extreme Catholic 

 
Who admires McGreevey now and yet wasn't paying attention on Wednesday?

After reading many stories about the governor it seems that there's three groups admiring McGreevey:

• People who like the idea that while McGreevey has made a train wreck of his personal life, he's managed to pull maximum political advantage by a combination of ambiguity and misdirection, lies, and a little truth. He's showing that Bill Clinton's teflon on telling lies about ones private life without impact on his public life may not have been unique. Nice touch waiting until November 15.
• People just admire any brave declaration, any confession: "I am gay". (Now anyone who goes after McGreevey for any reason can be accused of homophobia) We'll just have to see how long he's going to be able to claim victimhood status.
• People who applaud McGreevey for taking a bullet for the good of the Democratic Party. This clears the way for folks to forget all about McGreevey -- just as they forgot about Florio -- by November 2005 -- when Corzine is expected to be crowned.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:31 PM   Permalink  

 
AP: Thousands say goodbye to ``Super Freak'' singer Rick James

James grew up with seven brothers and sisters in public housing projects and began singing in the choir at St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church, where he was an altar boy. Later, he played congos and bongos with the Cadet Drum Corp. and with the Bennett High School Band.

He was 56 and a cocaine abuser.

I wonder when he was last in church or offered up a prayer. Our prayers now matter.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 6:16 PM   Permalink  

 
Why the story of Jim McGreevey is a big story at Extreme Catholic

Jim McGreevey is a pro-abortion Catholic politician which makes him one of Herod's Heros. But McGreevey has been honored by Catholic-affiliated organizations.

He's Irish-American which makes him almost kin. This is the story of his trip to Ireland.

He is an opponent of the Catholic Church -- but not an opponent of Archbishop Meyers who denied that he was critical of McGreevey.

If you are heterosexual you see hypocrisy and political calculation in his getting married in order to project the image of a family man.

If you are gay you see hypocrisy in his opposition to gay marriage and a lack of courage to live as a openly gay man.

Jim McGreevey sees the world as having "many" truths and "many" realities -- so I fear that he does not fear God.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:41 PM   Permalink  

 
Arab News: Moqtada Sadr Lays Down Truce Terms

US forces suspended a nine-day offensive in the Iraqi city of Najaf yesterday and Iraqi officials and aides to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr were negotiating a truce.

Sadr, however, laid down a host of conditions for an end to the fighting. At a hotel in Najaf, a spokesman for Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, Ali Sumeisim, spelled out the conditions — notably for the withdrawal of the US-led forces and handover of the city to the Marjayia, the Shiite religious authority.

The Marines and Iraqi forces surrounded him, and he demands everyone surrender to him.

You've got to admire the chutzpah

This Cox and Forkum cartoon is really funny and dead-on accurate.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:21 PM   Permalink  

 
The Greatest Gay American Politician

New York Daily News: Instant hero in gay community

It didn't take lnog after New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey came out on national TV for gays everywhere to hail him as their newfound hero.

Friends called and E-mailed friends, heralding the news and repeating the line, "I am a gay American" as if it was a war cry.

"Listen, people, it's okay to be gay," said Dion James, 28, who was shopping in Chelsea. "Gov. McGreevey just turned this into a great day for every gay man and woman in this country."

At the same time, though, many gays were disappointed with the governor's decision to resign, saying McGreevey should have stayed put and weathered the storm.

"It's sad that Bill Clinton got a b--- job in the White House and got to stay in office, but McGreevey felt he had to resign because he is gay," said Rodney Walker, 44, a public school teacher from Gillette, N.J., strolling through Chelsea last night.

State Sen. Tom Duane (D-Manhattan), who is gay, agreed, saying that "coming out shouldn't preclude someone from holding office."

McGreevey said he would step down because his secret - both his sexuality and admitted affair with a man - leaves the governor's office vulnerable.

But the twice-married governor may also be forced to face a lawsuit charging him with sexual misconduct against his former Homeland Security adviser, Golan Cipel.

Whatever the reason, McGreevey's resignation is "sad, tragic and unfortunate," Peter Farrington, 47, said. "To leave office after you come out is to do a disservice to gays who have fought so hard to prove their sexuality does not determine how well they can perform a job."

Farrington and his partner of 10 years, Richard Mor, watched McGreevey's announcement at their home on W. 21st St.

