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The device that exploded and seriously injured a man Sunday night had malfunctioned once before, though with far less traumatic results, a friend of the victim said Tuesday. Steven Hager was taken to a Colorado Springs hospital about 8:30 p.m. Sunday after an explosion sent a piece of metal through his torso. Roland Potter, who allowed Hager to live in an RV in his backyard, described the man as someone who enjoys tinkering — a hobby that ultimately led him to create the device that exploded Sunday. “It was a toy; it wasn’t designed to hurt anybody or anything,” Potter...

Please pray for Lily, a beautiful and active 6 year old girl who was hit by a car today. She's the daughter of a friend. Lily has suffered numerous injuries -- broken ankle, broken ribs, collapsed lung, all of which the doctors have stabilized. She will not require surgery for those. She is currently sedated and on a respirator. The primary worry is that she may also have suffered a head injury -- the doctors are watching very closely for signs of brain swelling. The doctors are not saying whether or not she's out of the woods yet, because they...

My son, Joseph, is headed to the emergency room for what looks like diabetes. Right now he's dehydrated and having breathing difficulties, and is very much out of it. They're going to put him in Pediatric Intensive Care to rehydrate him, and get his levels straight. Please pray for him.

My friend Marilyn has suffered a massive heart attack and is in a coma. She was undergoing surgery at the time. Please pray for Marilyn's recovery. Please pray also for her daughter, Alicia, who is 17. Lord God, please let your loving hands heal Marilyn. Let your peace and comfort be a source of strength for Alicia. In Jesus's name, amen.

A delegation of American bishops flew into London yesterday for talks with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, following reports that they are to be severely disciplined by the worldwide Anglican Church. The liberal bishops have been dismayed by suggestions that they could be barred by Dr Williams from Anglican summits as punishment for backing Anglicanism's first actively gay bishop last year. The delegation has the support of the liberal Primate of the American Episcopal Church, Bishop Frank Griswold, who presided at the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Bishop Griswold is also understood to have...

It wasn't a same-sex blessing - but it was close enough that conservative Episcopalians are demanding to know from Bishop Rob O'Neill what happened last weekend at the Good Shepherd parish in Centennial. A church official confirmed Thursday that the parish hosted a same-sex celebration in honor of Bonnie Spencer, an assistant pastor at the church, and her partner. Spencer said she would have no comment until she spoke to O'Neill, who is out of town until next week. She added, however, that "there was no same-sex blessing." The Rev. Lou Blanchard, who is the overseer of the region that...

[ENS] Episcopalians joined more than one million people, representing 100 religious and religiously-affiliated organizations and congregations, to march on Washington, D.C., April 25 in support of women’s reproductive rights at home and abroad. The march recorded the largest ever crowd count for women's rights in the nation's capital. The "March for Women's Lives" was co-sponsored by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), an alliance of national organizations from major faith groups, local affiliates, the national Clergy for Choice Network, Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom, and the Black Church Initiative. According to its mission statement, RCRC supports the constitutional right...

“Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight” -- An Alternative Proposal Introduction Following the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in November 2004, the Anglican Communion Institute issued a statement calling for those who had variously supported his consent and consecration to declare themselves “independent” of the Anglican Communion’s Instruments of Unity and of their constraints upon common life. This call, however eccentric it may have seemed at the time, was made for the sake of demonstrating honesty and freeing the Episcopal Church from the agonizing turmoil of “limping between two opinions”: Robinson’s election, consent, and subsequent consecration took place...

COLORADO SPRINGS - The retired Archbishop of Canterbury threw his support Thursday to a proposal to discipline American bishops who promote same-sex issues. One of them is Colorado Bishop Rob O'Neill. "If the American church cannot see what damage it's done to the rest of the Anglican world, I feel very sorry for it," said the Rev. George "Lord" Carey at a news conference during the annual Anglican Communion Institute meeting. The international gathering of about 200 conservatives and traditionalists discussed what to do in light of the Episcopal Church USA decision last summer to accept an openly gay bishop,...

April 13, 2004 PRESS CONFERENCE OF THE PRESIDENT The East Room 8:31 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Before I take your questions, let me speak with the American people about the situation in Iraq. This has been tough weeks in that country. Coalition forces have encountered serious violence in some areas of Iraq. Our military commanders report that this violence is being instigated by three groups: Some remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime, along with Islamic militants have attacked coalition forces in the city of Fallujah. Terrorists from other countries have infiltrated Iraq to incite and organize attacks. In the...

