federal budget 2012: Şubat 2013

25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi

BMO's 5 year 2.99% Mortgage Offering

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On first glance this looks like a great deal. 2.99% for a 5 year mortgage- the lowest 5 year rate ever.
However a closer analysis offers some of the points to be aware of.

Consider:

This is a two-week promo (at the moment) valid until JANUARY 25TH.

There are conditions to their offer. The main terms of BMO's special are as follows:

Maximum Amortization: 25 years
Rate Hold: Up to 90 days
Pre-Approvals: Allowed
Lump-sum Pre-payments: 10% maximum per year (1/2 of the 20% that BMO normally allows)
Optional Payment increase: 10% maximum per year (again, 1/2 of the 20% that BMO normally allows)
Term: Fully closed unless you sell the property, refinance (with BMO only), or early renew into another BMO mortgage.
BMO Mortgage Cash Account: Not available with the Low-Rate
BMO Skip-a-Payment: Not available with the Low-Rate
BMO ReadiLine: Not available with the Low-Rate
Other Details: Not applicable to non-owner occupied rental properties

Most importantly, the client is tied to BMO for the entire 5 year term of their mortgage, even if they want to break it and pay a penalty, they are forced to stay with BMO at whatever rate BMO offers. Client loses negotiating power.

This rate and mortgage is great if you plan to live in the house for many years and will not need to refinace during the term.

CAAMP'S VIEW ON TODAY's MORTGAGE ISSUES

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BASED ON OUR RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE SECTOR, WE SEE NO REASON TO TIGHTEN OR RESTRICT ACCESS TO RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGES AT THIS TIME1. CURRENT ENVIRONMENT Canada has a well-earned reputation for exercising economic prudence. As a result, we have managed to avoid a mortgage or housing market meltdown. Our banks are stable and our economy, while impacted by the general global economic slowdown, remains healthier than most. CAAMP’s extensive industry research indicates that the Canadian mortgage industry is healthy. We must continue to “stress test” our own financial sector to determine how it would withstand potential weakening of the economy. The more educated we are about the debt we incur (mortgages, credit cards, lines of credit), the better off we will be2. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACTIONS TAKEN The federal government responded promptly when it was determined changes were needed in the mortgage market. There have been three significant sets of changes in the past 36 months: - Amortization periods shortened to 30 years from 35 and 40 years - Minimum down payment increased to 5 per cent of purchase price. No 100% LTV mortgages - Homeowners refinancing their mortgage may borrow up to 85 per cent of the equity in their home; down from 90% and 95% - These changes have impacted the mortgage market; re-financings have decreased dramatically and mortgage credit growth has slowed Based on our extensive research and knowledge of the sector, we see no reason to further tighten or restrict access to mortgages at this time3. REASONS FOR CURRENT CONCERN1) Housing Market Prolonged low interest rates are making it more attractive to purchase a home Research shows that the vast majority of homeowners can accommodate rate increases (84 per cent surveyed in CAAMP’s fall 2011 research said they could handle a $200/month increase) CAAMP’s fall 2011 survey indicates mortgage borrowers are prudent, increasing their lump sum payments and paying down their mortgage faster than required Supply and demand drive housing prices – provinces and municipalities should be more aware of their land-use policies and how they impact housing supply2) Media Focus on Insurance Ceiling - Changes in Some Banks’ Lending Practices It is a fact that CMHC is approaching its $600 billion government-imposed limit on mortgage default insurance. Private insurers have a $300 billion limit. This has nothing to do with mortgage insurers being responsible for