Around the block on Eighth Ave., at the gay bar Rawhide, the bartender turned down the music so the governor's words could be heard from a giant flat-screen TV.

"There will be a lot of people now saying, 'I can't believe I voted for a gay guy,'" mused John McGrath, 29, of West New York, N.J. "Maybe that will open their eyes to the fact that being gay is not a disgrace, it's not a crippling disease."

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, hailed the "amazing" and "moving" elements in McGreevey's coming-out speech.

"Perhaps the very open and human way he did that," Foreman said, "will increase respect for gay people who make that decision every day."

If gay man Jim McGreevey is a great gay American? What does that make his heterosexual wife Dina? What does that make his gay lover Golan Cipel?

Is Gay American Jim McGreevey the victim of Gay Israeli Golan Cipel (extortion)? Or is Gay Israeli Golan Cipel the victim of Jim McGreevey (sexual harassment) ?

Where are the homophobes in this? Round up the usual suspects. Who among the electorate cares about his sexual orientation?

For extra amusement, check out the official McGreevey Code of Conduct

If I were gay, I'd call McGreevey a disgrace and move on. What's not disputed is that he appointed Cipel who had zero qualifications to be his homeland security adviser -- this is the equivalent of Bill Clinton appointing Monica Lewinski the head of the Secret Service.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:20 PM   Permalink  

 
The WNBC Video of the McGreevey Announcement

It's all about me:

My truth is that I am a Gay-Americam.

We're all shouting back -- Who cares?

Politicians can handle affairs even gay ones -- but blackmail and sexual harassment lawsuits are another.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:38 PM   Permalink  

 
Who is Jim McGreevey?

Ability Magazine

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly… but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat," said President Theodore Roosevelt during a speech at the Sorbonne in 1910.

New Jersey's Governor, James E. McGreevey, is such a man. Devoted to a wide array of worthy causes, he projects the epitome of leadership and is successfully tackling a multiplicity of issues head on.

A surge of energy surrounds this fast-paced individual whose actions are indicative of a future with bright tomorrows. Possessing a certain air that demands immediate attention—all the while charming others with exuberant action and eloquent mannerisms—McGreevey is supercharged.

Born August 6, 1957 in Jersey City, the grandson of a police officer and son of a Marine and nurse, James E. McGreevey was to become New Jersey’s 51st Governor at the age of 45. He’s married to Dina Matos McGreevey and is the father of two daughters, Morag Veronica, age nine, and Jacqueline Matos, who was born on December 7, 2001.

His knowledge stems from earning a law degree from Georgetown University, and a master’s degree in education from Harvard University. Under his leadership, New Jersey shows immense promise. His attention to the importance of legislative issues concerning disability, health care, education and safety, is taking the state by storm. His energy level is as youthful as his appearance.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:18 PM   Permalink  

 
WINS1010: Church Invalidates 8-Year-Old's Holy Communion

An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a rare digestive disorder and cannot consume wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained none, violating Catholic doctrine.

Now, Haley Waldman's mother is pushing the Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican to make an exception, saying the girl's condition _ celiac sprue disease _ should not exclude her from participating in the sacrament, in which Roman Catholics eat consecrated wheat-based wafers to commemorate the last supper of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.

``In my mind, I think they must not understand celiac,'' said Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, 30. ``It's just not a viable option. How does it corrupt the tradition of the Last Supper? It's just rice versus wheat.''

It's more than that, according to church doctrine, which holds that communion wafers must have at least some unleavened wheat, as did the bread served at the Last Supper.

The Diocese of Trenton has told Waldman's mother that the girl can receive a low-gluten host, drink wine at communion or abstain entirely, but that any host without gluten does not qualify as Holy Communion.

Pelly-Waldman rejected the offer, saying even a small amount of gluten could harm her child.

Gluten is a food protein contained in wheat and other grains.

Diocesan spokeswoman Audra Miller declined comment on Waldman's case, and instead provided policy papers written by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops outlining the options for celiac sprue sufferers.

Celiac sprue disease, an autoimmune disorder, occurs in people with a genetic intolerance of gluten.

When consumed by celiac sufferers, gluten damages the lining of the small intestine, blocking nutrient absorption and leading to vitamin deficiencies, bone-thinning and sometimes gastrointestinal cancer.

