HOW MANY DEATHS WILL IT TAKE...? - PART 5

From the New York Times:

It started with a Twitter message on Sept. 19: “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”

That night, the authorities say, the Rutgers University student who sent the message used a camera in his dormitory room to stream the roommate’s intimate encounter live on the Internet.

And three days later, the roommate who had been surreptitiously broadcast — Tyler Clementi, an 18-year-old freshman and an accomplished violinist — jumped from the George Washington Bridge into the Hudson River in an apparent suicide.

The Sept. 22 death, details of which the authorities disclosed on Wednesday, was the latest by a young American that followed the online posting of hurtful material. The news came on the same day that Rutgers kicked off a two-year, campuswide project to teach the importance of civility, with special attention to the use and abuse of new technology.

Those who knew Mr. Clementi — on the Rutgers campus in Piscataway, N.J., at his North Jersey high school and in a community orchestra — were anguished by the circumstances surrounding his death, describing him as an intensely devoted musician who was sweet and shy.

I read about Tyler's suicide yesterday, but I had no heart for posting on the deaths of two young people in the same day. I'm sorry.

My original post with the title above was posted on September 6, 2010. That I'm up to post N0. 5 in the series in one month is horrifying. Other incidents may have passed under my radar. I hope not.

The Middlesex County prosecutor’s office said Mr. Clementi’s roommate, Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, N.J., and another classmate, Molly Wei, 18, of Princeton Junction, N.J., had each been charged with two counts of invasion of privacy for using “the camera to view and transmit a live image” of Mr. Clementi. The most serious charges carry a maximum sentence of five years.

Mr. Ravi was charged with two additional counts of invasion of privacy for trying a similar live feed on the Internet on Sept. 21, the day before the suicide. A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, James O’Neill, said the investigation was continuing, but he declined to “speculate on additional charges.”

Those who filmed the video and published it on the internet are not juveniles, and they will suffer consequences, as they should.

And another life of a gifted young man ended far too soon because of the inhumanity of humans, one to the other.

May Tyler Clementi rest in peace and rise in glory.

May God give comfort, consolation, and peace to Tyler's parents and to all who love him.

May God have mercy on us all!

A number of my readers sent me links to the story.

AN OLD COWBOY GOES TO CHURCH

One Sunday morning an old cowboy entered a church just before services were to begin. Although the old man and his clothes were spotlessly clean, he wore jeans, a denim shirt and boots that were very worn and ragged. In his hand he carried a worn out old hat and an equally well read Bible. The church he entered was in a very upscale and exclusive part of the city. It was the largest and most beautiful church the old cowboy had ever seen. The people of the congregation were all dressed with expensive clothes and jewelry.

As the cowboy took a seat, the others moved away from him. No one greeted, spoke to, or welcomed him. They were all appalled by his appearance and did not attempt to hide it.

As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher approached him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor: "Before you come back here again, have a talk with God and ask him what he thinks would be appropriate attire for worship in church."

The old cowboy assured the preacher he would.

The next Sunday, he showed back up for the services wearing the same ragged jeans, shirt, boots, and hat. Once again he was completely shunned and ignored. The preacher approached the cowboy and said, "I thought I asked you to speak to God before you came back to our church."

"I did," replied the old cowboy.

"If you spoke to God, what did he tell you the proper attire should be for worshiping here?" asked the preacher.

"Well, sir, God told me that He didn't have a clue what I should wear. He said . . . . . He'd never been in this church."

Thanks to Doug.

UPDATE ON MARK'S CAT, KATZIE

I've put together excerpts from several emails from Mark concerning the medical needs of Katzie. My earlier post asking for help for Katzie is here. Because Mark is distraught at this time, I've left parts of his emails out of what is published here:

June and Jonathan and Everybody,

I also want to thank everyone, deeply and profoundly. The outpouring of aid has been astounding and humbling. I don't mind suffering for me, but Katzie never asked for it. I'm sure to many it seems ridiculous - risking possible homelessness (yes, a bit melodramatic, but not unrealistic) for a *cat*, and, I'm willing to admit, it may well be. Still, besides the mere affection, which is emotional, there is the fact that I was the one who chose him, and whom he chose in the pet store. I've cared for him for nine years, and I undertook to care for him and protect him and he's been a companion and protector himself. I owe him, because I chose him. Were it something that couldn't be fixed, I would grieve and make the choice for his best. If it were a matter of a better home, I would grieve and send him, but no one will take a cat that's got those problems. I owe him.

