Trump says Google is rigged

The Trump administration on Tuesday said it would explore regulating Google — an effort that would challenge protections around free speech online — in response to the president’s allegations that the tech giant manipulates its search results to prominently display negative stories about him and other Republicans.

President Trump in a predawn tweet claimed that search returns for “Trump News” were “RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD,” apparently responding to a report from Fox News. Then, his top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the White House is “taking a look” at whether, and how, Google should be regulated by the government.

In the United States, regulating search results could violate the First Amendment, said lawmakers from both parties, free-speech advocates and tech experts. The Trump administration’s threat drew rebukes from Democrats and a few Republicans, who said government shouldn’t play a role in monitoring search results or other content online.

Donald J. Trump

✔ @realDonaldTrump

 · Aug 28, 2018

Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of....

Donald J. Trump

✔ @realDonaldTrump

Google search results on “Trump News” are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!

11:02 AM - Aug 28, 2018

Trump’s comments marked a major escalation in allegations of anti-conservative censorship against Google, Facebook and Twitter, which some in the tech industry worry could undermine the public’s trust in the Web as a marketplace of ideas.

“Google and Twitter and Facebook, they’re really treading on very, very troubled territory. And they have to be careful,” the president said later Tuesday.

Google denied the allegations and said its search results aren’t politically biased.

Google processes 90 percent of searches globally, and its powerful algorithms return results based on their calculated relevance, a process Google portrays as neutral. Google takes into account signals including a user’s geographic location and browsing history, which is why Trump’s search results look different from what another user might see. Social media platforms differ from a search because information on social media is circulated through friends and brands that users choose to follow.

Riva Sciuto, a spokeswoman for Google, said that when users “type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds. Search is not used to set a political agenda, and we don’t bias our results toward any political ideology.”

But Google’s algorithm is shrouded in secrecy, and in the past, Google has faced investigations for giving preference to its own products and services in search results.

The controversy Tuesday also illustrates the tricky political terrain that Google and its tech peers navigate. Regulators and users increasingly demand that Silicon Valley apply a heavier hand in moderating content that appears online to prevent harassment, stop hate speech and ensure civil political discourse. At the same time, those decisions about what to allow, and what to take down, aren’t always obvious — and can create controversy.

In the past, federal courts have found that search engine results are protected speech because they resemble the editorial content produced by more traditional sources of information, such as newspapers and books.

“There’s no question about this. The courts have uniformly ruled that search results are protected speech,” said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University.

Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii), the top Democrat on one of the chamber’s tech-focused subcommittees, lambasted Trump’s tweet and threat to regulate as a “crazy, authoritarian idea,” saying it is “unconstitutional, unworkable and antithetical to everything our country stands for.”

However, in 2016, anonymous former Facebook employees suggested that the site often passed over conservative media outlets when choosing stories to curate for its “trending” news feature. Twitter has long denied charges that it limits the reach of tweets from its conservative users but doesn’t tell them, a practice known as shadow-banning.

Social media giants walk a fine line. They try to avoid stepping on the first amendment and yet be a filter for seditious and inflammatory material. The Russians cleverly got through that filter in the 2016 election with their propaganda, posing as American citizens . It's a difficult position for the tech behemoth to be in without adding political bias to the mix.

 Exerpts from Washington post article



Pardon Donald Trump to get him out of the White House? America should make that deal

By Jonathan Zimmerman

Can President Trump pardon himself?
Nobody knows. But if he resigns, we all know someone who could pardon him.
I’m talking about Mike Pence, of course, who would succeed Trump in the White House. If Trump's vice president offered him a pardon in exchange for stepping down, he might take the deal. And it would be a great deal for the American people, too.

We’d avoid what now seems like an inevitable impeachment drama, in the wake of Michael Cohen’s guilty plea about campaign finance violations that he says were at Trump’s direction. And, most of all, we’d be spared the national calamity that is Donald J. Trump.

Witness the president's praise last week of his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was convicted of tax fraud but — unlike Cohen — refused to “break” by cooperating with prosecutors,Trump said. He also suggested that prosecutors should be barred from offering plea deals in exchange for witness testimony, which would make it almost impossible for them to do their jobs.

And even if he did violate campaign-finance laws, Trump added, “almost everybody that runs for office” does the same. It's time to make a deal with Trump

Even Richard Nixon — our only president to resign — never went that far. Throughout the Watergate scandal, Nixon simply claimed that he was “not a crook.” That’s very different from saying that crooks shouldn’t be pressured to testify ... or that everyone is a crook, anyhow, so it’s no big deal.

So it’s time to offer Trump a truly big deal, and the only thing that might save us from him: a full pardon, in exchange for his resignation.

A week before Nixon quit, his former chief of staff Alexander Haig spoke to vice-president Gerald Ford about a possible pardon. We still don't know whether they agreed to trade it for Nixon's resignation, as critics later charged. Until his death in 2006, Ford steadfastly denied any such deal.

Instead, Ford said, he wanted to save the country from further rancor and division. A long criminal trial of Richard Nixon would simply “prolong the bad dreams” of Watergate, Ford declared.

The public wasn’t buying it. Telegrams flew into the White House at a rate of 600 per hour after Ford pardoned Nixon, and they ran 6 to 1 against the decision. Over the next three weeks, Ford’s approval rating plummeted from 71 to 49 percent. The Republicans got slammed in the midterm elections that fall. And they would lose the White House two years later, when Jimmy Carter unseated Ford.