It isn't the first such communion controversy. In 2001, the family of a 5-year-old Natick, Mass., girl with the disease left the Catholic church after being denied permission to use a rice wafer.

Some Catholic churches allow the use of no-gluten hosts, others don't, according to Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, a Studio City, Calif.-based support group for sufferers.

``It is a dilemma,'' said Monarch. ``It is a major frustration that someone who wants to follow their religion is restricted from doing so because some churches will not allow it.''

``It is an undue hardship on a person who wants to practice their religion and needs to compromise their health to do so,'' Monarch said.

Haley Waldman, a shy, brown-haired tomboy who loves surfing and hates to wear a dress, was diagnosed with the disorder at 5.

``I'm on a gluten-free diet because I can't have wheat, I could die,'' she said in an interview Wednesday.

Last year, in anticipation of the Brielle Elementary School third grader reaching Holy Communion age, her mother told officials at St. Denis Catholic Church in Manasquan that the girl could not have the standard host.

The church's pastor, the Rev. Stanley P. Lukaszewski, told her that a gluten-free substitute was unacceptable.

But a priest at a nearby parish contacted Pelly-Waldman after learning about the dilemma, volunteering to administer the sacrament using a gluten-free host.

She said she won't identify the priest or his parish for fear of repercussions from diocese.

On May 2, Waldman _ wearing a white communion dress _ made her first Holy Communion in a ceremony at the priest's church. Her mother, who also suffers from celiac and had not received communion since her diagnosis four years ago, also received.

But last month, the diocese told the priest that Waldman's sacrament would not be validated by the church because of the substitute wafer.

``I struggled with telling her that the sacrament did not happen,'' said Pelly-Waldman. ``She lives in a world of rules. She says `Mommy, do we want to break a rule? Are we breaking a rule?'''

Now, the mother is seeking papal intervention. She has written to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, challenging the church's policy.

``This is a church rule, not God's will, and it can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of the people, while staying true to the traditions of our faith,'' Pelly-Waldman said in the letter.

For her part, Pelly-Waldman _ who attends Mass every Sunday with her four children _ said she is not out to bash the church, just to change the policy that affects her daughter.

``I'm hopeful. Do I think it will be a long road to change? Yes. But I'm raising an awareness and I'm taking it one step at a time,'' she said.

I'm thinking of calling the Diocese for comment. I'm a "Catholic author" for the purpose of identification when I do that. The doctrine is that the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ are contained in the Sacred Host and in the Precious Blood.

Why can't Haley Waldman receive Holy Communion through the Precious Blood alone?

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 8:55 PM   Permalink  

 
McGreevery to resign on November 15 (or before...)

Democratic Governor of New Jerset Jim McGreevey is resigning because he had a consentual homosexual affair. He admitted this so it's not a rumor.

I can't believe I'm blogging this ahead of Drudge.

The Democratic President of the State Senate takes over, Richard Codey becomes the Governor who is a career politician who has not run for governor or higher office.

According to the State Constitution if McGreevey resigns before September 2 there's an election for governor in 2004, after September 2, it will be in 2006.

Jim McGreevey is a Catholic. He has agreed not to receive Holy Communion. He's a two-fer: he supports a legal right to abortion and his first marriage was not anulled.

The speculation is that he was either a blackmail target, or that he will be named in a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Update:

Interesting instant response:

One group of gays is showing solidarity with this self-confessed "Gay-American". Saying he is a hero and courageous to be honest about his sexality. How dare anyone attack him now for corruption and influence peddling and greed -- it's motivated by homophobia.

Another group of gays is outraged that he is wrapping his own corruption, adultery, etc. around his gay identity, saying that he is playing into the stereotypes. He is denying personal responsiblity -- saying in effect, I couldn't help myself. I am a "Gay-American".

What a scene at this "I gonna resign in 95 days" speech. His second wife, his mom and dad were there, but his male lover was not.

I don't think the Republicans are going to take this lying down: there's 82 days before the election and plenty of time to have an valid election. Frankly, I think the constitutional 60 day clock started today by the simple fact that he's declared the office "open" in 95 days.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 4:52 PM   Permalink  

 
Msgr. Woolsey Update -- and it's not good news.

New York Post: Msgr. Moneybags

Authorities probing a well-heeled Upper East Side monsignor who allegedly bilked money from an elderly parishioner said his cup also runneth over with hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed bank accounts — and a membership at one of the country's toniest golf clubs.

