Dear Pope Francis:
Not since the Reformation has the Catholic Church endured the scathing censure is so richly deserves. With the latest revelations about hundreds of Pennsylvania priests abusing minors, the church's already unholy reputation has been left in scandalous ruins.
No amount of mea culpas will suffice for the morally reprehensible conduct of pedophile priests and church leaders who covered up the widespread abusive behavior in Pennsylvania. Your expression of "sorrow" for the victims does not erase the heinous nature of the sinful conduct.
According to a two-year grand jury investigation, priests groped, raped and performed oral sex on minors as young as nine-years-old. More than 300 priests were involved in decades of child abuse. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania church hierarchy hid the crimes and shielded guilty priests.
It is unconscionable for you Pope Francis to assume your remorse suffices for your gross disregard for moral accountability. In any other setting, secular or religious, those who condoned the transgressions by their silence are guilty. They deserve swift judgment and punishment.
You can no longer pretend these priestly scandals are rare. Despite the covert efforts of your church managers (i.e. the archbishops, bishops and cardinals) to coverup the misconduct, wave after wave of credible reports have surfaced over the last couple of decades exposing the abhorrent behavior.
And the incidents are not isolated. Diocesan leaders across the U.S. have been exposed for harboring sexual predators. The allegations are worldwide, having spread to Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Austria, German, Belgium and Mexico, to name just a few countries. It is an epidemic.
Under your leadership, the church continues to dither. Catholics are growing weary of the same broken promises to clean up the sordid mess. You keep talking about change and accountability but from the view in the church pews we Catholics are convinced the situation has grown worse.
There was hope when you assumed the role of Pope that you would not repeat the same mistake as your predecessors, who disregarded vows of a no tolerance policy. You pledged the same. Yet the man who presided over the Pennsylvania dereliction today remains a cardinal in Washington, D.C.
Quit listening to church apologists and your lawyers. Act now or watch your once holy church be relegated to a footnote in religious history. Claim what tattered moral authority remains invested in your office and boldly decide the buck has been passed long enough. It stops at the Vatican.
And order your surrogates to cease trying to mitigate the damage by pointing out pedophilia is not exclusively a church issue. Of course, it's not. But no one cares. People expect the church to set an example of Christian behavior. Words no longer matter. Only actions will make a difference.
First, open all the records of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania to the authorities. Defrock any pedophile priests who are still living. Demand the bishop who presided over the scandal resign immediately. In fact, fire him. That's not church protocol, but don't stand on ritualistic formality.
Secondly, announce from this day forward any priest accused of abuse will be immediately suspended. Law enforcement will be called in to investigate. Any bishop or other senior official who fails to report an incident to the authorities will be summarily fired. No exceptions. Period.
Thirdly, you can no longer evade your obligation to review the church's policy of priestly celibacy. It is not wholly to blame for the sickening behavior, however, therapists who have worked with clergy are convinced it contributes to sexual immaturity which may help explain the deviant tendencies.
Do more than study the issue to death. Do something. Priests should be allowed to date, marry and explore their sexuality. Clinging to the past will only ensure the problems of today will be the same ones tomorrow. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth among traditionalists. Remain firm.
The church stands at a crossroad. It can no longer weather the legal, financial and criminal storms gathering outsides its doors without disastrous consequences. This is your moment to display moral leadership. Your responsibility cannot be delegated. Take decisive action or resign your papacy.
A Disillusioned Catholic,
Drew Roy
Monday, August 27, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
Socialism: Make America Venezuela
A shocking new poll by the non-partisan Gallup organization should vex all Americans. In a nationwide survey, the firm reported that Democrats are more positive about socialism than capitalism. While the results are astounding, the findings help explain the party's leftward surge.
The research, which included a sample of 1,505 adults aged 18 and older, signals a sharp turn in attitudes about socialism. Fully 57 percent of self-identified Democrats and independents who lean Democratic hold a positive view of a system once considered anathema to most Americans.
By comparison, 48 percent of Democrats and leaners approve of capitalism. Looking at the demographics, older Americans from both parties have a dim view of socialism. Young people, aged 18-29, are the most ardent supporters with a majority (55%) approving of socialism.
For decades, Americans associated socialism with Marxist Communism, a Utopian theory of a collectivist society characterized by the equal distribution of wealth, property housing and other goods. While the theory captivates the naive, in actual practice socialism has a record of utter failure.
But many who should know better, including politicians, Hollywood glitterati and economists, now are openly embracing socialism. Perhaps that has swayed Democrats' opinions on the allure of a thoroughly discredited system. Fortunately, their views do not reflect the majority of Americans.
In the Gallup poll, about 37 percent of all Americans have a rosy view of socialism. By an overwhelming majority, nearly 70 percent of Republicans favor capitalism. Only 13 percent of Republicans and those who lean Republican are in favor of socialism.
Those who believe socialism will make America great need to look to Venezuela, once one of the world's richest countries now wallowing in despair. The South American nation is on the brink of collapse after jettisoning capitalism two decades ago, replacing it with socialism.
The country, with the largest proven oil reserves in the world, has squandered its wealth by heavily spending on government subsidies for residents, including 'free' health care. Experts believe the nation's inflation rate may hit one million percent by year's end. (One million is not a typo.)
The Venezuelan Central Bank has stopped issuing economic data in an effort to hide the country's chronic decline. Before it halted the practice, the bank's statistics showed that in a single year (2015) the per capita income plunged from $15,929 to $6,042. People are suffering in extreme poverty.
Venezuela's currency is in shambles, tumbling to an all time low. At the end of July, country's currency, the bolivar, was practically worthless. It took 115,000 bolivars to equal one U.S. dollar. Venezuelans lug pallets full of currency to the grocery store just to buy essentials.
As a result of hyperinflation, there are dire food and medical shortages. The country ran out of toilet paper and was forced to dispatch army troops to a paper manufacturing company occupied by angry residents. Recurring electricity blackouts and growing thug violence are a common occurrence.
Food riots erupt with alarming regularity. Hospitals have no running water. Thousands of Venezuelans are fleeing the country, escaping into neighboring Columbia. In response, the government has cracked down on dissent, jailing opponents and ratcheting up propaganda.
Dunderhead Hollywood nabobs like Sean Penn, Oliver Stone and Michael Moore once pointed to Venezuela as a shining example of the benefits of socialism. They have been strangely silent as Venezuela plunges into economic and societal oblivion. The media has been mum too.
In the face of his nation's crisis, President Nicolas Maduro is continuing the practice of his mentor Hugo Chavez, looting the private sector, seizing companies and taking over farms, while fattening his personal fortune at the expense of his poverty-stricken people. This is what socialism looks like.
Democrat Bernie Sanders, a self-avowed Democratic Socialist who enchants young people with his message of free college and free health care, has been the standard bearer for socialist policies. Now Democrats candidates for elective office are openly endorsing the same ideals.
Those Americans who shill for socialism should be exposed as charlatans. They are peddling an economic and social solution that ruins the lives of people and bankrupts countries. The only equality socialism guarantees is shared misery. That's reason enough to soundly reject socialism.
The research, which included a sample of 1,505 adults aged 18 and older, signals a sharp turn in attitudes about socialism. Fully 57 percent of self-identified Democrats and independents who lean Democratic hold a positive view of a system once considered anathema to most Americans.
By comparison, 48 percent of Democrats and leaners approve of capitalism. Looking at the demographics, older Americans from both parties have a dim view of socialism. Young people, aged 18-29, are the most ardent supporters with a majority (55%) approving of socialism.
For decades, Americans associated socialism with Marxist Communism, a Utopian theory of a collectivist society characterized by the equal distribution of wealth, property housing and other goods. While the theory captivates the naive, in actual practice socialism has a record of utter failure.
But many who should know better, including politicians, Hollywood glitterati and economists, now are openly embracing socialism. Perhaps that has swayed Democrats' opinions on the allure of a thoroughly discredited system. Fortunately, their views do not reflect the majority of Americans.
