Massive devastation and more than 90 dead in MO tornado

JOPLIN, Mo. — The death toll stood at 90 on Monday after amassive tornado — the deadliest single U.S. tornado since 1953 — tore through this city on Sunday. The six-mile path included a hospital and high school destroyed, cars crushed like soda cans and a forest of splintered tree trunks where neighborhoods once stood.

Authorities warned that the death toll could climb as search and rescue workers continued their efforts. Their task was made more miserable as a new thunderstorm with strong winds and heavy rain pelted part of the city with quarter-sized hail on Monday morning.

Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.

"It cut the city in half," Randles said.

Read the rest here.

California: US Supreme Court orders state to reduce prison population

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ordered California on Monday to release tens of thousands of its prisoners to relieve overcrowding, saying that "needless suffering and death" had resulted from putting too many inmates into facilities that cannot hold them in decent conditions.

It is one of the largest prison release orders in the nation's history, and it sharply split the high court.

Justices upheld an order from a three-judge panel in California that called for releasing 38,000 to 46,000 prisoners. Since then, the state has transferred about 9,000 state inmates to county jails. As a result, the total prison population is now about 32,000 more than the capacity limit set by the panel.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, speaking for the majority, said California's prisons had "fallen short of minimum constitutional requirements" because of overcrowding. As many as 200 prisoners may live in gymnasium, he said, and as many as 54 prisoners share a single toilet.

Kennedy insisted that the state had no choice but to release more prisoners. The justices, however, agreed that California officials should be given more time to make the needed reductions.

Read the rest here.

Obama's fake birth certificate contains secret code

NEW YORK – Recalling Dan Brown's bestselling novel "The Da Vinci Code," computer experts have discovered strange anomalies in the Obama birth record released by the White House.

They include a different birth registration number that shows up in "hidden text," remnants of the short-form certificate apparently bleeding through the long-form and a "smiley face" in the registrar's stamp that does not show up on other recently issued Hawaii birth records.

Curiously, in a simple process run by Optical Character Recognition software that reveals hidden text, the registration number 10611 turns up, instead of 10641, the number displayed on the two birth records authorized for publication by the White House.

Application of the Adobe Acrobat's "Examine Document" function on the Obama long-form document produces the following hidden text:

Read the rest at World Nut Daily.

Disclaimer: Normally I would never post anything from this site or link to it. But this was just irresistible. It goes without saying that WND occupies what could be fairly described as the psychiatric ward for internet news sites. I briefly considered comparing them to a supermarket tabloid, but I was afraid of being sued by the National Enquirer for defamation resulting from the comparison. They would have a really strong case.

Arizona shooting suspect may be unfit to stand trial

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Daniels joins long list of GOP non-candidates

WASHINGTON — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels joined the march of would-be GOP presidential hopefuls offstage Sunday in a dead-of-night decision that put his supporters in play and muddled the fight for front-runner status against President Barack Obama.

Daniels' exit, which he said he made at his family's behest, clears the upcoming news cycle to absorb former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's entry into the race Monday in Iowa.

Make way for Pawlenty, Huntsman?

For the moment, Pawlenty would be the only Midwesterner in the campaign, a conservative who governed a Democratic-leaning state and has a record resisting tax increases and spending increases.

But Pawlenty would have a rival for the claim of No. 1 fiscal conservative in Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor and Obama's first ambassador to China. Both Republicans are competing to emerge as the principle challenger to ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Read the rest here.

Tornados strike Missouri killing dozens

A tornado steamrolled over Joplin, Mo., on Sunday night, knocking out a hospital and killing dozens of people across the city, according to various reports.

Joplin, which was in the direct path of the tornado, was left isolated and in the dark after the destruction, with telephone connections largely cut off and many homes without electricity after the twister touched down around 6 p.m.

Reuters quoted the Newton County coroner, Mark Bridges, as saying about 30 people had been killed, and 11 bodies had been recovered from just one location.

A major hospital in town, St. John’s Regional Medical Center, had to be abandoned, witnesses said, and the triage unit set up on its grounds to care for the patients had to be temporarily moved across the street when the hospital caught fire.

The tornado was just the latest in a string of deadly twisters that have killed hundreds of people in recent months, with Tuscaloosa, Ala., still recovering from one that also tore through the center of the city in late April.

Initial reports from Joplin said that schools, apartment buildings, megastores and fire stations were ravaged by the tornado.

“There was panic — firefighters were pulling themselves out of the debris and then helping others,” said Mike Bettes, a meteorologist for the Weather Channel who arrived in Joplin 10 minutes after the tornado touched down, as part of the show “The Great Tornado Hunt.”

Read the rest here.

Lord have mercy!

Reports: Taliban Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Has Been Killed

This is just starting to get out on various news sites, mostly overseas.  It has not been confirmed by the US and as of this moment is not being reported on any of the MSM news sites.  If true it would be HUGE news following up on the death of OBL.

Update; Reuters is reporting a strong denial from the Taliban.  This doesn't look like it's going anywhere.

Rumblings from Rome

Pope Benedict XVI

Maybe I am reading more into this than I should.  But there has been the sound of distant thunder in the Roman Church, and it seems to be emanating from Rome.  When Benedict XVI was elected to the Papacy there was a collective groan heard from one end of the globe to the other as liberal Catholics reacted with shock, anger and more than a touch of fear at the prospect of the Panzer Kardinal taking his seat on the throne of Peter.  On the other hand conservative and all but the most radical Trad Catholics reacted with general approval.  He was their man.  And if there was one thing that both the conservatives and liberals were sure of, it was that the new Pope was going to clean house.

Except that he didn't.

To the dismay of the Catholic right (and the relief of the left) Benedict's reign could be characterized thus far as a moderately conservative one.  The mass purges of liberal bishops and theologians did not occur. Nor did he repudiate Vatican II.  And while he issued a document freeing the ancient liturgy of the Latin Church he has done little to suppress the reformed liturgy cooked up in the wake of the council, deeply distressing Catholic Traditionalists.

Indeed his pontificate thus far has been mostly focused on theological issues with his often very deep sermons and lectures, which he delights in giving to everyone from Cardinal Archbishops to the remarkably large crowds that appear at his Wednesday audiences.  To the extent he has addressed the highly polarized divide within the Roman Church between liberals and conservatives, he has emphasized a "hermeneutic of continuity," arguing that both sides have misrepresented the Second Vatican Council as a rupture with the Church's past teachings.

But of late there have been some interesting signs that after six years on the job he may be flexing some pontifical muscles long unused.  Consider just a few recent events...

• The Pope is becoming increasingly comfortable bypassing local episcopal synods and issuing decrees that he thinks are important to the church as a whole.  I.E.. the erection of an Ordinariate for High Church Anglicans who want to convert en mass, without so much as a "by your leave" to the Catholic bishops of England and Scotland (not so affectionately known in some quarters as the "magic circle").  And then there are the decrees freeing the old mass and lifting the excommunications from the  bishops of the SSPX which were widely opposed.
• The Holy See just vetoed the choice of keynote speaker at a conference for Caritas International, a major umbrella group for Roman Catholic charities.  The proposed speaker was considered soft on more than a few doctrinal issues.  Rome is making it clear they will ensure that the group has a properly Catholic identity before granting it canonical recognition.
• Within the last six months the Pope has sacked at least three bishops for serious deviations from church doctrine and or discipline.  Note; these were not passed off as "early retirements."  They were fired by the Pope and Rome wanted everyone to know it.  I can not remember any instance in my lifetime where such a thing has happened.
• Rorate Caeli now reports that the Pope has suppressed a 500 year old monastery for among other things "grave liturgical abuses."

It is always dicey trying to read too much into the motives of the Holy See.  And it is possible that a lot of this could just be coincidence.  But I doubt it.  An educated guess is that Benedict has grown tired of all the abuses that have been going on and is making some selective examples in an effort to curb at least the worst offenders.  It is also possible that he is becoming more cognizant of his age, and his mortality.  While no rumors concerning his health have reached my ears or inbox, when you are in your 80's its hard not consider how much time you have left and what you want to accomplish before God calls you into retirement.

