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An ironic observation
If you're willing to get your hands dirty, if you bought an old vintage pedal (like a Camco, or a Gretsch, or a Tama Flexi Flyer) and just replaced the sealed bearings in the posts, you'd have a new pedal - or at least how that pedal felt when it was brand new.
I did just that recently. I bought one of those new Tama Camco pedals Musicians Friend was blowing out for $50 (I know, they're supposed to be $130, but this was a spur of the moment sale) and I Frankenstien'd it by replacing the stock chain and sprocket with a 30-year-old cam from an ancient Tama FlexiFlyer. I used it at a rehearsal this morning and I was amazed at how that pedal just flies. I was literally playing things I haven't really played before. The response was incredible. The solution here was the new bearings in the posts, and the cam with the strap. I can even put my old Flexi Flyer footboard on it if I want (that board is about 1/2" longer than the Camco one). There's also a guy on eBay who is refurbishing old Ludwig Speed Kings so they feel like they're brand new and his prices range between $80 and $100 - so there's that old skool choice as well.
I think my entire career I've been buying bass drum pedals and making them feel like my first pedal (an old Slingerland Tempo King, which was a copy of the Camco or Gretsch Floating Action too). And being the DIY kinda guy I am, I probably could've continued using that pedal if I wanted to maintain it. I've never played so hard that I've actually broken a pedal (loading accidents are something else). But think about it - when you shop for a new pedal - are you looking for something that feels completely different or like shoes, are you going for whats comfortable?
I have a theory that whatever your first pedal was, is what your foot likes. You buy new pedals as the years go on, but your foot really likes that first pedal, so when you think 'comfortable to play', your foot memory is going back in time. You can insist that yes, you have to have the plate underneath, or that the newer bearings these days are incredibly well engineered (like the Pearl Demon Drive), or that the newer return springs somehow do a better job than the old ones did. You may insist you need the longer footboard too. But something happened to me today when I played an old skool design with a lighter weight pedal but with new bearings and spring. And it only cost me $50. So at what point is it justified to spend $250 or $300 for a pedal that feels like a $75 one? I could've bought one as a spare and still saved $150 too.
Re: An ironic observation
You always have interesting posts and ideas/suggestions. I enjoy reading them. It's certainly hard for me to identify with this one however. I'm only 24 and my "vintage" pedal was this cheap yamaha knockoff that I grew up with until I upgraded to the mapex raptor direct drive double pedal, not too very long ago lol. I can't see paying lots of dough for a pedal that replicates a vintage pedal. Then again, I'm not entirely sure what "vintage" pedal entails for you guys... I love direct drive double pedals (changed my life lol) and i can't see goin back to the old school style. You guys are great though. I wish I could have grown up and evolved through the many drum styles and setups you guys were able to experience. Much love and respect to you originators of awesome!
Shine Customs / OCDP black brass snare / Paiste '02s
Re: An ironic observation
You'll have to explain this one to me. While I can understand buying vintage drums to get that vintage sound, why go for vintage pedals as well (other than to keep the whole kit old Skool)? To get that vintage, not-so-great feel of yesteryear (but whatever feels good to the individual I guess)?
I take your point on your foot liking the first pedals you had though. Still getting used to Pearl Demons after switching from Iron Cobras.
BTW- forget grabbing an upmarket pedal in Oz for $200-300, you're looking more at $500+.
Re: An ironic observation
I agree with you for the most part.
A lot of modern pedals I find have cams and other features that are designed to accelerate the speed of the beater to hit the head quicker, but I find I get far better results using a lighter footboard, beater and a balanced cam, which is a combo a lot of old pedals went with.
I think it's greatly a matter of technique though... If you're a hard hitter and you bury the beater most of the time, modern pedals will most likely probably cater to you feel and volume wise. When I was playing heavyhitting music a few years back, my modern pedals felt great to me, but I eventually started playing with a lighter touch and play both heel up and heel down and rarely bury the beater. I can't imagine sticking those pedals as they are on my kick anymore. Likewise, with my perfect balance pedal, I find I get far more control out of it, but at the same time, hitting hard heel up and burrying the beater gets me much less volume and feel odd. (Partially due to lack of kick muffling mind you)
So I think the many pedal designs straying from vintage designs these days are justified, because they probably are catering to a majority of drummers out there, since the industry seems to be getting progressively louder and more heavyhitting.
Their price tags though are definitely NOT justified. If you like a pedal, it probably is more money friendly and logical to find out what it is you really like about it, the combination of cams, footboards, beaters, etc. that work for your general playing style, kick drum size and such, and then yeah DIY with a cheaper pedal and replace the hardware.
The trouble sometimes though is finding the parts and pedals you want.
If you have the oppourtunity to obtain a vintage pedal, and play with technique that complements the physics behind it, then yes, I think it's quite ironic going with a more expensive pedal.
Sorry, that was a long-winded opinion, haha....
Re: An ironic observation
I was an IC player too, I think the best pedal for us is the dw9000.
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I have to deal with different pedals. A cheap Tama where I teach. My own Yamaha high end on my kit. I loved my old Speed King years ago. Pedals... My issue is shoes! The shoes affect me more than the pedals. The tread on my latest Dunlops is horrid for sliding fast doubles. Okay for heel down jazz though...:-)
Re: An ironic observation
Re: An ironic observation
Ironwood kit Tiki kit Openhanders Vids
Re: An ironic observation
Use whatever works good for what you're doing.
The less it costs, the better.
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Your opinion is on double pedals is fine. However, "old school" double bass pedals don't exist. The original double bass pedal was a monstrosity that had a bent slave beater to allow it to strike near center and the slave itself was awful. No double bass player yearns for the days of the original DW double pedals.
The pedals Bo was referring to were all singles.
Either you have a purpose behind your expression... or you don't.
JoJo Mayer
Re: An ironic observation
My first good pedal was Ludwig Speed King. used 1972. By 1981 or so I bought a Camco. I took it back after a few days and bought another speed king. I swore those were the best pedals in the world. Then Tama came out with their Pro Twin. I had to have one. I played those pedals for about 12 yr. Then I got an Iron Cobra single. which I still have. Around 2001 I got an I.C. Jr. double. Played that for about 7 yr. Now I've got a Speed Cobra Dbl. I've played Speed Kings a time or 2 in the last 15 yr. or so, and I can honestly say I have no desire to play them again. In the 70's they were the only pedal that I could play well. Now they don't feel good at all.
Yamaha Birch Custom Absolutes
Re: An ironic observation
... if you bought an old vintage pedal (like a Camco, or a Gretsch, or a Tama Flexi Flyer) and just replaced the sealed bearings in the posts, you'd have a new pedal - or at least how that pedal felt when it was brand new.
Well, it helps to replace main bearings, but that's not the only spot that wears on a pedal. The achilles heel of old skool pedals is their heel plate hinge and most are not replaceable.
Drum companies look at their stuff and (try to) improve on it, its how they roll. Take TAMA as an example, they looked at their CAMCO pedal and improved on it, stiffened the main posts, messed with adding eccentric cams for a mechanical advantage, improved the heel plate hinge, improved adjustability, all the things their CAMCO pedal fell short on.
As mentioned, since pedals don't produce sound, its the ease of use and durability that sets the new stuff apart from the old designs... and in related terms 'feel' can also be considered subjective.
Re: An ironic observation
Ya - that's what I was looking at when I recently bought a few new pedals. I don't really have fond memories of old pedals I used when I first started. It was long enough ago that I don't know what they were.
For the last several decades, I've used the same pedal though.
I posted in this area not too long ago, wondering if getting a pedal with some modern improvements would be worth the money, or make a in difference in the feel, or ease, of playing.
I can confidently say the answer to both my questions is yes.
The pedals are worth what I paid for them. And yes, they do make a difference in playing. That's not to say that they can perform miracles for you without having put the time in. For me, it's more of an incremental improvement.
And also, I think like with most other things, there's a point of diminishing returns. So on that point, there's a certain price level I won't go above.
Re: An ironic observation
Look at those Axis pedals, for example. Some of the stuff being done on them wouldn't have been possible on older pedals.
At the same time, for the life of me, I can't imaging playing a pedal like I'm being subjected to an electric shock But that's how it's done nowadays if you're talking about high BPMs.
At the same time, while I embrace technology, I draw the line at watching a video of a guy covering a Nile song using triggers and a Trick Bigfoot and then realise that he's just rubbing the beaters against the head at the end because he finally starts spasming hard enough for the actual bass drum to be heard over the triggers :/
- Reggae Mangle
"... As war machine, crushes their balls, God have mercy..."
Re: An ironic observation
Bo's original post is true for me, I learned on my teacher's Iron Cobra and I hold that as what I think a pedal should feel like.
Christopher Walken would be pleased.
Re: An ironic observation
OK, for the sake of argument, I get that newer technology has enabled some of you to play better and faster, or easier. However (and yes, most of us don't deem this guy as a mere earthling), you all saw Jojo Mayer's performance with Nerve on the Modern Drummer Festival 2005 DVD, yes? The man was absolutely flying on what looked like a Pearl Pedal - something stock with a plate underneath. Single chain connection too. Check it out and see his foot shots (there's quite a few of them). And then tell me that newer technology is really what helps him play so fast. I argue that yes, Jojo Mayer is controlling the pedal and like all tools, it does what he tells it to do. Although I am not at his level of playing, I do not automatically believe that I'll never be able to play like that. It's all in the desire. If you want it bad enough, you'll work on it to get it.