But history has been much kinder to Ford than the voters were. Watergate muckraker Bob Woodward, who skewered Ford at the time of the pardon, later concluded that it was “necessary for the nation.” So did Sen. Edward Kennedy, who presented Ford with the 2001 Profile in Courage Award at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.

It would take courage for Mike Pence to pardon Donald Trump, too. Unlike Ford’s pardon of Nixon, which was restricted to Nixon’s time in the White House, Pence would probably have to offer a blanket pardon to Trump in order to get him to quit. That would cover tax evasion, money laundering, and whatever other crimes Trump might have committed before he was president.

Democrats would howl, of course, charging Pence — as they charged Ford — with selling the pardon to become president. But what are the other options here? Given the rigid polarization of Congress and the two-thirds vote required in the Senate, it's highly unlikely Trump will be removed via impeachment. And there’s a long-standing tradition against indicting a sitting president, so he probably won't be forced out of office that way either.

But if Trump believed that he would face jail time once he left the White House, a pardon might persuade him to exit early. Remember, this is a guy who prides himself on the "Art of the Deal." He might even savor the pardon as the culminating masterstroke in a brilliant career of "tough negotiating," as he calls it.

Yes, it would be awful to watch Donald Trump walk away scot-free. But if that got him to walk away from the presidency, it would also be worth it. Take the deal, America! We need to end this bad dream, once and for all. And however we can.

Canada stunned and worried about Trump trade threats

By ROB GILLIES, ASSOCIATED PRESS TORONTO —
August  29, 2018
It started with President Donald Trump's attacks on Canadian dairy farmers. Then Washington slapped tariffs on Canadian steel, citing national security. There was that disastrous G-7 summit in Quebec. Now it's a new North American free trade agreement that excludes America's northern neighbor.

Canadians are stunned by the repeated broadsides from what has long been their closest ally and some have even begun boycotts.

"Everybody is afraid," said Margot Lajeunesse, who helps run a family-owned bistro in Quebec. "We depend a lot on the U.S."

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VIDEO: President Trump meets with world leaders at G7 summit
President Trump meets with world leaders at G7 summit
About 75 percent of Canada's exports go to the U.S. so the tariff threat looms large after Trump snubbed Canada and reached a preliminary deal with Mexico.

LaLa Bistro, owned by the Lajeunesse family, is among Canadian businesses that are boycotting California wines, American ketchup and other U.S. products in protest. Some Canadians have cancelled U.S. vacations, particularly after Trump assailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G-7 meeting in June, calling him a "weak" and "dishonest" back-stabber.

"It's not the way you treat a friend," Lajeunesse said.

"It's revolting, agreed Raymonde Kennedy, who has ceased buying American products like mustard and clothing. "We won't be insulted like that, by a man with no brain."

Luc Routhier, co-owner of Bar Le P'tit Canot in Quebec, also banned American wine from his eatery after Trump announced tariffs on Canadian aluminum and threatened Quebec's dairy industry.

"I'm not even going to the U.S. this year," he said. "I'm a golfer, and normally I do two trips a year to the U.S. with my buddies."

"I'll only go back to the United States when Trump is gone."

To intensify the pressure on Canada, Trump threatened this week to impose new taxes on Canadian auto imports if Canada didn't negotiate "fairly." Canada must now decide whether to sign onto an agreement it didn't negotiate, or risk that the U.S. and Mexico will make good on threats to do a two-way deal that excludes it.

Canada could lose 60,000 jobs in a trade war and take a 1 percent hit to its GDP — a significant drop because Canada's economy is projected to grow just 2 percent next year, according to estimates from the C.D. Howe Institute, a Toronto-based think tank.

Canada had been left out of the trade talks for the past five weeks, but Trudeau said there was still a "possibility of getting to a good deal for Canada" by Trump's deadline of Friday.

"But," he added, "as I've said all along it has to be the right deal for Canada. We will not sign a bad agreement."

Trump expressed optimism Wednesday that a deal could be reached.

"We gave until Friday and I think we're probably on track," Trump said. "We'll see what happens. I love Canada. And you know what, I love Mexico too. ... I like them both the same."

There is some optimism in Canada's automotive sector despite the Trump tariff threats.

Among other things, the U.S.-Mexico deal mandates that 40 to 45 percent of a car be made in a country with a minimum hourly wage for auto workers of at least $16 to qualify for duty-free status — a requirement that could stem the flow of auto-sector jobs to Mexico, where auto workers earn on average just $5 an hour.

"This should stop the bleeding in Canada," said Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union.

Bank of Montreal chief economist Douglas Porter said the U.S. deal with Mexico leaves Canada in a near take-it-or-leave-it situation. Still, he noted investors have welcomed the news and that helped push the Canadian dollar up 0.5 percent. Stocks of Canadian auto parts companies were up too.

"Perhaps the clearest indicator that the market is viewing the U.S.-Mexico deal as a positive for Canada is the strengthening of the Canadian dollar," Porter said.

Reaction in the Canadian press reflected the mixed feeling about the U.S.-Mexico deal.

"Canada scrambles as U.S., Mexico ink NAFTA pact," headlined the Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper.

The Toronto Star had a different take. "PM cool in the face of Trump's NAFTA heat," it read.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland hurried to Washington this week to try to repair the damage and was in talks Wednesday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other U.S. officials.

"Mexico has made significant concessions which will be really good for Canadian workers. On that basis we are optimistic," Freeland said of the talks.

But the opposition Conservative Party accused Trudeau of mishandling negotiations by letting Mexico and the United States cut a deal without Canada.

"Canada is on the outside looking in while Canadian jobs hang in the balance," Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer tweeted. Foreign-affairs critic Erin O'Toole said in a statement that "Mexico has usurped our role as the key U.S. trade partner."