But while no rumors about the Pope's health have reached me, I can say that posts and comments in the more liberal corners of Catholic blogdom suggests that they are sitting up and taking notice of the Roman thunder.  Some are wondering if this is the beginning of the long feared counter-revolution.

Time will tell.

RIP: Lord Onslow a noble character (in every sense of the term)

Michael William Coplestone Dillon Onslow, the seventh Earl of Onslow, who publicly advocated purging hereditary peers from the British House of Lords but who then, in the sort of full-bore reversal that seems a peerly prerogative, vowed to fight such an action “like a football hooligan” when it threatened to become a reality, died in England on May 14.

Lord Onslow, who was also the seventh Viscount Cranley, 10th Baron Onslow and 11th Baronet of West Clandon, among other things, was 73.

The cause, his family told The Associated Press, was “an illness most courageously borne.” Several British newspapers reported that he had had cancer.

A nominal Conservative and a constitutional contrarian, Lord Onslow continued a family tradition of parliamentary service begun in the 16th century. “I don’t know what Tory policy is on virtually anything,” he told The Daily Telegraph in 2004. “And I’d probably disagree with it even if I did.”

He was one of 92 hereditary peers allowed to stay in the House of Lords after hundreds were swept out by the Labor government of Prime Minister Tony Blair in a divisive reform measure of 1999. (House of Lords reform is the subject of continuing debate in Britain.)

Long before the measure, and long after, Lord Onslow was a favorite of the world news media, for even in a nation known for cheese rolling and competitive nettle eating, he was a somewhat unusual character.

His exploits — including the curious incidents of the wayward bull, the stone testicle and the loose monkey on the Underground — were widely recounted and are well within the realm of probability.

A dapper man given to red socks, pink bow ties and plain speech, Lord Onslow was born on Feb. 28, 1938. His forebears, he liked to say, were cattle thieves who acquired titles through canny political dealings during the Renaissance and afterward.

They created a memorable lineage. “That’s the second baron, known as Dickie Ducklegs,” Lord Onslow told a reporter in 2006 as he traversed the portrait gallery at Clandon Park, the family home in Surrey. “He spent most of his wife’s fortune building this place and defending a woman in Godalming accused of giving birth to rabbits.”

Young Michael attended Eton and the Sorbonne, but was, he later said, “too stupid to have gone to university,” and never obtained a degree.

In 1964, he married Robin Bullard. He once left a stone testicle — a genuine Roman artifact — under her pillow as a present.

Besides his wife, his survivors include a sister, Lady Teresa Waugh (the widow of Auberon Waugh, a son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh); two daughters, Lady Arabella and Lady Charlotte; and a son, Rupert, now the eighth earl. As Lord Onslow’s obituary in The Daily Telegraph of London reminded readers on Wednesday, “He once confessed to a desire to ‘thrash most of my children most of the time.’ ”

Lord Onslow had assumed the earldom in 1971, on his father’s death, and for years farmed the family’s 800 acres. He once pursued a runaway bull down a local freeway, which would have been less remarkable had he not been on horseback at the time. He also worked as an underwriter for Lloyd’s of London, once boarding the London Underground, bound for the office, with his pet monkey in tow. It escaped on the train and was later apprehended by the police.

In 1994, the earl astonished listeners by serving as the host of a BBC radio series devoted to hip-hop, thrash metal and the like. (“Hello and welcome to the ‘Supertunes’ chill-out zone, from me, Lord Onslow, your mellow and, I hope, laid-back host,” he intoned.)

Despite his lineage, or perhaps because of it, Lord Onslow had long questioned the right of hereditary peers to serve in the House of Lords. As he once explained, “I have been in favor of Lords reform almost since I have been there, because any House which has me in it really needs its head examined.”

But he became a sworn foe of Mr. Blair’s plan, under which, he felt, peers were sent packing without precisely agreed-upon long-term provisions for replacing them.

“If the government is going to play silly monkeys, I’m going to behave like a football hooligan and” botch “things up,” he said in 1998. (Lord Onslow did not use the word “botch.”)

Despite an eventual compromise that let him and 91 other peers remain, Lord Onslow deplored the arrangement, calling it a “weak half-bastard thing.”

In the end, however, he was philosophical. After all, he acknowledged, it was pure genetic happenstance that had put him in the House of Lords in the first place.

“I find it extremely difficult to justify the fact that because one of my ancestors got” drunk “with George IV I can boss the British people about,” he said in a 1996 interview.

Lord Onslow did not use the word “drunk.”

Source

Vassula Ryden responds to her excommunication

1. Vassula  Excommunicated  -  A Response to This False Statement

by The Foundation for True Life in God, Geneva (Switzerland)

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has recently published, on its website a statement of condemnation regarding Vassula Rydén and True Life in God faithful of Greek Orthodox faith. A certified translation into English of the Greek original is below . It is to be noted that the Patriarchate has only expressed itself in Greek, leaving people of other languages to themselves.

The statement of the Patriarchate has been misinterpreted by some people who have publicly declared that Vassula has been excommunicated.
Such declarations are wholly untrue and do not accord with the Patriarchs statement which is not a decree of any description and does not refer to excommunication.

What the statement does is to accuse Vassula and the Orthodox TLIG faithful of acting in defiance or in breach, of Orthodox Christian Doctrine and Faith.  That is equivalent to an accusation of heresy. (A denial of or deviation from the doctrine of the Orthodox Church).  

The appropriate procedure for dealing with heresy is very clearly laid down in the Canon law of the Holy Church. The statement calls upon Vassula and her followers to discontinue the dissemination of the TLIG messages and to renounce their teachings in order to avoid the appropriate sanctions under the Holy Canons.  Under those Canons, the prescribed penalty for heresy is Excommunication (often called anathema) but, under the  Canonical procedures of the Church a decree of Excommunication can only be made after formal proceedings have taken place before the Ecclesiastical Courts or/and before  a Holy Synod.  Such proceedings involve a formal Complainant, a Defendant and Witnesses, and an appeal procedure (Hierarchical), regulated by Article 44.1 of the Charter of the Church of Greece

Only when this procedure has been exhausted, is the crime of transgression against the faith punished by Excommunication or sometimes by exclusion from the sacramental life of the Church for a temporary period.

There have been no proceedings for Excommunication instituted before the Ecclesiastical Courts or the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the case of Vassula Rydén. That is not surprising because the Holy Orthodox Church like the Catholic Church or the Anglican Church regards Excommunication as a last resort, an instrument to be wielded with great reserve and caution and only to be imposed after repeated warnings and discussions.  No such discussions have taken place between Vassula and the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Vassula has already written to the Patriarch personally, to request that she and her Theologians enter into a proper dialogue with him. Her request is presently under consideration by the Patriarch.

Until due judicial process is established and concluded by the Church, any public comments stating or implying that Vassula and TLIG faithful have been excommunicated by the Holy Orthodox Church are wholly untrue and harmful to her and those members of TLIG  who are of the Greek Orthodox faith.

The present statement is published by the Foundation for True Life in God after due research into this matter. Its purpose is to prevent publication of further ill advised comments and to encourage correction of untruthful statements already published.

Geneva, May 2011

From a friend of the blog who asked not to be named. This woman is a heretic. She excommunicated herself. All the EP did was confirm this for the benefit of those who might have been confused.

Episcopalians move toward communing the un-baptized

Via T-19

The Episcopal Church’s national office has given a backhanded blessing to the practice of allowing those not baptized to receive Holy Communion—a practice forbidden by canon law.

Supporters of Communion without Baptism (CWOB) have argued that relaxing the church’s Eucharistic discipline will serve as a recruiting tool for those outside the faith. However, traditionalists have rejected the practice as uncanonical and contrary to church teaching.

Last month the Episcopal Church Office of Congregational Vitality posted a video to the national church’s website highlighting the ministry of parish of St Paul & the Redeemer in Chicago. The congregation “exemplifies transformative work,” the Rev. Bob Honeychurch, the Episcopal Church’s officer for congregational vitality, said, adding that the parish “sees its primary point of contact with the wider community through its Sunday morning experience. The worship becomes its witness to the world.”

“What we do is the Episcopal liturgy,” said parish rector the Rev. Peter Lane. “We just do it in creative ways.”

