America's Growing, Severe Doctor Shortage | D Day for Vatican Nuns | Dire News Coral Reefs Update
French Roast News
Anne is reading …
2012 Election
Gallup reports that a majority of Americans would vote for a well-qualified atheist for president. This is the highest percentage since Gallup began asking the question in 1958, when only 18 percent answered affirmatively about voting for a nonbeliver.
America’s Doctor Shortage
It’s good news that President Obama’s health care law will extend insurance coverage to more than 300,000 people by 2014. Yet another critical problem undercuts the American health care system. Estimates are than in 2015 America will have 62,900 fewer doctors than needed.
Without the new health care law, the US will have a shortage of over 100,000 doctors by 2025, much of it regional and city specific. Fewer than half of primary care clinicians were accepting new Medicaid patients in 2008, making it more difficult for the poor to gain treatment.
Other issues driving the future of health care in America include physicial compensation. Fewer doctors are choosing to become primary care doctors due to an average compensation of about $200,000 a year. Specialist make twce that much. Further complicating the medical care equation is the fact that younger doctors on average work fewer hours. And one third of America’s doctors are 55 or older and nearing retirement. Read on at the New York Times.
Catholic in America
CA Prop 8 Archbishop
The Vatican and America’s Catholic bishops are center stage this week, on multiple fronts. The new archbishops of San Francisco is a staunch gay-marriage foe, writes the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Vatican has named Salvatore Cordileone who played a key role in the passage of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage in California, an archbishop. Prop 8 was overturned by a US District Court judge in 2010. In Feb 2012, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed the decision, declaring Popr 8 unconstitutional. The case is being appealed to the US Supreme Court.
D Day for American Nuns
The Leadership Conference of American nuns till meet in St. Louis this week, in a group decision about how to respond to the scathing critique issued against them this spring by the Vatican. The nuns will decide whether to cooperate with the three bishops appointed by the Vatican to supervise the overhaul of their organization, in an act of obedience.
The power struggle between the nuns and bishops has been building for decades.
“I admire religious men and women,” Cardinal Levada, the former head of the church’s doctrinal office, said in an interview with The National Catholic Reporter. “But if they aren’t people who believe and express the faith of the church, the doctrines of the church, then I think they’re misrepresenting who they are and who they ought to be. Read on at New York Times.
Anne of Carversville
Milou Van Groesen | Alique | Vogue Netherlands July/August 2012 | Riches of the Reef
This Vogue Netherlands editorial prompted us to update our several articles on the perilous state of the world’s coral reefs.
See all new fashion and style editorials.
Science & Governments Debate Doomed Future for Coral Reefs
Why are governments and environmentalists airbrushing the dire state of the world’s coral reefs, asks Roger Bradbury writing an op ed for the New York Times. Reality is that the world’s coral reefs — the nurseries of tropical coastal fish stocks — are zombie ecosystems, crushed under the weight of overfishing, ocean acidification and pollution.
Share Article Sun, July 29, 2012 in Daily, Editorials, Nature/Environment tagged American nuns, Catholic bishops, Catholic nuns, Obamacare, Vatican, atheism, coral reefs, gay marriage, global food supply, oceans, sustainability, women's health 
American Nuns Respond With Barbara Marx Hubbard Style Vision | Nuns Ask Romney To Spend A Day With Poor
Barbara Marx Hubbard was the featured speaker at this week’s Missouri meeting of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The main focus of the meeting was drafting a response to the Vatican’s claims that American nuns are “radical feminists” out of step with the church’s teaching. Of course, the members of LCWR don’t see themselves in this light.
The response to Rome’s doctrinal assessment is more eastern, writes Thomas C Fox for The National Catholic Reporter.
Reporting on the statement from our American nuns continues below.
First, a short fashion film ‘Sisterhood’ by Json Adriani, with styling by Federica Salto and featuring Masha @ 2morrow model and Malgosia @ Urban Management.
This little gem expresses this moment in history at which humanity stands. Simply stated, the world finds itself in a battle over the truth and validity of more feminine principles versus holding on to primarily patriarchal ones. Perhaps subconsciously, Json Adriani’s new short identifies the reflection and contemplation required about the future vision of America, and the type of planet we seek.
‘Sisterhood’
Mitt Romney’s announcement today that Wisconsin Rep Paul Ryan is his running mate crystallizes dramatically the coming dialogue around American values. In response to the Vatican’s condemnation, American nuns have placed themselves as leaders in the discussion about the future of our country.
French Roast News
Anne is reading …
American nuns have responded to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith with a request for more dialogue and a vision of Christianity in the future. Sister Pat Farrell’s address also captures a 21st century vision of women as leaders in creating a sustainable planet.
