The creepy calendars

So It's not just me who thought Kavanaugh's calendars were bizarre ...

The FBI is on the job

For those who wonder if a week will be enough time for the FBI to investigate Kavanaugh's badness, the short answer is 'absolutely' ...

And then there were four

Another allegation against Kavanaugh. This latest allegation, plus the others, are discussed by Rachel Maddow ...

Kavanaugh: 3rd accuser

Woman Says Kavanaugh Was ‘Present’ During Her Gang Rape in High School ... Third Kavanaugh accuser is decorated US government employee

I'm waiting for the Republicans to ask, "Hey, what high school boy *hasn't* done this ?"

Avenatti on Rachel Maddow show

Michael Avenatti was on Rachel Maddow's show tonight, talking about his most recent client, a woman who is said to be both a victim of and a witness to what was essentially the gang-raping of inebriated women by Kavanaugh and his friends while he was in school ...



I probably don't need to add that I believe the women who have come forward against Kavanaugh. He has shown himself to be a liar in his testimony on other subjects and he has shown his contempt for women in his conservative Catholic views on contraception and abortion. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt if he would ask for an FBI investigation to clear his name, but he won't. Why not? It seems obvious he is afraid of what the FBI will unearth. Hopefully Avenatti's client will shed some light.

Kavanaugh: a second accuser

A second woman comes forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh

A second woman has come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, claiming he drunkenly exposed himself to a classmate in college and thrust his genitals in her face without her consent, the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer first reported Sunday ...

And then there's this: Michael Avenatti Implicates Kavanaugh in Pattern of Teenage Sexual Assault

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, says he is “aware of significant evidence” that Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh participated in multiple gang rapes while in high school. In an email posted to Twitter Sunday night, Avenatti writes that Kavanaugh, his childhood friend Mark Judge, and others “would participate in the targeting of women with alcohol/drugs in order to allow a ‘train’ of men to subsequently gang rape them.” ...

Why vote Democrat?

Because ...



Because ...

#WhyIDidntReport

Women have been tweeting from their own personal experience about why victims of sexual assault either do not report at all or report only years later. You can read the tweets at #WhyIDidntReport. This is a situation similar to what happens with child sex abuse - victims often don't report what happened or don't report for many years. I told my mom when I had been abused as a kid. She didn't believe me. The guy went unpunished. The next time it happened with someone else, I didn't bother telling my mother until I was an adult. She didn't believe me again.

More on all this from Lawrence O'Donnell ...

Ramble On

This has been in my head for a while. It made Rolling Stone's list of the greatest 500 songs of all time and is the only song I've heard that references Mordor and Gollum ;) ...

[...] Mine's a tale that can't be told
My freedom I hold dear
How years ago in days of old
When magic filled the air
'T was in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair
But Gollum, and the evil one
Crept up and slipped away with her

A poem

Thinking of this today ...

Absent Friends
by Walter Wingate

My heart absorbs me more and more;
My world of friendship narrows in.
The new I hardly care to win;
The old are fewer than of yore.

But in the space from eve till morn,
Affection, cramped upon the nest,
In wider ranging finds a rest;
And I am not so friend-forlorn.

For never one have I forgot;
Their voices in my heart I hear;
I am myself their souvenir;
We shaped each other, thought with thought.

At times a merry meet we hold:
At times upon my mind is left
That aftermath of the bereft,
Regret for kindness overcold.

New flowers on April's breast they see,
New stars about the winter moon:
And new delights may change the tune
That keeps the old refrain for me.

If friendship there has changed its stream
To feed the homestead where they live,
If they forget, I must forgive:
Yet rather will I trust my dream;

My dream, that nightly soars above
The barriers of time and space,
To watch their gaze upon my face
Till recognition leaps to love.

Paul McCartney answers Qs

I get most of my news from the Google news page, and it has a sections where it tells me stuff it thinks I want to know. Often it's wrong, but today it was right - it sent me to this WIRED video of Paul McCartney answering googled questions. I knew some of his answers, like that he's a vegetarian as I am, but I didn't realize he had such a sense of humor :) ...

Don't Do Me Like That

I came upon this today. I saw him perform once here at the state fair - hard to believe he has passed away.

Skandalon‎

Pope Francis has summoned the leaders of bishops conference around the world to a summit next February at the Vatican on sex abuse. I doubt anything will come of this, though so much could. One thing the pope could do is to mandate that the bishops/priests all around the world be mandatory reporters of clergy sex abuse to local civil authorities. Pope Francis won't so that. Just last month the bishops of Australia refused to adhere to such a civil law - Catholic bishops in Australia reject compulsory abuse reporting, defying new laws

The pope also mentioned the issue in his most recent homily in which he said ...