St Paul & the Redeemer welcomes “everybody. Orthodox believer or skeptic, gay or straight, black or white, rich or poor, everybody is invited to eat at God’s table” Mr. Lane said.

The video features a parishioner who relates his love of the “diversity” and “inclusion” of the Episcopal Church. At his first visit to the congregation he received Holy Communion, and was led to join the church. When his young son was baptized three years later, he also decided that it was time to become baptized.

A study released in 2005 by the Diocese of Northern California estimated that a majority of dioceses had congregations that practiced Communion without Baptism. (CWOB) Of the church’s 110 dioceses, 48 responded to the Northern California survey: 24 reported they had parishes who practiced CWOB while a further 7 dioceses were reported to “probably allow CWOB.”

A spokesman for the national church told The Church of England Newspaper in response to the query about the video, “The canons of the Episcopal Church expect that baptism precede the receiving of Communion. The Episcopal Church does not, however, inquire of each person coming to receive Communion if he or she has been baptized. If a newcomer is discovered not to have been baptized, then the most appropriate response is to prepare and baptize that person, welcoming her or him into the body of Christ.”

Episcopal Church Canon I.17.7 is unambiguous. It states “No unbaptized person shall be eligible to receive Holy Communion in this Church.

“From the earliest centuries, it has been the universal practice of the Christian Church that one must first be baptized before being admitted to Holy Communion,” Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker told CEN.

The issue is one of canon law, Prayer Book rubrics and Scripture, the Anglo-Catholic leader said.

In Romans 6:3-11 “St. Paul explains that the unbaptized remain under the dominion of sin and death and have not been reconciled to God by faith in the saving death of Jesus Christ. Thus they are not eligible to receive the benefits of Holy Communion,” Bishop Iker explained.

“The unbroken tradition and practice of orthodox believers is clear: first baptism, then communion – not the other way around,” he said.

Source

The Rapture – Indisputable Christian Heresy

As I was driving one day I encountered a bumper sticker admonishing me:

“WARNING! In the event of Rapture, this car will be driverless.”

The strange belief in the Rapture teaches that some day (sooner rather than later), without warning, born-again Christians will begin to float up from the freeway, abandoned vehicles careening wildly. There will be airliners in the sky suddenly with no one at the controls! Presumably, God is removing these favored ones from earth to spare them the tribulation of the Anti-Christ which the rest of us will have to endure.

Unfortunately the Rapture has been promoted widely by the Left Behind series of books that have sold over 70 million copies.

The Rapture represents a radical misinterpretation of Scripture. I remember watching “Sixty Minutes”a year ago and was appalled to hear the announcer say that “the Rapture is an unmistakenly Christian doctrine”. It is not!

It is a serious distortion of Scripture.

It is astonishing that a belief so contrary to Scripture and the tradition of the Church could be propagated by so-called “Christians”.

According to the Bible and according to the belief not only of Orthodox Christians but also of the Roman Catholic and most Protestant mainline churches, the true Rapture will not be secret; it will be the great and very visible Second Coming of Jesus at the end of the world. That is the one and only “Rapture”. It will not be a separate, secret event but one that every eye shall see (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

The word rapture is not found in Scripture but hearkens to 1 Thess. 4:17 where St. Paul says that when the Lord comes again

“we who are alive…shall be caught up…in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

This “being caught up…in the clouds”—arpagisometha in Greek, is translated by some as “raptured”. The word itself is not found in Orthodox theology.

The notion of a rapture in which Christ comes unseen to take believers away secretly, and only later comes back again for everyone else publicly—this whole teaching is quite novel. It was almost unheard of until John Nelson Darby formulated it in the 1800s as part of a new approach to the Bible, sometimes called “dispensationalism”.

The purpose of the “Rapture” is to protect the elect from the tribulations of the end times. Yet Jesus said nothing about sparing anyone from tribulation. In fact, He said,

“In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”

Nowhere did Jesus ever say that He would return secretly to rapture the elect. Rather, He promised to be with His elect in all tribulations.

“Lo, I am with you always. I will never leave you or forsake you.”

He even had something good to say about being persecuted:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10).

Those who espouse the Rapture claim that Matthew 24:40-41 refers clearly to the rapture of the just,

“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

The entire passage, however, refers to Christ’s second coming where He will judge the living and the dead and separate the just from the unjust.

Darby taught as dogma that when the Scriptures reveal that the Lord will reign on earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4), this figure is to be taken literally, rather than as a symbol for eternity as we believe. The Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431 condemned as heresy this teaching which is called chialiasmos (millenianism or 1000 years).

In fact, the Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787 A.D.) in which the essential truths of the Christian faith were defined never mention a rapture. Yet evangelical Christians and Pentecostals keep using obscure passages of the book of Revelation which purport to give a detailed timetable of what will happen at the end of the world, despite the fact that Jesus Himself warned that no man knows either the day or the hour when the Son of Man shall return.

A major problem with the Rapture is that it ends up teaching not two but three comings of Jesus—first His birth in Bethlehem; second, His secret coming to snatch away (rapture) the “born-again”; and third, His coming at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead and to reign in glory. Yet only two not three comings of Christ are mentioned in the Bible. We have the clearest definition of this in the Nicene Creed when we confess that

“the Lord Jesus Christ…will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. His Kingdom will have no end…. I expect the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the ages to come.”

There is no mention of a “Rapture”.

As already stated, most Christians, Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Protestants do not believe in the Rapture. In fact, one Protestant pastor, John L. Bray, summarized magnificently what we Orthodox and most other Christians believe about the Rapture when he wrote these remarkable words,

"Though many believe and teach this “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” theory, they erroneously do so, because neither Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, nor any of the other writers of the Bible taught this. Nor did the early church fathers, nor any others for many hundreds of years…. Did you know that NONE of this was ever taught prior to 1812, and that all forms of Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaching were developed since that date? …. If I were to preach something, or believe something, supposedly from the Bible, but cannot find that ANYONE ELSE before 1812 ever believed it or taught it, I would seriously question that it is based on the Bible."

Thus the Rapture is foreign to the Bible and to the living tradition of the Church. It is what we call a heresy, a false teaching. False teachings, such as this, happen when people—like John Darby—believe that they have the right to interpret the Scriptures individually apart from the Living Body of Christ—the Church—where the Spirit of Truth abides and leads us to all truth.

I can think of no better words to conclude than those of Jesus when He speaks of the one and only “Rapture”, the Second Coming:

“Be on guard. Be alert! You do not know when that time will come…keep watch…if he comes suddenly, do not let Him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!” (Mark 13:32-37).

-Fr. Anthony M. Coniaris

70 Years Ago

A fateful sea battle

Obama endorses 1967 borders for Israel

WASHINGTON — Seeking to harness the seismic political change still unfolding in the Arab world, President Obama for the first time on Thursday publicly called for a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would create a non-militarized Palestinian state on the basis of Israel’s borders before 1967.

“At a time when the people of the Middle East and North Africa are casting off the burdens of the past, the drive for a lasting peace that ends the conflict and resolves all claims is more urgent that ever,” he said.

Although Mr. Obama said that “the core issues” dividing Israelis and Palestinians remained to be negotiated, including the searing questions of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, he spoke with striking frustration that efforts to support an agreement had so far failed. “The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome,” he said.

Read the rest here.

This is going to be a minor bombshell in the Middle East. It is also long overdue. The Dispensationalist crowd and Israeli Amen Choir in Washington are going to go nuts.

$2 million and collecting Food Stamps

DETROIT — A Michigan Lottery $2 million jackpot winner from last year is eligible and collecting some food stamp assistance under a loophole state officials have been working for months to close.

Leroy Fick, who lives near Saginaw, took a lump sum payment for his June 2010 prize, buying a house, a used 2008 Audi and investing the rest, attorney John Wilson said on Wednesday.

"If you're going to ... try to make me feel bad, you aren't going to do it," Fick told a reporter from local station TV5.

The income he receives from investing the remaining money leaves Fick eligible under federal rules for food assistance of "far less than $5,000 for the year," Wilson said.

