Its the Catholics again … avoiding responsibility

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I often wonder if I’ve heard every possible excuse to justify not accepting responsibility for child abuse. However, just when I think I have, along comes somebody to prove me completely wrong.

There is currently a case taking place in the UK that involves a girl known as “JGE”, who was sexually abused while a six-year-old resident at The Firs, a children’s home in Portsmouth run by an order of nuns, the English Province of Our Lady of Charity. JGE was sexually abused by Father Wilfred Baldwin, a priest of the Roman Catholic diocese of Portsmouth and its “vocations director”, who regularly visited The Firs during the 70s. Her legal team claim the nuns were negligent and in breach of duty, and that the diocese was liable for Baldwin’s alleged abuse as he was a Catholic priest engaged within the work of the diocese.

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Irish “Home Rule” is no longer “Rome Rule”

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Honestly, I’m quite happy for folks to believe whatever they wish, and as long as they behave in a decent manner, I’ll not show too much interest … which perhaps explains why I, and many others, are constantly banging away at both Islam, extreme evangelical kooks,  and also Catholicism. For not only are their beliefs truly bizarre and utterly insane, but the manner in which they treat others is quite frankly appalling.

Today, on-side, joining us in valid criticism of the Catholic cult of insanity is the president of the Irish Republic, Enda Kenny. What is most surprising and completely “unprecedented” about his verbal attack upon the Vatican is that it comes from a Fine Gael taoiseach, whose political base lies in the conservative west of Ireland, who has led from the front. It should of course not be a surprise, for quite some time now case after case of abuse and cover-up has come to the surface. In the latest report, we find that the Vatican are still obstructing the civil power, ie the Garda Síochána, in their inquiries into allegations against priests in the County Cork diocese. Here is the Video of his speech …

You can read an interesting article in the Guardian about all this here.

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#TAM9 – Some Images

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I’ve plucked out a few of my favorite pictures that I captured while at TAM and added a few thoughts. Oh, and least you wonder, yes you can indeed click on any of the pictures to see a larger copy.

I’ve also been advised that all the talks will be made available for free, so as they become available, I’ll post the links.

Where is Randi?

You know the game “Where is Waldo?”, well here is the TAM equivalent called “Where is Randi?”. OK, its a bit of fun, but a serious point can still be drawn from this.

James Randi has an international reputation as a magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world’s most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. In this role over many years he has had a profound influence on countless lives.

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Alzheimer’s – Reducing your risk … potentially

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Alzheimers, the incurable, degenerative, and terminal disease was first described by German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906, hence it was named after him. In its early stages you have an inability to acquire new memories. This is observed as difficulty in recalling recently observed events, then as it advances symptoms include confusion, irritability and aggression, mood swings, language breakdown, long-term memory loss, and the general withdrawal of the sufferer as their senses decline.

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Punching a Hole in Time

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This latest item of science news leaves me wondering just how much of it is hype and how much is real, so I’m pushing it out into a couple of skeptic communities to see what folks think. Here is the claim …

First Demonstration of Time Cloaking

Physicists have created a “hole in time” using the temporal equivalent of an invisibility cloak.

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#Elevatorgate and similar – Is It Cold in Here?

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Many others are blogging or tweeting about an article by the science writer Jennifer Ouellette in Scientific American, and I also will do the same. Why? well because it is a truly fabulous take on the entire issue of sexism within a scientific context. It is a clear rational piece, especially in the context of … Read more