| Possibly the most terrifying headline in recent times? Mar 24th 2012, 23:55 http://news.yahoo.com/pope-focuses-m...230003522.html Quote:
Pope focuses on Mexico's children during visit
| I bolded a few bits below.... Quote:
SILAO, Mexico (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI worked to build the future of Mexico's church by reaching out to children Saturday as tens of thousands of teenagers streamed into a vast, shade-starved park to camp out overnight ahead of a gigantic papal Mass.
Benedict awoke to the pre-dawn serenade of two dozen youths from a Guadalajara church group who sang him a traditional folk song after getting as close as security would allow to the college in Leon where the pontiff is staying during his three-day visit to Mexico.
"We sang with all our heart and all our force," said Maria Fernanda de Luna, a member of the group. "It gave us goose bumps to sing 'Las Mananitas' for him."
Benedict has taken up Pope John Paul II's drive to reach out to young Roman Catholics, following in his footsteps by rallying millions of young faithful to join him for World Youth Days, the Catholic youth festivals held once every three years. The next edition is scheduled for Rio de Janeiro next year.
His only public remarks Saturday were planned for a meeting with about 4,000 children in Peace Plaza in the city of Guanajuato. He was expected to refer again to the need for them to stay away from the drug-fueled violence that wracks Mexico.
"We young people are getting closer to the church and to God, instead of getting closer to drugs and violence," said Juan Daniel Pacheco, 18, of Apaseo el Grande in Guanajuato state as he sought shade with his friends at one of the campgrounds that were quickly filling with faithful arriving for Sunday's Mass. "We are young people who will be able to change Mexico."
The focus on youth fits with the Vatican's drive to re-evangelize parts of the world where Catholicism has fallen by the wayside, trying to rally the next generation to embrace a faith that their parents may have abandoned. While Europe has certainly been Benedict's focus to date, Mexico also has seen its number of Catholics fall.
"The Mexican church feels like it's lost a few generations of Catholics," said Joseph Palacios, a professor of Latin American studies at Georgetown University, citing the battles over liberation theology that drove many left-leaning Catholics away. To get back its numbers, the Mexican church is "moving forward with the new generation," he said.
Yet as much as Benedict was receiving a rapturous welcome from young Catholics, his first full day in Mexico was not without criticism — particularly concerning the church's treatment of children and sexual abuse.
On the second day of the pope's visit, victims of Marcial Maciel launched a new book containing documents on the Vatican's alleged cover-up of sexual abuse of seminarians by Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ
| | | Wisconsin Lawmaker Thinks Women Are Better Off Beaten Than Divorced Mar 24th 2012, 16:20 http://www.care2.com/causes/wisconsi...-divorced.html Oh...FFS.... Quote:
I've had people tell me that using the phrase "war on women" is an exaggeration. After all, they argue, women aren't in any sort of physical danger. Yes, politicians may be trying to force them into a role — the mother, the wife, the stay at home caregiver — that they may not entirely want, but no one is trying to literally hurt them.
Wrong.
Meet Wisconsin Rep. Don Pridemore. He's best known for his avid support of Wisconsin's puppy mills, but he is the co-sponsor of the bill that declares single mothers are a cause of child abuse. Pridemore apparently is positioning himself as an expert on abuse, since he also has some very helpful advice for women who are victims of domestic violence.
Don't leave him, just try to remember what you loved about him in the first place.
"Representative Don Pridemore, told TODAY'S TMJ4 he thinks even in abusive relationships, there are other options than divorce. 'If they can refind those reasons and get back to why they got married in the first place it might help,' said Representative Don Pridemore."
And without even a trace of irony, he also claims that the reason women can't single parent — one of the reasons he supports the bill — is because children will "go astray" since the father is usually the "disciplinarian."
So to clarify, single parent homes run by mothers cause child abuse, but if there is spousal abuse in a two parent home the wife should stay with her husband, especially since he is needed because he is obviously the disciplinarian.
Let him beat you, let him beat your children, whatever it goes on in a house is just fine as long as you stay married.
Yes, there really is a war on women.
| | | Looks more and more like Penn State Univ was/is at fault with Pedophile Sandusky Mar 24th 2012, 14:25 Quote:
Sandusky labeled 'likely pedophile' in 1998 report
Psychologist warned university police, but they weren't able to prove abuse of boy
By Michael Isikoff
More than a decade before former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with more than 50 counts of child sex abuse, a psychologist warned university police that his actions fit that of a "likely pedophile's pattern."