"There is no asset based testing for it, it is all based on income," Wilson said. "The amount that he has invested of this winnings spins off an amount of income and that income is such that he is eligible."

Read the rest here.

A Rough Start

And we thought that Joe Biden had a rough campaign rollout in early 2007, after he referred to Barack Obama as “articulate” and “clean.” Simply put, Newt Gingrich appears to have set the modern-day bar for a disastrous presidential rollout. In the last 48 hours, Gingrich walked back his past support for a health-insurance mandate; faced the revelation that he and his wife racked up as much as $500,000 in debt at Tiffany’s a few years back; encountered a Dubuque, IA man who came up to him and said, "Get out now before you make a bigger fool of yourself”; got showered in glitter by a gay-rights protestor; and, under pressure, finally decided to apologize to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan after saying that Ryan’s Medicare overhaul amounted to “right-wing social engineering.” Gingrich said this on FOX last night: "I made a mistake and I called Paul Ryan today who is a close personal friend and I said that." Ryan’s office confirmed to NBC’s Shawna Thomas that the congressman accepted the apology.

Biden’s later success in 2007-2008 -- eventually becoming his party’s vice-presidential nominee -- is a reminder that a candidate can overcome a rough start. But Gingrich right now looks a lot like the Bruce Willis character in the “Sixth Sense”: Everyone but him thinks he’s dead. What might be the most surprising revelation of the past 48 hours is the lack of goodwill Newt enjoys. Conservatives (whether it’s Rush Limbaugh, Charles Krauthammer, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, even the man in Dubuque) seem to be relishing in beating Newt up. What he’s discovered in the last couple of days: He has very few real friends in the conservative movement, and gets no benefit of the doubt. You get the sense that some conservatives were simply waiting for him to make a mistake to pounce in order to drive him out of this race.

Source

Republicans seek to curb new consumer protection agency

...With just two months to go before the law officially grants the agency those powers, Congress is considering measures that supporters of the new agency say would substantially weaken it before it writes its first new rule.

Last week, the House Financial Services Committee passed three bills to tighten the reins on the agency. One would create a new bipartisan commission to oversee it. A second would make it easier for other regulators to veto any new rules written by the CFPB. And a third would give it independent status only if its director is confirmed by the Senate, where Republicans are also demanding changes in oversight of the agency

"No person should have the unfettered authority presently granted to the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," forty-four GOP senators wrote to Obama earlier this month. "Therefore we believe that the Senate should not consider any nominee to be CFPB director until the CFPB is properly reformed."

Read the rest here.

An ocean of difference between French and US legal systems

PARIS (AP) -- The trans-Atlantic gap separating the U.S. and French justice systems and moral codes is as wide as the ocean itself -- appalling a nation witnessing the unraveling fortunes of a favorite son, jailed IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Some of the charges leveled against Strauss-Kahn in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid in New York do not exist in France. And if the case was being heard in France, the 62-year-old IMF chief might risk three to five years in prison instead of scores in the United States, a leading expert says. He also likely wouldn't be sitting in a notorious jail right now on a suicide watch.

Some in the United States, meanwhile, have expressed surprise that French media have identified the alleged victim by name -- nearly unthinkable in U.S. journalistic circles, which avoid publishing a victim's name in suspected sex crimes.

U.S. officialdom is treading cautiously, also: The woman's name isn't even appearing on some New York police documents so as to better safeguard her identity.

The photos of potential French president Strauss-Kahn -- handcuffed, stooped, unshaven, tieless and whisked away to court before photographers -- knocked the breath out of the French public.

The initial response was a collective "that would not happen here."

Not in a country whose laws protect even a petty thief from flashing cameras in a public space and televised court hearings like the one broadcast Monday from Manhattan Criminal Court. Not in a country whose traditions have long shielded the philandering of the powerful, at the risk of failing to uncover travesties of the law.

So different are French laws and mores, it is conceivable that Strauss-Kahn -- innocent or guilty -- failed to grasp the speed by which American justice runs its course, the weight given to alleged sex offenses and the egalitarian premise on which the U.S. judicial system is based until he sat in the infamous Rikers Island prison.

Read the rest here.

Quote of the day...

"Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of my administration has been minding my own business."

-Calvin Coolidge 30th President of the United States

Senate Group on Debt Loses a Key Republican

WASHINGTON — The already weak prospects for a bipartisan debt-reduction deal this year dimmed further on Tuesday when a Republican member of the Senate’s “Gang of Six,” Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, withdrew after months of private negotiations amid differences over changes to Medicare.

“He is disappointed the group has not been able to bridge the gap between what needs to happen and what senators will support,” said a Coburn spokesman, John Hart. “He has decided to take a break from the talks.”

While Mr. Hart’s statement said the talks were at “an impasse,” it left little doubt that Mr. Coburn did not expect to return. “He still hopes the Senate will, on a bipartisan basis, pass a long-term deficit-reduction package this year,” Mr. Hart said. “He looks forward to working with anyone who is interested in putting forward a plan that is specific, balanced and comprehensive.”

The talks are separate from negotiations begun recently between the White House and Congressional leaders on reducing the debt. But the progress of the Gang of Six was seen as a harbinger of whether the two parties could come together and compromise on spending and taxes.

Two other Republicans, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Michael D. Crapo of Idaho, for now remain in the group along with three Democrats, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the chairman of the Budget Committee; Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the assistant majority leader; and Mark Warner of Virginia, the organizer along with Mr. Chambliss, of the five-month-old effort. The five met for about four hours on Tuesday, and agreed to meet again on Wednesday.

“The group continues to meet,” said a Chambliss spokeswoman, Bronwyn Lance Chester.

Read the rest here.

Christie Says No to 2012 Bid, but G.O.P. Keeps Calling

So many people want to talk to Gov. Chris Christie about the 2012 presidential campaign that he probably could not drop the subject if he wanted to.

Not that he wants to.

Despite months of insisting that he will not enter the race, the New Jersey governor has become an increasingly busy presence on its fringes. Conservative politicians and talk-show hosts are still clamoring for him to jump in, and he has agreed to meet this month with a group of fund-raisers from Iowa who want to persuade him.

While Republican consultants say he would be a leading contender, and journalists keep asking whether he will run, Mr. Christie keeps finding new and ever more provocative ways to say no. The Republicans who have considered running want his imprimatur, lining up for dinner dates at the governor’s mansion in Princeton.

Candidate or not, Mr. Christie is a force to reckon with in the contest, someone who political analysts say could influence his party’s nomination, or make a splash as a choice for running mate — another prospect he rules out. The governor shows no sign of fading into the background, and by his own admission, he loves the attention.

“I’m a kid from Jersey who has people asking him to run for president,” he said last week in a radio interview, laughing off the idea that he had “become tired and annoyed” by the subject’s coming up time and again. “I’m thrilled by it. I just don’t want to do it.”

Read the rest here.

Pakistan and NATO Trade Fire Near Afghan Border

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani ground troops opened fire on two NATO helicopters that crossed into Pakistan’s airspace from Afghanistan early Tuesday morning, the Pakistani Army said in a statement. In the firefight that followed, two Pakistani soldiers were wounded, it said.

The clash provided another irritant to the already sour relationship between the United States and Pakistan in the wake of the May 2 Navy Seal raid that killed Osama bin Laden at a compound deep inside Pakistan, heightening American mistrust of Pakistan and inflaming Pakistani sensitivities over sovereignty.

The exchange of fire on Tuesday took place at Admi Kot Post in the North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan, an area that American officials have long regarded as a haven used by militants to attack coalition forces inside Afghanistan. NATO officials said they were looking into the incident, and could not immediately confirm whether the helicopters had indeed entered Pakistan’s airspace.

Pakistani military officials said the NATO helicopters came about 400 yards into Pakistani territory. The Pakistani Army “lodged a strong protest and demanded a flag meeting,” it said in a statement, referring to a meeting between officials from Pakistan and NATO on the border. Last September, Pakistan shut down the land route through Pakistan that NATO uses to supply its forces in Afghanistan for more than a week after two Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed in a similar border clash.

Read the rest here.

IMF chief a 'honey trap' victim? Conspiracy theories swirl

The weekend arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn sent shockwaves through the financial world and upended French presidential politics, but it also quickly gave rise to theories about whether the International Monetary Fund chief had been set up by rivals.

