This is no time to wait and See

Hard questions are being asked of catholic "leadership" in regard to the organized molestation of children around the world.  This is long overdue, though I doubt much will come of it.  As with many charges against religious "leaders", people are afraid to appear "anti-religious", especially when one has the status of a sovereign country...with no native citizens.

The catholic church is making the laughable claim that it is only responsible for the actions of its priests inside their "sovereign city", the one place where there are few children.  (I wonder how many of them have been molested and they have no legal recourse or means of obtaining help.)  It is claiming the actions of priests are not its responsibility, despite the well known fact that it actively and deliberately relocated priests who had molested children to protect them from criminal charges.


Like the Southern Poverty Law Centre's lawsuits against Ku Klux Klan in the US, the only real damage that will happen to the catholic church is damages paid out by claimants in lawsuits.  The morally vacant city will never be held criminally accountable despite being worse than a ring of child porn purveyors.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vatican-faces-un-grilling-over-child-sex-abuse-9061875.html

Vatican faces UN grilling over child sex abuse

The Vatican will be grilled by a UN panel over cases of child sex abuse, and will be forced to defend itself over allegations it failed to prevent the rape of thousands of children by protecting paedophile priests at the expense of victims.

[...]

The Holy See ratified the [UN Convention on the Rights of the Child] in 1990 and submitted a first implementation report in 1994. However, it did not provide progress reports for almost ten years, and only submitted one in 2012 after receiving a storm of criticism following the revelations in 2010 of child sex abuse cases in Europe and beyond, the Associated Press has reported.

[...]

In the reports they also include correspondence from a Vatican cardinal allegedly praising a French bishop's decision to protect his abusive priest, and another Vatican command to Irish bishops to strike any mandatory reporting of abusers to police from their policies. 

"For too many years, survivors were the only ones speaking out about this and bearing the brunt of a lot of criticism," said Pam Spees, a human rights lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which provided a key report to the committee.

But according to AP, in its written response to the committee submitted last month, the Vatican declined to provide such information and did not answer many of the committee's questions, arguing that it was not responsible for the actions of every Catholic, much less every priest or parish in the world.

Instead, it said it is really only responsible for implementing the UN treaty where it exercises territorial control: the 44 hectares (110 acres) of the Vatican City State in downtown Rome, where 31 children currently live. 

Noam Chomsky on Ariel Sharon's death

With his typically brilliant wit, Chomsky sums up Sharon's existence in one sentence.

“[T]here is a convention that you’re not supposed to speak ill of the recently dead, which unfortunately imposes a kind of vow of silence because there’s nothing else to say–there’s nothing good to say,” Chomsky said.

Incineration without incarceration

Just what exactly is wrong with India's society that rape is an everyday event by the dozens or even hundreds?  And now this one.

On October 26, 2013, a sixteen girl was raped.  She went to the police to file a report.

On the way home, she was raped a second time.  Whether the attackers were the same or different is unknown.

Then on December 23, 2013, she was attacked again, burnt alive by two people connected to the rapists (either friends or family).

The worst thing about censorship is **********

The UK government is trying to institute a "policy" of blocking internet content that would make the Chinese dictatorship proud.  As with "filtering software" of the 1990s, the UK government's censorship is not about blocking "obscenity", it is about blocking content that differs from the governing party's religious and political views.  Allowing sites that promote hate while censoring sites that promote human rights is not the act of a free and democratic state, it is the act of a group of thugs.

Promises, promises

The only thing I trust a theist to be is untrustworthy.  The only surprise in this story is that it was teenage girls who were raped, not pre-teen children.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/27/backslider-catholic-youth-leader-raped-victim-after-promising-not-to-do-it-again/

Backslider: Catholic youth leader raped victim after promising not to do it again

A Catholic youth leader who promised a teenager he had raped that he would never rape again if she didn’t report him to police was reported to police by his victim after he sexually assaulted her best friend.

Priorities, priorities

Indian politicians have been putting all their efforts into writing and enforcing blasphemy laws, to prevent criticism of religion.

