HEH, HEH

That's our guv.

"THE SMOKING GUN"?

From the AP:

The future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas to defrock a California priest with a record of sexually molesting children, citing concerns including "the good of the universal church," according to a 1985 letter bearing his signature.

The correspondence, obtained by The Associated Press, is the strongest challenge yet to the Vatican's insistence that Benedict played no role in blocking the removal of pedophile priests during his years as head of the Catholic Church's doctrinal watchdog office.

The letter, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was typed in Latin and is part of years of correspondence between the Diocese of Oakland and the Vatican about the proposed defrocking of the Rev. Stephen Kiesle.
....

But the future pope also noted that any decision to defrock Kiesle must take into account the "good of the universal church" and the "detriment that granting the dispensation can provoke within the community of Christ's faithful, particularly considering the young age." Kiesle was 38 at the time.

Kiesle had been sentenced in 1978 to three years' probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of lewd conduct for tying up and molesting two young boys in a San Francisco Bay area church rectory.

The information in the article sickens me, but I'm running out of words on the pope's role in the cover-up of child abuse. What's next? What sort of revelations will it take before the Vatican stops circling the wagons and hunkering down?

I'd add that there's something very wrong with the criminal laws when a person who ties up and molests young children can plead guilty to a misdemeanor and get off with no jail time and only three years probation.

H/T to Box Turtle Bulletin for the link to the article. Jim Burroway has more commentary there.

ANOTHER PROBLEM CAUSED BY DEFORESTATION

 

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

IT'S OFFICIAL - STEVENS TO RETIRE FROM SUPREME COURT

From the New York Times:

Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, leader of the liberal wing of the Supreme Court, announced on Friday that he would retire at the end of this term, setting up a confirmation battle over his replacement that is virtually certain to dominate the political scene this summer.

In a brief letter to President Obama, whom he addressed as “my dear Mr. President,” Justice Stevens said he was announcing his retirement now because he had “concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court’s next term” in October.

We will miss you, my dear Justice Stevens, especially because:

Confronted with a court far more conservative than the one he joined, Justice Stevens showed the world what his colleagues already knew: that beneath his amiable manner lay a canny strategist and master tactician, qualities he used to win victories that a simple liberal-conservative head count would appear to be impossible. A frequent dissenter even in his early years on the court, he now wrote more blunt and passionate opinions, explaining on several occasions that the nation was best served by an open airing of disagreements.

And there he is pictured with Chief Justice Roberts who, with respect to his service as a justice in the highest court in the land, is not fit to loose Justice Stevens' sandal.

There. I said it - the first thought that came to mind when I saw the picture of the two together.

"IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE TIMES ONLINE"

Dear June,

We want to let you know that Times Online will be replaced by our brand new websites, thetimes.co.uk and thesundaytimes.co.uk in early May.

Both will give you the opportunity to explore, enjoy and browse our titles like never before and are available by subscription only.

Instead of just reading the news, you can watch it, challenge it and debate it.

No price for the subscription is given. I started to register for the free trial period, but they wanted too much information. I will miss the Times, but unless the cost is quite low, I'll give up reading the newspaper.

Will you pay to read the Times?

STORY OF THE DAY - OPEN HEART

He told me one time he forgot himself &
his heart opened up like a door with a
loose latch & he tried for days to put it
all back in proper order but finally he
gave up & left it all jumbled up there in
a pile & loved everything equally.


From StoryPeople.

PLEASE PRAY FOR KATHY

A message from Kathy on Facebook:

Kathy Jensen
I have fractured my ankle in 2 places - slipped and fell in a rush to try to get to a lacrosse game. No orthopedic doctor was on call so after spending much of the night in the ER with the usual full house of people who cannot get any other kind of care, I just have a plastic splint and pain pills and have to call my internist in the morning to get a referral to an orthped dr. Stupid (me). Annoying (everything else).

Prayers for Kathy that her pain is not severe and that she heals quickly.

UPDATE: Elizabeth Kaeton said...
So sorry, KJ. If misery loves company, you've got it with me. I have apparently torn the rotater cuff in my left shoulder. I'm praying that physical therapy will help me avoid surgery. So, let's break out a bottle of wine and whine together.

Prayers for Elizabeth, too, please.

DEATH ON THE DANZIGER BRIDGE

From NOLA.com.

A New Orleans police officer who fired his gun at civilians on the Danziger Bridge a week after Hurricane Katrina pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday, offering a chilling account of what transpired on the bridge that early September day in 2005.

Michael Hunter, 33, became the first officer who actually participated in the shooting to enter a guilty plea. Two investigators have already confessed to playing roles in a wide-ranging cover-up of the police shooting, which injured four unarmed civilians and left two men dead.

Hunter, who resigned last week after he was charged in federal court, contends that fellow officers shot at people they should have seen were unarmed. The account of events Hunter signed Thursday afternoon, called a factual basis, provides the most specific details to date about officers' actions on the bridge, which spans the Industrial Canal at Chef Menteur Highway.

Hunter, 33, said a New Orleans police sergeant fired an assault rifle at wounded civilians at close range after other officers stopped shooting and after it was clear that the police were not taking fire. He also says he saw another officer in a car fire a shotgun at a fleeing man's back, although the man did nothing suggesting he was a threat to police. That man, 40-year-old Ronald Madison, who was severely mentally disabled, died of his wounds.

As part of his plea, Hunter also acknowledged taking part in a conspiracy with colleagues to conceal the circumstances of what he considered an unjustified shooting. At one point, in a meeting with other officers, a supervisor said "something to the effect of, we don't want this to look like a massacre," the court document says.

"I don't think you can listen to that account without being sickened by the raw brutality of the shooting and the craven lawlessness of the cover-up," said U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance after the factual basis was read aloud in the still courtroom by prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein, deputy chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

Beyond saying that I'm shocked and sickened by the story of members of the New Orleans Police Department allegedly gone wild on a shooting spree and then even more members of the department allegedly participating in a massive cover-up of the carnage, I don't know what to say.

Incoming mayor Mitch Landrieu has his work cut out for him when he takes office in May. I believe that he has the potential to be a good mayor, but cutting the murder rate and cleaning up the NOPD is a daunting challenge. I wonder why he even wanted the job. Is the NOPD fixable?

Present mayor Ray Nagin seems to have left office before his term is up, except for attempting to close the deal on contracts that Landrieu will be stuck with during his term.

Pray for the city of New Orleans.

FAREWELL TO BISHOP JENKINS

 

 

The pictures are from Churchwork, the official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and are from "a photo essay of Bishop Jenkins' final act as Bishop - a Eucharist celebrating Epiphany and his retirement - as well as fond memories and well-wishes to a man who has been our leader, our advocate and most importantly, our friend."

(Photos by Jacob Croft Botter)

 

"The priests of the diocese join Bishop Jenkins at the altar for the prayer of consecration."

 

"Bishop Jenkins administering Holy Communion."

Bishop Jenkins is a good man and a good pastor. He served the Diocese of Louisiana well. May God bless him and his lovely wife Louise as they enter a new phase of their lives. May God give Bishop Jenkins healing and the peace that passes understanding to keep his mind and heart. I do not, for one minute, believe that his service in Louisiana is finished, but I pray that he takes time to rest, heal, and be renewed.

STORY OF THE DAY - BLIND SPOT

I'd like to think that things are getting
better, he said, but my eyes are getting
worse, so maybe I miss a lot.


LOL! My eyes are better, and things look better in some ways but look awful in other ways.

From StoryPeople.