an increasing number of higher risk mortgages Lenders are buying portfolio insurance against defaults on low risk mortgages - cases where homeowners have more than 20 per cent equity in their homes. These are not high risk mortgages. CMHC is approaching its limit because the number of mortgage holders has grown, the population and housing units have increased and lenders have been insuring low risk mortgages, leveraging the government’s triple A credit rating for other bank business Residential mortgage credit in Canada continues to expand. During the past five years, outstanding residential mortgage credit has expanded by 53%, or an average rate of 8.9% per year. The growth rate is slowing The volume of outstanding residential mortgage credit passed the $1 trillion threshold in July 2010, and as of August 2011, it reached $1.079 trillion Increased homeownership results in an increase in mortgage default insurance However, mortgage defaults are rare. CMHC reported it paid out $454 million in the first nine months of 2011 which represents a 0.42 per cent default rate Overall mortgage arrears rates in Canada are declining and never approached the level of the early 1990s. The housing market in Canada is growing organically and safely There is no parallel in Canada to the subprime default problems that plagued the US market3. FURTHER RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS TO MORTGAGESWho will be affected? Self-employed borrowers who represent a growing portion of our labour force (currently 2.67 million people, or 15% of employment in Canada) New Canadians who can afford a down payment but have yet to build credit and employment history First time homebuyers who want to enter the homeownership market and build equity These are not the people who fall in to a sub-prime loan category like we saw in the US; yet these changes will impact them The housing industry is an engine of growth in Canada. If we impede its growth, we will add to unemployment and depress the economy If fewer mortgage lenders are able to insure their loans simply because the insurance program has not kept pace with the growth in the mortgage market, then consumers will have less choice when it comes to negotiating a mortgage. Less choice, or less competition, will inevitably lead to higher borrowing costs for the Canadian consumer Likewise, if mortgage brokers are restricted in the mortgage products they can offer, consumer choice will be diminished and costs will increase This reduced access to capital will make it more difficult for people who can legitimately afford to buy a home4)What are the Risks of Further Restricting Access to Mortgages?CAAMP has one of the most comprehensive collections of research on the mortgage industry. It includes original data on borrowers and the characteristics of mortgage loans. This research has revealed repeatedly that borrowers and lenders in Canada have been prudent, and only a very small share of borrowers would have trouble affording future rises in mortgage rates.There are risks, but most are related to the broader economy through two channels:UnemploymentThe broader economic data suggests that the Canadian economy is slowing. If that results in job losses, the housing market would be negatively affected, and there would be impacts on mortgages held by people who lose jobs and then struggle to make payments.Declining Housing PricesHousing prices could decline in a weaker market. In a recession, there is the threat of a downward spiral: a weak economy harming the housing market which negatively affects the broader economy. We believe and trust that the federal government will act to mitigate such a negative scenario.These risks have nothing to do with mortgage products themselves.Risks to the Canadian mortgage market are dependent on the performance of the broader economy. In that light, the best means to control mortgage market risk is through strong economic management. In particular, care must be taken not to take any measures in the mortgage market that unnecessarily reduce housing activity that would be damaging to the economy.