Prior to his imprisonment at Riker's Island on charges of attempted rape, the globetrotting Strauss-Kahn wielded considerable power. As head of the monetary fund — which provides emergency loans to countries in severe distress and monitors global financial stability — Strauss-Kahn was a frequent guest of lawmakers and leaders of the banking industry.

And as a prominent member of France's Socialist party, he was widely considered to be one of the strongest potential challengers next year to President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The financial titan — who carries a reputation for womanizing — became an immediate talking point: For some, the story represented a sad fall from grace; others spoke of humiliation for France; but, for another group, it smacked of a set-up.

In a strange twist, Strauss-Kahn himself lit the fuse for theorists and supporters just two weeks ago. During an interview with French newspaper Liberation, the IMF chief predicted that his enemies could use his proclivity for promiscuity against him if he chose to run for president of France.

When asked what challenges he faced in a possible bid, Strauss-Kahn replied, "The money, women and my Jewishness."

"Yes, I love women ... so what? [...] For years we talk about giant pictures of orgies," he told Liberation. "But I've never seen anything out ... Let show them!"

Read the rest here.

On this day in 1716 (Old Calendar)

William White , Thomas Thurland , and John Chapman , of the Parish of St. Andrew Holborn , were arraigned for assaulting John Knapp , Gent . on the Highway, and robbing him of a Hat, value 1 s. and a Peruke, value 3 s. on the 31st of March last.

They were arraigned a second time, William White for the Murder of Mary Knapp , Widow, by giving her a Mortal Wound with a Bullet in the left Cheek near the Eye, of which she instantly died; and the other two for aiding and assisting in the said Murder . Also on the Coroner's Inquest for the same.

William White , Thomas Thurland and John Chapman , were a third time arraign'd for an Assault on the King's Highway, on the Person of John Gough , and robbing him of a Brown Gelding, value 5 l. one Fustian Frock,5 s.2 Pair of Silver Buttons,1 pair of Silver Buckles, and other Goods .

James Russell and William White ; were arraign'd for breaking (with Timothy Dunn not taken) the Dwelling-house of George Barkley , and stealing, thence 4 Gold Rings,2 Stuff Coats,6 Handkerchiefs,1 Sattin Gown, 1 Pair of Stays, 4 Guineas, and Several sorts of other rich Goods , on the 1st of April last; and Deborah Stent as Accessory to the Fact, in receiving the same, knowing them to be stole .

To all which Arraignments, White and Thurland refus'd to plead, but stood obstinately without speaking or holding up their Hands; upon Which the Court read the Law to them, by virtue of which their two Thumbs were tied together with Whipcord, and drawn by the whole Force of two Men, each above a Quarter of an Hour, which having no Effect upon their, contumacious Humour, Sentence was pass'd upon on them to be press'd to Death according to Law but when they saw Death so near and terrible they relax'd, and pleaded Not Guilty to each Indictment. Then they challeng'd all the old Jury, and a new one being sworn, the Jurors Names were, as followeth

John Mills , Gent.

John Brooks

Joseph Oakly

William Gunstone

Edward Prior

Jeremy Lewin

John Toward

Richard Winch

Edward Barnet

Joseph Winkle

William Hughes

Benjamin Chapman .

Then they were all indicted as above; and the Witnesses being called to the first and second indictments, Mr. Knapp swore, That a Gentleman who had made his Mother a Visit a few Days before, among other things in Conversation, was pleas'd to express himself very well satisfied with the Diversion he met with at Sadler's Wells; upon which she, was very desirous to see it, and on the Evening which prov'd so fatal they both went there together and perceiving his Mother inclin'd to stay, he went to the Bar and ask'd them if they could provide him a Link, which they did, and he and his Mother staid till 10 a Clock and then he lighted it, and went away with her without meeting any Accident till they came within 40 Yards of the Houses, where they first met a Soldier, who prov'd 2 very honest Fellow, but they did not like him; and in an Instant of Time his Link was blown out, his Hat and Wigg taken off, and he himself beat down to the Ground; which made his Mother scream out, upon which one of them fir'd a Pistol close by him, and immediately he heard his Mother say, Lord, help me, help me; and then the Rogues fled. Then he went immediately to the Houses for Help, and the Soldier came to his Assistance, and having a Light, he found his Mother upon the Ground dead. This Evidence as far as it concern'd the Action was confirm'd by Isaac Ragg (one of the Gang) and the Soldier, but Ragg swore, That when they (himself and the Prisoners) came back to drink together, they all pull'd out their Pistols, having each a Brace to examine, who had discharg'd and they found that the Prisoner White had discharg'd one of his; and being ask'd the Reason of it, he said he did it to frighten the Woman and make her hold, her Tongue, which she did immediately, Who confess'd he shot the Woman to another; but said he did not intend it, but only sir'd to frighten her. This was done by Grass-Inn Garden-Wall . There were several others who saw Mrs. Knapp lie dead. The other Prisoners Thurland and Chapman were sworn by Ragg to be concern'd in the Murder and Robbery, which neither of them could deny upon Trial. The Jury found them all Guilty of both Indictments .

Then the Witnesses were sworn to the Indictment of the Assault and Robbery of Mr. Gough, committed by the aforesaid Prisoners; and Mr. Gough depos'd they robb'd him; between Holloway and the Half Way-House , took away his Horse and all his Cloths. That Thurland took his Breeches off; That he was bound and thrown into a Field, without any thing to comfort him but Promises of more Company; Which was also confirm'd by Isaac Ragg, who swore, That White and Chapman, and two more (Timothy Dunn and William Parker ) not taken, were concern'd with him in the Fact. The Jury found them all Guilty of this Indictment .

Then came on the Trial of Russel, White and Stent, for the Burglary in breaking the House of Mr. Barkley and receiving the stol'n Goods. Mr. Barkley depos'd, his House was broke and the Goods, stole; and Ragg swore he was concern'd in it with the Prisoners and Timothy Dunn , That they watch'd Mrs. Burkley's going out with some Linnen.(as she used to do about that Time) to a Member of Parliament, and forc'd open the Door; That two said (at the Door, while the other two went in and took away the Goods, which) they sold to Stent, as they had done others several times before, using the Expression which they had stole for Her. There was a Chissel and a Bayonet left in the Room; which Bayonet Mrs. Barkley was inform'd by some Mark belong'd to the First Regiment of Foot Guards, by which means and the help of a Serjeant, she discover'd Russel, who discover'd Stent, and her, House being Search'd, some of the Prosecutor's Goods were found there. Stent denied she knew them to be stole, the rest said nothing. The Jury found them all Guilty of the Indictment.

The Trials being over, the Court proceeded to give Judgment, as followeth:

Receiv'd Sentence of Death,10.

Daniel Whitehead , William Watts , Mary Abbott , William Hankerson , Samuel Ellis , William White , Thomas Thurland , John Chapman , James Russell , Priscilla Spencer .

Burnt in the Hand,21.

Sarah Floyd , Martha Purdue , Benjamin Rhodes , Thomas Ward , Martha Collins , Martha Green , Elizabeth Gee , Jonathan Daws , James Green , James, Robinson, Benjamin Williams , Mary Dikes , Arnold Powell Richard Hathway , Robert Trimble , Williams Giles , Thomas Middle , Mary Harris , Deborah Stent , Thomas Williams , Thomas Muntsy .

To be Whipt,8,

R - M -, Elizabeth Taylor , Rachel Allison , Joseph Dickenson , Isaac Colter , John Gardiner , George Perdy , John Macgrah , James Traverse .

Mary Abbott and Priscilla Spencer pleaded their Bellies, and a Jury of Matrons being impanell'd, Mary Abbott was found quick with Child, the other not.

From the Proceedings of The Old Bailey

The above trials all were begun and concluded on the same day. Criminal trials in Georgian England were generally rather short and to the point. It would not be until decades later that any trial would last more than a day. Also note that there are no sentences of imprisonment.  In the early 1700's jail was not generally a punishment (except for debtors).  It was where you were held until they decided what to do with you.