Still, the ties between the U.S. and Canada are without parallel anywhere in the world. Trade between the two neighbors totaled an estimated $673.9 billion in 2017, with the U.S. enjoying a nearly $3 billion surplus with Canada. Each day, about 400,000 people cross the world's longest international border. There is close cooperation on defense, border security and law enforcement, and a vast overlap in culture, traditions and pastimes.

Trudeau's father, the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, offered this take on sharing a continent with the United States. "Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant," he said. "No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt."

Perhaps the younger Trudeau had his father's words in mind when he asserted that he wouldn't let Canada get pushed around by the U.S. at a news conference at the end of the contentious G-7 summit in June — a remark that enraged Trump.

"He made this point that he's going to make Canadians pay," said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto.

University of Toronto professor Robert Bothwell said the latest trade deal excluding Canada shows Trump is more focused on exerting American economic might than reaching a fair deal with friends.

"This is going to have a horrendous impact on Canada-American relations," Bothwell said. "Canada may well have to give in to this because of the threat to the auto trade, but it's going to leave a very bad taste."

Witchy's opinion  :
The next time we're going to need major allies to stand with us in constructing new treaties, putting troops in troubled countries, etc., we're going to find ourselves either doing it on our own or paying all the other countries' expenses.
Based on our government, America does NOT keep its word and it brazenly lies right in the face of obviously contradictory facts. In over 200 years, that has NEVER happened before. It's going to take generations before the rest of the world trusts us again. Germany and France have already said European security and its economy have to be led by European nations  from  now  on:  how  can  you trust America to stand with you with this fool  of a president  trying to run the country  HUH ??

Trump makes trade deal with Mexico ..." Trudeau and Trump held 'constructive conversation"

U.S. President Donald Trump had Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on the phone as he told reporters the two countries had made a breakthrough in their trade negotiations

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new trade agreement with Mexico Monday that he says will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Will Canada can be part of it? "We will see," Trump said, suggesting that if Canada is prepared to negotiate fairly it should be simple. He said the U.S. would put automotive tariffs on Canadian imports if talks don't succeed.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is now on her way to Washington to join the talks.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump had a "constructive conversation" about the talks Monday, according to a readout of the call issued by the Prime Minister's Office.
"The leaders welcomed the progress that has been made in discussions with Mexico and look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations," the PMO said in a statement.

 

"They want a negotiated deal very badly," Trump said of the Trudeau government earlier Monday, adding that applying car tariffs would be easier to do than working out an agreement with the third NAFTA partner.
"Perhaps the other [a deal] would be much better for Canada," he said.
Was that a threat?
"Absolutely not," Transport Minister Marc Garneau, speaking on behalf of the government, told CBC News Network's Power & Politics.
"Now we're going to be back at the table to negotiate a deal trilaterally."

Trump said the name NAFTA has a "lot of bad connotations to a lot of people" and suggested renaming the agreement the U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement.
While he was speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump had Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on speakerphone. After a few technical difficulties establishing the call, Pena Nieto emphasized repeatedly that Canada now needed to join the talks so it could be incorporated into the agreement.
The Mexican president said that negotiations are now required on "sensitive" bilateral matters between the U.S. and Canada.
Currently, NAFTA's agriculture provisions are composed of a series of three bilateral deals, so changes must be renegotiated separately for this chapter, for example.
U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer, who was congratulated by Trump for reaching the deal with Mexico, said they hoped to conclude talks with Canada by Friday in order to comply with the 90-day window required by Congress before a deal could be signed with the outgoing Mexican administration. Pena Nieto leaves office on Dec. 1.

High-stakes talks now with Canada

Trump again mentioned Canada's "300 per cent" dairy tariffs as an issue between the two countries.
The U.S. president said American farmers "are going to be so happy" with this deal.
"Farmers have stuck with me," Trump said, adding that "Mexico has promised to immediately start purchasing as much farm product as they can.

However, it's unclear if the U.S. will withdraw its tariffs on Mexican steel and aluminum imports. Earlier this summer, Mexico retaliated with high tariffs on some U.S. farm exports.

Earlier Monday, Mexico's economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, told reporters on his way into his fifth week of bilateral meetings with the Americans that he still had to conclude a "very important" issue.

 

Mexico's economy minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, seen here last Thursday with United States trade representative Robert Lighthizer

The U.S.-Mexico negotiators have been trying to make a breakthrough on the deal's automotive chapter, after talks to redefine what should constitute a tariff-free North American vehicle broke down prior to the Mexican presidential election in July.
The revised rules will require 75 per cent of auto content to be made in the United States and Mexico, up from 62.5 per cent, and 40-45 per cent of auto content to be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour.
It's unclear, however, what will happen to automotive imports from Mexico that do not comply with these new rules. The U.S. tariff for non-NAFTA car imports is currently 2.5 per cent, a rate that does not provide a significant incentive to make costly changes to comply with the new rules.
U.S. officials briefing reporters later said the U.S.-Mexico deal wasn't designed to put pressure on anyone, and it wasn't a negotiating strategy meant to isolate Canada. It's hard to get three people to agree at the same time, the official said, characterizing the sequencing as a normal, ordinary way to come to an agreement.
Canada has been part of the talks over the last year, the official said — it's not like the Canadians are just coming in at the last minute.