The investigation of Monsignor John Woolsey has turned up a personal account with Smith Barney worth $450,000, a Citibank account with $200,000 — and a $340,000 discrepancy over a contracting bill for work done on the church.

And when Woolsey wasn't saying Mass as pastor at St. John the Martyr, sources said he could sometimes be seen hitting the links at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, an establishment so exclusive that visitors need a password to get on its Web site.

The Archdiocese of New York last month booted Woolsey from his pastorate at the East 72nd Street church and reported him to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office after learning that cash in the "high hundreds of thousands of dollars" had disappeared from church coffers, said officials familiar with the case.

Bill Donohue didn't rush out a press release to defend his friend Msgr. Woolsey on this latest story.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 1:45 PM   Permalink  

 
New York Post: Commuter Panic (no -- I think they were responding rationally)

August 11, 2004 -- Dozens of alarmed PATH passengers went into a panic on a train yesterday after a track fire sent thick smoke into the air — forcing riders to kick out windows in order to escape what they thought was a terrorist attack.

The chaos began when a small pile of garbage caught fire at around 2 p.m. in the station at 14th Street and Sixth Avenue, just as a train packed with riders approached the platform.

The trash continued to smolder as the New Jersey-bound train pulled into the underground station, a witnesses told The Post.

The motorman spotted the flames and hit the brake.

The seven-car train — with three cars still in the tunnel behind it — idled as the conductor got out of his cabin and tried to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher. (without making any announcement to the passengers before leaving the train)

Anxious riders had no idea what was happening outside. Then the lights on the train went out and there were no announcements to guide them.

The stench of fire grew stronger and thick black clouds filled the station.

"People saw smoke and they thought the worst," said Edward O'Connell, 28, who was standing on the platform and who took these dramatic photos.

As smoke started to fill the train, riders grew increasingly terrified. When the doors remained closed for four minutes after the train had stopped, the passengers took matters into their own hands.

"People looked really scared," O'Connell said. "You could see the fear in their faces."

Desperate riders knocked out three windows in a car by the middle of the train. Scores of commuters poured out onto the platform, dashing for the exits.

"They were climbing out," O'Connell said. "I never saw anything like it."

As agitated passengers fled from the station, firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire.

The Port Authority, which operates the PATH system between New Jersey and Manhattan, said the train crew was correct not to open the doors and did nothing wrong.

"Part of the train was not in the station and it would have been unsafe to open the doors at that time," said PA spokesman Steve Coleman. "Procedure was followed."

The procedure is wrong. And the passengers did what I would do -- the right thing -- get off the train -- get out of the station.

The power is still on sucking in the smoke from the fire into the train. There's still hope that there will be an announcement. It's a small track fire -- don't worry.

Once the power was turned off, there would be no hope of getting an announcement to the passengers to stay put or to evacuate. In fact, there would be no way of knowing if people including the crew on the train were living or dead at that point -- or what the magnitude of the danger to the passengers actually was.

With part of the train in the station there was no danger of wandering into the electrified third rail so exiting the train and the station was the smart thing to do.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 12:50 PM   Permalink  

 
WSJ Opinion Journal: The (Political) Science of Stem Cells

Far from banning research, Bush is expanding federal funding.

You might not know about it from listening to the news lately, [but] the President also looks forward to medical breakthroughs that may arise from stem cell research. Few people know that George W. Bush is the only President to ever authorize federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

--Laura Bush

The First Lady was way too polite: The way stem cells have been reported, you'd think we were in a new Dark Ages, with government-backed religious inquisitors threatening scientists on the cusp of life-saving treatments.

A good article. My new opinion is that scientists are experiencing a bit of hubris here. They don't want to work on adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood, they want the biggest challenge the human embryo.

As Henry Frankenstein said "Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!".

If you are discussing this with pro-choice/pro-abortion people ask them why don't the scientists simply use animal embryos and not human embryos?

The answer will be "Silly, the animal embryos can't produce human cells." Oh! So you are conceding the point that this tiny embryo is living and human? If you are living and human -- don't you have a right to life?

Of course, the pro-aborts on top of this. They are desparate to spin a greater good to society rationalization for abortion: your unborn child becomes spare brain cells for grandma.

