Women Speaking Up

Isn't it funny how people who bully people for a living get really annoyed when somebody takes issue with it? You're not only supposed to let them push you around; you're supposed to like it.

- from No, We're Not Going To Sit Down and Shut Up

Don Imus is at it again (1) and Michelle Martin at National Public Radio reminds us that women in public life still have to take on bullies and fools in ways that men do not.

Canary in a coal mine:

Meanwhile, Rachael Maddow is asking the hard questions about coal and the cost of human life. The owner of this mine is another well known bully and union buster. You won't believe how many citations that mine had before it blew...

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

My people come from coal miners in Scotland and Pennsylvania. Today my thoughts are with the miners and their families in West Virginia. Here is a look at the lives of the lost miners.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting is covering this story in great detail: Here is their website.

Sia


Endnotes:

(1) See Recovering From Our Culture: Why Words Matter

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History of Coal Mining - Wikipedia

Art: Woman with Canary Nik Helbig. Her online store is here.

I love this piece. I don't know what the artist meant when she painted it but I see Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion, sharing the loss of the grieving families and receiving the spirts of the lost miners in the form of the birds who once protected them.

Hat Tip to Bryon Ballard for the NPR story

The Fixer: How one Monk came to fight cover ups & child abuse in the Catholic Church

On Easter Sunday an acclaimed radio show called This American Life ran a moving and true story about a Monk who went from helping to cover up abuse by thousands of priests to helping lawyers for those abused find the secret files kept by the church on such cases. He is someone you should know.

Patrick Wall was a special kind of monk. He was a fixer. The Catholic church sent him to problem parishes where priests had been removed because of scandal. His job was to come in, keep events from going public and smooth things over until a permanent replacement priest was found. But after four different churches in four years, after covering up for pedophiles and adulterers and liars and embezzlers he decided to make a change. Carl Marziali tells his story. (21 minutes)

You can listen to this story on NPR at this link: The Enemy Within

You can also read Wall's book titled, Sex, Priests and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000 Year Old Paper Trail of Sex Abuse.

Meanwhile, on Easter Sunday, a senior Cardinal and friend of the Pope has rejected the abuse claims in Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Latin America and the U.S. (1) as "petty gossip".

The BBC reports in that same story that the Pope

... has been accused personally of failing to take action against a suspected abuser during his tenure as archbishop of Munich - a claim the Vatican strongly denies.

Critics also say that when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases, he did not act against a priest in the US state of Wisconsin who is thought to have abused some 200 deaf boys.

Calls have gone up throughout the Catholic world for the Pope to resign.

My thoughts today are with all those who were hurt by those they trusted.

My thanks to Ira Glass and the staff at This American Life. It is one of the best produced and most interesting show's you'll find. I recommend listening to their podcast.

Sia

Endnote:

(1) See Abuse Claims by Country - Wikipedia

Related Articles

Review of Sex, Priests and Secret Codes at Nobeliefs..com

She Who Watches