Re: An ironic observation
Well, my FIRST pedal was a POS that eventually was held together with coat hanger wire hahaha! I have no nostalgic feelings towards that pedal, or the hi hat stand on that kit :-)
I really liked the Speed Kings when I got them, but I don't care for them these days. The posts are too short for me.
My first double pedal was a Camco (around '89-'90), and I got it because it had springs on both the slave section, and on the left of the main section, so you could also use the "slave" part as a single.
It felt great then, and it feels great now.
I got a re-issue Camco last year after going back to my old Camco for a while, but, I never used it since I went back to the Elim. before it showed up to the shop.
I was kinda bummed when I saw them going for $50 though, since I kept the re-issue in the original packaging & bag to sell sometime down the road....!
Even though the Camco is cool, I prefer a strap. My favorite pedals to date have been my old 5000 strap (til DW changed stuff, and now that model sucks), the Iron Cobra Flexi, and my Eliminators with the Red (strap style) Cam.
I have an extra DW (strap) cam and strap, so I may just put it on one of my Camco's and give that a whirl.
I've actually been impressed with some of the less expensive pedals out there too. There's one PDP pedal that felt really good to me, and it was pretty dang cheap.
I think it was only $79, or $89 for a single.
My band Artificial Agent here: http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116637
Re: An ironic observation
a few months ago i bought a late 60's speed king. removed the dried up grease and its like new. my first pedal was a speed king so i wanted one. Im still hooked on gigging with my double pedal though so i only play it at practice. recently in the studio i used a dw9000 single. what a freakin pedal. for me, i really dont know what im looking for in a pedal. at the practice studio the kit has a ludwig pedal with the single outside spring. i love that cheap thing! i noticed the owner has the beater adjusted low, not in the middle of the head and it makes it super fast.
Re: An ironic observation
Check it out and see his foot shots (there's quite a few of them). And then tell me that newer technology is really what helps him play so fast. I argue that yes, Jojo Mayer is controlling the pedal and like all tools, it does what he tells it to do.
An assumed observation.
Unless you talked to the Jo man himself and he said "Yeah, its all crap, this old PEARL pedal is just as easy to play and will hold up just as well as my SONOR".
It may have looked like he was having an easy time, tho maybe he was thinking "...man its a little tricky pulling some stuff off w/this PEARL pedal, wish I had a PB right now."
I would bet the newer technology makes it easier for JO JO to play his sickest stuff.
Although you may be able to make an older pedal play like new, or like some cheaper newer models, the fact of the matter is everything out there right now evolved from those old pedals.
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I started playing back in the mid 1960's and have always used the Ludwig Speed King pedal. It still does everything I need a pedal to do. Best of luck in everyones quest for the best.
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There's also the issue of the parallel evolution of playing techniques and pedals.
The best example of this is probably proper heel/toe technique and long board pedals. Most people simply can't do heel/toe on a standard pedal, and have to adopt some variation of the technique or get a longer pedal.
That's not to say everyone is looking to modify their playing or type of pedal they use. For almost the whole time I've been playing, I played heel down/single pedal, and can do that pretty well with almost any pedal. Of course, some are easier or faster than others.
Some people do that forever and don't care to venture outside what works for them, and that's just fine.
It's only recently that I've been trying other techniques, and seeing some pedals are better suited to them than others.
Re: An ironic observation
Totally agree, wildbill. I remember trying out a Tama Speed Cobra at the store and started playing heel-toe almost instinctively. Very different feel to the pedal -- in comparison to the Pearl Eliminator I was coming from -- since the angle to the chain is smaller than it would be if it was a short board at the same height too, not too sure what implication that would have.
I kind of got the feeling that a longboard would work very well for a dancing kind of footstyle, but couldn't get the Speed Cobra to grow on me in the 10 minutes I played there. Plus, the piece looked like B-stock the store owner was trying to pawn off to me at full price, so I had a negative perception from the start.
I really liked the cobra coil spring, works really well if you can make use of it. I really want to try out more pedals, but seem to have run out of time to take a decision... Wish I could take a Speed King for a test run, seems really nifty and simple.
On the subject of new vs old., is more complex and more adjustments a good thing? Or bad?
- Reggae Mangle
"... As war machine, crushes their balls, God have mercy..."
Re: An ironic observation
If you're someone who likes to tweak their pedals to the Nth degree you can go for it and if not you can usually play them "out of the box".
Re: An ironic observation
I've owned DW3000 Double beater, surprisingly broke the foot plate during a set.
Bought the DW5000 used (mainly because my brother used them, and loved how he played)
I sold those for a new set of Iron Cobra's (with wooden beaters, IDK why?) It felt like I was running through mud.
I went back to the DW5000's I'm currently using. I took all of the weights off, put on those Slim beaters (IDK what they are called, but come from the Iron Cobra's?)
They're lighter, pretty comfortable (probably more comfortable once I go from the 24" BD to a 20" BD)
Sometimes I do find most other pedals more controllable than mine, simply because I've been lazy and need to tune/fix my gear.
Never paid over $150 bucks for a set of pedals. My friend had the DW9000's and he wanted to trade me for my 5's. HA
Re: An ironic observation
I'm very much a non-tweaker now. In the past, I was a tweaker and was constantly changing the settings on everything I owned. It nearly got to the point that I was trying to compensate technique for settings. In the end, I realised I just had to leave everything alone once it was comfortable and work on my technique - no matter what the pedal.
I can now dial a pedal in to where I want it within thirty seconds, provided it hasn't got a hundred adjustments. It is personal but I really loathe anything with over-specific or overly-niche settings. Too often, they're the things that get broken by people like me with hams for hands and too little patience.
Re: An ironic observation
I never found anything that would beat that master until I bought my nearly-as-old used strap drive (with the more modern integrated slave/master casting, but the old small bearing sizes), and replaced all the bearings. I've since bought another identical strapper for the E-kit. I keep telling myself to sell the old Frankenstein double, but I just can't make myself do it. It is indeed a pedal that only its mother could love. But I might need that master again someday...
What I *ought* to do is sell some of the other 4 or 5 pedals I have laying around that didn't make the cut. Argh. Still, restored semi-old-school pedals can be a big bang-for-the-buck leader. I'll let other folks be the ones to cut their throats on the bleeding edge of technology at this point!
Nerd without portfolio...
Re: An ironic observation
Very contrary schools of thought.
My question stems from a persecution disorder. The day after I set my pedal the way I want it and leave my house, people change the settings so that I can be "controlled"....
Got so bad I had to get rid of my Eliminators... Does that mean the bad guys won?
- Reggae Mangle
"... As war machine, crushes their balls, God have mercy..."
Re: An ironic observation
If you're an experienced player, chances are you'll know what you want and what works for you, and this can help in the pedal choices.
However, a beginner or intermediate player might not have found his/her best suited technique/feel/need etc, so a pedal which can be morphed into many different "settings" and "feel", like the Mapex Falcon, for exemple, can be an advantage for those players.
Incidentally, when Tama released the Camco in 1981 - 82, it had some featured adjustment readily avaible, you were able to adjust the footplate and the beater angle, independently form each other, but at set angles on the pedal.
Keep On Drumming
Re: An ironic observation
Henri, I'm going to disagree with your assertion that more adjustable pedals may be better for beginners.
In my own experience, having too many adjustments early on means that a player can sometimes try to adjust the pedal too much in the first months of their playing. Rather than learning a basic technique and then tweaking the pedal to taste, many players instead try to make the pedal work for them without developing a fundamental technique initially. Furthermore, if the pedal settings are changed frequently (every day, for instance) in the first months of playing, this can actually hinder the development of embryonic technique.
I'll draw an analogy with sticks. I doubt many of us here would recommend a new player playing with a different set of sticks every day - of different weights, lengths, tapers, etc. Doing so may hinder the development of a coherent technique. Instead, the common advice is to go for a stick somewhere in the middle (like a 5A) and work from there after the basic technique has been formed.
I feel the same way about pedals. Set the tension, angle, etc. somewhere in the middle and then - after technique has been developed - adjust to taste.
Re: An ironic observation
Why buying so many pedals? if you can buy one that can do it all... back then when I chosed the Camco in the early 80's, I played the pedal for over 28 years, but it was getting a bit tired, lol.
I still recommend a new starter/intermediate player to purchase a pedal of good quality with adjustments, they'll save money in the long run, so many guys buy and change pedals every so often, I don't get it, buy the best you can, once, it will deliver for years to come.
That's the difference with experienced or pro players, they know what works and what doesn't, a beginner doesn't know.
Keep On Drumming
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Camco pedal is awesome, I have one from the mid 80's.....didn't realize just how good that pedal was till I just got a 3000.
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Harking back to the OP. I has a Speed King for a long time and always liked it. I now have a new Trick pedal and it's brilliant - extremely adjustable and generally feels good. Wasn't keen on the beater, though. I like felt.
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Did you just let it air dry or did you do some type of drying method with it? I've got two coats of color on mine with two coats of flat over that to try and give it some durability.
Last edited by 1movingforward4; 03-30-2009 at 08:05 PM. Reason: Adding pic
I know this is an AK board, but come on, there has got to be more AR's than this, I will open it up and say just post your AR, painted or not. What config are you running?
So my last pic was half way done, this is about 90% done. Just waiting on the internals. So, what do you think?
Not a AR but Krylon paint.
SOON-We already lost the war. You are the resistance.
