Deus semper maior!

Jumalani, anna sanojeni olla makeita ja tuoreita, sillä voi olla, että huomenna joudun syömään ne.

Stadsstyrelsen 01.06.2009
11 SVAR PÅ KARL AF HÄLLSTRÖMS MOTION OM NYÅRSRAKETER

Ledamot Karl af Hällström har väckt en motion om nyårsraketer. Han föreslår att de inte ska överlåtas till köparen före kl. 15 på nyårskvällen. Han önskar att de störningar som raketerna medför därigenom kunde minimeras.
Enligt förordningen om explosiva varor är minutförsäljning av explosiva varor förbjuden från den 1 till den 26 december om inte köparen har ett skriftligt godkännande av brandchefen för användning av fyrverkeripjäser. Fyrverkeripjäserna ska överlåtas i affären direkt till kunden.
Fyrverkeripjäser får således säljas från 27.12. Om man vill att bestämmelsen ska ändras i fråga om klockslaget, bör detta ske så att förordningen ändras. Samma sak gäller för begränsning av försäljningen så att den skulle börja först 31.12 kl. 15.00.

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Kaupunginhallitus 01.06.2009
11 VASTAUS KARL AF HÄLLSTRÖMIN VALTUUSTOALOITTEESEEN KOSKIEN UUDEN VUODEN RAKETTEJA

Valtuutettu Karl af Hällström on tehnyt aloitteen koskien uuden vuoden raketteja. Hän ehdottaa, että niitä ei luovutettaisi ostajille ennen kello 15:ta uuden vuoden aattona. Hän toivoo, että raketeista aiheutuva häiriö saataisiin siten minimoitua.
Räjähdeasetuksen mukaan ilotulitusvälineiden vähittäismyynti on kielletty joulukuun 1. ja 26. päivän välisenä aikana, jollei ostajalla ole palopäällikön kirjallista hyväksyntää ilotulitusvälineiden käyttöön. Ilotulitusväline tulee luovuttaa myymälässä suoraan asiakkaalle.
Ilotulitusvälineitä saa siis myydä 27.12. alkaen. Mikäli tähän määräykseen haluttaisiin tarkennuksia kellonaikojen suhteen, tulisi se tehdä asetusta muuttamalla. Sama koskee myynnin rajoittamista siten, että se olisi mahdollista vasta 31.12. klo 15.00 alkaen.

Rattijuoppo kaahasi sataa poliisia karkuun.

- Otsikko Warkauden Lehdessä

Penguins! Endearing creatures that seldom get eaten by polar bears, of geographical reasons. I've come across them in a few different contexts lately.

One example is the story of the two male Humboldt penguins, Z and Vielpunkt (picture), who are raising a chick together in the "Zoo am Meer" zoological park in Bremerhaven, northern Germany. The proud fathers are one of three homosexual penguin pairs at the zoo. They assumed the role of surrogate parents when an egg was cast aside by a heterosexual pair. The zoo has tried to have gay birds incubate an egg before, but this is the only occasion it has worked.

The story has appeared at least in the Huffington Post and the Local (Germany), and on Of course, I could be wrong... and the Pet Blog during the first days of this month of June, 2009.

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I found another charming story about penguins on Of Course I Could Be On Vacation...:

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Touching Penguin Ritual

Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins on the ice in Antarctica - where do they go? Wonder no more!!!

It is a known fact that the penguin is a very ritualistic bird which lives an extremely ordered and complex life. The penguin is very committed to its family and will mate for life, as well as maintaining a form of compassionate contact with its offspring throughout its life.

If a penguin is found dead on the ice surface, other members of the family and social circle have been known to dig holes in the ice, using their vestigial wings and beaks, until the hole is deep enough for the dead bird to be rolled into and buried.

The male penguins then gather in a circle around the fresh grave and sing: "freeze a jolly good fellow."

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(Actually, I have some small doubts about the veracity of the last statement. Is this a penguin story or a shaggy dog story, one might wonder. The answer, however, is obvious.)

Sources and links: http://pastorbastard.blogspot.com/2009/06/penguins-penguins-penguins.html

Gynekolog hittade knarkgömma.

- Örebrokuriren

(Var undrar man genast?!)

Den franskskpråkiga schweiziskan Marianne Weymann (bilden) blev för ett drygt år sedan, 13.4.08, vigd till pastor i Église protestante de Genève för arbete inom Église évangélique réformée du canton de Vaud, lite inåt landet från Geneve till. Hon arbetar nu i församlingen Terre Sainte ("det Heliga Landet") i Céligny.