In the Gallup poll, about 37 percent of all Americans have a rosy view of socialism. By an overwhelming majority, nearly 70 percent of Republicans favor capitalism. Only 13 percent of Republicans and those who lean Republican are in favor of socialism.
Those who believe socialism will make America great need to look to Venezuela, once one of the world's richest countries now wallowing in despair. The South American nation is on the brink of collapse after jettisoning capitalism two decades ago, replacing it with socialism.
The country, with the largest proven oil reserves in the world, has squandered its wealth by heavily spending on government subsidies for residents, including 'free' health care. Experts believe the nation's inflation rate may hit one million percent by year's end. (One million is not a typo.)
The Venezuelan Central Bank has stopped issuing economic data in an effort to hide the country's chronic decline. Before it halted the practice, the bank's statistics showed that in a single year (2015) the per capita income plunged from $15,929 to $6,042. People are suffering in extreme poverty.
Venezuela's currency is in shambles, tumbling to an all time low. At the end of July, country's currency, the bolivar, was practically worthless. It took 115,000 bolivars to equal one U.S. dollar. Venezuelans lug pallets full of currency to the grocery store just to buy essentials.
As a result of hyperinflation, there are dire food and medical shortages. The country ran out of toilet paper and was forced to dispatch army troops to a paper manufacturing company occupied by angry residents. Recurring electricity blackouts and growing thug violence are a common occurrence.
Food riots erupt with alarming regularity. Hospitals have no running water. Thousands of Venezuelans are fleeing the country, escaping into neighboring Columbia. In response, the government has cracked down on dissent, jailing opponents and ratcheting up propaganda.
Dunderhead Hollywood nabobs like Sean Penn, Oliver Stone and Michael Moore once pointed to Venezuela as a shining example of the benefits of socialism. They have been strangely silent as Venezuela plunges into economic and societal oblivion. The media has been mum too.
In the face of his nation's crisis, President Nicolas Maduro is continuing the practice of his mentor Hugo Chavez, looting the private sector, seizing companies and taking over farms, while fattening his personal fortune at the expense of his poverty-stricken people. This is what socialism looks like.
Democrat Bernie Sanders, a self-avowed Democratic Socialist who enchants young people with his message of free college and free health care, has been the standard bearer for socialist policies. Now Democrats candidates for elective office are openly endorsing the same ideals.
Those Americans who shill for socialism should be exposed as charlatans. They are peddling an economic and social solution that ruins the lives of people and bankrupts countries. The only equality socialism guarantees is shared misery. That's reason enough to soundly reject socialism.
Monday, August 13, 2018
News Media Has Lost Americans' Trust
Media elites, chafing under withering criticism from President Trump and his spokespersons, are infuriated over attacks impugning the integrity of news reporting. News execs are pitching a temper tantrum, calling the vilificaton an assault on the First Amendment guarantee of a free press.
There's nothing unusual about an adversarial relationship between the media and White House, but the current environment is toxic. Hostilities recently escalated into a fiery war of words over testy White House press briefings and the heckling of a CNN reporter at a Trump campaign rally.
Newspaper editors and television officials are framing the issue as an altruistic battle over a free and open press versus government censorship. But their real motive is less magnanimous. News organizations are trying to salvage their already tattered public standing, which has sunk to new lows.
A 2016 Pew Research study found that only 18 percent of Americans have a "a lot of trust" in national newspaper, television and radio news media. In a poll last year, Gallup reported that only 32 percent of adults have a "great deal" or "fair" amount of trust in the news media.
These are historic troughs for the news media. However, it is hardly breaking news. There has been a steady erosion in public opinion of the integrity of the news media over the last 20 years, stretching back to 1997. The downdraft did not begin with the election of Donald Trump.
In fact, an exhaustive study commissioned by the American Society of Newspapers Editors in 1998 uncovered that 78 percent of respondents agreed there is "bias" in reporting. A CBS News/New York Times poll in 2006 affirmed that only four in 10 adults believed news reports are truthful.
Those are alarming numbers for the news industry, which is suffering from dwindling newspaper readership, plummeting television viewership and tumbling radio ratings. The news business' high-stakes struggle for survival is being undermined by its flagging public image.