VIEWS ON BANK of MONTREAL'S 5 YEAR RATE

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A good explainatory article by Robert McLister of Canadian Mortgage Trends explaining the pros and cons of Bank of Montreal's just announced 5 year 2.99% rate:BMO Cranks Up the Heat AgainBMO is dead-set on winning mind share among consumers.It's coming back to the market with two new deep-discount rate promos: A 5-year fixed at 2.99% (which starts Thursday, March 8, 2012) A 10-year fixed at 3.99% (which starts Sunday, March 11, 2012) Both of these specials are low-frills, meaning: A Lower Maximum Amortization: 25 years versus 30-40 years elsewhere Less Lump-sum Pre-payment Ability: 10% maximum per year (i.e., 1/2 of the 20% that BMO normally allows) A Smaller Payment Increase Option: Up to 10%, once per year (again, 1/2 of the 20% that BMO normally allows) A Locked Term: The Low-rate Mortgage is fully closed unless you sell the property, refinance (with BMO only), or early renew into another BMO mortgage. In other words, unless you sell, you're not leaving BMO for 5 years, like it or not. Both the 5-year and 10-year promos run for 3 weeks, until March 28, 2012.We've heard talk that TD and RBC will not match BMO's pricing on the 5-year term. We'll see. The last time BMO ran this special, its competitors quickly responded with 4-year rates of 2.99%. Despite the one less year, those competing offers came with all the normal bells and whistles.Unfortunately for competitors, a 2.99% five-year rate makes more headlines than a four-year promo at the same price, and BMO knows it. This deal has garnered almost a dozen major media stories already, and the press release only came out four hours ago.As for BMO's 10-year deal, it is 146 basis points below the nearest Big 6 bank competitors' advertised rates. It is BMO's lowest 10-year rate ever, and it matches ING's current 3.99% offer. (ING was the first bank in Canada to advertise 10-year rates below 4.00%.)With these rates, BMO is starting to make other big banks look increasingly silly. CIBC, National Bank, RBC, and TD are currently promoting 5-year "special offer" rates of 4.04%. That's 105 basis points above BMO (albeit with more flexibility). Those rates border on ridiculous, and they insult the intelligence of increasingly savvy consumers who know that well-qualified borrowers rarely pay anything close to those rates.Yes, we say that knowing that BMO's Low-rate mortgage is highly restrictive and not suitable for most.It is, however, suitable for some. The target market includes many: First-time buyers Rental property owners Owners of 2nd homes The customer should have no foreseeable need to break, increase or aggressively prepay his/her mortgage for five years.In posting more transparent rates than its peers, BMO is taking a page from brokers and smaller rivals. In doing so, it's building credibility with consumers at its competitors' expense.Frank Techar, BMO's Canadian banking head, tells Bloomberg: "The reaction to our January offer was fantastic." With a mortgage market that BMO CEO William Downe admits is "slowing," 2.99% is a big fat worm on a hook. It is bait that gets BMO's phones ringing.It also gives BMO's sales force a chance to upsell people into higher margin mortgages without all the restrictions of BMO's Low-rate product. (There's a lot of that going on, according to the BMO mortgage specialists we've talked to.)With this rate sale, BMO is certain to take flak for fuelling consumer borrowing at a time when high debt levels are worrying policymakers.To that end, Techar maintains that BMO is not fuelling the fire. He tells the Financial Post that these rates "are consistent with the debate around the need to reduce consumer debt levels."In an interview with Reuters, he said: "People are not going to stretch to get the largest mortgage they can with a 25-year amortization product. Because the monthly payments are higher, they...will go to a 30-year amortization product." (He's right.)Downe recently said this to analysts about BMO's Low-rate Mortgage:"We think that's a product that is good for Canadians; it's good for Canada; it's good for our customers, and we intend to continue to promote it in this environment.It's a product that we believe addresses all of the risks that are currently being debated, whether or not the consumer debt levels that are too high in Canada and a possible fallout from economic slowdown and rising interest rates. It helps our customers pay less interest. It mitigates their interest rate risk for five years. It helps them retire debt free by paying off their balance faster, and it works against market price appreciation. In fact, it helps with...house price appreciation, because the shorter amortization reduces the maximum purchase price people can afford."Being a 5-year fixed, this product does mitigate some risk. A 200 basis point rate increase by 2017 would only lift payments $133/month on the average Canadian mortgage of $151,000.As for rumours that policymakers are ticked off by BMO's pricing, the last time anyone looked, it's still a free market. BMO can price as it sees fit within regulations. As long as underwriting standards remain high, God bless it for bringing down rates industry-wide.Even if rates like 2.99% do spur more interest in mortgages, it doesn't mean lenders will approve high-risk borrowers. BMO's average loan-to-value (LTV) is just 60%. More notably, BMO's residential mortgage portfolio has a long-run loss rate of less than 2 basis points (i.e., exceptionally low).Barring a run-up in bond yields, we could now start seeing competitors (like mortgage brokers) respond with full-frills 5-year offers that are just a pittance above BMO's rate. Some might even match or beat it.We'd strongly encourage most folks to consider paying a bit more to avoid the low-rate mortgage restrictions—especially if the premium is small (0.05%-0.10%) and especially if you can benefit from the service and extras that come with a standard mortgage.Side Note: Here are a few more details about BMO's Low-rate Mortgage: Rate Hold: Up to 90 days Pre-Approvals?: Yes BMO Mortgage Cash Account: Not available with the Low-Rate mortgage BMO Skip-a-Payment: Not available with the Low-Rate mortgage BMO ReadiLine: Not available with the Low-Rate mortgage Rentals Allowed? Yes 2nd Homes Allowed? Yes

Children's art amount

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Happy spring. At the office we are busy meeting personal clients, completing corporate year ends and excited for yet another personal tax season. It's nice to see everyone this time of year and do a little catching up.

With the 2011 personal tax season here, there are some additional credits available in 2011. Probably the most common credit will be the children's art amount.

All the details can be found by following this link: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns360-390/370/menu-eng.html

For clarification or just to arrange a personal tax meeting please get in touch with us.

Have a great week

Moving and RRSP time

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With 2013 in full swing, we are now officially in personal tax season. The end of February marks two important deadlines: T slip filings for corporations and RRSP contribution deadline for your 2012 taxes.