Continuing his explanation of the nuns’ mindset, National Catholic Reporter publisher Thomas C. Fox writes:
LCWR’s president Sister Farrell’s closing address focused on the message and vision of the Second Vatican Council, a vision that is repudiated in many ways by Pope Benedict, who argues that the 2nd Vatican Council has been misinterpreted with any suggestion that it opened the door to an acceptance of homosexuality, sacraments for the divorced and re-married, women priests, or birth control.
The Vatican is using the 50th anniversary of the 2nd Vatican Council to reeducate Catholics about the real messages in a Year of Faith. Bottom line, the Catholic Church is facing major dialogue among its members in the coming year, and the nuns seek an active voice.
The LCWR board meets for two hours today with Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, the head of a three-bishop team chosen by Rome to overhaul the LCWR over the next five years.
“There is an inherent existential tension between the complementary roles of hierarchy and religious (the nuns) which is not likely to change,” Farrell told the sisters. “In an ideal ecclesial world, the different roles are held in creative tension, with mutual respect and appreciation, in an environment of open dialogue, for the building up of the whole church.”
Stating the obvious, she said the Vatican’s mandate over the LCWR “suggests that we are not currently living in an ideal ecclesial world.”
The sisters say they will keep on talking with the Vatican “for as long as possible” but will reconsider if the sisters are “forced to compromise the integrity of (their) mission.
Sister Sandra M. Schneiders, professor emeritus of New Testament studies at the Jesuit School of Theology/Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Ca, told Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: “There is definitely a desire to de-escalate the conflict, because fight is not what we’re about.” But there are also non-negotiables, she continued, including the sisters’ belief that God speaks through many people, not just through the bishops.
Paul Ryan Budget
Huff Po’s Senior Religon Editor Paul Brandeis Raushenbush has already responded to Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential pick with the same thought that went through my mind on hearing the news.
Sister Simone Campbell argues that Ryan’s budget “rejects church teaching about solidarity, inequality, the choice for the poor, and the common good. That’s wrong.”
In a tearful moment between Sister Simone and myself, she fiercely pronounced: “We must get our country back.”
Catholic leaders who are more focused on social policy and the poor than the Vatican’s priority of contraception, homosexuality, no women priests and abortion have been aggressive in criticizing Paul Ryan. When scheduled to speak at Georgetown University, more than 90 faculty members including over a dozen Jesuit priests signed a letter about the Paul Ryan budget:
Nuns Challenge Romney
Earlier this week, Sister Simone’s social justice lobby NETWORK openly invited Republican candidate Mitt Romney to spend a day with them, learning about the needs of struggling families and low-income communities. The official press release from NETWORK said:
Anne of Carversville
Next up was the tent 10,000,000 Fireflies. They, too, are deeply rooted in my imagination and private identity. A video from the cancelled FOX show ‘Fireflies’ deeply captured my imagination and always inspires me in the fight for social justice.
The second essay shares a dream I had years ago — a dream about risk, fear of failure and ascending into the light. Thinking of all the people who have stood up for the Catholic nuns — and it’s a huge number — I just have to share the always inspiring video ‘Firefly and Serenity: Defying Gravity’.
Whenever my spirit needs a boost, I go for it. Today I share the video in honor of America’s nuns.
The Merits of Going Through Life Thinking You’re a Firefly
Slowly, consciousness returned to my sleeping brain functions. “This is impossible,” I whispered in my dream, as I floated now in a state of total awe. “I’m defying the law of gravity. I should be dead, a crumpled, bloody mess of a corpse in the cactus garden.”
My shocked, dreamstate mind regained control. Awareness and a plan of action returned to my sleeping mind. I was still in charge on my skyward journey, if I faced my fears. Looking at myself from the corner of my dream, I saw tears streaming down my face.
“Look up, Anne,” a voice told me.
Carversville, Cuttalossa Road, Cuttalossa Farm and a Peaceable Kingdom
Out of nowhere, the formation appeared … a simple, bucolic scene unfolded before my eyes that I will never forget. I don’t remember who led the parade … probably one of the dogs, but they came two by two.
Unlike Noah’s Ark, they were not matched pairs. The dog ambled along with the rooster; one of my precious Babydolls was frolicking with a duck…
The scene polarized me for several minutes, burning a vision of hope in my mind. It sounds so trite and overly simplistic to say this, but I remember thinking to myself: “If they can get along and have such a good time together … well, why can’t we humans do the same thing?”
These animals couldn’t be more different, but they had surmounted their differences to create unimaginable delight.
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Field Candy Limited Edition Tents: 10,000,000 Fireflies
Firefly and Serenity: Defying Gravity