For the metal parts on the gun I like using a bake on paint insted of Krylon that comes off with hand sweat or spray barrel cleaners.
I did a Polish Tantal with VTH Engine Enamel's black satin & baked it at 200deg. for 30 min. This coating is so tuff I scrubed it with acetone & it didn't budge. It is chemical resistant & can take up to 550deg. It comes in a lot of colors from flats to glosses & metallic.
The fixed stock is interchangable with the folding stock.
VHT Engine Enamel™
I'm sure it will work for AR's too.
Here is my AR15 it shoots the same cal. as the Tantal above 5.45x39.

subset: commoncrawl


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Want free accessories for your iPhone or iPad? Pin it to win it!
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On sex abuse, Francis - alas - sings a familiar tune
Mollie Wilson O'Reilly March 5, 2014 - 3:10pm
If there's an area in which Pope Francis has been a disappointment, it's in responding to the sex-abuse crisis. In most ways he strikes me as a hierarch who is unusually aware of how the Church is perceived by the broader world, and he has done a lot indirectly to repair the damage to the church's credibility that resulted from the sex-abuse scandal. But he has said and done little about the scandal itself, despite his refreshing frankness on so many other issues. And now that he has spoken about the issue, in the interview just published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, his take is not exactly encouraging.
Here's the relevant excerpt, as reported in Vatican Insider's account:
Speaking about the horrific abuse of children by priests, Francis said "the cases of abuse are terrible because they leave very deep wounds". Benedict XVI "was very courageous and opened a road, and the Church has done a lot on this route, perhaps more than all others", he stated. He noted that the statistics reveal the tremendous violence against children, but also that the vast majority of abuse takes place in the milieu of the family and those close to them. The Church is the only public institution to have moved "with transparency and responsibility", he said; no one else has done as much as it, "but the Church is the only one to be attacked".
Oh brother.
Francis is not the first defender of the church to speak as though it's obvious that sexual abuse is rampant in any organization you can name, and we just don't hear about it because the media hates the Church. There have been revelations of abuse and cover-up in other institutions: scouting, private schools, Hasidic communities. But it isn't just distorted perspective that makes the church's sex-abuse problems stand out: it's the scale of the abuse and the mishandled response, the persistence of the problem, and the lack of transparency and responsibility that has made the church's scandal such a mainstay in the media for so long. Then, too, there's the fact that the church is a church, which ups the conscience-shocking factor. And it's a church with a very strong, very visible authority structure, so when leaders commit crimes -- or fail to admit mistakes -- it reflects badly on everyone and everything.
If the church's leaders have responded with compassion, transparency, and a willingness to reform -- and some have, but not everywhere, and not consistently -- it was only after decades of foot-dragging and an understandable but regrettable impulse to downplay from the enormity of the problem. The extent to which the Catholic Church today represents a threat to the well-being of children is often exaggerated, and the subject of sexual abuse is exploited by people eager to discredit religion in general and Catholicism in particular. It's frustrating. But it's a situation we brought on ourselves, and complaining about it now is no way to fix things. And make no mistake: things haven't been fixed. I'm hoping the pope knows that, or will soon speak to someone who can tell him so.
Speaking of missed opportunities:
Asked why he doesn't speak about the so-called "non-negotiable values", particularly in the field of bioethics and sexual morality, Pope Francis stumped the interviewer by telling him, "I have never understood the expression 'non-negotiable values'. Values are values. Full stop! I cannot say that among the fingers of a hand there is one more useful than another. So I do not understand in what sense there can be negotiable values".
If only he had thought to ask George Weigel about that when he met with him earlier this week!
Surely Weigel would have been happy to explain.
Commenting Guidelines
Sad - but his history is not remarkable in this area. IMO, unless he dares to deal with this issue honestly, openly, and directly his achievements will be limited and marred.
He needs to approach this issue in the same way that he has dealt with the Vatican finances.
Abused victims are also the poorest of the poor' they are on the periphery - and to repeat the tired, old memes gets us nowhere.
I agree with Bill. It is somewhat perplexing. Mixing columns, that's the reason why we continue to need "Frontline" programs.Would that there be that showing at the Vatican...
And I can't bear to see one of the next Weigel columns that will celebrate "at my meeting with the Holy Father..." Agh!
Very sad.
I am in the middle of composing the Closing Prayer for VOTF's national assembly in Hartford next month. My approach changes in one day. Part of me says, what a fool to have hoped otherwise from Francis or anyone at the Vatican; the fresh air was invigorating while it lasted.
Robert Mickens had it right in that Frontline interview: Bergoglio's record in Argentina was certainly lacking; the implication being, it's not promising. So, what's changed?
But please, transparency and accountability by the Church are without parallel? Francis needs to learn about Nienstedt for one, or does he really want to know? Will someone get him to read this for starters?
(JO'Leary linked to it.)
Better yet, lock Francis in with Jeff Anderson for a week to learn the reality of episcopal conduct and mendacity.
Oh my gosh, it's the same old-same old! I wonder what he means when he says that "the Church has done a lot...perhaps more than others." As a DRE I've spent the last 12 years doing safe-environment education with kids, parents, catechists and other volunteers. Never saw a bishop close to this kind of work, nor discerned a bishop with any interest in it. It's a little too close to reality to have to figure out ways of presenting this kind of material that educates without alarming the people it's aimed at. And even then, given that sexual abuse is so under-reported, there have to be among our adults, people who have suffered sexual abuse as children and buried it. So my programs push painful buttons and some of these folks object to talking about the subject at all. Very understandable and a continued block to really doing ground-breaking work in this area. So, the Holy Father is not well informed at all about the wide array of realities impacted by what the Church is "doing." And what has the church been "doing" for victims of priests beyond making their lives hard? Check out the latest manifestation of that at Minnesota Public Radio!
I find it perplexing that Francis has not really confronted the abuse problem. Dolan has used the same tack that there is much more abuse within families. But that is not the issue. The issue is the cover-up. Monumental with Maciel in the face of a ton of evidence. The transfer of the funds by Dolan to the cemetery in his former diocese. On and on. The pope's record seems to be clear in his former diocese. (The accusations proved to be without merit). It is troubling that he is slow on this issue. Maybe he wil tie it in to contraception. Or the Synod witll address it. We shall see.....
I giess this isn't really surprising, though it's pretty depressing. His record on this subject before he became pope wasn't great ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/pope-francis-was-often-...
And he's been disappointing on the subject of women too. Those are different areas, of course, but you can't really compartmentalize people.
John Allen:
As time goes on, however, he'll likely be pressed to acknowledge that he sees the critics' point too. If he seems indifferent, it could mark a pivot point in the honeymoon the new pope's enjoyed so far.
By meeting critics halfway, Francis also might be in a position to help repair the trust deficit the church and the Vatican often face, which means that even when they try to do the right thing they encounter skepticism
One looming test of Francis's commitment is likely to center on a new papal anti-abuse commission, which was announced to considerable fanfare in early December by Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston in Rome.
After three months the Vatican still has not unveiled the leadership or staff for the commission, nor made clear precisely what its mandate will be. A legal document giving it formal status is said to be in the works.
Especially in light of Francis' comments today, observers will be watching closely to see how quickly that announcement comes, and how convincing it is when it does.
Let's at least read the articles we reference. Here is a quote from the one you gave the url for:
"There is no evidence that Bergoglio played a role in covering up abuse cases. "
You and the tone of the article knocked him when it is clear that he was not part of any cover-up.
I didn't say he covered up sex abuse. I said his record wasn't great when he was in Argentina, and it wasn't ... here's another article on that subject: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142412788732364660457840430414...
I had hope for so much more from Papa Francesco. But, I suppose that these comments reveal that he too is a creature of the very corrupt clerical system that raised Bergoglio to the rank of cardinal-archbishop, and now has made him pope.
It was probably too much for us to expect that Francesco could embrace new ideas and policies eventhough those new directions are considered subversive by the very men who just a year ago elected him pope.
Perhaps Francesco is showing us the political limits he can go given the alienated, irrelevant and corrupt hierarchy that surrounds him?
Perhaps reconciliation and healing for the survivors is not what Francesco has decided is within his pastoral mission for his papacy?
Perhaps Francesco is only a transitional pope who will lay the groundwork for some future true-reformist.
I know that many survivors of abuse and exploitation had high hopes that Francesco would be possessed of a new understanding and approach for their struggle for justice and wholeness.
I think I will Twit Francesco Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail where he wrote: "Justice too long delayed is justice denied."
The pope certainly has no need for me to provide explanations for the priorities he has established, But could it possibly be that he has good reason to walk cautiously in dealing with this issue, that it is not as amenable to a comprrehensive solution as Vatican finances are? That it is as complex as the issue of laws against homosexual activity in some African countries?
That Pope Francis acts with deliberateness is no indication of lack of concern or interest. So the pope's clock is not set to the same set of issues that some people here would like does not establish that he is derelict. He's been pope for just about a year. Some people here sound just like Fox News commentators. They have their own priorities and anyone whose priorities don't square with theirs gets accused of obtuseness, moral fault, dishonesty or what have you. They sound like ecclesiastical "Tea Party-ers."
John Allen answered this in April of last year.Repeat his record was fine. Are you going to go on unproven stuff. I can't believe how so many on this thread are citing urls which are unproven. People have even quoted Allen who exonerated Francis. Not just on this area but others. We can wonder about the delay. But there is zero in his record that proves he was part of any coverup. What are we becoming?