News officials may be outraged by the labeling of their reporting as "fake news," but they have given their detractors plenty of ammunition. There has been an epidemic of reporting that has proven to be false, misleading or deliberately biased. Examples abound across all media.
After Mr. Trump's victory, reports circulated on social media and the news that multiple transgender teenagers had committed suicide in response to his election. Even Snopes, an alleged fact-checking website, called the rumors "unconfirmed" rather than false. Turns out the news was indeed a fraud.
Later in November, the New York Magazine claimed a group of computer scientists and election lawyers were demanding a recount in three states won by Mr. Trump. The story was picked up by most media outlets. No proof was ever produced by the so-called experts and the story was pulled.
Another bombshell that exploded in the media's faces was a report that a Muslim business owner flew to Iraq to bring his sick mother to America for medical treatment. The woman supposedly died because her flight was delayed by the immigration ban. The account was a total fabrication.
Associated Press reported that the House had voted to roll back Obama rules on background checks for gun ownership a year ago. The news created hysteria on social media. Some might call the story misleading but it was downright deceitful. The House did no such thing.
For the record, the House repealed a narrow slice of the Obama era rule dealing with background checks for those with Social Security disability and adults receiving Supplemental Security Income. Even the American Association for People with Disabilities and the ACLU supported the change.
CNN has earned the title of least trusted network for egregious bogus reporting. CNN falsely reported the president removed a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King from his office. Three CNN employees resigned after the network retracted a story about a meeting between a Trump official and a Russian.
And on and on it goes. The New York Times falsely claimed on its front page that the Trump Administration had hidden a climate report. ABC demoted Brian Ross for a bungled report on Trump-Russia. The Washington Post posted a phony photo of an empty stadium for a Trump rally.
In each case, social media users amplified the lies thousands and thousands of times on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. One false story turns into a tsunami of fake news. That makes it even more incumbent on the legacy media to get its facts straight before the stories are reported as news.
There is no defense for the current spate of reckless reporting by the national media. The First Amendment is not a license for outright lying and deception. The media has an obligation to hold government accountable, but it must be credible to do its job the way the founders intended.
Journalists are the ones who can fix the credibility problem. Editors and media owners need to hold reporters accountable for truth and fairness or nothing will change. The choice is theirs. Either deal with the integrity issue or watch the news industry incinerate itself.
There's nothing unusual about an adversarial relationship between the media and White House, but the current environment is toxic. Hostilities recently escalated into a fiery war of words over testy White House press briefings and the heckling of a CNN reporter at a Trump campaign rally.
Newspaper editors and television officials are framing the issue as an altruistic battle over a free and open press versus government censorship. But their real motive is less magnanimous. News organizations are trying to salvage their already tattered public standing, which has sunk to new lows.
A 2016 Pew Research study found that only 18 percent of Americans have a "a lot of trust" in national newspaper, television and radio news media. In a poll last year, Gallup reported that only 32 percent of adults have a "great deal" or "fair" amount of trust in the news media.
These are historic troughs for the news media. However, it is hardly breaking news. There has been a steady erosion in public opinion of the integrity of the news media over the last 20 years, stretching back to 1997. The downdraft did not begin with the election of Donald Trump.
In fact, an exhaustive study commissioned by the American Society of Newspapers Editors in 1998 uncovered that 78 percent of respondents agreed there is "bias" in reporting. A CBS News/New York Times poll in 2006 affirmed that only four in 10 adults believed news reports are truthful.
Those are alarming numbers for the news industry, which is suffering from dwindling newspaper readership, plummeting television viewership and tumbling radio ratings. The news business' high-stakes struggle for survival is being undermined by its flagging public image.
News officials may be outraged by the labeling of their reporting as "fake news," but they have given their detractors plenty of ammunition. There has been an epidemic of reporting that has proven to be false, misleading or deliberately biased. Examples abound across all media.
After Mr. Trump's victory, reports circulated on social media and the news that multiple transgender teenagers had committed suicide in response to his election. Even Snopes, an alleged fact-checking website, called the rumors "unconfirmed" rather than false. Turns out the news was indeed a fraud.
