Where is Aipo Rongo, Papua New Guinea?
I had to go to Wikipedia for this one; the Anglican communion is praying today for the diocese of Aipo Rongo, in Papua New Guinea. When I went to Google Maps, it didn’t have any references to it, but Wikipedia was able to help me. Papua New Guinea is divided into four dioceses, and Aipo Rongo is centered in Mount Hagen.
Study Shows Muslim Nations Differ on How Women Should Dress
Digg started sending me articles, I don’t know why, but every now and then something turns up truly interesting. This is a Pew Research Center Study found in Slate Online Magazine:
Charted: How People in Seven Muslim Countries Believe Women Should Dress
By Joshua Keating
As the chart above, created by the Pew Research Center, goes, there’s quite a bit of variation over what constitutes proper dress for women in the Islamic world. The data for the chart come from the Middle Eastern Values Survey conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. (Several hundred people comprising what the researchers describe as a nationally representative sample in terms of education, religion, and social class were polled in each country. The gender breakdown was close to 50–50 in each of them.)
As you’ll see, the majority overall said that a woman should completely cover her hair but not her face. The majority in conservative Saudi Arabia favored the face-covering niqab, while relatively liberal Lebanon and Turkey had the highest support for no covering at all. (Hijabs are still prohibited for women in a number of jobs in Turkey.)
Overall, Tunisia had the highest number of respondents (56 percent) saying it is “up to a woman to dress whichever way she wants.” Only 14 percent of Egyptians agreed. Interestingly, given that it has the most stringent legal dress codes of any country sampled, 47 percent of Saudis said women should be able to dress how they wish.
NZ Speeding Ad Goes Viral
This is a shocking ad; an ad that shocks the viewer into reviewing priorities
Where is Enugu, Nigeria?
Today the church prays for Enugu, in Nigeria:
As you pray for the well-being of Enugu, would you also pray for all those places where religion is a cause for strife? Syria, northern Nigeria, the newest country in the world, South Sudan? To me, it is just heartbreaking that those who should be living in peace, working together, are in armed bloody conflict against one another.
Qatar World Cup Will Not Be Held in Summer
LOL, it took them three years to figure out how hot it gets in Qatar in the summer??? From AOL News:
(Reuters) – The 2022 soccer World Cup in Qatar will not be played in the summer months, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said on Wednesday.
“The dates of the World Cup will not be in June or July. I think it will be played between November 15 and January 15 the latest,” he told France Inter Radio.
“If you play between November 15 and, let’s say, the end of December, it’s the time when the weather is the most favorable,” Valcke added.
“You play with a temperature equivalent to that of a rather hot spring in Europe, you play with a temperature of 25 degrees (Celsius), which is perfect to play football.”
In October, FIFA delayed making a decision on whether to play the tournament in the winter saying it was setting up a consultation process to decide when the finals should be held.
At the time, soccer’s world governing body announced it would reach a conclusion sometime after this year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Valcke’s surprise announcement on Wednesday comes more than three years after Qatar was originally awarded the tournament in December 2010.
The average temperature in the summer months in Qatar can be around 35C (95 Fahrenheit) and 45C (113F).
A Record Low for Pensacola
The previous record was 19°F set in 1924, according to Weather Underground:
There have been entire winters when I haven’t turned on the heat. Last year, I turned it on twice, when I was having meetings with people who are more sensitive to cold than I am. AdventureMan says we tackle it Continental-style – we put on another layer 🙂 I have a drawer full of lovely Austrian sweaters that I am happy to wear 🙂
The High In Pensacola is 38° F.
Pensacola is Florida. Yes, it is Northern Florida, but it is not the North Pole. The temperatures today and tomorrow would have us believe otherwise:
Pensacola Named ‘Toughest City in America’
This is from the Pensacola News Journal, I think. I realized I hadn’t attributed it.
Just because our mayor is a pretty boy doesn’t mean Pensacola ain’t got grit.
And if you say otherwise, we’ve got a knuckle sandwich for you.
Pensacola has received this dubious honor via PolicyMic.com says the Pensacola News Journal:
Yes, little ol’ Pensacola has been named the Toughest City in America by the online news site PolicyMic (www.policymic.com).
Writer Akil Holmes used a variety of statistics to determine the “toughness” ranking, including the number of first round NFL draft picks, boxing champions, Medal of Honor and other military service citations, violent crime rates, and the percentage of workers employed in protective service, farming, fishing, construction and other tough-guy occupations.
Pensacola ranked No. 1 on the list, followed by Miami, Memphis, Detroit and Washington D.C.
Find story and see the other cities, visit policymic
.com. Look for the headline, “If You Can’t Stand Hipsters, These 11 Cities Are For You.’’ Pensacola might be tough, but it’s far from hipster-free. (Hello, Sluggo’s!)
Bundle Up, Pensacola!
It’s a wild ride, Pensacola catching the bottom end of the cold waves rolling across the USA, and oh, my poor bougainvilleas! People told me they didn’t think bougainvilleas would do well in Pensacola, and I was determined to prove them wrong. For three years, they have been beautiful, but I haven never had to get them through temperatures this low:
Today we were out having lunch and there were people wearing shorts! The highest the thermometer got today was 44°F. So COOOLLLDDD!
Pockets of Silence
On Christmas Eve Day, when I attended church, I prayed for ‘pockets of silence.’ I am an introvert. I love my family and our gatherings, and I also find all that interaction exhausting. When you pray for a need, you often get the answer to your prayer; I shared this with AdventureMan and now I am kidded about needing my pockets of silence. It’s OK, I’ll take the kidding, as long as I get my pockets 🙂
I’ve always loved this scripture; I think of the huge desert storms, full of power and fierce winds, I think of the roar of an earthquake, and how it jars you to the bones, and I smile as I think of the Lord’s voice in the ‘pocket of silence.’
1 Kings 19:9-18
9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 10He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’
11 He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 14He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’
15Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’








