From Huffington Post: Kristen Wiig got a musical sendoff on the season finale of "Saturday Night Live" as the popular and versatile cast member made her exit after seven years. In the show's final sketch, guest host Mick Jagger played the principal at a high school graduation and brought up Wiig, in cap and gown, as "one particular student who is leaving this summer."
Yes, kids, it’s that time again already. Seems it was only seven days ago when we posted our last batch of weekly church sign epic fails, and here we are again.
So let’s get to it: your weekly infusion of bad church signs.
Now that's my kinda Jesus (except you'd think the Messiah would go Microbrew, yes?)
“This new alliance – is a nice complement at best, a deflection at worst. The role of the private sector is important, but they will not be able to make up for the G8’s broken promises...Smallholder farmers need the freedom to pursue their own growing strategies, not take overly-prescriptive tips on farming from G8 leaders, or one size fits all technologies from far away CEOs.” ~ Lamine Ndiaye, Pan Africa Head of Economic Justice at Oxfam
“This effort to involve international corporations more deeply in African agriculture is an important step forward in lifting millions of poor Africans out of poverty...However, nongovernmental organizations and official agencies will also need to increase their efforts to monitor and collaborate with companies that are doing business in Africa.” ~ The Rev. David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World
In an opinion piece for The Huffington Post, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) writes:
At a time when we have more than $15 trillion national debt, American taxpayers are set to give away over $110 billion dollars to the oil, gas, and coal industries over the next decade. Clearly, we cannot afford it. When the five largest oil companies made over $1 trillion in profits in the last decade, with some paying no federal income taxes for part of that time, they certainly do not need it.
Read his full article here
As reported by Alan Duke for the CNN Belief Blog:
The University of Notre Dame and "a diverse group of plaintiffs" filed lawsuits Monday challenging the federal mandate that religious employers offer health insurance that includes coverage of contraceptives and birth control services, Notre Dame spokeswoman Shannon Chapla said. The Notre Dame suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Northern Indiana, is one of a dozen filed Monday by 43 separate Catholic institutions in different federal courts around the United States, Chapla said.
Read the full story here
According to the Sunlight Foundation:
Congress now speaks at almost a full grade level lower than it did just seven years ago, with the most conservative members of Congress speaking on average at the lowest grade level, according to a new Sunlight Foundation analysis of the Congressional Record using Capitol Words.
Of course, what some might interpret as a dumbing down of Congress, others will see as more effective communications. And lawmakers of both parties still speak over the heads of the average American, who reads at between at 8th and 9th grade level.
God, we pray for our world leaders as several of them convene at the NATO summit in Chicago -- give them wisdom as they make tough decisions. Lord, orient their hearts towards peace and unity, upholding dignity and respect for all people. Amen.
"Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." - Joshua 1:9
"Staying, we all know, is not the norm in our mobile culture. A great deal of money is spent each day to create desires in each of us that can never be fulfilled. I suspect that much of our restlessness is a return on this investment." - Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove from, The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture
For The Nation, Greg Kaufmann writes:
The long-term unemployed now make up over 40 percent of all unemployed workers, and 3.3 percent of the labor force. In the past six decades, the previous highs for these figures were 26 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, in June 1983. Instead of helping these folks weather the storm and find ways to re-enter the workforce, our nation is moving in the opposite direction. In fact, this past Sunday, 230,000 people who have been looking for work for over a year lost their unemployment benefits. More than 400,000 people have now lost unemployment insurance (UI) since the beginning of the year as twenty-five high-unemployment states have ended their Extended Benefits (EB) program.
Read more here