Compromise reached on sunset clause

Rather than a five-year sunset clause, as originally proposed by the U.S., this new deal would set a 16-year term for the trade agreement, with a review process after six years to consider whether the deal would be renewed for another 16-year term. Officials briefing reporters said this longer period of time would protect the interests of investors.
Reporters were also told that the new deal represents an improvement for every sector over the previous NAFTA.
Lighthizer has spoken repeatedly of wanting a deal that can receive bi-partisan support in Congress, and strict labour requirements for Mexico were thought to be key to securing votes from Democrats in Congress.

It also includes new measures on digital trade, financial services and intellectual property — all improvements the U.S. had sought in the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and officials suggested the new provisions exceed those the U.S. negotiated in the TPP, to which both Canada and Mexico were signatories.
The new agreement also includes a textiles chapter, to limit the use of inputs that don't originate in North America in the apparel trade, and stronger environmental provisions than the original NAFTA.
The Mexicans have agreed to increase the value of their "de minimis" shipment level to $100 US from $50 — shipments under this dollar amount enter Mexico without customs duties or taxes, and with minimal formal entry procedures.
Right now Canada's de minimis level is only $20 Cdn, raising the question of whether Canada now needs to increase its own level to be part of this deal. Such an increase might be welcomed by cross-border shoppers in Canada, but hurt Canadian retailers.
Mexico has also agreed to increase intellectual property protection for biologics drugs. The TPP would have offered eight years of protection, but this deal offers up to 10 years.
Canada has not been part of the marathon talks, now in their fifth week in Washington. But an official suggested Canada would join them Monday afternoon.
A release from Trudeau's office Monday confirmed the pair spoke on Sunday and discussed the ongoing negotiations.

"Given the encouraging announcement today of further bilateral progress between the U.S. and Mexico, Minister Freeland will travel to Washington, D.C., tomorrow to continue negotiations," said a spokesperson for her office. "We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for our middle class."
"Canada's signature is required," Freeland's office emphasized.
Guajardo said Sunday that once Canada returns to the table the three parties would need at least another week of negotiations.
In a tweet prior to Trump's announcement, Pena Nieto said he had spoken to Trudeau to express the importance of Canada rejoining the trilateral talks this week.

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, left, and Vice President Mike Pence, right, listen as United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer talks with President Donald Trump about a trade "understanding" between the United States and Mexico

U.S. officials downplayed talk of tension between Trudeau and Trump during their briefing.
Officials said that ideally Canada will be included in the agreement notified to Congress by the end of the week. Otherwise, the Trump administration will notify Congress that it has reached an agreement with Mexico, and it is open to Canada joining it in the future. They said it would be a better agreement with all three countries.

Old photos - some rare...See if you can identify the people

 

Good old blues song...'Hey Joe' by Otis Taylor

Thousands turn out for protest over clerical abuse .... The Pope in Ireland

 

 

 

One of a large number of protests against clerical child sexual abuse and cover-up took place near Dublin Castle on Saturday morning.

The protest was organized by Margaret McGuckan, a survivor of historic child abuse who spent years in the Catholic run Nazareth House children’s home and helped campaign for the introduction of the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry. Ms McGuckan said the protest was a symbolic gesture to the pope and the church that victims had not gone away.

She said: “The pope now needs to stand up, speak up and do something for the survivors. We need redress, we need the church to be held to account.

“We want the bishops, Christian Brothers, nuns and anyone else who was involved in the abuse of children or covering up the abuse of children brought before the courts.

“We need zero tolerance, they cannot be allowed to investigate themselves. It should be zero tolerance, nothing more and nothing less.

“It’s not just Ireland, look what has happened in America, people fall away from the church because they don’t practice what they preach.”

During her time in Nazareth House, Ms McGuckan says she was beaten, starved, neglected, emotionally, physically and mentally abused at the hands of nuns charged with her care.

Banners were unfurled at Dublin’s Dame Street demanding redress for victims and an end to what they see as a papal cover-up.

Many at the protest were from the global survivors network End Clergy Abuse who had baby shoes tied around their neck in protest for the children who died in the Mother and Baby Homes across Ireland.

 

 

Blue ribbons are tied to the Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin, to remember the victims of clerical sex abuse ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis.

 

Another protest took place on the Ha’penny Bridge over the River Liffey in central Dublin this morning as the plane carrying the pope touched down.

Blue ribbons were tied to railings in support of abuse survivors, rainbow flags waved in solidarity with LGBT people and purple umbrellas held in support of the ordination of female priests.

Minister for Health Simon Harris said it was  a weekend of mixed emotions.

 

On Friday night, images of clerical abuse survivors and activists were projected onto buildings across Dublin city on Friday night ahead of the papal visit, including Dublin’s Catholic Pro Cathedral and the Department of Education and Skills.

Organizers said the illuminations were a celebration of the “activists who were the first to speak out about abuse and shame, at a time when it was not safe to do so, and who brought to light, for the first time, the horrors inflicted by the Catholic Church on so many people in Ireland”.

The projections were organized as part of the ‘Stand for Truth’ event taking place on Sunday at 2.30pm at the Garden of Remembrance.

The event is “for everyone who has been harmed or abused by the institutional Roman Catholic Church, or who wishes to stand in solidarity with those harmed by its actions,” a statement on behalf of its organizers said.

Speaking ahead of the event, organizer Colm O’Gorman said: “We cannot stand by as the scale of the harm caused to countless children, women and vulnerable adults is dismissed or diminished.

“We are better than that. We will not allow the victims of the church’s brutal history to be marginalized...This week Pope Francis has begged for forgiveness, but it isn’t at all clear what he wants forgiveness for.”

