From around the Interwebs.
August 8, 2007, 8:37 am
Posted by Grant Gallicho
A few items I’ve been meaning to plug…
- Cardinal George spoke to local Chicago news about the sentencing of admitted molester Fr. Daniel McCormack. He admitted his own mistakes in the case–which, along with the errors of several others, were very serious–but refused to say exactly what happened to archdiocesan employees who failed to take the appropriate steps. But wouldn’t it be a good idea to set an example for other archdiocesan employees? For other Catholics? You fail to be vigilant, you fail to follow archdiocesan policy or state law, and there will be consequences. Still, at least he didn’t repeat his spokeswoman’s tone-deaf downplaying of the abuse McCormack committed.
- TNR‘s Leon Wieseltier has a few choice words for the New York Times series on the uber-rich. (subscription/registration req’d)
- A prominent conservative Episcopal priest stands accused of stealing or diverting $610,000 from his parish. Who’s accusing him? His diocese in Colorado Springs. Or, rather, the one from which he defected in order to affiliate–along with many members of his congregation–with the Diocese of Nigeria. The priest, Don Armstrong, has been quite vocal in his opposition to blessing same-sex unions and to consecrating gay bishops. He denies the charges, of course–but he also says he’s no longer Episcopalian, which is why he felt comfortable skipping out on the ecclesiastical hearing convened by his (former?) diocese. The diocese understandably wants its parish back, which, it says, Armstrong and his flock are illegally occupying. This one’s going to civil court. Ought to be interesting…
- Former Commonweal associate editor Tim Reidy was foolish enough to invite me to be on the America podcast. Listening to recordings of my own voice causes damage to my eardrums–especially when my blood sugar is as low as it was when we taped the interview–so consider yourself warned.
- EPA to enjoyers of Lake Michigan: Enjoy your sludge. Oil company BP (which used to stand for British Petroleum, but now, I believe, is short for Beyond Petroleum) has received a permit from Indiana to dump even more pollutants into Lake Michigan. That’s awfully strange for a company whose ads repeatedly tout its environmental sensitivity. Not everyone is sold on Al Gore’s arguments, but what’s not debatable is this: pollution is bad–for people and for the environment. What sort of Environmental Protection Agency allows increased damage to be done to both?
Oooooh! A news digest! I love it! And we were going to Lake Michigan next weekend. Guess that’s out. Glub.
Of course Cardinal George wants to settle out of court. That way he will not be called upon to testify under oath.
In the EPA, there is pollution, and then there is POLLUTION, the former deemed acceptable as a result of complicated and no doubt costly toxicity tests.
http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/criteria/ammonia/re-eval-fs.htm
Be sure to click on the “Criteria Table” to the left for the list of acceptable aquatic concentrations of such health-promoting pollutants as cyanide, chromium, chloroform, toluene, methyl bromide, and (my personal favorite) Bis(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate. (Who knew?!)
Perhaps if you swim long enough in Lake Michigan, Jean, you will be either self-embalmed or galvanized. ;)
William,
The michigan DNR has a pretty good site that we check before visiting our state parks. The site lists which beaches are closed and why. Usually it’s e. coli due to overdevelopment of wetlands by retired GM and Ford execs who want to build reat big heaps up north where the water table is really too close to the surface to sustain an adequat septic system.
But occasionally there are various chemical pollutants.
However, I’m already as embalmed/galvanized as I’m going to be, I think.
I grew up two miles from the Dow Chemical in the 1950s and 60s plant before there WAS an EPA. That was when the coal generators left a fine dusting of fly ash on everybody’s window sills and cars in the morning, and if you walked to school in the morning at the right time, you smelled like biphenyl chlorides when you got there.
“I grew up two miles from the Dow Chemical in the 1950s and 60s plant before there WAS an EPA….[I]f you walked to school in the morning at the right time, you smelled like biphenyl chlorides when you got there.”
This explains the eerie greenish glow that emanates from your posts, Jean. ;)
You can’t make this (unfortunate) stuff up.
Here’s one about a priest, not from Cardinal George’s archdiocese, that seems unbelievable to me.
Priest Nabbed While Running Nude
By Associated Press
8/9/07
FREDERICK, Colo. – A Catholic priest faces an indecent exposure charge after jogging in the nude about an hour before sunrise.
The Rev. Robert Whipkey told officers he had been running naked at a high school track and didn’t think anyone would be around at that time of day, a police report said.
He told officers he sweats profusely if he wears clothing while jogging. “I know what I did was wrong,” he said in the report.
Whipkey did not return phone messages. His attorney, Doug Tisdale, told the Longmont Times-Call that Whipkey had no comment.
Whipkey, 53, was arrested around 4:30 a.m. June 22 in this town about 20 miles north of Denver.
The Archdiocese of Denver said it takes the incident seriously but is awaiting the outcome of the case. Whipkey remains an active priest.
If convicted of indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, he would have to register as a sex offender, prosecutors said.
Booorrrrnnnn Freeee! I can’t wait until the South Park guys get ahold of this.
Who saw him?
Cathleen,
An off-duty police officer saw him. Here is a more up-to-date version of the story:
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_6577885
I am no expert on the topic of indecent exposure, but it doesn’t seem to me to be indecent exposure when you are all alone in the dark, naked, and someone shines a flashlight on you! The guy sounds a little quirky, but does this really merit making him a registered sex offender?
Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s when I was in grade school and high school, some people were scandalized because one of our parish priests swam in the local public pool wearing swimming trunks! And some people were also shocked that our pastor (who was generally beloved . . . until he went on a campaign to get people to tithe) worked in the yard and garden in Bermuda shorts (and a shirt).
50s and 60s! In this parish I’ve heard complaints from parishioners because they’ve seen a priest walking from the rectory to his car in the garage dressed in “civvies,” on his way to attending a university class. I suppose it’s a good thing we can afford a lawn service.