As I read the news on the various terrible scandals that have and are hitting the Church - abuse of minors (the vast majority young boys and youthful men) by predator priests; Pope Francis' statement on the "Gay Lobby" in the Curia, the horrendous news out of my home country, Scotland on a powerful "gay mafia" I am deeply grieved.
I am incredibly saddened that this weekend in Toronto the "Gay Pride" Parade will take place. It is bad enough that elected officials, police (who will stand by and allow criminal acts to happen) and others will be, in various degrees participating - but it is another thing for the Church - the local Church to remain silent. We cannot remain silent in the face of unmitigated evil.
As you may know, Cardinal Collins wrote a pastoral letter on gambling. We know the dangers and potential evils that gambling may cause. But we also know that a far, far greater evil is loose in the land and in the Archdiocese: sexual corruption, deviancy and perversion. (more...)
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
‘No zeros’ policy does kids a disservice
The Department of Political Correctness in the Ministry of Education has some great news for students in Grade 7 to 12 public schools who like to slack off.
Kids! Starting this fall, teachers can no longer deduct marks when you turn assignments in after the due date.
And if you never did the work, they can't give you a zero!
Instead, you will be questioned as to why you didn't get it done. You might get more time to do the assignment. You might never have to do that assignment, but instead be given an "alternative opportunity" to show that you know the material. Or you might not even have to do that. The teacher might look the other way, and just consider whether you have shown in other ways that you understand the course material.
Whatever, dude.
Parents, if you fear this is a sign of slipping standards in high school, a policy that won't help our kids when they hit the "real world," you're not alone.
The educrats at the Waterloo Region District School Board, which is unrolling the province's new policy, are way ahead of you. (more...)
Kids! Starting this fall, teachers can no longer deduct marks when you turn assignments in after the due date.
And if you never did the work, they can't give you a zero!
Instead, you will be questioned as to why you didn't get it done. You might get more time to do the assignment. You might never have to do that assignment, but instead be given an "alternative opportunity" to show that you know the material. Or you might not even have to do that. The teacher might look the other way, and just consider whether you have shown in other ways that you understand the course material.
Whatever, dude.
Parents, if you fear this is a sign of slipping standards in high school, a policy that won't help our kids when they hit the "real world," you're not alone.
The educrats at the Waterloo Region District School Board, which is unrolling the province's new policy, are way ahead of you. (more...)
When female privilege backfires
Were women historically oppressed? Are they now, in developing countries?
A look at two societies under extreme and unusual pressures, which are considered oppressive to women, gives an insight into that age-old (actually, 200 year-old) question. The answer? *People* are oppressed. Men and women make trade-offs with each other.
British suffragettes arrange to have their husbands jailed:http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=...
Zara Faris at the London debate on feminism and Islam:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI7tZD...
Access to justice is a fairy tale, self-represented litigants conclude
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| A study of self-represented litigants in B.C., Alberta and Ontario showed lack of representation is creating a crisis of faith in the legal system. |
Written by University of Windsor law professor Julie Macfarlane, the 147-page document is a litany of despair and a depressing glimpse inside the courthouses of three provinces.
“While some of the most extreme reactions border on the paranoid, many self-represented litigants appraise their experience in a rational and balanced way in coming to the conclusion that the justice system is ‘broken,’” Macfarlane reports.
“Their basic complaint is clear — that instead of a user-friendly, practical means of resolving disputes, the courts offer a false promise of ‘access to justice.’” (more...)
Former teachers' union godfather who fought Ontario Liberals now set to join them
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KEN CORAN |
On the heels of a protracted dispute with Queen's Park, Ken Coran, the departing head of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, will next week become the Liberal candidate in an expected summertime London West byelection.
The selection of Coran is causing a stir among Grits, even before opposing politicians have even taken a swing.
"This sounds like something the NDP and PCs would cook up just to discredit us," Dan Foster, a card-carrying Liberal, said in reference to Coran's role in the contentious teacher contract negotiations.