Later in November, the New York Magazine claimed a group of computer scientists and election lawyers were demanding a recount in three states won by Mr. Trump. The story was picked up by most media outlets. No proof was ever produced by the so-called experts and the story was pulled.
Another bombshell that exploded in the media's faces was a report that a Muslim business owner flew to Iraq to bring his sick mother to America for medical treatment. The woman supposedly died because her flight was delayed by the immigration ban. The account was a total fabrication.
Associated Press reported that the House had voted to roll back Obama rules on background checks for gun ownership a year ago. The news created hysteria on social media. Some might call the story misleading but it was downright deceitful. The House did no such thing.
For the record, the House repealed a narrow slice of the Obama era rule dealing with background checks for those with Social Security disability and adults receiving Supplemental Security Income. Even the American Association for People with Disabilities and the ACLU supported the change.
CNN has earned the title of least trusted network for egregious bogus reporting. CNN falsely reported the president removed a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King from his office. Three CNN employees resigned after the network retracted a story about a meeting between a Trump official and a Russian.
And on and on it goes. The New York Times falsely claimed on its front page that the Trump Administration had hidden a climate report. ABC demoted Brian Ross for a bungled report on Trump-Russia. The Washington Post posted a phony photo of an empty stadium for a Trump rally.
In each case, social media users amplified the lies thousands and thousands of times on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. One false story turns into a tsunami of fake news. That makes it even more incumbent on the legacy media to get its facts straight before the stories are reported as news.
There is no defense for the current spate of reckless reporting by the national media. The First Amendment is not a license for outright lying and deception. The media has an obligation to hold government accountable, but it must be credible to do its job the way the founders intended.
Journalists are the ones who can fix the credibility problem. Editors and media owners need to hold reporters accountable for truth and fairness or nothing will change. The choice is theirs. Either deal with the integrity issue or watch the news industry incinerate itself.
Monday, August 6, 2018
Greenhouse Gas: Holy Cow! Stop Already!
As any fifth grader knows fossil fuels and energy production are the largest producers of greenhouse gasses. But many Americans are unaware scientists have documented that cattle also contribute unhealthy emissions. New research holds promise of a solution to relieve gasbag cows.
Leading scientists and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have quantified the impact of livestock methane emissions. The best estimate is that these animals account for 4.2 percent of all greenhouse gas output. That includes not only cows, but sheep, pigs, chickens and horses.
However, dairy and beef cattle account for the largest share of animal methane emissions. In 2016, the U.S. had 38.1 million cows, including 29 million beef and 9 million diary cattle. California leads the nation in dairy cows with 1.8 million. Texas ranks first with 10.9 million beef cows.
Scientists beef with cows is the animals perpetually burp and exhale, creating methane. The beasts also pass methane gas from the other end of their carcass, but to a lesser degree. Manure also is a source of methane emissions. Think about these details next time you bite into a juicy steak.
California politicians decided to raise a stink about all that burping and defecating so they adopted new regulations requiring diary farmers and producers of other livestock to cut methane emissions by 40 percent by 2030. How would you like to be the bureaucrat measuring cattle emissions?
Some smart people at the University of California, Davis, offered to tackle the issue to give cattle ranchers a way to meet the methane mandate. A team from the Department of Animal Science zeroed in on the diet and digestive tract of the animals. They also found a nugget from past studies.
A trial in Australia found that introducing just two percent seaweed into feed munched by cows could reduce methane emissions by 99 percent. The seaweed inhibits an enzyme that contributes to methane production. But the cows turned up their noses when they tasted the seaweed.
Starting with that research, the UCD group experimented with several supplements until they stumbled upon one the cows practically mooed over. They found a touch of molasses masked the smell of the ocean algae (aka seaweed). And you thought molasses was just for baked beans.
Researchers introduced the sweetened seaweed into standard cattle pellets made from oil cakes, peanut seedling, grass, maize straw, wheat straw, wheat bran and other agricultural byproducts. As the cows snacked on the mixture scientists measured the methane in their breath.