If he wants forgiveness for covering up these monstrous crimes against children or for doing nothing to bring the perps to justice, then an apology is totally inadequate. If he wants forgiveness for treating the suffering, the pain and the trauma of the victims as unimportant, diminishing and marginalizing them, then an apology is inadequate. If he wants forgiveness for not helping the victims in any way, then an apology is inadequate. In fact he is inadequate to wear that mitre or carry that staff of office and should step down. He is not the symbol of Christianity he parades himself to be.
 It's no wonder that sexual abuse of children by the Catholic clergy has increased exponentially over the decades. Pedophiles and predators ears perked up when they heard that the church does not turn offenders over to the police, nor does it follow up with appropriate punishment within the church by laicization (de-frocking and expulsion from clerical state and church). Offences were routinely swept under the rug.
What a feast for predators. And how easy to intimidate children with a priest's authority and clerical vestments and a little bullshit about how the Lord disapproves of snitches. They were lining up to study theology. They were clamoring  to proclaim their calling to be God's servants.
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church not only summarily dismissed this horrifying situation.... They created it.

Last of the Mohicans

 



Catholic priests sex abuse cover-up in Pennsylvania...over one thousand victims

Victims of clerical sex abuse and their relatives reacted as Attorney General Josh Shapiro discussed the grand jury report at a news conference in Harrisburg

 

Bishops and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania covered up child sexual abuse by more than 300 priests over a period of 70 years, persuading victims not to report the abuse and law enforcement not to investigate it, according to a searing report issued by a grand jury on Tuesday.

The report, which covered six of the state’s eight Catholic dioceses and found more than 1,000 identifiable victims, is the broadest examination yet by a government agency in the United States of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The report said there are likely thousands more victims whose records were lost or who were too afraid to come forward.

It catalogs horrific instances of abuse: a priest who raped a young girl in the hospital after she had her tonsils out; a victim tied up and whipped with leather straps by a priest; and another priest who was allowed to stay in ministry after impregnating a young girl and arranging for her to have an abortion.

The sexual abuse scandal has shaken the Catholic Church for more than 15 years, ever since explosive allegations emerged out of Boston in 2002. But even after paying billions of dollars in settlements and adding new prevention programs, the church has been dogged by a scandal that is now reaching its highest ranks. The Pennsylvania report comes soon after the resignation of Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, who is accused of sexually abusing young priests and seminarians, as well as minors.

 

TORONTO — Several of the priests accused in the American grand jury report of preying on children for years were treated or assessed at a facility north of Toronto that specializes in services for members of the clergy, the recently released document reveals.
The report, which said it found more than 1,000 children were molested or raped by over 300 so-called "predator priests" in six Pennsylvania Roman Catholic dioceses since the 1940s, also indicated a few allegedly committed assaults while on trips to Canada.
The document released last week said a succession of bishops and other diocesan leaders shuffled abusive priests around parishes rather than reporting them to police in an effort to shield the church from bad publicity and financial liability.

 

 Judy Deaven, pictured, says her son was a victim of sexual abuse by a priest as a boy. A Pennsylvania grand jury says its investigation of clergy sexual abuse identified more than 1,000 child victims.

 

At least seven priests named in the report were sent at some point to what was previously called the Southdown Treatment Centre, or Southdown Institute, located in Aurora, Ont., the document said.
"Southdown is an inpatient residential treatment facility that specializes in treating men and women in ministry," said the report.
 It provides 14-week inpatient mental health treatment to clergy and people otherwise involved in the church, according to its website. It also offers a continuing care program for those who've received inpatient treatment, as well as outpatient psychological services and "comprehensive clinical and candidate assessments."
A spokeswoman for Southdown declined to respond to questions.

 

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, sprinkles Holy Water during Easter Mass in Washington. On August 15, 2018, a Pennsylvania grand jury accused Cardinal Wuerl of helping to protect abusive priests when he was Pittsburgh's bishop.

Among those who received inpatient treatment at Southdown was Rev. John S. Hoehl, who worked in several Catholic schools between 1964 and 1988, when he was stripped of his priestly duties.
He was treated at the facility for about six months starting in May 1986, the report said.
"During his treatment at Southdown, the director informed the diocese that Hoehl had admitted that he had been sexually involved with several high school students when he was headmaster at Quigley," it said. "At the conclusion of his treatment, Southdown provided the diocese with an assessment that Hoehl, in fact, was/is a pedophile."
Shortly thereafter, the report said, Hoehl was given a job as an educational consultant.

 

Another priest who went to Southdown was Rev. John P. Connor, who was arrested in 1984 on charges that he sexually abused a 14-year-old in his home while working as a theology teacher and golf coach at a prep school, the report said.
The case never went to trial after the diocese intervened and negotiated an agreement in which he admitted to the abuse and would "have the record of his arrest erased, as long as he were not re-arrested within one year," the report said.
"The documents from Southdown indicated an assessment that because of Connor's problem with alcohol: 'he acts out sexually with some preference to late adolescent males,'" the report said. "They specifically warned against giving Connor responsibility for adolescents such as a teaching situation."
Less than a year later, he was given "unrestricted ministry" at a new church, the report said.
"There was no warning to the parishioners of the church that he was an admitted child molester," it said.

Michael G. Barletta, who admitted to abusing more than 25 children and young men between 1975 and 1994, also went to Southdown, the report said, adding he was treated for parts of 1994 and 1995, though the diocese listed him as being on sabbatical. There was no warning to the parishioners of the church that he was an admitted child molester.
"After 1994, there are reports and documents that proved that Barletta was allowed to continue ministering to the faithful in the Diocese of Erie," the report said.
The grand jury report also said two unnamed teens were on a retreat with Barletta in Toronto when he allegedly sexually abused them in a hotel room. It noted that he has denied any sexual misconduct with the pair, but admitted to vacationing with them in Canada.Another priest — Rev. Robert Wolk — who ultimately pleaded guilty to four counts of "involuntary deviate sexual intercourse" and to corruption of minors was also investigated for incidents that allegedly occurred in Canada, the report said.

