The Pope, flying pigs and the MSM...

New York City, N.Y., Mar 31, 2010 / 02:33 pm (CNA).- Reacting to the slew of articles from media outlets attempting to incriminate Pope Benedict in past clerical sex abuse cases, the New York Daily News published an editorial today calling for a fair analysis of the facts about the Pope’s involvement with such cases.

Using extremely direct diction, the Daily News’ editorial states that “with certainty,” the belief that Pope Benedict enabled a pedophile priest to inflict great harm is “false.”

The editorial then refers to a recent column by the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, stating that she “took the accusations against the Pope, whose given name is Joseph Ratzinger, to their most extreme.”

Dowd’s commentary called the events surrounding the case of Milwaukee’s Fr. Lawrence Murphy “sickening news” and claimed that the then-Cardinal Ratzinger “ignored repeated warnings and looked away.”

“Again, and with certainty,” the Daily News writes, “This is false.”

The Daily News does concede that “there is much to criticize in the Catholic Church's abysmal failure for decades to take action against priests who engaged in sexual abuse. That history tends to lend credence to reports that the hierarchy has either turned a blind eye or engaged in coverups.” However, the editorial is quick to assert that, “While the Murphy case does exemplify the church at its worst, the grievous sins in this matter cannot be laid to Pope Benedict.”

As the Daily News’ editorial details the circumstances regarding Fr. Murphy’s habits of offending, it notes that his first crimes occurred in the 1950’s and continued until the church forced him into “temporary sick leave.”

“Those crimes, dating back half a century, took place decades before Ratzinger rose to high church positions in Europe. He could not have ignored repeated warnings, nor could he have looked away. He not on the scene at all,” the editorial asserts.

After analyzing the subsequent events in the Murphy case, the Daily News poses the question, “What exactly did then-Cardinal Ratzinger do wrong?”

“His office approved the trial and waived the statue of limitations. Those are not the makings of a coverup. At the same time, it's fair game to debate whether his office should have considered for a moment a plea deal, even on the verge of Murphy's death. But that's a far cry from vilifying Benedict as a man who took no action in the face of Murphy's evil or many years later tried to paper it over,” the editorial concludes.

Tony Romo = one classy guy...

(H/T to Creative Minority Report for this one) Found at http://www.postandcourier.com/;

In the eyes of one Lowcountry family, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo earned his star last Saturday at the Azalea Invitational golf tournament at the Country Club of Charleston.

Robbie Assey, a longtime Cowboys fan, got a hat autographed by Romo and later scored some personal time with his hero after Romo had finished competing in the tournament.

Assey, who is 60 years old and has Down syndrome, lives at Sandpiper Assisted Living in Mount Pleasant. He has a brother, Tim, and sister, Jane, who both live in Mount Pleasant. Another brother, Jim, lives in Columbia. The three siblings rotate weekends "having fun with Robbie." Tim said Robbie is a sports nut who enjoys the Dallas Cowboys, the South Carolina Gamecocks and playing golf.

The genesis of his meeting with Romo goes back several months when Tim took Robbie to Bulls Bay Golf Club for an afternoon of golf that included Bill Smunk, a past winner of both the S.C. Amateur and S.C. Senior Amateur.

"When I met Robbie, he had a Dallas Cowboys hat on, so I asked if he was a Cowboys fan," Smunk recalled. "His answer was 'Tony Romo, No. 9, 318 yards.' He knew exactly what Tony Romo had done the weekend before. I asked if he liked Tony Romo and he said, 'I love Tony Romo.' I put that in the back of my mind, and thought if Tony played in the Azalea this year, maybe we could get an autographed hat or something."

On Saturday morning, Smunk handed a hat to tournament chairman David Humphreys and asked if he could secure an autograph. Later that day as Smunk prepared to leave the course, he saw Robbie and Jim walking across the parking lot and handed the hat to Robbie, who proudly popped it onto his head. Romo had already finished his round, but Smunk told them if they waited near the outside staircase at the Country Club of Charleston, Romo might come by on his way out.

Minutes later, Humphreys walked up and spotted Robbie with his new hat.

"I asked, 'Is your name Robbie?' Then I told him to come with me. I opened the door to the card room and said, 'Why don't you go in there and say hello to Tony Romo?' He goes in there and grabs Tony around the legs and starts hugging him and won't turn loose. I think he was crying. I know the room got misty-eyed," Humphreys said. "It was one of the most heartwarming things I've ever been through. There wasn't a dry eye in there as far as I could tell. It was just a happy time."

Tony, who was having lunch with his father and some friends, invited Robbie and Jim to sit down and join them while they had lunch. For the next 30 minutes, Tony and Robbie talked football and golf, with Robbie offering Tony a few football tips and recounting some Cowboys history.

"He tells Robbie that the Cowboys are going to have a better year next year," Jim said, "And Rob jumps up and shows him how you throw the ball. Tony is a very young man, but he's a super human being because he took time with Robbie. He is a gracious gentleman. They were finishing up and he told Rob, 'I've got to have another hug.' He got up and gave him another hug and then Tony asked him to give his dad a hug, too. So he had hugs all around. It's really hard to imagine how it could have been any better, particularly from our side. It was a once-in-a-lifetime deal."

Class always shows.

About that Marine family vs. Westboro Baptist Church...

Found at the Washington Times via Lucianne.com;

In October of 2007 the father of slain Marine, Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, was awarded $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress as a result of a lawsuit filed against the hideous group from Topeka, Kanas calling themselves the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). WBC, headed up by Fred Phelps and his wife Shirley, targeted Lance Cpl Snyder's funeral with vitriolic signs as they have with other military funerals. The victory for the Snyder family, however, was short lived, as the suit was thrown out on appeal by the Fourth Circuit.

A further blow to the Snyders came this week, when federal judges ordered the Snyder family to pay $16,510 to Mr. Phelps as the Snyders pursue a Supreme Court case. The high court agreed earlier in March to hear the Snyders’ appeal. The American Legion Burn Pit has set up a site to help the Snyder family pay for their legal costs.

According to the American Legion Burn Pit, within eighteen hours of setting up the fundraising site, $5,000.00 was raised.

Here's the link:http://burnpit.legion.org/2010/03/put-yourself-in-his-dad’s-shoes/

B.O. appoints gay activist to EEOC

WASHINGTON, March 30 /Christian Newswire/ -- Over the weekend, President Obama bypassed the Senate confirmation process to appoint radical homosexual activist Chai Feldblum to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) while the Senate was out for the Easter recess. (Tell me again how B.O. brings transparency to government.)

Feldblum is the primary author of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which forces employers to hire homosexuals and other sexually confused individuals despite their moral or religious objections. As a commissioner, Feldblum's fanatical ideology would negatively shape the EEOC and its decisions. (Naw! Say it isn't so!)

"In this position, Feldblum would not be impartial in her decision-making process. From her own account, Feldblum would have a difficult time ever deciding that religious liberties should trump homosexual rights," said Shari Rendall, Director of Legislation and Public Policy.

"She is way beyond what most Americans would consider mainstream. Feldblum not only asserts that 'gay sex is morally good,' she also believes in polygamous relationships."

Of course she'll park her beliefs at the door when she goes to work every day, just as Catholics and other Christians are supposed to do. Right? Right?

R.I.P. Sgt. Joel D. Clarkson

Army Sgt. Joel D. Clarkson
Died March 16, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

23, of Fairbanks, Alaska; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; died March 16 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, of wounds sustained March 13 during combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(The following was taken from newsminer.com of Mar. 20, 2010)FAIRBANKS - An Army Ranger who was born and raised in Fairbanks has died of injuries he sustained last week while serving in Afghanistan.

Special Forces Army Ranger Joel D. Clarkson, 23, was wounded March 12 by small-arms fire while his unit was on patrol in Helmland Province. He was assigned to A Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. Clarkson was operated on in Afghanistan, then flown to Germany for additional treatment.

This was Clarkson’s third tour of duty out of Fort Lewis, according to a family member.

Gov. Sean Parnell, in a statement Friday evening confirming Clarkson’s death, ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff on Tuesday.

“Sandy and I are deeply saddened by the loss of Sgt. Clarkson,” Parnell said. “He was a brave soldier who sacrificed his life while defending our freedom. We offer our condolences and prayers for his family and friends during this difficult time.”

Clarkson’s mother, Karen Clarkson, gave some details of the attack to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper on Wednesday.