On top of that we are Moving.

We’re pleased to announce that our office is expanding, andas such, we’ve relocated to a new space. We will have the same convenientlocation now two floors up in unit #410. Please note our new address as of March 1, 2013:
410 - 1228 Kensington Road NW
Calgary, AB T2N 3P7
As it is RRSP season this article will serve as a guideline for RRSP investing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/19/a-users-guide-to-rrsps_n_2715264.html

24 Şubat 2013 Pazar

VIEWS ON BANK of MONTREAL'S 5 YEAR RATE

Joe Scarborough's Special Comments on Gun Violence in America

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I was very moved Monday morning, as Joe Scarborough, a conservative Republican and former member of congress, presented his special comment on gun violence in America. His comments come in the wake of the tragedy at the Sandy Hook School in Connecticut.

I applaud Joe for having the courage and good sense to revise some of his previous beliefs publicly. My respect for him has grown immensely, even though I am sure I will continue to have some disagreement with Joe.

Here is some of what Joe said:

“Politicians can no longer defend the status quo, they must protect our children… This is no longer a mystery to people with common sense…[Sandy Hook] changed everything…the Bill of rights does not guarantee gun manufacturers the absolute right to sell military type, high-caliber, semi-automatic, combat assault weapons, with high capacity magazines… It is time our politicians put our children a head of deadly dogmas.” – Joe Scarborough

I have embedded video of Joe's special comments:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Priest Is Planning to Defy the Vatican's Orders to Stay Quiet

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In light if all the scandal in Ireland, I think its the Catholic hierarchy that needs to repent, not Father Flannery. The Roman Catholic Church needs to grow up in it's views about contraception, women, and gay people, too.

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via New York Times

Priest Is Planning to Defy the Vatican's Orders to Stay Quiet

The Rev. Tony Flannery, an Irish priest, was suspended by the Vatican last year. "I refuse to be terrified into submission," he said.

By DOUGLAS DALBY
Published: January 20, 2013

DUBLIN - A well-known Irish Catholic priest plans to defy Vatican authorities on Sunday by breaking his silence about what he says is a campaign against him by the church over his advocacy of more open discussion on church teachings.

The Rev. Tony Flannery, 66, who was suspended by the Vatican last year, said he was told by the Vatican that he would be allowed to return to ministry only if he agreed to write, sign and publish a statement agreeing, among other things, that women should never be ordained as priests and that he would adhere to church orthodoxy on matters like contraception and homosexuality.

"How can I put my name to such a document when it goes against everything I believe in," he said in an interview on Wednesday. "If I signed this, it would be a betrayal not only of myself but of my fellow priests and lay Catholics who want change. I refuse to be terrified into submission."

Father Flannery, a regular contributor to religious publications, said he planned to make his case public at a news conference here on Sunday.

The Vatican's doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote to Father Flannery's religious superior, the Rev. Michael Brehl, last year instructing him to remove Father Flannery from his ministry in County Galway, to ensure he did not publish any more articles in religious or other publications, and to tell him not to give interviews to the news media.
In the letter, the Vatican objected in particular to an article published in 2010 in Reality, an Irish religious magazine. In the article, Father Flannery, a Redemptorist priest, wrote that he no longer believed that "the priesthood as we currently have it in the church originated with Jesus" or that he designated "a special group of his followers as priests."

Instead, he wrote, "It is more likely that some time after Jesus, a select and privileged group within the community who had abrogated power and authority to themselves, interpreted the occasion of the Last Supper in a manner that suited their own agenda."

Father Flannery said the Vatican wanted him specifically to recant the statement, and affirm that Christ instituted the church with a permanent hierarchical structure and that bishops are divinely established successors to the apostles.

He believes the church's treatment of him, which he described as a "Spanish Inquisition-style campaign," is symptomatic of a definite conservative shift under Pope Benedict XVI.

"I have been writing thought-provoking articles and books for decades without hindrance," he said. "This campaign is being orchestrated by a secretive body that refuses to meet me. Surely I should at least be allowed to explain my views to my accusers."

His superior was also told to order Father Flannery to withdraw from his leadership role in the Association of Catholic Priests, a group formed in 2009 to articulate the views of rank-and-file members of the clergy.
In reply to an association statement expressing solidarity with Father Flannery, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith denied it was acting in a secretive manner, pointed out that Father Flannery's views could be construed as "heresy" under church law, and threatened "canonical penalties," including excommunication, if he did not change his views.