It's a 70's science-fiction/horror novel come to reality.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 12:36 PM   Permalink  

 
WorldNetDaily: Homosexual Christ actor 'sought sex with boy'

An actor who played prominent roles in a homosexual-themed play paralleling the life of Jesus Christ is on trial this week for allegedly seeking sex with someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy he met on the Internet.

Steven Shriner, 42, of Hoboken, N.J., portrayed the characters of both Jesus' mother Mary and the apostle Peter in "Corpus Christi," a production of the Chicago-based Ulysses Theatre Company about a victim of "homophobes" in a Texas high school who eventually performs miracles for his 12 disciples.

The evidence that homosexuality is at the root of the scandal continues to build.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:51 AM   Permalink  

 
Be afraid -- nature in rebellion to humanity.

What's going on with all these cases of rabies?

Google News shows quite a few very recent cases.

AP: Brookville, Long Island NY -- Rabid raccoon found on Long Island; first case in decades

AP: Herndon VA -- Fox Killed In Herndon Was Rabid

Tests have confirmed that a fox killed by an animal control officer in Herndon Tuesday was indeed rabid.

Thank goodness we have patron saints -- a sort of spiritual superhero for this dread threat:

rabies; hydrophobia; mad dogs

• Denis
• Dominic de Silos
• Guy of Anderlecht
• Hubert of Liege
• Otto of Bamberg
• Sithney
• Walburga

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:06 AM   Permalink  

 
Not content to wait for the bad news -- predicting it!

USA Today U.S. misstep in Najaf could bring more resentment

News analysis by Barbara Slavin and Steven Komarow, USA TODAY

The U.S.-led battle to put the Shiite Muslim city of Najaf back under the control of Iraq's new government is a high-stakes operation that could provoke wider resistance, even if it's a military success.

We lose -- the terrorists win. We win -- the terrorists win.

We're educating the terrorists that the combination of the new Iraqi government and the American armed forces cannot be resisted.

The end of the Battle of Fallujah will not be repeated. You remember that there was a phony cease fire and rather than having the U.S. Marines capture or kill the enemy, they brought up an Iraqi force led by Saddam-era General Jassim Mohammed Saleh al-Dulaimi which promptly deserted or joined forces with the enemy.

He was replaced by General Mohammed Latif who essentially abandoned the city to be run by the terrorists. He stayed of out their way and they stayed out of his way for the most part.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 8:45 AM   Permalink  

 
The 2000's version of Kennedy's doctrine

This is extreme, even for me: Substituting for Laura Ingraham, Jay Severin suggested that just as President Kennedy said that any nuclear weapons lauched from Cuba would be considered an attack from the Soviet Union and would be retaliated there, Jay suggested that any attack using nuclear weapons on the United States should be retaliated against Damascus, Teheran, Mecca, and other Islamic capitals.

I would add the military centers of North Korea as well to that list.

Of course, that would never happen. It would profoundly reframe this as an Islamic war and not a Global War on Terror.

I suspect that there's a nuke with my name (and G.W. Bush's name) on it in New York -- Thursday September 2, 2004. I suspect Dick Cheney will be at an undisclosed location as a precaution.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:22 PM   Permalink  

 
Catholic World News: Portland Bankruptcy

Portland, Aug. 10 (CWNews.com) - Archbishop John Vlazny testified on August 7 that he believes his decision to file a bankruptcy claim for the Portland archdiocese was guided by the Holy Spirit, according to local media reports.

In a mandated meeting with creditors of the archdiocese, Archbishop Vlazny revealed that he made the final decision to seek bankruptcy over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. "I had a feeling the Holy Spirit was working," he said.

My comment on the news

I'll be waiting for the Holy Spirt to file an "amicus curiae" with the court.

A bit later someone comments

With the way the talk is going and how many people are talking about the bankruptcy as if it is a bad thing as opposed to a necesssary thing, I have questions for you.

If the diocese listed *all* the assets and the plantifs are entiltled to them, where would our people go for mass? The Churches are the assets!

Who will be the first in line to donate to the sexual abuse victims instead of to pastoral programs?

This is a harsh reality folks, we have to come to terms with it.

My Second Reply

Let the bishop sell it all, if necessary, and let him be reduced to material poverty to match the spiritual poverty of re-assigning sexual predator priests should this be proven in court.

Let the bishop, other clergy, and the faithful (finally) get the message and see the costs of sin.