Four points help round out the story.
First, the original version of the Journal piece did not note that Bergoglio's term as president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference (CEA) ended in November 2011, so at least technically, responsibility for missing the Vatican deadline resides with his successor as president, Archbishop José María Arancedo of Santa Fe.
Second, the bishops say a set of guidelines is close to being finished. A draft will be discussed at a meeting of the conference Monday then forwarded to the Vatican for review, according to Bishop Sergio Buenanueva, auxiliary bishop of Mendoza, who's overseeing the process.
Third, the bishops say one reason it's taken time to finish the task is because they wanted to wait for a February 2012 summit on the abuse crisis at Rome's Gregorian University, which was organized in part to help conferences that didn't yet have guidelines to pull them together. The idea was to give conferences the information they needed to ensure that their policies are consistent not only with Vatican expectations but with best practices in other parts of the Catholic world, such as Germany and the United States.
That's basically a credible claim, given that representatives of several other conferences I spoke to at that event said much the same thing. Buenanueva said when the guidelines are finished, they'll embrace a "zero tolerance" approach along the lines of the American model.
Fourth, Oesterheld said another reason the process has taken longer than expected is because during his term as president, Bergoglio was "very respectful" of the fact that each bishop has a direct relationship with the Vatican and the desire not to "supplant" that autonomy may be part of the reason it's taking time to hammer out common policies.
I always appreciate Bernard's thoughts, though I hope I'm not part of his "Fox commentators!" And I'm not sure any of theh commentors here are. It seems true however, that this whole issue so complex and multi layed that it is not as easily addressed as finances ! Right?!
I have had the thought however, that his approach to this whole sexual abuse issue and especially the episcopal cover-ups may be in developing the peer- bishops to speak up as well, that is, that this commission will represent a shifting center of power and discipline in which it is not simply the pope chiding or punishing brother bishops, but a change of culture to a more collegial approach in which others would likewise call each other to task. Thus, in this scenario, the day will arrive when this commission or metrpoloitan or some person and group besides the pope says to a bishop "What you did was wrong. As brothers, we lovingly tell you it is time to go," and then resort to the pope aas necessary... a new model really...
But perhaps that's just wishful thinking....
David Pasinski, thanks. I trust that I am on the same page as you are. What you sayexpresses well what I hope.
I'm *not* saying Francis covered up sex abuse when he was in Argentina. I read John Allen's article and he works very hard to explain away the criticisms made of Francis ... maybe he's correct in his assessment. Whatl I said was that Francis' recoed wasn't great - he certainly was no heroic advocate for victim's rights back then and he still isn't now. Why has he punished not a single church official who has been known to have covered up sex abuse ... Law, Beady, Finn, Mahony, et al? Why does he say that the church has done more than anyone else to protect children and that the church is being unfairly attacked on sex abuse ... both these allegations are ridiculous in the face of decades of facts. I'm sorry - I realy want to think the best of Francis - but I find his words and actions on the sex abuse problem very disapointing.
What Francis needs to understand and understand well is this: all the good will he has built up over the last year can be destroyed by making statements such as this.
I feel sorry for all the people who are counting on,pope Francis.
This scandal has been roiling since 1985 -- for 28 years. Yet the likes of Cardinal Levada is still a power in the Vatican, Bishop Finn is still bishop in Kansas, and Archbishop Nienstadt in Minnesota is still whitewashes his own misdeeds, to mention only three of the worst of the pseudo-shepherds who call themselves bishops. By this time there is no excuse for Pope Francis' allowing these disgraceful people to stay in place unless he is in fact ignorant of just how rotten they are.
I just looked for an email address at the Vatican site which might allow ordinary people to write to the pope. There doesn't seem to be any. However, Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, who is a member of the Group of 8, does have a blog where we can post messages. He needs to know that many of us are losing heart, that we think Pope Francis needs to read about some of worst cases for himself..
I'm going to write to him and ask that he forward to Pope Francis the recent account from MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) cited by Fr. O'Leary, "Mother of priests' victims reveals family pain, more abuse, and church's rebuke". I still hope that Pope Francis just doesn't realize that situations like this STILL go on.
If enough of us started expressing our outrage to people such as Cardinal O'Malley who have Pope Francis' ear, Francis might finally get the message. Would that there were a site at the Vatican we could all write to.
I feel sad that just as my initial skepticism about him had melted I am now forced again to see how inadequate he is about women, gay rights, and clerical child abuse, and I do fear that many will face sharp disillusion.
Do you think that the recent UN report contributed in any way to his defensive posture on abuse?
I would have liked to have seen some concrete reforms on sex-abuse by now. Is there a concrete proposal directed to the Vatican by any of the survivors' groups that the rest of us can sign on?
I appreciate Bernard Dauenhauer's phrase: "ecclesiastical Tea Party-ers." I plan to use it (with proper attribution, of course).
As this and other threads, here and elsewhere, illustrate: more than one choir "sings a familiar tune." They chant: there are no "nonnegotiable values" -- save our own.
On zenit we can read what appears to be the full question and answer on sex abuse. (I was hoping that the Vatican Insider's report had omitted to quote some more hopeful sentences.) The question, on has to admit, is tendencious i its wording. But the answer is no better than the quotes selected by the Vatican Insider.
The scandals that perturbed the life of the Church fortunately are now in the past. On the delicate topic of the abuse of minors, philosophers Besancon and Scruton among others, asked you to raise your voice against fanaticism and the bad faith of the secularized world that doesn't respect childhood much.
Holy Father: I wish to say two things. The cases of abuse are terrible because they leave very profound wounds. Benedict XVI was very courageous and opened the way. And, following that way, the Church advanced a lot, perhaps more than anyone. The statistics on the phenomenon of violence against children are shocking, but they also show clearly that the great majority of the abuses come from the family environment and from people who are close. The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution that moved with transparency and responsibility. No one else did as much. And yet, the Church is the only one being attacked.
I started having doubts about pope Francis' stance on sex abuse when he went to Brazil and did not meet with sex abuse survivors. For him, who loves to go out and meet people and listen to them and understand problems better by going directly to the source, I thought that was surprising. It's also a step back: pope Benedict did it frequently, until, I think, he himself became accused of having made poor decisions back when he was archbishop of Munich. He stopped his efforts around that point, and I almost wish we had left that episode alone.
There is nothing fresh in the words of pope Francis on sex abuse, nothing indicating an extensive personal meditation. No colorful image, no talk of "filth". This is the perspective he received from people around him, and he hasn't gone out to the margins and learnt better.
His response on the role of women, although, unlike the one above, it does denots some personal reflection, is also not what I would want to read:
How will the role of women be promoted within the Church?
Holy Father: Casuistry doesn't help in this case either. It's true that women can and must be more present in decision-making posts of the Church. But I would call this a promotion of a functional type. And with that alone, one doesn't advance much. Rather, we must think that the Church has the feminine article, "la": it is feminine by origin. Theologian Urs von Balthasar worked a lot on this topic: the Marian principle guides the Church by the hand of the Petrine principle. The Virgin is more important than any Bishop and any of the Apostles. The theological reflection is already underway. Cardinal [Stanislaw] Rylko [president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity], together with the Council of the Laity, is working in this direction with many expert women.
I think of the role of women as being justified (if it needs a justification!) because God is feminine as well as masculine, not because Mary was giving support to Christ and to the Apostles. If that's the way his thoughts are taking him, then we'll have just one model, a single saint which all women should aspire to imitate. Such an approach severely limits our potential action in the Church. But my model is Christ, not Mary. He is the way, not her. She's just a saint. She's a good model for those whose personality lean in that direction, but that's not all of us. If the theological reflection he is encouraging is going to propose that women should only follow Christ through the imitation of Mary, then it's going to make the situation of women worse by even more firmly putting them in a box.
I wish I could edit and correct typos.
Re your comment: "Do you think that the recent UN report contributed in any way to his defensive posture on abuse?"
John Allen in his recent column (3/5/2014) seems to think so.
"In the wake of a recent United Nations report blasting the Vatican for its record on child sexual abuse, Pope Francis issued a strong defense both of the Catholic church and his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday, saying 'no one has done more' to combat exploitation of children."
I guess the honeymoon is beginning to be over. But, I am not ready to seek any annulment. (Would lack of due discretion be grounds?)
Warning to Bill Donohue: Don't start Irish jigging for joy, you might break a leg and not be able to parade on St. Patrick's Day in NYC.
Bernard writes: "Could it possibly be that he has good reason to walk cautiously in dealing with this issue, that it is not as amenable to a comprrehensive solution as Vatican finances are? That it is as complex as the issue of laws against homosexual activity in some African countries? That Pope Francis acts with deliberateness is no indication of lack of concern or interest. So the pope's clock is not set to the same set of issues that some people here would like does not establish that he is derelict. He's been pope for just about a year."
The pope announced the creation of a commission on sexual abuse in December. Should it take months to name its members? Why announce its existence without appointing its membership? Do you think the people here are the only ones who wonder what's taking so long? Whether filling out the roster is high on the pope's list of priorities? I don't. It sends a signal.
Of course the sexual abuse of minors by priests is a complex issue. But that doesn't excuse the defensive pose Fracis takes at the end of his answer, nor does it explain his tacit acceptance of the question's false premise. The scandal is not over. And then he made matters worse by adopting the defensive crouch of many curial denialists--the men who, for example, blocked the investigation of the church's most notorious pedophile, Maciel, beloved of and promoted by the soon-to-be canonized John Paul II. Those men doubtless took comfort from the fiction that the scandal was a creation of the media. At the price of keeping children in harm's way.