This month, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote to an American priest, Roy Bourgeois, notifying him of his laicization, following his excommunication in 2008 over his support for the ordination of women.

Source: New York Times
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/world/europe/priest-is-planning-to-defy-vaticans-orders-to-stay-quiet.xml

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Today's Gospel Reading (3rd Epiphany): Liberation for the Oppressed!

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If the Gospel you arepreaching is not good news for the poor, you are NOT preaching theGospel! The Gospel is not only about the salvation of the soul, butit is liberation for the oppressed!

Today's Gospel Reading(3^rd Epiphany)14 And Jesus returned inthe power of the Spirit into Galilee, and His fame went out throughall the region round about. 15 And He taught in their synagogues,being glorified by all.16 And He came to Nazarethwhere He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into thesynagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. 17 And there wasdelivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He hadopened the book, He found the place where it was written:

18"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
because He hath anointedMe to preach the Gospel to the poor.
He hath sent Me to heal thebrokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, andrecovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that arebruised,
19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

20 And He closed the book,and He gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes ofall those who were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. 21 And Hebegan to say unto them,

"Thisday is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears."

-Luke 4:14-21

Women's Issues & the State of the Nation - Marianne Williamson

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I went to hear a politician speak today. I liked her a lot. I like her every time I hear her on TV. I think she is very sincere. But I also think her message is a bit out of touch.

She said her party is the natural home for women because of its stand on women's issues, but she never mentioned what those issues are. Does it speak to our 23.1 percent child poverty level (making our child poverty rate second among advanced industrialized nations only to Romania)? Does it speak to the fact that America's public schools have no air quality safety standards, with 30-40 percent of our students and teachers challenged by respiratory difficulties because of it? Does it speak to our need for nursery school in the public schools (without which a child already lags behind his or her more advantaged, nursery-school educated peers from the first day of kindergarten?). Does it speak to the fact that America has the highest incarceration rate in the world -- making an African-American mother face a 1in 3 lifetime possibility of prison for her son, a Latino mother 1 in 6, and a white mother 1 in 17?

Both political parties -- not just one -- are beginning to lag far behind the issues that millions of Americans are thinking about.

That's just one woman's opinion, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. But I don't think I'm the only one...

Source: https://facebook.com/williamsonmarianne

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23 Şubat 2013 Cumartesi

Church Fathers on Vegetarianism and Meat Eating

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Church Fathers on Vegetarianism and Meat Eating
And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
- Genesis 1.29, ESV
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
- Isaiah 11.6-9, ESV

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Disclosure: I am a lapsed vegetarian, but very sympathetic towards vegetarianism, and I am currently working my way back towards that way of life... Lance

We all have read about and know the impacts of eating meat on human health, the environment, and world hunger; we know about the cruelty and inhumane conditions of factory farming; we all know that beef cows are fed corn instead of grass, and injected with anti-biotics.

The original Divine Intention was for plants to be our food (Genesis 1:29). The Messianic Kingdom will abolish the predator relationship and create harmony between all creatures (Isaiah 11). Giving up meat is an act of compassion toward our fellow creatures. It is good discipline for us and healthy for our bodies, which are temples of the Holy Spirit. Eating lower on the food chain lessens our carbon footprint. It is a compassionate, holy, healthy and environmentally friendly way to live.
What is a charitable heart?—it is a heart which is burning with charity for the whole of creation, for men, for the birds, for the beasts, for the demons-for all creatures. He who has such a heart cannot see or call to mind a creature without his eyes becoming filled with tears by reason of the immense compassion which seizes his heart; a heart which is softened and can no longer bear to see or learn from others of any suffering, even the smallest pain, being inflicted upon a creature. This is why such a man never ceases to pray also for the animals, for the enemies of Truth, and for those who do him evil, that they may be preserved and purified. He will pray even for the reptiles, moved by the infinite pity which reigns in the hearts of those who are becoming united to God. - St. Isaac the Syrian
As God-ordained priests, our vocation as Christians is to offer up the Creation as a Sacrament back to God in thanksgiving. Perhaps it is time to take another look at what the Fathers of the Church say about eating meat.

