Craziest priest evah

There's an amazing article at RawStory today. It's by David Ferguson. The headline is "Demoted Catholic Cardinal says 'Radical Feminists' are to blame for Pedophile Priests". I'm sure you can tell why this nitwit was demoted. Now that he's been sent to the religious backwoods, he's taken to angry, illogical finger-pointing. You see, the whole priests-raping-children thing was a temporary snafu caused by those awful feminists. Evidence? Who needs evidence?

“Unfortunately, the radical feminist movement strongly influenced the Church,” Cardinal Burke complained, “leading the Church to constantly address women’s issues at the expense of addressing critical issues important to men; the importance of the father, whether in the union of marriage or not; the importance of a father to children; the importance of fatherhood for priests; the critical impact of a manly character; the emphasis on the particular gifts that God gives to men for the good of the whole society.”

Did you like that? Here's more:

Women and their needs have not only decimated the church, he said, but the institution of marriage as well.

“I recall in the mid-1970’s, young men telling me that they were, in a certain way, frightened by marriage because of the radicalizing and self-focused attitudes of women that were emerging at that time,” he recalled. “These young men were concerned that entering a marriage would simply not work because of a constant and insistent demanding of rights for women. These divisions between women and men have gotten worse since then.”Worst of all, he said, the church took a “fluffy,” womanly attitude toward sexuality.

“Making things worse, there was a very fluffy, superficial kind of catechetical approach to the question of human sexuality and the nature of the marital relationship,” he said, which has led to sexual anarchy, the abundant availability of pornography, homosexuality and child sex abuse.

The man is completely insane. What the heck, here's even more. (All bolding above and below is mine.)

“We can also see that our seminaries are beginning to attract many strong young men who desire to serve God as priests,” he said. “The new crop of young men are manly and confident about their identity. This is a welcome development, for there was a period of time when men who were feminized and confused about their own sexual identity had entered the priesthood; sadly some of these disordered men sexually abused minors; a terrible tragedy for which the Church mourns.”

Indeed, that must be how it happened. With all the mentions of "manly" men, I suspect this priest is gay. In any case, this is truly a disordered individual. Hopefully they'll take him to a vet and have his vocal chords cut so he can't talk anymore. He's like a mad dog. How did someone this deranged climb so far up the church ladder? Oh, right: Eve. I forgot about the Eve legend. Never mind.

Baby it's cold outside

It's going to be one degree tonight in NY. Uno. With wind. It must be time for this song.

It's enough to make you sick

While New York's police officers continue to act like spoiled children, local TV media have taken to fellating the NYPD on a daily basis. Ever since two officers were killed by a maniac, local TV news has devoted at least the first half of each broadcast to canonizing all police officers. You ain't seen deference until you've heard these losers sucking it up to cops. Apparently, cops can do no wrong. It's enough to make you sick.

Tom Sullivan at digby gives us one example of this syndrome, caught by Wonkette. Yup, the media is whitewashing everything about cops in NY. (I'm not going to excerpt it because it's too long. But you can read it in full at the link.)

Digby also chimed in, focusing not on the media but on the cops' behavior. Here's a bit:

[P]olice officers acting like petulant children day after day over the mayor's alleged failure to kiss their feet isn't going to garner them the respect and admiration they crave. It's making them look like people who need to find a line of work in which judgment, patience, maturity and professionalism aren't required. Perhaps they could all join boy bands.

I saw an interesting idea mentioned in the mainstream media today (sorry, no link). The idea is to have the Justice Department investigate this and then replace all the cops. I vote for this option. These guys deserve to lose their jobs. Maybe they can apply to be tin gods in a third world country where violence rules the day and police officers rule the country.

I want a dog

Lately I've had a powerful urge to get a dog. So far, I haven't acted on it. But I'm close.

If I do get a dog, will I still be happy about this decision when it's raining or snowing and the dog is looking up at me with those "gotta go" eyes? Seriously, they can't use indoor bathrooms -- some kind of genetic defect, or something. Will I happily tend to this dog's needs?

Of course I'll take good care of the dog, if I get one. I love all animals (and birds and fish and bugs and pretty much everything else; I even like wasps) so there's no way I'd let it suffer in any way. But will I resent having to make this effort? That's what worries me.

