Remembering Tricky Dick

We thought we'd never do any worse than Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.

Yet here we are.

Thanks, Republicans.

You've outdone even yourselves.

Presidential Administrations: A Comparison

Let's compare them, shall we?

Speaks for itself, really.

Two Headlines That Say It All

You've maybe read or heard that the retail chain Toys R Us is going out of business shortly, right? Going bankrupt? It can't keep up with online toy sales so it's having to shut down, right?

With that in mind, check out these two headlines on that subject. They say everything. Here's the first.

Bankruptcy judge approves $14M 

Toys R Us executive bonus payout

And here, here's the second.

31,000 Toys 'R' Us employees: 

No job and no severance

Oh yes.

The deck is stacked, ladies and gentlemen.

And it's stacked, severely, against most of us.

Not done there, here's another beauty.

What scandals? Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan 

gets $4.6M raise

Wells Fargo bank has untold scandals and so, fines, from the government, for scamming their own customers out of millions of dollars but what does the CEO get? 

A huge pay raise.

Because, sure, that makes sense.

You or I would be fired, forget about a raise.

Donald Trump Even Scares People on the Right

From none other than the extreme Right Winger himself, Erick Erickson, yesterday in the Washington Post.

"The president exudes incompetence and instability. Divulging classified information to the Russians through bragging; undermining his staff’s defense of his conduct through inane tweets; even reportedly asking the FBI director to suspend an investigation of a former adviser — all these strike me not so much as malicious but as the ignorant actions of an overwhelmed man. Republicans excuse this behavior as Trump being Trump, but that will only embolden voters who seek greater accountability to choose further change over stability. The sad reality is that the greatest defense of the president available at this point is one his team could never give on the record: He is an idiot who does not know any better."

Read the entire article here:

Here comes the GOP bloodbath

And think happy thoughts, campers.

Link:

The Resurgent | Erick Erickson's Home 

for Conservative Activists

Erick Erickson: Trump's Russia Leak Is 'Far Worse' 

Than Reported

Donald Trump -- Conservatives Should Stand against Him

Erick Erickson - Wikipedia

Bill Maher on the Pope, Part II

And this is where it gets really funny.  And true:

Here's your "Catholic Education" for you

So many of us don't know our history:

Catholic Church enslaved 30,000 Irish women in Magdalene Laundries until 1996

From the article:

The Irish Prime Minister gave a partial apology today for the government’s role in a 74-year scandal in which, a new official government report says, over 10,000 women were forced to work without pay at commercial laundries called Magdalene Laundries, operated by the Catholic Church for “crimes” as small as not paying a train ticket.

Wikipedia notes that the estimate of the number of women who were used as forced slave labor by the Catholic Church in Ireland alone goes as high as 30,000 over the entire time the Magdalene laundries were in operation.

The last Magdalene laundry closed in 1996.

Women were locked in, couldn’t leave Magdalene Laundries for months, sometimes years

The women were locked in and not permitted to leave.  And if they tried to get away, the cops would catch them and bring them back. They were quite literally Catholic slave labor working for the government and even Guinness, which would pay the laundries for the women’s slave labor.

Half of the girls enslaved in these Catholic Church prisons were under the age of 23.  The youngest entrant was 9 years old.

Singer Sinead O’Connor was perhaps the most famous Magdalene Laundry slave

Singer Sinead O’Connor was forced to work in a Magdalene Laundry in Dublin:

When I was a young girl, my mother — an abusive, less-than-perfect parent — encouraged me to shoplift. After being caught once too often, I spent 18 months in An Grianán Training Centre, an institution in Dublin for girls with behavioral problems, at the recommendation of a social worker. An Grianán was one of the now-infamous church-sponsored “Magdalene laundries,” which housed pregnant teenagers and uncooperative young women. We worked in the basement, washing priests’ clothes in sinks with cold water and bars of soap. We studied math and typing. We had limited contact with our families. We earned no wages. One of the nuns, at least, was kind to me and gave me my first guitar.