“A bullet entered the front side of his helmet and penetrated his skull during combat,” Williams said. “The shock of it took him out pretty good.”

Several members of Clarkson’s family traveled to Germany, where he was listed in serious condition on Monday.

Clarkson is survived by his wife, Cassandra; 9-month old son, Orion; and his parents, Karen and Steve Clarkson of Fairbanks.

R.I.P. Gunnery Sgt. Robert L. Gilbert II

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Robert L. Gilbert II
Died March 16, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

28, of Richfield, Ohio; assigned to 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, Marine Special Operations Regiment, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died March 16 of wounds sustained March 8 while supporting combat operations in Badghis province, Afghanistan.

(The following is taken from blog.cleveland.com of Mar. 28, 2010) BATH TOWNSHIP - It was only fitting that the funeral service for Marine Gunnery Sgt. Robert L. Gilbert II be held in the Revere High School gymnasium, where painted words above the bleachers proclaim it "Home of the Minutemen."

Like the always-at-the-ready fighters from the Revolutionary War, Gilbert was a willing warrior. Five times he answered the call to duty overseas.

Gilbert gave his life during his last tour.

He fell March 8, mortally wounded while exchanging gunfire on a bare hilltop in Badghis province, Afghanistan. For that and previous acts of bravery, Gilbert, 28, was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star during the Sunday morning service in Summit County.

Gilbert died on his birthday, March 16, at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Maj. Gen. Paul Lefebvre, commander of special operations for the Marines, presented the medal to Gilbert's father, Bob Gilbert. The moment brought the nearly 1,000 people gathered in the Revere gym to their feet for a standing ovation.

Gilbert excelled working with foreign soldiers under intense conditions, Lefebvre said after the ceremony.

"He was a training expert," Lefebvre said, "and brave as could be."

On the day he was mortally wounded, Gilbert volunteered to watch over the rest of his patrol from a bare hilltop overlooking a small village, according to the citation.

As the enemy neared, an intense firefight broke out. Gilbert returned fire with his rifle and grenade launcher "while continually exposing himself to enemy fire in order to effectively direct the actions of the Afghan National Army soldiers he was fighting alongside," the citation states.

Besides being a hero, Gilbert was remembered as a loving son and brother. A picture of Gilbert's arm draped across his father's shoulders was enlarged and placed beside the flag-draped coffin, which was positioned beneath a raised basketball hoop at one end of the gymnasium.

Glen Ross, who served with Gilbert, recalled his playful side. He told a story about the time he and Gilbert went out to a bar and how his eyes kept burning all night. Ross later learned that Gilbert had sprayed his clothes with mace so nobody would talk to him.

Steve Korn, a Christian minister married to a cousin of Gilbert's, remembers a 9-year-old Gilbert looking lost at his mother's wake. Korn worried the loss might derail Gilbert as he grew older, but nothing could have been further from the truth.

"He found such incredible purpose," Korn said.

Korn added that the love Gilbert showed to others -- and not just those close to him -- seemed to him like the love of God.

"He laid down his life for people in other countries who at times probably didn't like him that much," Korn said.

Proof of the nanny state...

Here it is...

HOLLIDAYSBURG - Greenfield Township is attempting to force an elderly Claysburg-area couple, Donald R. and Janet Burket, to use township water even though Donald Burket contends the chlorine makes his wife sick.

Donald Burket and his daughter, Wendy, also of Claysburg, were before Blair County Judge Tim Sullivan Monday arguing against a township request for a court order forcing the couple to use township water or face a fine for civil contempt of township ordinance.

The case was before Sullivan in 2008 when he ruled the Burkets must hook into the Greenfield Township water system. His decision was upheld by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.

They have done that and they are paying the standard monthly rate for township water, but the Burkets contend that while they are hooked into the system, they should not be required to actually use the water for daily living purposes.

Donald Burket said after the hearing that the township water makes his wife ill, which is why he does not want to be forced to use it.

Senior Judge James R. Kelley stated that even though Janet Burket is apparently sensitive to chemicals, the facts of the case "did not establish a case or rare and extreme medical needs."

The couple crossed swords with the authority in December when it was discovered they were still using well water for their daily needs even though they allegedly obeyed Sullivan's 2008 order that they hook into the system.

Attorney Kathy Mauk, representing the authority, argued Monday that Donald Burket was not in compliance with the township ordinance.

The Burkets are mandated not only to hook into the system but also to use public water "for all human consumption in the residence," the authority contends in court documents.

According to the authority, the water line that was extended into the Bedford Street residence ended at a basement sink. The rest of the house was still being served by a well.

The authority discovered the setup in December and obtained a court order to detach the well and provide water through the township system.

The Burket's attorney, Frederick B. Gieg Jr., told Sullivan Monday that there were only two reasons to attach the Burket's home to the township line: to help pay for the authority's bond issue for the water facilities and to prevent well water from getting into township water lines.

The Burkets are paying the monthly tap-in fee and their well lines do not in any way interconnect to the township line, Gieg said.

"All he wants to do is use his own system," Gieg said in explaining Mr. Burket's side of the story.

Sullivan said it would be about two weeks before he will issue his ruling.

Found via Lucianne.com, who would think this could happen in this country?

Not only do they have to tap into the city system and pay a monthly fee, they have to actually use it. No matter WHAT the consequences to their health!

What comes next, a set amount they have to use? I'd guess that just turning on the basement sink faucet won't fly since there's mention of mandating they disconnect from their well.

Pure. Unadulterated. Bullshit.

When I was a kid living on Long Island, N.Y. we had a well. My old man had it put in for God only knows what reason (He was a "character" to say the least). It wasn't like we were in the boondocks, it was one of the Levittown-like developments that sprang up after WWII. One of the types where every house looked basically the same. "Cookie-cutter style" is the derogatory description my wife's stepmother would use. We were smack dab in the middle, like I said it wasn't the boondocks.

I'd guess that well would be illegal as a football bat these days.

I used to wonder about militias and the folks who joined them. Not so much the past twenty years. Now I wonder what sort of government list of potential troublemakers I'm on.

I wish that was a joke. It isn't.

Less than a second...

One split second can change a life, maybe forever; http://diapersanddragons.blogspot.com/2010/03/splitsecond.html

My four year old (four fer Pete's sake!) broke his elbow last summer diving down the ramp of an inflated bounce house. I can easily see him in the scenario of this high schooler.

Please remember the boy in your prayers. Miracles CAN happen.

R.I.P. Staff Sgt. Richard J. Jordan

Army Staff Sgt. Richard J. Jordan
Died March 16, 2010 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

29, of Tyler, Texas; assigned to 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas; died March 16 in Mosul, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a vehicle roll-over.

(The following was taken from www.lansingstatejournal.com of Mar. 20, 2010) HARRISON TWP. - Family members of a 29-year-old Fort Bliss, Texas, soldier with ties to Michigan who died after a vehicle rollover while serving in Iraq said Friday they hope that the U.S. can soon end the war.

Family of Staff Sgt. Richard J. Jordan held a news conference in Macomb County's Harrison Township, where he lived with his 26-year-old wife, Jennifer.

She told reporters she wants "all our troops to come home" safely.

"I don't want another wife, another mom and dad, another brother to go through this," she said.

The soldier's parents, Richard and Kimberly Jordan of New Boston, agreed.

"We don't want to see any more troops coming home in a box," Richard Jordan said. "This is the most devastating experience I've had."

The Defense Department said Jordan died Tuesday of his injuries from the crash in Mosul. The agency listed a hometown of Tyler, Texas, but his family said he had been an Army recruiter in Detroit before going to Iraq.

As a recruiter, he was not required to deploy to Iraq but volunteered to do so to make a contribution for his country, The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens reported. He left for Iraq in November.

"He loved being in the Army," his father said. "That was his life."

Richard Jordan had two daughters, ages 9 and 2.

"He had an infectious smile," his sister-in-law, Carin Poole told The Detroit News on Thursday. "He was loving, fun and kind."

R.I.P. Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto

Marine Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto
Died March 14, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

26, of Largo, Fla.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died March 14 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(The following was taken from www2.tbo.com of Mar. 22, 2010) TAMPA - A fleet of law enforcement escorted the body of a Marine killed in Afghanistan from at MacDill Air Force Base to St. Petersburg.

Members of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Largo Police Department followed the hearse carrying Cpl. Jonathan Porto to Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home, 2201 Martin Luther King St. N.

