REFERENCE:
...
and further context from snopes.com
excerpt:
Claim: Senator John Kerry "voted to kill
every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every
weapons systems since 1988."
Status: False.
A
Report on the Crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States --The
National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People
excerpts: (from
part IV Findings):
The Vatican Bureaucracy: Many attribute the Vatican's inaction prior to the current crisis to a general reluctance to interfere with bishops. Others attribute it to a view in Rome that the sexual abuse of minors by members of the Catholic clergy was uniquely an American problem. Charges that the Vatican promulgated a policy of secrecy for dealing with allegations of sexual abuse by priests are, however, without basis.
John Geoghan: ...it is clear that some men became priests over the last fifty years who never should have been admitted into the seminary or never should have been allowed to continue to ordination.
The archetype for such a priest is Father John Geoghan,
who molested scores of young boys in the Boston area for years and who
was murdered last year while serving a ten-year prison sentence. By all
accounts, Geoghan was an insecure, immature, and psychologically disturbed
person, and these traits were apparent to some from the outset.
A large number of witnesses, both "liberal" and "conservative,"
agreed with the sentiment of one bishop who stated that, from the mid-1960s
to the early 1980s, "seminaries lost their way." The rigid moral absolutism
that had guided clergy and laity alike was giving way to moral relativism,
with its attendant uncertainties and ambiguities.
Seminary Admission Standards: One bishop who had served as a seminary rector told the Board that seminaries took in almost anybody who applied during the 1950s, and many of these young men were there not because they wanted to become priests but because of family pressure. Then, as vocations declined in the 1970s and 1980s and thousands of men left the priesthood to marry, the pressure to ordain a certain number of priests may have contributed to a reluctance to determine that a particular individual was not well-suited to the priesthood for psychological reasons.
Seminary Moral Standards: In some instances, according to one bishop, the "culture of 'if it feels good, it's all right' infiltrated seminaries" and thereby "had its infiltration in the Church." As a result, a homoerotic culture took root at some seminaries. The Board was told that some seminarians were propositioned (or worse) by older seminarians or faculty, and little was done when complaints were made about this misconduct.
The Effect of Vatican II Changes: The post-Vatican II obsession with psychology at many seminaries left many priests without an adequate understanding of the theological and historical basis for celibacy.
Although some witnesses told the Board that pre-Vatican II "repression" led to problems and others told the Board that post-Vatican II laxity led to problems, all agreed that the rapidly changing climate – from a strictly regimented atmosphere to an "anything-goes" atmosphere – contributed to the current crisis.
Sexual Discussion Suppressed: According to numerous interviews, although some seminaries provided instruction on the Church's teachings on sexuality prior to Vatican II, they did not permit or encourage seminarians to discuss their concerns about sexuality and celibacy; nor were seminarians given access to psychological counseling. As a consequence, the Board was told, some seminarians avoided or repressed their sexual problems. For some priests, it was not until well after ordination that these problems manifested themselves, often with tragic results for victims of sexual abuse.
Homosexuality: That eighty-one percent of
the reported victims of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy were boys
shows that the crisis was characterized by homosexual behavior.
...it seems clear to the Board that the paramount question
in this area must be whether a candidate for priesthood is capable of living
a chaste, celibate life, not what that candidate's sexual orientation might
be. But given the nature of the problem of clergy sexual abuse of minors,
the realities of the culture today, and the male-oriented atmosphere of
the seminary, a more searching inquiry is necessary for a homosexually-oriented
man by those who decide whether he is suitable for the seminary and for
ministry.
Celibacy: Although the discipline of celibacy is not itself a cause of the current crisis, a failure properly to explain celibacy and prepare seminarians for a celibate life has contributed to it. As both bishops and priests made clear to the Review Board, a successful celibate life requires proper formation and discipline, without which those candidates who were most troubled sexually were most likely to fail.