None of you owe him - or me, and I can't express in coldly symbolic words how grateful I am.

Love,

Mark
....

I'll stick to cold facts, as I haven't slept more than two hours or eaten an actual full meal since Sunday, and I'm not thinking clearly and am extremely fragile and emotionally-devastated, right now.

The observation revealed the blockage is ongoing and has led to a bladder infection. The result is that [the veterinarian]... needs to do "aggressive surgery" which is the procedure which will widen Katzie's urethra by (layman's understanding) effectively creating a new opening below the belly, like that of a female cat. Females rarely block, while males have much more narrow openings.
....

There's not quite enough to cover the expenses, yet, but it's still coming in, and I haven't spoken with our priest yet.

From me:

Mark doesn't seem ridiculous to me. Once we take our pets into our homes, there is, or should be, a commitment to love them and care for them as best we can. That is what Mark is doing. He's trying for help locally, and he's asked for our help.

I have the name of Katzie's vet if you would like to check out Mark's story. If you email Mark, he will give you the name also. Bear in mind that Mark has access to the internet only at night when he is at work.

Jonathan (MadPriest) says "$483.66 towards the cost of Katzie's veterinary bills, that will end up being (as far as we know at this moment in time) about $700" has come in. I thank all of you who have made donations thus far.

You may send donations to Mark through PayPal at the following email address:

petrus332000@hotmail.com

HOW MANY DEATHS WILL IT TAKE...? - PART 4

Seth Walsh, the Tehachapi 13-year-old who hanged himself from a tree in his back yard after years of being bullied, died Tuesday afternoon after nine days on life support.

Tehachapi police investigators interviewed some of the young people who taunted Seth the day he hanged himself and determined despite the tragic outcome of their ridicule, their actions do not constitute a crime.

"Several of the kids that we talked to broke down into tears," Jeff Kermode, Tehachapi Police Chief, said. "They had never expected an outcome such as this."

He said the students told investigators they wish they had put a stop to the bullying and not participated in it.

Friends said Seth was picked on for years because he was gay.

School administrators said they have an anti-bullying program in place, but schoolmates said staff at Jacobsen Middle School in Tehachapi offered Seth no protection or guidance.

Oh God! Not another one! I'd read about Seth when he was still hanging on to life on life support, and I knew I'd likely be posting again on the tragedy of another premature end to a young life.

Some of the kids who bullied Seth show remorse, but that won't bring Seth back. Yes, I call myself a Christian, and I place my hope in a life to come, but the romance that sometimes attaches to the story of a life so tragically and unnecessarily come to an end, escapes me. I fear the contagion of this romantic view that may entice other young people to see suicide as the solution.

How many deaths will it take to convince the members of our society, including the young people, of their responsibility to treat those who seem odd or different with respect? If adults won't set the example by ending their vile and abusive commentary, how can we expect the young people to be different? How many deaths will it take to convince our citizenry to force the leadership in the schools, not only to set in place policies to deal with bullying, but to implement the policies in an effective way? Will the growing number of teen suicides as a result of bullying be enough to get the wheels in motion?

May Seth Walsh rest in peace and rise in glory.

May God give comfort, consolation, and peace to Seth's parents and to all who love him.

May God have mercy on us all!

H/T to Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin.

A WORD FROM ENGLAND

From the BBC's article on Archbishop Rowan Williams' recent interview in the Times, which is behind their wall:

"In his interview Dr Williams also revealed he will retire before his full term as Archbishop ends in 10 years, saying: 'I will not be doing this job when I'm 70.'"

I saw a news item this weekend that stated that the Archbishop of Canterbury will not serve until he is obliged to retire (age 70 in the Church of England).