For those interested, the record of the Ordinary of Newgate Prison describing the treatment of the condemned including the many religious sermons preached to (or at) them and their eventual executions at Tyburn on Friday June 8th (OS) 1716 can be found here.

A Declaration of War on everyone, everywhere and forever

Osama bin Laden had been dead only a few days when House Republicans began their efforts to expand, rather than contract, the war on terror. Not content with the president’s wide-ranging powers to pursue the archcriminals of Sept. 11, 2001, Republicans want to authorize the military to pursue virtually anyone suspected of terrorism, anywhere on earth, from now to the end of time.

This wildly expansive authorization would, in essence, make the war on terror a permanent and limitless aspect of life on earth, along with its huge potential for abuse.

The Authorization for Use of Military Force, approved by Congress a week after Sept. 11, 2001, gives the president the power to go after anyone who committed or aided in the 9/11 attacks, or who harbored such people, to prevent acts of terrorism. It was this document that authorized the war in Afghanistan and the raid on Bin Laden’s compound.

A new bill, approved last week by the House Armed Services Committee and heading for the floor this month, would go much further. It would allow military attacks against not just Al Qaeda and the Taliban but also any “associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States.” That deliberately vague phrase could include anyone who doesn’t like America, even if they are not connected in any way with the 2001 attacks. It could even apply to domestic threats.

Read the rest here.

This is nuts. Worse, the Times is right in calling it dangerous. It is a blank check without even a "cash by" date. It is also a legally and constitutionally dubious proposition that Congress can pass what amounts to a declaration of war against people who may not even have done anything yet, merely on the affirmation of the President on some future date that they have become our enemy. This bill needs to die an ignominious death in some congressional hopper next to the proposed legislation to spend a hundred million dollars studying porcine fecal matter.

New York Investigates Banks’ Role in Fiscal Crisis

Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, has requested information and documents in recent weeks from three major Wall Street banks about their mortgage securities operations during the credit boom, indicating the existence of a new investigation into practices that contributed to billions in mortgage losses.

Officials in Mr. Schneiderman’s office have also requested meetings with representatives from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. The inquiry appears to be quite broad, with the attorney general’s requests for information covering many aspects of the banks’ loan pooling operations. They bundled thousands of home loans into securities that were then sold to investors such as pension funds, mutual funds and insurance companies.

It is unclear which parts of the byzantine securitization process Mr. Schneiderman is focusing on. His spokesman said the attorney general would not comment on the investigation, which is in its early stages.

Read the rest here.

Eugene Robinson On Kahn's Perp Walk

It’s almost enough to give socialism a bad name.

We don’t know whether Dominique Strauss-Kahn — who heads the International Monetary Fund and, until a few days ago, was likely to be the Socialist Party candidate for president of France — is guilty of the alleged sexual assault for which he was arrested. Like anyone, he is presumed innocent until court proceedings prove otherwise.

We do know, however, that at the time of the reported incident on Saturday, Strauss-Kahn was resident in a $3,000-a-night luxury suite at a posh midtown Manhattan hotel. We also know that when he was taken into police custody hours later, aboard a Paris-bound jetliner that was moments from takeoff at John F. Kennedy International Airport, police found him comfortably ensconced in the first-class cabin.

I didn’t think this was how socialists were supposed to roll.

Read the rest here.

For those of a certain age

A buddy just emailed this to me.


WOW...  Major flashback.  It's been years since I've even heard any of their stuff on the radio.  The last time I saw this video I think I was in High School.  At the risk of dating myself, it was probably on MTV.  (For those not of a certain age, MTV used to play music videos.)  I would comment on those thigh high boots, but this is a Christian blog.  Not that I think many males would need a comment.

California: An unexpected bump in revenue

State revenue has rocketed far beyond projections, providing a $6.6 billion windfall that Gov. Jerry Brown wants to use to boost education spending and help repair California’s battered finances.

In the revised budget plan Brown releases Monday morning, education spending would increase by about $3 billion over what he proposed in January. But Brown still hopes to maintain tax increases that are due to expire this year.

The governor's budget says the revenue surge, which erases a substantial chunk of what had been a $15-billion deficit, is not enough to put the state in the black.

Lawmakers are required by law to divert a substantial portion of any revenue spike to schools, unless they suspend the state funding formula, which Brown is not proposing.

The governor’s plan calls for use of the remaining extra revenue to scale back his proposed tax increases and to restore a state program that provides tax credits to businesses that hire workers from blighted neighborhoods, among other things.

The plan also calls for the elimination of 43 boards and commissions, several of which pay six-figure salaries to their members and have been labeled patronage posts by critics.

Source.

Another reason to be on the Old Calendar

So when the world ends on May 21st (this Saturday for most people) we will have an extra 13 days to get our act together.

Conservatives urge US to sell gold - other assets to pay down debt

For Sale?

With the United States poised to slam into its debt limit Monday, conservative economists are eyeballing all that gold in Fort Knox. There’s about 147 million ounces of gold parked in the legendary vault. Gold is selling at nearly $1,500 an ounce. That’s many billions of dollars in bullion.

“It’s just sort of sitting there,” said Ron Utt, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “Given the high price it is now, and the tremendous debt problem we now have, by all means, sell at the peak.”

But that’s cockamamie, declares the Obama administration. Mary J. Miller, Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial markets, said the U.S. should sell assets in an orderly, “well-telegraphed” manner, not in a “fire sale” atmosphere with a debt limit deadline accelerating the process.

“It would be bad for the taxpayers. It would be bad for the markets,” Miller said.

Another senior administration official, not authorized to speak for attribution, described the situation more bluntly: “Selling off the gold is just one level of crazy away from selling Mount Rushmore.”

The United States may have run up a huge debt, but it is not a poor country by any stretch of the imagination. The federal government owns roughly 650 million acres of land, close to a third of the nation’s total land mass. Plus a million buildings. Plus electrical utilities like the Tennessee Valley Authority. And an interstate highway system.

Economists of a conservative or libertarian bent have long argued that the federal government needs to get out of certain businesses, unload unneeded assets, and privatize such functions as passenger rail service and air traffic control. No one advocates selling Yellowstone, but why, some economists ask, should the federal government be in the electricity business?

Economist Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute said the federal government should consider the sale of interstate highways. Motorists would have to pay tolls to the private owners, he said, but the roads would likely be in better shape. Federal, state and local governments could raise hundreds of billions of dollars through highway privatization, he said.

“Many of the world’s roads were originally built as toll roads, so it would hardly be revolutionary to return to that model,” Hassett said. “If it can work for the River Styx, why not the Beltway?”

Read the rest here.

IMF Rudderless As Europe Burns

NEW YORK — The sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, have cast uncertainty over global efforts to prevent Europe’s debt crisis from spinning out of control and raise questions about the future of one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions.

At the Washington-based IMF, which makes emergency loans to struggling economies, Strauss-Kahn has been a muscular advocate for aiding Greece, Ireland and Portugal as they have fought to avoid insolvency. A default by a developed European economy would shock the global financial markets and endanger the nascent economic recovery in the United States.

The IMF on Sunday named Strauss-Kahn’s second-in-command, former banker John Lipsky, as his replacement. But Lipsky was planning to step down at the end of the summer, and while a European has long led the IMF, countries such as China and India are considering nominating one of their own for the top spot. That could also have wide ramifications for the organization, whose emerging market members have complained that it shows more generous treatment toward European countries than those in the developing world.

Read the rest here.

IMF chief denied bail in hotel sex assault case

A New York criminal court judge denied bail to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, after he was charged with attempting to rape a housekeeper at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

Strauss-Kahn, also charged with a criminal sex act and unlawful imprisonment, made his first courtroom appearance after being pulled off a Paris-bound plane minutes before takeoff Saturday afternoon. Prosecutors had planned to bring him before a judge Sunday before deciding to delay a day so they could search him for physical evidence.

Authorities allege that Strauss-Kahn, 62, attempted to rape a housekeeper at the Sofitel in Midtown Manhattan, where he was staying; police said she later picked him out of a lineup. He planned to plead not guilty, according to his attorney, Benjamin Brafman, who has defended a number of high-profile clients.

