No way to run a government

 

And no way to run a nation.

Insanity.

And this is a good idea somehow?

 

How many guns, America? How many murders?

 

Links:  Edward Flynn makes spirited call for assault weapons ban

 

Citizen Dave: Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn puts Lindsey Graham in his place

Chief Edward Flynn cites shooting, repeats call for assault weapons ban

 



Separate and decidedly unequal

For yet more of America's penchant for favoring the wealthy, even more than human nature would have it, we need only look no further than technology in the country:

Unequal Internet Access "Widening the Gap" Between Rich and Poor

There's a shock, huh? Anyway, a bit from the article:

As many schools are racing to adopt the latest technologies—tablets, e-readers, cell phones—in their classrooms, low income students and poorly funded school districts are being left in the dust. A survey of middle and high school teachers released Thursday found that the growing gap in internet access between rich and poor students is leading to increasingly troubling disparities in education.

 

(Photo: audio luci store via Flickr)  

Published by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the survey found that only 3 percent of students in low income families have access to the internet at home through a computer or mobile device; the number rises to 20 percent for middle income children and half for those in higher income families.

According to the report, teachers in urban areas are the least likely to say their students have sufficient access to digital tools in school, compared to rural teachers who are least likely to say their students have sufficient access at home.

The respondents admitted that this growing disparity in access is leading to a gap in performance, with over half saying that "today's digital technologies are widening the gap between the most and least academically successful students."

All this is exacerbated, too, by the fact that today's American media firms have bought and paid for our legislators in Congress to give them what they want, too, so if you want access to the internet you have to pay for it, or course, as we know, but worse--much worse--if you want fast internet, you have to pay MORE for that, as well.

This does nothing, clearly, but set a huge and widening chasm between those with money and assets and computers and access to the internet--and everyone else, worst of all the poor, of course, but even the middle class.

As the old saying and song go, "Them what has, gets."



The next time someone says the poor are just lazy, I may hit them.

Isn't Capitalism wonderful?

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.

Entitlements???

Entitlements?

Social Security?

I don't think so.

Could we have a new, far more accurate term for this?

Please?

A roundup of two definitions of the term entitlement. First from Wikipedia, there's this:

An entitlement is a guarantee of access to benefits based on established rights or by legislation. A "right" is itself an entitlement associated with a moral or social principle, such that an "entitlement" is a provision made in accordance with legal framework of a society. Typically, entitlements are laws based on concepts of principle ("rights") which are themselves based in concepts of social equality or enfranchisement.

In a casual sense, the term "entitlement" refers to a notion or belief that one (or oneself) is deserving of some particular reward or benefit^[1]—if given without deeper legal or principled cause, the term is often given with pejorative connotation (e.g. a "sense of entitlement").

Next is this, from Merriam-Webster Online:

1 a : the state or condition of being entitled : right

 b : a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract

2 : a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group; also : funds supporting or distributed by such a program

3 : belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges
 

I think we all agree on the use and usage of the original term "entitlement" and entitlements, certainly.

What I don't think we believe is that Social Security, especially, since we've paid into it our entire working lives, most of us, is an entitlement.  Not only is Social Security not an entitlement, we don't feel "entitled" to them, not at all. We expect them, yes, precisely because we did pay into them, we sacrificed for them, paycheck by paycheck but we don't "feel entitled" to them in the same way as this sounds or as is the common use of the term.

A solution shouldn't be that difficult.
 

Now, comes Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, today, speaking on the Right Wing's and Republican's desire to do away with the Voting Rights Act of 1964:
 

Scalia: renewing Voting Rights Act a 'perpetuation of racial entitlement'

To which I can only respond to Justice Scalia by saying that yes, all the races in the nation do, in fact, expect and feel entitled to fairness and being able to vote and not racism, yes, all kinds of things.

Sheesh

Difficult we have to say these things, isn't it?

Especially to someone on the highest judicial court in the nation.

More on the Catholic Church's gay hypocrisy

First Andrew Sullivan and others call out the Pope for his boyfriend (which I reported on yesterday) and now this from Newsweek:

Rome' s Subculture of Gay Priests Rocks the Vatican

 

For residents of Rome, the sight of courting priests is hardly an anomaly. But a recent exposé is rocking the Catholic Church

In the basement dining room of Le Mani In Pasta, a trattoria in central Rome, a young, glossy-eyed couple stare at each other across a table for two. They smile and blush over a private joke. There is no handholding or kissing, but they are clearly more than friends, even though they are both wearing dark shirts and the telltale white clerical collar.