A little Sandusky in every high school
Little did the nation know the same thing happens in many public schools, only worse: young boys themselves assault and even sodomize other young boys, even with foreign objects, and in a third of cases with the coaches’ knowledge.
It happens alarmingly frequently, according to a study done by the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. In this particular study, “Ten percent of high school boys report being victims of rape, forced oral sex and other sexual assault,” as a Boston University news outlet (WBUR) reports. But when also including forced boy-on-boy kissing and touching, the figure jumps to over a quarter.
Of course the study was just one school district in Michigan. “Our schools are different,” right? (more...)
Audit called for Child Protective Services: America’s fourth scandal
With today’s serious government scandals being brought to light, there remains one that has eluded the national attention under the premise of protecting children.
It has recently been spotlighted again in the Hi-Desert Star’s May 15 article, “Lawmaker calls for audit of Child Services” and channel 11’s continued series of “System of Lies,” which aired May 15.
The latter reference documented a lawsuit against Orange County’s Child Protective Services, while more lawsuits continue to pile up.
It’s chilling to hear that when social workers are caught in lies and perjury, the punishment, according to Orange County’s director, is absolutely nothing! After attorney Shawn McMillan of San Diego won Deanna Fogherty-Hardwick’s case against Orange County CPS, the director refused to admit any wrongdoing. In reply to the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter, he stated, “That’s their opinion.” This response exemplifies an agency that has little or no accountability, which does not inspire public trust or confidence. (more...)Don Draper Was Raped
In an episode of Mad Men last month, a prostitute named Aimee has sex with a teenaged Don Draper (née Dick Whitman) after nursing him through a nasty chest cold. Actually, let me rephrase: Aimee doesn't just have sex with young Dick Whitman--she rapes him.
Throughout most of the episode, Aimee serves as a surrogate mother for Dick; she lets him recuperate in her bed and offers him rest, comforting words, spoonfuls of warm broth. However, in their penultimate scene together, Aimee's maternal kindness turns oddly predatory. She approaches her bed where Dick is lying weakly, fever newly broken, and asks, "Don't you want to know what all the fuss is about? "No," Dick replies forcefully, averting his eyes and hugging the blankets tightly against his chest as she reaches under the covers to touch him. "Stop it," he says, clearly uncomfortable, even afraid. But Aimee doesn't stop. (more..)Sweden to ban men from urinating while standing
The Left Party, a political party made up of socialists and feminists, in the County Sormland, Sweden, is pushing for making standing urination for men, illegal, for those who use public restrooms of the Provincial Government.
Party officials are pushing for the installation of sitting only toilets in men’s restrooms. (more...)
Rorate Caeli: Pope Francis and the drama of sodomy in the Church and in the Diocese of Rome
The affirmation by Pope Francis that there is a “gay lobby” in the Vatican, should not be reduced to an extemporaneous quip, but evaluated and weighed in all of its tragic consequences. “There are truly some saintly people in the Curia, but there is also a current of corruption. There is talk of a “gay lobby” , and it is true, it exists. We have to see what we can do about it.”
The Holy Father pronounced these words during a private audience with the leaders of the Confederation of Latin American Religious (CLAR) which took place in Rome on the 6th of June 2013. It was a private meeting, and the interlocutor was an authoritative body, which [afterwards] drew up a written report of the Pontiff’s conversation. This text was not destined for publication, but it is authentic, demonstrated by the fact that it went all round the world without any refutation from the Holy See.
The Pope did not refer to the Church in general, but to the Vatican, which is graver, because this is where he lives, surrounded by his closest collaborators. And it is exactly inside the Leonine City he affirms that a “lobby” exists, that is, a powerful and organized group, able to do all that a lobby normally does: exercise, in a licit or illicit manner, heavy pressure by directing some decisions in their own favour. The interests of a “ gay lobby” would be, in this case, that of promoting men who share the practice or ideology of homosexuality inside the Vatican institutions, and of avoiding the condemnation of this vice as it is [condemned] by the public conscience of the Church. (more...)
