News
Submitted by pastor on February 10, 2010 - 2:06pm.
Greetings!
You are invited to join us as we begin our week of National Prayer for the Healing of AIDS, sponsored by the Balm of Gilead organization.
We will begin our week on Sunday, March 7, 2010 with a Service of Word and Holy Communion. It will begin at 11:00 am.
We are located at St. Michael's Lutheran Church, 6671 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa 19119. (215)848-0199
Blessings!
Pastor Andrena Ingram
You may visit us on the web at St. Michael's Lutheran Church
you may also get more information at: *Living* With HIV
Submitted by pastor on December 9, 2009 - 6:43pm.
Christmas can be a painful time for some. It may be the first Christmas without a loved family member who has recently died; it may be a time that has always been difficult.
The constant refrain on the radio and television, in shopping malls and churches, about the happiness of the season, about getting together with family and friends, reminds many people of what they have lost or have never had. The anguish of broken relationships, the insecurity of unemployment, the weariness of ill health, the pain of isolation - all these can make us feel very alone in the midst of the celebrating and spending. We need the space and time to acknowledge our sadness and concern; we need to know that we are not alone.
Our spirits sink, as the days grow shorter. We feel the darkness growing deeper around us. We need encouragement to live the days ahead of us.
For these reasons, St Michael's Lutheran Church offers a special “Blue Christmas” service on December 18th at 7:00 pm. Come out, and join with us in sharing and hearing prayers, scripture, and music that acknowledge that God’s presence is for those who mourn, for those who struggle - and that God’s Word comes to shine light into our darkness. Everyone, regardless of church background (or lack of it) is welcome.
We are located at 6671 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa 19119, for more information, please call the church office: (215) 848-0199.
Submitted by Karl on December 7, 2009 - 7:10am.
Albert Yee shares news that R. Bradley Maule has completed his move to Portland, OR. He managed the very significant phillyskyline for almost ten years. His knowledge and love of architecture, of place, of photography and Philadelphia inspired and informed thousands across the city.
From the phillyskyline about page:
Hello, I'm R. Bradley Maule, sometimes RBM, always B Love. This is my web site. It is made in honor of the city I live in and love, Philadelphia. It is to present an honest look—warts and all—at the city and its varied urban fabric.
I came here from Tyrone, Pennsylvania (Steelers Country) in 2000, and have spent all my 33 years at a PA address. I have no mission statement or goal with this site, but if I had one wish, it would be that Pennsylvanians could see past the nonsense and love one another, from Erie to Philly up to the Poconos back out to the Burgh and everywhere in between.
But here on Philly Skyline, my friends and I are just sharing our experiences right here in Philadelphia with our fellow humans.
Albert points to his Farewell, Philadelphia slideshow on Flickr. Make sure to subscribe to Maule of America to follow his work in the future (some great shots already there!).
He left an imprintis going to be greatly missed. His impact will live on.
Thank you Brad.
Submitted by Karl on December 5, 2009 - 7:57pm.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Villanova football star Szczur to donate bone marrow:
Szczur, a wideout in football and outfielder/catcher in baseball, is preparing to become a bone-marrow donor. The junior learned three days ago that he was match for a 1-year-old girl who has leukemia. He did not comment; when and where the procedure will take place were not disclosed.
Submitted by Karl on November 30, 2009 - 9:18pm.
Philadelphia Inquirer: From Ardmore to Afghanistan, a mission of giving:
The goodwill gesture is called Operation Angel Wings, and it's the brainchild of an Ardmore shopkeeper and a Broomall trauma surgeon stationed in Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Kenneth Marx.
"Someday those kids will grow up to place their finger on a trigger," Marx said in an e-mail. "The moment when the target in their sights resembles the guys who once gave them a winter cap is that moment when reconciliation might hold violence at bay.
"Life in the mountains here is nasty, brutish, and utterly strange. Soft power and indirect means may be the winding path to an improvised solution, if there is a solution to be found."