“In these times, it seems like the 'Great Accuser' has been unchained and is attacking bishops. True, we are all sinners, we bishops. He tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people ...."

I'm not sure if he means that those accusing the bishops (and him) of covering up sex abuse are being possessed by the devil in order to "scandalize" people, but it does sound like that.

I think the idea of "scandal" has a big part in the Catholic church sex abuse cover-up. The word in Greek is σκάνδαλον and means a stumbling block - an object like a rock that someone would trip over to fall into a trap. The word shows up a lot in the NT - Luke 17:1–17:1 ... Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!

In the Catholic church, this has come to mean that no one should cause a scandal, cause others to stumble in their faith (Thomas Aquinas thought scandal was "something less rightly said or done that occasions spiritual downfall").

When the sex abuse problem became public, the church hierarchy told themselves that they had to cover up the awful truth so that it didn't scandalize the Faithful. I think the real reason they hid the truth was that they wanted to keep their jobs. And as it has turned out, it has been the lies of the hierarchy that have scandalized us and made many lose their faith.

And now the pope seems to be saying that these recent revelations of sex abuse cover-up are the work of the devil. Somehow, I just don't have a lot of confidence in him creating transparency or enforcing accountability for the bishops.

Yoda the pinball wizard

Yoda takes a nap after playing with me. The latest game we play is batting small ribber balls back and forth. They go all over the place and mostly get lost under the couch but she seems to like it. When we're playing this game, it makes me think of this ancient song :) ...

The Pope and McCarrick

UPDATE: Vatican promises 'necessary clarifications' to Pope Francis cover-up claims ... * In a statement, Francis' nine cardinal advisers expressed their "full solidarity" with the pope over the scandal, which has thrown his papacy into crisis. * ... Yeah, that's a comfort - one of those nine cardinals, George Pell, is himself presently about to stand trial in Australia for sex abuse.

*

I saw a 2014 Religious News Service article today by David Gibson - Globe-trotting Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is almost 84, and working harder than ever.

It makes clear that Pope Francis knew Cardinal McCarrick, recently demoted for sex abuse, quite well even before he became pope. Here's a bit of the article, which begins with McCarrick recovering from a heart attack in 2013 ...

McCarrick would eventually get a pacemaker — and the cardinal was soon back at his guest room in the U.S. seminary in Rome when the phone rang. It was Francis. The two men had known each other for years, back when the Argentine pope was Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires. McCarrick assured Francis that he was doing fine.“I guess the Lord isn’t done with me yet,” he told the pope.

“Or the devil doesn’t have your accommodations ready!” Francis shot back with a laugh.

[...]

McCarrick is one of a number of senior churchmen who were more or less put out to pasture during the eight-year pontificate of Benedict XVI. But now Francis is pope, and prelates like Cardinal Walter Kasper (another old friend of McCarrick’s) and McCarrick himself are back in the mix, and busier than ever .....

He retired in 2006 and was sort of spinning his wheels under Benedict. Then Francis was elected, and everything changed.

“Pope Benedict is a wonderful man, and was a good friend of mine before he became pope,” McCarrick said. “But he was anxious to bring the church back to where he thought it should be, and I guess I wasn’t one of those who he thought would help him on that. I would have obviously done what he asked.” ....

It's creepy to read this article from the past which praises a man we have come to know as a serial sex abuse.

I bring the RNS article up because of the letter by ex-Vatican nuncio Vigano accusing Pope Francis of covering up McCarrick's sexual abuse. One of the assertions in the letter was that Francis had not just ignored the sexual abuse but had rehabilitated McCarrick's career after B16 had censored him. This article would seem to corroborate that claim.

So the Pope *did* know?

It seems that the allegations made against Pope Francis that he knew of abuse and covered it up may well be true ...



Here's more from The LA Times ...

Letter confirms Vatican had received misconduct complaint about then-Cardinal McCarrick in 2000

A 2006 letter from a top Vatican official confirms that the Holy See received information in 2000 about the sexual misconduct of now-resigned U.S. cardinal, lending credibility to bombshell accusations of a cover-up at the highest echelons of the Roman Catholic Church ....

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, at the center of a storm rocking Pope Francis' papacy, cited Ramsey's 2000 letter in his own expose of a cover-up about the McCarrick affair.

He named Sandri among a long list of Vatican officials who knew about McCarrick's penchant for seminarians. Vigano also accused Francis of knowing in 2013 of McCarrick's misconduct but of rehabilitating him from sanctions purportedly imposed by Pope Benedict XVI.