The finding by State College, Pa., psychologist Dr. Alycia A. Chambers, the therapist for one of Sandusky's alleged victims, was contained in the internal Penn State files of a 1998 police investigation of the former coach for showering and bear hugging her client and another young boy in the school's athletic locker room.
NBC News has obtained the complete file on the investigation – the police report and assessments by two psychologists who interviewed the boys -- which provides new details about Sandusky's behavior. It also could raise fresh questions about how school and local authorities handled his case.
"There was very little doubt in my mind (Sandusky) … was a male predator, someone that was in the process of grooming a young man for abuse ," said Chambers, speaking publicly for the first time, with the permission of her client's family, in an interview with NBC News. "I thought…my report was strong enough to suggest that this was somebody who should be watched."
Chambers' detailed report is potentially significant because it was the first clear warning about the former Penn State coach's actions – nearly four years before a then-graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, reported to the late Coach Joe Paterno and other top school officials that he had found Sandusky in the Penn State showers one evening with another young boy, engaged in what he viewed as sexual contact. (Paterno testified last year he was unaware of the 1998 investigation and Gary Schultz, the former Penn State vice president who oversaw the school police, testified that he never reviewed the details of the case. A Penn State spokesman declined comment, citing pending investigations.)
In her interview with NBC News, Chambers described her anguish when she was contacted by police last year and learned that authorities were again investigating Sandusky for allegedly molesting multiple other boys, 13 years after she first raised her concerns.
"I was horrified to know that there were so many other innocent boys who had their hearts and minds confused, their bodies violated," said Chambers. "It's unspeakable."
....
| http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/468430.../#.T23XVdWePw0 | | Mitt Romney's Etch-A-Sketch Campaign Mar 23rd 2012, 20:19 (Not loaded: _A9yhmOd_gA) One of his campaign advisers claimed that his campaigners will restart his campaign from scratch when he gets nominated, that it will be like shaking an Etch-A-Sketch to erase it. Seems like that's what Romney might want to do about Romneycare and his advocacy of it to Obama. | | Repressive Toledo, OH :) Mar 23rd 2012, 09:38 Quote:
National Study Ranks City Governments' Use of Social Media
ScienceDaily (Mar. 22, 2012) — More than six times as many big city governments reached citizens via Facebook in 2011 compared to 2009, while use of YouTube and Twitter grew fourfold and threefold respectively, a new study indicates.
Karen Mossberger, head of the University of Illinois at Chicago's public administration graduate program, and Yonghong Wu, associate professor, analyzed and ranked the online interactivity, transparency and accessibility of the country's 75 largest cities from March through May 2011. They used the data to compile the Civic Engagement Index, and compared it with their findings from a study they conducted in 2009.
The cities' rankings reflected opportunities for citizen participation and information, including: -- hosting of open data portals -- comments allowed on blogs and social networks -- the extent to which online discussions concerned policy as well as city services -- information on officials, budgets, city council meetings and neighborhood issues
New York and Seattle tied for first place, followed by Virginia Beach, Va.; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; and Kansas City, Mo., the study reported.
Mossberger said the top-ranked city governments have made technology a priority, especially for transparency or civic engagement.
"Seattle has long been an innovator in this area, with programs to address the digital divide online and offline. New York has long used the web for transparency," she said.
Chicago tied with San Diego and Minneapolis at 17th. Toledo ranked last.
The complete rankings may be seen at http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/ipce/research.shtml.
...
| http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0322151450.htm | | Big NYPD scandal Mar 22nd 2012, 19:05 As I read it, if it is confirmed, the NYPD deliberately went looking for minor and/or non-existent crimes, and ignored serious ones, under pressure to make Guiliani to look good. That is the beginning, the real scandal is using Soviet style tactics to shut up a whistle blower, getting him committed to a mental institution. http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatch...exposed-again/ http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-03-...confirmed/all/ Quote:
In October 2009, Schoolcraft met with NYPD investigators for three hours and detailed more than a dozen cases of crime reports being manipulated in the district. Three weeks after that meeting—which was supposed to have been kept secret from Schoolcraft's superiors—his precinct commander and a deputy chief ordered Schoolcraft to be dragged from his apartment and forced into the Jamaica Hospital psychiatric ward for six days.