Writing from Nangarhar province, where he is deployed with the National Guard's 108th Cavalry, Marx said the immediate aim was to get Americans and Afghans talking.
"We have asked for folks at home to send small gifts of winter clothing, which are excellent conversation-starters," he said.
When he arrived in Afghanistan on Oct. 12, Marx said, he saw a need for children's hats, gloves, sweaters, socks, scarves, fleece jackets, and small, lightweight toys that could go with soldiers on patrol.
On Nov. 9, Marx received an e-mail from Sherry Tillman, 6,824 miles away in Ardmore, inviting him to the holiday sale at her gift and art-gallery store. He wrote back, saying he couldn't attend and asking if she could send warm clothes for the Afghan children.
"He wrote me that the kids are barefoot and in rags, and it's winter," Tillman said. She said she recalled thinking, "Oh, my God, I have to do something."
Sponsored by First Friday Main Line, a nonprofit organization that promotes the Lancaster Avenue shopping district, Operation Angel Wings began immediately.
Tillman, director of First Friday Main Line, said she was determined to collect everything on Marx's wish list. The gifts will be stored at her shop, Past*Present*Future, and the Ardmore Initiative office, both on Lancaster Avenue.
Tillman has set Friday as the shipping date for the first donations.
"I'd like to be able to send several packages right away, and to be able to continue sending," Tillman said.
A couple of weeks ago, Carla J. Zambelli, publicist for First Friday Main Line, sent out an e-mail blast asking residents for donations. The donations have started trickling in, Tillman said.
Visit First Friday Main Line for more information.
Submitted by Karl on November 29, 2009 - 3:47pm.
Philadelphia Inquirer: How he rescued Boscov's: Al Boscov's work and goodwill saved the stores that bear the family name.:
The odds were against the Reading company when it went bankrupt just weeks before last fall's stock market crash.
There was, conventional wisdom said, no realistic way to rescue its thousands of regional employees, dozens of stores, or century-old legacy. No money. No banks willing to step into the economic meltdown with emergency loans. No hope.
But in crunching the numbers that spelled doom for the nation's largest family-owned department-store chain, the doubters underestimated the power of a pint-sized 79-year-old man.
Had their spreadsheets been able to tabulate big-time heart and brains, they would have predicted a different outcome. Because Al Boscov is no ordinary businessman.
"I can dance, I can sing," Boscov joked later in a Manhattan elevator, tap-dancing in a charcoal suit to an absurd ditty about saving the company. The vaudevillian flash ended as the doors opened. "That's what did it," he said, and hopped out.
It would, indeed, require an extraordinary businessman to pull off a Rocky-worthy win against an economy devouring itself: a savior who was beloved, not feared, but no-nonsense when needed; one with more friends than enemies; who preferred details and long hours over swagger and power lunches.
Submitted by Karl on November 29, 2009 - 2:33pm.
CityPaper: A Voice For The Fallen: One man's quest to memorialize the 4,600 gay men who died of AIDS in Philadelphia.:
If Bartlett's wiki had a mission statement, it would probably go something like this: "To help those who lived through those dark years heal, and to connect that generation with those who came after."
"As I am gradually becoming an elder in the gay community, I'm trying to find that next way to connect these generations," Bartlett says. "This wiki is a tool to develop conversation between young generations of activists — gays, yes, but not just gays — also anyone who wants to start, live and sustain a movement."
In the summer of 1991, ACT UP Philadelphia converged with other LGBTQ, labor, women's rights and sundry liberal organizations in Kennebunkport, Maine, to protest then-President Bush's re-election campaign. They chartered a bus. Bartlett was riding. So, too, was a man named Harry Reed, a sanitation worker who came with a travel bar in tow, making martinis and handing out beers — which, as Bartlett mentions, is referenced on Reed's wiki entry.
"A lot of the people on that bus died that year or soon after, including Harry," Bartlett says. "I think we all knew he was sick then and that must have been scary." But they pressed ahead anyway. The movement was bigger, more important, than any individual, or any disease.