The procession crossed Gandy Bridge into St. Petersburg.

The procession left from MacDill's Bayshore Boulevard gate toward Gandy Boulevard. Then it traveled west across Gandy Bridge to Fourth Street North, south to 22nd Street North, west to Martin Luther King Street and north to the funeral home.

Porto, of Largo, was in a convoy in the Helmand province of Afghanistan on March 14 when the truck he was in went off course and tumbled, according to relatives. He got caught underneath and was killed. He was 26.

He was a small-arms repair technician assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Porto joined the Marines in March 2008 and was promoted to corporal Dec. 1. That month, he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

One of eight siblings, Porto and his wife, Rachel, were married about 10 months ago. Their daughter was born in January; Porto never got a chance to hold his daughter.

R.I.P. Spc. Steven J. Bishop

Army Spc. Steven J. Bishop
Died March 13, 2010 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

29, of Christiansburg, Va.; assigned to the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, 352nd Civil Affairs Command, U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died March 13 in Tikrit, Iraq, from a noncombat-related illness.

(The following was taken from www.roanoke.com of Mar. 18, 2010) A 29-year-old soldier from Christiansburg who worked to reconstruct bomb-shattered towns in northwestern Iraq died of a noncombat-related illness last week, defense officials said.

Spc. Steven Jesse Bishop, who worked in Roanoke processing scrap metal into various products, died Saturday of an unspecified illness after serving since June near the northwestern city of Tal Afar, the U.S. Army said in a news release Wednesday.

As a soldier at war and as a civilian at home, Bishop's friends considered him a methodical worker with a calm demeanor. Family members declined to be interviewed.

"He stayed even-keeled all the time," his supervisor, Sgt. 1st Class Chris Kern, said over the phone. "He was very mature, and that's the kind of person you wanted. He was not very excitable."

Bishop grew up in Floyd County and was a starting tackle on the county's high school football team until he graduated in 1999, coach Winfred Beale said.

As a student and after graduating, he frequented restaurants such as D.J.'s Drive In and listened to WSLC-FM, Star Country, said friend and high school classmate Ben Hall.

He served as a volunteer firefighter with the Floyd County Fire Department sometime between 2001 and 2005, and lived with his parents until 2007, Hall said. In September that year, he bought a one-story, four-bedroom house off of South Franklin Street in Christiansburg, according to town records.

During that time, he worked for Steel Dynamics in Roanoke, in a section where he heated and pressed processed scrap metal, Hall said.

In Iraq, Kern said, Bishop worked in a four-person unit near Tal Afar as part of the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, 352nd Civil Affairs Command, U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command based in Fort Bragg, N.C.

The city saw conflict as late as July and September, when suicide bombers killed 41 people and two suspected insurgents were killed. But Bishop's work entailed interviewing local religious and secular leaders and arranging for the construction of schools, roads and plumbing to help stabilize the region, Kern said.

In his six months there, his team completed about 50 projects, working 12- to 18-hour days six days a week, Kern said. They were scheduled to return to the United States in June.

From the trailer where and he and his three teammates lived, Bishop would communicate over e-mail almost daily with friends and family in Southwest Virginia.

"He was enjoying what he was doing," Hall said. "He talked real well about the military and his fellow soldiers."

W.T.F.!!

Found via Lucianne.com

BALTIMORE — The father of a Marine killed in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters was ordered to pay the protesters' appeal costs, his lawyers said Monday.

On Friday, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered Snyder to pay $16,510 to Fred Phelps. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted protests at Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder's funeral in 2006.

The two-page decision supplied by attorneys for Albert Snyder of York, Pa., offered no details on how the court came to its decision.

Attorneys also said Snyder is struggling to come up with fees associated with filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision adds "insult to injury," said Sean Summers, one of Snyder's lawyers.

The high court agreed to consider whether the protesters' message is protected by the First Amendment or limited by the competing privacy and religious rights of the mourners.

You. Are. Fucking. Shitting Me.

Evidently this was a reversal of the initial decision by a lower court that awarded the father punitive damages. Okay, I understand some dumbshit judge with zippo common sense or compassion might reverse the judgment. But this is punishing the father for standing up to a bunch of bigoted assholes who take the opportunity provided by a grieving family to push an agenda.

If anyone can come up with more information (like where we can send some money to this man) please pass it on.

No outrage for sexual abuse of children...

I'm talking about the outrage lacking for the abuse of children by anyone OTHER than Catholic priests.

We've an epidemic of child abuse going on in this world, I honestly believe that. This opinion is based (as most of mine are) on a lot of personal experiences by myself and other folks I trust. But to hear the news organs of our time it doesn't exist. Unless it involves Christians in general and Catholics in particular.

You want a religion that condones sexual abuse of children? Try Islam, damn it their "Prophet" was a outright child rapist. This is the man held up as a model for all his followers. Think that crap died in the 7th century? Well think again; http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-03-15/divorced-at-age-10/?cid=hp:originalslist5

Note that this story did NOT come from the NY Times or any other MSM outlet now shrilly condemning the Pope. (And a big h/t to Harry at Garbonzotoons for carrying that linked article).

If you're outraged about grown men coming on to teen aged boys, how do you feel about ten year old girls getting boned by men 40 or 50 years senior to them? It isn't an issue of "a different culture", it isn't because of a "different value system". Evil remains evil, no matter where it's found.

The relativistic way of thinking breaks down if we consider other things Islam condones, like slavery. Check out the sites of human rights organizations and find out where slavery is most prevalent IN THIS DAY AND AGE! It's overwhelmingly in Islamic countries and we condemn it. Rightfully so, because there is no problem there in condemning evil. But once the topic shifts to men "marrying" children, the silence is deafening because of the "I'm okay, you're okay" mindset kicking in. Nobody really gives a damn about the children then.

To sum it up; it isn't a different set of values that are culturally driven. It's perverts having their way with children. Perverts condoned and covered for by their religious/national leaders throughout the world. And there is diddle squat coverage of it in our modern media. When did we last hear about calls for an imam to resign because he endorsed the raping of little girls?

What about the nonstory concerning our public school teachers who molest children? WHAT ABOUT THE PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS IN THIS COUNTRY?? For anyone who thinks that sort of thing constitutes isolated incidents not worthy of attention, check this out; Sex Abuse by Teachers Said Worse Than Catholic Church

Note again that the MSM was silent when this came out in 2004, only the alternative media publishes the story. But the report was from a scholar at Hofstra University, not exactly a cow college in the middle of the EBF, Egypt.

Here's a link to the report cited;
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/misconductreview/report.pdf

So where is the outrage?

Speaking of schools and other related topics, how about the government appointed "safe schools czar"?

http://biggovernment.com/jhoft/2009/12/07/fistgate-barack-obamas-safe-schools-czars-2000-conference-promoted-fisting-to-14-year-olds/

Where in hell is the outrage about our tax dollars supporting this jerkoff?

I'm not excusing the scum within our Church. But if everyone is going to get their panties in a twist over abuse that happened decades ago, I think it only fair to wonder about a lack of interest in present day abuse.

Is the outrage really for the sake of innocent children, or is it driven by a desire to drag Christians in general and Catholics in particular through the mud?

Yeah, it's a stupid question.

The shit is in the fan...

...and we're right in it's path.

A fair amount of folks are looking forward to elections this year and in 2012, seemingly with the attitude that once the present Administration is out of office it'll be smooth sailing on the national road to recovery. We'll have another "Reagan Revolution" where traditional values come back and we'll move back to being a city on the hill for all others to emulate.

Nope.

Why should we believe that those presently in power will go quietly? Look at all of the hype and hyperbole surrounding anyone disapproving the newly passed healthcare bill. Outright lies are told of violence perpetrated by conservatives and condoned by their Republican overlords. This is just the beginning too.

Does everyone forget so soon the drawn out battle between Al Franken and Norm Coleman? How 312 votes were all it took to defeat an incumbent Senator? Remember the rhetoric of that particular campaign?

Remember the drawn out wrangling over the 2000 Presidential election? How so many of Gore's supporters STILL have it sticking in their craw that Bush won?

Remember the New Black Panthers and their voter intimidation in Philadelphia? How the case was dropped by Holder's Justice Department?

Listen to the hyperventilating hysterics that erupt over any opposition to the current President.

How realistic is it to expect conservative values to win this year and two years from now with no backlash from the defeated?