The Holy Father pronounced these words during a private audience with the leaders of the Confederation of Latin American Religious (CLAR) which took place in Rome on the 6th of June 2013. It was a private meeting, and the interlocutor was an authoritative body, which [afterwards] drew up a written report of the Pontiff’s conversation. This text was not destined for publication, but it is authentic, demonstrated by the fact that it went all round the world without any refutation from the Holy See.
The Pope did not refer to the Church in general, but to the Vatican, which is graver, because this is where he lives, surrounded by his closest collaborators. And it is exactly inside the Leonine City he affirms that a “lobby” exists, that is, a powerful and organized group, able to do all that a lobby normally does: exercise, in a licit or illicit manner, heavy pressure by directing some decisions in their own favour. The interests of a “ gay lobby” would be, in this case, that of promoting men who share the practice or ideology of homosexuality inside the Vatican institutions, and of avoiding the condemnation of this vice as it is [condemned] by the public conscience of the Church. (more...)
also...
Victim’s attorneys call on L.A. district to do more to combat sexual abuse of students
The district announced this spring it would be willing to pay $30 million to settle 58 claims stemming from abuse allegations at the elementary school, most of which were carried out by two teachers – Mark Berndt and Martin Springer. Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial, the City News Service reports.
This week district officials launched MiramonteSettlements.com to provide “accurate information and details” about settlement offers, but attorneys representing the abused children and their families contend neither the money nor the website goes far enough.
“Compensation for these victims cannot be discussed until assurances for meaningful policies are in place at LAUSD to protect children now and in the future,” Vince Finaldi, attorney for the victims, said in a press conference outside of the district’s headquarters, according to the news service.
“The lack of appropriate response to the underlying institutional issues could cause the alleged abuse at Miramonte to happen again,” he said. (more...)
Where are the Boys?
The two faculty class sponsors were both female and all four student class officers were female. All the class officers had roles in the graduation ceremony with several handling more than one responsibility. The class president both welcomed everyone and had remarks. The class vice-president introduced the musical selections. The class secretary introduced the speakers and the treasurer introduced the platform guests. A girl - whose name appeared 5 times in the official program -- gave the major student address as the "representative class speaker" an opportunity traditionally granted to the student body president, but apparently not if a guy has that responsibility. Significantly, the principal was the only male participant in the ceremony. (more...)
Fr. Z muses and rants
There is an especially awful story about clergy in Rome circulating right now.
Once upon a time, I was walking under the colonnade of St. Peter’s Square with an especially well-placed curial official, nay rather, institution.
I asked him if it were true that Masons (the European style Masons, not the US style) had infiltrated the Church and the Roman Curia.
He stopped and looked around. He leaned in, lowered his voice, and said, “Yes. But they are not the ones people talk about.” (more...)Cross-dressing man busted trying to spy in female college dorm
Meet Rodney Kenneth Petersen, who appears to be either a garden-variety pervert or a pioneer in the next big cultural battle over sexual identity — or both, of course.
Petersen, 46, allegedly dressed up in women’s clothes — and a brunette wig — and unsuccessfully attempted to sneak into student-only areas of a women’s residence hall on the campus of Loma Linda University in Southern California, reports NBC4 Los Angeles. (more...)
Thursday, June 27, 2013
NYT: “GO EASY ON CHILD ABUSERS”
Bill Donohue comments on the New York Times’ reaction to a TV ad calling out the New York City public schools for coddling accused sexual predators:Catholic College Profs Spur Same-Sex Marriage Efforts Following Court Rulings
Professors at Catholic universities were quick to comment on Wednesday's Supreme Court rulings that overturned the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and allowed same-sex marriage to proceed in California.
While much of the commentary was legal analysis -- such as that by Notre Dame law professor Richard Garnett, who told the National Catholic Register to expect a more heated legal battle following Wednesday's rulings -- others seemed inspired to spur on the activists for same-sex marriage.