 Former priest James Faluszczak, who says he was molested by a priest as a teenager, reacts to a Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse on August 15, 2018.                     

Yet another priest accused of sexual abuse, Rev. Theodore P. Zabowski, allegedly slept in the same bed and served alcohol to a minor while on a trip to Canada, the document added.
According to the most recent annual report posted on Southdown's website, just over half of the 50 people treated at the facility in the 2016-2017 fiscal year were diagnosed as having mood disorders, and six per cent were diagnosed with a sexual disorder. It said mood disorders include schizophrenia, depression and anxiety, but did not include a definition for sexual disorders. The annual report said most residents presented with more than one diagnosis.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Toronto said it sends priests to the facility periodically "to deal with a variety of issues for example depression, alcohol or other similar situations, as well as psychological assessments if needed."

Canada has also had child sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church in Quebec, in the Maritime provinces and very recently in Ontario. If all these clergy suffer for their crimes is an assessment and treatment at the Southdown Treatment Center, something is very, very wrong in the Canadian Catholic Church. That is less than a light slap on the wrist with a wet noodle and a 'get out of jail free' card.
What about punishment?? All these men belong in jail. Mood disorders?? Pathetic! They are predators of the worst kind. Hiding behind cassocks and preaching the gospel while destroying the childhoods of trusting kids. And the children, who have been taught to respect and obey the priests in their church would fear all kinds of reprisal if they told. Shame on the Catholic Church for giving these men a hall pass. And shame on the Pontif for a weak and totally inadequate letter addressing the situation. These victims still deserve justice and closure.
The priests should be immediately defrocked. They should be labeled as child molesters and should serve time as someone's bitch in the penitentiary.

Motivational Speech By Navy Seal Admiral William H. McRaven ...and a letter expressing great disappointment

 

Revoke my security clearance, too, Mr. President

William H. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, was commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014. He oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

He writes to his president with great disappointment and loyalty to a great American.

 

Dear Mr. President:

Former CIA director John Brennan, whose security clearance you revoked on Wednesday, is one of the finest public servants I have ever known. Few Americans have done more to protect this country than John. He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question, except by those who don’t know him.

Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.

Like most Americans, I had hoped that when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs.

A good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organization. A good leader sets the example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself.  

Your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities. Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation.

If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be.

 Perhaps he could have added, "Or until a better leader takes your place."



This will be my parting song when the time comes

 



110 million-year-old dinosaur fossil so well preserved it looks like a STATUE

 

 

The fossil was found in a mine in northern Alberta, Canada in 2011, and will now go on display in Ottawa
Paleontologists believe the dinosaur lived in Canada 110 million-years-ago
It featured two 20-inch spikes which protruded from its shoulders and used scaly armour to defend itself
The armoured plant-eater is the best preserved fossil of its kind ever found



Omarosa has sent Trump into Bat Shit Crazy Full on Twitter Mode

 

U.S. President Donald Trump’s former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman ( who is just releasing a tell-all book about her former boss )  said she’s willing to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and is prepared to handover audio recordings of her time at the White House.  Manigault Newman has released recordings of her time in the Trump administration in the lead up to her tell-all book Unhinged, sparking a public feud between the former The Apprentice contestant and the president.
 In a series of interviews on NBC, Manigault Newman also revealed two audio recordings from her time at the White House, including portions of a recording of her firing by chief of staff John Kelly, which she says occurred in the high-security Situation Room, and a phone call with Trump after she was fired.
 Manigault Newman says she has more recordings. On Monday, asked on MSNBC’s “Hardball” if Mueller — investigating possible coordination between Trump’s 2016 election campaign and Russia — would be interested in any of them, she said,
“If his office calls again, anything they want, I’ll share.”
The recording reveals Trump’s confusion on Omarosa’s firing On Tuesday, CBS News released another recording it said was unverified but appeared to be Manigault Newman and several Trump campaign aides in October 2016 discussing the potential fallout from a tape of Trump using a racial epithet during the taping of The Apprentice.
Trump on Monday denied the existence of any such tape, citing the show’s former producer, Mark Burnett. Some of the aides on the latest tape also denied the conversation.

Donald J. Trump ✔
@realDonaldTrump .

@MarkBurnettTV called to say that there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa. I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have. She made it up. Look at her MANY recent quotes saying  such wonderful and powerful things about me – a true Champion of Civil Rights – until she got fired. Omarosa had Zero credibility with the Media (they didn’t want interviews) when she worked in the White House. Now that she says bad about me, they will talk to her. Fake News!”
 9:50 PM - Aug 13, 2018

In an interview with CBS This Morning, Manigault Newman said what she claims in her book can be verified by audio or a paper trail. Omarosa: Trump ‘certainly’ hated Obama for his race.

 

 

“If you see it in quotes, it can be verified, corroborated and is well documented,” Manigault Newman said.
The president fired back at his former The Apprentice contestant on Tuesday, calling her a “crazed, crying lowlife” and “that dog.”

 Donald J. Trump        

✔ @realDonaldTrump

When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!