This is good news for the C of E and the Anglican Communion. What worries me is that the Archbishop (now 60) will retire at or before his 65th birthday. That would mean that his successor is chosen by the current Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron.

I have discovered that, reversing the decision of Gordon Brown to only require one name for episcopal appointments, Cameron has gone back to the historic tradition of requiring two names from the Appointments Committee, from which Cameron will pick one to send to the Queen for appointment. There are rumours (which I am discounting, but which may be true) that the two names that Southwark sent to the Prime Minister have
been sent back, one for being too liberal, one for not fitting the profile of the Diocese. I do not think that this could have happened without it being announced, as the Appointments Committee would have to reconvene to send two more names (as happened when Tony Blair, crypto-Roman PM at the time, sent back the two names for Liverpool early in his premiership). However, it is still a possibility.

The successor to Rowan Williams should be someone who is a consensus-builder, has a truly Anglican view of the Communion, and does not think of himself (or, perhaps by then, herself) as an Anglican Pope. Cameron is unlikely to look with favour on such a candidate.

By that time I believe that the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church in Wales, and perhaps the churches of Australia and New Zealand will be out of the orbit of the Archbishop of Canterbury. But the wrong person chosen as Archbishop will have a devastating effect on the Church of England. In 5 years Sentamu will be 66 and thus probably too old to take it. The current Bench of Bishops is conspicuously thin on the ground of good diocesan bishops. If Nick Baines has gotten a diocese and settled in by then, he would make a good candidate. But we need to be very wary of a new ABC. After all, we have suffered since 1990 with two very unsuitable Archbishops and a third one in a row would mean misgovernment of the Church for at least 30 years.

A humourous postscript: A Welsh politician has upbraided Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales, for stating in an interview that if he is with Rowan Williams and wants to say something in private, they switch to speaking Welsh. The politico says that this reinforces the stereotype of non-Welsh people entering a pub in northern Wales and hearing everyone switch to speaking Welsh as soon as they see that strangers have entered. That was exactly my experience the one time I went to north Wales, so perhaps it's more than a stereotype.

Chris Hansen

Chris is a friend of Ann Fontaine, and the commentary above is posted with permission.

MIND THE ACRONYM!

The newly formed Society of Saint Wilfrid and Saint Hilda self-describes as:

Anglican Catholics Rally to protect
and preserve Anglican tradition

New Society is announced
to refocus ministry and mission

Anglican Catholic bishops have announced that in addition to the provision of an Ordinariate offered recently by Pope Benedict there is to be a new Society [of St Wilfrid and St Hilda] for bishops, clergy, religious and laity in order to provide a place within the Church of England where catholics can worship and minister with integrity without accepting innovations that further distance the Church of England from the greater churches of the East and West.

At two upbeat gatherings this week of over 600 clergy and religious from the northern and southern provinces of the Church of England, there was unanimous condemnation of proposed legislation to allow the ordination of women as bishops that will soon go to the dioceses for discussion, debate and approval.

The unveiling of The Mission Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda reflects a determination not to accept a Code of Practice as currently suggested by the General Synod but to work for and create a more realistic approach which allows the integrity of those who cannot accept this innovation to be preserved, to flourish and grow within the Church of England. This development represents a constructive initiative on the part of those who cannot accept the innovations proposed in legislation and who are hurt and frustrated by the General Synod's inability to provide for their theological position.

To define one's organization by what it stands against, rather than what it stands for, seems a rather inauspicious beginning. And an "upbeat gathering" for the purpose of condemnation seem something of a contradiction. The group wants not to be distant from the "greater" churches of the East and West, but they won't go so far as to join them. The members of the Society want to be Anglican, but only as part of proper Anglicanism, which would not include women in the episcopacy.

The Society claims to be a "constructive initiative" for those who are "hurt and frustrated" because things are not going their way in the Church of England, but the group does not plan to join the Roman Catholic ordinariates, once they are in place. Since the members of the Society won't accept the Code of Practice passed by General Synod if women bishops are allowed, it seems to me a stretch to label the members of the group as the loyal opposition. Then, what exactly are they?