As Bob Dylan said;"How many years must a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea"?After all the mea culpas, the apologies, the taking responsibility,the exposes, the reforms taken to dismantle the culture that allowed the abuse to be rampant and covered up for so long, after all the prosecutions,the convictions and defrocking of priests, after all the steps taken to ensure children are protected going forward,what more do people want regarding this issue?Yes The world is filled with shocking evil.Yes it's shocking and evil that harm was done against children by those they trusted most. The work is being done to care for the victims.Humilty ,contrition has set in, The church like it or not, like the rest of society, did not have adequate knowledge about pedophlia, homosexuality,and sexuality in general as we do today..That's just true and with the knowledge we have today ,with the reforrms for transparency and lay input in the working of the church,there is no legitimate reason to be fixated with the crimes of the past.At this point the question arises; is this about accountability for crimes of the past or just sheer anger at the patriarchal hierarchal structure of the church? The church is working to be more feminine,more inclusive ,more horizontal.If this is about sheer anger that the world contains much evil,then that righeous anger could extend to evil that occurs today.Yes we can be deceived by evil,we have been as the scandal exposed. We're up against a fallen world,and we ourselves are fallen. To rail like that cannot be ,or cannot be for US; in the church, is; for ADULTS still railing about their past, a form of prissiness, or pride;a refusal to accept the human condition,a denial practically of our need for God.
Rose-Ellen: take the case of bishop Finn. The people of his diocese need him to be relieved from his position. This is the present, not the past, and action is needed now.
I too share the disappointment in Francis on the issue of sex abuse and women. I had hoped he was simply putting the sex abuse issue on the back burner while he dealth with the financial corruption. But it seems he is just as defensive as all the others, and, perhaps, too loyal a member of the club to have the courage to hold fellow bishops responsible and accountable. It may be true that he, like Benedict, does not have clean hands himself on this issue, as there were reports that he did nothing to hold anyone accountable in Argentina and also refused to meet with victims.
As far as putting women in a box, that is another vestige of a patriarchal church - run exclusively by male celibates. These are men who almost always have had few or no relationships at all with women as their equals. They are surrounded by other men, predominantly male celibates also, and many of the bishops and cardinals have been in this environment since they were in junior seminary. They have a lot of trouble interacting with women at all, but especially with women who do not fear them nor seem themselves as somehow "less" than their equal. All too often they also hold an idealized and limited understanding of "feminine genius". Since their primary love relationship with women has been with their mothers and grandmothers and they have fond memories of maternal care, they want to limit women to a maternal understanding - including vowed religious women.
I would love to know the names of the "women experts" that Rome is working with. How many are married women with children? The church does very much need the feminine genius - that is the number one reason women should be eligible for all seven sacraments. The church operates with the masculine mind only even though God made them male and female in God's image. The church is trying to operate with half a brain. It will never be whole, never more fully image God until it stops shutting women out of the only role where they can impact both doctrine and governance. If they can't quite make themselves treat women as fully equal to men, then at least start by giving women the traditional behind the scenes influence by dropping mandatory celibacy. At least then women could have influence as the "power behind the throne" until such day as women are allowed to stand on altars themselves as priests, and be eligible to sit on the "throne" of Peter also.
Did you miss that Francis said that the quest for women's ordination is clericalism What he meant was that Ordination is not superior to everything. So seeking that for women only perpetuates the clerical myth. Secondly, the Mary presented by Elizabeth Johnson. "Truly Our Sister" is an example we all can follow. Finally, there is a commission that Francis has set up. Can we wait. And he has removed pedphile bishops see below.
David Gibson reported in December, http://www.religionnews.com/2013/12/04/pope-francis-ignoring-clergy-sex-...
" On Tuesday, a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Thomas Rosica, issued a sharp retort that rapped critics for "lying in wait" to ambush the pope on this issue. In a detailed statement, Rosica said that Francis has endorsed the stricter policies on abuse implemented by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, and said he is working, often behind the scenes, to bring about a "massive change" in both "mentality and behavior" in the church to prevent abuse, as well as to foster other reforms.
"The entire world has witnessed over the past nine months his concern for those who suffer in any way," Rosica said. "High among his list of priorities are certainly those who have suffered sexual abuse in their lives. He will continue to address the issue with clarity, transparency, firmness, justice, direction and compassion."
Other church sources also said that in fact the pope does take the abuse crisis seriously and aims to tackle the most sensitive outstanding issue: holding bishops accountable.
Case in point: The Vatican's lead prosecutor on abuse cases, the Rev. Robert Oliver, told the National Catholic Reporter last month that Rome is "well aware" of the problem of prelates such as Bishop Robert Finn of Missouri, who remains in office despite a conviction last year for failing to report an abusive priest to authorities. Oliver said accountability for bishops is part of "a broad conversation" that is happening in Rome now that he hopes will result in new measures.
Others note that Francis also sent a bishop as the designated successor to Archbishop John Myers of Newark, N.J., who is under fire for his handling of clergy abuse cases, and in September the pope removed two prelates in Latin America – one the Vatican ambassador to the Dominican Republic and the other a low-ranking bishop in Peru — for child abuse allegations."
Francis to Dutch Bishops,
"Very particularly, I would like to express my compassionand assure my prayers to each of the victims of sexual abuse, and their families. I ask you to continue to support the painful path of healing they have started, with courage."
Bill: Thank you for your comment. I did not write anything about ordination for women. For the rest, point taken. Let's say that I am ready to be disappointed.
Grant, I recognize that many people raise the same questions you are raising here. I also recognize that the issue in question, namely the inadequacy of the hierarchy's response to clerical sexual abuse, deserves prompt address. What I find unwarranted is the "mind-reading" that you and some others are apparently engaging in here. You and others are imputing motives to the pope that you canot possibly have enough knowledge to warrant. Bill Mazzella has introduced some relevant information. I don't have any inside knowledge of my own. But nothing in the bearing of the pope or in documents like "The Joy of the Gospel" supports the view that in this issue he is just saying and doing the "same old thing." You may turn out to be right. I don't know. But I do not see that you have anywhere near the necessary evidence you would need to warrant the criticisms of the pope that you are making.
I do not doubt that Pope Francis has on his agenda to address strongly the clerical abuse scandal.
But with repect to his defensive posture which seems to be provoked by the UN Report, we know now his hot button.
@ Jim McCrea 3/5/14 - 10:30pm:
Amen, brother!
The Vatican seems to be recognizing the fallout -- Zenit reposts Fr. Lombardi's email to Nicole Winfield of the AP, who had one of the strongest takes on the pope's remarks:
Fr. Lombardi said that although reforms within the Vatican bureaucracy are taking time, he had no doubt that the commission will arrive soon.
"I'm waiting for it, and I hope with all my heart (and I know that qualified experts have been contacted in an exploratory way to see if they would be available)," he wrote in the email. "And I hope that the commission will also be able to propose to the Pope initiatives adapted to give a true broad impulse in the Church for the active protection of minors."
Regarding what has been described as the Pope's "defensive" tone, Fr. Lombardi said that it was a recognition of the fact that while the Church has been committed to repairing past failures, it has "not been recognized objectively."
"At the same time," Fr. Lombardi noted, "it is clear that there is still an immense task to do for the past, for the present and, even more so, for the future. The Pope knows this well."
Bishop Finn,Bishop Finn. Maybe Bishop Finn covered up for abusive priests because he did not know what we know today regarding recidivism for sex crimes.Or that great harm was done to victims.He's a product of his time as they all are.Was it wilful ignorance or naivete?Were nuns who hit or humiliated children willfully ignorant or naive about the harm they were doing?That has to be addressed and adjudicated. Why hold him to todays standards that are the result of new knowledge? In any lay criminal proceeding ,the intent,the mindset of the acussed is as much a factor in determining guilt and penalty as the actual act.Real transparency means really acknowledging that fact ,as unpalatable as people angry at the church find it.
The Vatican appartchik speaking for the Vatican (not at all to be confused with the Church btw), is carrying on a tradition of never taking responsibility, blame, failure, or contrition for any of its many sins of both commission and ommission. This is Lent and should be a time of collective penance for sins. Look at the reaction to Benedict's prayer at the station of the cross or even John Paul II's document on the purification of memory.
But I will end there as I have my own penance to do as well.
@ rose-ellen caminer 3/6/14 - 9:18am:
Where does one begin with all these incoherent ramblings? This posting is a real piece of work. But, since these words demonstrate some of the real attitudes of too many uninformed Catholics, they demand a response.
After all the mea culpas, the apologies, the taking responsibility,the exposes, the reforms taken to dismantle the culture that allowed the abuse to be rampant and covered up for so long, after all the prosecutions,the convictions and defrocking of priests, after all the steps taken to ensure children are protected going forward,what more do people want regarding this issue?
What people want is justice, not forced apologies from hierarchs designed more to mitigate legal and financial liability for sexual assault and exploitation of children by priests than reconciliation. As any parent should understand, justice demands real consequences as a deterrent against future abuse.