7:31 AM - Aug 14, 2018

On Tuesday afternoon, Manigault Newman confirmed she had been interviewed by Mueller’s team, but did not say when. That may be why Trump has gone into a twitter frenzy that is still on-going. He has been made  a little nervous by this 'tell-all' book.
Manigault Newman’s book hits stores Tuesday.
 To Date there have been at least 2 dozen books written about Trump, including one called 'A Child's First Book of Trump', from which this is a quote:

The beasty is called an American Trump.
 Its skin is bright orange, its figure is plump.
Its fur so complex you might get enveloped.
Its hands though are, sadly, underdeveloped.

Watching a TV show being filmed in St. Marys Stratford

  

ST. MARYS – It was certainly no mystery that a CBC drama was being filmed here this week.
But instead of pestering the cast and crew of Murdoch Mysteries while they shot at various locations throughout the town, local residents offered baked goods and accommodations.
“The townspeople actually offered crew rooms in their home,” executive producer Christina Jennings said as filming wrapped up Friday. “There’s a bakery in St. Marys… which is only open on Fridays, and they opened up for us and brought to set these beautiful cinnamon buns, enough for all the crew, all the actors, everybody.
“That was their little gesture for us; it was really quite special.”
Filmmakers shot there about four or five years ago for an episode and “had a really, really terrific experience,” Jennings said. So when they were looking for a location that felt “quite different” than Toronto, the Stone Town was on the shortlist. (All the oldest buildings are made from grey stone quarried in the area. Hence the nickname Stone Town)
“It really has a distinct look,” Jennings said.

 

Cameras began rolling Tuesday and continued for four straight days. Another unique aspect is the town will be referred to by its real name when the season 12 episode airs in December or January.
“We’re calling St. Marys ‘St. Marys’ in our show, which never happens,” she said.
Previous shooting locations such as Dundas, Port Hope or Cobourg have been changed to Toronto in the script. But there’s a reason for the different approach this time – the story centres around Insp. Thomas Brackenreid, who travels to St. Marys looking for someone.
“It’s quite a surprise,” said, Jennings, who also pointed out Murdoch Mysteries is Canada’s top-rated drama.

Nearly all of the extras were local residents.
“The people of St. Marys have been one of the most helpful, friendly, and generous that I’ve run into,” said locations manager Will Hoddinott.
Jennings also credited town officials for their assistance. Certain roads were closed for filming, white parking lines that wouldn’t have been used in the early 20^th century were painted over, and a construction project near the water tower was temporarily taken away.
“These are things that the town did to try and really make that experience for us extremely positive,” Jennings said.

 

Kelly Deeks-Johnson, the town’s economic development manager, said it was a collaborative project.
“They’ve been a great team to work with, flexible, they’ve been really accommodating to the amount of spectators we’ve had watching the filming,” she said.
Hey, guess what? I was one of the Spectators. It was fun. I didn't stay long but everyone was having a very good time. It was like a street party.
Then we went to Tim Horton's for a coffee and donut and we just missed Justin Bieber and his fiancée by a few minutes. It seems like celebrities were all over the place. Actually Justin Bieber lives here and often comes home to visit.

 

 

He's actually a really nice guy when he's home and always talks to anyone who comes up to him.

 

 

 And then guess who I saw crossing the street while I was shopping?

 

 

I lied about this last one....HA!!

Two dozen white supremacists march in D.C. for 'Unite The Right' rally, met with thousands of protesters

A year after a deadly gathering of far-right extremists in Charlottesville, less than two dozen white nationalists marched Sunday (Monday NZT) across from the White House, their numbers dwarfed by thousands of counter-protesters, while the mother of a woman killed at last summer's protest said the country continues to face unhealed racial wounds.
The events, largely peaceful though tense at times in Charlottesville and Washington, were part of a day of speeches, vigils and marches marking the anniversary of one of the largest gatherings of white nationalists and other far-right extremists in a decade.
In Washington, dozens of police in bright yellow vests formed a tight cordon around the small group of white nationalists, separating them from shouting counter-protesters within view of the White House.
President Donald Trump wasn't at home - he has been at his golf club in New Jersey for more than a week on a working vacation.

 

CRAIG HUDSON/AP

Police shielded the small group of white nationalist demonstrators from several thousand enraged counter-protesters.
 

Jason Kessler, the principal organiser of last year's "Unite the Right" event, led the gathering he called a white civil rights rally in Lafayette Square. Kessler said in a permit application that he expected 100 to 400 people to participate, but the actual number was far lower: only around 20.
Counter-protesters, who assembled before the rally's scheduled start, vastly outnumbered Kessler's crowd. Thousands showed up to jeer and shout insults at the white nationalists.
Makia Green, who represents the Washington branch of Black Lives Matter, told Sunday's crowd: "We know from experience that ignoring white nationalism doesn't work."

 

 

CRAIG HUDSON/AP

Jason Kessler marches with other white nationalists to Lafayette Square during the "Unite the Right 2" rally in Washington.
 

By about 5 pm, those in Kessler's group packed into a pair of white vans and left, escorted by police.
Washington Police Chief Peter Newsham said only one person was arrested all day despite several tense moments, with police essentially shielding the white nationalist demonstrators from several thousand enraged counter-protesters.

Newsham called it "a well-executed plan to safeguard people and property while allowing citizens to express their First Amendment rights."
Earlier this month, Facebook stunned and angered counter-protest organizers when it disabled their Washington event's page, saying it and others had been created by "bad actors" misusing the social media platform. The company said at the time that the page may be linked to an account created by Russia's Internet Research Agency - a troll farm that has sown discord in the US - but counter-protesters said it was an authentic event they worked hard to organize.

 

STEVE HELBER/AP

Susan Bro, the mother of Heather Heyer who was killed during last year's Unite the Right rally, placed flowers at the spot her daughter was killed in Charlottesville.