How many election results will be contested ad infinitum after this November? How much voter intimidation will go unreported or downplayed in the MSM?

It'd be easier to put toothpaste back into a tube than to tamp down the hate-filled rhetoric and acts of the recent past.

I've stated more than once we'll see a weakening of the nation under this President. I still believe that. But now I don't see him alone as the major catalyst of what happens.

He isn't personally to blame. IMO we've reached a time in our history where someone like him would have come on the scene no matter what. It isn't him, it's us and how we've acted/reacted over the past several decades.

I'm reminded of some arguments I heard a long time ago concerning the inevitability of Hitler's rise. The thinking went that Germany was positioned culturally and politically so that the coming to power of Hitler or someone like him was cast in stone.

It strikes me the same way with B.O., to use an example of this I believe his election doesn't in any way account for the conduct of Congress. Barack Obama isn't in any way responsible for the Nancy Pelosis, Frank Reids, Chuck Schumers, Teddy Kennedys of this time. He hasn't been guiding their hands and speaking through their mouths the last several years. On it's own both houses of the legislative branch have moved to this point. That is completely independent of our Chief Executive.

Likewise the Supreme Court. Justice Sotomayor WAS appointed by B.O. but the remaining justices weren't. Of course he'll fill any vacancy with a political fellow traveler, but the fact of that vacancy couldn't have been engineered by him. Hell, one of the Justices on that Court goes back to Gerald Ford! Is his upcoming retirement somehow due to the manipulations of Obama?

It's all come together, along with so much more that's prevalent in our culture. All of it now.

We're royally screwed, time to wise up to that fact and plan accordingly. Rough times are ahead for at least the next few decades. God help us.

...Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity...

Now excuse me, I'm going to pray the Rosary. Some years ago I'd have thought a "real man" didn't take solace that way, not too long ago I'd never have openly stated my intent.

These days I don't give a damn, I just hope for God to hear my prayers for the protection of my family.

About the Pope and the pedophile priest...

Now the shit is hitting the fan about the Pope being personally involved with covering up pedophile priests. The latest salvo is coming from the NY Times regarding a Milwaukee priest.

Below is a copy of an article on the Catholic Culture site that addresses this. This is well worth the read;

The Pope and the Murphy case: what the New York Times story didn't tell you
By Phil Lawler March 25, 2010 2:55 PM

Today's front-page story in the New York Times suggests that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), under the direction of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, failed to act against a Wisconsin priest who was accused of molesting scores of boys at a school for the deaf.

Is the story damaging? Yes. Should the Vatican have acted faster? Yes. Should the accused priest have been laicized? In all probability, Yes again.

Nevertheless, before assigning all blame to the Vatican, consider these factors:

1. The allegations of abuse by Father Lawrence Murphy began in 1955 and continued in 1974, according to the Times account. The Vatican was first notified in 1996: 40 years after Church officials in Wisconsin were first made aware of the problem. Local Church leaders could have taken action in the 1950s. They didn't.

2. The Vatican, following the standard procedures required by canon law, kept its own inquiries confidential. But the CDF never barred other investigations. Local Church officials could have given police all the information they had about the allegations against Murphy. Indeed they could have informed police 40 years earlier. They didn't.

3. Milwaukee's Archbishop Cousins could have suspended Father Murphy from priestly ministry in 1974, when he was evidently convinced that the priest was guilty of gross misconduct. He didn't. Instead he transferred the predator priest to a new diocese, allowing him to continue pastoral work giving him access to other innocent young people. And as if that weren't enough, later Archbishop Weakland made sure that there was no "paper trail." There was certainly a cover-up in this case. It was in Milwaukee, not in Rome.

4. Having called the Vatican's attention to Murphy's case, Archbishop Weakland apparently wanted an immediate response, and was unhappy that the CDF took 8 months to respond. But again, the Milwaukee archdiocese had waited decades to take this action. Because the Milwaukee archdiocese had waited so long to take action, the canonical statute of limitations had become an important factor in the Vatican's decision to advise against an ecclesiastical trial.

5. In a plea for mercy addressed to Cardinal Ratzinger, Father Murphy said that he had repented his misdeeds, was guilty of no recent misconduct, and was in failing health. Earlier this month Msgr. Charles Scicluna, the chief Vatican prosecutor in sex-abuse cases, explained that in many cases involving elderly or ailing priests, the CDF chooses to forego a full canonical trial, instead ordering the priest to remove himself from public ministry and devote his remaining days to penance and prayer. This was, in effect, the final result of the Vatican's inquiry in this case; Father Murphy died just months later.

6. The correspondence makes it clear that Archbishop Weakland took action not because he wanted to protect the public from an abusive priest, but because he wanted to avoid the huge public outcry that he predicted would emerge if Murphy was not disciplined. In 1996, when the archbishop made that prediction, the public outcry would--and should--have been focused on the Milwaukee archdiocese, if it had materialized. Now, 14 years later, a much more intense public outcry is focused on the Vatican. The anger is justifiable, but it is misdirected.

This is a story about the abject failure of the Milwaukee archdiocese to discipline a dangerous priest, and the tardy effort by Archbishop Weakland--who would soon become the subject of a major scandal himself--to shift responsibility to Rome.

Dedicated to His Holiness...

Today's first reading;

Jeremiah 20: 10-13

10. For I heard the insults of many, and terror all around: ‘Persecute him!’ and, ‘Let us persecute him!’ from all the men who had been at peace with me and who had kept watch by my side. ‘If only there were some way that he might be deceived, and we might prevail against him and obtain vengeance from him!’

11. But the Lord is with me, like a strong warrior. For this reason, those who persecute me will fall, and they will be ineffective. They will be greatly confounded. For they have not understood the everlasting disgrace that will never be wiped away.

12. And you, O Lord of hosts, the Tester of the just, who sees the temperament and the heart: I beg you to let me see your vengeance upon them. For I have revealed my case to you.

13. Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For he has freed the soul of the poor from the hand of the wicked.

I thought of the Pope while reading this. He could probably use some prayers from the rest of us right now.

R.I.P. Pfc. Erin L. McLyman

Army Pfc. Erin L. McLyman
Died March 13, 2010 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

26, of Federal Way, Wash.; assigned to the 296th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; died March 13 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked her base with mortar fire.

(The following is taken from www.kval.com) EUGENE, Ore. -- A memorial service is scheduled for next week to honor a 2001 Sheldon High School graduate who died Saturday in a mortar attack in Iraq

U.S. Army PFC. Erin McLyman, 26, was killed in a mortar attack on her base in Balad, Iraq.

MyLyman's family said she died doing what she loved, but that doesn't make the pain any easier.

Erin's mother, Flora Neustrel, said she was proud of her daughter long before she joined the military to fight for her country - and long before she deployed to Iraq.

"When I was in college I had to do a paper on my hero," she said, "and I did it on Erin."

Neustrel was inspired by her daughter's fight against addiction as a teenager. Erin told her story to KVAL News in 2001.

Then 17, she shared how her life spun out of control. "I drank and smoked a lot of weed and used crank and cocaine," Erin said.

Erin's parents thought their daughter had already faced her biggest challenge.

"Erin was the type who could get herself out of everything," Neustrel said.

The following is the file story cited above;

She lived most recently in Federal Way, Wash. She graduated from Sheldon High School in Eugene, Ore.

KVAL’s Jennifer Winters met Erin McLyman nine years ago just before McLyman graduated from Sheldon High School.

At the time, KVAL News featured a story about Erin’s success story as she kicked drug and alcohol addiction.

Erin McLyman dances with grace and confidence during halftime at a Sheldon High School basketball game.

She now counts the girls dancing next to her as friends, but just one year before they feared the 17-year-old.

Erin was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and despised anyone not a part of her drug world.

“I drank, smoked a lot of weed, marijuana, used crank and cocaine and speed, methamphetamines,” she said.

Erin first started stealing beer from her dad at age nine. By eighth grade her parents knew something was seriously wrong.

“My grades were dropping, I wasn’t going to class, weird people would come over to
the house and drop by in the middle of the night. I’d leave and not come back,” she said.

She ended up at the Looking Glass Adolescent Recovery Program after she was arrested for underage drinking. But she continued to use drugs, dropped out of school and left home.

That’s when Erin reached a new low, with her then nine-year-old sister by her side.
“I was with my little sisters, brought her over to a friend’s to get some drugs and she was with me and I did it right in front of her,” she said.