The work is being done to care for the victims.Humilty ,contrition has set in, The church like it or not, like the rest of society, did not have adequate knowledge about pedophlia, homosexuality,and sexuality in general as we do today
If this were true, then the hierarchs have spent $millions hiring hot-shot lawyers to go into court and re-assault survivors seeking redress of grievances for nothing - a waste of money. From my own experience, the hierarchs went "doctor shopping" to get sympathetic mental health professionals who would confirm the sick narcissistic ideology and mythology that the perpetrators and the hierarchs are above the law that applies to the rest of us, but not to them. Are you suggesting that hierarchs - who are supposed to be moral and pastoral shepherds - didn't understand that rape and sodomy of children is morally wrong in all circumstances and also criminal? What delusional denial are you talking about?
[W]ith the knowledge we have today ,with the reforrms for transparency and lay input in the working of the church,there is no legitimate reason to be fixated with the crimes of the past.At this point the question arises; is this about accountability for crimes of the past or just sheer anger at the patriarchal hierarchal structure of the church? The church is working to be more feminine,more inclusive ,more horizontal. If this is about sheer anger that the world contains much evil,then that righeous anger could extend to evil that occurs today.
Where are all this supposed "transparency" and "lay imput?" Francesco's words reported yesterday seem to align him with the masters of complicity JP2 and B16. And why are we Catholics going through with this canonization of JP2 with what we know of his close involvement with criminals like serial child abuser Marcel Marciel and Legionaires of Christ?
"Fixated with the crimes of the past" - Really? Fixated is what clinically you would say about celibate hierarchs' obsessive attention to human sexuality and their on-going attempts to control especially women's reproductive health care. The survivors of rape and sodomy when they were children by their priests are NOT suffering from a fixation - it is a symptom of post-tramautic stress disorder (PTSD).
This statement really takes the cake:
To rail like that cannot be ,or cannot be for US; in the church, is; for ADULTS still railing about their past, a form of prissiness, or pride;a refusal to accept the human condition,a denial practically of our need for God.
Rose-Ellen, you have swallowed the hierarchs' Kool-Aid completely. Snap out of it! Are you suggesting that priests raping and sodomizing children are part of the human condition? That is not only outrageous, but twisted. You need to re-read the parable of the Good Samaritan: It was the Samaritan who acted with the compassion and love of God toward the man left in the ditch by the side of the road [like priests did to the survivors of their assaults] - not the priest or the Levite who passed by unaffected by the pain and misery of whom Jesus considered their "neighbor" and "brother". Get a clue.
How anyone can say that the Vatican[PART of the church,point taken] is carryng on a tradition of never taking responsibility, when all these reforms are in place, when they've acknowledged the evil they caused to flourish by covering up for offenders, and when out reach to victims continues to take place, baffles me. If you do not believe the sincerity of the Vatican's professed contriton, that's your opinion. But it is obviousl that objectively the Vatican has acted and continues to act to acknowledge the scandal as evil and the Vatican as partaking in the evil, both by failure to recognize the harm being done to children and/or covering up for the offenders even when it was clear to them children were harmed.The Vatican has enacted reforms to change the culture that permitted the evil to go unstopped for so long.If you want them to say they knew all along that pedophlia was an incurable addiction then that may never happen because the facts are that no one knew that then.Yes they sinned when covering for a priest[s] who raped or abused a child[ren]. They have admitted the sin of taking care of their own over the vicimized children.People sin.That's not flippant but you can't undo the past. The scandal happened because ,people WERE ignorant about such sexual matters as pedophia, and recidivism,and ignorant perhaps of the harm done to children in non rape situations AND because even when/if they knew harm was done to children people were willing to cover up, to sin to protect their own.Both facts have been admitted by the Vatican.What more do you want?There's nothng else there.[I'll go read Bendict's prayer and John Paul 2's document].
Bernard: Where exactly did I attempt to read Francis's mind? I criticized what he said in the interview, and the strange delay in naming the members of his commission on sexual abuse. "But nothing in the bearing of the pope or in documents like 'The Joy of the Gospel' supports the view that in this issue he is just saying and doing the 'same old thing.'" Leaving aside the distinction between mind-reading and bearing-reading, the problem with that part of the interview is precisely that he said the same old thing. So I'm afraid I can't agree that I lack the "necessary evidence" to criticize what the pope said. Because he said it.
Ms. Caminer - before making statements such as:
"Maybe Bishop Finn covered up for abusive priests because he did not know what we know today regarding recidivism for sex crimes.Or that great harm was done to victims.He's a product of his time as they all are.Was it wilful ignorance or naivete?"
would ask that you do your homework.
Please read this link to the historical documents of this case: http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2011/05_06/2011_06_07_Scalia_BishopFinn.htm
Amazed - you must live in a bubble to not be aware of this case and thus make the foolish statement above.
- did you know that Finn upon becoming bishop of KC wrote a diocesan paper about online pornogrpahy....so, yes, he did know about this. And, your statement appears to assume that Finn has lived in a bubble - no awareness of high profile cases and bishops since 2000 e.g. Boston, LA, Chicago, STL, to name a few.
- "Julie Hess, St. Patrick's principal, was able to fuse a mosaic of apparent non-events into a coherent picture of pathology. In May of 2010, she reproduced this picture in a 28-paragraph report (pdf), which she sent off to the diocese.
[Finn] sat on a summary given him by Msgr. Robert Murphy, his Vicar General, until several months later, when he learned that Ratigan possessed pornographic images of children. Even then, he declined to inform police for several more months until Ratigan violated his orders by consorting with minors. By pre-2002 standards, it was a B+ performance; by today's, a D.
Bishop Finn — who says he was never given the actual report and had based his earlier decisions on a summary report that did not reflect the urgency of the issue — has made an apology — actually he has made several, now — for his foolish errors"
I wrote on Cardian O'Malleys Blog for him to explain why no appointees were made to the commission yet. I suggest that all of us do the same. http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/2014/02/28/attending-the-consistory/#re...
Granting that he is not everyone's cup of tea, and prominently in his own thinking, is no longer a Roman Catholic, I found Rod Dreher's post a few days ago on the opening of Lent in the Orthodox calendar to be interesting. Dreher attended the opening Vespers of Forgiveness, with his Metropolitan taking the lead in prostrating himself to ask for the forgiveness of, first, his fellow Believiers. It is a powerful image, not least in regard to this thread's issues. And not least at the opening of Lent in our calendar.
Of course, form is not all that is needed, but for those who subcribe to a Sacrametal vew, it is important, indeed. Suffer the little children .... (and, in this context, the adults who were so deeply injured as children. Let every Bisop, starting in Rome, prostrate himself before them, and all of us, also. Surely they are - and were at the time - part of the Body of Christ? How have they - let's keep the focus - been served by their Church? How are they being served? Untl tey ae served as they wuld ha beenserved by Jesus, can we be Reconciled?
Mark L.
Now we know where Pope Francis stands on the issue of the sex abuse of children within the Catholic institution, and it hurts. He states: "The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution to have acted with transparency and responsibility. No other has done more. And, the Church is the only one to be attacked"-------
His defensive words are very hurtful to so many thousands of victims who were hoping that, just maybe, Pope Francis might be different. That maybe he really does care about protecting innocent children.
Sadly the pope is badly misinformed about the church officials being responsible and transparent. Or he is just following the same old archaic rhetoric that the previous popes have done. Child sex abuse and cover up by the clergy under his power does not seem to be a big deal to him. Francis words could make a person cry, if we had any hope at all that he might take some decisive actions to get this horrific abuse and cover up stopped.
Tragically the sex abuse and cover up within the church hierarchy throughout the world is still going on to this day. Cardinals and bishops are still not removing accused predator clergy, and they are still not reporting to law enforcement. Their so called "zero tolerance" policy is not being followed by the bishops who created it. They don't have to, because there is no punishment to force the bishops to change their ways of protecting their image and the institution rather than protecting children.
Child predators need to be kept far away from kids forever. So silence is not an option anymore, it only hurts and by speaking up there is a chance for healing, exposing the truth, and therefore protecting others.
Judy Jones, "SNAP" the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,
As Francis said if you make him superman then you are lying in wait for him to fail. "Like when it is said, for example, that I leave the Vatican at night to go to distribute food to the homeless. It never crossed my mind. Sigmund Freud said, if I am not mistaken, that every idealization is an aggression," he said.
While I am eager to see Francis do more, our approach should be to apply pressure until all options are exhausted. So i agree with grant while cautioning those who are drawing definitive conclusions so soon.
The case of Bishop Finn is NOT an old one. The evidence against the offending priest was discovered in 2010!! The scandal blew up in Boston in 2002, and that, apparently, was when most of the American bishops had the scales fall from their eyes. They finally realized the results of their cover-ups and did something (though not enough) to change their culture. Apparently, however, Bishop Finn's blindness persisted, and he was convicted of the crime of covering=up the priest-perps' crimes (pl.). Therefore, Bishop Finn should be removed from office because of his gross incompetence if not for his sins. But he's still there, the Pope must know it, and has chosen to leave the criminal there.
Why do you keep making excuses for such people? Yes, it's sad for Bishop Finn if he was acting according to his own (distorted) conscience. But what about the children he has failed to protect? What about justice for them? Why is he more important to you than a vulnerable little child is?
About what Francis said on women, I too found it disappointing, especiallyhis reference to Hans Urs von Balthasar ... von Baltjasar once wrote a complementarianist paper (http://www.womenpriests.org/classic3/balthasar.asp) on why women couldn't be priests. And all the Marian stuff seems very patronizing to me. The pope doesn't seem to get that giving women some managerial jobs at the Vatican will not at all address the women's ordination issue. I'd say most women want to be priests for the same reasons most men want to ... they feel called by God ... it's not about getting a management level job. As Francis Clooney SJ oncew wrote ...