According to some witnesses, certain sexually immature or conflicted individuals and certain homosexual men appear to have been attracted to the priesthood because they mistakenly viewed the requirement of celibacy as a means of avoiding struggles with their sexual identities. Others may have felt it provided them with "cover" – a ready explanation as to why they were not married. One psychiatrist opined that some troubled priests felt "You could hide your sexual problem in the priesthood." One cleric echoed this view: "My fears about celibacy in the present world is that it can become a place for people with sexual disorders to hide."
It appears that too many priests and too many bishops acted as if celibacy was something that could be imposed as part of the formation process and then taken for granted.
Parish Living Quarters: Diocesan living arrangements bear revisiting in light of the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by priests. Several witnesses recommended that dioceses consider establishing residential living centers for priests that would help to meet the twin purposes of fostering community and healthy intimate relationships and ensuring oversight of priests.
Failure to Comprehend: One priest stated, "I just don't think it ever occurred to them that there was a law out there; that the ethos of the society was that . . . you go to prison for this."
Time and again, bishops informed the Board that they did
not fully comprehend the horror of sexual abuse and the damage it wrought
until they had met with a number of victims.
Many Church leaders refused to meet with victim support
groups because they disagreed with the agendas of some of these groups.
Massive Denial: Clericalism also can be blamed for the fact that, to a great degree, bishops and other Church leaders engaged in massive denial. Church leaders often were reluctant to acknowledge that a priest, a man ordained to be "another Christ," could have engaged in the horrific acts of which he was accused.
Clearly, where brother priests were concerned, bishops often felt more comfortable forgiving than condemning, even where condemnation was demanded by the nature of the offense.
Secrecy: Church leaders placed too great an emphasis on the avoidance of scandal in order to protect the reputation of the Church, which ultimately bred far greater scandal and reputational injury. One bishop opined that because the Church in the United States historically is a minority, immigrant institution, it has been particularly desirous of seeking to solve its own problems without exposing them to a hostile culture.
The Review Board is concerned that, even today, some bishops and priests fail to address the issue of clerical sexual abuse in a sufficiently open manner.
The impulse to avoid scandal at all costs manifested itself
in several ways:
...time and again Church leaders failed to report incidents
of possible criminal activity to the civil authorities
...in some instances Church leaders discouraged victims
or their parents from reporting the abuse to authorities.
...certain witnesses stated that in some instances bishops
may not have punished priests who engaged in sexual abuse because the bishops
were themselves compromised.
...in part out of an overemphasis on secrecy, dioceses
and religious orders did not utilize adequate methods to track allegations
against priests.
The role of therapists: An early 1990s report to a bishop from one therapist is almost effusive in praise of the patient, a priest who had engaged in sexual abuse of minors. After noting the "impressive improvement" shown by the priest in therapy, the letter states that the priest "has been a deeply frightened man, quick to cover his own spontaneity, and has suffered a significant degree of sexual confusion which has marred his ability to adjust as an adult to his social and intimate relationships." The letter goes on to note that it is "deeply gratifying to me as his therapist to witness his emergence from deep-seated shame and guilt," anticipates "an excellent outcome from his stay here," and thanks the bishop for "sending this courageous, talented man to us." The letter concludes, "It has been a privilege to know him."
Indeed, the Review Board found that treatment centers upon which Church leaders elected to rely – almost all of which were Church affiliated – had a vested interest in an ability to "cure" pedophiles and other individuals who had engaged in sexual abuse so that the centers would continue to receive referrals.
The role of lawyers: Many Church leaders tended to respond to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy as a legal problem rather than as a pastoral problem.
Lack of Accountability: It would not have been possible for numerous predator priests to continue abusing children even after Church leaders became aware of the abuse were it not for the fact that their bishops effectively lacked accountability. Today, almost two years after the promulgation of the Charter and the Essential Norms, several hundred priests have been removed from ministry, but few bishops have left the episcopacy.
Role of Lay Councils: The bishops failed to make effective use of the accountability mechanisms already built into the Church's structure by Church law through the diocesan councils, and those councils failed to assert themselves.