Doug NeJaime of Loyola School of Law in Los Angeles, which is affiliated with Loyola Marymount University, commented on the rulings for publications including The Atlantic, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Washington Blade, a homosexual-oriented publication.
"It's a very big day obviously," NeJaime reportedly told The Atlantic. "It's two big steps forward for the same-sex marriage cause. But the interesting question is what happens down the road, because the constitutionality of state bans has not been resolved." (more...)
Homosexuality Embraced at Catholic Colleges, Report Finds
Homosexual students and culture are gaining acceptance at many Catholic colleges and universities across the United States. At least that's the conclusion of Michael O'Laughlin, a graduate of Saint Anselm College writing at Religion & Politics, on "Being Gay at a Catholic University."
The evidence is anecdotal and only pertains to four institutions: DePaul University, Santa Clara University, Saint Anselm College and The Catholic University of America. But O'Laughlin certainly comes up with eye-opening material at all but CUA, where he finds instead a strengthening Catholic identity that is at odds with the celebration of same-sex attraction.
Some selections from his report on each of the schools: (more...)
TORONTO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER'S SICK DAYS SKYROCKET
A new report shows that Toronto's public school teachers are taking more sick days than ever. Premier Wynne and Ontario PC education critic Lisa MacLeod react.
ELIMINATING CHILD “PORN”
Kris Sims joins Charles Adler to discuss if, in the wake of the Nova Scotia child porn bust, we should continue to call it “porn” when kids are involved.
Former Maple Leaf Gardens usher now facing 72 sex charges
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STUCKLESS LEAVES TORONTO POLICE 52 DIV. ON FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2013 AFTER BEING ARRESTED WITH MORE CHARGES |
Stuckless, 64, was hit with 23 new charges Tuesday involving five complainants from York Region of indecent assault on a male, sexual assault and gross indecency against him.
This brings the number of criminal charges Stuckless is facing to 72.
"He's realistic, he's reasonable, he's left me to review a lot of these things," Stuckless' lawyer Ari Goldkind told media on the steps of the courthouse Thursday.
"Since his release 13 years ago, he's been an extremely law-abiding citizen."
The former Gardens usher was convicted in 1997 and served five years for sex assaults on 24 boys while he held that position between 1969 and 1988.
Stuckless faces 38 charges relating to 10 complainants in Toronto and another 34 charges from York Region -- including the 23 new charges -- from seven men who have made complaints against him. (more...)
Vatican Cardinal: Slander
Italian investigators have opened an inquiry into claims by a convicted paedophile priest that an underage prostitution ring has been operating inside the Holy Roman Church with clergymen hiring rentboys for sex inside churches.
Don Patrizio Poggi, 46, told Italian authorities that a former Carabinieri pimped boys for nine clergymen.
Poggi, who served a five-year sentence for abusing teenage boys while he was a parish priest at the San Filippo Neri church in Rome, said he made the allegations to "protect the Holy Church and the Christian community."
The boys were chosen because they were starving and desperate, he claimed, according to Il Messaggero newspaper......
The allegations were rejected by the Vatican. Cardinal Agostino Vallini, head of the Catholic Vicariate of Rome, said the priest made false claims out of a desire for vengeance and personal resentment. (more...)
Vatican Rentboy and Satanism Claims Revealed by Paedophile Priest Don Patrizio Poggi
Sex Outside the Bedrooms of the Nation
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| Gay Pride Parade – Toronto – 2011 |
Trudeau’s phrase rapidly became a slogan: “The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation”—which, in turn, was becoming a secular dogma. Across North America and indeed, the morally ravaged husk of what was once known as “Christendom,” the sexual fascists of the Relativist Revolution demanded that we all recognize that the only Truth was that there was no Truth, the only absolute was moral relativism, and that the churches slam their doors and keep their meddlesome standards of morality to themselves. They were seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were imposing a new morality of their own—one without a foundation, without objectivity, and completely based on feelings. It was philosophical iconoclasm, if not vandalism; as Pierre Trudeau noted wryly in the same interview, he had “knocked down a lot of totems and overridden a lot of taboos.” (more...)