"Who will be the first in line to donate?" If there were any parishioners who were consulted by bishops on the reassignment of these priests, that would be news indeed.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 8:56 PM   Permalink  

 
What's up with Rush Limbaugh?

I wrote this earlier on the WABC Bulletin Board

I've noticed that since his on-air explosion they have not put on the air any articulate liberals who will ask for example: "If the Bush plan in Iraq is working, why did more Americans die in the month after the government was formed than in the month before the govenment was formed?"

There's an answer to that question that doesn't involved flinging your arms around, shouting, and having your face turn beet red.

Rush likes to argue with a soundbite that has no ability to respond or with hapless inarticulate liberals who fall into the seminar caller trap -- Rush toys with their self-identification and uses the time during the call to call attention to the fact that they are not fans of the show. They are soft targets.

Rush talks a good talk about how he is putting liberals in their place without actually getting around to doing so -- at least not in 2004.

I'm afraid that Sean Hannity is becoming with experience far better at debating, far better at having a command of the facts, and much more willing to take on Kerry spinners like Lanny Davis.

Listening today, he's taken no disagreeing callers.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 1:49 PM   Permalink  

 
I heard this book was hard to find -- but here it is

Kerry, John and Vietnam Veterans Against the War: The New Soldier

New York: Collier Books, 1971 First Thus. Oversized softcover. "First Collier Books edition" stated on copyright page. Fine condition. INCLUDED is a photocopy of large folded in quarters flier "Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Inc. DEWEY CANYON III" (Sunday April 18 Through Friday April 23, 1971) This is the program for the weeklong protest. Also included is a photocopy of John Kerry's article "Where are the Leaders of Our Country?" printed in The New Republic, May 8, 1971. MP4-1815Z.

It can be yours for $1200 -- that's one thousand two hundred dollars. via Abe Books

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 7:39 PM   Permalink  

 
Tired of Hearing This

(1) Chuck Schumer complaining that government hasn't done enough.

Chuck, you are the government start getting things done for New York.

(2) John Kerry talking about his secret plan and how he can bring the armed forces of France and Germany to Iraq to relieve American forces there.

John, as an American and an American Senator, just do it. Don't wait to be president. If this is such an practical and possible idea -- then there's no reason for even a days delay. Just do it.

Frankly, I don't think if de Gaulle were reincarnated as a natural-born American, elected president, and proposed this, France would still not approve sending its troops to Iraq.

It's domestically unpopular in France and Germany and it doesn't advance the idea of the EU having a policy independent of the United States with respect to the Islamic World.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 7:07 PM   Permalink  

 
Do as I do

1. Check out the political blogs of St. Blogs parish for the most up-to-date blog content.
2. Check out one that you never saw before: To the mattresses
3. Follow that interesting link to Ken Woodward's (whom I respect) review of Jimmy Breslin's (whom I do not respect) most recent book.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 12:23 PM   Permalink  

 
Calendar Math

Consider a man whose military service was as a junior officer for 4 months on a destroyer screening for U-Boats in World War I (American participation was 1917-1918)

Would this former Lieutenant be qualified to run for President in 1956 -- on that basis alone?

Kerry's resume has a 36 year gap.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:28 AM   Permalink  

 
Homeless Background

During the Koch years, there was a wave of releasing people from mental institutions which were losing funding and seen as hellholes. It was called "warehousing the mentally ill".

I'm not a social services professional but I think many New Yorkers divide the mentally ill into categories.

• People utterly unable to take care of themselves -- through a congenital problem or a disease.
• People who have made themselves dependent on society by alcohol, drugs, or crack.

There's an element of retribution in our attitudes towards the second group.

But through our taxes we have an enormous social safety net.

But what if someone resists all the attempts to help him? Meet Larry Hogue who before I knew his name, I knew his nickname and stayed as far away from him as I could - The Wild Man of 96th Street.

The ACLU kept fighting with Ed Koch to keep him locked up. Hogue had money sent to him each money which he would immediately spend on crack. Hogue's defenders kept claiming that he was a decorated and injured Vietnam combat veteran. A little research turned up that Hogue was in the Navy only for a year and before the Vietnam buildup.

Here's some more editorials on protecting the public from the violent homeless.

I've been to the homeless shelters. If I were in that position, I would take any work to get out of the system.