This issue -- does God call women as well as men to ordination? -- seems likely to remain one of the great divides in the Church of the 21st century, and we all, men as well as women, are, or should be, suffering through the experience. That the Vatican has definitively ended the discussion does not make it less likely that many will continue to have hearts rent by the issue. I am sure God hears many a prayer, many a day, on the topic. But no matter what we think, there is room for quiet lament, and particularly those of us who are ordained should feel this sadness mingled with the joy appropriate to anniversaries of ordination. The priesthood is, as I have said, a great gift, and I know how very sad it would be to have been barred from it, from the start or along the way. I can only try to imagine the sentiments of a woman who has experienced, with humility and conviction, this calling, faced as she is with the prospect of the Church's insistence that it is incapable of ordaining women -- as if to say: "Even if God calls, the Church cannot."
If you do not believe the sincerity of the Vatican's professed contriton, that's your opinion. But it is obviousl that objectively the Vatican has acted and continues to act to acknowledge the scandal as evil and the Vatican as partaking in the evil, both by failure to recognize the harm being done to children and/or covering up for the offenders even when it was clear to them children were harmed
Rose-Ellen: the church hierarchy has lied many times before on this subject, so we cannot believe what is said if it's just words. We need to see actions. You say that the Vatican "has acted". I acknowledge that, nowadays, whenever an accusation of abuse becomes public, the Vatican immediately suspends the accused (even if he is an archbishop) and, if the case is clear, promptly laicizes him. That's action, and it's progress, but it's not enough. What more needs to be done? At least two things, one of which is sometimes done, sometimes not done, and the other one is never done: first, do not sit on accusations but pursue them appropriately. Finn (recently!) failed to do that, and the bishops' record in that regard is very uneven. Second, bishops who have covered-up abuse must be removed from positions of responsibility, and so far that is not done at all.
What Ann wrote.
Grant et al: Why should anyone suggest that the pope is less interested in responding appropriately to the clergy sexual aabuse issue than he or she is? In the light of what I have seen of the pope, such a suggestion is implausible. Why should I or anyone else think that we know exactly what the pope should say and do to deal effectively and with proper diligence to this issue?
It does not follow that I ought not to express concern, to implore, to urge the pope to take action. The new NCR editorial about this does a good job in this respect. But that doesn't entail that there may not be very good reasons for the pope not to act exactly when and as I would have him act. For me to claim that he is morally at fault for not doing as I would want him to is, in my view, a rash judgment.
So I suggest: Think mercy and forgiveness toward the pope, just as you and I need mercy and forgiveness every day. Without unconditional fogiveness as our basic disposition we are all too likely to be destructive rather than constructive.


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Release Date: 2013 |
Adam Thomas EMERITUS (5)...Sunn177 (4.5)Deafheaven's sophomore LP finds the band experimenting more then ever with atmosphere meld...DarkNoctus (2.5)i want to dream too...kvltwalter (4)Deafheaven sheds light on black metal's old soul, to impressive effect....
csvhrvrnxell (4.5)...Lucid (4.5)A landmark album due to its fearless vision, its understanding of how the involved genres ...Subrick (5)Art house black metal done right...A.K. (2)From visuals to audio, this album has left me thoroughly confused and nonplussed....
TayBad (5)Sometimes it's not what's said that matters most. Emotions are felt, not heard...climactic (1)transcend or be washed away by the awe-inspiring ocean of light...Matteatsneedles (3)Overanalyzed and overhyped. It is what it is....Oneeyedwilly96 (5)...
Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Offi hate this review
Album Rating: 4.5At least this isn't a 5 like I expected.
Album Rating: 3.9i hate the world
Album Rating: 4.5i like the first 3 songs
Digging: Chief Keef - Bang 3
Album Rating: 4.2Is this that Sun Bat Her band???
Digging: bansheebeat - Lumine
Album Rating: 4.5hell yes eli!
Where it lacked creativity, maturity, and poise, Sunbather more than makes up for.
"for" what?
Album Rating: 5.0100% yes.
title track is perfection.
Album Rating: 3.5IN DREAMS
Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound OffTruly a spectacular album. These guys need as much attention as possible. So close to a 5 for me.
Digging: Straight Reads The Line - The Author
"here it is actually means something"
edit that shiz
no hate for an eli 4.7 i assure you
Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound OffGood review. This is definitely an improvement over Roads to Judah.
Album Rating: 4.0Album is so baller
Album Rating: 4.5album is rap game james blunt
yeah so this rules
Album Rating: 4.5oomf this year
Album Rating: 5.0best album
Album Rating: 4.5rym reviews are almost as good as amazon reviews
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


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Apple seeds newly renumbered iOS 6.1.3 beta 2 to developers
Apple has released iOS 6.1.3 beta 2 to developers. The second beta to what was originally numbered iOS 6.1.1, recent updates meant to address cellular connectivity on the iPhone 4S and an Exchange calendar bug on all iOS devices, caused the latest beta to get re-sequenced to iOS 6.1.3.
If you're a paid developer, you can grab it now through the usual channels.
More: developer.apple.com
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Reader comments
Apple seeds newly renumbered iOS 6.1.3 beta 2 to developers
Is it me or does it seem like IOS really screwed up with the launch of IOS6 they seem to be a new release every other real ease especially when compared to the previous OS releases this is getting out of hand real quick lol
its a great effort by apple company to launch Apples beta of iOS 6.1Look what we have get on  Guide Pedia about it.


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Leaders join forces to combat bill, make voter rights priorityWritten by Sanya Ali | | firstname.lastname@example.com
A group of politicians, civic and religious leaders is standing up to oppose a controversial bill they say limits the rights of Ohio voters.
At a news conference May 8, a group called Ohioans for a Voter Bill of Rights gave its point of view on the bill and proposed one of its own.
According to Toledo City Councilwoman Lindsay Webb, voters in Ohio are being unfairly treated by the political system. Her group hopes to change that.
"We want to make sure every citizen has the opportunity to vote, that they can cast a vote, and that they can have their vote counted," Webb said. "That is the endgame."
Webb said the issues within the current voting system started with the introduction of House Bill 194 in 2012.
"House Bill 194 basically took a number of, I would say, issues that have net effect of creating a chilling atmosphere," Webb said. "It's almost like a voter suppression act."
House Bill 194 outlined a number of regulations to the voting system and gave the final decision on absentee and early voting dates, locations and times to the Secretary of State. Some of the rules, Webb said, seemed specifically designed to make voting more difficult for citizens in more rural areas.
Pastor Talmadge Thomas of City of Zion, the Mt. Zion Church, disagrees with the restrictive hours outlined in House Bill 194.
"The bill is very unfair and very unfriendly," Thomas said.
Members of the community signed a petition against House Bill 194 at its conception, and the Ohio House of Representatives passed a referendum repealing the bill later that year.
Opponents of the bill rejoiced, Webb said, and felt the issue would need no further observation.
Webb said no sooner had the referendum passed than the bill slowly began to re-emerge. Bit by bit, the original resolutions went through the House. The content and goals of the legislation were the same as before, but the process was slowed to divert attention.
"What ended up happening then was that the majority in the statehouse began to pass HB 194 resolutions piecemeal," Webb said. "Instead of having one gigantic repressive bill, they passed it piecemeal over the last one and a half or two years."
Once the bill fully resurfaced, many Ohio politicians and community members fought back. State Representatives Alicia Reece and Vernon Sykes, along with John Smith and the Rev. Otis Moss, formed a committee to represent petitioners at the news conference. The new goal was no longer limited to stopping House Bill 194.
"They want to take certain things that people expect about voting and write it in a constitution," Webb said. "Rather than have it subjected to will and whim of elected officials and Secretary of State."
Thomas said a new bill of rights would be a step in the right direction in terms of proliferating the spirit of democracy in Ohio.
"It speaks to the heart of the original Voter Bill of Rights, giving people opportunity without being disenfranchised, without being inhibited," Thomas said.
Webb said her experience as a clerk for the Lucas County Board of Elections during the 2000 presidential election campaign showed her how necessary proper vote counting is in a state with as much political leverage as Ohio.
"I have seen firsthand how chaotic these types of elections can be and, considering Ohio's place in the federal election cycle, it's important that we get it right," Webb said.
Thomas said he feels a sense of confidence in voting. He said local elections are the necessary first step and perfecting that system will lead to better understanding of what the public wants.
"I really believe that this bill helps to promote democracy," Thomas said. "It's not about telling people who to vote for, that's what we think is most important. I believe that local places are what really move the ball."
Tags: City of Zion, Councilwoman Lindsay Webb, House Bill 194, John Smith, Mt. Zion Church, Ohio House of Representatives, Pastor Talmadge Thomas, Rev. Otis Moss, State Representative Alicia Reece, Vernon Sykes, Voter Bill of Rights


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We've got some big news on the comic book front.
Spawn #1 in 3D
This special Comic-Con limited-edition 3D version of Spawn Issue #1 was created exclusively for the 2006 McFarlane retrospective at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) in New York.
Written and drawn by Todd, this 32-page book has a cover price of $5.95 and includes red/blue 3D glasses! MoCCA will be selling this book beginning Feb. 24 at their NY Comic-Con booth (conveniently located right next to McFarlane Toys booth #116) and during the run of the McFarlane retrospective exhibit, while supplies last. Proceeds will benefit MoCCA.