Time for Pride (and others) to pay their own way
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| Toronto's annual Pride Parade held in downtown Toronto |
TORONTO - I’ll see you at Pride this weekend in the Gay Village, a quick stroll from my place.
The Sunday parade is a gas, awash in high camp and low stress. Church St. will smell of sweat, pot, beer — and money. Sponsors include Viagra, Trojan condoms, Loblaws, TD Bank, Loblaws, Pizza Pizza ...
You’re on the list, too, whether you like it or not.
All levels of government sink your hard-earned cash into Pride Week, including the province with $350,000 and the city with $140,000. (more...)
Free speech integral to campus life
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| John Carpay |
The choice between upholding the free speech rights of unpopular minorities or pandering to the popular mob has long daunted those in authority.
Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis attacked the free expression rights of Communists and Jehovah's Witnesses - both highly unpopular minorities in his province in the 1950s. A Quebec City bylaw prohibited the distribution of literature unless first approved by the chief of police. The chief of police would, of course, never approve of a Jehovah's Witness tract with a title like Quebec's Burning Hate for God and Christ and Freedom.
Free speech integral to campus life
Toronto School Board Promotes Sexual Perversion and Promiscuity
On one page Blazing Cat Fur noted, the authors of the positive sex website write, “Women have sex with women, men have sex with men, women have sex with men – and sometimes the best sex is with yourself!” It then provides a list of advice, including masturbating with vegetables or other objects, showering with someone else, bondage, oral sex, having sex in front of mirrors, acting out sexual fantasies, masturbating with someone else, and viewing pornography. These are described as “safe and fun ways to get off, which you probably won’t learn in school.” Yet the TDSB is encouraging teachers to share the website with students who ask questions about sex and sexuality.
The American-based site also provides advice for youth getting an abortion, warning that a minor may need to get consent from her parents first: “If you think they’ll be supportive, definitely tell them.” If there are consent or notification laws, the site advises calling an abortion facility to get a “judicial bypass” or going to a state without consent laws. The authors assert, “Any reason we have for choosing abortion is a good reason. These are our bodies and our lives. No one has the right to force us to have a baby, or to punish us for liking sex.” They then warn women not to go to “bogus clinics like Crisis Pregnancy Centers”, which are “run by anti-abortion groups and will try to scare you out of having an abortion.” According to the site, “abortion has few risks. It can involve some cramping, and light bleeding afterward.” (more...)
NO CONVICTION FOR CONSPIRACY
Ross McLean speaks with Charles Adler about the courts letting off a NS woman who tried to hire a hit man to kill her husband but proof of his abuse was unsubstantiated.
MAJOR CHILD PORN BUST IN ATLANTIC CANADA
Kris Sims has the details of "Project Snapshot" where police arrested 22 individuals for the production and distribution of child porn. Ross Mclean provides an analysis of the bust and the crime.
Dr Helen Smith, Erin Pizzey and Dean Esmay
Dean Esmay, Erin Pizzey and Dr. Helen Smith hold a brief discussion about men, marriage and modern sexual politics.
Toronto District School Board sick days up 22% as teachers no longer allowed to ‘bank’ time
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| Now that sick days at the TDSB can't be banked, their use has gone up 22% |
New figures from the Toronto District School Board show a 22% spike in teachers reporting in sick last month compared to the previous year, and a 53% jump from three years ago.
The recent increase echoes similar reports at other school boards in the wake of the provincial government’s end to the practice of school employees’ sick day “banking.”
Numbers compiled by the school board for National Post show there were 33,494 sick days collectively taken by TDSB teachers in May, compared to 27,456 sick days taken in May, 2012. The TDSB has a total of 16,259 teachers in its system this year, so the new numbers average out to just over two sick days per teacher in May alone.
The figures show an even more dramatic jump in sick days taken over the last three years, with 11,663 more sick days taken in May 2013 compared to May 2010, when the board had 16,077 teachers, for an average of about 1.3 sick days per teacher. (more...)