Read the rest here.

Vatican Encourages Bishops To Report Sex Abuse

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican told bishops around the world on Monday that they must make it a global priority to root out sexual abuse of children by priests.

The headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church told bishops in a letter that they should cooperate with civil authorities to end the abuse that has tarnished its image around the world.

"This is telling the world that we mean business. We want to be an example of prevention and care," said one Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The letter is intended to help every diocese draw up its own tough guidelines, based on a global approach but in line with local criminal law. These must be sent to the Vatican for review within a year.

"The responsibility for dealing with delicts (crimes) of sexual abuse of minors by clerics belongs in the first place to the diocesan bishop," the letter says.

It incorporates sweeping revisions made last year to the Church's laws on sexual abuse, which doubled a statute of limitations for disciplinary action against priests and extended the use of fast-track procedures to defrock them.

But the suggestions in the letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are vague and nonbinding and contain no enforcement mechanisms to ensure bishops actually draft the guidelines or follow them.

Read the rest here.

US Hits Debt Limit

The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government lost its ability Monday to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has warned for months that the government would soon hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling — a legal limit on how much it can borrow. With that limit reached Monday, Geithner is undertaking special measures in an effort to postpone the day when he will no longer have enough funds to pay all of the government’s bills.

Geithner, who has already suspended a program that helps state and local government manage their finances, will begin to borrow from retirement funds for federal workers. The measure won’t have an impact on retirees because the Treasury is legally required to reimburse the program.

Read the rest here.

Trump not running for president

Another shocker (not)...

Real estate mogul Donald Trump will not be a candidate for president in 2012.

The New York businessman bounded onto the scene with explosive rhetoric, catering to the fringe "birther" movement, raising questions about President Obama's place of birth, as well as the president's record as a student. (For the record, Obama was born in Hawaii and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and served as editor of the Harvard Law Review.)

When the president released his long-form birth certificate, Trump took a measure of credit.

Trump rocketed to near the top of national polls and even polled well in a few surveys in New Hampshire. But much of the air was taken out of any potential Trump campaign, when Obama derided him as a "carnival barker," and then (along with comedian Seth Myers) skewered Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

"Donald Trump said that he was running for president as a Republican," Myers said. "That's funny, because I thought he was running as a joke."

That may be, but in the March NBC/WSJ poll, Trump was second only to Mitt Romney in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. He pulled in 17% of the vote, tied with Mike Huckabee. Romney led the field with 21%, Newt Gingrich got 11%, Sarah Palin 10%.

What is notable in all this is that the people who pulled in almost half -- 44% -- of support from Republicans in that poll won't likely be running. Huckabee said Saturday night he's out; Trump said so today; and Palin is thought to be unlikely to launch a bid.

Read the rest here.

Huckabee says he won't run for president in 2012

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Mike Huckabee ended his presidential tease on Saturday night, saying on his Fox News Channel television show that he would not run for the Republican nomination for president next year.

Huckabee, winner of the Iowa Republican caucus in 2008, had been exploring a bid but said Saturday that he had made a "spiritual" decision not to run.

"All the factors say go, but my heart says no," he said.

Huckabee's decision further muddies the GOP field as the Republican Party seeks a challenger for President Barack Obama.

A prominent social conservative, he ranks high in national popularity polls. And, had he run, he would have been a serious contender for the party nod with instant support among Christian evangelicals who dominate the Iowa caucuses and the early South Carolina primary.

Read the rest here.

No surprise here at all. Despite the almost rabid hatred for Obama on the far right, I think Huckabee read the tea leaves and realized that 2012 was not likely to be a Republican year. He has a rather comfortable job right now.  Why throw it away on a long shot?

The GOP is having a hard time finding serious (as in possessing some level of gravitas) candidates.  Opinions from the radical right notwithstanding, Obama is going to be tough to beat next year.  This is likely to increase the pressure on Mitch Daniels to run.  If he bows out, I don't see any heavyweights left contending for the GOP nomination.

For the record, I kinda like Huckabee, though I have serious problems with some of his political views.

IMF Chief Arrested At Airport

NEW YORK — The leader of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was taken into custody on Saturday, minutes before he was to fly to Paris from John F. Kennedy International Airport, NBC station WNBC reported.

Strauss-Kahn, a possible 2012 candidate for president of France, was pulled from his first-class seat on an Air France flight by officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and turned over to Manhattan detectives, a Port Authority spokesman told The New York Times.

He was accused of a sodomizing a maid at a Times Square hotel earlier in the day, the authorities said. He has not been charged but was being questioned, police said.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, allegedly crept up behind a 32-year-old maid after she entered his room and forced her to perform oral sex on him, sources told the New York Daily News. The New York Post said he was naked and had emerged from the bathroom.

The woman broke free and ran out of the room, WNBC said. Strauss-Kahn quickly headed for the airport, sources told the Daily News.

New York police top spokesman Paul Browne said Strauss-Kahn left his cellphone and other personal items in his Sofitel hotel room.

"It looked like he got out of there in a hurry," Browne said.

Read the rest here.

How refreshing... a major figure in world finance being arrested for something other than insider trading, price fixing or embezzlement.

The Dreamliner Nightmare

This summer, the huge Boeing assembly plant here will begin producing 787 Dreamliners — up to three a month, priced at $185 million apiece. It will, unless the National Labor Relations Board, controlled by Democrats and encouraged by Barack Obama’s reverberating silence, gets its way.

Last month — 17 months after Boeing announced plans to build here and with the $2 billion plant nearing completion — the NLRB, collaborating with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), charged that Boeing’s decision violated the rights of its unionized workers in Washington state, where some Dreamliners are assembled and still will be even after the plant here is operational. The NLRB has read a 76-year-old statute (the 1935 Wagner Act) perversely, disregarded almost half a century of NLRB and Supreme Court rulings, and patently misrepresented statements by Boeing officials.

Read the rest here.

Donors to G.O.P. Are Backing Gay Marriage Push

As gay rights advocates intensify their campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, the bulk of their money is coming from an unexpected source: a group of conservative financiers and wealthy donors to the Republican Party, most of whom are known for bankrolling right-leaning candidates and causes.

Their behind-the-scenes financial support — about $1 million in donations, delivered in recent weeks to a new coalition of gay rights organizations — could alter the political calculus of Albany lawmakers, especially the Republican state senators in whose hands the fate of gay marriage rests.

The donors represent some of New York’s wealthiest and most politically active figures and include Paul E. Singer, a hedge fund manager and top-tier Republican donor, as well as two other financiers, Steven A. Cohen and Clifford S. Asness.

Read the rest here.

The fighting will continue, but the war is lost. Public opinion is swinging sharply on this subject.  Churches had better prepare for the next phase which will be coercive government policies and active discrimination against those religious bodies that attempt to uphold traditional moral values. 

Years ago I warned, to generally dismissive comments, that this was a losing battle and the only sensible course of action would be to get the government out of the marriage business altogether.  Make everyone who wants their particular domestic arrangements recognized by the state get a Civil Union performed in a courthouse.  Remove the term "marriage" entirely from the law books, and leave marriage to churches and synagogues.

I think it's too late now.  The other side smells victory and will never go for it.

A Whiff Of Scandal (from 1918)

The 1918 Boston Red Sox

More than any other American sport, baseball has an established historical footprint, and among its significant early events is the fixing of the 1919 World Series by gamblers and the Chicago White Sox, a team forever labeled the Black Sox. It is the only recognized gambling scandal to tarnish a World Series.

In recent weeks, however, there has been new scrutiny of the previous year’s championship and questions about the legitimacy of the outcome: the Boston Red Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs. And on Friday, the Cubs visit Fenway Park in Boston for the first time since the final game of the 1918 World Series.

Are the Cubs returning to the scene of a hidden baseball crime?

Read the rest here.

Roman Catholic Bishops Restore Meatless Fridays in Britain

Since 1985, in England and Wales abstinence from meat has been mandatory only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; on all other Fridays of the year, including Lenten Fridays, the faithful were allowed to choose between abstaining from meat or doing some other penance -- see this document. The bishops there have now chosen to restore the requirement of meatless Fridays.