We cannot accept that the universal law of the Church establishes such councils only to be window-dressing. Every diocese also is to have a diocesan finance council, with members appointed by the diocesan bishop.
The Board believes that if canon law had been followed in this regard, the crisis would not have grown to its current proportions, because the diocesan practices and underlying conduct that led to such large payments long ago would have been questioned.
Bishops need to learn to trust these councils of laity and clergy and learn "to listen to the Spirit who lives and speaks" in them. Ignoring these bodies was a significant factor in the cause of the current crisis.
The bishops and other Church leaders must listen to and be responsive to the concerns of the laity. To accomplish this, the hierarchy must act with less secrecy, more transparency, and a greater openness to the gifts that all members of the Church bring to her.
Do we pay 40% of our incomes in taxes? No. Here's
why...
excerpt: ... for taxpayers with incomes
between $30,000 and $40,000 the average percentage of income paid in federal
taxes will fall ... to 14.8 percent in 2002.
Analysis
of the Constitution: Library of Congress
Oil
Imports by Company HTML and XLS files, monthly data released
between the 7th and 10th of each month
Persian
Gulf Oil and Gas Exports Fact Sheet
DARPA'S
Total Information Awareness Office
Mission: The DARPA Information
Awareness Office (IAO) will imagine, develop, apply, integrate, demonstrate
and transition information technologies, components and prototype, closed-loop,
information systems that will counter asymmetric threats by achieving total
information awareness useful for preemption; national security warnings;
and national security decision making.
Centcom
Home Page
Military
Order of November 13, 2001
excerpt:
"...the proposal would have cost the federal government about $50 billion a year [about $177 for every living American]...
"...The Joint Committee on Taxation projects that the percentage of people who die whose estates will be subject to estate tax will remain at about two percent for the foreseeable future...
"In 1997, some 2,400 estates — the largest five percent of estates that were of sufficient size to be taxable — paid nearly half of all estate taxes. These were estates with assets exceeding $5 million. This means about half of the estate tax was paid by the estates of the wealthiest one of every 1,000 people who died. The average tax cut these estates would receive from repeal of the estate tax would exceed $3 million.
excerpt:
[From the procedural history]...The district court also heard evidence outlining how the Department made special exam accommodations for other statutorily-protected groups but no accommodations for non-English speakers. Under official state policy, hearing-impaired, illiterate, deaf, and disabled residents receive substantial accommodation on the written exam and road skills test.
On the basis of this evidence, the district court found
that the state policy exerted an adverse and disproportionate impact on
non-English-speaking residents who applied for an Alabama driver's license.
The court concluded that Appellants' English-only policy "singles out
resident non-English speaking applicants by requiring them to take
their examination in English only, without the aid of interpreters or translators."
Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971) Prohibiting discrimination in employment on account of race, color ethnicity, national origin, religion and sex. Held that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits not only intentional racial discrimination, but hiring and employment policies that have a differential impact by race that (a) perpetuates the effects of past discrimination and (b) is not justified by business necessity.
(This page includes links to all of the above decisions)
link
to state laws on firearms
link
to federal law summary
- First conviction: mandatory prison sentence of up to 20 years.
- Second conviction, or if the firearm is a machine gun, or is equipped with a silencer: life.
- If over 21, may acquire handguns from licensed dealers
- 18-21 may buy rifles and shotguns.
Neither firearms nor ammunition may be owned by:
- People convicted of crimes punishable by more than one year in prison
- Fugitives
- Drug users
- The mentally incompetent
- Illegal aliens
- Citizens who have renounced their citizenship
- The dishonorably discharged
- Persons under restraining orders
- Those convicted of domestic violence.
Must be documented by a federal form that:
- identifies the buyer
- records the make, model, and serial number.
www.daveross.comDealers must notify the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms when they sell multiple handguns to individuals within a five-day period.
Direct link to .pdf document "Poverty Amid Plenty"