Tuesday, 8 January 2019
Friday, 4 January 2019
Pell
A fish rots from the head down: Top Vatican official Cardinal George Pell has been convicted of sexually abusing minors by a criminal court in Australia.
According to multiple reports, Cardinal Pell, who is the Vatican’s third most powerful official and a close advisor to Pope Francis, was convicted in Australia on charges that he sexually abused two choir boys in the late 1990s.
The Daily Beast reports:
The Vatican’s third most powerful official has been convicted in Australia on all charges he sexually abused two choir boys there in the late ’90s…A unanimous jury returned its verdict for Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday (Australian time) after more than three days of deliberations…
The Inquisitor reports:
Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third most powerful official, was found guilty on Tuesday of sexually abusing two choir boys in the late 1990s, a decision that makes him the highest-ranking Catholic Church official to face criminal convictions.
Pell is Australia’s highest ranking Catholic, the Vatican’s Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, and a close adviser and friend to Pope Francis. He is the highest ranking Vatican official to ever go on trial for sex abuse, and he is now the highest ranking Vatican official to be convicted of crimes concerning sexual abuse.
Pell took leave of his position at the Vatican last year to stand trial in Melbourne, where he was accused of sexually abusing two choir boys when he was the archbishop.
The Catholic News Agency reports Pell will be sentenced in early 2019 and will not be incarcerated prior to his sentencing.
In addition to being found guilty of molesting the choir boys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Pell is also accused of sexually assaulting two boys in a swimming pool in Ballarat, Victoria. A criminal trial concerning that case is expected to begin early next year.
Pell has denied all accusations of inappropriate conduct and claims he is innocent. He is expected to appeal his conviction.
In the past Pell has shown little sympathy for the survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy, and is on record claiming:
The Catholic Church is no more legally responsible for priests who abuse children than a trucking company which employs a driver who molests women.
Bottom line: Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third most powerful official and a close adviser to Pope Francis, has been convicted of sexually abusing two choir boys at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia.
Thursday, 3 January 2019
Talked with Google executive guru last night over dinner: he said: I talked to the Uber driver on the way here who complained that train drivers get paid $200,000 a year here. It doesn't seem right, I mean the low skills they need to...drive some train. I said 'well, you can either be in a strong union and get paid $200,000 a year, or drive an Uber for $7 a ride. Its up to the market intelligence of the driver.'
Wednesday, 2 January 2019
ETIQUETTE: On the difficult matter of knowing that Chinese Capitalism is the only way forward for the next 300 years, and the heydays of Western Capitalism have eddied away, I take the brilliant attitude of the Australian Government's Scott Morrison, in terms of Cultural Cosplay, and, when Chinese guests arrive and ask if they should remove their shoes, I advise... take off only one shoe per person...this is quite enough. We are very moderate, and clever. We'll trick 'em. Wink.
Sunday, 30 December 2018
Friday, 28 December 2018
John Fitzpatrick's Great Fishing Story, a True Story, with thanks to Alvey and Abu Garcia Fishing Technology, and Palm Cove Pier, Cairns. Back in the year 2006AD, I went fishing at Palm Cove Pier one afternoon with my Alvey General Purpose Australian designed Fishing reel and rod set up, a fantastic and simple reel, with 3 moving parts...I baited the red suicide hook with a prawn, and tossed it out to sea, into a breeze, at the end of the Pier. I only really go fishing to feel the great connection between man and the Great Ocean, to watch the silver line connecting us...that's just me. I don't really expect to catch anything. No bites on the line, after ten minutes, I reeled the line in only to find a growing weight on it. When I reeled the line up to the top of the pier, I saw that the red hook had caught...a fishing rod...not only just a fishing rod, but an Abu Garcia Fishing Technology rod and reel...the reel, with gold plating over it, the rod, 5 ft high, perfectly taut and flexible...and, by its condition, it was new and had only been in the water for a day. 150 moving parts. Now, this was about 300 years in advance of my stolid Alvey rod and reel and I was very grateful for this gift...so grateful that I didn't go back to the Pier for some time fearing that the owner might come along. I practised here and there in the yard, then, two weeks after finding the Abu I went beach fishing, just north of the nude beach, before you get to Ellis Beach. It's very beautiful there in the late afternoon. The Abu was just sooooo precise...such brilliant technology...you choose your spot in the sea, 20 yards, 30 yards out, and just launch it, and the sinker would drop the line and prawn exactly where you wanted it to go, every time. it was a fine art, indeed. A beautiful machine. Once again, ten minutes passed, and nothing happened, so I placed the rod into a plastic tube rod holder that I had stuck in the beach sand, and walked along the edge of the sea for about 500 yards, meditating on the sound of the little waves on the sand and shells there, and on my rare fortune. On the way back to the Abu, I noticed it jerking in the holder, once, then twice, then three times, then... and then, I started running towards it, but before I could reach it, the whole rod and beautiful reel just, snap, turned the rod holder flat down on the sand, and the rod and reel flew out into the sea. That's my true fishing story.
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