Adolescent Repair While You Wait
The summer of ’87. World population reached five billion people. Ronald Reagan challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Wall. The Harmonic Convergence ushered in a new era of universal peace as the Sun, Moon, and six of eight planets in our solar system aligned in a grand trine.
And in Texas, thousands of teenagers were being thrown into for-profit psychiatric hospitals, put on antipsychotic medication, and kept there until their family insurance ran out. I had the good fortune to be one of them.
I don’t say that ironically. Though I’ve spent most of my adult life anonymously writing cynical humor for Despair.com, and first-person sincerity is unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory for me, I consider the half-year I spent in the care of the Willow Creek Adolescent Center as a fifteen year-old to have been a peculiar sort of blessing. (more...)
A Rephrased Question
We have seen an open forum where participants have been asked to identify what the single primary goal of education should be. The question paraphrased could be stated as: what end should have precedence in the wide variety of (typical or atypical) school goals? To say that the responses to this query were unfocused is an ... understatement. Responses included:
-hierarchical lists of generic school 'goals', common to those the ministry and teachers' union also call for
-a 'hot-topic' review of the history of school, qua John Gatto parroting
-nihilistic, blunt and contradictory claims from the school of no hope
-some cut/thrust and riposte style 'debate', which ultimately led nowhere
- the decidedly status quo argument from need, courtesy of Doug
- direct from the ministry quotations
- citations of education journals along with some of Nancy's indomitable research checking
- a distributary regarding solfege singing
Why do the 27 responses to a straight forward question wander in, out, and around the actual question? Why are the few responses that do attempt to answer the question unlike one another? Why are some responses more of the hydra-like lists of multiple goals ? (more...)
US State Department acknowledges China?s sex-trade fueled by one-child policy
June 24, 2013 (Pop.org) - Last week, the United States State Department released its yearly Trafficking in Persons Report. The State Department ranks countries based upon their compliance with the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). China received an automatic downgrade to the lowest ranking—Tier 3—for being a destination country for sex-trafficking.
In the country narrative for China, the US State Department acknowledged that the one-child policy is the “key source of demand” for sex-trafficking and forced prostitution within China, but said nothing regarding the abolition of the policy in their list of recommendations. (more...)
An old student companion that is still all too relevant
Knowing our past and preserving what is best about it can help to guide our present and shape our future. However, today we have sadly jettisoned much of the past in an effort to be politically correct. Is it because we no longer need to be informed by it? Hardly. There's this rush to embrace and legislate the progressive and the politically acceptable. But this myopic approach to history isn't at all the most useful and constructive when it comes to shaping our lives and our society.
Take the subject of public education. Surely we all realize that in Canada and the rest of the West there has been a strong legislative push in school curricula and the larger society to redefine human sexuality, the family and marriage. It's culture battle that is undermining God and religious beliefs in public and Catholic schools and the public square. The West has declared what amounts to war on Christianity and its roots. In Ontario, the attack has come in the name of the "equity and inclusive education strategy" which later became law with Bill 13. (more...)
22 arrested, 2 children rescued in massive child porn bust in Atlantic Canada
Police have arrested 22 people and rescued two children in a massive bust of suspected child predators that reached across Atlantic Canada.
At a news conference in Dartmouth, NS, Wednesday, police said they seized 43 computers and millions of child porn images in Operation Snapshot 2, which targeted "high-risk offenders who collect, possess and/or distribute child sexual exploitation material online."
"These are not images of a 16-year-old standing topless at a swimming pool, these are images of children being raped, some are in diapers, this is the worst of the worst," Det. Const. Chris Purchas of the Toronto Police said. (more...)
22 arrested, 2 children rescued in massive child porn bust in Atlantic Canada
Jonah is Resurrected
I've been banished from Current, Newsvine, and now Wordpress. Go to the Old Jonah to see some of my past offences. Seems I make some folks uncomfortable.