This, however, is, for me, the most difficult to believe and hardest to forgive them for:

No apology from the Catholic Church

Absent from any of the media reports on the scandal that I could find was an apology from the Catholic Church which operated the Magdalene laundries and made handsome profits from contracts with government and hotels.  Oh, found one. It seems the Catholic Church blew the women off.  I know, you’re as surprised as I am:

Victims of the child sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Irish Catholic Church have received an apology and compensation, but no one has taken responsibility for what happened in the laundries. Cardinal Sean Brady, the most senior Catholic cleric in Ireland, met with Justice for Magdalenes in 2010. He said “by today’s standards much of what happened at that time is difficult to comprehend” but that it was a matter for the religious orders who ran the laundries to deal with. The religious orders have declined to meet the women.

The Irish Cardinal wasn’t interested in hearing from people who were hurt and abused — if not sexually, certainly physically and mentally, by the Catholic Church.  And it’s not the Catholic Church’s fault. 

 Where have we heard that story before?

The laundries were run by nuns, many of whom treated the women sent to work there as slaves:

Senator McAleese’s inquiry found that half of the girls and women put to work in the laundries were under the age of 23 and 40%, more than 4,000, spent more than a year incarcerated.

Fifteen percent spent more than five years in the laundries while the average stay was calculated at seven months.

The youngest death on record was 15, and the oldest 95, the report found.

The Irish state is also implicated in the scandal because the police would take women to the asylums after arresting them for trivial offenses and would return runaways.

The story of the Magdalene laundries shows what happens when an institution — in this case the church and the government — is considered beyond criticism. It probably isn’t a coincidence that the last of the laundries closed in 1996, shortly after the first wave of the Catholic pedophile priest scandals hit Ireland.

Let me reiterate that for a moment.  The Catholic Church had slaves as late as 1996.

There is more to the article, too. There are women's brief accounts of what was done to them. It would be worth our time to go the the original article so we all know more of what happened. 

The world needs to know what happened, we need to never forget and we need to make sure things remotely like this are ended and that they're not repeated, of course, ever.

The atheist's take on a new pope

And they make good, valid points:

"Some of you are asking why we care about the papal election. The reason we care is that even though we are vehemently against the overall aims and practices of the Catholic Church, the Church does have a huge influence in the world for many, many people.

If the Church were to change its stance on condom use, for example, many people would be saved from death in AIDS-ridden regions of the world. If the Church were to change its stance on stem-cell research, much wonderful scientific research could receive more funding. If the Catholic Church were to change its stance on birth control, many abortions could be avoided. If the Church were to change its stance on abortion, access to abortion would be easier for everyone. If the Church were to change its stance that only men can become priests, this is step toward equality for women.

Not a single one of these issues is explicitly discussed in the Bible, and the Church's stance on them is completely dependent on papal interpretation. And these are just some of the issues we, as atheist activists, care about."

For anyone open to a different viewpoint than the more common and already well-known and accepted.

The Star gets some national/international exposure from NPR

It broke today, due to some Pope coverage, in this story:

5 Things About Popes And Their Names; Like, Why Do They Change Them?

It's not required, but it's almost surely going to happen:

The man chosen to be the next pope will choose a new name — one other than what he was born with.

So, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla. And so on back through history.

How far back? That's one of the 5 things we'll try to explain.

1. Who started this tradition? The Kansas City Star reports in a story headlined "What's In A Name? A Lot If You're A Pope," that it apparently began with "Mercurius, named for the god Mercury," who in 533 changed his name to John II. "A pope named after a pagan god — that wasn't going to go over, PR-wise," Biagio Mazza, a church educator and historian in Kansas City, tells the Star

There's some good material in the piece, too, if you haven't already seen it.

The author and his article maybe got unintentionally, unknowingly prophetic with one of his observations when he said this:

"Choosing a name that has never been used would throw everyone for a loop. Surprisingly, there has never been a Francis or Joseph"  Dennis Coday, editor of the National Catholic Reporter said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/03/11/4114513/whats-in-a-name-a-lot-if-youre.html#storylink=cpy

So kudos to the Star.  Keep up the good writing and reporting.