- Lance++++++++++++++++++++++++

It is far better to be happy than to have your bodies act as grave yards for animals.

- Clement of Alexandria

Sacrifices were invented by men to be a pretext for eating flesh.

- Clement of Alexandria

Those who use the most frugal fare are the strongest, the healthiest and the noblest...We must guard against those sorts of food which persuade us to eat when we are not hungry, bewitching the appetite...is there not within a temperate simplicity, a wholesome variety of eatables—vegetables, roots, olives, herbs, milk, cheese, fruits...?...But those who bend around inflammatory tables, nourishing their own diseases, are ruled by a most licentious disease which I shall venture to call the demon of the belly: the worst and most vile of demons. It is far better to be happy than to have a devil dwelling in us, for happiness is found only in the practice of virtue. Accordingly the apostle Matthew lived upon seeds, fruits, grains and nuts and vegetables, without the use of flesh.

- Clement of Alexandria

How unworthily, too, do you press the example of Christ as having come ‘eating and drinking’ into the service of your lusts: He who pronounced not the full but the hungry and thirsty ‘blessed,’ who professed His work to be the completion of His Father’s will, was wont to abstain—instructing them to labor for that ‘meat’ which lasts to eternal life, and enjoining in their common prayers petition not for gross food but for bread only.

-Tertullian

I ever recognize Esau, the hunter, as a man of taste and as his were, so are your whole skill and interest given to hunting and trapping...It is in the cooking pots that your love is inflamed—it is in the kitchen that your faith grows fervid—it is in the flesh dishes that all your hopes lie hid...Consistently do you men of the flesh reject the things of the Spirit. But if your prophets are complacent towards such persons, they are not my prophets...Let us openly and boldly vindicate our teaching. “We are sure that they who are in the flesh cannot please God...a grossly-feeding Christian is akin to lions and wolves rather than God. Our Lord Jesus called Himself Truth and not habit.

-Tertullian

We are sure that they who are in the flesh cannot please God...a grossly-feeding Christian is akin to lions and wolves rather than God. Our Lord Jesus called Himself Truth and not habit.

-Tertullian

When we do abstain (from eating meat), we do so because ‘we keep under our body and bring it into subjection’ (I Corinthians 9:27), and desire ‘to mortify our members that are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence’ (Colossians 3:5); and we use every effort to ‘mortify the deeds of the flesh.’ (Romans 8:13)

- Origen

The steam of meat darkens the light of the spirit. One can hardly have virtue if one enjoys meat meals and feasts.

- St. Basil the Great

With simple living, well-being increases in the household, animals are in safety, there is no shedding of blood, nor putting animals to death. The knife of the cook is needless, for the table is spread only with the fruits that nature gives, and with them they are content.

- St. Basil the Great

The steam of meat meals darkens the spirit. One can hardly have virtue if one enjoys meat meals and feasts. In the earthly paradise, no one sacrificed animals, and no one ate meat.

- Saint Basil

We, the Christian leaders, practice abstinence from the flesh of animals to subdue our bodies.

- St. John Chrysostom

The eating of meat was unknown up to the big flood, but since the flood they have the strings and stinking juices of animal meat into our mouths, just as they threw in front of the grumbling sensual people in the desert. Jesus Christ, who appeared when the time had been fulfilled, has again joined the end with the beginning, so that it is no longer allowed for us to eat animal meat.

- Saint Jerome

CANADA'S ECONOMY OUTPACING THE US

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IMF says Canada will likely outperform this year, sees slower growth in 2011
Thu Jul 8, 9:57 AM
Joe Mcdonald, The Associated Press
Email StoryIM StoryPrintable View.By Joe Mcdonald, The Associated Press

BEIJING, China - Canada's economy is on track to grow more quickly this year than previously expected, putting it ahead of the United States and most other advanced economies, according to new estimates from International Monetary Fund.

The IMF said Thursday it's raising the 2010 growth forecast for Canada to 3.6 per cent from its previous estimate of 3.1 per cent, issued in April.

The IMF's July report also raised its U.S. growth estimate to 3.3 per cent, up from 3.1 per cent and its world estimate to 4.6 per cent from 4.2 per cent.

Asian countries with rapidly maturing economies will grow more quickly than the United States, Japan and European countries that have historically been more advanced.