One found God after a rocket attack. Another held on to his faith in a daring helicopter rescue. In the loneliness of the battlefield, yet another discovered "in the darkest of times God's light shone the brightest." At a time when the U.S. is at war and the American soldier is especially honored, five Colorado military veterans shared personal stories of faith in the foxhole. On Thursday, they will join 2 billion Christians worldwide who will celebrate Christmas, marking the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ, 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. Since then, the angel-borne greeting, "Peace on earth," has...

Statement of the Primates of the Global South in the Anglican Communion It is with profound sadness and pain that we have arrived at this moment in the history of the Anglican Communion. We are appalled that the authorities within the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) have ignored the heartfelt plea of the Communion not to proceed with the scheduled consecration of Canon Gene Robinson. They have ignored the clear and strong warning of its detrimental consequences for the unity of the Communion which was contained in the Statement from the Primates’ Meeting of October 15th and 16th which was unanimously...

POPE SENDS PRAYERS TO AAC MEETING THROUGH CARDINAL RATZINGER By David W. Virtue DALLAS, TX-- A letter from Pope John Paul II was read aloud to the 2,700 attendees at the American Anglican Council sponsored A Place to Stand conference yesterday, marking the first time in living memory that the head of the Roman Catholic Church has publicly acknowledged an orthodox group within the theologically liberal Episcopal Church USA. The letter from the Pontiff comes at a time of enormous turmoil in the life of The Episcopal Church, and could be construed as a rebuke to the Presiding Bishop of...

Last week, Walter Williams published a column called The Real Lincoln, in which he mostly quoted editorialists to support his claim that "virtually every political leader of the time and earlier believed that states had a right of secession." If that were really true, of course, the Civil War would never have been fought. "Virtually every" political leader in Washington would have let the secessionist states go their own ways. But of course they didn't do that. Instead, they prosecuted a long, bloody war to prevent it. So that part of Williams' case simply fails. The question remains as to...

Answering Scandal With Personal Holiness Fourth Sunday of OT, Year A Zeph 2:3, 3:12-13; 1Cor1:26-31; Mt 5:1-12 Espirito Santo 1) The headlines this past week did not focus on the Patriots' march to the Super Bowl, or on who would QB, Drew or Tom, or even on the President's state of the union address and his comment that there are many Al-Qaeda operatives in the US like quot;ticking time-bombs.quot; None of these was the top story. The headlines were captured by the very sad news that perhaps up to seventy priests in the Archdiocese of Boston have abused young...

This is a High Alert from the Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI), Denver CO. If observed, DO NOT MAKE CONTACT. Instead, notify INS at 801.426.8959 or the FBI at 202.324.3000. QUOTE 1. A High Alert was issued for suspect vehicles described as a 1994 green Dodge Intrepid (WY License: 04842E) and a 1993 white Ford (WY License: 4416-B2). 2. A High Alert was also issued in the same text for a suspect known as NAEEM, TAHIR, AKA: TAHIR NAEEM CHAUNDRY (WY DL: 107340-606 / DOB: 4/3/1977). Information received from Evanston, WY, indicated ANEEM was fired from employment in Wyoming and ...

Probably the best article on Small Pox I've seen. Last week, the news was filled with talk of bioterrorism and chemical warfare. One of the threats that were mentioned frequently was smallpox, the virus that now exists only in laboratories but is thought to have killed more people than any other infectious disease in history. This piece, about smallpox and its potential as a biological weapon, originally appeared in the July 12, 1999, issue of the magazine. A related article by Preston, on renewed efforts to create a vaccine, which appeared in The Talk of the Town six months later, ...

Yesterday there was a thread concerning "fumes" coming from a safe deposit box. As might have been expected, some FReepers immediately branded it a "terrorist attack," and the usual hot-heads made their usual rants. Of course, there was no evidence for that theory, and in fact there were NO fumes, and NO attack. Here's the real story. Scare raises stink at Palm Beach bank Palm Beach Post WEST PALM BEACH -- For four hours Friday, law enforcement officials closed of Okeechobee Boulevard from Haverhill Road to Jog Road to investigate a suspicious smell that buckled several BankAtlantic employees. More than ...

In the month following the 9/11 attacks we've seen here on FR some amazing and frankly repugnant statements. For example, there have been suggestions that we round up and deport all non-citizen Moslems (and after them, maybe the Moslem citizens, too). It has also been seriously suggested that we oughta show our resolve by bombing Mohommed's grave. And of course there are innumerable other comments of the same type. The most obvious characteristics of these rants are that (1) they are venomous; (2) they are racist; and (3) they voice some remarkably bad ideas. The most charitable reading of this ...