Please.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/03/11/4114513/whats-in-a-name-a-lot-if-youre.html#storylink=cpy

In response to Bottom Line Communications attack on the Star and Lee Judge

Normally, on all things media, I've found I agree with Bottom Line Communications. That is, when they stick to unbiased appraisals of media. But last week, they couldn't analyze the local paper, the Kansas City Star, without apparently having their own Catholic sympathies and affiliations thrown in:

KC STAR’S HATRED OF CATHOLIC FAITH CONTINUES 

John Landsberg

It seems as if when Kansas City Star cartoonist Lee Judge starts running out of creative ideas for his cartoons he falls back on old faithful:  the Catholic Church.

Just last month Judge was blasted locally and nationally for a cartoon that many people felt was horribly offensive that made fun of an American war hero who was killed at a gun range.  Navy Seal Kris Kyle’s death was used to extol Judge’s anti-gun agenda.

That cartoon caused so many  Star cancellations that the McClatchy-owned paper, which is fighting to stay in business, begged subscribers not to cancel. National talk show host Glenn Beck railed against the newspaper over the cartoon.

The national Newsbusters site called that Judge cartoon “wholly insensitive, and a craven attempt to smear an American hero who was tragically slain by a fellow veteran whom he was helping cope with  PTSD.”

Star editorial page editor Miriam Pepper was forced to try and defend Judge’s cartoon, insinuating that people simply weren’t intelligent enough to understand the cartoon and stressed “there was no intention to disrespect Kris Kyle.”

Star Readers’ Representative Derek Donovan took readers to task for their nasty responses to Judge’s cartoon.  “Most of them were profane and many directly threatened violence to Judge or his editors,” he noted.

However, while the newspaper is still reeling from the Navy Seal cartoon fallout, Judge has now taken aim at a familiar topic of hate: Catholics.

In December, he penned a cartoon that was clearly offensive to Catholics that made fun of the Pope and the fact he was opening a Twitter account.

Judge’s cartoon then asked: “Why did the man with archaic views on women, gays, birth control, sex, marriage, health care and child molestation open a Twitter account?” 

Underneath a picture of the Pope, Judge answered his own question with: “He wants to keep up with the times.”

On Saturday, Judge, whose children reportedly attended Catholic schools, compared the Vatican to the Mafia. Yes, in his mind, members of the Catholic church are no different than the mafia.

In one panel is a guy labeled as “Mafia” with the caption: “Name the organization known for back-stabbing, intrigue and scandal…” followed by a cartoon of the Pope labeled as the “Vatican” with the caption “Try Again.”

A local journalism professor, who happens to be Catholic, said Judge’s latest anti-Catholic cartoon has again crossed a line.

“I know it’s spitting against the wind, but it’s time to call out Lee Judge again for his offensive cartoon, comparing the Catholic Church to the Mafia,” he said. “I’m sure his defenders like Miriam Pepper believe such cartoons help launch the “painful but necessary conversation that leads to ‘healing’”(fill in the stock phrase issue).”

The professor has asked Facebook friends to comment on the cartoon.

“Let me know why it’s okay to compare the Church to the Mafia, in a most derogatory fashion,” he noted. “Yes, I love the first amendment, so save that response.”

With the Star’s notorious reputation for attacking the Catholic church over the years Judge knows he is on safe ground.  He pretty much knows he has a green light on that topic.

It’s not like he is defaming an American hero who won two Silver Stars defending his country. The Catholic Church is fair game.

Ironically, the Kansas City Star’s faith section featured two other major articles: One was critical of the Catholic faith and the other supported Wiccans and the fact that commentator Tucker Carlson had to apologize for his negative comments about that ”religion.”

The issue arose since the University of Missouri now allows Wiccans and Pagan students to use their beliefs to get out of taking exams. One would think that that issue would be fair game for a cartoon.
For Judge and the Star it is easier–and safer—to attack the largest Christian faith in the world.