Earlier in the day in Charlottesville, the mother of Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal who was killed when a car plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters during last year's rally, said there's still much healing to be done.
Susan Bro laid flowers at a makeshift memorial at the site of the attack in downtown Charlottesville. With a crowd gathered around her, she thanked them for coming to remember her daughter but also acknowledged the dozens of others injured and the two state troopers killed when a helicopter crashed that day.
"There's so much healing to do," Bro said. "We have a huge racial problem in our city and in our country. We have got to fix this, or we'll be right back here in no time."
Hundreds of neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members and other white nationalists descended on Charlottesville last August 12, in part to protest over the city's decision to remove a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park.
Violent fighting broke out between attendees and counter-protesters. Authorities eventually forced the crowd to disperse, but chaos erupted again when the car barrelled into the crowd.

 

 

RYAN KELLEY/AP

The vehicle plowed into a crowd protesting a gathering of white supremacists in 2017.

James Fields Jr., 21, of Maumee, Ohio, is charged in state court with murder in Heyer's killing and faces separate hate crime charges in federal court. He pleaded not guilty last month to the federal charges.
The day's death toll rose to three when a state police helicopter crashed, killing Lt. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke Bates.
Among the other anniversary events was a Sunday morning community gathering at a park that drew more than 200 people. The group sang and listened to speakers, among them Courtney Commander, a friend of Heyer's who was with her when she was killed.
"She is with me today, too," Commander said.
Law enforcement officials faced blistering criticism after last year's rally for what was perceived as a passive response to the violence that unfolded. A review by a former U.S. attorney found a lack of coordination between state and city police and an operational plan that elevated officer safety over public safety.
The anniversary weekend was marked by a much heavier police presence, which also drew criticism from some activists.
Demonstrators on Sunday marched through Charlottesville chanting, "Cops and Klan go hand in hand," and "Will you protect us?"
The city of Charlottesville said four people were arrested in the downtown area. Two arrests stemmed from a confrontation near the Lee statue where a Spotsylvania, Virginia, man stopped to salute, a Charlottesville woman confronted him and a physical altercation took place, officials said.

The world wonders what has gone wrong. Where did all this hate spring from? Was it always there under a thin veneer of civilized behavior....seething;  just waiting for a split in the moral fabric of America, so it could spew forth and set history back a couple of centuries? Did Donald Trump open that seam with a few well timed, lethal words of approval ?
If that is so, he released a monster that may never be forced back into it's cage. Did you know that in 2017 Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes in the US increased nearly 60 per cent  – the largest increase of any year on record.  This trend has continued into 2018 . Please explain how this makes white people superior.

Annual Kitchener Blues Festival

 

 

Did you spot me in the crowd??

'Mother Earth is Angry'.... Ontario Burns

Crews from across the country and from Mexico, America and Australia continued to cut down dozens of raging fires in northeastern Ontario on Sunday, after evacuation orders left property owners uncertain of whether their homes and businesses would survive the flames for them to come back to. The number of fires has been upped to seventy.
Provincial police issued a statement Sunday saying the largest fire in the area -- known as "Parry Sound 33" -- had grown to more than 5,000 hectares in size and was "not yet under control."
The blaze prompted mandatory evacuation orders for many homes that are only accessible by boat on Saturday, several days after it was discovered people could be stranded on the hundreds of islands in Northern Ontario.
Police said those who could access their properties by road were subject to a "12-hour notice of evacuation order" as of Sunday evening.

James Palmer, whose family has owned the Hartley Bay Marina for 65 years, said he was among those pushed out of the area Saturday, but he hopes to return soon to check up on the property.
"Our business is still standing, but that could change at a moment's notice," he said. "It's extremely stressful because not only is it my home, it's my place of business."
He noted that the marina is one of the only access points to the mainland from campgrounds.
Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources said the orders and alerts apply to properties between the western and northern borders of French River Provincial Park, east to Highway 69, and as far south as the Key River's south shore, including people on both shores of the French and Pickerel rivers and Hartley Bay.

Parry Sound 33 is one of about 70 fires burning in the region, with 20 of them completely out of control.
Firefighters and equipment have poured in from across Canada, the United States, Mexico and other countries to help Ontario-based crews. Five waterbombers were aiding hard-pressed ground crews in their struggle to contain the flames. The fire grew exponentially out of control.
Most evacuees are seasonal cottage-goers or campers who have fled to hotels in Sudbury, or have gone home, said Palmer, who is also seeking refuge in the nearby city.

  Areas of fires in Ontario... They are gradually heading south to Toronto. I think I'll pack a few things.

The fires have been helped along by hot, dry conditions combined with lightning strikes and blustery winds fuelling -- and often igniting -- the flames. Unrelenting heat and a marked lack of rain have dried the forests into tinder just waiting for combustion.
People in the French River and Britt, in the Parry Sound district, are looking to evacuate their animals due to the smoke, Palmer said.
"You never know, you may not have any smoke right now, but in an hour from now, you could get smoked out," he said.
"We're hoping that we can help other farms, or other homes, save a few animals," he said. "If we can help other people who are impacted, I really hope that people out here follow suit."

             Fire explosions maybe caused by fires coming together from several direction

 Firefighters hope people get their animals out early before a possible evacuation order.
"Everything is very, very dry. We haven't had much rain at all," one fireman said. " This leads to new fires starting every single day."

 

 An hour  earlier, someone's home stood on this spot.

Proof that these fires can spread very quickly.

 Please take no chances. Don't linger.