"That was a time when I realized I was born at a unique moment that allowed me to participate in a defining time in history," Bartlett says. "We can't possibly let all these stories disappear."
Link: Gay Networks in Philadelphia Wiki
Submitted by pastor on November 23, 2009 - 12:29am.
Join us as we come together as people of God, to worship and lift up those infected and/or affected by the HIV/AIDS virus.
The global theme for 2009 and 2010 World AIDS Day is "Universal Access and Human Rights".
Service of Word and Holy Communion on November 29, 2009 @ 11:00 a.m.
St. Michael's Lutheran Church
6671 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, Pa 19119
(215)848-0199
All are welcome.
Pastor Andrena Ingram
visit us on the web: http://stmichaelsgermantown.org
Submitted by pastor on October 2, 2009 - 9:58am.
In honor of St. Francis Assisi,which is on October 4th, there will be a short service of The Blessing of the Animals at St. Michael's Lutheran Church...6671 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa 19119. Weather permitting the service will be outside. Please bring your furry companions, or scaly companions or feathery companions for a blessing for being such a blessing in our lives.
for more information: 215-848-0199
Submitted by Karl on September 29, 2009 - 5:59am.
The Philadelphia Daily News and WHYY have launched a new service - "The City Howl". Use it as a new resource to share or read opinions of Philadelphia city services.
Submitted by Karl on September 27, 2009 - 6:21pm.
Philadelphia Public School theNotebook: Ackerman: 'This has got to be radical.':
Notebook: What do you think about the argument that there should be more robust incentives to get teachers into the hard-to-staff schools?
Ackerman: Money is not the only thing that is going to get them there. [Teachers] ask for several things: a great principal—they will not go if you don't have a great principal. They ask that we address some of the larger societal issues that impact children's learning—health issues, emotional, social kinds of issues, psychological—which is why we put in place the social service liaisons, the student advisors, the parent liaisons.
The other thing that [experienced teachers] have said to me is that they want to be in the lowest-performing schools in cohorts or groups of five or six, because if you're there as a singleton or a doubleton, it's too hard. Those teachers get overwhelmed not only with the issues that they're dealing with in their classroom, but then they're trying to support and mentor new teachers.
And I think on top of that, we just have to look at paying teachers differently. Teachers are in this 19th century model: we all get paid the same thing, and you earn more money by the number of years you put in. That doesn't make sense, and that doesn't happen in any other business but education now.
Read the entire interview.
Submitted by Karl on September 27, 2009 - 6:12pm.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Guided by his father's hands:
His parents were at home watching TV when Rob's friends rushed in: Rob was hurt. He banged his head.
"I thought, 'Oh, we're going to have to go and get some stitches,' " Wunder recalled.
As he and his wife entered the yard, they saw their son in a neck brace on a stretcher, and their fears mounted.
He was airlifted to the Atlantic City Medical Center and later to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia for surgery. The report was dire: His C5 vertebra was crushed, and pieces of it had pierced the spinal cord.
The injury was irreversible, and the life of their son - an avid guitar player, surfer, and scuba diver who had just become certified on a trip with his father in the Bahamas - was changed forever.
Submitted by amy.wilson on September 15, 2009 - 12:07am.
Philadelphia, PA – As the Senate gears up to debate climate legislation this fall, paid lobbyists with the American Petroleum Institute are organizing a new type of event – invitation only “Energy Citizens” rallies. These rallies are one of the latest attempts to spread fear that the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) will raise energy prices and ‘kill jobs’.
Recently, one such rally, organized by registered lobbyist Rolf Hanson, came within 30 minutes of Philadelphia, where I live. The event took place at Turbine Hall in the heavily industrialized City of Chester, Pennsylvania. I uncovered a few details before event planners became suspicious and I snuck in undetected.
