Jan's Stinkin Blog: January 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

More Priestly Shenanigans in Michigan...

Adding to the many priestly shenanigans (if we can call them that) in our own area of Southeastern Michigan are two brand new ones.

One involves Brother Stephen P. Baker, a Franciscan Friar, who taught at St. Mary’s Preparatory School in Orchard Lake 1983-1985.

The school has a big Polish connection as does St. Mary’s Seminary of Orchard Lake which even attracted Pope John Paul for a visit.

It seems the good friar has offed himself at a seminary in Pennsylvania. This came after sexual abuse charges were brought by many who claimed he molested them as youngsters; a very common story these days.

The Detroit area office of the SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS or SNAP has asked Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron to investigate whether Baker molested students at St. Mary’s. Baker also taught in Catholic schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania; just keep moving them around to get them fresh meat to abuse…as was the practice.

The other new priestly saga involves Rev. Edward Belczak (67) (another Polish connection) of St. Thomas More Church where he has been a pastor for 30 years.

Seems the good reverend bought a $500,000 condo in Florida. Nothing illegal or sinister about that except it seems that the Archdiocese of Detroit may have found signs of embezzlement at the parish during a recent audit.

Reverend Belczak hired himself a good Polish lawyer Jerome Sabbota who told reporters that maybe Belczak hit the big time in the stock market; investing his $30,000 annual salary very wisely.

Hey, my sister’s parish priest (St. Anslem) liked to gamble and spend time on tropical beaches; can’t do that on a $30,000 yearly salary so why not dip into the collections baskets he so warmly blesses every Sunday.

What about that Dearborn priest that was caught driving totally nude; he was soooo hot.

Do you think there is a problem with how the priesthood is run and more importantly, how the priests are chosen and trained…there is something very rotten in Denmark, if you know what I mean.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

BELLE ISLE: Race kills deal...

There is an island in the middle of the Detroit River called BELLE ISLE and it has played a big role in my life.

As kids we went there to picnic and canoe in the summer and ice skate in the winter. The Polish community in Detroit held their parades celebrating various Polish holidays there and gave speeches in the band shell there. We loved to go to the aquarium there and who can forget the botanical gardens glass dome where you can enjoy flowers and various greenery even in winter.

I took my kids to see the animals in the small zoo there and a few years back, my daughter Tanya was married at the Yacht Club there. A Grand Prix race is also run on the island.

A great place that meant so much to so many but in recent times the Belle (beautiful) Isle has become the Crappy Isle due to neglect by Detroit and its people.

You would think that when our governor offered to bring the island back to its former glory by making it a state park, the people of Detroit would welcome the offer with open arms…not so!!!

Detroiters were screaming at City Council meetings, that allowing the state to manage the now decrepit island with state money (Detroit is basically bankrupt), was tantamount to allowing whites to take over a black asset…yes, some Detroiters are very racist and unfortunately also very vocal.

Cooler heads tried to prevail knowing full well that the state’s offer was absolutely necessary to bring the island back to snuff FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF ALL DETROITERS…black and white.

The problem is that the Detroit City Council is still made up of a few arrogant, incompetent racists that make decisions based on unfounded and irrational racist delusions to the detriment of all Detroiters.

Yesterday, when a council subcommittee voted to table the state Belle Isle offer for “more study”, the governor took the state offer off the table and told the city council to basically go fuck itself…very good move on his part but very bad for Detroit and Detroiters.

I just hope Detroiters realize that some of their leaders are causing Detroit great harm and if they allow this small but very loud group of Detroit racists to have their way; Detroit will collapse and all its assets will go on the block anyway, to pay off its debts so what have you accomplished by killing the state's offer?

Sunday, January 27, 2013

CATHOLICISM'S CURSE: The Priesthood...

I haven’t written about Catholic matters in a while but the priestly sex abuse issue just will not go away and especially the huge cover-up of the scandal by the Church; new evidence keeps coming out.

This time it is the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the largest in the country, and Cardinal Roger Mahony, now retired.

More than 500 abuse victims from around Los Angeles have sued the church over the years and the church has acknowledged the abuse, apologized and supposedly has taken steps to prevent future abuse but new documents have surfaced giving inside details of a cover-up involving Cardinal Mahony who led the diocese from 1985 till his retirement in 2011.

The new information could lead to criminal charges as proof of a cover-up emerges.

The story is the same; no matter how many times I write about it and still what infuriates me more and more are the decidedly “inhumane” actions of church officials who cared less for the young victims but more for the abuser priests and the reputation of the Catholic Church allowing abuser priests to keep abusing…you cannot get more inhumane than that.

An article by Frank Bruni in today’s New York Times titled CATHOLICISM’S CURSE takes on the church’s ARROGANCE & HUBRIS which has been infuriating me for years. The Vatican will not admit to error and any challenge to their absolute authority on all matters is treated by them, as a challenge to God and really you cannot have a more asinine and arrogant position than that.

Bruni talks about Rev. Tony Flannery (66) of Ireland who has been very vocal about Vatican abuses of power but more importantly and very interesting to me as a history nut is Flannery’s position that the Catholic priesthood did not originate with Jesus and his followers but was “selfishly” created by a privileged group in the Christian community who had abrogated power and authority to themselves…now were’ talking!!!