The results were amoozing, according to the UCD team. Cows whose diet included the molasses enriched seaweed had reductions in methane gas emission that exceeded the California legislature's target. Researchers called the findings "very surprising and promising."
Of course, less methane would be pointless if the cows milk tasted like seaweed. Throughout the trial, researchers tested the cows milk for flavor, yield and nutritional content. Preliminary results were encouraging, but more research is required to verify the findings of the small survey.
"We have much more research to do to determine if seaweed supplements could provide a viable, long term-term solution," confirmed Ermias Kebreab with the UCD Animal Science Department. "But we are very encouraged by these early results." The trial involved only 12 smelly cows.
Beyond tenderizing emissions, growing seaweed doesn't require land, fresh water or fertilizer. No carbon producing equipment would be needed to harvest the seaweed, which can't be said for hay and other livestock feed. This could be a win-win for the cattle industry and the climate.
No matter the environmental issues, it would be udder-ly senseless to adopt the molasses and seaweed recipe unless cows are convinced it cud be worth chewing. Researchers hopefully won't have to wait until the cows come home to have an answer to that question.
Leading scientists and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have quantified the impact of livestock methane emissions. The best estimate is that these animals account for 4.2 percent of all greenhouse gas output. That includes not only cows, but sheep, pigs, chickens and horses.
However, dairy and beef cattle account for the largest share of animal methane emissions. In 2016, the U.S. had 38.1 million cows, including 29 million beef and 9 million diary cattle. California leads the nation in dairy cows with 1.8 million. Texas ranks first with 10.9 million beef cows.
Scientists beef with cows is the animals perpetually burp and exhale, creating methane. The beasts also pass methane gas from the other end of their carcass, but to a lesser degree. Manure also is a source of methane emissions. Think about these details next time you bite into a juicy steak.
California politicians decided to raise a stink about all that burping and defecating so they adopted new regulations requiring diary farmers and producers of other livestock to cut methane emissions by 40 percent by 2030. How would you like to be the bureaucrat measuring cattle emissions?
Some smart people at the University of California, Davis, offered to tackle the issue to give cattle ranchers a way to meet the methane mandate. A team from the Department of Animal Science zeroed in on the diet and digestive tract of the animals. They also found a nugget from past studies.
A trial in Australia found that introducing just two percent seaweed into feed munched by cows could reduce methane emissions by 99 percent. The seaweed inhibits an enzyme that contributes to methane production. But the cows turned up their noses when they tasted the seaweed.
Starting with that research, the UCD group experimented with several supplements until they stumbled upon one the cows practically mooed over. They found a touch of molasses masked the smell of the ocean algae (aka seaweed). And you thought molasses was just for baked beans.
Researchers introduced the sweetened seaweed into standard cattle pellets made from oil cakes, peanut seedling, grass, maize straw, wheat straw, wheat bran and other agricultural byproducts. As the cows snacked on the mixture scientists measured the methane in their breath.
The results were amoozing, according to the UCD team. Cows whose diet included the molasses enriched seaweed had reductions in methane gas emission that exceeded the California legislature's target. Researchers called the findings "very surprising and promising."
Of course, less methane would be pointless if the cows milk tasted like seaweed. Throughout the trial, researchers tested the cows milk for flavor, yield and nutritional content. Preliminary results were encouraging, but more research is required to verify the findings of the small survey.
"We have much more research to do to determine if seaweed supplements could provide a viable, long term-term solution," confirmed Ermias Kebreab with the UCD Animal Science Department. "But we are very encouraged by these early results." The trial involved only 12 smelly cows.
Beyond tenderizing emissions, growing seaweed doesn't require land, fresh water or fertilizer. No carbon producing equipment would be needed to harvest the seaweed, which can't be said for hay and other livestock feed. This could be a win-win for the cattle industry and the climate.
No matter the environmental issues, it would be udder-ly senseless to adopt the molasses and seaweed recipe unless cows are convinced it cud be worth chewing. Researchers hopefully won't have to wait until the cows come home to have an answer to that question.
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