The WATCH statement quoted at Thinking Anglicans says of choice to include St Hilda in the name of the Society:

How sad that the example given by St Hilda in her obedience to a decision concerning the ordering of her church is ignored by those using her name, who are themselves unwilling to accept the decision made by the Revision Committee and endorsed by the General Synod.

From the comments to the post at Thinking Anglicans on the WATCH statement:

I couldn't help noticing that SSWSH invites being pronounced "Swish" - how appropriate for all those red-buttoned and braided cassocks with watered-silk cinctures being flicked out of the way of the unholy regiment of women!

The acronym is not as bad as FoCA, but apparently the founders of the new Society didn't give much thought to possible humorous plays on the acronym.

Inspiration comes in strange ways. This entire post came about because of the comment at TA.

UPDATE: Church Mouse comments on the Swish SSWSH also.

A group of Anglo-Catholics, largely from Forward in Faith, have established a 'society' within the Church of England. For what purpose? We don't really know. What will this society do? We don't really know. Who will run the society? We don't really know.

The first action of the Society will be to immediately set about theological investigations of what it is for. Brilliant stuff.

See. Church Mouse is puzzled about the new Society, too, and he is English.

Thanks to Cathy for the link to Church Mouse.

ARE WE A BANANA REPUBLIC YET?

From Philly.com

WASHINGTON - The income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last year to its widest amount on record as young adults and children in particular struggled to stay afloat in the recession.

The top-earning 20 percent of Americans - those making more than $100,000 each year - received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4 percent earned by those below the poverty line, according to newly released census figures. That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from 13.6 in 2008 and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968.

A different measure, the international Gini index, found U.S. income inequality at its highest level since the Census Bureau began tracking household income in 1967. The U.S. also has the greatest disparity among Western industrialized nations. (My emphasis)
....

An -GfK Poll this month found that by 54 percent to 44 percent, most Americans support raising taxes on the highest U.S. earners. Still, many congressional Democrats have expressed wariness about provoking the 44 percent minority so close to Election Day.

"We're pretty good about not talking about income inequality," Danziger said.

My, my, we ARE good at sticking our heads in the sand and keeping them there when the subject of income inequality comes up. You'd think that the Democrats running for office would feel pressed to spell out policies for reducing the income gap between the rich and the poor. You'd think that they'd promote policies for restoring the numbers of the disappearing middle class. You'd think that these matters would be major talking points in their campaigns, but if you thought that, you'd be wrong.

WHO PLAYED OBAMA IN 2008?

From Borowitz Report:

Democrats to Employ Man Who Played Obama During 2008 Campaign

Would Hit Campaign Trail in Place of President

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – With just a month remaining until the crucial midterm elections, worried Democrats have decided to reach out to the man who played Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign, Democratic Party officials confirmed today.

“We were sitting around thinking of who we could put out there on the campaign trail to get people energized again,” said party chairman Tim Kaine. “And then I was like, what about that guy who played Obama in ’08? He was amazing!”

Read the rest at Borowitz's website.

The Obama of 2008 was ever the man of our dreams. Too many of us left-leaners loaded onto him all our expectations of our dream Democratic candidate, which he never was. He was center-right then, and he's center-right today.

Nevertheless, 4 or 8 more years of the likes of Bush or worse would have brought the country ever closer to becoming a banana republic, with the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer, and the middle class squeezed to fit in a bathtub, with governmental functions squeezed down to the same size. Good-bye Social Security. Good-bye Medicare. Good-bye to any programs that benefitted anyone but the rich and corporate classes.

Very likely we would have found another war to fight to keep the military-industrial complex fed. Iran, perhaps?

And now we are facing the possibility of the loss of a functional majority in both houses of Congress and perhaps even an actual Republican majority in one or both houses. We are in a fix, my friends. We cannot afford complacency.

HOW MANY DEATHS WILL IT TAKE...? - PART 3

From the Houston Chronicle:

Asher Brown's worn-out tennis shoes still sit in the living room of his Cypress-area home while his student progress report — filled with straight A's — rests on the coffee table.