The irony is that in a few years when the newspaper shuts its doors it will wonder how it happened.
______________________________________________

So, my response:

KC Star's hatred of Catholic faith my eye. That is pathetic.

They report the news. Fine. Shoot the messenger but how ridiculous.

You're blaming the Star, then, for reporting that one of their priests sexually abused children of the church.

You're blaming the Star for reporting that Bishop Finn and his office shipped him off to other parishes, to protect him.

You're blaming the Star for reporting that Bishop Finn was found guilty in a court of law.

Etc., etc.

It's the Star's fault.

Right.

Got it.

Except it's not the Star's fault for reporting the news and Lee Judge? Lee Judge is a political/social commentator--through cartoons and comics.

Come on, you cover media and communications. Even though, apparently, you're Catholic, you should still get that. Shame on you. Be an adult. Grow up. The Catholic Church is wrong. They're wrong now, here, on the whole Bishop Finn situation and mocking the pope, now, is beyond fair.

For instance, as just yet one more example of ugly, ugly developments in the news about and from the Catholic Church, this is hitting only this morning:

Following Resignation, Top British Cardinal Acknowledges Sexual Misconduct

So, what? Is the Star not to report on these things? That seems to be Bottom Line's take on it all.

BL doesn't want to own up to the Catholic Church's sexual abuses, across the planet, in nation after nation, and for centuries but those are the facts.

We're all tired--very tired--of it, too.

So if you want to push for some change, push for your own Catholic Church to change and own up to their responsibilities, especially to their children, their students, and to the parents and families of their own churches.

As for Mr. Landsberg's issue with Mr. Judge's cartoon about the American soldier getting shot, he clearly never heard of "Live by the sword, die by the sword" and doesn't know what it means.

The only thing as bad as BL Communications petulant Catholic rant here are the comments afterward.

I happen to know that the responses to the post were edited to take out at least one that strongly disagreed with Mr. Landsberg's positions. He wouldn't even post mine, therefore, this post.

As for Muslims and the Star's reporting on them?

Uh, they do. They report bombings of Muslims on Muslims all the time.

Seems anyone should be able to read that, too, and notice it.

The long and short of this is that, for all the Catholics out there who feel they're being victimized from the outside because of the sexual abuse scandals--the world over, for centuries--and the criticisms of them, especially since the Catholic Church repeatedly covered them up and protected the male hierarchy instead of the children, we have to only say, to Catholics, clean up that mess, demand that your leaders within the Catholic Church stop the abuse and cover-ups and the criticisms will go away.

Not soon enough, of course, but they will go away.

Finally.

Catholics: Remember the upheaval of Vatican II?

I was a child in the early 60's when Vatican II took place and I'll never forget the effect it had on our Mother at the time.

She and our Dad were both huge, faithful Catholic followers at that point. Everything that was the Catholic Church, they had been taught and they bought off on, hook, line and sinker--and I'm not mocking it here, let me be clear.

For everything you have ever known and believed in and for everything you've ever been told was solid ground, so to speak, all of a sudden to be knocked out from under you, it was very disorienting, first, for her, as I understand, and second, I think she felt, believed and/or found out that all this that was supposedly so "in concrete" was, actually, arbitrary and man-made.

And the thing is, she was far, far from alone.

Great numbers of Catholics were disoriented by Vatican II, as we discovered.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, I bring this up now because I think that, if Catholics the world over are paying attention, there is actually a great deal--a great deal--of change going on with and in the Catholic Church, most especially pertaining to the Pope and his role in the last 8 years.

But it's also change and changes and disillusionment due to the Church's worldwide sexual abuse scandals, both in these nations around the world, separately, but also right there in and at the Vatican and Rome.

What I'm saying is that there are huge changes going on in and coming to the Catholic Church and this is almost the worst kind because they aren't planned in any way, far from it, they're out of control, if even half of what is written about the Church lately is true and finally, because it is change that is being forced on the Church again, from outside, by governments and other bodies.