Right now, I'm pleased with my outdoor pets. Every day, I feed four crows, six squirrels, about a dozen blue jays, and two groundhogs. So okay, the ground hogs are hibernating right now. But I'm still handing out peanuts to the other guys. I just stick my head out and call, "Crow!!!" and they all come. It's like a Disney movie, very zippity doo dah.

I enjoy this, but is it enough? I like the idea of snuggling with a smallish dog in the evenings, preferably with the creature on my lap. That sounds so warm. And since we're in the middle of a cold spell, this seems appealing.

To adopt or not to adopt. That is the question. I guess I'll just fret about it some more. Don't worry, I'll share my decision when I make it. Until then, here's a relevant song. It's one of my favorites.

Ed Brayton on Tucker Carlson

This is why I enjoy Ed Brayton's blog. Here he is, eviscerating Tucker Carlson:

Tucker Carlson continues his lifelong and incredibly brave battle against reality after a Missouri legislator dared to mention white privilege. Because there is no such thing, you see. In fact, only a racist person could possibly believe that white privilege exists. So says Tucker Carlson, who is so white he’s translucent.

I know you won't click on the link and read it (because you're lazy), so here's how he ends the piece:

Yes, the mere mention of white privilege makes one a racist! In the next segment, Carlson explained that up is down and war is peace. On the next show, they should just represent Tucker Carlson with a mayonnaise sandwich on wonder bread listening to Yanni.

How can you not love Ed? You hafta, you just hafta.

Yup, they did it again

AP sez:

Thousands of city police officers turned their backs Sunday as they watched Mayor Bill de Blasio eulogize an officer shot dead with his partner, repeating a stinging display of scorn for the mayor despite entreaties from the police commissioner not to do so.

What a bunch of goons. I hope New Yorkers turn their backs on every police officer they encounter, especially if the officer is speaking to them. Backs is all they deserve. Seriously, putting on a tantrum at the funeral of a fallen officer? These cops have lost their bearings. And why? Because they don't want to get real and face their racism. Well, boohoo. They have to. 

I'm curious to see where this will go from here. Are the cops still refusing to arrest anyone? Has NYC become a lawless place because the police won't do their jobs until they're assured that they are above the law and can continue to abuse and kill people of color with impunity? This mess is being caused by one thing only: white racist cops.

Any thoughts out there in Peanut Land?

Speaking of equality

Anne Karpf, author of "How To Age", has an interesting op-ed in today's NY Times. It's called "The Liberation of Growing Old". Here she is, discussing the negative attitudes so many Americans have about old people:

Such “gerontophobia” is harmful because we internalize it. Ageism has been described as prejudice against one’s future self. It tells us that age is our defining characteristic and that, as midnight strikes on a milestone birthday, we will become nothing but old — emptied of our passions, abilities and experience, infused instead with frailty and decline.

I think it's worth a full read, especially if you're heading toward geezerhood, as I am. Personally, I love getting old. I don't want my youth back even one little bit. You can keep it.

Aravosis nails it

You've heard that the FDA is toying with the idea of allowing gay men to give blood, right? What a novel and, dare I say, fair notion. Well, it seems they haven't got it right yet. In fact, the way the FDA is acting on this is downright offensive. John Aravosis of AmericaBlog nailed it today. (Bolding below is mine.)

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said this week that it will not ask potential blood donors about their high-risk sexual behavior, even if the questions would help ensure the safety of the nation’s blood supply from HIV/AIDS, because heterosexual donors might find the questioning “offensive.”

This, after decades of the FDA asking male blood donors if they are gay, and then asking the gay ones whether they have had sex with men at any time since the late 1970s.

Indeed. Those poor, beleagured heterosexuals. Why doesn't anyone ever think of them? The FDA must protect those straight people's feelings at all costs. Who knows what would happen if they were asked unwelcome questions? Oh, the fruited plain! How it would suffer.

The whole thing is sickening. Here's more from Aravosis:

So to recap, the FDA believes that a total stranger asking a man if he’s gay — a highly personal, and for some embarrassing, admission that could get you fired from your job, and disowned by your family — is not “offensive.”

Nor is it offensive to ask a gay man when the last time is he screwed another guy.