Preventing the rape of women?  They think it's a minor issue.

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/woman-gang-raped-on-christmas-eve-in-india-reports-1.447318

Woman gang-raped on Christmas Eve in India: reports

The reports of the latest assault came two days before India was due to mark the first anniversary of the death of a student who was gangraped on a bus in an attack that shocked the nation.

The woman who was assaulted on Christmas Eve told police she was abducted by three men while sightseeing with friends in Karaikal, a port city in Puducherry, the Times of India newspaper and TV networks reported.

One of the men raped her at a secluded spot before freeing her, the Times said.

She called for help but then another group of seven men attacked her as she was being escorted to a safe place, the paper said.

Alan Turing has been pardoned...sixty one years too late

Crack the Enigma code and enable the allies to defeat the Nazis?  Nope, not good enough.

Inventing modern computing?  Nope, not that either.

The only gross indecency was the false conviction and hypocrisy by his own government.

And as for "suicide", even that is debatable and questionable.  I won't be surprised if it's someday revealed that he was murdered.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/alan-turing-granted-royal-pardon-for-gay-sex-conviction-1.2474916

Alan Turing granted royal pardon for gay sex conviction

Mathematician Alan Turing, who helped Britain win the Second World War by cracking Nazi Germany's "unbreakable" Enigma code, was granted a rare royal pardon on Tuesday for a criminal conviction for homosexuality that led to his suicide.

Male privilege sucks: Maasai women who refuse FGM are refused marriage

In a disgusting display of arrogance, males in the Maasai tribe in Tanzania are refusing to marry women who have refused to subject themselves to the horrors of Female Genital Mutilation.

No, FGM is not "clean".  The mutilation is actually less hygenic than women's natural genitalia.

No, it is not a "minor issue".  The violent cutting of highly sensitive skin leaves women with a lifetime of pain and discomfort, and most of the time it is done to girls too young to consent.

No, it is not "cultural" or "religious", it is an act of violence.  The fiction of religion does not trump the reality of nature.

No, male genital mutilation is not comparable.  The only way it could be compared is if the head of the penis were cut off with an axe, leaving only the shaft.  And even then, it's still not an apt comparison.

Three women held as slaves for decades were victims of religion

Why am I not surprised?

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/man-accused-of-london-slavery-claimed-he-was-christ-and-took-thousands-from-followers-29791349.html

Man accused of London slavery 'claimed he was Christ and took thousands from followers'

The head of the Maoist sect accused of keeping three female slaves tried to convince his followers he was like Jesus Christ and persuaded them to hand over thousands of pounds for the revolutionary cause, a former activist claimed yesterday.

The women are a 30-year-old Briton, named in reports as Rosie Davies, 57-year-old Josephine Herivel from Belfast, and a 69-year-old Malaysian, confirmed by that country's police to be Siti Aishah Wahab.

Where is Jozef Wesolowski?

Another day, another catholic priest is facing charges for child molestation.

http://lezgetreal.com/2013/11/dominican-republic-prosecutors-find-archbishop-sexually-abused-minors/

Dominican Republic: Prosecutors Find Archbishop Sexually Abused Minors

Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic say that that the former apostolic nuncio to that country, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, is guilty of molesting at least five boys.

Wesolowski was relieved of his duties and recalled to Rome in August, after Church leaders in the Dominican Republic informed Pope Francis that they had uncovered evidence of sexual abuse by the papal representative. The Vatican turned over the evidence to the Dominican government, and has pledged to cooperate with prosecutors there and indeed, Dominican authorities report that the Vatican and church officials were fully cooperative in their investigation.

That's what they claim, but their actions are different.

Amanda Berry is alive, and Sylvia Browne is dead

People say when someone dies, you should only say good things about them.

Sylvia Browne is dead.  Good.

Browne's track record of "prediction" was so bad that random dice rolls produced better results.

http://fox8.com/2013/11/20/tmz-sylvia-browne-dead-at-77/

There are thousands of other frauds willing to cheat the uneducated out of their money, but at least Browne won't be doing it anymore.