Sandri's letter is significant because it corroborates Ramsey's story as well as Vigano's claims ....

The excuse now is that even though the two previous popes knew about NcCarrick, and even though the "highest echelons" of the Vatican knew about NcCarrick, and even though the big wigs in the US church knew about McCarrick, and even though Francis has been pope for years and supposedly working to end clergy sex abuse, he was totally oblivious to NcCarrick's history of abuse. I don't think that's plausible.

More: Can the Pope Go to Jail?

[...] "It's just kind of a fantastic scenario," Gladden Pappin, an assistant professor of politics at the University of Dallas and senior adviser of the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, told me over the phone when I asked him if he could imagine any situation in which a pontiff might actually be prosecuted. "The pope is the supreme legislator, the supreme judge, the supreme governor of the Church. It's a monarchy. So he cannot be arrested. The ecclesiastical power is his to wield. Even from a secular standpoint, but arguably even in the international sphere, except under very limited conditions, he enjoys sovereign immunity, being the head of the state."

"No one can hold him accountable," agreed Kurt Martens, the ordinary professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America, when I presented him with the same hypothetical. "Because of the system that's in place, the pope, once elected, has supreme power in the Church and over the Church. And people may call for his resignation, but the only one who can make the decision about his resignation is the pope himself." ....

This is why B16 retired to Vatican City instead of Germany, and why Pope Francis seems so serene about the allegations made against him - a pope in his own country is unaccountable to the law.

Every Little Thing

Heard this song today on the muzak at the grocery store - it always makes me happy to hear it :) ...



Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
- The Police

Though I've tried before to tell her
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart
Every time that I come near her
I just lose my nerve
As I've done from the start

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

Do I have to tell the story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met
It's a big enough umbrella
But it's always me that ends up getting wet

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day
And ask her if she'll marry me in some old fashioned way
But my silent fears have gripped me
Long before I reach the phone
Long before my tongue has tripped me
Must I always be alone?

Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on

PBS NewsHour: abortion

Tonight on the PBS NewsHour, a segment on abortion options in South Dakota. If Kavanaugh gets confirmed, many fear he will overturn Roe v Wade, but as the segment shows, there are already so many impediments to women accessing reproductive care. In South Dakota, there is only one single clinic, a Planned Parenthood, where women can get abortions, and doctors must actually be flown in from other states.

I hope people watch the video because it's an apt example of the abortion situation ... the women who want to get abortions are just like all of us, the doctors who help them are decent and caring, and the pro-lifers who want to make abortion illegal are religiously reactionary men (like Kavanaugh).

More on the Pope's silence

I'm guessing the pope and the Vatican are hoping the allegations made against him by Viganò will just fade away, but that hasn't been the case.

Here's a bit from an article by The Atlantic's Emma Green ...

The Sex-Abuse Scandal Has Come for Pope Francis

Francis has caught significant criticism not only from conservative clergy like Viganò, but also from progressives in the Church, who say that he has not taken steps to address the lingering wounds of sex abuse. Some of his loudest critics have been sex-abuse victims, who have been hurt by the pope’s past dismissals of clergy abuse. Although steps have been taken in some countries over the last two decades to educate clergy and put safety procedures in place, those have been implemented unevenly, and the past several weeks have made it evident that the legacy of abuse remains raw.

Ultimately, then, this is what matters: The latest sexual-abuse revelations threaten to undermine the pope’s credibility among everyday believers who feel betrayed by their Church. The sexual-abuse crisis is now center stage in Francis’s papacy. What he chooses to do—and not do—about the crisis next may have long-term repercussions for his reputation.

And here's a bit from an article by Damian Thompson in The Spectator ...

What has Pope Francis covered up?

[...] Here, then, is my attempt at a brief overview of the two main issues.

First, there’s the collapse of the moral authority of the US bishops. They let a sexual abuser [McCarrick ] write their guidelines on dealing with sexual abuse — at a time when, we now learn, he had already faced scandalous and serious accusations .....

Second, there are Viganò’s allegations against Francis. His testimony has its contradictions and hyperbole — but when, on his flight back from Ireland, the Pope was given the chance to deny that Viganò told him about McCarrick, he refused to comment. As a result, Catholics don’t know whether the Vicar of Christ willingly revived the career of a sexual predator, thus putting idealistic seminarians at risk. Perhaps they should be reminded that Francis invited the disgraced Cardinal Danneels of Belgium to his synod on the family. In 2010, Danneels was recorded telling a young man to shut up about being abused by a bishop who was also the young man’s uncle. Three years later, Danneels was also one of the cardinals who lobbied to make Jorge Bergoglio pope. [BBC - Belgian Cardinal Danneels condoned sex-abuse silence] .....