For residents of Rome, the sight of courting priests is hardly an anomaly. The phenomenon is a well-known secret here, and one that was largely ignored until last weekend, when the Italian weekly magazine Panorama published a shocking exposé called “Le Notti Brave Dei Preti Gay,” or “Good Nights Out for Gay Priests.” Investigative journalist Carmelo Abbate spent 20 days undercover posing as the boyfriend of a man who ran in gay clerical circles, secretly videotaping the sexual escapades of three Rome-based priests. Abbate caught the priests on hidden camera dirty dancing at private parties and engaging in sex acts with male escorts on church property. He also caught them emerging from dark bedrooms in time to celebrate mass. In one postcoital scene, “Father Carlo” parades around seminaked, wearing only his clerical vestments. Abbate’s “date” even had sex with one of the priests to corroborate the story. “This is not about homosexuality,” Abbate, who is not gay, told NEWSWEEK. “This is about private vices and public virtues. This is about serious hypocrisy in the Catholic Church.”
 

If you read the entire Newsweek  article, you'll find it pretty fascinating.

Not to be done there, amazingly enough, there's another, too:

Did A Cross-Dressing Priest Sex Ring Bring Down Benedict XVI?

Of all the rumors floating around about just why Pope Benedict XVI is hanging up his camauro, one has taken on a life of its own. According to several well-placed vaticanisti—or Vatican experts—in Rome, Benedict is resigning after being handed a secret red-covered dossier that included details about a network of gay priests who work inside the Vatican, but who play in secular Rome. The priests, it seems, are allegedly being blackmailed by a network of male prostitutes who worked at a sauna in Rome’s Quarto Miglio district, a health spa in the city center, and a private residence once entrusted to a prominent archbishop. The evidence reportedly includes compromising photos and videos of the prelates—sometimes caught on film in drag, and, in some cases, caught “in the act.”

If you're Catholic, you'll likely find both articles shocking and surprising.

One of my favorite quotes from these articles and that keeps getting repeated is this:

“This is not about homosexuality,” Abbate told The Daily Beast when he published the exposé. “This is about private vices and public virtues. This is about serious hypocrisy in the Catholic Church.”

That second article. above, gets even more provocative in its description of what may have taken place even than the first.

Someone by the pseudonym "gardgengirl" wrote the following comment after the 2nd article:

the catholic church...

quite possibly the single, most corrupt organization on the planet.

highly cunning, they created a facade to hide their double lives behind.

raised a catholic, i saw the sham at about age 14.

at its core, it's a secret society for sexually perverted, greedy men.

hello?

virgin birth? ruby slippers & brocade gowns? women excluded from the hierarchy? altar boys galore?

a sovereign country unto itself? stolen riches, properties, & art?  tax-exempt status?

a genius, tho evil, concept that  lasted for centuries, until the internet came along.

And who, at this point, can be certain she's completely wrong?

In case you're not done there, there is another article here:

 

Conspiracy Theories: Why Did the Pope Really Quit?
 

And then there's this, too, that broke last evening:

 

Vatican 'knew of Cardinal O'Brien claims'

Curiouser and couriouser, indeed.

JJ's Restaurant Benefit and Silent Auction

 

 

There is another fundraiser coming up this coming Tuesday evening at 7 pm at Uptown Hall (formerly Uptown Theater) at 3700 Broadway.

It is sponsored by the official "Friends of JJ's" group and is to be a  "a party with JJ’s Restaurant owners, staff, patrons and friends in support of JJ's employees impacted by a devastating fire Feb. 19, 2013. Hosted by former Chiefs player Eddie Kennison and KCTV5’s Kelly Jones, attendees will enjoy food and drink from area restaurants while listening to live music on multiple stages and browsing a silent auction with a number of items from local merchants."

According to the press release:

Proceeds will benefit the immediate needs of JJ’s staff and employees impacted by the Plaza fire, as well as create a fund in honor of Megan Cramer, a JJ’s colleague who died in the Feb. 19 fire.

Tickets to the March 5 Benefit go on sale Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.

And here's the great thing. Tickets to attend are only $10 for most of us working-class schmucks. It's an excellent way to be able to support this group affordably.

For those with more money and/or capabilities and for companies and corporations in town, there are yet more ways to help. Other ticket level groups are as follows:

Trésor Club - $500 – includes on-site event concierge, VIP door entry, secured parking, early access to silent auction at 6pm, access to private bar (complimentary food and beverages), super-premium seating, and commemorative poster.

Sabre Club - $200 – includes VIP door entry, access to private bar (complimentary food and beverages), premium seating, and commemorative poster.

The Locker Room - $100 – includes seating, two drink tickets, and commemorative poster.

So by all means, folks, let's be sure to put this on our calendars and get down to the Uptown to help these people.

And have a great time, at the same time.

For more information visit Friends of JJ's | Facebook, or contact Andrea Shores at friendsofjjs@gmail.com or 646.378.9885.

Thank you, in advance, for your contributions.

Additional links:  www.uptowntheater.com, index - Kansas City

Read more here: http://pressreleases.kcstar.com/release/messages/39652/#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://pressreleases.kcstar.com/release/messages/39652/#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://pressreleases.kcstar.com/release/messages/39652/#storylink=cpy