But if you ask a straight man whether he’s monogamous, how non-monogamous he is (how many different partners he’s had), and whether he use[d] condoms during intercourse, suddenly the FDA becomes a collective prude.

It boggles the mind. Go read the whole post. Good work, John!

NYPD "work stoppage" benefits poor New Yorkers

Yesterday, commenter cm said he'd like to see the results of the NYPD's unwillingness to arrest anyone. (Immediately, let us pause to say "Aw, the poor police officers feelings are hurt so they're not gonna do their jobs no more". Hahaha. Okay, on with the post.) But it looks like NY's poor, who are the traditional target of "broken windows" policing, stand to benefit the most. (There is wondrous irony in this, since Eric Garner was killed during a meaningless and totally unnecessary "broken windows" arrest.) Think Progress is on the case:

In response to growing tensions between the New York Police Department and the city, police unions encouraged officers last week to not make arrests “unless absolutely necessary,” resulting in a 66 percent drop from the same period last year. While the protests have drawn scrutiny for “squandering the department’s credibility” and leaving the city’s streets virtually unattended, they have also had the unintended effect of benefitting New York’s low income residents who are usually the target of the city’s tough-on-crime practices. 

There's also this:

Although it’s not the intended goal of the work stoppage, the decline in arrests could save New Yorkers money. The city residents who are normally hit with tickets for minor violations tend to be low income individuals who are forced to pay up a hefty portion of their paychecks.

Sounds like the NYPD is shooting itself in the foot. Since that's a lot better than them shooting black people, let's hear it for the NYPD work stoppage. Hooray!!!

Extra bonus: the NYPD relies on the money it makes from harassing poor people, so their budget is experiencing a huge hit. Okay, let's say it again: Hooray!!!

Are we done yet?

Are the holidays over? Is 2014 over? Good. I'm happy to say goodbye to both.

The internet is filled today with blog posts and news stories about how awful last year was. "Good riddance" seems to be the mantra. But though I'm happy to see it gone, I don't think 2014 was awful. Sure, ugly people continued to do ugly things; that's what they do. But I'm pleased that the issue of racism in America has come to a head. If it hadn't happened now, when would we deal with it? Ten years from now? Fifty? The time for change is right now. And for this, I am thankful.

Something tells me the protests against police abuse will continue -- as will the police murders of innocent people of color. But soon we'll reach a breaking point, a moment when real change seems necessary to all observers. Of course, the trend could turn negative and go in the other direction -- in which our country would be lost, probably forever. But I don't hold Americans in such low contempt. Decent people will not let this issue go. It's time for change and Americans of all colors will demand it.

So I'm hopeful about the coming year. It will be incredibly tiresome, in that Hillary and all the other exhausted practitioners of old-style politics will be positioning themselves for election, and saying and doing stupid, meaningless things. But hey, that's the way we roll in this country. Nothing in politics has to make sense anymore. The Republicans (and lilly-livered know-nothing "Democrats") made sure of this. Common sense is now a rare visitor to our Congress and Supreme Court.

But something else is happening: the American populace is waking up. Gays are getting married all over the place. Transgender people are finally seeing their stories enter the mainstream. Black people are not taking it when police try to rough them up or abuse them in any way. Religion is losing its hold on young people. And longtime immigrants in this country are finally being shepherded into citizenship. And hey, just about anyone can get health insurance.

Will something go wildly wrong this year? Probably. Putin is feeling intense pressure and he would love an excuse to play with his nukes. China is trying to shut the internet (and communication in general), much to the consternation of its people. And of course, Israel is still being Israel, and Muslim extremists are still killing everyone they meet. There are so many situations that could ignite.

But human rights are finally coming to the fore. The whole world now knows that the United States tortures people, lies, snoops, employs a militarized police force largely composed of white racists, and starts spurious wars for monetary gain. This means it won't only be American citizens who push for a return to the rule of law in the US; there will be many other countries insisting that we right the human "wrongs" that everyone can clearly see. With everything that's going on, even the Bush/Cheney in-crowd is probably feeling nervous. International Court, anyone? It's time the US was hauled before that body.

These are interesting times where just about anything could happen. But I'm hopeful. How about you?