extreme Catholic 

 
It’s Not Your Old Auld Sod (New York Times)

September 24, 2006 Kris Ensminger (Good Eating, Woodside)

Woodside, a neighborhood near the entrance to the 59th Street Bridge in Queens, was a century ago an enclave of Irish families, but like so much of the borough, it has become increasingly diverse in the past few decades. Immigrants from Asia and Central and South America have arrived since the early 1980’s, and the neighborhood’s restaurants reflect their cuisines.

"...a century ago..." I'm not that old, really. In fact, "Woodside" in Queens in 1906 was about four farms and the families on them. All that would change in 10 years though.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 7:50 PM   Permalink  

 
Follow-up: Catholic (ex-)teach(er) fights 'barriers'

Kathleen Lucadamo, New York Daily News: November 19, 2006

When she nuzzles her infant daughter, Michelle McCusker says she knows her decision to charge the Diocese of Brooklyn with discrimination was the right thing to do.

"It's a way to make the future better for her, to take down barriers," the 27-year-old said from the East Rockaway home she shares with her parents.

McCusker, an unmarried pre-K teacher, was fired from her job at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in September 2005 after she told her superiors she was three months pregnant.

The school claimed she was "unable to convey the faith which is an essential element of her teaching duties" because she got pregnant out of wedlock.

But last month the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission responded to a federal complaint filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union on McCusker's behalf and ruled she was the victim of "pregnancy discrimination."... (quotes appear in the original article)

As I wrote earlier I side with the Diocese here: Applying for a teaching job at a Catholic school, and arriving for the first week of school, unmarried and already three months into a pregnancy seems suspicious to me. The father, remains unidentified, perhaps because he's married to someone else.

I'd like there to be a trial on this so that we can get more of the facts out in the public.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 10:31 PM   Permalink