Harassment of employees is a crime, unless you're doing it for "god"

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20131113/NEWS01/311130051/Judge-Owner-can-t-lecture-employees-on-religion

Judge: Owner can't lecture employees on religion

A southwest Iowa grocery store owner who lectured an employee on her religious beliefs must pay her unemployment benefits, a state judge has ruled.

The case centered on a question that often divides civil libertarians and people of faith: Do business owners have the right to advocate for their religious beliefs in discussions with employees?

Of course not.  Religious harassment and come-ons are as offensive as sexual harassment and sexual come-ons.  They're both unwelcome and both criminal.

The dealer has changed the packaging of his addictive drug

Changing the packaging doesn't change the fact that the drug is addictive, or that the dealer is trying to keep the profits coming in.

Arizona prisons are turning into death camps

Arizona prisons are turning into death camps, and like death camps elsewhere, many of the public think those inside "deserve it" and have no empathy for them.

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/14/arizona_horror_show_after_illegal_mistreatment_inmates_in_grave_danger/

Arizona prison horror: “Critically ill” inmates told to “pray” for healing

A new report alleges illegal and deadly mistreatment of Arizona inmates whose medical care the state contracted out to the country’s largest private prison health care provider.

"Looks to me a little bit like lust"

The only lust I see is Gordon Klingenschmitt's lust for hate and violence.   Or does Klingenschmitt secretly have a thing for babies?

http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2013/11/klingenschmitt-photo-of-gay-couple-with-baby-looks-to-me-a-little-bit-like-lust/

How could anyone who is well adjusted read sexual desire into the faces of a pair of loving fathers?

http://www.stonewall.org.uk/images/cm_images/gary-and-child-large.jpg

Never "thank" an ex-soldier for his military service

"Thanking" ex-soldiers is not about showing gratitiude, it's about smug self-satisfaction and flag waving by those "thanking" them. If people really cared about them, they would be offering condolences for their lost innocence and their dead friends.

In May 2013, a series of pictures hit the news showing the faces of British soldiers - before they ever seeing combat, during, and after. You can see the lost hope, joy and innocence in their faces and especially their eyes.

http://12160.info/forum/topics/mesmerizing-photographs-of-soldiers-faces-before-and-after-a-war

Sacrifice to the fallacy that war can end

The enscription on the gravestone of 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Conway Young, who died on August 16, 1917, reads thus:

"Sacrifice to the fallacy that war can end."


The corpse worship that goes on every November 11th is not a call to end war, it is a call for blind support of war. And those who call for it the most are often the profiteers of war. In England, BAE (the biggest supplier of military equipment in the country) is the principal "sponsor" of the British Legion.

Hey, Japan: There's a reason that Germany has gotten past Nazism.

There's a reason that Germany has gotten past its dark era of Nazism.  The country came clean and purged itself, prosecuting criminals and making reparations.  It's easier to be forgiven when you're willing to admit fault and mistakes.

That's why Japan has never been truly forgiven for its past, the history of Japan's imperialism in the first half of the 20th century.  Japan has refused to come clean, refused to admit its mistakes.  Since World War II, Japan has had repeated incidents of historical revisionism in school textbooks, denials of atrocities (re: the Rape of Nanking), and worst of all, the organized and planned mass rape of women from across Asia, the misnomer of "comfort women".

Happy International Blasphemy Day, September 30th

If a religion can’t take a joke, then that religion IS a joke. Only the emotionally insecure and infantile can’t handle criticism and mockery.

And if “god” is powerful enough to create the universe, then it doesn’t need stooges to do its dirty work. Let “god” punish me himself.

The inevitable has happened three times

Members of the Greek fascist party "Golden Dawn" incited and advocated anti-immigration violence, what is known as "stochastic terrorism".

One of the "lone wolf" fanboys of the far-right party murdered a Greek celebrity who spoke out against hate speech.

And now, the "Golden Dawn" party is under investigation, including members of its party in the Greek parliament.