In my reading of history, Jesus and his Apostles remained Jewish and within Judaism till the end; they did not start a new religion and did not think of Jesus as somehow divine but only as a prophet. This group of Jesus followers did not become Christians in any sense of the word but died in obscurity known as EBIONITES. Jesus’ Apostles followed James the Just (Jesus’ brother) as documented in the New Testament and rejected Paul of Tarsus as an apostate from Jewish Law which they followed till the end.

Now were’ talking about some serious challenges to Vatican authority based on history which the Vatican obviously has tried to re-write throughout the ages.

GARRY WILLS a very Catholic and prodigious author of books on Catholicism has written WHY PRIESTS? A FAILED TRADITION. I have already pre-ordered the book which will be published next month.

This most Catholic of authors, says in his new book that early Christianity not only didn't have “priests” but opposed the idea of “priests”. The establishment of a hierarchy within the church was a later invention as was the all-male, celibate priesthood which I have written about many times; it did not come from God and is only a tradition, a tradition that has been decaying throughout the centuries hitting its lowest point in our own time.

I cannot wait to read the book by Wills and I hope that the book, coming from such a loyal Catholic, will have an impact on the problem of “Catholicism’s Curse”.

Friday, January 25, 2013

WOMEN IN COMBAT...some thoughts...

During my military service in the Air Force, I worked with many women also in the Air Force but since I was a medic, the women I worked with were mostly nurses, LPNs and medical clerks …and this was 1966 – 1970. Since then, women have slowly entered into many other military positions but never as combat soldiers.

Now we are told that women will be allowed to serve on the front lines of battle as combat soldiers.

For us in the US; this is a historic first and I am hearing a lot of pros and cons…

From an equality standpoint, I think it is time females were treated as equals in every respect and so, I believe gender bias needs to be gone…forever.

Looking at it from a “societal” point of view, things get a little more complicated. Men have always been taught to protect women and children. This is imbued into our psyche and is therefore an automatic response. This is also a “natural” instinct provided by Mother Nature as a means of “survival” or “preservation” of the colony as women can carry and bring forth new life.

Females are also the “weaker” sex and therefore should be protected by the “stronger” gender and here we are only talking about physical strength because women are “stronger” in so many other categories.

How will this translate into behavior on the front lines of battle…especially by men fighting alongside women?

An even stronger potential impact on behavior is the necessity of being in close proximity with the opposite sex for long periods of time. Rape is already a BIG problem in the military; will this just exacerbate the problem?

Another article I read about this issue talked about hygiene on the front lines which can get pretty dicey even for the men; now throw women into the mix?

The women in the Air Force with me in the late 60s were there because they wanted to be there; men at that time were either drafted or joined the Air Force to escape being drafted into the Marines who were more likely to come home in body bags.

The women I served with joined the military to escape a life situation they did not like or to see the world. Many were escaping bad home environments, bad boyfriends or husbands and many hoped to find better boyfriends and husbands and many did.

But for a woman to want to be in combat…I am not sure that that is a “normal” desire for a woman but what do I know about women.

I think it will be very interesting (at least to me) to see what type of women apply for those combat positions and maybe we will learn why…

Monday, January 21, 2013

INAUGURATION SPEECHES...Observations.

Just finished watching the INAUGURATION CEREMONY and I must admit that I really liked what was said by various speakers.

I think there will be a lot of debate about what was said and why but I came away with a theme of INCLUSION that was sounded with a lot of emphasis on the WE factor as WE THE PEOPLE, all equal and united in our goals of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

One thing stood out to me and that was that under the “equality” theme was the mention of gays which I don’t think has ever been mentioned in any inauguration speeches in our history.

I wrote before about the Christian minister that declined to give the benediction because it was discovered that he made an anti-gay speech in 1990; the Christian minister that actually gave the benediction mentioned gays in his prayer…now that was interesting. I later found out that the minister was an Episcopalian that supports gay marriage and gay bishops and is a Latino.

Also the poet Richard Blanco read a poem that was not like any poem I have ever heard (because it didn’t rhyme?) but still very beautiful and interesting, talking about how America and Americans are so diverse yet united as Americans all. I later found out that the poet was gay and Latino…is there a trend here?

It will be interesting to read about how others saw/interpreted the speeches…

Sunday, January 20, 2013

GUN APPRECIATION DAY RALLIES...

This Sunday, I read about all the GUN APPRECIATION DAY rallies around the country and I am still puzzled as to what the fuck were these people protesting!

No one is talking about taking their guns away or the right for them to carry guns so WTF?

You would think that as “law-abiding” citizens, they would want tougher background checks to keep guns out of the hands of people who should never own weapons because they are threat to society; you would think that these protesters would welcome action that would help keep their families safer?

I did read a couple of “intelligent” comments on gun control measures saying that the “real” problem with guns is the “illegal” sale and distribution of guns; people should go to jail for illegally providing weapons through an “illegal” sale.

I did get a kick out of reading about the rallies being held around the country (600 were in Lansing, MI) and what the protesters had to say because I still don’t know what they are scared of.

One Michigan protester said that this (whatever this is) is a slow destruction of freedom. I assume he is talking about the freedom to own guns which is not being threatened by anybody.

Protesters in Austin, Texas, home of some real wackos, held signs that said “The Second Amendment comes from God” a real wacko statement. Another sign said “An Armed Society is a Polite Society” ????

In New York, where their governor just signed some tough gun regulations, one protester said “This is an outrage against humanity”. OK what the hell does that mean? An outrage against humanity is the killing of innocent children in Newtown; the idiot probably doesn't know what some words mean.

This whole issue is interesting but also depressing when one sees all the people on the extreme and mind boggling edge of this issue.