As Erin’s life crumbled in front of her, she was convinced again to seek treatment. She spent three months in a Corvallis halfway house.

“They were like this is for you, we’re not going to make you do anything, it’s all on your own,” she recalled.

Through a strict schedule, counseling and support, Erin decided to reclaim her life and her dignity and stayed clean.

Erin’s father, Bob McLyman, is also a recovering alcoholic. He said he saw a real transformation.

“I’d say she’s got a conscience now, before there was no conscience, no feeling,” he said.

Bob said it is tough knowing his daughter probably learned to use drugs and alcohol from him but said now they are helping each other.

“What treatment does is show you how to live, it gives you a life to live and a process of doing so,” he said.

Erin now gets mostly A’s in school and is engaged in her family and school life. She has goals of graduating high school and joining the Air Force.

“I still go to the same school I used at so some kids come up and say ‘want to smoke a bowl?’ and I say ah, no, I got to go to class,” she said.

Erin’s father has advice for other families facing drug or alcohol addiction: “They’re all your got, they’re what you brought into the world. Don’t give up on them,” he said. “Don’t quit.”

As for Erin’s little sister, she still looks up to Erin, but in a whole new way.

“She looks up to me,” Erin said. “It’s kind of weird, but it feels good.”

R.I.P. Sgt. 1st Class Glen J. Whetten

Army Sgt. 1st Class Glen J. Whetten
Died March 12, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

31, of Mesa, Ariz.; assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; died March 12 near Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

(The following was taken from www.abc15.com of March 15, 2010) MESA, AZ -- Officials announced Tuesday that a soldier from Mesa has died while serving in Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense said in a news release that Sgt. 1st Class Glen J. Whetten, 31, died March 12 near Kandahar of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

Whetten was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division in Fort Riley, Kansas.

Whetten's brother, Jed, said Glen graduated from South Mountain High School in 1996.

Whetten leaves behind a fiancée, an 11-year-old daughter, his mother, and three siblings.

"Everybody that knew him knew how committed and loyal he was to his country," Jed said.

Whetten died one week before his 32nd birthday.

Jed said the viewing for his brother will be on Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Meldrum Mortuary located at 52 N. Macdonald in Mesa.

The funeral is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. at Rest Haven Cemetery located at 4310 East Southern in Phoenix.

The family has set up a Facebook page for people to share their stories and condolences

R.I.P. Lance Cpl. Garrett W. Gamble

Marine Lance Cpl. Garrett W. Gamble
Died March 11, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

20, of Sugar Land, Texas; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died March 11 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

(The following is taken from newsclicker.com of March 12, 2010) A 20-year-old Marine from Sugar Land has died in Afghanistan from injuries inflicted by an improvised explosive device.

Lance Cpl. Garrett W. Gamble, the son of former professional hockey player Troy Gamble, was killed Thursday while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said on Friday.

Gamble was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Gamble was a 2008 graduate of Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land. Besides his father, he is survived by mother Michelle Greer, stepfather Brad Greer and brothers Cody and Gunner Gamble.

Gamble's father played in the National Hockey League for the Vancouver Canucks, but spent more years in the minor leagues.

He played for the Houston Aeros from 1994 through 1996. After retiring, he has worked as a broadcaster with the Aeros.

Gamble's death brought the U.S. total killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan to 936, according to the Associated Press.

R.I.P. Sgt. Jonathan J. Richardson

Army Sgt. Jonathan J. Richardson
Died March 09, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

24, of Bald Knob, Ark.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died March 9 in Khowst province, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small-arms, indirect and rocket-propelled grenade fires. Also killed was Pfc. Jason M. Kropat.

(The following was taken from www.baxterbulletin.com of March 13, 2010) A soldier killed Tuesday in a bomb and gunfire attack on the U.S.-Afghan base in Khost was the grandson of Ken and Edna Martin of Mountain Home — 24-year-old Sgt. Jonathan J. Richardson of Bald Knob.

The Martins were to travel to Springdale today to connect with relatives in preparation for funeral services probably next week.

Mrs. Martin said relatives telephoned with news of the death Tuesday soon after the attack. She said she was especially close to her grandson who lived with her for most of a year when he was a 3-year-old while the family was relocating to the U.S. from South Korea where his parents worked in civil service.

"We became very close and we remained close from then on," Mrs. Martin said.
Mr. Martin said except for the occasional "B" in subject matter that didn't interest him, his stepgrandson was an "A" student in high school. He also excelled at football.

"He was unsure of what he wanted to do when he graduated high school. He could have gone to college and done anything he wanted. But he talked to a recruiter and joined," Mrs. Martin said.

"He made sergeant in less than four years," Mr. Martin said.

Mrs. Martin said she and her grandson's wife, Rachel, have something in common in the sudden loss of a spouse. Her first husband, Jerry J. Cobb, was killed in an armed robbery of the couple's business in Springdale in 1974.

"I know what she's going through," Mrs. Martin said. "You know what's happened, but you just can't get your mind around it."

Mr. Martin called the sergeant's wife "Sweet Rachel."

"They loved each other so much. It was no puppy love. They were deeply, genuinely in love," he said.

The Martins visited the Richardsons last year just after they purchased their first home in Clarkville, Tenn. Sgt. Richardson was stationed at nearby Fort Campbell, Ky.

The Department of Defense said Richardson and another soldier killed in the attack — PFC. Jason M. Kropat, 25, of White Lake, N.Y. — were both assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed the two and wounded a number of others, the Department of Defense said.

Richardson was a fire support specialist who joined the Army in June 2006 and was stationed in Fort Campbell in January 2007. He is survived by his wife, Rachel Richardson, of Clarksville, Tenn.; mother, Sharon Dunigan, of Bridgeport, W.V.; and father, Jeffery Richardson, of Germany.

Kropat was an infantryman who joined the Army in November 2008 and arrived at Fort Campbell in March 2009. Kropat is survived by his parents, Kathleen and Glenn Kropat of Fredericksburg, Texas.

Richardson's earned awards and decorations include Army Commendation Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Ribbon; and Weapons Qualification, M4, expert.

R.I.P. Pfc. Jason M. Kropat

Army Pfc. Jason M. Kropat
Died March 09, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

25, of White Lake, N.Y.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died March 9 in Khowst province, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small-arms, indirect and rocket-propelled grenade fires. Also killed was Sgt. Jonathan J. Richardson.

(The following was taken from www.recordonline.com of March 20, 2010) BETHEL — Army Pfc. Jason M. Kropat was buried on Friday in Sullivan County. A military honor guard and his family followed on foot behind the hearse carrying his flag-draped coffin.

The procession passed White Lake, where Kropat loved to fish as a boy.

The tapping of a military guard's shoes and the jingling of the medals on their breasts could be heard clearly as it passed.

The procession moved along Route 17B for nearly two miles, stopping only briefly before a giant American flag draped from two ladder trucks.

Kropat's parents and the rest of his family got out of a stretch limousine and walked the rest of the way to his gravesite.

At his funeral beforehand, which was broadcast from loudspeakers outside the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kropat was described as mischievous, funny, quiet and brave.

The military has released few details of his death.

Kropat, 25, was a machine gunner with the 101st Airborne Division who was killed on March 9 by small arms fire, the first soldier from Sullivan County to be killed in Afghanistan.

Brig. Gen. Warren Phipps Jr. presented the family with Kropat's Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and several other commendations for valor.

Kropat was described as a regular Sullivan County kid who fished, hunted and roared around on four-wheelers before he left White Lake. He hung out at the lake and sneaked cigarettes.

After graduating from Monticello High School, he worked a little as a carpenter and roofer.

Kropat got into a bit of trouble as a young man.

In 2008, he decided that he wanted to join up, and this changed him, his father, Glenn Kropat, said in church.

He went from being the kid who burned down an apple tree, ran around all hours of the night, never did anything easy in life, to "the battle buddy that everyone wanted," as one of his fellow soldiers described him during tributes.

"I don't have words to describe how happy I am to call him my son," the father said, choking up as he said, "I love you" for the last time to his son.

The family held a second, private service in Evergreen Cemetery.

Brian Bunce, a contractor who hired Jason Kropat before he left for the Army, came to the funeral with his trained falcon. Kropat would stop by his house and always ask to see the bird.

Kropat's nickname was "Nighthawk."

Bunce was asked to release the bird over his grave.

The family was sure that Jason would like that.