Sam and Twitch: The Brian Michael Bendis Collection, Vol. 1
A new 224-page full color trade paperback available from retailers in February for $24.95.
Volume 1 will contain issues 1-9, written by Brian Michael Bendis, collected for the first time in one volume. Featuring the acclaimed UDAKU HUNTER story arc, an Ashley Wood cover gallery, and other special bonuses. Art by Angel Medina, cover by Greg Capullo. A must-have collection for any fan.
Hellspawn: The Ashley Wood Collection
This collection features Hellspawn issues 1-10, a cover gallery, a new never-before-seen cover from Ashley himself, as well as tons of behind-the-scenes extras! Features some great writing from fan favorites Bendis and Niles as well.
This is 224-page collection is tailor-made for any Spawn or Ashley Wood fan. This is the work that put Ashley Wood on the artistic map: dark sequentials and brilliant covers! Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Niles with a cover by Ashley Wood, this trade paperback retails for $24.95 and is scheduled to be on sale April 2006.


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Tremor returns to the Mortal Kombat lineup, this time as a playable Kombatant.
Views: 25,216 | Posted: 07/21/2015
Members of the Real Madrid club are immortalized for FIFA 16.
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Lives hang in the balance all over seven kingdoms in the fifth of six episodes of Telltale's Game of Thrones.
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With unicorns and rainbows upon us, it's time for our resident Trials buff to give us a tour of his carefully constructed level and show us what's up with the latest DLC.
Views: 13,651 | Posted: 07/18/2015
The infection spreads again as both Prototype games mutate for PS4 and Xbox One.
Views: 8,500 | Posted: 07/15/2015
Who better to explore the many Dimensions of LEGO than the Doctor and his TARDIS? (allons-y!)
Views: 10,270 | Posted: 07/10/2015
The Transformers are back in action at San Diego Comic-Con with a look at gameplay from the new Platinum Games version.
Views: 14,840 | Posted: 07/10/2015
We didn't know what the story would be in this new project from Mojang and Traveller's Tales before watching this trailer. After watching it… We still don't.
Views: 7,722 | Posted: 07/08/2015
We knew the Predator was coming to MKX, but how was his big reveal? Is it possible to get us excited with a trailer for something we already know?
Views: 15,099 | Posted: 07/08/2015
Telltale takes on the Minecraft universe with an episodic series.
Views: 7,389 | Posted: 07/07/2015
Lost Planet fans are going to have to wait a little bit longer to get their hands...


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For the past week or so my Twitter feed has lit up with two stories: the unmasking of "Gay Girl In Damascus," who turns out to be a 40-year-old white heterosexual guy from Atlanta currently studying in Edinburgh, and the disappearance of Lauren Spierer, a very real 20-year-old from Greenburgh, NY, who has been studying at the University of Indiana. How different these circumstances, and, yet, how well both illustrate the power of social media.
The first, the so-called Amina, was actually an invention of social media. Eager to combat what he misreads in our society as "liberal Orientalism" (yes, this Tom MacMaster fellow has evidently turned the pages of Edward Said's influential—and I believe wrongly reasoned—book, Orientalism, but not much understood their content), MacMaster drew out a character, an American-born gay girl living in Damascus who claimed that she was the victim of more overt hatred when she appeared in America wearing a hijab than when she announced her sexual proclivity in Syria, a country under the thumb of a brutal dictator where homosexuality is against the law. He created a blog for her. When this character "Amina" was supposedly kidnapped (MacMaster said he wanted to end the blog), the Twittersphere went nuts. The American government got involved—she was, after all, supposedly half American. The FBI quickly concluded she didn't exist, never had. The Twittersphere dragged it out for days and days more until they had final, conclusive evidence that no one had ever seen her or spoken to her voice-to-voice. MacMaster, not the most devious hoaxster, was easy to track down. He hadn't even masked his IP address account. Everything could be traced to him.
Lauren is a real flesh and blood American girl. There's no doubt she exists. I knew her when she was a child. She has a mom, a dad, a sister. She seems to have a lot of friends, and in the days since she's gone missing, has amassed 20,000 "virtual" friends, people who are following the progress of the search on Facebook and Twitter. I am furious with the lawyers of some of the young men considered "people of interest" who have underscored that Lauren was drinking the night (morning) she disappeared, who have emphasized that she liked to party with boys. Oy, that's what young people do these days. And I wish they didn't. I wish they were playing chess or something else. But they're not. And it's so wrong to blame the victim.
At the beginning of the Find Lauren ordeal, I was struck by the professionalism of the person running the @NewsOnLaurenS Twitter account. She managed to get the most information into 140 characters or less—leaving room for retweets. She attached photos of Lauren, of the "missing" poster. She "live-blogged" the press conferences. She had a good hashtag (#FindLauren). She had a wonderful voice and a positive manner that has remained appropriate as we got past the 48-hours missing, one-week missing, and other timeline milestones. She had the good idea of contacting celebrities and asking them to retweet—and many did. Eventually all the major news organizations picked up the story. I asked my daughter who this person could be, and she conjectured a friend of Lauren or Rebecca (Lauren's older sister, my daugher's friend). When the Twitter-Master seemed to be having some problems setting up a feed blog, I contacted her. She described herself as, "just a woman from Indiana with some experience with social media, but nothing like this." She is a true heroine of the digital age.
One thing about the social media community: they're often generous with their time and knowledge. So when I contacted two ultra-super-amazing social media geniuses I know, Mo Krochmal (@Krochmal) and Amy Vernon (@amyvernon), they both came up with blogging solutions, and for Lauren's Twitter manager, one of them worked.
The Facebook community that grew up with a page begun by Lauren's friends quickly devolved into disaster. People expounded theories, called each other names, talked about other crimes. It provided very little real information about Lauren—though it did give people a place to vent and a space to offer love and support to her family. I'm not overlooking the importance of that. But it became too much drama, and to counteract that group (which I exited), her parents had someone set up a page where people could not leave comments and would only give information. But there is no information.
The parallels between the real girl and the fake girl have been bugging me for days. While people were using social media to seek real clues about Lauren, those burrowing into the Amina story were, in my opinion, largely navel gazing. Yes, MacMaster did something potentially harmful. The Syrian government now claims all anti-Syrian blogs are "false" in one way or another. He possibly also endangered the gay/lesbian community in Syria as they revealed themselves in comments on the "Gay Girl in Syria" blog. MacMaster stole the identity of a beautiful young English woman by scraping her Facebook page for photos. And, reportedly, he stole the heart of a Canadian woman with whom he exchanged flirtatious and sexually explicit emails. Compared to MacMaster, Anthony Weiner was dialing 411. Sadly, he is bound to make money off of this, something he says in a Skype interview with The Guardian that he deserves (Gay Girl in Damascus hoaxer: I did it out of vanity – video | World news | guardian.co.uk http://bit.ly/jQeQdz). But the efforts to ferret all this out—what do you have in the end? A lying asshole, a Syrian government as repressive as ever (and horribly uncaring and cynical, opening their border with Israel to "protestors" who will, of course, be repelled by some means eventually violent and thus deflect attention away from a government killing children), a woman with a broken heart? And a social media community that knows it was punked.
To those Twitter people involved with the Arab Spring and Middle East news, people with many followers who took the time to retweet Lauren's information, thank you. And those of you who did not, to borrow Charlene Spierer's words, "Shame on you." You especially know the import of crowd sourcing. At this time, I believe, the police in Bloomington are trying to ID a car. Someone out there saw something, and perhaps a tweet, a link to a poster can help jog a memory of something half seen, not considered important then, but . . . . .
The hours tick by and reporters are still talking about Amina and those who "uncovered" the hoax are speaking to interested audiences. Go away, Amina. You never existed. Lauren Spierer does, and her family wants her back. Sure, maybe Lauren doesn't have the social significance of a "Gay Girl in Syria" blogging about the revolution. Lauren just wanted to go into fashion. Have fun. Be a young person. She also probably wanted to grow up and have a job she loved and a husband and kids. Normal stuff that wouldn't have changed the world, except for those who love her. Lauren would never have made this kind of social media splash, except that she went missing.
The woman doing the Twitter—she's heroic and clever, linking the feed to the Twitter trending map. That's also wishful thinking because, as the time draws out and the police have nothing new to say, fewer people will turn out for the searches, fewer people will spread the word. The news cycle is changing. Amina is hanging on, but Lauren might disappear from the public consciousness. And that's why it's so important that someone right now turns up something important so that the media refocuses its spotlight on Lauren.
I have no tips except:
- Use Facebook or Twitter to get the message out. For information, go to Twitter.com and search #FindLauren or @NewsOnLaurenS.
- Or just google Lauren Spierer. Email her picture and information about the reward and contacts to everyone you know. And people you don't know.
- Join Facebook or Twitter. Something like Lauren's disappearance is a great argument for the importance of social media to people of all ages. A friend in Israel wrote to me, "your family is my family," and then reposted my last blog about Lauren. (Oh, Ellen, what great values you have.) Yes, this is especially poignant to those of use who are parents and grandparents. Both Twitter and Facebook have enough tutorials so you can probably join yourself. Remember that google will lead you to VIDEO tutorials. And soon, when I have time, I'll do a Baby Boomer special rundown so that soon we'll all be tweeting. My dream: in our Twitter feeds now and then a young blond will turn up, saying something like, "Just had the best burger ever." Earth moving news. Because we'll know she's alive.
Finally, please leave your comments.