Heart thread - 09/02/2009

Deadly earthquake hits Indonesia
BBC News - ‎49 minutes ago‎
At least seven people have been killed after a powerful earthquake struck near the Indonesian island of Java. Dozens of properties collapsed in the city of Tasikmalaya on the west of the island and thousands of people have been evacuated, ...

Suicide bomber kills 23 in east Afghanistan attack
Reuters - Rafiq Sherzad - ‎1 hour ago‎
MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 23 people, including the country's deputy head of intelligence, in an attack near a mosque in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said.

Bomb hits Athens stock exchange
AFP - ‎37 minutes ago‎
ATHENS - A powerful van bomb caused major damage Wednesday to the Athens stock exchange and injured a woman in one of two attacks suspected to have been carried out by far-left militants.

Weather aids firefighters; Mt. Wilson still threatened
Los Angeles Times - ‎7 hours ago‎
Higher humidity and a bit lower temperatures help crews battling the Station fire in the Angeles National Forest. But the northern and southeastern fronts could re-erupt, officials said.

Tropical Storm Erika heads towards Leeward Islands
Reuters - ‎21 minutes ago‎
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Erika, which formed late Tuesday in the western Atlantic Ocean, was headed toward the northern Leeward Islands early Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Center in its last advisory.

Job cuts ease in August
CNNMoney.com - ‎34 minutes ago‎
Summer layoffs slow with 76456 jobs lost last month; 21% fewer than in July, according to outplacement firm report. By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.

Bishop warns of South Sudan war
BBC News - ‎3 hours ago‎
In a rare statement, the head of the Episcopal Church of Sudan warned that the 2005 peace deal was in "grave danger" unless more is done to prevent conflict ...

Contractors Outnumber US Troops in Afghanistan
New York Times - James Glanz - ‎10 hours ago‎
Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era. Go to the Blog » On a superficial level, the shift means that most ...
US Death Toll at Record Low in Iraq, at Record High in Afghanistan CNSNews.com
US to boost combat force in Afghanistan Los Angeles Times

Ga. police 'need help' after eight people slain
msnbc.com - Terry Dickson - ‎Aug 31, 2009‎
BRUNSWICK, Ga. - Toni Mugavin says she wonders if she needs to sleep with a gun under her pillow, afraid the killer of eight people at a Georgia mobile home is still on the loose and frustrated with the lack of information about what ...

From Patrik Jonsson at The Christian Science Monitor (via Meteor Blades at Daily Kos):

For more hard-pressed Americans, a campsite is home

As cities from Sacramento, Calif., to Tampa, Fla., debate the merits of tent cities to house newly homeless people (many of them young families), this recession is starting to yield scenes that evoke the Great Depression, especially at places like Timberline Campground in Lebanon, Tenn.

Living in well-worn campers and tent compounds overstretched with 20-foot-long tarps, 85 percent of residents here are permanent, a good chunk of them "economic refugees." It’s an increasingly familiar scene across the country as campgrounds, RV parks, national parks, and city-owned pockets become inundated with permanent campers, and as entire tent cities spring up and expand, with some hinting at permanence by voting on village bylaws.

"It’s not quite Hoovervilles, but it’s getting there," says Leonard Heumann, a housing policy professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, referencing the massive tent cities and shantytowns erected during the Great Depression. ...

The National Alliance to Prevent Homelessness (NAPH) estimates that this recession will create 1.5 million new homeless – nearly double the current number. Half of those people will exist outside the shelter system – in cars, tents, campers, or sleeping bags under highway overpasses.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us, unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.