It's a sad commentary on US society that this column could probably never be published in a major US newspaper, at least not without inciting a huge backlash. (Keep reading it--the first part is UK-specific, but the rest is easily understandable.) God forbid anyone here should publish a strong negative personal opinion about the almighty Catholic Church! I am so glad I discovered the Guardian.

Continuing with yesterday's theme, I was amazed to see that the ProJo actually published a great letter taking them to task for their idiotic editorial about same-gender marriage. It's such a good letter and such a surprise that I'm even linking to it, ads and all! I really suspect that they must have been getting bombarded with similarly good letters and so had to print one as a representative. It's nice that for once they're not using the space for such "important" things as a rambling letter from some guy who was unable to buy any doughnuts at Dunkin Donuts near closing time! But naturally, they also have a column by the horrible Dale O'Leary (I once described her as "Mrs. O'Leary--not the one with the cow") which basically blames sexual abuse by Catholic priests on us homos again, but without naming us directly. She has gotten more indirect in her attacks in the last few years for some reason. Someone probably advised her that her shrillness was doing her cause no favors.

NOW with Bill Moyers is a really excellent program. It can be depressing as hell at times but still manages to leave me with some hope every week somehow. Part of it is just being thrilled that a liberal has a program and can say the things he's saying. It follows from that that there is some hope that things can get better if we join together and work at it. I haven't peeked at the discussion board yet although they keep inviting us to. Maybe sometime.

If you're not reading MediaWhoresOnline, you're missing a fascinating story. Washington Post reporter Sue Schmidt forwarded email criticizing her to the bosses of the email's author. Having seen the lack of ethics of journalists locally, I'm really not even that surprised (which is sad itself), but I am thoroughly disgusted. Moreover, if you go to their main page, you'll see that she actually did it more than once! There have also been reports from others who sent the Post critical email only to have all future email from that address blocked. These folks live by the truism that the press is free only for someone who owns one (just like the ProJo does.) Pathetic.
posted by Mad Anne Rackham at 9:17 AM

I hate the Catholic Church and the Providence Journal. Hating these two things is a normal state of affairs, but I mention it specifically now for two related reasons. The ProJo printed a stupid letter blaming homosexuals for sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. They always print the stupidest letters and never any thoughtful ones (and that goes for people on my side too--they printed a stupid pro-same-gender marriage letter last week that I thought was a joke until I found out the author was a Fenceberry reader but have not printed the great letter from the Interfaith Working Group.) Anyway, I hate the Catholic Church for being so evil and lying about it over and over, and using us as pawns to distract from the real issue (their toxic culture of secrets, lies and abuse.) And I hate the Providence Journal for printing this crap and also for "upgrading" their website so I can no longer link directly to a printer-friendly version of the letter (i.e., no ads.) And for a million other reasons. They are well worth hating. I think they have gotten quite a lot worse since being upbraided by the community over their salacious coverage of the Johnston adult theatre raid. It's clear to me that they are taking as many little jabs as they can as covert revenge. And they can get away with it because they're the only game in town. Perhaps someone might start a local media watch blog, but it will probably be a ways away (and will need more than a writing staff of one.) I can see how it could drive them up a tree if done right, though, just like the heroes at MediaWhoresOnline.

And speaking of heroes, Bartcop has scored James Carville's restaurant for the benefit he's throwing for Julie Hiatt Steele. Way to go Carville for standing up for what's right. Way to go Bartcop for doing this. And way to go Julie for standing up for principles in the face of the worst Kafkaesque nightmare. I've decided not to go although I did make a donation and could go. I'm just not up for a trip for something like that. Instead I will send her a personal note. I've been very moved by her story, more everytime I learn more about it.
posted by Mad Anne Rackham at 7:39 AM

True to my pattern of trying to lighten things up after heavy posts, here's something good: Jesus Sports Statues! And I think these are for real. Of course, Bartcop has his own commentary on these and others. Hee hee.
posted by Mad Anne Rackham at 9:30 AM

Hostility, anger and mixed feelings will out. They just will. I'm sitting here contemplating this because my other half yesterday morning tripped over a message board post from someone who exited my life rather gracelessly about six years ago. By gracelessly, I mean with arrest warrants pending. He actually didn't do anything to me. Well, financially, I mean. His main victim he defrauded out of thousands of dollars. All he stole from me was my trust. I've been betrayed plenty of times before and hence (hi Denise!), but this one just threw me completely. He was like my brother, so I thought. So much for that. So after I discovered his lies, he left me out of the people who knew where he was essentially in hiding. And that was just as well. But now we've found him again, hiding in plain site, even--using his real name and photo and personal details online. Even still inflating his resume to disguise the time he fled the country as professional development! And so I find myself tempted to contact him. How could I not be tempted? But I won't. Instead I will simply fulfill what I consider my moral obligation, namely to pass along the information to his main victim, who can then respond as he wishes. But nonetheless I am shaken and feeling a bunch of different things. It's that whole thin line between love and hate, and everything in between and more.

I seem to find myself in this situation more than the average person, namely that people who were important to me exit from my life due to nothing that I've done, with no explanation. One such person has possibly been in the process of this for more than a year now. I have chased her online through three different states trying to get a response, and nothing. I'm thinking of giving it one more try and then just officially giving up. I had pretty much given up before this but then just found another email address for her and figure I can try again. Probably stupid, but I don't have much to lose, right?

Another person in this category, a few years ago I discovered was living within fifty miles of me, in a town that I visited on numerous occasions. I thought about contacting her but then had a dream that convinced me not to. In the dream I was for some reason carefully preserving feces in a residential bathroom sink as if they were something important that needed to be saved. Pretty repulsive, enough so that it gave me the message about that person. The same ickyness applies to the first person mentioned in this entry. Many would argue it applies to the second too, and there are solid arguments to be made for that, but given that it is a lot more complicated in that case, I'm willing to give it one more shot (and just keep my guard up.) I used to think after all the many betrayals that my guard was permanently up, but I have discovered that even if I try, it is not. I think it must be my karmic challenge or something, to learn what I need to learn from this sort of thing. But damn, it's hard.
posted by Mad Anne Rackham at 7:50 AM