So stay tuned, folks, because it already is a bumpy ride and it's going to be far, far more than just "a bumpy night."

I will say this, tough--one way the Catholic Church could somewhat--somewhat--vindicate itself is if, from this list of potential candidates for Pope, according to CNN just now:

 

Wouldn't it be incredible if the Catholic Church elected a black Pop?

 

Talk about change.

 

Wow.

But no, there's nothing to those rumors about the Pope and his sudden resignation

The Pope resigns, suddenly, rather shockingly--the first time one has done so in what? 600 years and there are rumors of accusations and scandals but no, no, there's nothing wrong or going on behind the scenes, no, certainly not.

Except again, very suddenly and abruptly, there's this shocker this morning:

Cardinal Keith O'Brien Resigns Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations

So, the 85 year old Pope resigns, suddenly, shockingly, all of a sudden, going against deep set, very long term, centuries old Catholic rules and law and tradition, even though he looks pretty darned healthy and after all, it's got to be one of the cushiest jobs on the planet and now, as the entire Catholic Church is gearing up for one of their most important jobs, internally, that of electing a new Pope when, again, all of a sudden, a Cardinal--one of the few people on the planet who are supposed to do this oh-so-important task YET HE HAS TO RESIGN, ABRUPTLY, JUST BEFORE THIS CONCLAVE? 

And nothing's wrong inside the Church?

Nothing's going on?

We're supposed to believe that?

And he's not the only Cardinal of the Church, either, who's beset with or by some scandal--sexual, at that, oh, no.

The BBC says that:

"The resignation of Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the wake of allegations of improper behavior creates a crisis for the Church in Scotland, and represents a heavy blow to the wider Church as it battles to shore up its reputation ahead of the papal election or 'conclave.' The conclave is already expected to be difficult in the circumstances created by Pope Benedict's unprecedented resignation. The Vatican is also struggling to deal with reports of internal corruption and mismanagement."

Then there's Cardinal Roger Mahoney and his sexual abuse cover up. This article from a Catholic media outlet:

Cardinal Mahony hit hard by document release

And these, also from Catholic media sources, not "outside attackers":

Catholics urge Cardinal Mahony to "Stay home" during Papal Conclave next month

 

Italian prelate hopes Cardinal Mahony will stay home from conclave

 

And then there's also this Cardinal and his problems: 

N.Y. cardinal questioned in Milwaukee sex-abuse cases  

 

Finally, at least here, today, lest anyone think this is rather "small potatoes" within the Church, this is how bid a deal this is:

Pope changes Church law

 

To react to this seeming scandal, The Pope is having to change internal, centuries-old Catholic law, just to get done what he and his no doubt closest advisors feel needs to be done so they can get beyond the scandals as quickly as possible and sweep everything under a figurative rug.

It very much reminds me of the line from "The Wizard of Oz":

 

"PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!"

Anyone who knows me, at least anyone who knows me closely (or follows me on Facebook, heaven forbid--no pun intended) knows I think we should Sell the Vatican, Feed The World!

The latest on the Pope--and possible scandal

From Slate magazine on an Italian media source:

You know what the sudden, surprising, once-every-700-years story of the pope’s resignation needed? What every dramatic story line does: a gay blackmail twist. And so the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica this week reports on a very tangled web that claims to have brought down a pope, under the irresistible headline “Sex and career, blackmail in the Vatican: Behind the resignation of Benedict XVI.” It’s like “Pretty Little Liars” for octogenarians.

The paper says that Benedict made his decision to step down on Dec. 17, just one day after he received a revealing 300-page dossier from a trio of elderly cardinals. He’d assigned them to investigate last year’s scandal involving a slew of leaked confidential Vatican documents and letters that purported to show corruption and internal conflict within the Holy See.  The “Vatileaks” mess was just another of the embarrassments the church has faced during Benedict’s reign — including a money laundering investigation and record-breaking settlements in sex abuse lawsuits. But the leaks were a particularly personal humiliation to the pontiff — the documents in question had allegedly been stolen by his own butler Paolo Gabriele. Gabriele later told investigators he released the documents “for the good of the Church.” “I was sure that a shock, perhaps by using the media, could be a healthy thing to bring the Church back on the right track,” he explained in his earnest pretrial testimony.