If I were in the position of Officer Declacruz I would obey lawful orders. If I disagreed with the policy, I'd resign and run for Mayor and be in a position to set the policy.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 8:45 AM   Permalink  

 
Officer Eduardo Delacruz Update

This is the police officer who was suspended and given a departmental trial for his refusal to arrest a homeless person.

AP: Friday August 6: Trial Testimony

[The city attorney] asserted in his closing argument that instead of being concerned for the homeless, Delacruz did not want to spend the time required to process an arrest.

"He just wanted to get home on time," Green said, a charge Siegel vigorously denied when speaking to reporters afterward.

AP: Thursday August 5: Trial Testimony

Since Delacruz was targeted for discipline in 2002, homeless advocates have portrayed him as a conscientious objector to a heavy-handed crackdown on the city's dispossessed. The officer, who has a clean disciplinary record, has suggested he was motivated by religion.

"God is in control," the 10-year veteran said when asked what he was thinking at the time.

AP: Thursday July 29: Bizarre Refusal.

Delacruz, a Catholic, has said he refused to arrest the man for religious reasons.

The trial is over. The decision will be handed down in a few weeks.

It's a sad end to this officer's career, but he should have seen it coming and transferred out of the unit or left the police department for social services.

I don't believe he argued that as a Catholic he was obligated not to arrest the homeless man -- otherwise all the Catholics on the police force would be obligated to not make these arrests. This is something he must have concluded on his own.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:46 PM   Permalink  

 
New York's Senate Election of 1970 and its suprising outcome

This all took place 34 years ago. I was alive but not paying much attention to politics.

In 1968 Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in the midst of his presidential campaign. The then governor, Nelson Rockefeller,a Republican, appointed a Republican, Charles Goodell then in the House to the Senate. What's most interesting in his biography is that he served in two branches of the armed services, the Navy and the Air Force.

He was a Rockefeller liberal Republican opposed to the war and President Nixon's management of the war.

James Buckley ran on the Conservative ticket and won because the liberal vote was split between Goodell and Richard Ottinger, who resembled a sort of New York state version of Robert Kennedy.

James Buckley was a good man but time was making New York more Democratic with each passing year. After serving in the Senate from New York, he ran for the Senate from Connecticut in 1980 but lost to Chris Dodd, who is still serving.

This is Bill Buckley commenting on his re-election loss in 1976 to the late long-serving Pat Moynihan.

The opening of Moynihan's seat led to Hillary Clinton -- but that, friends, is another story for another day.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:33 PM   Permalink  

 
Capital News 9: Investigation cost diocese $2.2 million

Some parishioners think that the $2.2 million report is nothing but that -- just a expensive report, that proves nothing. Something Attorney John Aretakis agrees with.

Aretakis said, "She cherry-picked facts that suited her interests and the interests of her client, Bishop Howard Hubbard. This is just an expensive report, an expensive work of fiction."

The diocese though claims one of the main reasons the investigation was so costly is because Aretakis and his clients refused to participate in it. Aretakis, however, said that should have made the investigation cost less. The attorney also said the diocese is contradicting itself when it comes the reason of why the investigation was so expensive.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 9:34 PM   Permalink  

 
Monica Bellucci as you have never seen her before

In the role of Mary Magdelene in the Passion of the Christ.
Posing pregant and nude in Italian Vanity Fair (I've added the blur for some modesty)

Credit for reminding me of this story goes to an anonymous contributor who will probably complain that I didn't blur enough in the photo.

Knight Ridder: Naked and Pregnant

Italian screen siren Monica Bellucci's naked and pregnant pose on her country's edition of Vanity Fair magazine has infuriated The Vatican.

The Passion of The Christ beauty and her French husband Vincent Cassel are expecting their first child in the northern autumn.

Bellucci decided to strip off as a protest against a new Italian law that allows only married couples to use in-vitro fertilisation and prohibits the use of donor sperm.

In the magazine, Bellucci rages, "Over here, if you aren't married with all the proper rubber stamps, they stop you from using science to have a child."

The Holy State's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, fumes, "The unborn child is no longer a human being to protect in the womb, but becomes the unwitting accomplice of a sad game."

Demi Moore started the Vanity Fair tradition when she bared her pregnant body on the cover of a 1991 issue.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 8:40 PM   Permalink  

 
For Reuters it's not "News" it's "Oddly Enough

Reuters: Church Prays for Olympic Athletes Not to Be Lazy

Greece's Orthodox Church said on Sunday it was praying for athletes competing in the Athens Olympics not to be lazy.