China's growth for this year, for instance, is now projected at 10.5 per cent, up five percentage points, while the IMF expects India's economy will advance 9.4 per cent this year (up six percentage points from the April projection.)

Next year isn't looking so rosey for Canada, however.

The IMF has lowered its projection for 2011 growth by four percentage points to 2.8 per cent. Also notable was a reduction in the IMF's 2011 projection for China, which has been reduced by three percentage points from April's.

In contrast, the U.S. growth projection for next year was raised by three percentage points to 2.9 per cent, slightly ahead of Canada, while the world outlook for 2011 was raised by eight percentage points to 4.3 per cent.

The IMF, a Washington-based multnational organization affiliated with the United Nations and the World Bank, said Europe's debt crisis might stall the global rebound and governments need to shore up shaky public confidence.

Its quarterly World Economic Outlook warned that "risks have risen sharply" and Europe has to quickly resolve debt problems and restore confidence in its banks.

Europe's problems "could spill over to other regions and stall the global recovery," said Jose Vinals, director of the fund's monetary and capital markets department, at a news conference in Hong Kong.

"Further credible and decisive policy action is needed to resume progress on financial stability and keep the economic recovery on track," Vinals said.

Risks so far are limited to financial markets and activity in other fields stabilized at a high level in May, the IMF said. It said industrial output and trade grew by double digits and there was a modest but steady recovery in developed economies and strong growth in emerging nations.

"The numbers for economic activity have come in strong — in fact, stronger than we have forecast," said Olivier Blanchard, director of the IMF's research department.

The fund raised this year's U.S. growth forecast from 2.7 per cent to 3.3 per cent. The outlook for Germany and other European nations that use the euro common currency was unchanged at 1 per cent.

A global "double dip," or relapse into recession, is "very unlikely," Blanchard said.

Asian economies recovered strongly this year, driven by buoyant exports and stronger domestic demand, the IMF said.

The fund raised its 2010 growth forecast for Japan to 2.4 per cent from 1.9 per cent and for India to 9.4 per cent from 8.8 per cent. The estimate of the Asia region's growth rose to 7.5 per cent from seven per cent.

However, it warned that weakness in Europe "would affect Asia through both trade and financial channels."

Weak data from major economies in recent weeks have diminished confidence in a strong rebound from last year's recession.

The fund's forecast for 2011 growth was unchanged at 4.3 per cent, a decline from this year's rate.

In a move that might fuel concern the recovery is fading, the fund lowered its 2011 growth forecast for Japan from two per cent to 1.8 per cent and for Britain to 2.1 per centfrom 2.5 per cent.

In Europe, the IMF said governments must resolve uncertainty about banks' exposure to sovereign debt and other risks and make sure lenders have enough capital and markets have adequate liquidity.

It said many advanced economies urgently need to push ahead financial reforms including recapitalizing banks, restructuring and consolidating banking industries and overhauling regulation.

"In the absence of complete banking sector recapitalization and restructuring, the flow of credit to the economy will continue to be impaired," the IMF said.

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Let's Throw Our Demons Off the Cliff by Rev. Winnie Varghese in the Huffington Post

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via Huffington Post Let's Throw Our Demons Off the Cliff by Rev. Winnie Varghese

Priests get asked to do strange things. A few weeks ago I was asked to give the invocation, an opening prayer, at an annual event to celebrate the accomplishments of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Social Responsibility. They believe being a good citizen is good business. I got up to do my three minutes and realized I was looking out at a room filled with nuns -- incognito, but they were nuns. You can tell.
If I prayed five times a day for the rest of my life, I will not have prayed as often as the women who sat waiting for my opening prayer.

That kind of thing happens to me all the time.

I was there because Sister Simon Campbell of NETWORK was scheduled to be a speaker. Sr. Simone is now a celebrity because of her speech at the Democratic National Convention. She was invited to speak at the convention because of the popularity and effectiveness of the Nuns on the Bus, taking on the moral failings of the Ryan budget.

Like many religious people I found myself in tears during Sr. Simone's DNC speech. She embodied and beautifully articulated what I believe most people of faith believe: our political actions have moral dimensions, primarily in how we care for and empower the poor, the marginalized and the immigrant. As a Christian, I can't help but notice that the diverse books of the Bible seem to beat us over the head from all angles with a simple message -- a primary sin in the eyes of God is social inequity and injustice. The Bible says, over and over, God just hates that and expects us to do something about it at the level of governance, not just the personal level, and even more, God hates those who attempt to approach God in worship but despise the poor. Says so in the Bible in any translation you like.