Now, La Repubblica says that the trio of cardinals, who’ve been looking into the matter since last year, revealed to the pope a faction within the Vatican “united by sexual orientation” that had been subject to “external influence” of a “worldly nature.” (The paper helpfully explains this is Vatican-speak for blackmail.) A source it says is close to the cardinals who prepared the report told La Repubblica, with equal poetic obscurity, “Everything revolves around the non-observance of the sixth and seventh commandments.”

The Vatican has neither confirmed nor denied the newspaper story, though skeptics in the more pro-Benedict camp have been quick to question it. Writing in the Irish Independent, Gerard O’Connell said the conspiracy accusations made “Dan Brown look like an amateur” – even while acknowledging that rumors of “the existence of a gay lobby and blackmail” have swirled around the Vatican for years.

It just keeps getting juicier and juicier.

The Pope is lucky, that's for sure.  All he'll have to do is stay within the marble mansion that is the Vatican and no government, authorities or police should be able to touch him.

It will interesting to see if the world ever really learns the truth and if so, the sooner the better.

More links:  Money, Sex Scandal May Be Linked to Pope's Resignation

Papal resignation linked to inquiry into 'Vatican gay officials'

 

Vatican scandal cited in Pope resignation

 

Italian Paper: Benedict Quit Amid Cardinal Scandal

And the Republicans are now upset about the Benhazi attack?

Click on picture for easier reading

Too many Republicans have been raising a ruckus about the Benghazi attack wherein an ambassador and others were killed and trying to hold this Obama administration in general but the President, in specific, accountable for it.

They seem to completely forget or disregard the above.

Links: Questions and Answers on the Benghazi Attack - NYTimes.com

Republican obsession with Benghazi makes no sense - CNN.com

Republican Sen. McCain claims ‘massive cover-up’ on Benghazi

More rumblings of scandal with the Pope

Links to some of the stories:

Did child sex abuse scandals end a papacy?

On Monday, February 11th, Pope Benedict XVI informed the world he would be resigning his papacy effective February 28th, 2013 citing declining health as his reason for stepping down. This highly unusual act of abdication has only happened five times in history and only once has failing health been cited as the reason as all Pope’s generally die in office. (Pope Benedict’s resignation brings end to paradoxical papacy)

But another possible reason has surfaced; the unprecedented number of cases of child sexual abuse by priests that have hit the Vatican since Pope Benedict XVI became pontiff in 2005. Speculation abounds on this possibility after the February 2nd airing of a documentary on HBO by filmmaker Alex Gibney; Mea Maxima Culpa.

from-conspiracy-theory-to-fact-pope-seeks-immunity

In Did Child Sex Scandals End a Papacy?, I outlined a long list of evidential information regarding child sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church specifically related to being under the jurisdiction of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger/soon-to-be-ex-Pope Bendedict XVI.

The information painted a twisted, sordid trail and seeming cover-up all the way to his desk.

Some claimed it was an interesting ‘conspiracy’ theory, however, as of February 14th, a new report has emerged out of the Vatican that Pope Benedict is seeking immunity from the Italian government from prosecution for complicity in those child sex abuse cases and more.

AllVoices.com reports that the International Tribunal Into Crimes of Church and State cites a letter directed to the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano referencing the Pope’s scheduled meeting with him set for February 23, 2013 where he will formally request protection from prosecution and immunity for what the ITCCS calls “his proven complicity in concealing child trafficking in his church and other crimes against humanity”.

Why did the pope really resign? Child sex crimes, lies and pleas for immunity (video

When I heard that the pope was resigning because of failing health, I almost laughed out loud but this laughter was not one with mirth -- rather, it was loaded with heavy sarcasm.