In the wake of our series, NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly ordered an investigation into Schoolcraft's claims. By June 2010, that investigation produced a report that the department has tried to keep secret for nearly two years.
| If this is true, and it looks to me like it is, this really cannot be hushed up. David | | ERA - request for information Mar 22nd 2012, 11:08 Sorry if this is old hat: Britannica dumps a daily "on this day" into my in-tray. This one startled me:
On this day in 1972...
The U.S. Senate approved the Equal Rights Amendment--which stated that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex"--but in the ensuing years it failed to be ratified by the requisite majority of 38 states.
I have found glaring errors in Britannica before so I'm asking USonians for comments. Is this still true? | | Saudi Prince Says Women Can Compete in Olympics Mar 22nd 2012, 10:35 http://www.care2.com/causes/saudi-pr...-olympics.html Well, about time something got started...but the bit I bolded leaves a lot of wriggle room... Quote:
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A Saudi Arabian newspaper says Crown Prince Nayef has approved plans for the ultra conservative Muslim country to send female athletes to the Olympics for the first time at the London Games.
The Saudi-owned and London-based Al-Hayat newspaper says Nayef, who is heir to the aging king, has approved the participation of women at the London Olympics in sports that "meet the standards of women's decency and don't contradict Islamic laws."
Saudi sports officials could not be reached to confirm Tuesday's report in the Arabic-language newspaper.
The IOC said Monday that progress has been made in talks with Saudi Olympic officials on sending female athletes and officials to the games.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
| | | The misery of the Sahel Mar 22nd 2012, 07:56 Yesterday I posted this about the crimes of the Sudanese Government. But this article puts it in the bigger geographical context. The Sahel is a huge drought-stricken region that has been suffering for decades from a combination of climate change and rapid population growth. http://www.spiegel.de/international/...822373,00.html Quote:
For more than a decade, a zone of violence, misery and anarchy unparalleled throughout the world has formed along this geographic divide. It has developed into a huge, virtually lawless region in which the law of the strongest applies, claims are asserted with AK-47s and governments have largely lost control over rules and conventions. Instead, trigger-happy clans, religious fanatics and unscrupulous soldiers shape life in the region.
Millions of Africans are on the run in this death belt, fleeing violence, drought and hunger. They have become stranded in refugee camps such as those in Dadaab, Kenya, and Yida, South Sudan. They are kept alive by the United Nations World Food Programme, which has been issuing increasingly dramatic warnings at shorter and shorter intervals.
The regions along the 10th parallel north, which divides the dry Sahel zone from the wet tropical regions of Africa, have never been home to peace. There have always been confrontations there, between Arab conquerors and indigenous people, or between herdsmen and sedentary farmers. These conflicts have always been about assimilating and standing apart, about water for people and animals, and about the dividing line between Christianity and Islam.
| It''s difficult to pick out bits to quote. The whole article is important in explaining political, racial and religious conflicts right across the continent. | | Is Romney on his way to winning nomination? Mar 22nd 2012, 07:46 Following his win in the Illinois primary, he has now been endorsed by Jeb Bush, who calls on Republicans to unite behind him. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17464589 Quote:
"Primary elections have been held in 34 states, and now is the time for Republicans to unite behind Governor Romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall," Mr Bush said in a statement.
"I am endorsing Mitt Romney for our party's nomination."...
...In another boost, FreedomWorks, an organisation that supports the Tea Party movement, dropped its opposition to Mr Romney's candidacy...
| http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...lzRS_blog.html Quote:
Jeb for Mitt qualifies as a symbolic endorsement — one of the very few endorsements that can actually matter...
...When Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy endorsed then Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in 2008, the message was clear: the last remaining scion of the most famous family in Democratic politics was passing the torch to the next leader of the party. It mattered more than just another senator throwing his support to Obama. A lot more.
Jeb Bush's endorsement of Romney is meant to send an equally symbolic message to the Republican party. That message? Enough is enough...
...It's hard to see Santorum getting out of the race because Jeb Bush says he should. But the Bush endorsement of Romney will have significant reverberations across the media, activist and, perhaps most importantly, donor worlds that will likely have a negative impact on Santorum's ability to move forward in a viable manner.
The one complicating factor in puzzling out the importance of the Jeb endorsement is the back story of why he decided to do it. Bush and those closest to him are mum on it but one senior party operative told the Fix earlier today that "he's lost any hope that we'll have anyone better."
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