"Athletes and sports fans should spend the days of the Olympic Games abhorring evil, clinging to good led by brotherly love and should not be slothful," the church said in a statement.

The church says sloth is one of man's deadly passions that should be resisted.

"The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece prays also to the Lord for the Games to be conducted in a spirit of mutual love and peace, away from conflict, away from acts of violence and demonstration of cruelty," the church said.

More evidence of the hostility Reuters has to religious faith, except in some cases, Islam.

Reuters treats this story with mockery as if the Orthodox Church was on the level of some group of people playing medieval dressup like re-enactors. Religion is being positioned in the media as a fringe phenomeon.

Can anyone remember the old Catholic point of view Treasure Chest comics? They started with the idea that the ridicule of religion would be the first wave of new persecution. Back then they were talking about behind the Iron Curtain.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 6:06 PM   Permalink  

 
Alan Keyes Watch

There's no one who listens better than a man who knows nothing.

He's smart and funny.

I never thought that I'd be writing this: Thank you Hillary Clinton, for making carpet-bagging charge answerable by the Republicans with "What was Hillary's connection to New York before she ran for the Senate there?"

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:33 AM   Permalink  

 
AP: Police: Xbox ® Theft Spurred Fla. Slayings

Sometimes, you get publicity for your product that you would rather not get.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 12:16 AM   Permalink  

 
Alan Keyes is running for the Senate.

He's Catholic. I'll have to find out if he's cradle or convert.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:55 PM   Permalink  

 
Portland Tribune: Celibacy doesn’t lead to sex abuse (op ed)

The Roman Catholic Church has done a great deal of soul-searching since the clergy’s sexual abuse crisis hit the front pages of our newspapers in January 2002. To say that this has been a painful time is an understatement.

As a priest, I grieve with the many victims who have suffered because of clerical misconduct. As a priest, I also ask the victims for their forgiveness. The church mishandled the accusations brought to it. Leadership failed when it was most acutely needed.

Priestly celibacy and the church’s view of human sexuality are often cited as the root causes of the sexual abuse crisis. Such opinions are anecdotal at best. There are no data to substantiate any causal connection between celibacy and the sexual abuse of minors. Does marriage prevent the sexual abuse of children? Statistics would show otherwise.

A rather strange opinion appears her as the second part of Two Views - Does the Catholic Church need to revise its views on sexuality?

Portland Tribune: Church equates sexuality with sin

written by someone who's insight into the Church teaching is what he picked up at Boston College.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:44 PM   Permalink  

 
Mepham Update

Newsday Editorial: A Curious Lawsuit

All the glory and none of the accountability?

Four Long Island high school coaches who were fired last fall after four of their football players were accused of sexually assaulting younger players have filed a $20 million lawsuit against three of the attackers and their parents.

The boys' acts jeopardized the coaches' careers and "ruined" their lives, the coaches' lawyer told Newsday.

In an amazing twist of responsibility, and thinking, the coaches contend that they had nothing to do with the attacks on five younger players during a pre-season training camp in Pennsylvania last August — but that the attackers' parents did. This, even though the teens were more than 100 miles from home and under the care of the coaches.

The attacks took place over several nights on several victims, one of whom required surgery for his injuries. And not a single coach at that camp noticed anything amiss? But their parents should have?

In March, a Wayne County, Pa., grand jury found no basis for filing criminal charges against the coaches, but it did cite "clear evidence that the coaches displayed a lack of commonsense accountability" in running the camp.

The suit, brought by four of five coaches who were fired, alleges that the parents should have known their sons were "prone to acts of violence . . ."

Four players eventually admitted roles in the attacks, which led to the suspension of the season for the Mepham High School football team. That ignited community outcry, prompted threats against the victims and their families, and, months later, complaints that fault rested in the attackers' upbringing.

High school football players often are accorded heroic, celebrity status in communities — and by their coaches and parents. When they win, they reflect glory on everybody. Yet when they commit a terrible crime while solely under their coaches' care — what the law calls in loco parentis, acting in the place of a parent — the coaches have no accountability? The coaches sue the kids and their parents because actions reflected badly on them?

Multiple lawsuits are being filed in relation to this case. Of all of them, this one seems the most far-fetched.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 5:18 PM   Permalink