Det som är intressant i detta, och som gör att jag ville blogga om saken, är att pastor Weymann är lesbisk och att kyrkans representanter hela tiden har varit medvetna om detta. Inga skelett som kommer ur garderoben här inte! Visserligen är detta första gången det sker, men ändå.

Pastor Weymann var med redan år 1988 om att i Geneve grunda gruppen C+H (Chrétien-ne-s et Homosexuel-le-s) för kristna, homosexuella och kombinationer därav. Tjugo år senare hade EPG ändrat inställning, och hon kunde bli konsekrerad (som termen lyder där). Bra jobbat! Guds rika välsignelse önskar jag pastor Weymann och hennes arbetskamrater!

You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.

- Michael Pritchard

En 62-årig man från Borgå krockade i söndags (7.6.09) in i ett träd med sina unga söner i baksätet. Läget för pojkarna är ganska bra, de är ännu chockade och trötta, men har bara mindre skador. Fadern själv fick däremot mycket allvarliga skador och ligger på intensiven på Tölö sjukhus. Läget är mycket kritiskt just nu, och nu hänger mycket på om han kan börja andas själv igen, annars kan de inte göra något mera.
Be för honom och för hans familj!

Now, there are two of them.

In 2003, Gene Robinson was elected Bishop of New Hampshire within the Episcopal Church in the USA (TEC), and a couple of weeks ago, Eva Brunne was elected Bishop of Stockholm within the Church of Sweden. Both +Gene and +Eva are homosexuals.

This has created quite an uproar in some circles, and many arguments have been used in attempts to show how wrong this is. I won't bore you with them all; my readers are surely well aware of them.

One argument does have some merit to it, namely the argument that this will impede ecumenical relations between churches, especially between Protestant and Orthodox churches, but also between Western and Third World Protestant churches. The Danish Christian newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad published an article about the issue on June 6, and the Swedish blogger Per Westberg commented on the article the same day.

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There is, admittedly, a rift between the Orthodox and many Protestant churches. This rift has, however, officially been in existance since 1054, even before any Protestant churches existed, and unofficially several centuries longer. This is, of course, a shame. During the ecumenical processes of the last half-century or so, attempts have been made to bridge the gap, but success has only been minor and has concerned details. The main achievement of the ecumenical discussions have been the discussions themselves. And I'm not running them down; being able to sit at the same table and discuss issues calmly is a very good thing in itself.

But when Conservatives on either side accuse proponents of female clergy or homosexual rights of sabotaging the ecumenical relations, they are, surely, exaggerating. Far greater questions lie on the table - the Eucharist (or Communion, if you prefer), the Filioque dispute, the status of the Saints etc. Since we haven't been able to solve these - or even make a dent - why protest so vocally over the minor questions that have been raised now?

I doubt that the real issue at hand is Ecumenism; Ecumenism is apparently only being used as yet another argument in the attempt to bury the questions of women's and LGBT rights.

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The relations between Protestant churches can also be affected. This is already the case within the Anglican community, where several African church leaders, notably the Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, are actively working against TEC and +Gene. ++Peter is even leading a secessionary movement, taking seceding American parishes and dioceses under his wing, in open defiance of Anglican structure and tradition.

African Lutherans are probably in the same mind frame. This was seen in 2005, when bishop Walter Obare of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya ordained a Swede, Arne Olsson, as bishop of the splinter movement Missionsprovinsen (the Missionary Province), which had come into being as a reaction to the alleged liberalism of the Church of Sweden. No big reactions on the election of +Eva have yet been heard, but it's probably just a matter of time.

The problems have been there all along, but the development during the last decades have been detrimental, I must admit.

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What is, however, the core issue here? Can ecumenical relations exist, if they mean that one of the churches involved has to pretend to be something it isn't? Shouldn't we rejoice in that which is common to us all, and agree to disagree about that which is not? Shouldn't the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus be enough as common ground for us to stand on?

Why should the relatively minor questions about human sexuality be elevated to such heights, and be allowed to carry the blame for wrecking the relationships between Christians? That is absurd. At the bottom of it all lies different attitudes toward those who are different, different attitudes with mainly cultural, not religious, background. If these questions are raised now, instead of being swept under the rug as before, is it the question raiser or the rug sweeper that should be blamed for the increased tension?

Neither, I hope - since they both should sit at the table addressing these issues, too...

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http://pastorbastard.blogspot.com/2009/06/lgbt-bishops-ecumenical-problems-or.html

The most evil thing about sitting on the fence is that you have to erect the fence first.

- Rev. Jonathan Hagger
a.k.a. MadPriest

http://revjph.blogspot.com/2008/08/madpriests-thought-for-day_05.html