HT  Rorate Caeli

Please no snarky comments about the western fasting (or lack thereof) discipline.

Good news bad news

The missing posts are back up.  The many missing comments are not.  Blogger appears to have eaten them.  I apologize to anyone who was involved in any of the now deleted discussions.

Blogger

Washington Post: Greece pushed to the edge

Athens — Already struggling to avoid a debt default that could seal Greece’s fate as a financial pariah, this Mediterranean nation is also scrambling to contain another threat — a breakdown in the rule of law.

Thousands have joined an “I Won’t Pay” movement, refusing to cover highway tolls, bus fares, even fees at public hospitals. To block a landfill project, an entire town south of Athens has risen up against the government, burning earth-moving equipment and destroying part of a main access road.

The protests are an emblem of social discontent spreading across Europe in response to a new age of austerity. At a time when the United States is just beginning to consider deep spending cuts, countries such as Greece are coping with a fallout that has extended well beyond ordinary civil disobedience.

Read the rest here.

California to close 70 parks

LOS ANGELES — Want to see the California Governor’s Mansion, once home to such political giants as Ronald Reagan and Earl Warren? You’d better hurry.

The Governor’s Mansion will be among 70 state parks that will close to the public, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration announced Friday — part of $11 billion in budget cuts that had already been approved, while a gap of more than $15 billion remains.

The closings highlight the depth of the budget cuts California is set to endure. Though Mr. Brown has lobbied hard for temporary tax extensions that could close the remaining gap, Republicans have thus far blocked a vote on his plan, and he is preparing to unveil his proposal for an all-cuts budget next week.

“We have made some very difficult decisions to close the deficit,” the State Assembly speaker, John A. Pérez, said in a written response to a request for comment. “I am hopeful that with the release of the May revise, we can close out the remainder of the deficit with a balanced approach without resorting to further cuts.”

Read the rest here.

OK the Romanians are wrong

I have been waiting to get the other side of the story in the ecclesial hissy fit between the Jerusalem Patriarchate and the Romanian Orthodox Church (see here) before drawing any conclusions.  That now appears to have been offered, and I have to say it does not look good for the Romanians (see Byzantine Texas for the details).  The whole thing is rather wordy and it wanders a lot.  But buried in the text is their argument in a single sentences.

“Due to pastoral-missionary reasons one can make derogation from the canons, because the canons are not dogmas, but pastoral rules.

This is of course absolutely true. It is called economy or oikonomia. Bishops can indeed suspend some church disciplines for a good reason... WITHIN THEIR JURISDICTION. 

Look I am no canon lawyer (do we even have such a thing?). But even I know you can't announce you are suspending the law in a place where you have no jurisdiction. No Romanian bishop has jurisdiction in the JP's territory, unless the JP's Synod says so, and clearly they haven't.  Neither can all of the Romanian bishops together suspend church law in a place where they have no jurisdiction.

That is the bottom line.  Everything else is just word games.  The Romanian Church is simply wrong here.  They need to man up and admit they overstepped their authority, apologize and ask politely for permission to establish a representation parish for the benefit of Romanian pilgrims.  That should solve the problem.

Vatican issues new directive on pre-Vatican II liturgy (Latin Mass); bishops warned not to obstruct older form of the Mass

(Reuters) - The Vatican told Catholic bishops around the world on Friday they had to obey a papal order allowing priests to say the old-style Latin mass for traditionalist Catholics, whether they liked it or not.

The Vatican issued an "instruction" to bishops as a follow-up to a 2007 papal decree authorizing the wider adoption of the Latin Mass, which was in universal use before the 1962-1965 Vatican Council introduced masses in local languages.

The re-instatement of the Latin mass was one of the demands of ultra-traditionalists whose leaders were excommunicated in 1988, prompting the first schism in modern times.

The pope, in a nod the traditionalists, satisfied many of them in 2007 when he allowed a wider use of the Latin mass, in which the priest faced east with his back to the faithful for most of the service.

But some bishops around the world said privately it was a headache because of the scarcity of priests trained in Latin, and logistical problems inserting Latin mass in their schedule.

The five-page instruction from the Vatican's doctrinal department, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made it clear that the pope wants bishops to follow his orders.

"It is the task of the Diocesan bishop to undertake all necessary measures to ensure respect for the 'forma extraordinaria'," the instruction said, using a Latin term for the old liturgy.

While couched in polite, institutional language, the instruction said local parishes had to insert a Latin mass into their liturgical schedules if tradionalist faithful wanted it.

It also said pastors of parishes should show "a spirit of generous welcome" to whose who wanted the old mass and had to "permit such a celebration."

Read the rest here.

Commentary on this in the Roman Catholic corner of blogdom has been somewhat slow, I suspect in large part due to Bloggers recent problems.  Look for vocal commentary from all sides of this debate in the coming days.  For the record my prediction is that the modernist/lib Catholics (Episcopalians mostly who just haven't come to terms with their true calling) will have a fit over this.  On the other side I suspect reaction among "traddies" will be cool to hostile.  Many will feel that this does not go far enough.  And the really hard core ones (SSPX and other groups that are either overtly or de facto schismatics) are not going to be happy with one part in particular.  I have not had a chance to read the whole thing but I am told that there are elements warning against rejecting the legitimacy of the post Vatican II rites.  If true; that's not gong to fly with the Angel Queen and Rorate Caeli crowd.

Update: I just had a chance to give the document a quick read and it looks good.  I think this will be a plus for the Roman Church.  Fr. Z called it a "No Hitter" as opposed to a "Perfect Game."  That might be a tad generous.  But I would certainly say this is a strong document.  The really liberal elements in the clergy, especially bishops are NOT going to like it. One can imagine the editors of what Fr. Z calls the National Catholic Fishwrap suffering a collective seizure.  And yes, there is a paragraph mandating acceptance of the legitimacy of the post V-II rites and obedience to Rome that is going to give heartburn to your more hard core traddies.  Look for the libs to latch onto that.

Medicare and Social Security to run out of money years earlier than expected

WASHINGTON — Two of the government's most popular programs for the elderly, Medicare and Social Security, will run out of money sooner than thought earlier as a slow-growing economy saps revenues, a report Friday said.

Trustees for the two funds said the Medicare trust fund is projected to exhaust its funds in 2024, not 2029 as estimated last year, and that the Social Security retirement program will run out of money in 2036, not 2037 as previously thought.

The latest projections hit in the middle of an intense debate between the Obama administration and opposition Republicans about how to rein in the nation's runaway debt, set to hit the legal limit of $14.3 trillion on Monday.

Read the rest here.

U.S. inflation hits highest level in over two years

WASHINGTON — U.S. inflation hit the highest level in 2-1/2 years as food and energy prices moved higher, but there was little sign of a broader pick-up in inflation that would trouble the Federal Reserve.

The Labor Department said Friday its Consumer Price index increased 0.4 percent in April from March after rising 0.5 percent in March.

The rise, which was in line with economists' expectations, took the year-on-year inflation reading to 3.2 percent, the highest since October 2008.

The core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, rose a mild 0.2 percent from March, and the 12-month increase, at 1.3 percent, was at its highest level since February 2010.

The Federal Reserve, however, would like to see that move closer to 2 percent over time.

"This is not enough to prompt an immediate response from the Federal Reserve but they're certainly watching this," said Dana Saporta, an economist at Credit Suisse in New York.

A separate economic report Friday — the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index — showed U.S. consumer sentiment rose more than expected in the early part of May.

The stiff gains in food and energy costs in recent months have squeezed consumers, who are enjoying only tepid wage gains.

Read the rest here.

Blogger has a hiccup

As some of you have no doubt noticed, Blogger has been having a lot of issues over the last few days.  It has been at least partly down ("read only" mode) for long stretches and many of the more recent posts and comments have vanished.  This is the first time I have been able to even attempt to post anything since yesterday afternoon.  Supposedly they (whoever that is) are working on the problems and I keep seeing messages assuring me that things will be back to normal soon.  I also am cautiously hopeful that the missing posts and comments will be recovered.

So hang in there.

P.S. This is not confined to A/O.  All "Blogger" based blogs are experiencing similar problems as far as I am able to tell.