The UMC and Madame Pelosi

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- During closing remarks before the House of Representatives approved passage of health care legislation, Speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked left-wing religious groups for their enthusiastic support. The United Methodist Church was specifically cited for having lobbied Congress to "Say yes to health care reform."

"That is why we're proud and also humbled today to act with the support of millions of Americans who recognize the urgency of passing health care reform," Pelosi declared from the House floor. "And more than 350 organizations, representing Americans of every age, every background, every part of the country, who have endorsed this legislation."

"To the American Medical Association, the Catholic Health Association, the United Medical -- the United Methodist Church, and Voices of America's Children. From A to Z -- they are sending a clear message to Members of Congress: Say yes to health care reform."

Pelosi's web site lists major pro-Obamacare groups to which she thanks.

The site names the National Council of Churches, the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, and Faithful Reform in Health Care, a coalition that included Mainline Protestant agencies.

Institute on Religion and Democracy president Mark Tooley commented: "Religious Left activists primarily see religion as an organizing tool for extinguishing private alternatives to state control of health care and virtually every other facet of human life."

The bill was soundly condemned by pro-life groups for expanding abortion and abortion funding.
The UMC is pretty explicit about their support for women's "reproductive rights". It's spelled out in their governing document, "The Book of Resolutions".

That was THE reason my wife left after being a lifelong member. Just couldn't stick around for a denomination that condones killing babies. Unfortunately too many of her former coreligionists took the attitude of, "Well I'll work within the church to get that changed." Noted. If their efforts were gunpowder they couldn't collect it all to blow their noses, one nostril at a time.

Revelation 3: 15-16

Where will the reeducation camps be?

Found this at Canada Free Press via Lucianne.com;

25 March 2010: A federal intelligence source reported in an interview last evening that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security
have been called in to “actively investigate incidents of violence and threats” made to at least ten Democrats and one Republican lawmaker since Sunday. Their involvement was reportedly requested by top House leadership and one unnamed, high-level White House official
. According to this source, who agreed to speak to this writer under the strict condition of anonymity, “a ‘watch list’ has already been created that specifically names and turns their focus on various pro-life and tea-party organizations and individuals who are considered a threat to domestic security, continuity of government operations, and to the lives of lawmakers and their families.”

While published reports confirm that Capitol Police have been contacted and are addressing security concerns of lawmakers and the incidents of vandalism, the involvement of federal agencies has not been publicly disclosed, nor will it likely be on any official level. The reason, according to this source, is that high-level discussions between top lawmakers and agency heads are “exploring the application of the Patriot Act against any right-wing individual or group that poses a danger to government operations.” He added that “threat assessments and security measures for public assemblies at the Capitol, specifically focusing on conservative groups are being re-evaluated at the request of the White House and Democratic lawmakers.”

Dissemination of the list is obviously limited to avoid another “MIAC” episode, referring to the release of a document leaked from the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC).

According to this federal official, lawmakers and White House officials were stunned by the strong response against the health care bill, citing the protests at the Capitol. “Based on what I’ve heard, I don’t think they were expecting the type of response seen in not only the demonstrations, but in poll numbers and by conservative talk radio and television. “They have been monitoring all aspects of this situation, not just the physical assemblies,” he stated. “Watch lists are being created and updated to include anyone who appears to be organizing or acting as a gallivanting force behind the actual protestors.”

The media outlets have also been reporting the allegations of racial slurs and anti-gay remarks shouted at Representatives John Lewis, Andre Carson, and Barney Frank this weekend, supposedly during the protests of members of the Tea Party. According to this source, there does not appear to be any direct evidence of such behavior beyond the allegations themselves.

On Saturday, Capitol Police reportedly reviewed at least two videos – one from a cellular telephone and another from a video camera – that supposedly captured the event. “There was a contemporaneous review of audio and video at the site of the protest when they [Capitol Police] created a physical barrier for the lawmakers and when the comments were allegedly made. The officers were even instructed to make arrests, but could not find anything that supported the allegations rising to the level of disorderly conduct,” stated this source.

A couple of years ago I'd have written this off as tinfoil hat stuff. A couple of years ago I wouldn't have believed the Dept. of Homeland Security would be apologizind for sending out a nationwide memo to all police departments citing the possible dangers of folks who were; prolife, pro 2nd Amendment, veterans, favorers of limited government. So as times change I change with them.

Stand by folks, it isn't carved anywhere in stone that our nation won't fail. That whole "watering the Tree of Liberty with the blood of patriots" thing comes to mind.

R.I.P. Spc. Lakeshia M. Bailey

Army Spc. Lakeshia M. Bailey
Died March 08, 2010 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

23, of Columbus, Ga.; assigned to the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, attached to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.; died March 8 north of Al Kut, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a vehicle rollover. Also killed was Sgt. Aaron M. Arthur.

(The following was taken from www.ledger-enquirer.com of March 11, 2010) Two days after learning of the death of their oldest daughter in Iraq, the family of fallen Fort Benning soldier Spc. Lakeshia M. Bailey spoke about her passion for life and her love of the Army.
“She was just a fun person to be around,” said her father, Tony Bailey. “She was always outgoing and she was always looking for, I guess I would say an adventure. Something to keep her going all the time. That’s how we’ll remember her.”

Bailey, 23, of Columbus, and Sgt. Aaron M. Arthur, 25, of Lake City, S.C., died Monday north of Al Kut, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a non-combat related vehicle rollover, according to a release Wednesday by the Department of Defense.

A memorial for the soldiers will take place in theater at 3 p.m. (Iraq time) Friday. The rollover is under investigation, said 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division public affairs spokesman Capt. Charles Barrett.

Both soldiers were heavy vehicle drivers assigned to the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, attached to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

Bailey entered the Army in February 2006 and arrived for duty at Fort Benning in June 2006.

A 2004 graduate of Spencer High School, she excelled in math and enjoyed cosmetology and home economics.

“She was real goofy,” said her younger sister, 19-year-old Candace Bailey. “She always smiled. That’s like the only thing everyone knew about her. She had very pretty teeth. She loved dancing. She wouldn’t want us around crying. I mean, yeah she’s gone, but she’d want us to be smiling and having fun. That’s just how she was. She wasn’t the type to sit around and mope about something. She was just the life of the party. That’s just how she was.”

Following high school, Bailey enrolled at Columbus State University where she studied for one year before leaving to join the Army.

“She always wanted to go into the military because my husband was in the military,” said her mother, Phyllis Bailey. “He was in for 24 years and retired so she wanted to follow dad. She was a military brat.”

Once Bailey made up her mind to join the service she committed herself wholeheartedly to her new profession, hoping to one day earn the rank of sergeant. She was selected last summer as the Soldier of the Month for her unit and a few months later received soldier of the quarter.

Bailey deployed to Iraq for the first time in 2007. During her 12 months overseas she garnered a lot of experience and confidence. In 2009, prior to deploying again to Iraq in October, she was married. Going into this tour, Bailey told her family she felt more prepared for war.

Tony and Phyllis Bailey live in Fort Mitchell, Ala. Phyllis is a civilian employee on Fort Benning. Candace Bailey attends Chattahoochee Valley Community College and has a 9-year-old sister.

A funeral date has not yet been set, but Tony Bailey said it will likely take place some time next week. Bailey’s body was due to arrive at Dover Air Force Base late Wednesday night. From there it will be flown to Lawson Army Airfield on Fort Benning.

Bailey’s awards include an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, an Army Good Conduct Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, two Iraq Campaign Medals, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, a Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, an Army Service Ribbon and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

R.I.P. Sgt. Aaron M. Arthur

Army Sgt. Aaron M. Arthur
Died March 08, 2010 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

25, of Lake City, S.C.; assigned to the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, attached to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.; died March 8 north of Al Kut, Iraq, of injuries sustained during a vehicle rollover. Also killed was Spc. Lakeshia M. Bailey.

(The following was taken from www2.scnow.com of March 11, 2010) LAKE CITY — A Lake City soldier has died of injuries he received when a vehicle rolled over north of Al Kut, Iraq, according to a U.S. Department of Defense release issued Wednesday.

U.S. Army Sgt. Aaron M. Arthur, 25, died Monday, leaving his hometown saddened.

Arthur graduated in 2003 from Lake City High School where he played baseball and football and was an active member of the Junior ROTC.

Lake City High football coach Matt Apicella said Arthur was an incredible young man and his passing is a huge loss to the community.

