of all, Medi-Share offers a true community of shared commitment to biblical values!
We are excited that you are considering joining our ministry … it is an important decision. We encourage you to seek the Lord’s guidance and direction and please know that we are here to answer any of your questions.
Sincerely,
Tony Meggs
Executive Vice President – Ministry Development
Christian Care Ministry
Following weeks of media coverage of sex abuse by priests in the United States, Ireland and Germany, three deaf men from Italy appeared on national TV last week.
Gianni Bisoli, 61, entered a Catholic institute for the deaf in Verona at age 9. He described how he was subjected to three years of sexual abuse. And he listed the abusers’ first names  many of whom are still serving as priests.
Bisoli described how he was often taken to the home of the local bishop, who used him as a sexual toy. The network bleeped out the bishop’s last name. A total of 67 former students of the same institute for the deaf had signed similar affidavits last year.
Their story was briefly in the news but was quickly swept under the rug.
Robert Mickens, Vatican correspondent for the British Catholic weekly The Tablet, says that was possible thanks to a long entrenched code of silence.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has issued an ecumenical Easter Letter to fellow church leaders: Christians need to “witness boldly and clearly”. The press release says: In his ecumenical Easter Letter to fellow church leaders, the Archbishop of Canterbury urges those…
The world’s mega-cities are merging to form vast “mega-regions” which may stretch hundreds of kilometres across countries and be home to more than 100 million people, according to a major new UN report.
The phenomenon of the so-called “endless city” could be one of the most significant developments – and problems – in the way people live and economies grow in the next 50 years, says UN-Habitat, the agency for human settlements, which identifies the trend of developing mega-regions in its biannual State of World Cities report.
The largest of these, says the report – launched today at the World Urban Forum in Rio de Janeiro – is the Hong Kong-Shenhzen-Guangzhou region in China, home to about 120 million people. Other mega-regions have formed in Japan and Brazil and are developing in India, west Africa and elsewhere.
Sister Thea Bowman, a well-known educator, evangelist and gospel singer, died March 30, 1990, but the Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration left behind a legacy that still resonates, including her reflection on Holy Week that was released shortly after her death.
Sister Bowman, who was from Canton, was nationally known for her work to advance the life of her fellow black Catholics in the church. She was 52 when she died of bone cancer. For that last two years of her life the disease forced her to spend most of her time in bed or a wheelchair. She was buried alongside her parents in Memphis, Tenn.
She drew capacity crowds wherever she went, giving lectures and workshops on black Catholic culture and life. She was also a liturgist, a writer on spirituality and an artist. At the time of her death she had been a consultant for intercultural awareness for the Jackson Diocese for about 20 years.
Mark Lawrenceâ€â€Disciplines to Renew the Mind: Reading and Meditating on God’s Holy Word
This is the last of my articles on the Lenten Disciplines. We have looked briefly and sequentially at Self-Examination & Repentance; Fasting; and Self-denial. We come now to the final disciplines mentioned in the Ash Wednesday’s Invitation in The Book of Common Prayer for the observance of a holy Lentâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å“Reading and Meditating on God’s Holy Word.†A recent Gallup Survey noted that only 10% of Americans read the Bible daily, and only one in five Christians belongs to a study group of any kind. Only 31% of committed Christian men have read a Christian book of any kind in the past year. Women who are committed Christians do significantly better here. It is important to realize that the mind will always take on an order that conforms to the order of whatever it concentrates upon or has in the past focused upon. Mind-pollution is a reality. Just consider the way a jingle from a commercial can stick in your mind sometimes even when you do not cultivate it.
St. Paul’s words are most appropriate in regards to this when he writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…†That’s the goal we’re after in the discipline of Reading and Meditating on God’s holy Word. And since we have entered into Holy Week during which some of our parishes have a service every day and when each day brings us ever deeper into Christ’s redeeming work, it is the most appropriate time for me to take up these two disciplines.