The eighth-grader killed himself last week. He shot himself in the head after enduring what his mother and stepfather say was constant harassment from four other students at Hamilton Middle School in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District.

Brown, his family said, was "bullied to death" — picked on for his small size, his religion and because he did not wear designer clothes and shoes. Kids also accused him of being gay, some of them performing mock gay acts on him in his physical education class, his mother and stepfather said.

The 13-year-old's parents said they had complained about the bullying to Hamilton Middle School officials during the past 18 months, but claimed their concerns fell on deaf ears.

When will school authorities begin to take the bullying and abuse seriously? How many kids will have to die before the members of our communities take note and force those authorities to implement policies to prevent such tragedies from happening?

Cy Fair ISD officials said Monday that they never received any complaints from Brown's parents before the suicide about the way the boy was being treated at school.

School district spokeswoman Kelli Durham said no students, school employees or the boy's parents ever reported that he was being bullied.

That statement infuriated the Truongs, who accused the school district of protecting the bullies and their parents.

In an opinion piece in the Chronicle, gay dad, Barry Baxter, writes:

There’s a great deal of outrage directed at the students who bullied Asher consistently during his two years at Hamilton, and rightly so. There’s additional focus on a school administration that Asher’s parents and others say looks the other way when students suffer abuse at the hands of their peers. That scrutiny must continue.

But there’s an even broader and more insidious force at work in our country when it comes to gay teen suicide. Granted, gay rights may be inching slowly forward in the court system, but that progress has contributed greatly to unprecedented levels of self-esteem battering rhetoric in the media and from the pulpit.
....

Yes, the bullies and their despicable behavior are responsible for Asher’s death. But so is the toxic, virulently anti-gay environment that continues to swirl around all of our children.

And when will the rest of the people in the country take responsibility for contributing to the toxic environment in which LGTB persons are forced to live and that drives so many young people to take their lives?

May Asher Brown rest in peace and rise in glory.

May God give comfort, consolation, and peace to Asher's parents and to all who love him.

May God have mercy on us all!

H/T to Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin.

PLEASE HELP MARK IF YOU CAN

Last night, I received this email from Mark Brunson, who often comments here at Wounded Bird:

My older cat, Katzie, has had to have emergency care - x-rays and catheterization. His urethra blocked and he couldn't urinate and was in great pain. This has happened before, and the vet has confirmed that this is likely to happen throughout the rest of his life, off and on, and it may require surgery - a long name with "cysto" in it somewhere - to basically transform his urinary tract into a female's urinary tract, opening the ureters wider to allow the crystals in the urine to flow out.

As of now, he's home, having been catheterized and cleared. He's not showing any signs of pain, but also hasn't urinated since he got home, so, naturally, I'm worried.

The difficulty is the cost of the care - for the past two-day stay, it comes to $281. I've been able to pay most of it, but it's coming out of the money saved for my property tax, which will be due December 20. The full surgery will cost (an additional) $400. I'm writing the two of you because you have far wider readership than I could hope for, and are more forthright and, well, crusading than I am. I wind up apologizing for having bothered everyone by living and saying "You know, don't worry about it. I'm sure I'll be fine." But I won't be fine this time. This is serious, and I need folks in my corner. I've checked around - our priest is out of country, and he's the one with the discretionary fund, though it's tiny. There are no charities (I'm aware of) who have anything right now, and nothing for someone's pet care. I'm now, officially, pulling in $217.50 a week, which is the legal requirement that I be left with in my pay after garnishment, being minimum wage X 30.

I have a PayPal account now through this email address. I'll take any help anyone can give, if you'll raise the rallying cry. Even a few bucks helps.

Thanks, in advance, for anything - prayers, advice, whatever.

Love,

Mark

Mark's email address where you can make PayPal donations is:

petrus332000@hotmail.com

Mark said further that if you email him, he will provide the name of the veterinarian who is caring for Katzie, who will verify his story.

Mark has internet access only at his workplace, where he works as the night auditor.

I believe all that Mark says is true, otherwise I would not post this request. Thank you for your help.