“He was such a hard worker,” Apicella said. “He always kept in touch and came by the weight room in the summers to let us know how he was doing.”

Arthur joined the army in November 2003, five months after he graduated from high school. He arrived in Fort Benning in March 2004.

Sgt. Maj. Northern Miller, Lake City High School ROTC instructor, said Arthur decided early on he was serious about joining the army.

“At 14, 15, 16 you there’s a lot of playing going on. Aaron didn’t do a lot of playing,” Miller said. “He was always serious about what he was doing.”

A heavy vehicle driver for the Army, Arthur told Miller he was hoping to advance his military career by becoming a drill sergeant.

T.J. Singletary, Arthur’s classmate and teammate, said he was shocked to hear the horrible news of his death but has many fond memories of his high school friend.

“He had a good attitude – loved to be around a good crowd,” Singletary said.

Singletary also said he remembers Arthur was artistically gifted and drew portraits of people and cities.

He said he learned Tuesday about Arthur’s death, which shocked him after a long period of not hearing from his high school friend.

“My girlfriend told me about it,” he said. “I was like, ‘What? Aaron Arthur?’”

As a six-year veteran in the Army, Arthur received many awards and ribbons including two Army Good Conduct Medals, an Overseas Service Ribbon and a Combat Action Badge.

R.I.P. Pvt. Nicholas S. Cook

Army Pvt. Nicholas S. Cook
Died March 07, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

19, of Hungry Horse, Mont.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Camp Ederle, Italy; died March 7 in Konar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.

(The following was taken from www.greatfallstribune.com) COLUMBIA FALLS — Residents from the small communities just outside the mountains of Glacier National Park buried one of their own Saturday, a young soldier from Hungry Horse killed by Afghan insurgents earlier this month.

Nicholas Cook is just the eighth soldier from Montana to be killed in Afghanistan, and the Army private’s death has received a huge deal of attention across the state. About 300 people gathered for the funeral in Columbia Falls — a nearby town big enough to have a church to fit all those who turned out — including Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sen. John Tester.

“Motivated, excited, strong, quick, fast — everything that you’d expect in a good soldier, he had,” Sgt. Salvatore Giunta said Saturday after the burial.

Giunta, a soldier with Cook’s company, escorted Cook’s body back to Montana. “It means a lot to see the amount of respect and outpouring from the community,” Giunta said.

Cook’s death comes at a hard time for this close-knit, private community. Unemployment is in the double digits across Flathead County. Columbia Falls’ biggest private employer, the Plum Creek lumber mill, has had to lay off dozens of workers due to the tough economy.

There aren’t a lot of opportunities for kids like Cook once they graduate. That’s partly why he joined the Army, said Kathy Taylor, his grandmother. Inspired by a favorite aunt, he became an Airborne soldier, she said.

“There were no jobs around here, but he loved to travel and he was an adventurer, Taylor said. “He liked jumping out of airplanes and he liked those long hikes and he liked what the Army meant.”

To the 900 residents of Hungry Horse, Cook is an example for other “Canyon Kids,” the nickname for the rough-around-the-edges children who live in the towns just outside of Glacier park.

“It’s been hard on them. But he died a hero, and that is one thing that lets them hold their heads up,” said Beverly Kahn, a teacher at the Columbia Falls Learning Center, where Cook finished his high school education in 2008. “To hear what Nick has done I hope will give them all that ability to see they can be better than what they appear to be labeled as.”

Cook was raised by grandparents Chuck and Kathy Taylor from a young age. He wrestled, played baseball and football, and raised goats that he’d show at the Flathead County Fair. He was a risk-taker who loved snowboarding, above everything else.

“He was a manic snowboarder. He lived to shred, that’s what he would tell you,” said Gary Menning, Cook’s 10th-grade English teacher, who kept a close relationship with Cook through high school.

His teachers said he was very friendly, honest, worked hard and was mature beyond his years. At times, though, he was a headstrong student.

“He was a tough kid. He had to learn things in life the hard way,” Kahn said. “You can get that attitude in life of, ‘Nobody’s going to tell me what to do.’ But the military tells you what to do. I think he figured that out. He had to learn that he didn’t know it all.”

Cook was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team based in Camp Ederle, Italy. He found that Army life suited him, Taylor said, and he even found time to do some snowboarding in the Alps while on leave.

His squadron was sent to Afghanistan in December for a yearlong tour. He was based in Kunar province, in the northern part of the country, where the mountains reminded him of home, he told his grandmother.

Cook was on patrol March 7 when his unit came under attack, and he died from wounds received in the fight, according to the Department of Defense. Army National Guard spokesman Maj. Tim Crowe said the attack was still under investigation and no other details could be released.

At the graveside Saturday, a little girl wore large artificial flowers in her hair with the words written in the center, “My uncle is a United States Army soldier.” Veterans and firefighters ringed the site holding American flags. Cook’s family looked on as soldiers fired a 21-gun salute. Behind them, smoke from the lumber mill billowed.

Cook’s death has brought the war home to them, making it personal and bringing it closer than they ever wanted, Kahn said.

“He died a hero. People are alive because of him,” Kahn said. But, “I think Nick would get a kick out of people thinking that what he did was so incredible, when he just did what he needed to get done.”

R.I.P. Spc. Alan N. Dikcis

Army Spc. Alan N. Dikcis
Died March 05, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

21, of Niagara Falls, N.Y.; assigned to the 630th Engineer Company, 7th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died March 5 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.

(The following is taken from www.wkbw.com of March 10, 2010) U.S. Veteran SPC Alan N. Dikcis, USA, 21, of Wheatfield, NY, died while serving his Country on Friday March 5, 2010 in Marjah, Afghanistan. Born July 20, 1988 in Amherst, NY, he was the son of the Robert S. Dikcis, Sr. of Wheatfield, NY and the late Linda Bryant, and step-son of Gricela “Gigi” Dikcis of Wheatfield, NY.

Alan was raised in Wheatfield, NY and 2006 graduate of Niagara Wheatfield High School. He was currently serving in the United States Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, as a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the 630th Engineer Company, 7th Engineer Battalion stationed in Afghanistan. Alan was a devoted son, father, brother and friend. He lived his life to the fullest. He loved spending time with his friends, riding his motorcycle, going to the beach and working on cars. Above of all, Alan loved his daughter, Sophia, and worked hard to make his father and family proud. Alan’s Military decorations include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and NATO Medal.

In addition to his parents, Alan is survived by his daughter Sophia Marieana Brown, Sophia’s mother Nikki Brown, three brothers, Robert S. (Trisha) Dikcis Jr., Stanley R. Dikcis and Robert A. Dikcis, two step-brothers, PFC Thomas A. Cannuli, USA and Randolph M. Cannuli.

Friends may call on Thursday from 6-8 p.m. and Friday from 3 – 5 and 7 – 9 p.m. at the M.J. COLUCCI & SON NIAGARA FUNERAL CHAPEL, 2730 MILITARY ROAD, NIAGARA FALLS, NY. Family and friends are invited to attend funeral services at 12:00 Noon on Saturday March 13th at St. Vincent De Paul Parish at St. Leo’s Church, 2748 Military Road, Niagara Falls, NY with Rev. Robert Hughson officiating. Private interment will be held in White Chapel Memorial Park, Amherst, NY with full Military Honors. Flowers are gratefully declined. Donations in memory of Alan may be made to the Sophia Brown Trust Fund at any branch of First Niagara Bank.

R.I.P. Sgt. Anthony A. Paci

Army Sgt. Anthony A. Paci
Died March 04, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

30, of Rockville, Md.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; died March 4 in Gereshk, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered during a vehicle rollover.

(The following was taken from www.gazette.net of March 10, 2010) A soldier who grew up in Bethesda and lived at one point in Rockville died in Afghanistan last week during his second overseas deployment, according to a statement from the Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Wash.

Spc. Anthony A. Paci, 30, died Thursday when the vehicle he was traveling in rolled over in Gereshk, located in the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, according to the statement. He grew up in Bethesda and was living in Rockville when he enlisted in the Army in October 2004.

Paci was deployed in Iraq from December 2005 through November 2006, according to the statement. His brigade left for Afghanistan in July.

An international coalition of 15,000 troops launched Operation Moshtarak last month in a region of the Helmand Province known for heroin production where the Taliban has set up a shadow government, according to media reports.