You see Pope Benedict, the Catholic Church and I go way back, for I have long been in awe of their power and high hypocrisy — so much in awe, that I’ve written several articles on their massive, wide-reaching cover-up on child sex abuse, their stance on birth control, abortions, HIV-AIDS and capitalism.

As the general media blanketed televisions, newspapers and the Internet with wall to wall coverage -- almost canonizing the Pontiff and showing faithful followers weeping at their infallible leader leaving — I started digging.

The Catholic Church has over a billion in its fold, with the Vatican wielding incredible power and wealth. For centuries Vatican City has been above the law and child molesting priests, untouchable. Until recently, when the angry roar of victims started to rumble across the globe, which some law makers couldn’t ignore anymore. A few child molesting priests started facing prosecution instead of the usual solution of "reshuffling" the church had previously used — moving those criminal monsters from parish to parish, where they continued to hurt children.

So when a pope suddenly resigns with a 600 year gap between the last, we know health doesn’t have anything to do with it. If the Catholic Church upholds nothing else, they cling to tradition religiously. (Pun unintended).

For additional links from this article, just above:

Pope Secrets Come To Light After Resignation Bombshell

Pope accused of crimes against humanity - Telegraph

This one from NBC News:

'Woefully inadequate' or a 'great reformer': Child sex abuse

Then, on top of all that, another, different scandal broke today:

German appointed to head scandal-hit Vatican bank

(Reuters) - The Vatican appointed a German lawyer to head its bank on Friday, but the bid to turn the fortunes of the scandal-hit institution was clouded by his business links to a military shipbuilder.

We shall see what we shall see, in all cases.

The Pope's last mass? Already?

The Pope quits on---what?--the 12th of February, suddenly, announcing he'd be out a the end of the month, February, 2013--two weeks later, roughly. The first pope to do so in 600 years. 

Wow.

Then, he gives his last Catholic service, his last mass, on the 13th.

He still has two weeks to go to the end of his service.

Another wow.

I have to think he's either terminally ill with a very short time fuse on it or something fishy--terribly fishy--at the Vatican.

This is what bears watching:

Pope Benedict Resigned to Avoid Arrest, Seizure of Church Wealth by Easter

Supposedly, there may be an announcement tomorrow, Friday, February 15.

We shall see.

In the meantime, in the development of this whole story, there's this:

 

Pope's Resignation May Make International Prosecution Easier

 

As Alice said, it keeps getting curioser and curioser.

Link: Pope Celebrates Last Public Mass as Pontiff

On the demise of the American newspaper

"We draw ever closer to the once-unthinkable day when some major American city has no newspaper whatsoever."

That quote is from a column by Leonard Pitts, Jr. of the Miami Herald newspaper this past Saturday. (Link, as usual, below).

When this happens--heaven forbid, though it seems as though it's going to happen--that a city or cities across America won't have newspapers, it will not just be a sad day for that city or those cities and even America, it will be a tragic day, a dangerous day for all of us.

When there aren't reporters to ferret out stories about our government representatives or our government overall, we will lose yet more power in our societies.

When those newspapers aren't there to pay those reporters to search out stories about our corporations and what business is doing in private, with or without those same government representatives and/or institutions, we will be a weak people, indeed.

There are other problems and losses, too, like the fact that newspapers could and frequently did give us both sides of an issue and the fact that we all had a common basis--that newspaper--from which to draw our common background, whether we accepted or believed it all or not.

So go ahead, make fun of your local newspaper or reporters or what have you. Tbey may not be great, they may not be perfect, they may not be what they once were but they gave us what information we would not otherwise have gotten.

It may have been some backroom deal. Some "sweetheart deal." Some illegal or even just unfair or unethical one.

But without that newspaper and without their payroll and without, again, those reporters, we know nothing.

Or we run that risk, surely and simply.

Link to original article: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/23/2863825/these-are-not-ordinary-times-for.html#morer