God through the prophets, poets, scholars and priests who composed the Bible never says we hope those who suffer find a nice guy to help them out. The Bible says the sign of God's sovereignty in our lives is how we organize our public life.

Much of contemporary Christianity has somehow made morality about personal, private matters. There is that component in the Bible, but we should be really clear about proportion. That personal stuff is not a dominant theme, at times those moral proscriptions only apply to priests offering sacrifices at the Temple, which no longer exists, except for the Wailing Wall and these great steps, or is found in the letters of Paul to the first Christian communities, marginalized and without influence to do anything but govern their relationships with one another while waiting to be martyred. In general God seems to be about much bigger things, which is something I look for in a God.

I am proud to see a movement among young evangelicals, mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics speaking out as Christians engaging the political process on issues like climate change (stewardship of creation) and poverty (we're against it, and we don't think the poor are to blame).

I believe followers of Jesus don't have much choice on these issues. We might disagree on what the most effective ways are to provide universal health care, nutrition, education, work, reasonable shelter and retirement for all, but I don't think we can argue that it is an option to let people suffer and die when we have the resources we have in this country to prevent it. Jesus wasn't tough, and he wasn't a banker or businessman. The Son of God didn't come to us as a prince, politician or wealthy landowner. He comes to us the child of poor wanderers, Palestinian Jews, who cross a border into Egypt to keep him safe at a time of political repression. He travelled with humble people, and the desperate and needy followed him in hordes, and he fed and healed them.

Nations reveal their values in how they tax and then spend that revenue. Our current national budget reflects a high priority in defense or attack on behalf of the business and political interests of Americans or however you understand the use of our military, and then a paltry sum allocated for the development of our infrastructure as a nation and the development of our people increasingly gifted to corporations whose profit we seem to believe will cause justice to magically flow. Hasn't been working. It might be worth remembering that a free market and corporate subsidies are not enshrined anywhere in the Christian tradition, and definitely not in the Bible. It says in Acts that the earliest Christians held their property in common and took and gave to one another as was needed. It is the mark of our faith. And because we inherit the entire text, we have in the Hebrew Scripture/Old Testament a remembrance of God's instruction on how to govern a nation, a nation that would have within it foreigners, workers, the desperately poor, widows and helpless orphans. God who is made incarnate in Jesus says, the test of your devotion to me is to make your nation a place of justice for them.

It might sound a little over simplified, but that's because it's really quite simple in the Bible.

Sister Simone Campbell spoke to those convictions at the heart of our shared tradition in one of our largest political forums. I cried through her talk. What has happened to us as a nation that it is so rare and courageous for a Christian to speak the truth of the Christian tradition in public life and challenge us to do better for the poor? That's kind of the area that nuns (and all the rest of us) are supposed to cover. All that praying takes you to the heart of God they say.

It is rare because Christianity is more commonly cynically used in our political life and has been since the rise of the religious right who would have us believe that followers of Jesus are marked by their homophobia, sexism, assorted other bigotries and slavish commitment to a government subsidized "free" market for the wealthy. I just checked, and that last part is totally not in the Bible.

Remember that time when Jesus went to Gerasene and the man possessed by demons came right up to the boat and cried out to Jesus to let him be, afraid that the demons were inherent to who he was. It says Jesus looked at the man, saw him, seemed to really see him and love him and cried out to the demons to leave him. The demons who were about to be homeless asked that they be sent into an, unfortunately nearby, herd of swine. Jesus did as asked. The poor, possessed swine go nuts and run off of a cliff to their death.

So, how about we take our demons -- those bigoted, fearful, destructive ones that rage in our nation, causing us to tear at our own common body and yet feel like an essential part of us -- and send them over a cliff.

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The Rev. Winnie Varghese is the 13th Rector of St. Mark’s-Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City. She is a native Texan with family roots in the ancient Mar Thoma church of southwest India (State of Kerala). She serves on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church and the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Service Corps. She has been active in peace and justice work as a board member of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and a writer for The Witness magazine and Episcopal Life. She is featured in the Via Media and Living the Questions teaching series. She has served as Episcopal Chaplain at Columbia University and UCLA.