Paci met his wife Erica online in a military chat room while deployed in Iraq and the pair got married two days after he returned to the U.S., said his mother Helene Paci of Bethesda. They have three children in Washington— Judah, 2, Tallulah, 1, and Mila, 3 months.

"They knew before they had even seen each other in person that they wanted to get married. They were two peas in a pod, soul mates," Helene Paci said. "...I'm so thankful Tony had that in his life. It was a short life but a full life."

Anthony Paci attended Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda but withdrew in 1997, according to Kate Harrison, a Montgomery County Public Schools spokeswoman. He earned a high school diploma in 1999, according to the statement.

Paci withdrew from school in May of his senior year and later earned a General Equivalency Diploma, Helene Paci said. While at school, Anthony Paci enjoyed art, played junior varsity football and helped with set design and lighting at school plays. As an adult he enjoyed spending time with his family and being outdoors, riding motorcycles and bicycles and canoeing.

"School wasn't really his favorite subject. He was kind of a quiet kid, always nice and pleasant, one of those kids who don't stand out one way or another," said his high school counselor Joe Mornini. "A lot of these kids who aren't stars in school become stars later on, and that's what Tony did."

Helene Paci and her husband Leo Paci were apprehensive when their son first told them he had enlisted in the military. He had become friends with Marines who frequented the restaurant he worked at and admired their camaraderie.

"We were also very proud. His reasons were all the right reasons," she said. "To the day he died he was glad about his decision. He loved his job, he loved the Army and he loved serving his country. He just didn't like leaving his family."

Anthony Paci's awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army National Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Infantry Badge and Expert Infantry Badge, according to the statement.

(He has been posthumously promoted to Sgt.)

You can kill a baby at any age...

I saw this picture the other day at Divine Ripples, it's appropriate for the story that follows;

Found this via Drudge;

SEATTLE -- The mother of a Ballard High School student is fuming after the health center on campus helped facilitate her daughter's abortion during school hours.

The mother, whom KOMO News has chosen to identify only as "Jill," says the clinic kept the information "confidential."

When she signed a consent form, Jill figured it meant her 15 year old could go to the Ballard Teen Health Center located inside the high school for an earache, a sports physical, even birth control, but not for help terminating a pregnancy.

"She took a pregnancy test at school at the teen health center," she said. "Nowhere in this paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating abortion."

Jill says her daughter, a pro-life advocate, was given a pass, put in a taxi and sent off to have an abortion during school hours all without her family knowing.

"We had no idea this was being facilitated on campus," said Jill. "They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility."

The Seattle School District says it doesn't run the health clinics at high schools. Swedish Medical Center runs the clinic at Ballard High and protects the students' privacy.

T.J. Cosgrove of the King County Health Department, which administers the school-based programs for the health department, says it's always best if parents are involved in their children's health care, but don't always have a say.

"At any age in the state of Washington, an individual can consent to a termination of pregnancy," he said.

But Jill says she not only didn't have a say in her daughter's abortion, but also didn't know about it.

"Makes me feel like my rights were completely stripped away."

Why should a 15 year old girl have the ability to judge the pros & cons of killing her baby? The fact that she's pregnant in the first place renders her judgment suspect.

A kid of that age can't get a tattoo, can't buy cigarettes, can't buy booze, can't drive a car in most states, can't enlist in the military, can't work a full time job, can't get a credit card, etc. and etc. But killing a baby is no big deal and would involve less parental involvement than getting a paper route.

I guess the worship of Moloch is justifiable for any age.

This garbage is happening in other parts of our nation, so maybe theres nothing to be shocked about. Maybe it's something they put in a newspaper on a slow day, along with the "man bites dog" stories.

But I don't ever want to get so morally numb I can't be outraged by this crap.

The cost of dying just got cheaper...

I found the post linked below at Mercator.net, with the focus on our new healthcare system and the cost of it, this article is relevant for the time. What leaped out at me was the following which contains the link;

"Half of the lifetime health-care costs of the average person are incurred in the last six months of the person's life. Euthanasia would be a way to implement a “reasonably well or dead” approach – sometimes referred to as “squaring the curve” of health decline at the end of life, so the person drops precipitously from being reasonably well to dead – which would avoid those costs."

Silencing a voice of moral outrage...

Washington D.C., Mar 24, 2010 / 03:03 am (CNA).- A prominent Catholic writer says “selective” and “salacious” reporting of Catholic clergy in the aftermath of clerical sexual abuse scandals is being used to discredit a “powerful moral voice” in public debate. Acknowledging genuine abuse, she says present day anti-clericalism echoes the slanders of pre-Revolutionary France.

That view comes from Elizabeth Lev, an art historian who has written for Inside the Vatican, Sacerdos and First Things magazine. A regular columnist for Zenit, she is also the daughter of former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon.

“While no one denies the wrongdoing and the harm caused by a small minority of priests, their misconduct has been used to undermine the reputations of the overwhelming majority of clergy who live holy quiet lives in their parishes,” Lev writes at Politics Daily.

Lev sees parallels between the “sustained hostile attacks” on Catholic clergy in pre-Revolutionary France and present-day media depictions of the Catholic Church.

After the National Assembly in 1789 diminished the authority of the French King, fierce accusations against the Catholic clergy increased.

“Isolated cases of clerical immorality were magnified to make depravity appear endemic to the entire priesthood (ironically, in an age where sexual libertinism was running rampant),” Lev writes. “The French propagandists labored night and day, dredging the past for old scandals whether decades or even centuries distant.”

She cites the words of politician and writer Edmund Burke, who in 1790 noted these polemicists depicted French clergy as “a sort of monsters,” composed of sloth, fraud and avarice.

"It is not with much credulity I listen to any when they speak evil of those whom they are going to plunder. I rather suspect that vices are feigned or exaggerated when profit is looked for in their punishment,” Burke wrote, just as revolutionaries prepared for mass confiscation of Church lands.

Lev charges that “salacious” reporting on clerical sexual abuse is conducted as if the crimes were limited only to Catholic clergy. They have been given more prominence than present-day massacres of Christians in India and Iraq.

“It doesn't take the political acumen of an Edmund Burke to wonder why the Catholic Church has been singled out for this treatment.”

According to Lev, there are an estimated 39 million victims of childhood sexual abuse in the U.S. Between 40 and 60 percent of these were abused by a family member, five percent were molested by school teachers, and fewer than two percent were abused by Catholic priests.

“But to read the papers, it would seem that Catholic clergy hold a monopoly in child molestation,” her Politics Daily article continues.

She sees behind the attacks on Catholic priests attempts to “destroy the credibility of a powerful moral voice in public debate.”

Media reports on sex abuse rose to a “frenzy” at the same time as the final vote on the health care bill was opposed by the Catholic bishops, she claims.

“To silence the moral voice of the Church, the preferred option has been to discredit its ministers.”

Burke saw the anti-clerical campaign as a temporary preparation for the “utter abolition” of Christianity by bringing its ministers into “universal contempt,” Lev says, remembering the hundreds of priests sent to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.

“One hopes Americans will have the good sense to change course long before we reach that point,” her Politics Daily essay concludes.

I look at all things through the lens of personal experience, there is just so damned much lying done by EVERYONE in order to support their agenda. And everyone has an agenda, make no mistake about it.

So when I come across articles like this I think of any thing in my past life or of the lives of people I trust. It's limited but reliable.

Can't count the number of women I've known who were molested by a family member, it's almost epidemic.

Known of two women seduced by high school coaches.

Back in the '60's when hitchhiking was more common, main roads near the Catholic high schools were the favorite trolling grounds for pedophiles. This was done about the time extra curricular activities would conclude.

I know of one former seminarian who left because of the "lavender mafia". Thats over a span of 57 years. So although it happens, it's rare. But even so, that's one too many.

The most horrible thing about this is it happens to the most innocent by those who should be trusted more than the average man on the street. In addition, the perpetuation of it by the willful enablers in the Church with their silence and "taking care of their own" has made it exponentially worse. They should spend eternity getting cornholed by the legions of Hell.

I agree with this writer, the subject is currently being used to bludgeon the Church into irrelevance. She's right that the Catholic Church is singled out because of it's strong voice on moral issues. As much as many of us would roll our eyes at the moral equivalence heard from the mouths of the USCCB and others, Catholics DO have a strong voice in anything dealing with morality.

By comparison, how often does the local church of "I'm okay, you're okay" have it's transgressions pasted across the front page of the local fish wrap?