Meanwhile: New York, New Jersey Investigating Sex Abuse And Cover-Ups By Clergy

Rachel Maddow on Brett Kavanaugh

The hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh start tomorrow. I don't think he should be allowed to be on the Court, for a whole number of reasons, from his stance on torture to his beliefs about inditing a sitting president, but one of the most important reasons is that he would likely flip Roe v Wade. It's not just me who doesn't want him to be confirmed and not just me who is worried about what he would decide about abortion ... a majority of people want abortion to remain legal and a majority of people (especially women) do *not* want Kavanaugh to be confirmed.

Here is Rachel Maddow on Kavanaugh ....

Pope: the silent treatment

The pope is still silent on accusations made against him of covering up sex abuse. In his homily today Pope Francis recommended “silence and prayer” when one is confronted “with people lacking good will, with people who only seek scandal, who seek only division, who seek only destruction, even within the family: silence, prayer.” (America magazine).

An article in The Chicago Tribune touches on this. Here's a bit of it ...

Column: The silence of Pope Francis and the pain of a church

[...] The hearts of the faithful aren’t broken as much as they are torn. A torn heart makes no sound and the body dies in silence.

And through this Pope Francis — revered as a humble and good man — also remains silent. His silence is devastating.

[...]

The pope said nothing in response to Vigano’s allegation.

“I must tell you sincerely that, I must say this, to you and all those who are interested: Read the statement carefully and make your own judgment. I will not say a single word on this,” Pope Francis said.

Not a word?

Is it that he really has nothing to say? Or is it that he can’t say anything without knowing what other information Vigano may possess?

Vigano represents the conservative wing of the church. Pope Francis represents the liberal wing, and his allies have cast this as a political fight. It is obvious that Vigano timed the release of his letter to damage the pope.

But his claims should be investigated, publicly.

“He won’t say a word? Then I won’t give a dime. I’m through,” said a friend of mine, a devout Chicago Irish Catholic who has spent his life donating heavily to two institutions: the Democratic Party and the Catholic Church.

“But I would still like to send the church something,” he said. “A movie they should watch: ‘Spotlight.’ They should see it again.” ....

Actually, the Pope wouldn't attend a screening of Spotlight when invited by his sex abuse commission to view it with them, so he'd get to see it for the first time.

Hey, Pope Francis, refusing to answer your own people's questions doesn't mean you're spiritually superior, it means you're arrogant. In the US, not even the president can ignore allegations against him because here no one is above the law. But I guess if you are the dictator of your own tiny country, you can just shine it on.

Jennifer Juniper

Some music from the ancient past: Donovan at the BBC ...



xx

Pope's record on abuse accountability

An article by Marie Collins, a former member of the pope's sex abuse commission, on the lack of a universal policy to hold bishops accountable for covering up abuse ... Exclusive: Marie Collins responds to Francis, seeking transparency in bishop accountability process

For those who are now supporting Pope Francis against the allegations that he himself covered up sex abuse, it's important to remember what a botch he made of his sex abuse commission and his supposed mission of holding bishops accountable for covering up abuse. Let us revisit some of the high points, and please note that these articles are from liberal sources, not conservative sites conspiring to doom the "reformer" pope ....

- March 25, 2014, Pope's new abuse commission is another promise waiting to be broken by Fr. Thomas Doyle at NCR

- July 7, 2014, Irish abuse victim tells Pope she wants Cardinal Brady removed [Pope refuses], The Irish Times

- March 26, 2015, Pope faces protests by sex abuse board against bishop’s appointment [Barros in Chile], The Guardian

- September 20, 2015, Pope Francis has done nothing to prevent sex abuse, The Boston Globe

- February 4, 2016, Vatican panel kicks off meeting on sexual abuse by watching 'Spotlight' [Pope wouldn't attend], The LA Times

- February 6, 2016, British victim [Peter Saunders] dismissed from Vatican inquiry into clerical sex abuse, The Guardian

- February 11, 2016, New Catholic Bishops Told They Don’t Have to Report Sexual Abuse to Police, Newsweek

- February 11, 2016, Tracing the Bishops’ Culpability in the Child Abuse Scandal, The New York Times

- March 1, 2017, Abuse survivor [Marie Collins] quits pope's commission citing 'shameful' resistance, Reuters

To ignore all this, and this is only reporting on the stuff that became public, is just weird.