Inside Turbine Hall, I was handed a bright yellow “Energy Citizens” T-shirt, offered hotdogs, hamburgers and chips, and found myself listening to country music. The scene was all-American. Free stuff, meat, and southern twang. Soon small business owners, farmers, and a video of country music star Trace Atkins took the stage as the main event. Each spoke in succession and attempted to generate a buzz around the threats of the climate legislation. Unfortunately for the “Energy Citizens” fanclub, the messages were contradictory, incongruous, and misleading. For instance, ‘expert’ John Brinson, who contended that he read the science journals, spent much of his allotted speaking time denouncing climate change as a hoax. His speech contrasted significantly from later speakers who claimed that the climate bill could be more industry-friendly and still address climate change by investing in technologies to lower greenhouse gas emissions. So, does the “Energy Citizens” group believe in climate change or not?
The event continued with bizarre speeches and misleading statements. Next I heard comments that “Waxman-Markey is bad for the Delaware River port community.” Strange though, that neither the speakers, nor the audience had a connection to the Delaware River port community. Despite the event taking place on the Chester waterfront, attendees were bused in from Allentown and New Jersey. Then, after emphasizing the importance of oil to industrial development and holocaust (attributing the downfall of Nazi Germany to a lack of oil), the last speaker concluded his statements by asking the audience to mull over the rhetorical questions, “Do you want to protect America? Do you believe in God?” I’m not sure where that was going.
Most seriously, the Energy Citizens rally mislead attendees, media, and political targets by predicting that energy prices will rise and jobs opportunities fall with investments in alternative energy. To the contrary, recent reports predict that a just transition to a clean energy economy can lift approximately 78 million people out of poverty. The September 2008 Apollo Report explains that wind energy is already cost competitive with building new coal plants and investments in renewable energy generate 50% more jobs per dollar invested than coal. Since September 2008 many reports have indicated that investments in energy conservation, efficiency, and renewables are all cost competitive with traditional fossil fuel-based energy. The “Green Prosperity” report, published in June 2009, even describes new Green Jobs as offering individuals opportunities for advancement, while being accessible to individuals across education levels.
I agree with the three main tenets of the “Energy Citizens” group. 1. The United States should be more energy self-sufficient. 2. Energy must be affordable for working class Americans and 3. We cannot forget workers in the towns and cities such as Chester, Pennsylvania – places with energy intensive industries. It is because I believe in these tenets that I also believe in local, renewable energy sources, Green Jobs, adaptation aid, and attention, investment, and planning for a just transition to healthy, sustainable industries in manufacturing cities and places that host polluting energy and waste technologies.
While “Energy Citizens”, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Conservative Union, and Dick Armey's FreedomWorks has sought to misinform politicians and the media, public opinion polls show that Americans want clean, renewable energy.
For instance, a Zogby International poll reported that only 28% of likely voters believe Congress is doing too much to address climate change. By contrast 45% stated they believe Congress should act more aggressively to address the problems connected to climate change. Almost no environmental groups have expressed satisfaction with the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) and more than 300 environmental groups have asked the Senate for a stronger bill. Many environmental justice groups, including Philadelphia-based Energy Justice Network, oppose the ACES legislation because current drafts may do more to incentivize polluting fuels than renewable ones, locking Americans into modern polluting and unsustainable fuel systems.
Criticism of ACES is coming from all sides – from groups and individuals who believe legislation must have stronger emissions reduction targets and more focus on environmental justice, and from the “Energy Citizens” groups of the world – groups that mislead and obstruct progress on climate change with claims that renewable energy is too expensive for American workers. In the coming months, while the legislation becomes ever more confusing and confused, and while fossil fuel lobbies fabricate more myths, the voices of voters and community members, need to be louder and more specific than ever.
Let’s demand regulating carbon based on scientific targets, eliminating mountaintop removal mining, demand that dirty energy money is separated from political systems and leaders, and work for a just transition to a clean energy economy.
Submitted by Karl on August 14, 2009 - 7:03am.
|
