Church Lawyer Testifies Everyone Lied to Him About Secret List of Priest Abuse Suspects

Posted May 15, 2012 9:16 AM CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

The former chief counsel for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia testified on Monday that church officials lied to him about a secret list of 35 priests suspected of abusing children.

The list is at issue in the trial of Msgr. William Lynn, accused of allowing priests suspected of abuse to continue in their ministries, report the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Associated Press, the Allentown Morning Call and CNN. Lawyer Timothy Coyne was suspended from his job as chief counsel a few weeks after the list surfaced.

"Everyone I spoke to said they didn't know where it was, and they didn't have a copy of it," Coyne testified. "Somebody lied to me—or a lot of people lied to me."

A memo discovered in 2006 asserted that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua had ordered the shredding of the list shortly after it was drafted in 1994. According to Coyne, no one told him about the shredding order.
  READ MORE

Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor

Toshiba’s Home Nuclear Reactor

 If we lived in a world where everyone was (a) smart and (b) trustworthy, Toshiba’s micro-sized nuclear reactor, small enough to fit in the basement or a large shed, would be a slam-dunk solution to the energy/climate crisis.

Twenty foot long by six foot wide, the reactors produce 200kW of energy and run themselves: the entire thing is manufactured with the fuel within, and when it runs out, they can just send a truck to pick it up.

"Unlike traditional nuclear reactors the new micro reactor uses no control rods to initiate the reaction. The new revolutionary technology uses reservoirs of liquid lithium-6, an isotope that is effective at absorbing neutrons. The Lithium-6 reservoirs are connected to a vertical tube that fits into the reactor core. The whole whole process is self sustaining and can last for up to 40 years, producing electricity for only 5 cents per kilowatt hour, about half the cost of grid energy."

Waste, you say? Throw it in a mile-deep pit in New Mexico, or something.
Unfortunately, with the way nukes have been run, it’s unlikely they’ll be replacing every neighborhood’s electricity substation with one of these any time soon. It’s claimed there are buyers in Japan and Europe. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, I recall, makes something similar, but bigger.
Toshiba Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor [Nextenergynews via Gizmodo]

 

Jesus or Ayn Rand - can conservatives claim both?

By John Blake, CNN

(CNN)– Can a person follow Ayn Rand and Jesus?

That’s the question posed by a provocative media campaign that claims that some prominent conservative leaders cannot serve two masters: Jesus and the controversial author of  "Atlas Shrugged," Ayn Rand.

The American Values Network, a group of political activists and pastors, sparked a debate when it recently released a video challenging some conservative and Republican leaders’ professed admiration for Rand,  an atheist who saw selfishness as a virtue and celebrated unfettered capitalism.

Eric Sapp,  AVN’s executive director, said the Republican Party cannot portray itself as a defender of Christian values and then defend the worldview of "the patron saint of selfishness" who scorned religion and compassion.

Sapp singled out Republican leaders such as Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and talk radio host Rush Limbaugh after all of them expressed admiration for Rand.
Ryan,  architect of the GOP’s propsed budget and Medicare plan, once said that Rand’s philosophy was “sorely needed right now,” and that she did a great job of explaining “the morality of capitalism.”

Sapp sees little morality in Rand's worldview:   READ MORE

Murdoch insider Rebekah Brooks charged over phone-hacking inquiry

May 15, 2012|By Richard Allen Greene, CNN

 

Former News International chief Rebekah Brooks blasted British prosecutors Tuesday for charging her with obstructing the investigation into phone hacking at media mogul Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers, calling the case "an expensive sideshow."

Brooks, whose husband, driver and personal assistant also face charges, said she is "baffled" and angered by the decision to charge "those closest to me."

"One day the details of this case will emerge, and people will see today as nothing more than an expensive sideshow -- a waste of public money as a result of an unjust and weak decision," she told reporters outside her lawyer's office.   READ MORE

 

Did Trayvon Martin make his own 911 call before his death?

ABC News7 Chicago reports Trayvon Martin, the Sanford, Florida teen who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, allegedly made his own call to 911 just moments before his death.

Mo'Kelly Radio reported on Mar. 24, also citing ABC New7 Chicago, that Trayvon made a 911 call shortly before his death and the FBI was attempting to determine if that recording captured Zimmerman’s voice in the background and, if so, could the audio be enhanced to more clearly hear what was said.

View slideshow: Trayvon Martin made his own 911 call before his death; FBI investigates

[Update 4/11/2012: A call was placed to the Sanford Police Department Wednesday, April 11, to follow up. The call was redirected to the Sanford Joint Information Center. The gentleman who answered the phone identified himself only as Lewis and said he is not aware that Trayvon made his own call to 911 the night of the shooting.]   READ MORE 

Document Dump: George Zimmerman Discovery File

By Joe Palazzolo

Authorities in Florida have released hundred of pages of evidence, audio recordings and photos in connection with the prosecution of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Mr. Zimmerman, who has been charged with second-degree murder, has pleaded not guilty and is now living in an undisclosed location.    READ MORE 

18th Circuit Court Media Advisories  

It is the goal of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit to ensure that the media and public are accommodated to the best of the Court's abilities during special interest/high profile proceedings. Below you will find media advisories and public record documents pertaining to State v. Zimmerman (2012-CF-001083-A). Please continue to check this website for updates. Documents will be posted as they are made available for public distribution.   READ MORE 

5th Inercostal space

Diagram from Autopsy Report

Zimmerman: "This Will All Work Out For Me"

Zimmerman leaves Jail

In letter from jail, accused killer pitched donation to his web site 

MAY 17--Days before bonding out of a Florida jail, George Zimmerman wrote that he believed “this will all work out for me in the future,” adding, “I have given my burden to the Lord and he has blessed me with tremendous patience!”

In response to a letter of support sent by an Ohio man who sought to deposit money in his jail account, the accused murderer of Trayvon Martin explained that he was only allowed to accept funds from individuals on his approved list of visitors.

“The best way to send your support is through prayer!” wrote Zimmerman, 28, who noted that, “if you insist on sending funds, the best way is through my website.”

He added that the site, therealgeorgezimmerman.com, “accepts checks and credit card payments via PayPal.”

Zimmerman wrote that, “My attorney seems cautiously optimistic about me receiving bond tomorrow and I will put funds received through my website towards my bond.” However, during Zimmerman’s April 20 bond hearing, no mention of the web site’s substantial revenues was made by the accused killer or his lawyer. Zimmerman, who was freed on $150,000 bond, had already raised about $200,000 by that time, his lawyer subsequently acknowledged.   READ MORE

 

Trayvon Martin Case Shadowed by Series of Police Missteps

Trayvon Martin was killed Feb. 26 at the Retreat at
Twin Lakes. The initial investigation into his death
was dogged by problems

By SERGE F. KOVALESKI

Published: May 16, 2012 

 SANFORD, Fla. — The killing of Trayvon Martin here two and a half months ago has been cast as the latest test of race relations and equal justice in America. But it was also a test of a small city police department that does not even have a homicide unit and typically deals with three or four murder cases a year. 

An examination of the Sanford Police Department’s handling of the case shows a series of missteps — including sloppy work — and circumstances beyond its control that impeded the investigation and may make it harder to pursue a case that is already difficult enough.

The national furor has subsided for the moment. But as the second-degree murder case against the defendant, George Zimmerman, moves from the glare of a public spectacle to the grinding procedures of the court system and eventual trial, the department’s performance, roundly criticized by Mr. Martin’s family as bungling and biased, will be scrutinized once again, though in more meticulous detail. 

  READ MORE 

Gunshot Residue Test Results

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy