Witness

Nothing

2011-02-19T21:19:00.001-05:00

This is a test.

As I was saying...

2011-02-19T21:09:00.001-05:00

My template is messed up and I'm trying to fix it. If anyone can help me, I'd be so happy. I now have a new blog called whatpricefame.blogspot.com. It's mostly items about older entertainers and some young ones. I try to keep controversy out of it, but you know me...

I am going to save my entertainment news/views for that page and controversy for Witness. Maybe I should just get a new template, but it has to accept my posts, dating back to 2005. As far as Karyn Kupcinet, I don't know which page to put it on. All of the theories over the years and it's still not solved. No book coming out about her. Everyone seems to have lost interest in following up on that. I feel like the lone survivor.

I just want to say that Karyn Kupcinet had the lousiest luck of any person I ever heard of. Even the autopsy was botched up. There are some who say she OD'd, maybe on purpose. Who knows? This is one Hollywood murder I'll never forget. I went to a psychic in the '90's who told me that a man was with her in her house later that night, after her friends left. The psychic, for all it's worth, said the man was tall, with black or dark hair and was there because of "addiction." She also said that the man spoke 2 languages. (If a mob hit, the 2 languages would be English and Italian.)

Basically, it's who knows?

I hope I can fix this website.

Witness

Mother Teresa and the Sacredness of Pain

2010-09-16T21:08:00.005-05:00

Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun. She believed her life should be with the poor and suffering. Here is a review of Christopher Hitchen's book, The Missionary Position, about Mother Teresa. Hitchens, by the way, is battling esophageal cancer. Here is a partial review of Hitchen's book about Mother Teresa by Carlos Laflauta:

"How can one possibly excuse the willful denial of pain medication to people who are terminally ill, regardless of the theology behind it? How does one call somebody who does this a saint? Those who try to discredit Hitchens' book by attacking Hitchens personally are ethically irresponsible. They would also have to attack and discredit Susan Shields, Dr. Robin Fox, Mary Loudon, and Elgy Gillespie. So far to my knowledge, no one has.

Now why on earth would anyone withhold pain medication from people in intense pain, especially if one had millions to pay for such medication? Who can really discern another person's motives? One can only observe the obvious: there is no credit for helping the poor if they are not poor, the suffering if they are not suffering, and the disabled if they are independent. Mother Teresa made a great show of helping only the poor. In an interview with Malcolm Muggeridge she stated: "We cannot work for the rich; neither can we accept any money for the work we do. Ours has to be a free service, and to the poor" (p. 60). Another quote from Mother: "I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people" (p.11).

There you have it. Mother's theology glorifies suffering. Suffering is good. It is the kiss of Christ. The suffering of the poor helps the world. So one can be a saint only by helping the suffering poor. There is no saintliness in helping the non-suffering non-poor. So collect millions in the name of the suffering poor; just don't spend it on relieving their pain or restoring their dignity.

The Universe Created Itself According to Famed Scientist

2010-09-02T23:10:00.001-05:00

(Newser) – The universe didn't need God to begin; it was quite capable of launching its existence on its own, thank you very much, says reknowned physicist Stephen Hawking. The universe began with the Big Bang, which simply followed the inevitable law of physics, the scientist writes. “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist," Hawking explains in an excerpt from his new book, The Grand Design.

“It is not necessary to invoke God to set the universe going."

In his famous 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, Hawking did not dismiss the possibility that God may have played some role in creation. But earlier this summer he said in an interview that he does not believe in a "personal" God, reports the Telegraph. "The question is: is the way the universe began chosen by God for reasons we can't understand, or was it determined by a law of science? I believe the second," he explained. "If you like, you can call the laws of science 'God,' but it wouldn't be a personal God that you could meet, and ask questions."

Thank you, Dr. Hawking. I hope this is another kick in the ass for the pious, holier than thou Catholic Church. Religious dogma is created out of fear and/or want of power. We don't know who we are. We really don't.

Sonny Bono in Action While Running for Mayor of Palm Springs

2010-08-17T04:55:00.002-05:00

Here is Sonny Bono. I am convinced he was manic-depressive and on prescription drugs. That doesn't mean he had a skiing accident. He was killed because he knew high-level govt officials were involved in a drug and gun cartel. He promised the informant that he would name names when Congress reconvened.

Explains His Wife's Words -- Cause of Death of Sonny Bono

2010-08-15T16:08:00.001-05:00

Less than a year after he died, Republican Congressman, Sonny Bono's widow Mary, came out and said some pretty strong things about Sonny. She was duly elected to Congress and married another man soon after.

I think Mary Bono wanted to convince people that drugs made Sonny slam into a tree while skiing alone on a remote slope. Why? I think Mary is afraid for her life. If Sonny was killed for knowing about high govt involvement in drug and gun trafficing cartels, Mary probably learned from Sonny about these outrageous crimes and got a warning after his death. So she came out and said Sonny suffered from bad mood swings and was under the influence of Valium and Vicodin when he went to ski alone on a dangerous slope. He couldn't think straight, she said. She is covering up these high-level govt criminals and I don't blame her.

I believe Congressman Sonny Bono was murdered and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Read the earlier posts on this page. Michael Kennedy, son of Bobby Kennedy, died a few days earlier from the same thing -- he hit a tree while skiing and playing football and died. This might have given the hit men an idea for how to knock off Sonny Bono.

Sonny Bono Murdered by Hit Men

2010-08-14T21:25:00.000-05:00

I just discovered a story about Sonny Bono's death. A man named Gunderson has written a book about the mysterious death. He was going to out high-level people in govt who were connected to big drugs and guns deals. I never knew someone else thought Sonny's death was suspicious.

Here goes:

"FBI Agent: 'Sonny Bono Was Clubbed To Death'

April 4th, 2008 7:10am EDT Sonny Bono was clubbed to death by hired hitmen, according to a stunning new tabloid expose. An investigator who has been researching Bono's 1998 fatal skiing accident for the past decade claims top officials linked to an international drug and weapons ring feared the singer-turned-politician was about to expose their criminal acts - and so they had him killed on the slopes.

Cher's ex-husband Bono's death was listed as a "skiing accident" with family and friends satisfied he died after colliding with a tree on the piste in Nevada in January 1998.

But former FBI agent Ted Gunderson tells America's Globe that there's more to the tragedy than meets the eye, after studying the autopsy reports and other evidence.

He says, "It's nonsense for anyone to now try to suggest that Bono died after crashing into a tree. There's zero evidence in this autopsy report... to show such an accident happened. Instead, there's powerful proof he (Bono) was assassinated. This was an evil plot that was carried out to almost perfection by ruthless assassins."

Gunderson tells the Globe that Bono, an experienced skiier, was ambushed on the slopes by hired hitmen, who beat him to death and then staged a tree collision.

The retired FBI agent is now calling for the authorities to exhume Bono's remains and open a homicide investigation.

Gunderson's efforts have been backed by top forensics experts, who fear Nevada authorities were too quick to mark the tragedy as a skiing accident, and investigator Bob Fletcher, who has confessed he sent evidence of a 10-year study that linked top U.S. government officials to arms and weapons dealers to Bono less than a month before his death.

Fletcher says, "He was going to make it his number one priority... There's no doubt in my mind Sonny was murdered by someone who needed him silenced.'"

Sonny Bono and Scientology

2010-08-14T21:09:00.000-05:00

I was surprised to read that Sonny Bono was a Scientologist. All I've heard about that church is bad. If you quit they threaten to expose you as a homosexual or something like that. Things you confessed to them. It's blackmail.

If you're a family member trying to get your relative away from them, willingly or not, they harass you with endless phone calls and boxes upon boxes of Scientology-related stuff sent in the mail. And it never stops.

I live less than an hour away from their main church. They must have more money than anyone. Just looking at the buildings they own. I doubt they even have to pay property taxes. Their church is huge and painted white. There are doors here and there. Girls are usually dressed in navy blue skirts and white blouses, or lately, they've been wearing navy blue pants. Boys wear navy blue pants and white shirts. I've only seen young people going into the building. Is the church of Scientology an accredited school? I've seen mostly teenagers.

Sometimes they come out one door, hand in hand, walk halfway around the Church in a line and enter through another door.

I really believe these people are evil. For the Christians out there, they call Jesus Christ a "loser."

Was Sonny Bono trying to get away from them as he said in the press? Were they hunting him down? Today, just admitting you're a Scientologist would ruin your political career. Sonny should have shut up.

It makes you wonder. Here is something I found on the Internet about Sonny from adherents.com:

Sonny Bono was from a Catholic background and became a convert to Scientology. Mary Bono simply answered "Protestant" in response to the question about religious affiliation in her official congressional biographical sketch.

Mary Bono is reportedly a Scientologist as well, although details about her association with the Church of Scientology are scarce. From available material and Mary Bono's lack of evident support for Scientology since she was elected to the House of Representatives, it seems that while her husband was very much a convert to Scientology, her involvement has been minimal or non-existent since his death.

From: Tilman Hausherr, scientology celebrities FAQ" of alt.religion.scientology, last updated 1 July 2005 (http://home.snafu.de/tilman/faq-you/celeb.txt; viewed 4 December 2005):

Name: Sonny Bono
Profession: singer, actor, republican rep., pizza delivery man in congress member of the House Subcommittee on Copyrights and Intellectual Property.

Status [in Scientology]:

Introduced by Mimi Rogers; took some courses, says he's a Roman Catholic, not a Scientologist (LA Times), but probably still in (used the [Scientology] word "enturbulate" in public around 26.4.1997)

He says in Esquire: "I openly studied scientology to the degree that they did some courses on ethics, and then said thank you and left. (...) The Scientology - there was no cult thing there."

From drogers@huey.csun.edu (David D. Rogers):

According to Corydon's book, [Sonny] was quoted as saying:

"My only sorrow is that L. Ron Hubbard left before I could thank him for my new life," in a full-page ad featured in several newspapers after Elron's death.

[Sonny] died 6.1.1998
His widow, Mary Bono, has also done scientology courses - Celebrity #240 [in Scientology list]

Sources: TIME May 6/91, Premiere 9/93, LA Magazine 10/93, "Bigger Secrets", LA Times 5.12.91; Esquire 11/94, California Magazine 6/91, "Sunday Express" 19.7.92, People 3.6.1985, Chicago Tribune 8.9.1988

MSNBC 9.11.1998 - about Mary Bono

In George 8/1999 Mary Bono says:

"When I met Sonny, he was very involved in it [Scientology]"
and "Sonny did try to break away at one point, and they made it very difficult for him"

but Mike Rinder says:

"I had numerous conversations with Sonny until he died. Any estrangement is untrue"

The magazine says also: "Though Sonny avoided the topic publicly, he quietly maintained his ties."

Heber Jentzsch in a letter to the editor:

"Sonny Bono was a friend. He was in regular contact with the church until he died. And he called us (emphasized) - on all manner of subjects, from the political to the personal."

For one thing, Scientologists aren't supposed to take drugs. Yet Sonny's wife told the public that Sonny took a lot of Vicodin and Valium. So how seriously did Sonny take his "religion"? It all seems a bit suspicious. Does anyone go skiing when stoned (if he in fact was)? Do you choose to go skiing on a lonely wooded slope when like that?

What Killed Republican Congressman Sonny Bono?

2010-08-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

I've always found Congressman Sonny Bono's death suspicious. The cause of death were severe head injuries while skiing by himself in a remote slope with trees. This happened days after troubled Bobby Kennedy son, Michael Kennedy's, skiing death, but that was witnessed.

About 10 months after Sonny Bono died, his wife, Mary Whitaker, who took on the congressional seat that belonged to Sonny, came out with a statement as to what killed Sonny. I've read he was an athletic type of guy. He skiied and played tennis. His widow said he was drugged up for back and neck pain. So he goes off skiing by himself on a remote slope alone? If this is true, he must have been relatively pain-free if he thought he could accomplish this.

Jerry Lewis suffered from severe back pain from the mid-sixties on due to a pratfall. He took 13 Percodan a day. Any athleticism he had disappeared. Prior to this, he suffered a heart attack while filming Cinderfella. This happened before the back pain, but you can tell how out of breath he was after a superb dancing sequence with Anna Maria Alberghetti and Count Basie's live music. He probably had COPD by then from smoking. Add pain to lung disease and you become a sedentary person.

Sonny seemed to be relatively strong. Did Vicodin or Valium cause him to lose control when skiing the dangerous slope? Was it an accident? Or something other? Here his widow describes life with Sonny:

****

'Friday, November 20, 1998 9:56 AM

Bono's Wife: Drugs Killed Sonny

Sonny Bono's widow isn't letting him rest in peace. Rep. Mary Bono tells TV Guide that the pop star-turned-congressman was a prescription drug abuser, and she believes that this led to his death in a skiing accident last January.

Mary Bono, who replaced her late husband as a California representative, tells the Nov. 28 issue of the magazine that Sonny was taking "15, 20 maybe" pills a day at the time of his death. She says the pills were prescribed by doctors for chronic back and neck problems.

"I am 100 percent convinced that is why he died," she says. "What he did showed absolute lack of judgment. That's what these pills do. They take away your thought process."

According to his autopsy results, Bono showed no signs of alcohol or drug abuse, but Mary says that Sonny had "therapeutic" levels, i.e. prescribed amounts, of Vicodin and Valium in his system. "You know, these drugs come with a warning, 'Do Not Operate Machinery,' or whatever."

Mary Bono also says the pills made her husband moody, withdrawn, and angry, causing severe problems in their marriage.

"People don't know this. They don't know the true struggle that was there," she says. "One time Cher said, 'You know, Mary, you've gotta get out of there.' She knew how bad it was. His mood swings were so hard. In the middle of the night, he would wake up and be angry about something."

It was, she says, "a very difficult 12 years of my life."

Mary Bono says she and Sonny didn't have a prenuptial agreement, so "I could have left him and done well. But I chose to stay and work it out because I truly loved him."'

My suspicions rise because he was a politician -- but what did he do that was controversial? If I remember correctly, right before he died the scandal sheets claimed he was carrying on an extramarital affair. Besides that, I can't think of anything else. Political murders do happen frequently. Vince Foster, at the beginning of Clinton's 8 years, was a victim of political murder in my opinion.

The combination of Valium and Vicodin would make the taker drowsy. If you're drowsy -- under the influence -- would you want to go skiing down a dangerous slope?

Quantum Physics Leading into Teleportation

2010-08-01T23:52:00.001-05:00

From NPR, the true search for God:

'"Quantum entanglement" may sound like an awful sci-fi romance flick, but it's actually a phenomenon that physicists say may someday lead to the ability to teleport an object all the way across the galaxy instantly.
It's not exactly the Star Trek version of teleportation, where an object disappears then reappears somewhere else. Rather, it "entangles" two different atoms so that one atom inherits the properties of another.

"According to the quantum theory, everything vibrates," theoretical physicist Michio Kaku tells NPR's Guy Raz. Kaku is a frequent guest on the Science and Discovery channels. "When two electrons are placed close together, they vibrate in unison. When you separate them, that's when all the fireworks start."

This is where quantum entanglement -- sometimes described as "teleportation" -- begins. "An invisible umbilical cord emerges connecting these two electrons. And you can separate them by as much as a galaxy if you want. Then, if you vibrate one of them, somehow on the other end of the galaxy the other electron knows that its partner is being jiggled."

This process happens even faster than the speed of light, physicists say.

Quantum entanglement isn't a new idea -- Einstein once famously referred to it as "spooky action at a distance" -- but it wasn't until the past 30 years that scientists were first able to observe this process.

It could one day lead to new types of computers, and some even think entanglement may explain things like telepathy. Scientists aren't quite ready to beam up Scotty yet, but this is the technology that one day may lead to such a feat.

The work is being pioneered at places like the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland. In a basement lab, scientist Christopher Monroe has successfully managed to "entangle" two atoms approximately one meter away from each other.

"It's fun being on the fringe," Monroe says. "This discipline, we don't know where it's going. And that drives me every day."

But Monroe's work is a long way from being able to teleport a living being. The problem with such an act, Kaku says, is that "you have to be destroyed in order to have your body teleported to the other side of the room. So if you've been destroyed and teleported, then who is that person there? They have the same memory, the same jokes, the same everything, except the original was destroyed in the process of being teleported."

So if one was to be teleported, would he or she simply be re-created but not able to tell the difference? Stay tuned to the Joint Quantum Institute website to see if they ask for volunteers.'

***

This story was reported by NPR's Brent Baughman. Copyright 2010 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Quantum Physics Looks into teleportation

2010-08-01T23:31:00.001-05:00

"Quantum entanglement" may sound like an awful sci-fi romance flick, but it's actually a phenomenon that physicists say may someday lead to the ability to teleport an object all the way across the galaxy instantly.
It's not exactly the Star Trek version of teleportation, where an object disappears then reappears somewhere else. Rather, it "entangles" two different atoms so that one atom inherits the properties of another.

"According to the quantum theory, everything vibrates," theoretical physicist Michio Kaku tells NPR's Guy Raz. Kaku is a frequent guest on the Science and Discovery channels. "When two electrons are placed close together, they vibrate in unison. When you separate them, that's when all the fireworks start."

This is where quantum entanglement -- sometimes described as "teleportation" -- begins. "An invisible umbilical cord emerges connecting these two electrons. And you can separate them by as much as a galaxy if you want. Then, if you vibrate one of them, somehow on the other end of the galaxy the other electron knows that its partner is being jiggled."

This process happens even faster than the speed of light, physicists say.

Quantum entanglement isn't a new idea -- Einstein once famously referred to it as "spooky action at a distance" -- but it wasn't until the past 30 years that scientists were first able to observe this process.

It could one day lead to new types of computers, and some even think entanglement may explain things like telepathy. Scientists aren't quite ready to beam up Scotty yet, but this is the technology that one day may lead to such a feat.

The work is being pioneered at places like the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland. In a basement lab, scientist Christopher Monroe has successfully managed to "entangle" two atoms approximately one meter away from each other.

"It's fun being on the fringe," Monroe says. "This discipline, we don't know where it's going. And that drives me every day."

But Monroe's work is a long way from being able to teleport a living being. The problem with such an act, Kaku says, is that "you have to be destroyed in order to have your body teleported to the other side of the room. So if you've been destroyed and teleported, then who is that person there? They have the same memory, the same jokes, the same everything, except the original was destroyed in the process of being teleported."

So if one was to be teleported, would he or she simply be re-created but not able to tell the difference? Stay tuned to the Joint Quantum Institute website to see if they ask for volunteers.

This story was reported by NPR's Brent Baughman. Copyright 2010 National Public Radio.

Nixon Mask

2010-07-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

I didn't know you could still get these things. Buy now for Halloween. Or add one to your Nixon collection.

President Nixon's Farewell Speech to Staff

2010-07-11T18:53:00.000-05:00

Here is the entire speech President Nixon gave on Aug.9, 1974.

Does It Ever Stop?

2010-07-07T01:30:00.001-05:00

This from http://aol.com/world:

Italian Police to Open Tomb to Solve Girl's Disappearance
Updated: Theunis Bates Contributor

AOL News (July 6) -- "For almost three decades, the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, 15, has haunted and fascinated the Italian public. The daughter of a Vatican employee vanished in June 1983 as she walked home from a flute lesson in central Rome. Some commentators have claimed she was kidnapped on the orders of a corrupt priest, others by the KGB. Investigators, though, have never been able to confirm what happened to the teen.

Now the case is back in the headlines after the Vatican announced that it would allow police to open the tomb of the gangster suspected of kidnapping Orlandi.

Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, was 15 years old when she disappeared following a music lesson in Rome on June 22, 1983.The tomb in question belongs to Enrico De Pedis -- the former head of Rome's Magliana gang, who was gunned down by rivals in 1990 -- and sits alongside the sarcophagi of saints and martyrs in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in central Rome. That Vatican-owned church is located opposite Orlandi's music school, where she was last seen alive, stepping into a dark green BMW with an unidentified man.

In 2005, an anonymous caller to Italy's equivalent of Crime Stoppers suggested that if police looked inside the crypt, they'd find out what happened to the teen. The man who made that call has since been identified as the son of one of De Pedis' gangsters.

Now five years later, the Vatican -- operating through the Vicariate of Rome -- has said that it will allow Italian authorities to crack open the marble crypt and examine its contents. "The Vicariate of Rome expresses no objection to the request of Italian magistrates that the tomb of Signor De Pedis be inspected," the Vicariate said in a statement cited by The Daily Telegraph.

It's not clear whether investigators think they might find Orlandi's remains in the vault, or new evidence about her disappearance. A spokeswoman for the Rome police told the Daily Mail that they planned to open the tomb in August or September, and in the meantime would continue to interview witnesses to the case, which was reopened two years ago.

The decision by Rome's ecclesiastical authorities to allow De Pedis -- whose gang controlled Rome's drug market and was responsible for numerous murders -- to be interred at the 300-year-old church has been an ongoing source of controversy. In 1997, when his body was finally placed inside the tomb, Giampaolo Tronci, secretary-general of a police trade union, told the Guardian, ''I wonder what the murdered anti-mafia priests would think of this, given that not even they were granted this privilege."

The burial was approved by the then-rector of the church, Monsignor Pietro Vergara, on the grounds that De Pedis had "repented while in jail and also done a lot of work for charity," including handing large donations to the church, the Mail noted. Tronci, however, said that he suspected the dead mobster was interred in the sacred space because of his gang's connection to financial scandals involving the Vatican.

That theory was advanced in 2008, when De Pedis' former girlfriend Sabrina Minardi claimed American Archbishop Paul Marcinkus -- the disgraced head of the Vatican bank, who was accused of having links with organized crime -- ordered Orlandi's disappearance. Italian newspaper La Repubblica quoted her testimony to police, in which she said that Marcinkus, who died in 2006, wanted the girl snatched "to send a message to someone above them" as part of a "power game."

She added that after being held for an unspecified period of time, Orlandi was murdered and her body thrown into a cement mixer on the outskirts of Rome. In return for the kidnapping, Marcinkus allegedly helped De Pedis invest his gang's money overseas.

The Vatican rejected the accusations as 'slanderous without basis.'

But that's just one of many theories put forward to explain the girl's vanishing. Some commentators have claimed that Orlandi was grabbed on the orders of the KGB and was supposed to be used as a bargaining tool to secure the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981 and was allegedly working for Soviet intelligence. Others have argued that the girl's father discovered Church documents connecting the Vatican bank with the Magliana gang, and that she was kidnapped to silence him.

Orlandi's family, though, refuses to speculate. 'We will await the facts,' her sister, Natalina, told The Daily Telegraph. 'But I have never believed that Emanuela could be buried with De Pedis. As a Catholic, to think that an underworld boss could be laid to rest in a basilica is upsetting.'"
Filed under: World, Crime

Is it getting into people's heads that something is very wrong here? The Vatican is connected to organized crime. They have a Don sleeping with the saints and martyrs. Over the years, doing a lot of reading, I've learned that the Vatican has assassins -- Jesuit assassins. I didn't know what to believe. But now I believe it.

The Pope and Cardinal Spellman knew Kennedy was going to be killed. President Kennedy, an Irish Catholic, did not want us in Viet Nam. The declaration of that was on his desk, waiting to be signed when he came back from Dallas. The Vatican wanted South Viet Nam to remain Catholic. The Vatican wanted us to fight a war for them. The day after the Assassination, Nov.23,1963, President Lyndon Johnson signed a declaration that brought us into Viet Nam. Think of all the (mostly) young men who died over there, or came back drug addicts. Think how they were scorned upon return. The scorn came from the peace movement that commenced in Johnson's administration. It came as a direct result of the murder of Kennedy. That death and the manner of it stunned the whole world.

The government we voted for was overturned on Nov.22,1963 with disastrous results and suspicious deaths. Can you imagine how different this country would be, how strong we'd be, if Kennedy had stayed President? But my main point is: Never underestimate the Vatican. They have no right to have power over anyone. In my opinion, the Catholic Church was complicit in the Kennedy Assassination.

This Sentencing Is Much Fairer Than What He Deserves

2010-07-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

Here's another story about a Catholic Priest who sadistically and sexually abused boys and had many victims. This stuff isn't going away is it? I read recently that commentators were asking for Pope Benedict's resignation. He switched the priests around for years when he was a Bishop or whatever, one particular priest every single year. I really don't think these priests -- any of them -- believe in God. They're perverts who wielded a lot of power. No more. Here's the story:

(July 2) -- An Australian priest who called himself a "mere scumbag pedophile" in a public apology to his victims was sentenced today to nearly 20 years in prison for sexually abusing dozens of boys over two decades as a Catholic school teacher.

John Sidney Denham, 67, pleaded guilty to a range of offenses, including multiple counts of indecent assault on boys 5 to 16 years old. Most of the victims had been students at three schools in New South Wales where Denham taught in the late 1960s, 70s and 80s. Details were reported by several Australian and international news outlets.

The public gallery of a Sydney courtroom burst into applause when the judge sentenced Denham to 19 years and 10 months in jail. That's after District Court Judge Helen Syme took three hours to outline the case against him, calling some of the offenses "sadistic" and saying they "contributed to a culture of fear and depravity" in the schools where Denham taught.

John Sidney Denham at court in Sydney, Australia, in 2008. He pleaded guilty to a range of charges relating to attacks on boys at schools in New South Wales between 1968 and 1986.

She said the Catholic Church failed to follow up on repeated complaints about Denham, and children tried to leave quickly to avoid him after school. "Denham's on the crawl" is how one former victim described boys alerting one another when the priest was coming for them, according to the Australian public broadcaster ABC. The victim's name wasn't released because he was a minor at the time of the abuse.

The judge described how Denham showed his victims pornographic films and gave them chocolates, alcohol and money to silence them. He asked one young victim to be his "special friend," she said.

"The incident assaults involved multiple children, often significant planning, were frequently sadistic and overall persistent, objectively serious, criminal courses of conduct," Syme told the courtroom.

Denham sat hunched over as his sentence was read out, avoiding the gaze of his victims and their families.

On Thursday, he publicly apologized to his victims in a statement read out in court.

"All I can say is, I'm so sorry. I see myself as a mere scumbag pedophile who took advantage of a situation and used my power to abuse young people," Denham said.

Denham has been in custody since 2008. His case was one of the most highly publicized clergy abuse trials in Australia, with one of the largest numbers of victims. In July 2008, Pope Benedict XVI met some abuse victims and issued a public apology.

Priests' sexual molestation on kids

2010-04-16T13:24:00.003-05:00

http://www.archpdxpriestfiles.com/?gclid=CKTpo_bbi6ECFUmU7Qodq1gFNg

The above site releases documents about specific priests molesting children. The diosese has declared bankruptcy because of the lawsuits. I think you should read about the sins of the Catholic Church. There are PDF documents at the link.

The End of the Catholic Church

2010-03-28T13:50:00.001-05:00

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/pope-opens-holy-week-amid-worsening-priest-sex-abuse-crisis/19417253

People like Christopher Hitchens are asking for the Pope's resignation. This on Palm Sunday, just a week before the biggest celebration in the Catholic Church: Easter. It's an incredible article, link above. Will Ratzinger be the last Pope?

Will the Pope Resign?

2010-03-27T18:30:00.001-05:00

Because of all the allegations of sexual child abuse, there's an idea that Ratzinger, who was Archbishop of Munich, and knew about sexual molestations perpetrated by Catholic priests did nothing to bring them to justice. Some are predicting a schism in the Church. There was an old Irish saint, called Malachy, and he foresaw the names of each Pope and, the legend goes, he was always right. He said the "last" Pope will be named Benedict. I think the Catholic Church has had it. Here is a recent story I came across:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/27/will-the-pope-resign-it-wouldnt-be-easy-and-may-not-be-possib/

Statute of Limitations Protects Rapist Priest

2010-03-26T12:42:00.000-05:00

Don't blame the messenger. It is endless. In my opinion, organized religion with its dogma should be avoided. The following story is why. Bob Dylan said it best: "Don't follow leaders/Watch the parking meters."

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/wisconsin-church-abuse-victim-arthur-budzinski-never-give-up/19414639

MILWAUKEE (March 25) -- Arthur Budzinski sits at a coffee shop, using sign language to talk about a new report that top Vatican officials knew about the priest who abused him and hundreds of other boys at a Catholic school for the deaf -- but failed to act out of fear of embarrassing the church.

"This is nothing new for him," his daughter, Gigi Budzinski, said, interpreting her father's signs. "He's known for many, many years that people at the Vatican knew this and ignored it. His innocence was stolen from him when he was just a boy. Now he's 61 years old and he's still fighting this same fight."

Arthur Budzinski was a student at St. John's School for the Deaf outside Milwaukee in the 1960s when he alleges that he was molested by the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy. The late priest, who ran the school, is accused of molesting some 200 deaf boys.
As reported in The New York Times on Thursday, newly released documents show that bishops in Wisconsin reported the allegations against the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy directly to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now pope, The news comes as Pope Benedict XVI faces accusations about failing to respond to other sexual abuse allegations as an archbishop in his native Germany. [This is the Pope!]
Minnesota lawyer Jeff Anderson, who represents victims of church sexual abuse in Wisconsin and shared the documents, told AOL News that the correspondence shows "a direct line from the victims through the bishops and directly to the man who is now pope."

"What this clearly demonstrates is that the world's top Catholic officials, as a matter of protocol and practice, when a serial predator was reported to them by U.S. bishops, looked at it and chose to do nothing because they were afraid of the publicity and to avoid scandal," he said. "The obvious result is that more kids were abused."

According to the documents, in 1996 then-Milwaukee Archbishop Rembert Weakland wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger, then prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, and explained that sexual abuse charges against Murphy dating to the 1950s included accusations that he solicited sexual activity from boys in the confessional.

"My concern now is not simply for necessary justice, I am even more interested in a healing response from the church to the deaf community within the archdiocese so that their anger may be defused and their trust in ecclesiastical ministers be restored," Weakland wrote.

However, according to the documents, a canonical trial that could have led to Murphy's dismissal was halted after the priest wrote to Ratzinger, saying he had repented.

"I simply want to live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood," wrote Murphy, who died in 1998 at age 72. "I ask your kind assistance in this matter."

The files contain no response from Cardinal Ratzinger.

Budzinski said he heard similar claims of repentance from Murphy when he confronted the priest about the abuse after graduating from St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, near Milwaukee.

An undated photo shows Budzinski at left with his hands folded and Murphy at far right during a church service. Budzinski said he was 12 years old when he went to Murphy for confession and instead was molested by the priest in a secluded stairway.
"He said, 'Please be quiet. Forgive me, please. I have stopped,' " Budzinski said, through his daughter. "But he kept molesting boys."

Budzinski began attending the school, near Lake Michigan in a quiet Milwaukee suburb, in 1953, when he was 5 years old. Although he cried every Sunday night when his father dropped him off at the school, clinging to his leg and begging to go home, Budzinski said he enjoyed going there and connecting with other deaf children.

The young boys particularly enjoyed exploring the sprawling building and its grounds, he said, pointing to pictures in a battered pamphlet from the 1950s. Budzinski's face lit up as he used his hands to describe the stately school grounds, wide stairways, huge parlor and hidden walkways. As an older child, he enjoyed walking to Lake Michigan during breaks from classes.

He first saw Murphy when the priest visited a class where the students used headphones to try to learn speech. Budzinski said it wasn't until he was 10 that he began "hearing whispers" from the older boys about the priest's late-night visits to their dormitories.

When Budzinski was 12, he said, he went to Murphy for confession and instead was molested by the priest in a secluded stairway between two buildings. Budzinski says he was molested by Murphy two more times, once at age 12 and again at 14.

"You're real handsome," Budzinski recalled the priest telling him. "You are a real handsome boy."

When Budzinski graduated eighth grade and began attending a high school for the deaf, he heard other boys talking openly about Murphy, compelling him to confront the priest in the encounter he described, when he saw Murphy at a high school football game. But he didn't go to civil authorities until 1974, with two boyhood friends who also said they had been molested, and by that point they were told the statute of limitations had expired.

His daughter said Budzinski was given $80,000 in 2006 from a fund established to compensate clergy abuse victims.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee, in a statement issued Thursday in response to the Times' article, noted: "Murphy's actions were criminal and we sincerely apologize to those who have been harmed. ... Most importantly, today, no priest with any substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor serves in public ministry in any way in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee."

Archdiocesan spokeswoman Julie Wolf added in an interview with AOL News: "I think it's important for people to look at these news stories of 2010 not only through the lens of 2010 but then through the lens of 1950 and '60 and '70 -- how as a society things were different and how as a church things were different. We as a church today are really setting the standard for sexual abuse prevention."

However, Budzinski said he hasn't trusted the church for decades. "My only faith," he said, "is right here in my heart."

Budzinski, who became a journeyman printer, married and had two daughters, had this advice to other victims: "You need to tell. Never give up. ... Never give up."

Jerry Lewis Karyn Kupcinet

2010-03-21T00:47:00.001-05:00

See below the Second Part of Jerry Lewis' 1963 Show, first night. Steve Allen is in the audience with his "secretary," Karyn Kupcinet. I was very happy for this find. She looks gorgeous, and it's hard to say that she only had 2 months left.

Rich DellaRosa

2010-03-12T14:03:00.001-05:00

I cannot tell you how much I dreaded the inevitable -- Rich DellaRosa's death. Years have passed since I'd seen him. Sometimes we'd email. He was singular minded -- he wanted to do whatever he could to pierce the mystery of President John F. Kennedy's death. He felt it was his calling. And that President Kennedy deserved better than he certainly got. Someone said a bum on the street would have received a better autopsy than John Kennedy did. Rich was trying to ameliorate this.

He would bristle if I asked him if the Chicago Mob helped get him Kennedy elected. Or if I asked if Jack and Bobby were planning to assassinate Castro on Dec.1, 1963, as was published in 2 recent books. Or if Kennedy "allowed" the Diem brothers to be assassinated.

It's a shame our friendship ended. I thought the world of him.

Sexual Misconduct at the Vatican

2010-03-05T13:49:00.001-05:00

Sorry, but here's another story about the "Romans," I couldn't ignore, gotten through wiretaps [Fair Usage]:

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/vatican-hit-by-gay-sex-scandal/19383948

World
Vatican Hit by Gay Sex ScandalUpdated: 15 hours 4 minutes ago

Dana Kennedy
Contributor

AOL News (March 4) -- The Vatican is at the center of a gay sex scandal involving a young chorister who allegedly procured men, including at least one seminarian, for a lay member of one of Pope Benedict's inner circles.

Angelo Balducci, a civil engineer and honorary Vatican usher, was quoted in police wiretaps allegedly negotiating with Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, a 29-year-old Vatican choir member, about the kind of men he wanted brought to him. Some of the wiretap transcripts were published Wednesday in the Italian daily La Repubblica.

Balducci has been a member since 1995 of "Gentlemen of His Holiness," an exclusive fraternity of ushers within the papal household who serve during state and special occasions. Members of the group bore Pope John Paul II's coffin in 2005.

This latest Vatican embarrassment, coming not long after Irish priests were summoned to Rome to discuss decades of clerical sexual abuse in Ireland, surfaced inadvertently as a result of a probe into corruption involving public works contracts.

Balducci, who sits on the board of Italy's public works council and is a construction consultant to the Vatican, was one of four people arrested in February in connection with the corruption probe. He has not yet been charged in that case, which remains open.

On Wednesday, La Repubblica published excerpts from the wiretaps and other police documents from the probe, which indicated Balducci was in regular contact with Ehiem, a member of the Vatican's Giulia Choir. Police identified him as part "of an organized network ... to abet male prostitution."

Among the men allegedly procured for Balducci, according to the transcripts, were "two black Cuban boys," a former male model from Naples and a rugby player from Rome.

Ehiem told Panorama magazine in an interview set to run Friday that he had been introduced to Balducci 10 years ago. The Guardian quoted Ehiem as saying: "He asked me if I could procure other men for him. He told me he was married and that I had to do it in great secrecy."

Ehiem was fired Wednesday from his job in the choir, according to news reports.

Some of the more sensational excerpts from Italian police transcripts obtained by the Guardian quote conversations recorded in January between Balducci and Ehiem about a young seminarian. Balducci inquires about the seminarian and Ehiem says he is "probably at Mass or something."

When it turns out that seminarian is not available, Ehiem calls another time recommending one of the student priest's colleagues or friends. Ehiem says the substitute is "better, taller, a bit taller than you."

Still later, Ehiem is quoted in the transcript asking: "Can I send [him] around right away?" and asks where Balducci is. Ehiem is told that he is "up at the seminary ... where the cardinal lives." Ehiem then says the man "could get there within half an hour ... the time it takes to catch a taxi and get there."

Balducci's lawyer, Franco Coppi, told reporters Thursday night that he had no comment for the moment. "We have more serious questions to tackle," Coppi said. "Second, if these claims are correct, they regard his private life. It is disgraceful that these transcripts, which have nothing to do with the case, should have been spread about."

The wiretaps stemmed from a probe into public works contracts, including a venue in Sardinia that was planned for last year's G8 summit before it was moved to Abruzzo.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
2010 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Pope Does Nothing

2010-02-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

The article alone speaks for itself.

******************************************

Pope Doesn't Ask for Resignations in Abuse

Terence Neilan, Contributor

(Feb. 16) -- Pope Benedict XVI today ended two days of talks with Irish bishops on the sexual abuse scandal involving Ireland's Catholic priests, but no mention was made at the meeting of the victims' demands that leading bishops be forced to resign, the Vatican said.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the issue "was not addressed," adding that the pope had "already expressed profound regret," The Associated Press reported.

The meeting followed an investigation in Ireland that revealed the widespread scope of child sexual abuse over decades in the Dublin diocese. The findings matched previous reports from other parts of Ireland, and showed that the Catholic hierarchy appeared more concerned with covering up the crimes than bringing anyone to justice.

Pope Benedict XVI met with Ireland's bishops about the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church in Ireland.

The Vatican meeting was intended to restore confidence in the church, and Lombardi said the pope "shares the outrage." The pope also urged the Irish clergy to be courageous in confronting the scandal.

But Irish victims of the abuse are unlikely to find much solace in the Vatican's statements.

After the meeting was announced, Andrew Madden, the first victim to go public in 1995with the revelation that he had been paid by the church to remain silent, told Dana Kennedy of AOL News, "I have a feeling the pope will just disappoint us again."

He added: "Every time you engage with the Vatican, you hold out hope they'll react in a way that's real and human and connected, and they never do."

A Vatican statement today said the pope called the sexual abuse of children "a heinous crime" and a "grave sin which offends God."

Twenty-four Irish bishops were involved in the meeting and were to be given seven minutes each to be questioned by the pope, according to published reports. A number of bishops were scheduled to hold a news conference later today before returning to Ireland for Ash Wednesday church services.

Some of those at the Vatican meeting were identified in the various reports as having taken part in the cover-ups and were said to be considering resigning.

The investigation covering the Dublin diocese, known as the Murphy Report, examined the cases of more than 320 victims from 1975 to 2004. One priest admitted molesting children at least once every two weeks for 25 years.

Meanwhile the Vatican's diplomatic representative to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, declined an invitation to testify before a parliamentary committee looking into aspects of the scandal, the Irish Times reports. One member of the committee, Alan Shatter, called that decision "not only regrettable but incomprehensible."

Filed under: World, Top Stories
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
2010 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Jane Asher

2010-01-27T02:39:00.001-05:00

I met this British actress in 1971. She was at the height of her beauty. She is thinner today, as is the fashion. She was starring in a play called The Philanthropist on Broadway. We were in the first seats, close to the stage. She appeared on Dick Cavett's Show and Kup's Show. In America she is best known for having been Paul McCartney's fiancee. They went together for 5 years. He was a good 5 years older than she.

McCartney lived in her townhouse during the whole of Beatlemania. No one found out! Yet he would meet other girls and bed them down. But you never saw him out in public with another girl -- he was discreet. Girls were so jealous of Jane Asher, who at 17 accomplished so much and now kept the handsome Beatle, Paul, beguiled.

She was attacked one day at Piccadilly Circus by 3 girls. They ambushed her, and got her against a streetlamp. I believe they slapped her and threatened her; pulled her hair.

Letters would be written into Beatle mags saying the writer hoped someone would throw acid in Jane's face or hope that she'd be in a terrible car crash and her face be ruined forever. Can you imagine if things like that were said today? It would certainly give some creep the nerve to attempt something like that. I don't think they'd be published.

Anyway, her skin was pink! The whites of her eyes were pink. Her eyes were a light watery blue. She had her eye make-up on and a bit more weight on her than today. Vidal Sassoon cut and styled her hair into a shag.

Anyway, this photo is disturbing. It's a recent one. What the hell is that on her feet and toes? She looks measled. I guess no one's perfect.

Jane Asher Pictures

Marilyn Monroe Is Not Smoking Pot

2009-12-02T19:43:00.002-05:00

Monroe was not smoking pot. The video begins with Monroe holding a cigarette with her left hand down over the chair. She then switches hands, inhales and aims a stream of smoke away from her company. Monroe wasn't really a smoker, but she would dabble in it from time to time.

Natalie Wood

2009-11-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

2009-11-27T22:03:00.001-05:00

Tonight, shortly after midnight, is the anniversary of the murder of Karyn Kupcinet. Today while waiting for my car to be fixed I met an elderly man from Chicago. I asked him if he remembered Irv Kupcinet. He said, "Yes, he was a newspaperman." I said, "Do you remember when his daughter Cookie (Karyn) was murdered"? "Yes," he said. Then he went on to tell me he knew 2 people whose daughters were murdered. "And the murderers are free now." It made me wonder if someone had been charged with her murder, how long would they really do in prison. Karyn's murderer would be out now -- a sobering thought.

Saw Andrew Prine on a Bonanza episode yesterday. Probably made before the murder. Afterwards he became self-conscious. I don't believe he did it. I believe a mobster had her hit to get Jack Ruby off the front pages of Chicago newspapers. She was big news in Chicago because of her stage work and her father being Irv Kupcinet of Kup's Show and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. They have a huge bronze statue of him in Chicago, near the water, welcoming everyone to the city.

Today I read there's a new biography out about writer John Cheever. In 1963 he was having an affair with actress Hope Lange, who was married to director Alan Pakula. Cheever was bisexual and a heavy drunk. He became friends with David Lange, Hope's younger brother; a ne'er do well and a heavy drinker. Cheever identified with him and his drinking. At the time, David Lange, who, I should say, has passed on, was going out with Natalie Wood big time. But ultimately he felt he didn't have the money to take her places. David Lange got an apartment in the Monterey Apts, directly below Karyn Kupcinet's apartment. He came home the night she died at 12:30 am, very drunk. He told the police he went right to bed. The police didn't care about drunk driving in those days.

Around the same time he came home, Karyn was murdered. Lange had a nasty habit of walking into people's apartments unannounced. He told a couple of women he was the strangler -- jokingly. Karyn died on Thanksgiving. Lange admitted to the police (after lying) that he did go up to Karyn's apartment on Friday, tried the door and it was unlocked -- but he didn't go in. Why would he enter one woman's unlocked apartment but not Karyn's apartment, finding the door open?

My guess pertaining to this theory is he did go to her apartment; something went wrong and he killed her. He then went downstairs and passed out. On Friday, he went up and looked in and realized it wasn't a nightmare. He killed her in a blackout. The Kupcinet family believe that David Lange killed Karyn.

Tomorrow night is the anniversary of Natalie Wood's death.

One more thing -- I made some important tweets today. http://twitter.com/kc440_

46th Anniversary of President Kennedy's Demise

2009-11-22T14:56:00.000-05:00

On the Anniversary of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, what makes the news -- the Catholic censure of the late Ted Kennedy's son, Patrick Kennedy. A Rhode Island Bishop is harrassing Kennedy because of his stand on abortion rights.

How dare this disrespectful Bishop, on a day like today, make himself newsworthy by banning Congressman Kennedy from the sacrament of Communion? Notice this only took place after Senator Edward Kennedy died. And this Bishop dares bring up something like this at this time. Patrick Kennedy tells us it began in 2007.

Bishop Tobin is a coward. If we looked into his past would we find him sending a child raper to another parish so it wouldn't be made public? How can a child raper say the Mass in the first place?

These Catholic zealots shouldn't have any power whatsoever. They are preying on people's superstitions when they all should be locked up. I don't believe that this Bishop never knew a fellow priest who forced a little boy into having sex. And this Bishop turned away.

Tobin couldn't have picked a worse time to find himself in the news -- the 46th anniversary of President Kennedy's Assassination. If Ted Kennedy was alive he wouldn't dare. Part of what turned me off about the Catholic Church was the feverish frenzy to see if Ted Kennedy would take Communion after Mary Jo Kopechne's death. It seems to me that the practitioners of the Catholic religion always have their noses stuck in other people's business, even though they're all self-proclaimed "sinners."

Do not let these woman-hating, child-raping bastards get back their power. As Bob Dylan said, "Don't follow leaders/watch the parking meters." Don't follow anybody. Think for yourselves. Don't put your kids in their hands.

Kennedy, Bishop Clash Over CommunionBy RAY HENRY, AP

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Nov. 22) -- The Roman Catholic Bishop of Rhode Island said Sunday that he asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy in a 2007 letter to stop receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, because of the congressman's public stance on moral issues.

Bishop Thomas Tobin divulged details of his confidential exchange with Kennedy after the Democratic lawmaker told The Providence Journal in a story published Sunday that Tobin had instructed him not to receive Communion. The two men have clashed repeatedly in the past few weeks over abortion.

Politics Daily: Catholics Deeply Split on Other Issues

Kennedy did not say where or how he received those instructions. He declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop's request.

"The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion," Kennedy told the paper in an interview conducted Friday.

Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him "that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I've taken as a public official," particularly on abortion.

The outspoken prelate and Kennedy, a son of the nation's most famous Roman Catholic family, have feuded since Kennedy in an interview last month criticized Roman Catholic church leaders for threatening to oppose an overhaul of the nation's health care system unless it included tighter restrictions on abortion.
Kennedy voted against an amendment tightening abortion restrictions that was sought by the bishops. But he voted in favor of a health care plan that included the amendment he opposed.

Tobin urged Kennedy not to receive communion in a February 2007 letter, a portion of which was released publicly by Tobin's office Sunday.

"In light of the Church's clear teaching, and your consistent actions, therefore, I believe it is inappropriate for you to be receiving Holy Communion and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so," Tobin wrote.

It was not immediately clear whether Tobin and Kennedy spoke further about the request. Kennedy spokeswoman Kerrie Bennett did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the letter.

Tobin, the spiritual leader of the nation's most heavily Roman Catholic state, demanded an apology from Kennedy after the congressman criticized church leaders who opposed universal health care unless the plans included more restrictions on abortions. He also requested a meeting with Kennedy.

"While I greatly respect the Catholic Church and its leaders, like many Rhode Islanders, the fact that I disagree with the hierarchy of the church on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic," Kennedy wrote in a letter to Tobin, agreeing to a sitdown. "I embrace my faith which acknowledges the existence of an imperfect humanity."

Their meeting fell apart. While Tobin called it a mutual decision, Kennedy accused Tobin of failing to abide by an agreement to stop discussing the congressman's faith publicly.

Tobin followed up with a biting public letter published in a diocesan newspaper.
"Sorry, you can't chalk it up to an 'imperfect humanity.' Your position is unacceptable to the Church and scandalous to many of our members. It absolutely diminishes your Communion with the Church," Tobin wrote.

Susan Gibbs, a spokeswoman for Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said officials with the archdiocese didn't know whether Kennedy attends Mass in the nation's capital. Anyone who does not believe in core Catholic teachings would be asked not to come forward for Communion, she said. Church leaders continue teaching and counseling those individuals, Gibbs said.

As for Kennedy, Gibbs said "we have not barred anyone from receiving Communion.
"We don't know of his worship habits," she said. "Most legislators return home on the weekends."

Fair Use.

"Jerry Lewis" Commercial

2009-11-01T16:06:00.000-05:00

Laaaaaddddeeeeeey!

Karyn Kupcinet

2009-11-01T15:12:00.003-05:00

I received news from a writer who was working on a book proposal regarding Karyn Kupcinet. He is now attempting a screenplay instead. I think this is good because Hollywood or wherever are looking for scripts. I've read they're reading short stories and screenplays like crazy because of all the TV channels we now have. They want stories. The problem with a screenplay is they always change it. So I wish him good luck on it. I'm surprised her story hasn't been told already except on THS.

Another thing I want to make clear: Photos. It is very hard to find out who has the rights to a photo, especially an obscure one from 46 years ago. If I find someone else has the rights I will ask them to consider my use of photos of Karyn Kupcinet as fair usage. This murder has historical significance, but most people don't remember or have even heard of her. We are seriously trying to redress a wrong here.

I wrote a personal essay on her. I am trying to get it published, as well as other things I have written -- 2 novelettes and poetry. I have other writing projects in mind, both fiction and non-fiction. This is why I am not writing here as much as I usually do.

Let's hope there's a screenplay. I suggested Wynnona Ryder -- it's possible she shares a similar temperament. But the writer thought she was too old now. I still believe KK would have been happier as a journalist. Even after plastic surgery, she couldn't satisfy her mother or herself. There were still weight problems. I don't think she should have bothered with Hollywood. The writer disagrees. But I say when you have all that plastic surgery and you're still not confident in your looks, it shouldn't continue. At least in plays she could act any part and not have to be a beauty queen.

I present a controversial theory of how and why she died. I've written about different suspicious characters and these writings you'll find in my blog's archives.

Noah Hathaway not Gay

2009-10-20T20:59:00.000-05:00

There is something I want to make clear. There was a child star named Noah Hathaway. His father, Robert, was with Karyn Kupcinet the night she died. The elder Hathaway was not a suspect. I think he is in a wheelchair, suffering from polio. But people have been asking if the child star, Noah, was gay. No he was and is not. Those photos here on another page said nothing about Noah. I saw Noah on TV the other night. He's out of show business and is married to a female tattoo artist.

My apologies go to him and his family if anyone thought I said Noah was gay. And if he was, it wouldn't matter to me anyway. But as it turns out he's not.

Possibly One of the Most Astounding News Stories I Ever Heard

2009-10-20T18:39:00.002-05:00

The Roman Catholic Church has expanded to include Anglicans and Episcopalians. Possibly priests will be allowed to marry. St Malachi predicted the last Pope's name would be Benedict. Maybe this is the last "Pope" -- and not the end of the world. In a poll 89% of the people taking the poll have said they think Catholic priests should be able to marry.

The Church has been sinking for years. One, all the molestations of children, wounds still hurting these people into adulthood and beyond. Two, Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code? Religion is man-made and the Church has been struggling to keep its followers.

Well, now that everyone is in everyone's pocket, let's see what occurs. But beware: This could be a sign that the Church is moving toward Globalism. A one-world government, a one-world religion.

Sure took a long time. It started on November 22, 1963.

http://news.aol.com/article/vatican-creates-new-structure-to-ease/728295?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fvatican-creates-new-structure-to-ease%2F728295

(Oct. 20, 2009) -- The number of married Catholic priests could grow sharply as the result of the Vatican's epochal decision to welcome thousands of disaffected Anglicans and Episcopalians into the Catholic Church.

At press conferences in Rome and London on Tuesday, Vatican officials announced that the Church would set up a special canonical structure that will ease the conversion of members of the Anglican Communion without them having to give up what the Vatican called "the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony." That means not only a body of prayers and hymns, but also a tradition of married priests and bishops.

"It's a stunning turn of events," says Lawrence Cunningham, theology professor at Notre Dame University. "This decision will allow for many more married clergy in Western churches, and that's going to raise anew the question, 'If they can do it, why can't the priests of Rome?,'" says Cunningham. "I can already picture the electronic slugfest on the Internet in coming days and weeks."

The Catholic Church already allows clergymen who convert from Protestant denominations to remain married on a case by case basis, and married priests are common in the Eastern Rite, a group that uses Orthodox traditions but is loyal to Rome.

But the arrangement with the Anglican Communion goes much further. Cardinal William Levada, the Vatican's top doctrinal official, announced in Rome that the Church would set up a personal ordinariate -- in essence a diocese defined not by geography, but by function, like the division that serves Catholics in the military -- for converted Anglicans.

The move comes after years of discord within the Anglican Communion, which unites 77 million Anglicans and Episcopalians under the loose authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. The church has been racked by schisms over the ordination of women and its stance towards homosexuality.

Some Anglicans believe the Vatican's move will deepen those divisions. "When it comes to elegant funerals, no one can beat the Vatican," wrote commentator Andrew Brown in The Guardian. "The Roman Catholic church is no longer even pretending to take seriously the existence of the Anglican Communion as a coherent body."

For many traditional Episcopalians, as the denomination is known in the U.S., the last straw was the 2003 election of openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. In protest, hundreds churches have broken links with the Episcopal Church and declared themselves in line with the conservative Anglican bishops in Africa or South America.

Martyn Minns, the bishop of one such dissident group, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, said today, "This move by the Catholic Church recognizes the reality of the divide within the Anglican Communion and affirms the decision to create a new North American province that embraces biblical truth."
The news is likely to have a particularly strong effect in Great Britain, where there has been a tendency for years for members of the nominally Anglican majority to join the Catholic Church, from theologian John Cardinal Newman in the 19th century to former Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2007.

Such conversions have generally meant not only a recognition of the pope's authority, but also a rejection of Anglican traditions. That turning away may no longer be necessary. "Now you can be an Anglican and still be Catholic," says Jo Bailey Wells, director of Anglican Studies at Duke Divinity School. "The Anglicans never had that vote of confidence before."

Indeed, two prominent British priests who publicly broke from Anglicanism years ago stated today that after this ruling from Rome, some Anglicans "will begin to form a caravan, rather like the People of Israel crossing the desert in search of the Promised Land."

Whether that happens or not, today's decision marks a milestone in the relations between the Vatican and the Church of England, which King Henry VIII established in 1534 after the Pope refused to grant him a marriage annulment. Since then, religious and social battles have often marked relations between Catholics and Anglicans. Says Cunningham: "This would have been unthinkable 200 years ago, and barely imaginable in the 19th century."

Presidency of 1960

2009-10-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

I just had an awful thought. What if I was voting for President in 1960. With my current opinions re Catholicism, I wonder if I would have voted for John Kennedy. I am something of a researcher of JFK. I remember his remark to someone close. He said, "You know what's the worse thing about this job? Getting up Sunday morning for Church."

I think I would have voted for him.

Oh No

2009-10-05T16:19:00.000-05:00

The Supreme Court judges are mostly Catholic. Read the bad news here:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/10/04/a-catholic-court-let-the-arguments-begin/

Jerry at the Telethon

2009-10-05T16:08:00.000-05:00

At the end of his telethon, Jerry said re a female stage director: "I was asking my band if they were ready. The producers are always ready." (Turns to wife and daughter) "It's like working with Eva Braun. She's got a fat ass with a swastika on it." (Stunned silence from the audience. Wife and daughter laugh.) "Well, my wife and daughter thought it was funny. That's all I care about."

There was a part during the telethon where Jerry Lewis walked off. I missed this -- unless they meant the end of the show. Supposedly he walked off stage saying, "They can do the God-damned show without me."

This Is What Is Going on

2009-08-25T01:12:00.000-05:00

Please go to this link on youtube.com. Guess who the Beast is in Revelations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARQmkbTF7g0&NR=1

Now What?

2009-08-17T21:14:00.000-05:00

Are the priests trying to pull a fast one on the nuns? What are they looking for? Whatever it is I'm sure they'll find it. They don't want to give these women any power and that's what it's all about. They, at one time, wouldn't let women join their choirs. So they castrated boys who sang well before puberty. They sounded weird -- the Castrata had a grown man's lung power with a high pitch. No, don't let the filthy women spoil their Empire.

Catholic Nuns Question Vatican ProbeAP

SILVER SPRING, Md. (Aug. 17) -- A group representing Roman Catholic sisters in the United States is raising concerns about why the Vatican is investigating them and who is funding the inquiry.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious says in a statement Monday that they want more specifics about the review from Vatican leaders.

The investigation was shrouded in mystery when it was announced earlier this year.

It's shaping up to be a tough look at whether the roughly 59,000 U.S. Catholic sisters have strayed too far from church teachings. [Are they kidding?]

The Vatican recently released a working paper for the inquiry that said it is meant as a constructive review of the quality of life and work of the women's communities.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Documentary about Vatican, Jesuits and World Power

2009-08-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

http://www.babelgum.com/browser.php#play/SEARCH,queryString:angels%20and%20demons,order:MOST_RELEVANT

Above is a link to a film about the Vatican, etc. Please watch it. It's 90 minutes long and very engrossing and enlightening. Murders committed in the Vatican. Bank collapse. It's all about power. A one world govt. After Franklin Roosevelt died, a new dollar bill was circulated through this country. On the back is the Latin for just that -- one world govt. This is something we don't want. When Jack Ruby was talking to reporters he said (paraphrase), "Now you'll see. There will be a new type of government." What was he talking about? Was he crazy? I don't think so. With the European Union and common money (Euros) we are getting there.

Jerry Lewis becoming "Jerry"

2009-08-11T18:21:00.001-05:00

By "Jerry" I mean the serious, egocentric man he became. The guy who would yell at people during the Telethon, things people have forgotten today. But I love Jerry and watched many shows he was on during the '70's. So scroll down till you get to the video. I believe it's from 1964. It should run about an hour. I almost want to watch it again. But you know, OK, he claims to have an IQ over 200; but he is an eloquent speaker, though sometimes he sounds rehearsed. He has a broad vocabulary. He's about 38 years old here. Notice his posture as the show opens. He's about to reveal to people some very important private things. You can see the attitude by his posture. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Will Superstitions Ever Stop?

2009-08-09T20:10:00.000-05:00

I found this on Spinner. In my opinion these people are crazy. They want everyone to believe in the cult religion of Catholicism, with its mysteries and necromancy, etc. This is how efete, impotent men gain power. That's all it's about. I think they've overstayed their welcome on this planet. Please read --

"Polish Catholics Praying to Stop 'Satanic' Madonna ConcertMadonna going to war with religious protesters is nothing new. The Material Girl has been the bull's-eye at the center of many a religious leader's dart board, but rarely has she been targeted by a Nobel Prize winner. Lech Walesa, who took the honor for helping set up free trade in the communist world, is not happy about Madge's planned August 15 visit to his homeland of Poland. The Times of London reports Walesa called the scheduled gig "a satanic provocation."

What apparently has Walesa and so many of his countrymen up in arms is not Madge herself, but the date. August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption, which many Catholics see as the day the Virgin Mary was taken to heaven. Compounding the Polish outrage is the date does double duty, also serving as their Armed Forces Day. So to them, Madonna performing there then is an insult to both religion and veterans. Ouch.

"I am a man of faith and ask for such events not to happen on such an important feast in my religion," Walesa said. And the country is apparently not waiting for her to back down or reschedule the date, as prayer services are being held in Warsaw on a daily basis asking God to derail the show. Catholics are also planning to be on hand praying loudly when she takes the stage.

Walesa's words weren't even the strongest though. "This is an attack by the devil on our immaculate Catholic nation," said Father Stanislaw Malkowski, one of the protest leaders. "This concert is a profanity and blasphemous."

Okay, now Madonna's concerts have never been afraid to take on sacred cows like religion or even look foolish aiming too high (the John McCain/Nazi thing just didn't work at all), but profanity, blasphemous and satanic provocation seem excessive. Maybe her shows can, on occasion, be in poor taste or not our cup of tea, but it's not like we're talking about Marilyn Manson playing on Easter or, even worse, a Phish fest on Christmas Eve. Lighten up, Poland."

Apologies from Catholic Church

2009-07-22T19:15:00.000-05:00

Too little, too late. They will do anything to stay in power. Forbidding Harry Potter. What a--h---s they are. That series, Harry Potter, caught the imagination of children and turned them into readers. All priests have done is condemn things. And now they're apologizing for it in the hope that people will come back to the Church.

Also, how can you condemn homosexuality with such an enormous history of child abuse by these bastards?

Vatican embraces Oscar Wilde
Holy See's official newspaper praises writer with 'deep knowledge of the mysterious value of life'

Alison Flood
guardian.co.uk, Friday 17 July 2009 14.33 BST
Article history

'A man who behind a mask of amorality asked himself what was just and what was mistaken' ... Oscar Wilde.

In a week in which the Vatican made its peace with that dangerous consorter with witches Harry Potter, the Holy See has also revealed an unexpected soft spot for Oscar Wilde.

Earlier this week the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which had previously described JK Rowling's books as presenting a "vision of the world and the human being full of deep mistakes and dangerous suggestions", praised the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for making it clear that good must overcome evil "and that sometimes this requires costs and sacrifice".

Despite the Catholic Church's condemnation of practising homosexuality,* the newspaper has now run a glowing review of a new book about the famously doomed lover of Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde was "one of the personalities of the 19th century who most lucidly analysed the modern world in its disturbing as well as its positive aspects", wrote author Andrea Monda in a piece about Italian author Paolo Gulisano's The Portrait of Oscar Wilde.

In an article headlined "When Oscar Wilde met Pius IX", Monda wrote that Wilde was not "just a non-conformist who loved to shock the conservative society of Victorian England"; rather he was "a man who behind a mask of amorality asked himself what was just and what was mistaken, what was true and what was false".

"Wilde was a man of great, intense feelings, who behind the lightness of his writing, behind a mask of frivolity or cynicism, hid a deep knowledge of the mysterious value of life," he said.

The Holy See started its unlikely love affair with the Irish playwright and author two years ago when it published a collection of his quips in the book Provocations: Aphorisms for an Anti-conformist Christianity. Wilde's famous comments "I can resist everything except temptation", and "the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it" were included in the book, edited by Father Leonardo Sapienza.

Wilde was baptised into the Catholic Church shortly before he died. L'Osservatore Romano said that the "existential path" which the author trod "can also be seen as a long and difficult path toward that Promised Land which gives us the reason for existence, a path which led him to his conversion to Catholicism, a religion which, as he remarked in one of his more acute and paradoxical aphorisms, was 'for saints and sinners alone – for respectable people, the Anglican Church will do'."

Romantic, Suspense, Gothic

2009-07-16T00:18:00.000-05:00

My favorite writer when I was a teenager was Mary Stewart. She traveled a lot with her husband and these places inspired her. I have included on the side here a quiz that determines what you like in her books (or even other writers of the genre). Then it tells you which Mary Stewart book you'd like the most. I saw a lot of my own psychology in answering these questions -- what I like to read.

Another author I liked was Anya Seton. She wrote Green Darkness. A very supernatural book, very well written and it contained everything I loved. Most of it took place centuries ago and is written in olde English. (I took a course in college.) Yet it draws you in more than any novel or book I have ever read.

Try the quiz, if you're a fan of Gothic and well-written historical romances. Click on the bottom of my results and it will bring you to the quiz. It's almost a Rorschack (spelling?) test and could guide you if you wanted to write a book like this. Have fun. Remember, "Fun is the one thing that money can't buy." Beatles 1967 on Sgt Pepper.

Close Down the Catholic Church

2009-07-13T23:51:00.001-05:00

Just found this nugget.

http://www.unknownnews.org/030817pedopriests.html

Vatican ordered bishops worldwide to cover up priests' sex abuses

by Antony Barnett, The Observer [London, UK] Aug. 17, 2003

"We always suspected that the Catholic Church systematically covered up abuse and tried to silence victims.

"This document appears to prove it.

"Threatening excommunication to anybody who speaks out shows the lengths the most senior figures in the Vatican were prepared to go to prevent the information getting out to the public domain."

The Vatican instructed Catholic bishops around the world to cover up cases of sexual abuse or risk being thrown out of the Church.

The Observer has obtained a 40-year-old confidential document from the secret Vatican archive which lawyers are calling a 'blueprint for deception and concealment'. One British lawyer acting for Church child abuse victims has described it as 'explosive'.

The 69-page Latin document PDF bearing the seal of Pope John XXIII was sent to every bishop in the world. The instructions outline a policy of 'strictest' secrecy in dealing with allegations of sexual abuse and threatens those who speak out with excommunication.

They also call for the victim to take an oath of secrecy at the time of making a complaint to Church officials. It states that the instructions are to 'be diligently stored in the secret Our comments: If you've picked up a newspaper or clicked on your telly in the past few years, you've noticed the ceaseless cavalcade of news about priests who've allegedly abused altar boys or other kiddies. We can't pretend to present a comprehensive list of all the allegations against each of hundreds or thousands of priests, but we can certainly see the recurring pattern:

When allegations of sexual abuse were made against priests, the church's response was to hush it up ... and transfer the priest to a different parish. Of course, these transfers provided pedophile priests with a replenished roster of young innocents to choose from, in a new setting where there weren't even whispers of suspicion yet. And when whispers of clerical child rapes began in a priest's new parish, he would simply be transferred again.

For at least decades - for centuries, for all we know - the Catholic Church was a happy haven for child-raping perverts.

If the facts are presented harshly, one could say that the Catholic Church ran a pedophiles' ring.

But even if the facts are presented with sweet smiles, it's inarguable that bishops acted as 'matchmakers,' supplying fresh victims for pedophile priests by transferring them to new parishes.

And the documents, in black and white direct from the Vatican, make it clear that the cover-up was ordered by the Pope, who ordered bishops not to cooperate with local authorities.

archives of the Curia [Vatican] as strictly confidential. Nor is it to be published nor added to with any commentaries.'

The document, which has been confirmed as genuine by the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, is called 'Crimine solicitationies', which translates as 'instruction on proceeding in cases of solicitation'.

It focuses on sexual abuse initiated as part of the confessional relationship between a priest and a member of his congregation. But the instructions also cover what it calls the 'worst crime', described as an obscene act perpetrated by a cleric with 'youths of either sex or with brute animals (bestiality)'.

Bishops are instructed to pursue these cases 'in the most secretive way... restrained by a perpetual silence... and everyone... is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office... under the penalty of excommunication'.

Texan lawyer Daniel Shea uncovered the document as part of his work for victims of abuse from Catholic priests in the US. He has handed it over to US authorities, urging them to launch a federal investigation into the clergy's alleged cover-up of sexual abuse.

He said: 'These instructions went out to every bishop around the globe and would certainly have applied in Britain. It proves there was an international conspiracy by the Church to hush up sexual abuse issues. It is a devious attempt to conceal criminal conduct and is a blueprint for deception and concealment.'

British lawyer Richard Scorer, who acts for children abused by Catholic priests in the UK, echoes this view and has described the document as 'explosive'.

He said: 'We always suspected that the Catholic Church systematically covered up abuse and tried to silence victims. This document appears to prove it. Threatening excommunication to anybody who speaks out shows the lengths the most senior figures in the Vatican were prepared to go to prevent the information getting out to the public domain.'

Scorer pointed out that as the documents dates back to 1962 it rides roughshod over the Catholic Church's claim that the issue of sexual abuse was a modern phenomenon.

He claims the discovery of the document will raise fresh questions about the actions of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Murphy-O'Connor has been accused of covering up allegations of child abuse when he was Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. Instead of reporting to the police allegations of abuse against Michael Hill, a priest in his charge, he moved him to another position where he was later convicted for abusing nine children.

Although Murphy-O'Connor has apologized publicly for his mistake, Scorer claims the secret Vatican document raises the question about whether his failure to report Hill was due to him following this instruction from Rome.

Scorer, who acts for some of Hill's victims, said: 'I want to know whether Murphy-O'Connor knew of these Vatican instructions and, if so, did he apply it. If not, can he tell us why not?'

A spokesman for the Catholic Church denied that the secret Vatican orders were part of any organized cover-up and claims lawyers are taking the document 'out of context' and 'distorting it'.

He said: 'This document is about the Church's internal disciplinary procedures should a priest be accused of using confession to solicit sex. It does not forbid victims to report civil crimes. The confidentiality talked about is aimed to protect the accused as applies in court procedures today. It also takes into consideration the special nature of the secrecy involved in the act of confession.' He also said that in 1983 the Catholic Church in England and Wales introduced its own code dealing with sexual abuse, which would have superseded the 1962 instructions. Asked whether Murphy-O'Connor was aware of the Vatican edict, he replied: 'He's never mentioned it to me.'

Lawyers point to a letter the Vatican sent to bishops in May 2001 clearly stating the 1962 instruction was in force until then. The letter is signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the most powerful man in Rome beside the Pope and who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- the office which ran the Inquisition in the Middle Ages.

Rev Thomas Doyle, a US Air Force chaplain in Germany and a specialist in Church law, has studied the document. He told The Observer: 'It is certainly an indication of the pathological obsession with secrecy in the Catholic Church, but in itself it is not a smoking gun.

'If, however, this document actually has been the foundation of a continuous policy to cover clergy crimes at all costs, then we have quite another issue. There are too many authenticated reports of victims having been seriously intimidated into silence by Church authorities to assert that such intimidation is the exception and not the norm.

'If this document has been used as a justification for this intimidation then we possibly have what some commentators have alleged, namely, a blueprint for a cover-up. This is obviously a big "if" which requires concrete proof.'
Published by The Observer [London, UK]

Michael at Fifty

2009-07-02T19:06:00.000-05:00

Below and on the right is a video from CNN. It's Michael Jackson performing 2 days before he died. To me he looks like a skeleton and the old spark is gone. He barely goes through the motions. This alone could have killed him. I also heard him singing something of late and it was his voice, but the old dynamism was gone.

I think he was finished. I think old fans would be very disappointed by his performance. It's not 1983. He died like Elvis -- drugs and playing some strenuous ball game the night before a concert.

RFK and Thomas Noguchi

2009-07-02T10:34:00.001-05:00

This comment was left by Anonymous. I never heard of this before and of course the person who wrote it won't share his/her identity.

Long link from old post on RFK regarding LA Coroner T Noguchi. He was terminated for being drunk on the job when he reported the fatal wound was fired behind the right ear at point blank range. Problem was he was absolute on .38 caliber. The .22 issue prevailed, and Sirhan was convicted. Later, old Tom was reinstated after several hearings, but never brought up his original findings again. The records were expunged and a potentially untriable case was a winner. Maybe his assistant was right and the wound would prove it. But the Kennedys wouldn't permit the exhumation of JFK on a nearly identical, but as it were opposite, issue-headwound front to back. Maybe some other old timers might remember this incident or turn up an old report or record. Worth a try, it would sure please his attorney.

2009-06-30T10:25:00.000-05:00

The Catholic Church has exhumed the remains of St. Paul. Carbon testing proved the skeleton was buried in 1 or 2 AD. This, of course, is another attempt to get people shook up. I hope one-time Catholics can see through this.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090628/ap_on_re/eu_vatican_pope

ROME – The first-ever scientific tests on what are believed to be the remains of the Apostle Paul "seem to conclude" that they do indeed belong to the Roman Catholic saint, Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday.

Archaeologists recently unearthed and opened the white marble sarcophagus located under the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome, which for some 2,000 years has been believed by the faithful to be the tomb of St. Paul.

Benedict said scientists had conducted carbon dating tests on bone fragments found inside the sarcophagus and confirmed that they date from the first or second century.

"This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul," Benedict said, announcing the findings at a service in the basilica to mark the end of the Vatican's Paoline year, in honor of the apostle.

Paul and Peter are the two main figures known for spreading the Christian faith after the death of Christ.

According to tradition, St. Paul, also known as the apostle of the Gentiles, was beheaded in Rome in the 1st century during the persecution of early Christians by Roman emperors. Popular belief holds that bone fragments from his head are in another Rome basilica, St. John Lateran, with his other remains inside the sarcophagus.

The pope said that when archaeologists opened the sarcophagus, they discovered alongside the bone fragments some grains of incense, a "precious" piece of purple linen with gold sequins and a blue fabric with linen filaments.

Vatican archaeologists in 2002 began excavating the 8-foot-long coffin, which dates from at least A.D. 390 and was buried under the basilica's main altar. The decision to unearth it was made after pilgrims who came to Rome during the Roman Catholic Church's 2000 Jubilee year expressed disappointment at finding that the saint's tomb — buried under layers of plaster and further hidden by an iron grate — could not be visited or touched.

The top of the coffin has small openings — subsequently covered with mortar — because in ancient times Christians would insert offerings or try to touch the remains.

The basilica stands at the site of two 4th-century churches — including one destroyed by a fire in 1823 that had left the tomb visible, first above ground and later in a crypt. After the fire, the crypt was filled with earth and covered by a new altar. A slab of cracked marble with the words "Paul apostle martyr" in Latin was also found embedded in the floor above the tomb.

Monday is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, a major feast day for the Roman Catholic Church, during which the pope will bestow a woolen pallium, or scarf, on all the new archbishops he has recently named. The pallium is a band of white wool decorated with black crosses that is a sign of pastoral authority and a symbol of the archbishops' bond with the pope.

At the end of Sunday's service in the warm basilica, the 82-year-old Benedict lost his balance slightly as he slipped on a step on the altar, and was steadied by one of his assistants who was by his side.

2009-05-25T19:33:00.000-05:00

If scientists can make water, aka synthetic water, we could provide water to desert areas in the world where people are starving, diseased and without water. I never realized you could make water. I find it as important as stem cells:

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news11.2b.html

Scientists Create Synthetic Water for Better Fuel Cells
In a familiar high-school chemistry demonstration, an instructor first uses electricity to split liquid water into its constituent gases, hydrogen and oxygen. Then, by combining the two gases and igniting them with a spark, the instructor changes the gases back into water with a loud pop.

Scientists at the University of Illinois have discovered a new way to make water, and without the pop. Not only can they make water from unlikely starting materials, such as alcohols, their work could also lead to better catalysts and less expensive fuel cells.

"We found that unconventional metal hydrides can be used for a chemical process called oxygen reduction, which is an essential part of the process of making water," said Zachariah Heiden, a doctoral student and lead author of a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and posted on its Web site.

A water molecule (formally known as dihydrogen monoxide) is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. But you can't simply take two hydrogen atoms and stick them onto an oxygen atom. The actual reaction to make water is a bit more complicated: 2H2 + O2 = 2H2O + Energy.

In English, the equation says: To produce two molecules of water (H2O), two molecules of diatomic hydrogen (H2) must be combined with one molecule of diatomic oxygen (O2). Energy will be released in the process.

"This reaction (2H2 + O2 = 2H2O + Energy) has been known for two centuries, but until now no one has made it work in a homogeneous solution," said Thomas Rauchfuss, a U. of I. professor of chemistry and the paper's corresponding author.

The well-known reaction also describes what happens inside a hydrogen fuel cell.

In a typical fuel cell, the diatomic hydrogen gas enters one side of the cell, diatomic oxygen gas enters the other side. The hydrogen molecules lose their electrons and become positively charged through a process called oxidation, while the oxygen molecules gain four electrons and become negatively charged through a process called reduction. The negatively charged oxygen ions combine with positively charged hydrogen ions to form water and release electrical energy.

The "difficult side" of the fuel cell is the oxygen reduction reaction, not the hydrogen oxidation reaction, Rauchfuss said. "We found, however, that new catalysts for oxygen reduction could also lead to new chemical means for hydrogen oxidation."

Rauchfuss and Heiden recently investigated a relatively new generation of transfer hydrogenation catalysts for use as unconventional metal hydrides for oxygen reduction.

In their JACS paper, the researchers focus exclusively on the oxidative reactivity of iridium-based transfer hydogenation catalysts in a homogenous, non-aqueous solution. They found the iridium complex effects both the oxidation of alcohols, and the reduction of the oxygen.

"Most compounds react with either hydrogen or oxygen, but this catalyst reacts with both," Heiden said. "It reacts with hydrogen to form a hydride, and then reacts with oxygen to make water; and it does this in a homogeneous, non-aqueous solvent."

The new catalysts could lead to eventual development of more efficient hydrogen fuel cells, substantially lowering their cost, Heiden said.

Contact Support Urgent

2009-05-21T08:36:00.000-05:00

To Whom It May Concern:

My blog, thecloakofdarkness.blogspot.com has been tagged as Spam. While I haven't been writing much there lately, I have been on this site for 4 years. My links link only to their particular websites. There is no link spamming. A certain number of people know my blog address -- usually JFK researchers. I think what I've written from day one about the Assassination and the death of actress Karyn Kupcinet is quite informative. I worry that you may erase the blog and all my work on it. I would like to keep what I've written.

What ever happened to controversy? I discuss news articles about the Catholic Church -- it isn't me coming up with this material -- it's out there. I do not consider what I write about -- and sometimes I write about my personal problems -- as Spam.

Is Cyril Wecht spam? The famed coroner and lawyer and I had a telephone conversation about Karyn Kupcinet just 2 weeks ago. Would he call me if I was Spam?

I cannot get in touch with the people who run this blog. I hope they can read this.

Witness

Don Roberdeau said...
Good Day.... Updated links and new information and considerations for my link you provided entitled "Detailed Map of Dealey Plaza 11-22-63."

Dealey Plaza professionally surveyed Map Detailing 11-22-63 Victims precise locations, Witnesses, Films & Photos, Evidence, Suspected bullet trajectories, Suspects & Groups, and Important information & Considerations Gathered in One Convenient Resource....

http://imgcash2.imageshack.us/img160/7642/dpjpg110508mb6.gif

Best Regards in Research, Don

Don Roberdeau
U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, CV-67, "Big John," plank walker
Sooner, or later, The Truth emerges Clearly

Additional links for your considerations....

Homepage: President KENNEDY "Men of Courage" speech, and Outstanding Researchers Links, Ongoing Research, and Updated Discoveries for Your Key Considerations....

http://droberdeau.blogspot.com/

Visual Report: "The First Impact: While JFK Hidden Under the 'magic-limbed-ricochet-tree' : Z-188, then, Z-203 to 206"....

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2446/206cropjfk1102308ms8.gif

Discovery: "Very Close JFK Assassination Witness ROSEMARY WILLIS Zapruder Film Documented 2nd Headsnap:
West, Ultrafast, and Directly Towards the Grassy Knoll"....

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2394

File: President KENNEDY Assassination Research, Maps, & Discoveries for Your Key Considerations....

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/droberdeau

T ogether
E veryone
A chieves
M ore

9:30 PM

When Will This Evil Stop?

2009-05-20T21:06:00.000-05:00

Thousands Beaten, Raped in Irish Schools
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
,
AP

DUBLIN (May 20) – A fiercely debated, long-delayed investigation into Ireland's Roman Catholic-run institutions says priests and nuns terrorized thousands of boys and girls in workhouse-style schools for decades — and government inspectors failed to stop the chronic beatings, rapes and humiliation.

Nine years in the making, Wednesday's 2,600-page report sides almost completely with the horrific reports of abuse from former students sent to more than 250 church-run, mostly residential institutions. But victims' leaders said it didn't go far enough — particularly because none of their abusers were identified by name.

A nine-year investigation of Ireland's Roman Catholic-run reform schools said priests and nuns terrorized thousands of boys and girls for decades, and that the government failed to stop them. The 2,600-page report was released Wednesday. Here, a protester from the group Survivors of Child Abuse speaks to the media about the findings in Dublin, Ireland.

The report concluded that church officials always shielded their orders' pedophiles from arrest to protect their own reputations and, according to documents uncovered in the Vatican, knew that many pedophiles were serial attackers.

The investigators said overwhelming, consistent testimony from still-traumatized men and women, now in their 50s to 80s, had demonstrated beyond a doubt that the entire system treated children more like prison inmates and slaves than people with legal rights and human potential.

"A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys. Children lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from," the final report of Ireland's Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse concluded.

The leader of Ireland's 4 million Catholics, Cardinal Sean Brady, and religious orders at the center of the scandal offered immediate apologies.

"I am profoundly sorry and deeply ashamed that children suffered in such awful ways in these institutions. Children deserved better and especially from those caring for them in the name of Jesus Christ," Brady said.

The Sisters of Mercy, which ran several refuges for girls where the report documented chronic brutality, said in a statement its nuns "accept that many who spent their childhoods in our orphanages or industrial schools were hurt and damaged while in our care."

"There is a great sadness in all of our hearts at this time and our deepest desire is to continue the healing process for all involved," the Sisters of Mercy said.
And the Rev. Edmund Garvey, spokesman for the Christian Brothers order that once ran dozens of boys' schools, said that reading the report's "presentation of the history of our institutions, it is hard to avoid feeling shame."

More than 30,000 children deemed to be petty thieves, truants or from dysfunctional families — a category that often included unmarried mothers — were sent to Ireland's austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the last church-run facilities shut in the 1990s.

The report, unveiled by High Court Justice Sean Ryan, found that molestation and rape were "endemic" in boys' facilities, chiefly run by the Christian Brothers, and supervisors pursued policies that increased the danger. Girls supervised by orders of nuns, chiefly the Sisters of Mercy, suffered much less sexual abuse but frequent assaults and humiliation designed to make them feel worthless.

"In some schools a high level of ritualized beating was routine. ... Girls were struck with implements designed to maximize pain and were struck on all parts of the body," the report said. "Personal and family denigration was widespread."
Victims of the system have long demanded that the truth of their experiences be documented and made public.

But several victims — who were prevented from attending Wednesday's report launch and scuffled with police outside a central Dublin hotel — said the report didn't go far enough and rejected the church leaders' apologies as insincere.

"Victims will feel a small degree of comfort that they've been vindicated. But the findings do not go far enough," said John Kelly, a former inmate of a Dublin industial school who fled to London and today leads a pressure group called Irish Survivors of Child Abuse.

Kelly said the report should have examined how children like himself were taken away from parents without just cause, and demanded more answers from Irish governments that ceded control over their lives to the church. He said any apologies offered now were "hollow, shallow and have no substance or merit at all. We feel betrayed and cheated today."

The report proposed 21 ways the government could recognize past wrongs, including building a permanent memorial, providing counseling and education to victims and improving Ireland's current child protection services.

But its findings will not be used for criminal prosecutions — in part because the Christian Brothers successfully sued the commission in 2004 to keep the identities of all of its members, dead or alive, unnamed in the report. No real names, whether of victims or perpetrators, appear in the final document.

Irish church leaders and religious orders all declined to comment Wednesday, citing the need to read the massive document first. The Vatican also declined to comment.
The Irish government already has funded a parallel compensation system that has paid 12,000 abuse victims an average of euro65,000 ($90,000). About 2,000 claims remain outstanding.

Victims receive the payouts only if they waive their rights to sue the state and the church. Hundreds have rejected that condition and taken their abusers and those church employers to court.

Wednesday's report said children had no safe way to tell authorities about the assaults they were suffering, particularly the sexual aggression from church officials and older inmates in boys' institutions.

"The management did not listen to or believe children when they complained of the activities of some of the men who had responsibility for their care," the commission found. "At best, the abusers were moved, but nothing was done about the harm done to the child. At worst, the child was blamed and seen as corrupted by the sexual activity, and was punished severely."

The commission dismissed as implausible a central defense of the religious orders — that, in bygone days, people did not recognize the sexual abuse of a child as a criminal offense, but rather as a sin that required repentance.
In their testimony, religious orders typically cited this as the principal reason why sex-predator priests and brothers were sheltered within the system and moved to new posts where they could still maintain daily contact with children.
But the commission said its fact-finding — which included unearthing decades-old church files, chiefly stored in the Vatican, on scores of unreported abuse cases from Ireland's industrial schools — demonstrated that officials understood exactly what was at stake: their own reputations.

It cited numerous examples where school managers told police about child abusers who were not church officials — but never did when one of their own had committed the crime.

"Contrary to the congregations' claims that the recidivist nature of sexual offending was not understood, it is clear from the documented cases that they were aware of the propensity for abusers to re-abuse," it said.

Vice President Biden Involved in This?

2009-03-19T22:29:00.000-05:00

This article is long. Apparently a process server of Gary Wean's, an officer with LAPD, was beaten up by a judge and cops, etc. Wean was telling the truth about the Ventura County judicial system. This is his affidavit below: One of the people he blames -- and it's not the police, but the system -- is (now) Vice President Biden, a Senator at the time. I have bolded the section where he names Biden. BTW, I'm a Democrat.

AFFIDAVIT OF GARY L. WEAN, SERIAL NO. 4111
Entered L.A.P.D. Academy February 1946
Worked University Division,
Metropolitan Division and
Hollywood Division

Det. Sgt. Ventura Police Dept., Ventura, Calif.;
Investigator, Los Angeles District Attorney
Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Intelligence Unit;
Chief Investigator, Ventura Co. Public Defender

The four L.A.P.D. officers indicted by the L.A. County Grand Jury
are not perpetrators of a crime, they are victims. Judges, both
State and Federal, have set the standard by judge brutality.

In August 1990, I filed a lawsuit in Ventura County against three
Superior Court judges, two Santa Barbara County Superior Court
judges and California State Supreme Court Chief Justice Malcolm
Lucas for conspiring to set-up phony judicial council hearings in
matters of judicial disqualifications whereby the judges were
destroying the peoples right to fair and honest judicial
proceedings and were stealing their real estate and money.

On August 31, 1990, my process server served the three Superior
Court Judges in Ventura County. That afternoon, secretly and in
great danger, the three judges telephoned Chief Judge Malcolm
Lucas in Sacramento and at 5:00 a.m. the very next morning, Lucas
flew into Oxnard Airport and was picked up by an official of the
Ventura County Superior Court.

That day the judicial proceedings in Ventura County came to a
halt. All judges met privately with Lucas behind closed doors.
At this secret meeting, the judges conspired at Malcolm Lucas
direction to destroy my lawsuit by using violence. As a result
of the secret meeting, the two judges in Santa Barbara were lying
in wait for me and my process server to arrive to serve them.

My process server, licensed and experienced, also the Democratic
U.S. Congressman elect, 20th district, was not only falsely
arrested for trespassing, he was brutally assaulted and beaten by
a judge wearing a black robe and two uniformed deputy sheriffs in
the courthouse hallway. He was handcuffed and with the judge's
physical force and orders, Michael A. Thomas was kidnapped and
thrown into the judge's chambers, where, for another twenty
minutes he was beaten, spit in the face, and threatened by the
judge that he would be killed if he told anyone about being
beaten. Then he was thrown out of the judge's chambers and back
into the courthouse hallway.

My process server was taken to a Santa Barbara hospital and
treated by a doctor who while she was examining him received two
phone calls from the courthouse to minimize injuries he had
suffered.

We went to the Sheriff's Department headquarters to make a crime
report but an official refused to take a report, stating, The
judges are too powerful, we wouldn't dare go against them.

Gary Wean Affidavit: Page 1 of 5

A report was made to the Santa Barbara F.B.I.. That was on
September 5, 1990, over seven months ago and nothing has been
done.

The all important point is that if the A.C.L.U., the N.A.A.C.P.,
the Justice Department, the F.B.I., and the news media had come
out ranting and screaming like voracious blood-thirsty piranha
against the judges, like they did against the officers, the
judges could not have covered it up. (Keep in mind that,
President Bush has stated numerous times that, such brutality
sickens me, and that, no man is above the law.)

Approximately 1958, while working as a Det. Sgt. for Ventura
Police Dept., I came upon a plot by very wealthy Ventura County
people; bankers, lawyers, and judges, to foment, instigate, and
fan the flames of massive racial riots nationwide. These
politically powerful Ventura people were associated with the
mastermind of this evil plot, Federal Judge Harry Pregerson and
his gangster associates, Mickey Cohen and Abie and Hy Phillips.

Cohen and Pregerson were conducting burglaries of National Guard
Armories, stealing large amounts of automatic weapons to be
cached and used when the racial riots could be turned into full
blown racial revolution that police departments could not contain
or handle, the National Guard would be called in and the roll of
the police as civil protectors of the public would be dissolved.

I had received information that William P. Clark, a Ventura
County lawyer was involved in the plots to incite racial riots
and revolutions and a participant in the burglary of the Oxnard
National Guard Armory and that he kept a 50 caliber military
machine gun which he mounted in his house making statements that,
When the revolution comes I'll be ready, I'm going to kill every
nigger and Mexican that comes within range of my house. When
Jesse Jackson was running for U.S. Senate against Senator Strom
Thurmond and I decided to get this information and evidence to
Jackson, as a candidate, perhaps he could expose the insidious
plot to discredit and destroy laws enforcement and stop it. I
met with a friend of Jackson's, a Reverend Brookins, at his
office in Los Angeles.

I explained the entire story to Brookins and he acted shocked.
He said he'd inform Jesse Jackson and the N.A.A.C.P. immediately,
also that he had very good relations with leaders of the Mexican
community and he would inform them and also would have Mayor
Bradley inform the L.A.P.D. since he was a former policeman and
would know how to handle that end of it.

I met with Brookins twice, the second time, while in his office,
his secretary entered and told his Mayor Bradley was on the line.
They proceeded to discuss a plan as to how they were going to
take the Coors brewery for millions and they'd be on easy street.
(Ha, ha, maybe we'll able to take that plane to Honolulu after
all.) That he, Brookins, had taken care of everything, all his
people were lined up, that they were in a position to ruin,
destroy the Coors Co. if they didn't come through with the money

Gary Wean Affidavit: Page 2 of 5

they wanted. That they were being helped, working in
conjunction with pressure on Coors by a Rabbi and his
organization who were also going to make millions by forcing
Coors to kosherize their beer.

To the best of my knowledge, Jesse Jackson was never given the
information.

Brookins and Bradley betrayed the black people by not exposing
the plot to pit black people against white which could again face
the L.A.P.D. with Watts type racial riots that could also destroy
the L.A.P.D. administration by having the National Guard take
over.

William P. Clark was National Security Advisor for President
Reagan at the same time he was plotting with Harry Pregerson to
overthrow the Civil law enforcement in the United States and
place control in the hands of a small group that Pregerson
controlled.

Later Clark was named to an even higher Cabinet position,
Secretary of Interior, and was up for confirmation by the Senate
Judiciary Committee. I contacted Senator Strom Thurmond through
connections and was notified by Thurmond that he would have his
staff investigate. But Thurmond covered up Clerk's gangster
connections and his involvement in the revolution plot and
proceeded to confirm Clark as Secretary of Interior.

In 1987 I traveled to Washington, D.C. and with an associate I
hand delivered a 773-page name-indexed report (My book There's a
Fish In The Courthouse) on judicial corruption, murder, drug
smuggling, etc., to each of the 100 United States Senators,
individually, petitioning them to investigate and protect and
safeguard the people from an organization of gangsters who had
seized control of the judicial system and planned to destroy
police departments. The first would be L.A.P.D.

My associate and I had meetings with the chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee's staff and received personal assurance and
letters from Senator Joseph Biden that he had ordered a sub-
committee chaired by Senator Howlin Heflin to investigate the
judicial corruption in response to the peoples petition. But,
Senator Biden and Heflin proceeded to cover up the corruption.

The people again petitioned the U.S. Senate but again it was
covered up by Joseph Biden and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

For years the officers of the L.A.P.D. have been subjected to an
insidious (Guyana, Jonesboro Massacre type) mass hypnosis, a
conspiracy of mind conditioning, slow, unrecognized for what it
was, but steady and deadly, always related to dangerous duties,
night and morning shifts heightened by dark alleys, shadowy
streets and looming buildings were the back-drop of the mind
conditioning plot, ready to shoot or knife them from ambush.
This conditioning of the officers' minds, reflexes and actions
with simultaneous mind conditioning of black people to fear and
mistrust L.A.P.D. officers and consider them enemies, [was] a

Gary Wean Affidavit: Page 3 of 5

potential for violence.

This fantastic plot pitting black people and white people against
each other, constantly at each others' throats was kept at a
high, feverish pitch, terrific tension, both sides ready to react
against the other violently at the slightest provocation or even
no reason at all.

This explosive conditioning of human minds was kept at fever
pitch by constant bombardments of T.V., Radio, newspaper,
magazines, etc., propaganda of prejudice and hatred prepared by
professional expert provocateurs involved in a plot to create
racial strife, riots and revolution.

Further exacerbated by deliberate, clever judicial decisions and
rulings designed to antagonize and frustrate both police officers
and black people. The provocateurs of the plot never cease their
operations.

When this plot was heating up, I took my information and evidence
to the Los Angeles Federal Department of Justice.

Andrea Ordin, the head of the department, covered up the entire
plot and destroyed the evidence given to her and claimed she
never got it, then refused to talk with me again. Andrea Ordin
is the wife of a Federal Judge who is a close associate of Harry
Pregerson and Stephen Reinhardt in the plot.

I took information and evidence of the Inter-State Bank fire, in
which a man was murdered, to an L.A. Deputy District Attorney.
District Attorney Ira Reiner covered up this evidence because a
close associate of his, Superior Court Judge Savitch, was
involved in the fire which was set to burn up files related to
the Palo Verde Nuclear Plant and the records of the Ventura
County Public Facilities Corporation which in owned by Judge
Jerome Berenson and Ben Nordman who own the Bank of A. Levy.
Jerome Berenson is a close associate of Harry Pregerson and
Savitch and a top person in the plot.

The four L.A.P.D. officers indicted are not guilty of any crimes
but are victims of an outrageously fantastic mind manipulation
and mass hypnotism of both black and white people sinisterly
programmed by master psychiatrists and propaganda experts to
react in such a manner as to set-off riots and revolutions on
such a scale it will dwarf the Watts Riots.

District Attorney Ira Reiner's office cannot prosecute the
L.A.P.D. officers because of overwhelming conflict of interest
and prejudice because of his cover up and prejudice and official
protection of judges deeply involved in the incredible plot to
overthrow the L.A.P.D. and its lawful duties.

The Federal Justice Department cannot prosecute the L.A.P.D.
officers because of its conflict of interest involving the cover-
up of the judges brutality and kidnapping in the Santa Barbara
incident which was committed by Judges involved in the plot to
cover-up their criminal acts involving Chief Justice Malcolm

Gary Wean Affidavit: Page 4 of 5

Lucas, and if the officers were prosecuted, it would be against
their constitutional rights because they would have no fair means
of appeal before the State Supreme Court.

Keeping in mind that the head of the Justice Department,
Thornburgh, is an ex-Federal Judge; as is Sessions, the head of
F.B.I.; also Webster, head of C.I.A.; and Lucas is an ex-
Federal Judge, all controlled by Judge Harry Pregerson and Judge
Stephen Reinhardt who are extremely powerful and have untold
millions of dollars at their command.

Instead of Chief Gates resigning, Mayor Thomas Bradley should be
removed because of his and Brookins extortion of Coors and his
betrayal of both black and white people in covering up the
sinister plot. If Bradley had done his official duty to
safeguard the people, the plot could have been exposed and very
probably the King incident would not have occurred.

The Grand Jury members are placed in office by the influence of
judges and to my knowledge have been a tool of the District
Attorney in attempts for many years to destroy honest competent
police administrators; such as attempts to remove Chief Thad
Brown and Lt. Herman Zander, which failed. Because of this
situation, a totally independent special Grand Jury should be
picked and an in-depth investigation of the whole sordid plot
against both the L.A.P.D. and the black citizens of Los Angeles,
and the real perpetrators prosecuted.

These indicted officers are victims. They should not suffer
felony prosecutions and be sent to prison.

The real culprits, the U.S. Senators and other politicians who
failed their duties and covered up the evidence of the monstrous
plot; such as Senators Joseph Biden, Strom Thurmond, Howlin
Heflin are the real villains.

As it stands now the lives of these officers and the lives and
future of their wives and children have forever been destroyed.
No one can ever live it down, but they can be saved. With the
proper defense they can be saved, the light of the sun can shine
through.

I DECLARE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA THAT THE FOREGOING IS TRUE AND ACCURATE.

EXECUTED IN OXNARD, CALIFORNIA ON APRIL 3, 1991.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

/s/ Gary L. Wean

April 4, 1991 [originally handwritten]

Gary Wean Affidavit: Page 5 of 5

Karyn Kupcinet's Birthday

2009-03-06T20:18:00.000-05:00

I have been very busy of late. I haven't been "blogging." But I couldn't let Karyn's birthday go unnoted. The Kupcinet's housekeeper said (paraphrase) that you'd walk down the street with her and people would say, "What a beautiful child."

But honestly, I wish she had gone into journalism like her father.

The Russians

2009-01-27T18:02:00.000-05:00

"Members of the Russian Orthodox Church National Council seen in Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009, during a meeting of the council. the interim leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Kirll of Dmolensk and Kalingrad, seen as a modernizer who could seek a historic reconciliation with the Vatican and more autonomy from the state, was overwhelmingly elected patriarch Tuesday."

What are the repurcussions? The Vatican grows stronger? The Russian Orthodoxy gains strength? Russia and Italy form a pact?

This may be good in the long run. If the Russians band with Italy, they may not, in turn, show hostility to the US. Could this pairing, if it happens, strike down the possibility of One World Religion? One World Govt? Or is it the opposite? Does the Vatican want control of the world?

I believe they do. In the '60's the Vatican wanted a Catholic Viet Nam. Now it was going Communist. President Kennedy, I've read in a few places on the Internet, allowed the Catholic Diem brothers to die, about 2 weeks before his own assassination. And the Vatican was not pleased. I've read theories as to why Attorney General Robert Kennedy, or his brother Senator Ted Kennedy, never tried to find the killers of President John Kennedy. Robert, supposedly, didn't want anyone to know that they were planning to assassinate (the now long dead) Fidel Castro on December 1, 1963. They didn't want this known about the President who died so tragically. Instead the Cuban Exiles and CIA killed Kennedy, whom they hated, hoping the American people will believe Castro killed their young President and make a strike against Communist Cuba.

The man below, walking away, was historically known as "The Cuban." Some people won't use that phrase anymore. He's now the "Dark-Complected Man." I'm sorry, but he looks Cuban to me. He signalled when the limo was coming into the shooting area. So what nationality is he? A Puerto Rican?

Someone Else's Blog on the Culture and OJ Simpson

2008-12-18T17:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2008/12/05/how-do-you-feel-about-o-j-s-sentence/

Here, a blogger, Madison J. Gray, analyzes why the public was so hungry for the OJ Simpson trials in the '90's, but spent much less attention to this last trial. The trial in which the jury found him guilty. Simpson was given a long-term sentence in solitary confinement and won't get out of prison until he's a senior citizen:

Unemployment was low, crime was beginning to drop, a new, technologically savvy generation was coming of age. War? What war? The Iraq question was answered four years earlier, banks were handing out mortgages like doughnuts on Fat Tuesday, and the auto industry kept putting our fat butts in the drivers seats of less and less efficient SUVs.

Then along comes Simpson, and the murders of his ex-wife and her friend. Since everything else in the country was perfect, we had nothing better to worry about and the media spent millions upon millions of dollars that it had in surplus covering the trial, while at the same time ignoring the human tragedy in places like Rwanda. ...

Simpson goes free, and the American lust for his blood began. Oooh, what an outrage! It was as if Simpson was the first rich guy to be exonerated. People prayed for the day they'd see him get his comeuppance.

Fast forward 13 years and that has seemingly happened, both to Simpson and to America as well.

Now that Simpson is likely going to spend no less than nine years in the clink, if paroles work in his favor, the nation is basically up *#$#$ Creek. Just last month we lost half a million jobs, the recession that we'd known we were in for some time has become official; and violent crime increases seem to coincide with the beginning of the economic downturn.

I think that sums it up masterfully. The biggest news story the morning of 9/11 was Congressman Gary Condit and whether he knew what happened to intern Chandra Levy. The public was obsessed with it. I remember watching one day -- I think Fox News -- where half of the screen was live of Condit sitting in his congressional seat. (He never missed a vote, but on the day Chandra went missing, he missed three votes.) And the other half of the screen showed searchers in the park not far away from the Capitol. And while people were riveted to the hunt of Chandra Levy, there's Gary Condit, possibly unaware that a TV camera was focused on him all day.

After 9/11 people didn't care about Condit.

This Time Geared at the Baby-Boomers

2008-12-06T19:41:00.000-05:00

Yep, they're at it again. The Vatican announced today that they have "forgiven" John Lennon for his comment about Jesus Christ. Give me a break. Please.

John said, paraphrased, "We're more popular than Jesus is. I don't know which will go first -- rock and roll or Christianity. I'm right and I'll be proved right. Jesus was OK, but his followers were thick and ordinary. It's them that's ruined it for me."

Someone should send a tape of a certain song called "The Ballad of John and Yoko" to the Pope. 'Christ, you know it aint easy. You know how hard it can be. The way things are going, they're gonna crucify me!' In other words, with the restriction of the Beatles lifted, John now said whatever he wanted and gave the Christians something to stew over again. The song was banned from the radio early on. But they didn't ban "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Stones.

My Friend, Suzanne Jewell

2008-12-02T11:32:00.000-05:00

Suzanne Jewell died of natural causes. But I don't think they performed an autopsy on her and there was no viewing. At 1 am her boyfriend took her to the emergency room. Her entire torso was x-rayed, back and front. They only found constipation. They gave her prescriptions for her pain and a stool softener. Now, if someone is in such pain that she has to go to the emergency room at that time of night, wouldn't it be wise to give her a strong laxative and make sure she goes before sending her home?

Her boyfriend drove her home and stayed with her for awhile. After leaving he spoke to her at 8:30 am. She was all right. A girlfriend called her at 10 am. She sounded weird and spacy and wanted to go back to sleep. I called her near Noon; she never answered. The guess is she suffered a stroke, heart attack or aneurysm from bearing down hard to relieve herself. She was found on the floor of her bathroom. But she may have accidently OD'd on some mixture of prescription drugs.

The Continuing Saga of Donald O Norton

2008-11-22T00:16:00.001-05:00

Witness
Primarily murder mysteries.

Friday, March 17, 2006
The Continuing Saga of Donald Norton

I'm digging and digging. What school did Donald Norton go to? There's a deceased Donald J Norton, who would be about 72 years old. He attended West Point and graduated in the class of 1951. But I think the man in the picture would have been dressed up in a uniform and hat, since it was a military school. Just grasping at straws. I don't know where the picture of Donald O. Norton came from. What school did he attend? I cannot find this information. If someone knows, please drop me a line here.

Also, look at his fat nose, the way his brow hangs over his left eye -- I think he is the alleged Donald O. Norton, the small mouth, the teeth, allegedly the same as Dave Wills in Canada and Norton in Avon Park. Can he be Lee Oswald? Or was he just an alleged imposter in Mexico, spreading the name Lee Harvey Oswald around? What happened to Lee Oswald? I am still reading Harvey and Lee, but I'm into a lot of projects that take me away from the book. Maybe the book tells what happened to Lee Oswald. Also, why was Harvey Oswald identified as Lee Harvey Oswald? I thought people called him Harvey. What did Marina call him? These are questions I am looking into. This is quite a mystery. I'd like to debate it.

posted by Witness @ 1:44 AM

1 Comments:
At 11:07 PM, Anonymous said...
He doesn't look like Lee Harvey Oswald. Why would Mae Brussell & John Judge believe that he was Lee Harvey Oswald ?

Nov.22, 2008
How the redheads play into this I don't know. There was a researcher named John Armstrong, who wrote "Harvey and Lee." His theory is that there were 2 Oswalds. One got arrested (Harvey) and one (Lee) escaped by plane. Destination? Some people believe Lee might still be alive. Is Lee Donald O. Norton? This man supposedly told Brussells and other witnesses that he was Lee Oswald. This Oswald looked so much like Harvey, it stunned them. But they could tell he was not the one shot by Ruby. This young man sent money at times to Mae Brussell. He called it "guilt" money. He recited Harvey's speech from a radio show before he died. I don't know, but I do believe the redheads are involved somehow. Norton had a fishing store in Avon Park Florida. While researching him, I came across blond Ralph Geb, who was involved in the assassination like the Nortons.

It's all about 2 Oswalds and people who impersonated Harvey. They sheep-dipped him and he foolishly played along, only to be made a patsy. Yes, someone was shooting out the TSBD window, but it wasn't Harvey. I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. Robert Oswald, who's proud to tell people his brother was a loser and wanted fame, is not a blood relation to Robert. Robert never visited Marina or her 2 girls. Why? They are not his relatives. If Harvey wanted fame, why would he deny he shot anybody? Instead he became the patsy. He realized it too late.

Also, I believe "Harvey" was some sort of a Russian agent. There's an audio file on the internet where you hear Harvey learning English. Then 3 years later, you hear Harvey in America talking in English. It's the same voice. But listen to his pronunciation.

I can't say I understand these things, but that's what I know.

Cheney, Gonzales indicted

2008-11-19T22:59:00.000-05:00

Finally someone will be indicted from the Bush admistration.

Cheney, Gonzales Indicted in Texas
By Christopher Weber
Nov 19th 2008 1:30PM
Filed Under:eBush Administration, Republicans, Breaking News, Scandal, Investigations

This is a weird one. Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, along with some local officials, have been indicted by a South Texas grand jury. Cheney and Gonzalez are accused of of engaging in organized criminal activity related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.

The Cheney indictment stems from his investments (some $85 million worth!) in companies that run the Texas prisons where the abuses took place.
Cheney's indictment on a charge of engaging in an organized criminal activity criticizes the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.

Megan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Cheney, declined to comment on Tuesday, saying that the vice president had not yet received a copy of the indictment.

As for Gonzales, he's accused of using his position as AG to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately-run prisons.
Gonzalez's attorney, George Terwilliger III, said in a written statement, "This is obviously a bogus charge on its face, as any good prosecutor can recognize. Hopefully, competent Texas authorities will take steps to reign in this abuse of the criminal justice system."

I'm no legal scholar but it seems unlikely that we'll be seeing either Cheney or Gonzales in a South Texas courtroom any time soon. The indictments seem to be part of a last minute charge-a-palooza in a county known for some oddball legal moves.
The indictment, which had not yet been signed by the presiding judge, was one of seven released Tuesday in a county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles in recent years. Another of the indictments named a state senator on charges of profiting from his position.

Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra himself had been under indictment for more than a year and half before a judge dismissed the indictments last month. This flurry of charges came in the twilight of Guerra's tenure, which ends this year after nearly two decades in office. He lost convincingly in a Democratic primary in March.

At the very least the indictments are an annoyance for Gonzales and Cheney and possibly a clue of legal roadblocks to come for the most secretive White House in history. And fighting charges like this will become a whole lot harder for them once the Bush administration is out of power.

Friend dies

2008-11-14T17:27:00.000-05:00

I am in a state of mourning. One of my best friends was found dead today. The last time I spoke with her, she was very upbeat as usual. There was a party Wednesday night in a restaurant. I didn't attend; I had a slight sore throat and a cold. People at the party said she was just fine, but one said she complained about a stomach ache. Thursday, after calling all day, I went to her house. We were going to have dinner at 5 pm. She didn't answer my knock. I went to another friend's house. She said she spoke to the girl at 9 am and she said she just wanted to go back to sleep. She sounded "spacey." Her boyfriend said he called her earlier at 8:30 am and she seemed fine.

I got worried today and called the Housing Authority of that area. They went to her apartment and noticed that she had a second lock, a dead bolt. No one could lock or open that door from the outside. Someone had to be inside. Also, her windows were covered with blankets. They broke in and found her dead. They called me and told me. The woman said she was deceased and that the paramedics had come. I spoke to her other girlfriend. The 2 of us believed she may have committed suicide. She called the Housing Authority and they told her she was found in the bath tub and that's all they told us.

It could be natural causes. I hope it is. She was an upbeat, active girl. I think of how her family is going to feel when they learn she's dead. The whole thing is a horror. I considered her a real good friend. I can't believe we'll never be together again. She loved her grandchildren and she would always show people their pictures. I'm going to miss her telling me about them. I even knew what I was going to get her for Christmas. My heart is broken right now. All the various meds I have -- none of them can make me forget her. And I can't drink either, as I did when my brother had a stroke. It's going to be a long night.

I'll never forget her. She was special.

Jesus' Representatives on Earth

2008-11-10T00:47:00.000-05:00

Jesus' reps can't even get along and brawl at the most sacred site in the world. Riot police had to come into the church and make arrests among the bloody believers:

Monks Brawl at Jerusalem Holy Site By MATTI FRIEDMAN, AP

JERUSALEM (Nov. 9) -Israeli police rushed into one of Christianity's holiest churches Sunday and arrested two clergyman after an argument between monks erupted into a brawl next to the site of Jesus' tomb.

The clash between Armenian and Greek Orthodox monks broke out in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Monks Brawl at Christian Holy Site. Israeli police rushed into one of Christianity's holiest churches Sunday and arrested two clergyman after an argument between monks erupted into a brawl next to the site of Jesus' tomb. (Nov. 9)

The brawling began during a procession of Armenian clergymen commemorating the 4th-century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus.
The Greeks objected to the march without one of their monks present, fearing that otherwise, the procession would subvert their own claim to the Edicule — the ancient structure built on what is believed to be the tomb of Jesus — and give the Armenians a claim to the site.

The Armenians refused, and when they tried to march the Greek Orthodox monks blocked their way, sparking the brawl.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police were forced to intervene after fighting was reported. They arrested two monks, one from each side, he said.

A bearded Armenian monk in a red-and-pink robe and a black-clad Greek Orthodox monk with a bloody gash on his forehead were both taken away in handcuffs after scuffling with dozens of riot police.

Six Christian sects divide control of the ancient church. They regularly fight over turf and influence, and Israeli police are occasionally forced to intervene.

"We were keeping resistance so that the procession could not pass through ... and establish a right that they don't have," said a young Greek Orthodox monk with a cut next to his left eye.

The monk, who gave his name as Serafim, said he sustained the wound when an Armenian punched him from behind and broke his glasses.

Father Pakrat of the Armenian Patriarchate said the Greek demand was "against the status quo arrangement and against the internal arrangement of the Holy Sepulcher." He said the Greeks attacked first.

Archbishop Aristarchos, the chief secretary of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate, denied his monks initiated the violence.

After the brawl, the church was crowded with Israeli riot police holding assault rifles, standing beside Golgotha, where Jesus is believed to have been crucified, and the long smooth stone marking the place where tradition holds his body was laid out.

The feud is only one of a bewildering array of rivalries among churchmen in the Holy Sepulcher.

The Israeli government has long wanted to build a fire exit in the church, which regularly fills with thousands of pilgrims and has only one main door, but the sects cannot agree where the exit will be built.
A ladder placed on a ledge over the entrance sometime in the 19th century has remained there ever since because of a dispute over who has the authority to take it down.

More recently, a spat between Ethiopian and Coptic Christians is delaying badly needed renovations to a rooftop monastery that engineers say could collapse.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. 2008-11-09 12:14:11

You Choose the News:

Promote this story on Propeller: I take this to mean I can promote this story on this website.

Favorite Illustration

2008-10-18T21:30:00.000-05:00

There was a writer named Anya Seton, who lived in the old section of Greenwich, CT. She wrote a book called Green Darkness. George Chrichard was the illustrator. It was his take on the story that made me buy it in 1973. It's historical fiction, most of it written in olde English, but it pulls you in. The theme is supernatural. To save her future, a woman has to return to a former life and see what went wrong. The same souls surround her now. It's about 800+ long. I read it again cover to cover twice since '73.

Finally, I was able to get a picture of the bookcover on the Internet today. I still have the book, but the dust cover is partially torn away. (Blame the dog.) So I downloaded the picture.

I don't know if the illustrator is still living. It's a very hard dustcover to find and the picture wasn't used on the paperback copies. And later editions did not use the first illustration. I don't know why.

Anyway, here it is.

Help -- How do you block an IP from your blog?

2008-10-16T06:59:00.001-05:00

Apparently, I have a spider bot on my blog. This "person" checks my blog over 100 times a day. How can I block it? I have searched the help pages and I am banned from the Forum that may have been able to help me, because my blog is considered, mistakenly, as spam. So I'll turn to my readers. Does someone have a solution?

Thanks,
Witness

Banks doing this for Centuries

2008-10-16T06:52:00.001-05:00

The following may be too much to comprehend at first. I have the permission from American Almanac and The New Federalist to print this article:

"Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them." George Santyana

650 Years Ago:
How Venice Rigged the First, and Worst, Global Financial Crash
by Paul Gallagher

Printed in the American Almanac, September 4, 1995.

Venice: The Oligarchical System

Six hundred and fifty years ago came the climax of the worst financial collapse in history to date. The 1930s Great Depression was a mild and brief episode, compared to the bank crash of the 1340s, which decimated the human population.

The crash, which peaked in 1345 A.D. when the world's biggest banks went under, "led'' by the Bardi and Peruzzi companies of Florence, Italy, was more than a bank crash -- it was a financial disintegration. Like the disaster which looms now, projected in Lyndon LaRouche's "9th Economic Forecast'' of July, 1994, that one was a blowup of all major banks and markets in Europe, in which, chroniclers reported, "all credit vanished together,'' most trade and exchange stopped, and a catastrophic drop of the world's population by famine and disease loomed.

Like the financial disintegration hanging over us in late 1994 and 1995 with the collapse of Mexico, Orange County, British merchant banks, etc., that one of the 1340s was the result of 30-40 years of disastrous financial practices, by which the banks built up huge fictitious "financial bubbles,'' parasitising production and real trade in goods. These speculative cancers destroyed the real wealth they were monopolizing, and caused these banks to be effectively bankrupt long before they finally went under.

The critical difference between 1345 and 1995, was that in the fourteenth century there were as yet no nations. No governments had the national sovereignty to control the banks and the creation of credit; or, to force these banks into bankruptcy in an orderly way, and replace fictitious bank credit and money with national credit. Nor was the Vatican, the world leadership of the Catholic Church, fighting against the debt-looting of the international banks then as it is today; in fact, at that time it was allied with, aiding, and abetting them.

The result was a disaster for the human population, which fell worldwide by something like 25 percent between 1300 and 1450 (in Europe, by somewhere between 35 percent and 50 percent from the 1340s collapse to the 1440s).

This global crash, caused by the policies and actions of banks which finally completely bankrupted themselves, has been blamed by historians ever since on a king -- poor Edward III of England. Edward revolted against the seizure and looting of his kingdom by the Bardi and Peruzzi banks, by defaulting on their loans starting in 1342. King Edward's national budget was dwarfed by that of either the Bardi or Peruzzi; in fact, by 1342 his national budget had become a subdepartment of theirs. Their internal memos in Florence spoke of him contemptuously as 'Messer Edward', "We shall be fortunate to recover even a part of his debts.", they sniffed in 1339.

A "free trade'' mythology has been developed by historians about these "sober, industrious, Christian bankers'' of Italy in the fourteenth century "doing good'' by their own private greed; developing trade and the beginnings of capitalist industry by seeking monopolies for their family banks; somehow existing in peace with other merchants, and expiating their greedy sins by donations to the Church.

But, goes the myth, these sober bankers were led astray by kings (accursed governments!) who were spendthrift, warlike, and unreliable in paying their debts which they forced the helpless or momentarily foolish bankers to lend them. Thus, emerging "private enterprise capitalism'' was set back by the disaster of the fourteenth century, concludes the classroom myth, noting in passing that 30 million people died in Europe in the ensuing Black Death, famine, and war. If only the "sober, Christian'' bankers had stuck to industrious "free trade'' and prosperous city-states, and never gotten entangled with warlike, spendthrift kings!

The Real Story

Two recent books help to turn over this cover story, though perhaps that is beyond the intention of their authors. Edwin Hunt's 1994 book The Medieval Supercompanies: A Study of the Peruzzi Company of Florence, establishes that this great bank was losing money and effectively going bankrupt throughout the late 1330s, as a result of its own destructive policies -- in Europe's agricultural credit and trade in particular -- before it ever dealt with Edward III.

"Indeed, the great banking companies were able to survive past 1340 only because news of their deteriorated position had not yet circulated....''

Just as in 1995.

And Hunt adds a shocker for the historians, based on exhaustive restudy of all the surviving correspondence and ledgers of the Bardi and Peruzzi. He concludes that their lending to King Edward III was done with such brutal "conditionalities'' -- seizing and looting his revenues that his true debt to them may have been no more than 15-20,000 pounds sterling when he defaulted. Mr. Hunt himself works for an international bank, so he knows how such "conditionalities'' of lending work today. He probably knows that the true international debt of Third World countries today is a small fraction of what the banks and the International Monetary Fund claim they owe. He definitely understands that fourteenth century England was a Third World country to the Bardi and Peruzzi and Acciaiuoli international banks. They loaned Edward II and Edward III far less than their promises -- but their promises have been dutifully added up as "total loans'' by historians, starting with their fellow banker Giovanni Villani.

Even if we accept the highest figures ever given for Edward III's 1345 default against the bankers of Florence, the debt to them of the city government of Florence which they controlled, was 35 percent greater, and those bonds also defaulted.

More revealing is the latest work of the historian of Venice, Frederick C. Lane, Money and Banking in Medieval and Renaissance Venice. This work shows that it was Venetian finance which, by dominating and controlling a huge international "bubble'' of currency speculation from 1275 through 1350, rigged the great collapse of the 1340s. Rather than sharing the peace of mutual greed and free enterprise with their "allies''-- the bankers of Florence -- the merchants of Venice bankrupted them, and the economies of Europe and the Mediterranean along with them.

Florence was the fourteenth century "New York,'' the apparent center of banking with the world's biggest banks. But Venice was "London,'' manipulating Florentine bankers, kings, and emperors alike, by tight knit financial conspiracy and complete dominance of the markets by which money was minted and credit created.

As long ago as the 1950s, in fact, one historian Fernand Braudel consciously demonstrated that Venice, leading the Italian bankers of Florence, Genoa, Siena, etc., willfully intervened from the beginning of the thirteenth century to destroy the potential emergence of national governments, "modern states foreshadowed by the achievements of Frederick II.''

Frederick II Hohenstauffen was the Holy Roman Emperor in the first half of the thirteenth century, an able successor of Charlemagne's earlier achievements in spreading education , agricultural progress, population growth, and strong government. The great Dante wrote De Monarchia in a vain attempt to revive the potential of imperial government based on divine law and natural law, which had been identified with Frederick's reign.

Wrote Braudel:

"Venice had deliberately ensnared all the surrounding subject economies, including the German economy, for her own profit; she drew her living from them, preventing them from acting freely.... The fourteenth century saw the creation of such a powerful monopoly to the advantage of the city-states of Italy ... that the embryo territorial states like England, France and Spain necessarily suffered the consequences.''

In addition to what Braudel shows, Venice intervened to stop the accession of the great Alfonso the Wise of Spain, as successor to Emperor Frederick II.

This triumph of "free trade'' over the potential for national government, rigged the fourteenth century's global human catastrophes, the worst onslaught of death and depopulation in history. It was not until the Renaissance created the French nation state under Louis XI, 100 years later, and then England under Henry VII, and the Spain of Ferdinand and Isabel, that the human population could recover.

Population: The Fundamental Measure
The clearest measure of the destruction wrought by the merchants and bankers of Venice and its "allies'' in the financial crash of the fourteenth century, is shown in Figure 1. What had been 400-600 years of increasing population growth in Europe, China, and India (altogether, three-fourths of the human population) was reversed. The world's population collapsed. Famines, bubonic and pneumonic plagues, and other epidemics killed more than 100 million people. Wars, dominated by military slaughters of civilians as in Rwanda and Bosnia today, raged throughout Eurasia; Mongol armies alone slaughtered between 5 and 10 million people.

This depopulation did not begin with the 1340s banking crash, although it accelerated after that for nearly a century. The policies of Venetian-allied finance were already reversing human population growth for 40-60 years before their speculative cancer completely exhausted what it monopolized, bringing on the 1340s rolling crash of all major banks which had not collapsed earlier.

How did free enterprise finance, with no government able to control it, collapse all the economies of the Eurasian continent? How could banks concentrated in one part of Europe -- tiny on the scale of modern banks work such a global catastrophe?

A Cancer on Production

In the eleventh, twelfth, and into the thirteenth centuries the growth and development of population both in Europe and particularly in China was accelerating. China's population doubled in 200 years during the "neoConfucian'' renaissance of the S'ung Dynasty, to 120 million; the population density of northern France and northern Italy began to approximate the levels these regions have today.

After the collapse and depopulation of the Roman Empire long before (300-600 A.D.), Europe's population had been growing at a steadily increasing rate for 700 years up to 1300 A.D., due to huge increases in the amount of agricultural land productively cultivated. In addition, there had been several periods in which the rural technologies for using the plow, seed, animal power, water power, and wind power, leaped forward. Classical education of youth in monastery schools (oblates) was spreading up through the twelfth century, when the great cathedral building movement arose in France.

These advances spread particularly rapidly due to the impetus of Charlemagne and his English and Italian allies from 750-900, and then again from 1100-1250, the period of the Hohenstauffen Holy Roman Emperors in Germany, Italy, and Sicily, ending with Frederick II.

But about the turn of the fourteenth century, the growth of food production and of population stopped in Europe. (China's population was already being devastated, on which more below.) There were major famines (multiple successive crop failures or extreme shortages) in 1314-17; in 1328-29; and in 1338-39. One historian concludes that:

"We gather from (the Italian chronicler) Villani's statements that a scarcity of more or less severe character put in an appearance about three times each decade. About once each decade the scarcity became so intense as to assume the proportions of a famine.''

The most productive rural regions of northern Italy and northern France began to be depopulated from about 1290 onward, while the towns and cities' population merely stagnated. (The Milan region was the counterexample, due to aggressive construction of government infrastructure, water control works, 3,000 hospital beds in the city for 150,000 people).

The production of wool in England began to decline from about 1310. English and Spanish wool were the basis of European clothing production, although cotton cloth was just beginning to be produced.

"In England, beginning with the reign of Edward I (1291 to 1310) and reaching a climax with Edward III, the Bardi and Peruzzi had acquired a status that gave them a practical monopoly of the procuring and export of wool....''

From 1150 onward, the famous Champagne Fairs had been the hub of trading in cloth and clothing, ironwork, woodwork, wool, agricultural implements and food for all of Europe; year round fairs were held in six cities in the Champagne region around Paris. Merchants had been accustomed to make profits of 34 percent annually in hard cash and goods trading here.

The Venetian and Florentine bankers intervened into these fairs with large amounts of credit, bank branches, and with luxury goods "from the East,'' and took them over. By 1310, an Italian banker from Lucca boasted that he could raise 200,000 French livres tournois in credit on the spot at the Fair of Troyes but the actual trade in physical goods at the fairs was declining.

Hunt's analysis of the successive sets of books of the Peruzzi bank shows that the Florentine bankers expected 810 percent annual profits up to 1335. This was far above the rate at which the physical economy of Europe was producing real surplus, and that physical rate of production was falling. The Venetians expected much higher rates of profit still, for reasons outlined below.

"At the end of the thirteenth century a slowdown in trade hit commodities first; credit operations kept going longer, but the fairs went into severe decline,'' wrote Braudel.

In the late 1330s, the beginning of the 100 Years War between England and France led to the clothing industry of Flanders the main clothing production region of Europe being boycotted and completely shut off from wool; by the late 1340s, this industry was in complete decline, and was actually moving out of the towns and cities into tiny "cottage industries'' in the countryside.

On top of all this, from the 1320s on, there was a "massive flight of silver oltremare ("over the sea,'' that is, to Venice's maritime empire in the Middle East and Byzantium) which upset the equilibrium of Europe in the mid-fourteenth century.'' Venetian exports of silver from Europe from 1325-50 equaled "perhaps 25 percent of all the silver being mined in Europe at that time.''

Standard silver coin had been the stable currency of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe, and of England, since Charlemagne's time. This massive export from Venice to the East "created chronic balance of payments problems as far away as England and Flanders,'' and severe problems in making payments in trade. France "was emptied of silver coinage.'' King Phillip's mintmaster estimated that 100 tons of silver had been exported "to the land of the Saracens'' (the Islamic Middle East).

So production of the most vital commodities in Europe had been severely reduced, and the trade and circulation of its money completely disrupted, over decades before the 1340s crash, by Italian banks which appeared to be making usurious rates of profit. "The Florentine supercompanies resembled very closely in their operations the huge international grain companies of today, such as Cargill and Archer-Daniels Midland,'' writes Hunt.

"They used loans to monarchs to dominate and control trade in certain vital commodities, especially grain, and later wool and cloth.'' Their dominance and speculation progressively reduced the production of these commodities.

We can see this in more detail, but keeping in mind that the story of the Florentine bankers and the fourteenth century crash and Black Death, is itself a cover-up. These bankers were operating on an international scale limited to Western Europe and some Mediterranean islands.

The maritime/financial empire of Venice -- and Venice only -- was speculating on the scale of all of the Eurasian landmass, and on this evidence alone, it had to be the merchants of Venice which rigged the devastation and depopulation of the majority of the human race in the fourteenth century. The Florentine bankers were sharks swimming in Venice's seas.

The catastrophe of the Black Death in Europe, so often described, was exceeded by death rates in China and Islamic regions under the homicidal rule of the Mongol Khans from 1250, until nearly 1400. The Islamic chronicler Ibn Khaldun wrote:

"Civilization both in the East and the West was visited by a destructive plague which devastated nations and caused populations to vanish.... Civilization decreased with the decrease of mankind.''

Venice was also the "banker,'' slave market, and intelligence support service for the Mongol Khans.
The Black Guelph

The Bardi, Peruzzi, and Acciaiuouli family banks, along with other large banks in Florence and Siena in particular, were all founded in the years around 1250. In the 1290s they grew dramatically in size and rapaciousness, and were reorganized, by the influx of new partners.

These were "Black Guelph'' noble families, of the faction of northern Italian landed aristocracy always bitterly hostile to the government of the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne, 500 years earlier, had already recognized Venice as a threat equal to the Vikings, and had organized a boycott to try to bring Venice to terms with his Empire.

Venice in 1300 was the center of the Black Guelph faction which drove Dante and his co-thinkers from Florence. In opposition to Dante's work De Monarchia, a whole series of political theorists of "Venice, the ideal model of government'' were promoted in north Italy: Bartolomeo of Lucca, Marsiglio of Padua, Enrico Paolino of Venice, etc., all based on Aristotle's Politics which was translated into Latin for the purpose.

The same "coup'' made the Bardi, Peruzzi, etc. Black Guelph banking "supercompanies,'' suddenly two or three times their previous size and branch structure. Machiavelli describes how by 1308, the Black Guelph ruled everywhere in northern Italy except in Milan, which remained allied with the Holy Roman Empire, and was the most economically developed and powerful city-state in fourteenth century Italy.

The charter of the Parte Guelfa openly claimed that it was the party of the papacy, and with Venice, the Black Guelph openly pushed for the Popes to change usury from a mortal (major) sin to a venial (minor) sin. Lane remarks that the Venetians seemed to enjoy an effective exemption from the Catholic Popes' injunctions against usury, and also from their ban on trading with the infidel -- the Seljuk and Mamluk regimes of Egypt and Syria.

A century earlier, in the 1180s, Doge (Duke) Ziani of Venice had provoked hostilities between the two leaders of Christendom, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, the grandfather of Frederick II. Doge Ziani, in time-worn Venetian style, then personally mediated the "Peace of Constance'' between the Pope and the Emperor. The doge got his enemy, Emperor Frederick, to agree to withdraw his standard silver coinage from Italy, and allow the Italian cities to mint their own coins.

Over the century from that 1183 Peace of Constance to the 1290s, Venice established the extraordinary, near-total dominance of trading in gold and silver coin and bullion throughout Europe and Asia, which is documented in Frederick Lane's book. Venice broke and replaced the European silver coinage of the Holy Roman Emperors, the Byzantine Empire's silver coinage, and eventually broke the famous Florentine "gold florin'' in the decades immediately leading into the 1340s financial blowout -- which blew out all the financiers except the Venetians.

Privatization

The Black Guelph bankers of Florence did not simply loan money to monarchs, and then expect repayment with interest. In fact, interest was often "officially'' not charged on the loans, since usury was considered a sin and a crime among Christians. Rather, like the International Monetary Fund today, the banks imposed "conditionalities'' on the loans.

The primary conditionality was the pledging of royal revenues directly to the bankers -- the clearest sign that the monarchs lacked national sovereignty against the Black Guelph "privateers.'' Since in fourteenth century Europe, important commodities like food, wool, clothing, salt, iron, etc. were produced only under royal license and taxation, bank control of royal revenue led to, first, private monopolization of production of these commodities, and second, the banks' "privatization'' and control of the functions of royal government itself.

By 1325, for example, the Peruzzi bank owned all of the revenues of the Kingdom of Naples (the entire southern half of Italy, the most productive grain belt of the entire Mediterranean area); they recruited and ran King Robert of Naples' army, collected his duties and taxes, appointed the officials of his government, above all sold all the grain from his kingdom. They egged Robert on to continual wars to conquer Sicily, because through Spain, Sicily was allied with the Holy Roman Empire. Thus, Sicily's grain production, which the Peruzzi did not control, was reduced by war.

King Robert's Anjou relatives, the Kings of Hungary, had their realm similarly "privatized'' by the Florentine banks in the same period. In France, the Peruzzi were the cooperating bank (creditor) of the bankers to King Philip IV, the infamous Franzezi bankers "Biche and Mouche'' (Albizzo and Mosciatto Guidi).

The Bardi and Peruzzi banks, always in a ratio of 3 to 2 for investments and returns, "privatized'' the revenues of Edward II and Edward III of England, paid the King's budget, and monopolized the sales of English wool. Rather than paying interest (usury) on his loans, Edward III gave the Bardi and Peruzzi large "gifts'' called "compensations'' for the hardships they were supposedly suffering in paying his budget; this was in addition to assigning them his revenues.

When King Edward tried forbidding Italian merchants and bankers to expatriate their profits from England, they converted their profits into wool and stored huge amounts of wool at the "monasteries'' of the Order of Knights Hospitalers, who were their debtors, political allies, and partners in the monopolization of the wool trade.

It was the Bardi's representatives who proposed to Edward III, the wool boycott which destroyed the textile industry of Flanders -- because by 1340 it was the only way to continue to raise wool prices in a desperate attempt to increase King Edward's income flow, which was all assigned to the Bardi and Peruzzi for his debts! Genoese bankers largely controlled the royal revenues of the Kingdom of Castille in Spain, Europe's other supplier of wool, by 1325.

In the first few years of the 100 Years War, which began in 1339, the Florentine financiers imposed on England a rate of exchange which overvalued their currency, the gold florin, by 15 percent relative to English coin. Edward III, in effect, now got 15 percent less for his monopolized wool. Edward tried to counterattack by minting an English florin: the merchants, organized by the Florentines, refused it, and he was defeated. By this action, the Bardi and Peruzzi themselves, in effect, provoked Edward's famous default, and demonstrated his complete lack of sovereignty at the same time.

Even the famous account, by banker and chronicler Giovanni Villani, of Edward III's default which triggered the final crash, acknowledges that his debt to the Bardi and Peruzzi included huge amounts he had already paid -- the curious arithmetic of the IMF to Third World debtors today:

"The Bardi found themselves to be his creditors in more than 180,000 marks sterling. And the Peruzzi, more than 135,000 marks sterling, which ... makes a total of 1,365,000 gold florins -- as much as a kingdom is worth. This sum included many purveyances made to them by the king in the past, but, however that may be....''

Even larger revenue flows came to the Vatican in the collection of its church contributions and tithes. Under John XXII, the Black Guelph Pope from 1316-1336, "papal tithes skyrocketed,'' reaching the apparent value of 250,000 gold florins per year. All were collected by agents of the Venetian banks (for France, the largest source of papal revenue) and the Bardi bank (for everywhere else in Europe except Germany). They charged the Vatican sizable "exchange fees'' to transfer the collections.

"Only they [the Venice-allied bankers] had the reserves of cash at Avignon [in France, temporary seat of the papacy for about 70 years] and in Italy, to finance papal operations. They transferred collections from Europe, and loaned them to the Popes in advance.''

Thus, Venice controlled the papal credit, and the continuing hostilities between the papacy and the Holy Roman Emperors.

Perpetual Rents

In Italy itself, these bankers loaned aggressively to farmers and to merchants and other owners of land, often with the ultimate purpose of owning that land. This led by the 1330s to the wildfire spread of the infamous practice of "perpetual rents,'' whereby farmers calculated the lifetime rent-value of their land and sold that value to a bank for cash for expenses, virtually guaranteeing that they would lose the land to that bank. As the historian Raymond de Roover demonstrated, the practices by which the fourteenth century banks avoided the open crime of usury, were worse than usury.

In the Italian city-states themselves, the early years of the fourteenth century saw the assignment of more and more of the revenues of the primary taxes (gabelle, or sales and excise taxes) to the bankers and other Guelph Party bondholders.

From about 1315, the Guelph abolished the income taxes (estimi) in the city, but increased them (estimi) on the surrounding rural areas into which they expanded their authority. Thus, because the bankers, merchants, and wealthy Guelph aristocrats did not pay taxes -- instead, they made loans (prestanze) to the city and commune governments.

In Florence, for example, the effective interest rate on this Monte ("mound'' of debt) had reached 15 percent by 1342; the city debt was 1,800,000 gold florins, and no clerical complaints against this usury were being raised. The gabelle taxes were pledged for six years in advance to the bondholders. At that point, Duke Walter of Brienne, who had briefly become dictator of Florence, cancelled all revenue assignments to the bankers (defaulted, exactly like Edward III).

Thus were the rural, food-producing areas of Italy depopulated and ruined in the first half of the fourteenth century. The fertile Contado (county) of Pistoia around Florence, for example, which reached a population density of 6065 persons per square kilometer in 1250, had fallen to 50 persons/square kilometer in 1340; in 1400, after 50 years of Black Plague, its population density was 25 persons/square kilometer. The famines of 1314-17, 1328-9, and 1338-9 were not "natural disasters.''

Some of the famous banks of Tuscany had failed already in the 1320s: the Asti of Siena, the Franzezi, the Scali company of Florence. In the 1330s, the biggest banks, with the exception of the Bardi, (the Peruzzi, Acciaiuoli, Buonacorsi) were losing money and plunging toward bankruptcy with the fall in production of the vital commodities which they had monopolized, and which their cancer of speculation was devouring.

The Acciaiuoli and the Buonacorsi, who had been bankers of the Vatican before it left Rome, went bankrupt in 1342 with the default of the city of Florence and the first defaults of Edward III. The Peruzzi and Bardi, the world's two largest banks, went under in 1345, leaving the entire financial market of Europe and the Mediterranean shattered, with the exception of the much smaller Hanseatic League bankers of Germany, who had never allowed the Italian banks and merchant companies to enter their cities.

Already in 1340, a deadly epidemic -- unidentified but not bubonic plague -- had killed up to 10 percent of many urban populations in northern France, and 15,000 Florentines had died out of 90-100,000 that year. In 1347, the Black Plague, which had already killed 10 million in China, began to sweep over Europe.

Venice, the World's Mint

"Venice,'' wrote Braudel:

"...was the greatest commercial success of the Middle Ages -- a city without industry, except for naval-military construction, which came to bestride the Mediterranean world and to control an empire through mere trading enterprise. In the fourteenth century she was in the ascendant to her greatest periods of success and power.''

And most importantly, Frederick Lane writes:

"Venice's rulers were less concerned with profits from industries than with profits from trade between regions that valued gold and silver differently.''

Between 1250 and 1350, Venetian financiers built up a worldwide financial speculation in currencies and gold and silver bullion, similar to the huge speculative cancer of "derivatives contracts'' today. This ultimately dwarfed and controlled the speculation in debt, commodities, and trade of the Bardi, Peruzzi, et al. It took all control of coinage and currency from the monarchs of the time.

The banks of Venice were deceptively smaller and less conspicuous than the Florentine banks, but in fact had much greater resources for speculation at their disposal. The Venetian financial oligarchy as a whole, which ruled a maritime empire through small executive committees under the guise of a republic, centralized and supported its own speculative activities as a whole.

The "Republic'' built the ships and auctioned them to the merchants; escorted them with large, well-armed naval convoys of their empire, with naval commanders responsible to the "Committee of 10'' and the magistrates for the convoys' safety. This same oligarchy maintained several public mints and did everything possible to foster the centralization of gold and silver trading and coinage in Venice.

As Frederick Lane demonstrates, this was the dominant trade of Venice by no later than 1310. Like today's "mega-speculators'' in currencies and derivatives, such as the Morgan and Rothschild-backed George Soros and Marc Rich, the Venetian banks and bullion-dealers were backed by large pools of capital and protection.

The size of the Venetian bullion trade was huge: twice a year a "bullion fleet'' of up to 20-30 ships under heavy naval convoy, sailed from Venice to the eastern Mediterranean coast or to Egypt, bearing primarily silver; and sailed back to Venice bearing mainly gold, including all kinds of coinage, bars, leaf, etc.

The profits of this trade put usury in the shade, though the merchants of Venice were also unbridled in that practice. Surviving instructions of Venetian financiers to their trading agents in these fleets, specify that they expected a minimum rate of profit of 8 percent on each six-month voyage from the exchange of gold and silver alone: 1620 percent annual profit.

One astonishing speech to the Council of 10 by Doge Thomasso Mocenigo, from a time after the 1340s financial crash, goes further. Compare the magnitude of these figures to those discussed earlier for the Papacy, for England, for Florence (keeping in mind that the Venetian standard coin, the gold ducat, was roughly comparable to the Florentine gold florin):

"In peacetime this city puts a capital of 10 million ducats into trade throughout the world with ships and galleys, so that the profit of export is two million, the profit of import is two million, export and import together four million [from the two annual voyages, 40 percent profit --PG].... You have seen our city mint every year 1,200,000 in gold, 800,000 in silver, of which 5,000 marks (20,000 ducats) go annually to Egypt and Syria, 100,000 to your places on the mainland of Italy, to your places beyond the sea 50,000 ducats, to England and France each 100,000 ducats...''

How was this possible? Not by private enterprise, but by imperial Venetian "state usury.'' The gold from the East was being looted out of China (until then the world's richest economy) and India by the murderous Mongol empires, or being mined in Sudan and Mali in Africa and sold to Venetian merchants, in exchange for greatly overvalued European silver.

The silver from the West was being mined in Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, and sold more and more exclusively to Venetians with bottomless supplies of gold at their disposal. Coinages not of Venetian origin were disappearing, first in the Byzantine empire in the twelfth century, then in the Mongol domains, then in Europe in the fourteenth century.

Crusades and Mongols

The so-called Christian Crusades (the first in 1099, the seventh and last major one in 1291) had had only one strategic effect: expanding and strengthening the maritime commercial empire of Venice to the East. Venice provided the ships to take the Crusaders to the Middle East; Venice loaned them money, and Venetian Doges often told them what cities to try to capture or sack. Through the Crusades, Venice gained effective control of the cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Acre in Lebanon and Lajazzo in Turkey, and strengthened its domination of commerce through Constantinople. These were the coastal entry-points for the "Silk Routes'' through the Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions to China and India. During the Mongol Empires (1230-1370), these routes were virtual "Roman Roads'' maintained by Mongol cavalry.

The empire of the Mongol Khans was for a century the largest and most murderous empire in human history. The Mongols eliminated, by slaughter and disease directly in their domains, perhaps 15 percent of the world's population, and destroyed all the greatest cities from China west to Iraq and north to Russia and Hungary -- including all the trading cities whose competition bothered Venice. The strategic alliance between Venice and the Mongol Khans, up to and through the financial collapse of the 1340s, has been treated as a historical curiosity of the adventures of Marco Polo's family. But it gave Venice final control of the trade to the East, and along with the trade through Egypt for the gold mined in Sudan and Mali, it gave them huge amounts of gold with which to dominate world currency trading in the decades leading to the financial disintegration of the fourteenth century.

The Mongols, in their genocidal rule of China, looted all the gold of S'ung China and of the part of India under their control, replacing it with silver currency, and for the lower castes (i.e., the Chinese), with paper money. Mongol middlemen met Venetian merchants at the Mongol-ruled Persian trading cities of Tabriz and Trebizond, and the Black Sea port of Tana, and traded gold for silver from Europe. A large-scale trade in slaves from Mongol domains was associated with this currency trading. This was the so-called "tanga gold,'' from the tanghi or uncoined pieces bearing the seal of the Mongol Khans, as well as bar and leaf gold. The silver was in small Venetian ingots called sommi, which "were the common medium of exchange throughout the Mongol and Tatar Khanates.... [T]he demand for silver in the Far East was continually increasing,'' writes Lane. "The Venetians were able to raise the price of silver despite the existence of record quantities'' coming to Venice from Europe.

The Crusades also consolidated the alliance of Venice and its allied Black Guelph-ruled cities, the Papacy, and the Norman and Anjou kings, against the Holy Roman Empire centered in Germany, which Dante and his allies were struggling to restore to its potential. By the late thirteenth century, the Mongols were a conscious part of this Venetian-led alliance, and the Mongol rulers of Persia even proposed Crusades to the European kings and the Popes! Pope John XXII granted Venice alone the license to trade with the infidel Mamluk sultans of Egypt in the 1330s. This was overvalued European silver and Mongol slaves for gold from Sudan and Mali.

"Derivatives"

Thus, in the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Venice provided all the coinage and currency-exchange for the largest empire in history, which was looting and destroying the populations under its rule. Venice had taken over the currency trading and coining of what remained of the Byzantine Empire, and also of the Mamluk Sultanates in North Africa. Venice, over this period, took the East off a gold standard and put it on a silver standard (it was the richer region of the world, and being more intensively looted). It took Byzantium and Europe off a 500-year old silver standard and put them on gold standards.

And the Venetian financiers and merchants were making annual rates of profit of up to 40 percent on very large, overwhelmingly short-term (six-month) investments, in a world economy characterized at its most productive, by perhaps 34 percent annual rates of real physical ``free energy'': surplus wealth (see Figure 2). The other Black Guelph Italian bankers' operations were subsumed by Venetian financial manipulations, but they were also realizing rates of profit far above the rate of physical reproduction of the economies of Europe. Because of the dominance of these speculative cancers, all the major real physical economies were shrinking.

What was the effect of this Venetian global currency speculation on the European economies before the 1340s crash and the Black Death? It was the short-term vise that caught the other European bankers and rigged the crash itself.

From 1275-1325, the ratio of the average gold price, to the average silver price, steadily rose, though with continual short-term fluctuations, from about 8:1 to, finally, about 15:1. In this period, Europe's large production of silver was looted through Venice's command of Mongol and African gold. "Venice had the central position as the world's bullion market,'' writes Lane, "and attracted to the Rialto (the bridge area which was Venice's "Wall Street'') the acceleration of buying and selling stimulated by the changing prices of the two precious metals.'' From 1290 into the 1330s prices rose sharply for the most crucial commodities.

In this process of quickening speculation, Venice "ensnared all the surrounding economies, including the German economy'' where production of silver, iron, and iron implements was concentrated. By the 1320s, Venetian merchants no longer even traveled to Germany to trade: They compelled German producers and merchants to come to Venice and take up lodgings near the large Fondaco dei Tedeschi ("Warehouse of the Germans'') where their goods were stored for sale.

Venetian bankers on the Rialto (and Venetian bankers alone in the world at this time) made cashless bank transfers among merchants' accounts, allowed overdrafts and gave credit lines on the spot, created "bank money,'' and speculated with it. They did this not out of cleverness, but by simple control of currency speculation worldwide: They had the reserves.

In fact, the famous "bills of exchange'' of the Florentine bankers, were really a crude form of the "derivatives contracts'' of the 1990s speculative cancer. The Bardi, et al. charged fees to those involved in trade, for exchanging currencies, since there were so many regional and city currencies. These exchange fees were a cost looted out of all production and trade, and a usurious profit to the bankers. But the banker made the "bills of exchange'' even more expensive, to hedge against their own potential losses in currency fluctuations being manipulated by Venetian bullion merchants. Thus bills of exchange in the fourteenth century cost 14 percent on average, worse than borrowing at interest (usury).

Venice switched Europe to gold by force of looting silver. England, for example, from 1300-1309 imported 90,000 pounds sterling in silver for coining; but from 1330-1339, it was only able to import 1,000 pounds. "But in Venice there was no lack of silver at all in the 1330s.'' The Florentine bankers, with their famous gold florin, enjoyed great speculative profits in this process.

However, from 1325-1345, the process was reversed. The ratio of gold price to silver price, dominated by Venetian manipulation, now fell steadily from the 15:1 level, back down to 9:1. When the price of silver started rising in the 1330s, there was an unusually large supply of silver in Venice! And through the 1340s, "the international exchange of gold and silver greatly intensified again,'' Lane shows, and there was another wave of sharp commodity price increases.

Now the Florentine bankers were caught, having loans and investments all over Europe in gold, whose price was now falling.

After Venice triggered the fall of gold with new coins in the late 1320s, the Florentines did not attempt to follow suit until 1334 when it was too late; the king of France did not follow until 1337; and last came the pathetic effort of the king of England in 1340, mentioned above.

As Lane shows:

"The fall of gold, to which the Venetians had contributed so much by their vigorous export of silver and import of gold, and in which they found profits, hurt the Florentines. In spite of their being the leaders of international finance ... the Florentines were not in a position, as were the Venetians, to take advantage of the changes that took place between 1325 and 1345.''

Venetian superprofits in global currency speculation continued right through the bank crash and financial market disintegration of 1345-47 which they had rigged, and beyond.

In the period 1330-1350, the Black Death of bubonic and pneumonic plague had spread through southern China, killing between 15 and 20 million people, as the Mongols' looting process came to exhaustion. The Mongols' "horse culture'' (they grazed huge herds of horses for hunting and warfare) had destroyed the infrastructure of agriculture wherever they went. It had also moved the population of Plague -- carrying rodents from the small area of northwest China where it had been isolated for centuries, down into southern China and westward all the way to the Black Sea.

In 1346, Mongol cavalry spread the Black Death to towns in the Crimea, on the Black Sea, and from there it was carried by ship to Sicily and Italy in 1347, and spread throughout Europe. The European population had stagnated for 40 years while becoming more concentrated into cities, where water and sanitation infrastructure had decayed.

In Florence, for example, all the city's bridges had been built in the 13th century, none in the fourteenth. Nutritional levels had already fallen as grain production declined. During the Crusades, the practice of classical education in monasteries had been viciously attacked by the "preacher of the Crusades,'' Bernard of Clairvaux, and his Cistercian order. In 1225, the Vatican had finally forbidden the presence of young students oblates in monasteries. Europe's broadest form of education had disappeared.

After the financial crash and the entry of the Plague, Europe's population fell for 100 years, from perhaps 90 million, to roughly 60 million.

No More Venetian Methods

God allows evil, so that we will become better by fighting it, said Gottfried Leibniz, who founded the science of physical economy in the seventeenth century. The Black Death in Europe destroyed the Malthusian idea that fewer people would mean better life for the survivors -- against it, came the Renaissance idea of the dignity and sanctity of each individual life. The chronicler Matteo Villani wrote in the 1360s:

"It was assumed, on account of the lack of people, that there would be an abundance of everything the law produces. But on the contrary, because of man's ingratitude, everything was in unusually short supply ... and in some countries there were terrible famines. It was thought there would be a profusion of clothing and of everything the human body needs besides life itself, and just the opposite occurred. Most things cost twice as much or more than they did before the plague and wages increased disjointedly to double.''

The marked price rises in the aftermath of the Black Death and subsequent epidemics, lasted more than a generation. This then led to a sharp deflation and collapse of wages from about 1380.

After 1400, in the years which led to the Golden Renaissance, political forces turned against the methods of the Italian free enterprise bankers. In 1401, King Martin I of Aragon (Spain) expelled them. In 1403, Henry IV of England prohibited them from taking profits in any way in his kingdom. In 1409, Flanders imprisoned and then expelled Genoese bankers. In 1410, all Italian merchants were expelled from Paris. When Louis XI became King of France in 1461, he organized national forces to make it the first strong and sovereign nation state. Along with the development of ports, roads, and support for the cities, Louis XI insisted on a single, standard national currency, created and controlled by the crown. For both Louis XI and England's Henry VII in the same period:

"mercantilist forms of economic nationalism were combined with a pronounced hostility to Italian techniques of credit and clearing.''

The preceding article is a rough version of the article that appeared in The American Almanac. It is made available here with the permission of The New Federalist Newspaper. Any use of, or quotations from, this article must attribute them to The New Federalist, and The American Almanac.

The Oxnard Call Explained

2008-10-04T22:41:00.000-05:00

Greg Parker, a Kennedy Assassination researcher, has explained the Oxnard Call. This was the call supposedly made by Karyn Kupcinet, as she tried to inform her father about Kennedy's pending assassination. She got on an Operator's line and predicted Kennedy's Assassination minutes before it happened. Her "friends" from the British Consulate urged her to do so. I don't know whom I have to thank for this disinformation. Penn Jones, Jr. or John McAdams?

Parker researched the call. Of course this brings us to a new chapter in the Kennedy whodunnit. It appears the Rosicrucians may have wanted him dead. I believe the woman making the phone call knew about Kennedy's death beforehand and was trying to make it occur using a radionics practice. The phone to her was a way to maximize that the assassination would go off as planned. The Rosicrucians operated out of the Oxnard-Camarillo section of California. I must state that the Roman Catholic Church has also been linked to the assassination.

Anyway, the telephone served as an electtronic device and what the woman was saying were incantations. The link below will explain more. I'm satisfied with this research. However, I believe Karyn was killed to shock Chicago and get the attention off the Chicago mob and Ruby. The proximity of her death regarding Kennedy's always gnawed at me.

http://reopenjfkcase.dockearth.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=77&Itemid=37#akocomment24

Dakota Ghost

2008-10-02T08:56:00.000-05:00

The approximate address is 14 W 73rd St. It's the side exit of The Dakota, where Rosemary's Baby was filmed and where John Lennon lived for years until intel murdered him. I don't believe Ronald Reagan knew anything about this. He was almost assassinated himself on Academy Awards day. The purpose? So George Bush, Sr. could take over the white house, the country and the world. But he didn't. And I don't understand why. I think they let Reagan be President while they did their dirty tricks without his knowledge. I understand he would often fall asleep at cabinet meetings. And he couldn't remember the details of a meeting the same day of its occurrence. When Bush Sr chose Quayle as his running mate and told Reagan at an airport, Reagan visibly gasped. He didn't understand it, but Bush Sr chose Quayle as a safeguard against an assassination of himself.

But back to the Dakota. It is in this alleyway, where the cars exit the parking lot, that I see a ghost. I don't know any other explanation of it. I'm not saying I know who it is. I'm just saying I can't determine any other cause of it. It obviously is taking a human form.

Where did Marilyn Monroe attend high school?

2008-09-29T23:35:00.001-05:00

A reader from Corona, CA wants to know what high school Marilyn Monroe attended. She attended Van Nuys High School. I think Jane Russell also went there in earlier years. Marilyn didn't finish, as she had to get married or go back to the orphanage. She chose marriage at 15 (almost 16).

During her time at Van Nuys, she wrote a composition "Dog: Man's Best Friend" and won a prize. In her yearbook, some fellow wrote, the mmmmm girl (which would later be her initials).

Comment from I. frank morgan re dark flow

2008-09-25T23:13:00.000-05:00

Comment from I. frank morgan re dark flow

2008-09-25T12:26:00.000-05:00

Why does it no occur to us all that we may just not know what we are talking about in science?! Gravity IS all about dark matter flow in a concentric manner about a maximally spinning black hole---from atom to cosmos! We cannot observe the universe, only the cosmos---why is that not good enough?

7:44 AM

I'm not sure where you differentiate 'cosmos' and 'universe.' Astronomers were able to see the Big Bang. Some of them think that was the beginning of the Universe. I'd like to know what more we can see. I think this is very important. Space is our new frontier, as President Kennedy said. I'd like to know where I came from, who invented me, where I am and why. My trouble with religion is that they make up things to tell you, because if people started thinking without believing in religion, there'd be a terrible panic. Some people need a delusion to get through life. I'm not an atheist. I just don't believe in religions. But that's my opinion.

BTW, do you know which intel agency in America is the most secret? Not the CIA or the FBI or the NSA. It's NASA, the space agency. What do they know that they're not saying?

Dark Flow

2008-09-24T23:21:00.000-05:00

It seems that galaxies are being drawn in a certain force that isn't gravity. Today it was reported in the mass media, as we await our economic fate, that there is a force that cannot be seen and that comes from out of our universe. It is taking stars and galaxies quickly from the known universe and no other stars are being made. Star creation peaked billions of years ago. So the upshot is that the known universe is going to grow dimmer. This is from Space Daily:

"According to the researchers' findings, star formation in the universe peaked, on average, about five billion years ago. By the time our own sun was born, about 4.7 billion years ago, almost half of the stellar mass in the universe since the big bang was already created. Star formation has drastically dropped off since then and, as new stars are not being created faster than old stars are ... [eventual dimming of the universe.]"

What is this force? Scientists have labeled it "dark flow." It has nothing to do with the expansion of the universe. And maybe not anything to do with black holes or anti-matter. If the light dims in our lifetime, what will the astronomers see in their telescopes, the face of God?

Priest selling cocaine

2008-09-14T01:12:00.001-05:00

"We've heard of priests doing stuff to get young people pumped up about the church -- adding an acoustic guitar to the service, getting a rad crucifix tattoo -- but a Catholic priest in Illinois blows them all out of the holy water. Emphasis on blow.

Reverend Christopher Layden, 33, was recently arrested and charged with possession and distribution of cocaine at his home, the University of Illinois campus church rectory. He pleaded not guilty in court and is currently under suspension by the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.

If he wasn't ratted out by the Drug-Busting Bear, we suspect campus officials got suspicious when the nuns started hitting the bathroom five at a time."
AOL news

Who Killed Karyn Kupcinet?

2008-09-12T17:34:00.001-05:00

Today on the radio, Kari Kupcinet formally accused the late David Lange of killing her Aunt. Lange was Hope Lange's younger brother. At the time Karyn died, he was seeing Natalie Wood. In fact he was with Natalie earlier in the evening. He told the cops that he arrived home about 12:30 am, early Thanksgiving, very drunk and went right to bed.

Today on the radio, they said David Lange "had a crush" on Karyn. This is something I thought, that as drunk as he was, he decided to visit Karyn. What ensued we'll never know. But the Friday after Thanksgiving, he opened her unlocked door but "didn't go in." Actually, when you opened her door, the couch was right there and you could see her. My "Lange" theory is Lange had a blackout. Was he dreaming this? Friday he went upstairs, I believe, to check on her, and realized he killed her.

Radio Show about Karyn Kupcinet

2008-09-10T00:21:00.000-05:00

Writer Paul Fecteau and Kari Kupcinet are collaborating on a book about the actress, Karyn Kupcinet, who was brutally murdered in 1963. The case has never been solved. You can hear the show on 1440 AM, KMAJ, from Kansas; or streamed on the Internet at www.kmaj1440.com. It will start at 9 am Central time; 10 am Eastern time Friday, Sept 12, 2008. Don't miss it. It's time we solved this murder.

In older posts here I have given my theory that a CIA or Mafia contract killer murdered her to shock Chicago residents and get their minds off Jack Ruby and the heat off the Chicago Mob. The man I believe was behind this was Paul Dorfman, who someone described as having a benign demeanor. Karyn Kupcinet was well-known in Chicago. She was the daughter of columnist and TV host, Irv Kupcinet. That city thought so much of "Kup" they erected a huge statue of him, inviting people to his city. The whole story is written in these pages and too long to go into right now. I have been following this case for 30 years.

Regarding the House Pictured on the Side

2008-09-09T21:56:00.002-05:00

I have put on this blog a Google Earth Street View of Karyn Kupcinet's apartment complex where she was murdered. She moved in around Labor Day to be consistent with the lie that she told about not feeling safe; as some nut kept taping threatening notes to her door (and her boyfriend, Prine's). Had she stayed in the house she lived in, she might have survived fate. On the last night of her life she said to friends, "What's the use of living"? She was upset that Andrew Prine wanted to break up, so he could see other women. His new girlfriend was a Scandinavian blonde, who appeared (I believe) in beach movies -- Anna Capri. Someone murdered Karyn and it wasn't the "guy" who sent the missives; she sent them herself -- she composed the nasty letters. David Lange also lived here. I believe these apartments looked different back then (25 years ago). The area today is quite nice and it's one complex after another. But someone verified it for me today; this is the complex.

The problem I'm having is that sometimes the photo is there and sometimes it isn't. I tried placing the code in another section of the template. Don't know how that'll turn out. I've noticed if you right-click on that almost invisible little box where it was, it will bring you to the photo of Karyn's apartment complex. She lived in the back, and beneath her lived David Lange whom the Kupcinets believed killed "Cookie."

OJ Simpson trial

2008-09-08T14:41:00.000-05:00

OJ Simpson is in court today. They are picking the jury. Cameras in the court, but not during jury selection. I am watching truTV, formerly known as Court TV. Mostly they're following another case, but I saw OJ going into court. He's acting as cool as someone facing life behind bars can.

A former investigator now retired, William Dear, wrote a book called OJ Is Guilty but Not of Murder. The man did a lot of research and discovered many things about OJ's older son from his first marriage. It seems the Jason is epileptic and has sudden rage syndrome. It always bothered me the reaction of OJ's son after the acquittal. He seemed depressed, even angry or resentful. The general consensus, evidently, is that Jason has never played with a full deck. There was always something wrong.

Jason is a chef and chefs usually bring their knives home with them. They're the main implements a chef needs. The night of the murders OJ's son was waiting in the restaurant for Nicole Simpson, his father and family. He was going to be the top chef in the restaurant that night. He planned to serve a delicious menu. Everyone in the restaurant were primed. But no one showed up. The restaurant closed that night by 10 pm.

Jason drove over to Nicole's house. Nicole came to the door, an argument ensued, he was in love with her and he had the knives with him. He killed her and Ron Goldman. He must have called OJ. OJ came over and happened upon the scene. When cops arrested OJ after the Bronco chase, he said nothing about his son. He tried to cast suspicion on one of Nicole's girlfriends, a wealthy woman (through marriage) who was a drug addict. On the night of the killings she was in rehab. OJ theorized that drug dealers were looking for her over money she owed them. They killed Nicole and Ron.

So OJ is guilty, but only as an accessory after the fact. It is my opinion that Roosevelt Greer knows OJ's true story.

The current charges on him I feel are trumped up. It was just silly, stupid men who were trying to act like tough guys to get back memorabilia (rightly belonging to the Goldmans) for OJ. And now he faces life.

They're at It again

2008-08-17T22:59:00.000-05:00

Suddenly, the Shroud of Turin is in the news. Some years ago several scientists studied the Shroud using carbon dating. They came to the conclusion that the Shroud was a hoax as their carbon dating said it came from the Middle Ages, not the time of Christ. The Catholic Church got together more scientists who said carbon dating of this cloth wouldn't come out right because the Shroud had been in a fire. So there it was more or less resolved.

Now the Pope trots out this cloth for other scientists to examine. My bet is the scientists will say it's the real thing. And it might be.

But why are they re-examining this now? Could it be the Church is trying to make a comeback from the many molestations stemming from pedophilic, homosexual priests? And to regain all the wealth it lost paying the victims of these perverts who destroyed their lives, yet walk around in public, demanding reverence?

Reverence for what? Not liking women?

Fuck you, Catholic Church. Saving souls...

Anniversary Marilyn Monroe 46 years

2008-08-05T20:32:00.002-05:00

Marilyn Monroe as Marlene Dietrich

Probably the most beautiful woman who ever lived. Today's the day it was reported she died. Theory: the death was reported late to give Bobby Kennedy time to get out of there. I believe he was set up to take the fall over Marilyn's death. He was there that day. When he left, a Mob contract killer or a CIA contract killer (one and the same) murdered her. When found she had been placed on the bed on her left side. The "marked lividity" of the right side of her face tells us that she had been moved. She laid like that for a time, enough to cause the blood to pool into the right side of her face. Dr. Greenson was there, the famous psychiatrist; and Dr. Engleberg, a physician. So it makes me wonder, if Greenson set up this scene, wouldn't he be smart enough to know about lividity? Someone should have laid her on her right side. They did just the opposite. Why?

Here's the Greenson did it story: Engleberg had given her a prescription for Chloral Hydrate. Marilyn called it "WWI stuff." She thought it was mild. Greenson didn't know she had taken the drug. Someone gave her an enema with enough Nembutal to knock her out. She had a fight with Bobby Kennedy earlier. Unfortunately, the two drugs interacted and she overdosed. They had to give Kennedy time to get out of Los Angeles. So the death wasn't reported till 4:30 am. It's estimated she was dead by 10 pm. Everyone, including gossip columnist James Bacon, tried their best to keep the Kennedys out of this. Even Jerry Lewis on FOX news gallantly said the Kennedys were not involved in her death. He said he knew because he was involved with her at that time. Coincidentally? in Spring '61 Jerry was having an affair with Judith Campbell Exner, girlfriend of President Kennedy and Sam Giancana. I got this from 2 sources about Jerry and Judy.

Obviously, I've read much about Marilyn Monroe, but I'm not giving a bibliography. These are the 2 theories I believe are probable.

Came Across This Website

2008-07-25T00:49:00.000-05:00

AmIAnnoying.com features Karyn Kupcinet. She was voted upon by 43 of 94 people as annoying because her death is unsolved.

Yeah. I guess her story has gotten around a bit. I just informed a Spanish website that Tammy Windsor and Karyn Kupcinet are not the same person, etc.

I answer someone's question from England

2008-07-17T20:51:00.000-05:00

Dear Reader,

Karyn Kupcinet's address was 1227+1/2 N Sweetzer Ave, West Hollywood, California near the Sunset Strip. The apartment complex is called the Monterey Apartments. She was in the back building which had 2 apartments. Karyn's was upstairs and David Lange lived downstairs.

There was also an actress killed in recent years, Rebecca Shaefer, on N Sweetzer.

Another One

2008-07-17T12:58:00.000-05:00

I decided to look up Ed Rubin on the IMDb. There were about 5 of them in different capacities. One was an actor in one movie only. It was Dolores Claiborne 1995. He played the detective supervisor. I saw the movie but can't remember him. The film was made in Canada and this actor probably lived in Canada. This Ed Rubin died Sept. 14, 2006 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

An Error?

2008-07-17T12:04:00.001-05:00

The man identified as "Robert Hathaway," Noah's father and Karyn's acquaintance, might still be alive. Someone informed me that a mistake was made in crediting him for being a music editor in the movies. And he never did anything about it, as it was minor. Now that other Robert Hathaway is dead, not Karyn's guest. "Our" Robert Hathaway is probably still alive. IMDb declared him dead. Our Hathaway was never a music editor. He started out as an actor and became an acting teacher. So I buried the man prematurely. I apologize.

Also, my gut feeling is he had nothing to do with the murder of Karyn Kupcinet. So who did? I don't think Prine did it. Lange is still suspicious as he went up to her apartment the Friday after Thanksgiving and her door opened. He claimed he never went in. He also opened another woman's door in that complex and walked in the same day. Why didn't he walk into Karyn's house? How did he miss her, since the couch she was on, I understand, is right there in view?

I also consider Ed Rubin a suspect. He was there; they found his prints. He went to the Rain Check Room with Hathaway but left after one drink. Hathaway stayed there for awhile. Rubin had no car -- where did he go? Before midnight he was at Hathaway's house with Hathaway, when Prine came over. Mamches, another minor suspect, was in the house with them but sleeping. Some big conspiracy among friends?

Where is Ed Rubin today?

Other suspects? An obsessed fan, a jilted lover from the past or a contract killing from Chicago? I tend to believe the last, but I'm open-minded about it.

Some More about David Lange and Natalie Wood

2008-07-15T14:51:00.000-05:00

David Lange had an affair with Natalie Wood in the '60's and attempts to give insight into her actions in Gavin Lambert's biography of the star.

Lange, in Gavin Lambert's Natalie Wood a Life, describes Natalie, at the time when they were smitten, as being "chameleonlike with her lovers." His Harvard education brought out in her a desire to read more, "and," he says astonished, "[Natalie] even wore glasses."

He continues with this anecdote:

One Saturday night when the infatuation was at its peak, they had dinner with Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, and his wife, Sally.

"You two are obviously crazy about each other," Jim said. "Why don't I arrange for a plane to take you to Las Vegas to get married?"

Lange: "Natalie and I looked at each other as if to say, 'Who's going to stop this first?' Luckily, fate stopped it. Jim couldn't get ua a private plane."

I know Jim Henson is dead, but what about his wife, Sally? This might prove a good source to find out if Lange was telling the truth. I'm mentioning this as someone is writing a book on Karyn Kupcinet.

Again, according to Lange, he and Dr. Lindon, her psychiatrist, were the only 2 people she spoke to about her serious suicide attempt. She landed in the hospital and a coterie of friends waited all night to see if she was going to pull through. She was making The Great Race at the time, which she hated. She also didn't like to work with Tony Curtis -- another story. Natalie wasn't getting along with her director, Blake Edwards. In the pie throwing scene, Edwards himself throws the pies at Natalie from beyond the camera. A photo illustrates this in the book. Apparently she had an argument with Warren Beatty, that night -- but no one knows, as she confided in David Lange only.

Thirty-seven years (and much alcohol) later, Lange could remember little about what she confided to him about her attempt. "I think I tried to block out the whole painful episode." He adds, "And most likely, Natalie herself tried to block out the episode because she couldn't really explain it."

This last assertion is obvious. According to Lange, he recalled that Natalie tried to differentiate between truly wanting to kill yourself and "falling into it in a state of confusion." He said he thought she felt low for "a combination of reasons" and contributed her confusion to her habit of "taking a sleeping pill, then getting up to drink a couple more glasses of wine, and when the wine acted against the pill, taking another pill." Basically, if she really wanted to die, why did she have her friend Mart Crowley stay the night and go knocking on his bedroom door just as the pills hit?

So Lange tells us little about Natalie's suicide attempt. But he seems to understand the need to drink several glasses of wine. What drinkers didn't realize in the '60's was that alcohol is a depressant. It would only enhance the effect of sleeping pills. More below.

More from David Lange

2008-07-15T13:19:00.000-05:00

We see a more human side to David Lange, then we do to the Kupcinets' or James Ellroy's rendering in Gavin Lambert's book on Natalie Wood. David Lange tells what happened to end his friendship with Natalie.

Natalie was married to Richard Gregson and Lange was married to a woman named Gillian in late July 1971. Natalie found out about her second husband, Richard Gregson's, infidelity. She also suspected he was letting her work to pay all the bills while he couldn't find work. This reminded her of her home life as a child, supporting her whole family. Natalie was furious. She called the cops and they gave him an hour to collect his things and get out. Now it became either you're his friend or my friend. David Lange invited Richard to stay at his house for a few days, as Richard was not in his home country and only had $200 to his name.

Lange says:

"It led, David remembered, 'to a major falling out, and we hardly ever saw each other again.'" Natalie's child with Gregson, Natasha, was 10 months old when her parents split. (She is now an actress and works under the nanme of Natasha Gregson Wagner. One movie she made was Two Girls and a Guy with Robert Downey, Jr.)

Gregson felt Natalie was obsessed with Natasha and spent little time with him. David Lange described Natalie after giving birth to her first child:

"'[Natalie] adopted a Madonna-and-Child hairstyle, parted in the middle and drawn back chastely behind her ears, that made Natasha seem the result of the Immaculate Conception.'"

I don't see David Lange killing Karyn Kupcinet, no matter how drunk. He drank around all his friends; there was never an account of violence on his part. But he is still a suspect because the homicide wasn't solved. In the post below, I still have my doubts about him. I wish I knew more about his life. From what little I can gather, he seems normal; but so do the other suspects, to be fair.

David Lange and Natalie Wood

2008-07-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

In the book, Natalie Wood: A Life by her friend Gavin Lambert, the author tells readers about the affair between Natalie and new, charming, Hollywood n'er do well, David Lange. Lange, who is now deceased, was a prime suspect in the death of Karyn Kupcinet. He was her downstair's neighbor, who came home drunk at 12:30 am, Thanksgiving, about the time Karyn was killed.

Did he do it? I don't think Natalie thought so. Neither did her crowd, which included Dominick Dunne. I wrote to Mr. Dunne via email at Vanity Fair, but never got an answer. The Kupcinets believed David Lange did it. As Dominick's daughter was strangled to death, I thought maybe he'd give a thought to Irv Kupcinet's daughter's death by strangulation. Both were actresses.

Here's an excerpt from Lambert's book:

"Before the Great Race unit moved to Europe for location work, Natalie's mood on the set had been lightened by the start of a friendship, and the downward spiral of her life temporarily arrested by a romantic adventure. [It] began in the 3rd week of May, a few days after Natalie shot her first scene. Her make-up man, Bob Jiras, invited David Lange (brother of Hope and PA to Alan Pakula) to visit the set and introduced him to Natalie. 'On both sides, a tremendous infatuation sprang up almost at once,' David Lange remembered. 'But I couldn't sustain it. I was going with the most popular girl in the biggest high school in the world, and I didn't have the ego or the means....One thing I had going for me was that I was a Harvard graduate.'" He doesn't say what he had a degree in.

The next is odd. Natalie had a date with Sinatra and she couldn't do anything about it. She asked David to come over late that night. Lange arrived there around 11:00 pm.

"'Sinatra's limo was still outside. I waited in the bushes until midnight -- until 2 a.m. -- until four, and then the voice of self-protection told me to give up and go home.'"

The affair cooled down but they remained "close" friends for several years.

This 27-year-old man waited in the bushes for 5 hours? That's a hell of a long wait. (Curiously, Karyn, too, would wait for hours in bushes near Andrew Prine's residence.) But for David, was this a thing he would easily do? Was he drunk? A lot of lurking about in this story. But about the romance with Natalie, we only have Lange telling us. In Dominick Dunne's book, The Way We Lived Then, there's a small picture of Natalie and Lange. You will find many pictures of Natalie in this book. The Dunne's house was her second home. They were the greatest party-givers of the '60's.

Another Photo of Cookie

2008-07-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

Here she is in a photo of young actresses taken in 1961. In case you don't know, she's the pretty brunette on the right. Also in the picture is a sexy Mary Tyler Moore.

Odd

2008-06-25T16:33:00.000-05:00

A woman who works for her County's Coroner looked at Karyn Kupcinet's autopsy for me. She said Karyn had an unusually small heart. The Coroner who did the autopsy said it was in the normal range. The woman said Karyn must have been a very small girl.

Wikipedia page

2008-06-22T13:51:00.000-05:00

I went to the Wikipedia page about Karyn Kupcinet. It's much improved. There's a warning that this page causes fights to break out, etc. I was glad to see they removed Karyn Kupcinet as Tammy Windsor. They're 2 different women and I thought one was the other and had to correct that.

Another Avenue Closed re Karyn Kupcinet

2008-06-21T20:56:00.000-05:00

The above actor and later sound man on movies passed away in Los Angeles 5 years ago. His name was Robert Hathaway and he has a son named Noah, who also ventured into acting. He was 67 years old. Almost 40 years after Karyn Kupcinet's death. Was he really in Karyn's house that night? Did he really meet her walking about her neighborhood and she invited him up. Ed Rubin, supposedly, was at her house watching TV. There was no reason given for why Karyn went out for a walk on a day when she was super upset, stoned and hallucinating. She found out Andrew, her boyfriend, and friend of Rubin and Hathaway had other girlfriends. The latest was Anna Capri, an import from Finland or someplace. Tall, platinum blonde, sexy accent. A girl a man would be delighted to squire about. I believe she made a couple of beach movies -- probably with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon.

Karyn called Prine in the early evening before she went to the Goddard's house. They had an argument. She told him someone had left a baby on her doorstep. This is believed to be a way she was trying to lure Andrew over to her house and make him cancel his date with Anna. It didn't work, but Prine drove Anna home after dinner and a movie. Apparently, he didn't try to get cozy with her. Which is a bit baffling, knowing him.

He said he called Karyn at midnight to straighten out the rift between them. Was she threatening him with something, a piece of information that would ruin his acting career? She said the cops came and took away the baby. After her death, the police looked into this and found Karyn had lied.

Ed Rubin and Robert Hathaway were with her, allegedly, after she got home from the Goddards. The police found Rubin's prints there but not Hathaway's. After midnight, Prine, Ed Rubin and Robert Hathaway held a long talkfest in Hathaway's home, next door to Prine's. She was murdered that night. The police believe around 12:30 am, Thanksgiving, 1963. Could Hathaway be Rubin's alibi? Could Hathaway and Rubin be Prine's alibi? As I said, another avenue has been cut off.

A Twilight Zone Moment

2008-06-20T19:53:00.000-05:00

Today I was shopping at Walmart's Supercenter to get someone a birthday gift. I came upon a realistic white cat. I touched the box and the cat came alive, moved his head, looked me in the eye and meowed. This thing was so real that I felt great fear. I just stood there and reminded myself that I was in Walmart's, I was safe and the cat was a toy. It scared the hell out of me. They were selling for $30.

Spooky Goings on at the Dakota

2008-06-20T19:42:00.000-05:00

I love Google's Street View. The story I'm writing now takes place in Manhattan and I research places and explore NY via Google. Tonight I decided to go to the Dakota. The main entrance was dark; you can see a man walking out. So I decided to go around the corner to find where the cars park. At the approximate address of

30 W 73rd St, NY,

I found an alley with 2 cars coming out. In this alley I can see a ghostly figure on the gate of the terrarium. I suppose there's some reasonable explanation for this. Exhaust fumes? Doesn't seem likely. Deliberate obscurity by Google? Possibly. But I just thought I'd throw it out there and maybe someone else can take a look-see. I couldn't save the photo and show it here. Yet you can print it and email it.

2 Items I Couldn't Believe

2008-06-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

On sale now on an eBay store are the following:

http://www.dealtime.com/xFS?KW=Kupcinet&FN=Movies&FD=0&x=9&y=8

and

http://www.dealtime.com/xFS?KW=Karyn&FN=Clothing&FD=0&x=12&y=5

People still love Irv and his daughter.

40th Anniversary

2008-06-06T21:53:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe, but it's been 40 years since Robert F. Kennedy's death. Here he is at his best -- surrounded by kids, by people. [No copyright]

And so It Goes

2008-06-02T18:49:00.000-05:00

More or less I've been written out of the Karyn Kupcinet saga. Apparently her niece, Kari Kupcinet Kriser, doesn't want what I want to write. She's getting bored of the project because she owns a girl-toy shop in Chicago. Yes, I mean porno. But I'm not against it. Having had my own sexuality mauled and chewed up by rabid Jesuits, I am glad a store like that exists for women.

Kari now has 3 kids. She's losing interest. The book was about her being haunted by Karyn, her aunt. Evidently one proposal was turned down. How can you write a book about a fairly obscure (more on that later) actress and not go treading into her murder? My impression now is that it was only to be about the paranormal.

Was Kari haunted by Karyn in dreams like I was? (Chasing her to stop her death and never being able to see her face and never able to stop the murder or learn who did it? For 2 years?) Then there must be a conclusion? What did the haunting result in? As far as I know, nothing. Nothing but a book proposal gone down the drain. A True Hollywood Story with self-proclaimed pervert and petty criminal, James Ellroy, giving his usually warped opinion on her death. It seems his snout wasn't close enough, in my opinion, to her murder. He claims she was dancing around naked to free her inhibitions, as some book she had open, persuaded her to. She tripped and caught her neck on the coffee table, crawled up onto the couch and died. And the parents were alive to hear this. And then they died.

The actual (second) writer of the book hasn't even begun research on her, in his own admission. We have exchanged info on KK -- for years now? He gifted me with a wonderful DVD on Carnival of Souls, which was filmed near where he lives. I was delighted.

I hope the book does come about. Meanwhile I'll be policing the Internet. Some nasty things have been said about her lately -- absolutely untrue rumors.

Above, I mentioned Karyn's obscurity. When I started on the Internet, there was nothing on it about her. Now there are websites. My advice: Don't print a theory as a fact. For instance, who did Karyn know in the British Consulate? Where did this info come from? And Karyn was only in Washington D.C. to meet Harry Truman at the White House. She was 11 years old. I don't think Bobby Baker was around at that time.

I have to admit: I was the one who put KK on the Internet. So all the crazies, including myself, would know her story and might remember something or even just care.

Irv Kupcinet

2008-05-20T15:00:00.002-05:00

The most popular man in Chicago and elsewhere. Here's a welcoming statue of Irv Kupcinet. Click on this thumbnail to see this magnificent tribute.

Global Warming

2008-05-18T18:55:00.001-05:00

This photo looks like a Salvador Dali painting. Actually it's a photo of Greenland -- global warming. This is the second time on record that the Northwest passage is open.

The scientist in this report says everytime we have a hurricane, the temperature of the earth rises, which in turn keeps the hurricanes away. Read his theory:

"Scientist Shifts View on Global Warming
By SETH BORENSTEIN,AP

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/scientist-shifts-view-on-global-warming/20080518143309990001?icid=1615988631x1202539822x1200305793

Posted: 2008-05-18 15:55:50
Filed Under: Science News

WASHINGTON (May 18) - Global warming isn't to blame for the recent jump in hurricanes in the Atlantic, concludes a study by a prominent federal scientist whose position has shifted on the subject.

Not only that, warmer temperatures will actually reduce the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic and those making landfall, research meteorologist Tom Knutson reported in a study released Sunday.

Ever since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, hurricanes have often been seen as a symbol of global warming's wrath. However, a new study shows that warmer temperatures may actually reduce the number of Atlantic hurricanes.

In the past, Knutson has raised concerns about the effects of climate change on storms. His new paper has the potential to heat up a simmering debate among meteorologists about current and future effects of global warming in the Atlantic.

Ever since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, hurricanes have often been seen as a symbol of global warming's wrath. Many climate change experts have tied the rise of hurricanes in recent years to global warming and hotter waters that fuel them.

Another group of experts, those who study hurricanes and who are more often skeptical about global warming, say there is no link. They attribute the recent increase to a natural multi-decade cycle.

What makes this study different is Knutson, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fluid dynamics lab in Princeton, N.J.

He has warned about the harmful effects of climate change and has even complained in the past about being censored by the Bush administration on past studies on the dangers of global warming.

He said his new study, based on a computer model, argues "against the notion that we've already seen a really dramatic increase in Atlantic hurricane activity resulting from greenhouse warming."

A record amount of Greenland's ice sheet melted this summer -- 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark. And for the first time on record, the Northwest Passage was open to navigation.

The study, published online Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience, predicts that by the end of the century the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic will fall by 18 percent.

The number of hurricanes making landfall in the United States and its neighbors - anywhere east of Puerto Rico - will drop by 30 percent because of wind factors.

The biggest storms - those with winds of more than 110 mph - would only decrease in frequency by 8 percent. Tropical storms, those with winds between 39 and 73 mph, would decrease by 27 percent.

It's not all good news from Knutson's study, however. His computer model also forecasts that hurricanes and tropical storms will be wetter and fiercer. Rainfall within 30 miles of a hurricane should jump by 37 percent and wind strength should increase by about 2 percent, Knutson's study says.

And Knutson said this study significantly underestimates the increase in wind strength. Some other scientists criticized his computer model.

MIT hurricane meteorologist Kerry Emanuel, while praising Knutson as a scientist, called his conclusion "demonstrably wrong" based on a computer model that doesn't look properly at storms.

Hurricane Wilma in 2005 was the most intense hurricane ever. It measured 882 millibars, the lowest pressure on record. There were 27 named Atlantic storms that year, also a record.

Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist, said Knutson's computer model is poor at assessing tropical weather and "fail to replicate storms with any kind of fidelity."

Trenberth, climate analysis chief at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., said it is not just the number of hurricanes "that matter, it is also the intensity, duration and size, and this study falls short on these issues."

Knutson acknowledges weaknesses in his computer model and said it primarily gives a coarse overview, not an accurate picture on individual storms and storm strength. He said the latest model doesn't produce storms surpassing 112 mph.

But NOAA hurricane meteorologist Chris Landsea, who wasn't part of this study, praised Knutson's work as "very consistent with what's being said all along."

"I think global warming is a big concern, but when it comes to hurricanes the evidence for changes is pretty darn tiny," Landsea said.

Hurricane season starts June 1 in the Atlantic and a Colorado State University forecast predicts about a 50 percent more active than normal storm season this year. NOAA puts out its own seasonal forecast on May 22.

In a normal year about 10 named storms form. Six become hurricanes and two become major hurricanes. On average, about five hurricanes hit the United States every three years."

Scientists get knocked off these days.

For Research Purposes Only

Bette Davis' Daughter

2008-05-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

Bette Davis said on stage at a prestigious awards ceremony that the love of her life hurt her the most. This after a double mastectomy and a stroke.

"She'll outlive us all," her daughter B.D. Hyman said to a reporter back then. BD was about to publish a tell-all book about all her mother's faults: My Mother's Keeper. Bette addressed some of these things in This n That. Her daughter was spoiled rotten. BD's husband was often out of work. She had married at 16 and had 2 boys. Bette frequently gave them money and this is how they repaid her.

What is BD doing today? She's become a self-proclaimed minister and Bible thumper. She even has a half-hour show, in which she glares at the camera and quotes scripture. If you have Direct TV you can get it. I think it's on another cable channel in the NY area.

She has a website too. She explains the Bible to us when you click on a link. Everything is Jesus. Late last night I clicked on one of her links on:

http://www.bdhyman.com

Unles I'm mistaken, she was railing about Catholics. I'm going to turn it on tonight to hear this stuff. Through BD we'll achieve salvation.

She sells books and tapes of herself on the site. She's a religous fanatic and you know what Witness thinks of them.

However since I first published this post, I listened to BD Hyman again last night. She has 3 lectures on her site. The last one about the Rapture, which is coming soon, denigrated the Catholic religion. She accused them of idolatry, being a cult religion and practitioners of Satanism, that their thing is suffering. She said Jesus died on the cross so we wouldn't have to suffer. We're not meant to. If we truly pray to Jesus with complete faith, he will give us what we want. If you were born Catholic, you can get away from their Satanic doctrines. What is negative is bad. But what is good is happiness, good health, etc. The Catholic Church is an evil, devil-spawned cult religion. BD said all the religions are works of Lucifer. That is her saving grace. But...

She goes on to denounce Harry Potter, Halloween and and pokemon. I think they're so wrong to take away these things from kids. How many kids became good readers with Harry Potter, had their imaginations stirred and enjoyed spooking everyone at Halloween and eating all the candy?

To Be Fair

2008-05-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

I feel what's left of the Roman Catholic Church is using Padre Pio to regain their power. I am providing a link to a photo of Padre Pio, saying Mass, with his palms bleeding. The blood looks on the dark side to me. He may have been a great man, but the Catholic Church is relying on his corpse to raise the Church to the power it once (dangerously) held.

This exhumation has caused such controversy between the Church as it is and the people who revere Padre Pio. The believers wanted Padre Pio's grave undisturbed. Of course the powers that be prevailed, with little thought of the sensibilities of its patrons. This action might cause a schism between the Catholic Church and its people. Another sick fanatical thing they have done to exploit the faithful and regain their foothold in the world. They don't believe in God. Money ultimately stirs the cinders.

http://www.padrepiodevotions.org/photos.asp?id=36

They're at It Again

2008-05-13T21:49:00.000-05:00

Now you can believe in extraterrestrials and life in outer space. But they don't say what that makes Jesus Christ. A UFO is something in God's creation. What would the Messiah say?

The Vatican believes in UFOs. Maybe someday the US govt will let us in on what they know about alien creatures and their aircraft.

Yes the big shots in the Roman Catholic Church have taken another step to get people to worship nonsense again. They will stop at nothing. As of this writing, they still have Padre Pio on ice, with a dime-store Groucho Marx mask over his face. Fake beard, moustache and eyebrows. A regular wax museum they have going.

Here's more about it:

Vatican Says It's OK to Believe in Aliens
By ARIEL DAVID,AP
Posted: 2008-05-13 18:57:26
Filed Under: Science News, World News

VATICAN CITY (May 13) - Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.

Do you believe in extraterrestrials? If so, it's okay, according to the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican's chief astronomer, the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, said in an interview published Tuesday that believing in alien life doesn't contradict faith in God. Here, the faithful crowd St. Peter's Square in front of the Vatican for an open-air Palm Sunday Mass on March 16.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."

In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.

The interview, headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life.

Funes said science, especially astronomy, does not contradict religion, touching on a theme of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.

The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."

Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo's persecution 400 years ago, saying the incident has "caused wounds."

In 1633 the astronomer was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

"The church has somehow recognized its mistakes," he said. "Maybe it could have done it better, but now it's time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration."

Pope John Paul II declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."

The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.

The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has a summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.

This is an ongoing indictment of the Catholic Church. The item above is for research purposes only.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T00:35:00.000-05:00

I wish they were showing Mommie Dearest on TV. It's one of my favorite movies. Faye Dunaway was great in it. My girlfriend from NJ and I act like Joan Crawford in the movie; it's so funny. We almost know the script by heart. We used to imitate Tony Perkins in Psycho. But this is even "campier."

The Return of the Roman Catholic Church

2008-05-10T19:34:00.000-05:00

What gall. After all those molestations and information brought from the DaVinci Code, this cult religion, with its mystery rites and hatred of women, is trying to make a comeback.

Firstly, they send the Pope over here to America to stir the pot. Secondly -- and this has to be looked upon with suspicion -- they exhume Padre Pio. They worked on him for a week, then allow the remaining Catholic horde visitation. Some kind of shell was put over his face. To the best of my knowledge, the Catholic Church never exhumed anyone else, except to put their coffin in another place. Apparently, he wasn't in the best of shape. They fiddled with him. Had he not rotted, this would bring cause to celebrate and former Catholics would believe again. I wouldn't put it past them to display someone else's body and say it's Padre Pio's. There was no sign of stigmata blood anywhere. Padre Pio bled from the palms of his hands in life, yet scholars tell us that crucifixion involved nails hammered into the wrists. The depicted Jesus was skinny, though, and the palms might have sufficed. What to say when the story just doesn't ring true?

Don't give these perverts a chance to thrive again. Molestation of Altar boys may have started back in the early Roman Catholic Church. They used to castrate boys with beautiful singing voices so they would sound woman-like and would keep real women away from any power. I do not feel sorry for these jaded child molesters. I think they should close up shop. Sick of them.

Please read this stuff from padrepio.com/app2.html:

Padre Pio bore the wounds of Jesus on his hands, feet, and side for 50 years.

Several days before he died in 1968, all evidence of the wounds disappeared.

On October 22, 1918, Padre Pio wrote to his spiritual advisor, Padre Benedetto, describing how he received the stigmata. "On the morning of the 20th of last month, in the choir, after I had celebrated Mass, I yielded to a drowsiness similar to a sweet sleep. All the internal and external senses and even the very faculties of my soul were immersed in indescribable stillness. Absolute silence surrounded and invaded me. I was suddenly filled with great peace and abandonment which effaced everything else and caused a lull in the turmoil. All this happened in a flash.

"While this was taking place, I saw before me a mysterious person similar to the one I had seen on the evening of 5 August. The only difference was that his hands and feet and side were dripping blood. The sight terrified me and what I felt at that moment is indescribable. I thought I should die and really should have died if the Lord had not intervened and strengthened my heart which was about to burst out of my chest.

"The vision disappeared and I became aware that my hands, feet and side were dripping blood. Imagine the agony I experienced and continue to experience almost every day. The heart wound bleeds continually, especially from Thursday evening until Saturday. Dear Father, I am dying of pain because of the wounds and the resulting embarrassment I feel in my soul. I am afraid I shall bleed to death if the Lord does not hear my heartfelt supplication to relieve me of this condition. Will Jesus, who is so good, grant me this grace? Will he at least free me from the embarrassment caused by these outward signs? I will raise my voice and will not stop imploring him until in his mercy he takes away, not the wound or the pain, which is impossible since I wish to be inebriated with pain, but these outward signs which cause me such embarrassment and unbearable humiliation" (Letters 1, No. 511).

Are these people nuts? Here's the recent account:

SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, ITALY -- The exhumed and cosmetically enhanced corpse of Padre Pio, mystic monk and one of the world's most revered saints, went on display here Thursday amid weeping devotees and eager souvenir-hawkers.

By evening, several thousand pilgrims had filed past the body of the purported worker of miracles and reader of souls whose cult-like following spans the globe.

Padre Pio Padre Pio died 40 years ago at the age of 81, and the tomb containing his remains was unearthed from a church crypt here last month. A team of forensic specialists, doctors and a biochemist worked to restore the body for Thursday's ceremony.

A London company that supplies figures for wax museums created a special silicon mask to represent his face, complete with beard and bushy eyebrows.

[Will the Cubans do this with Castro? --ed.]

Resting in a regal glass-and-marble coffin in the Santa Maria delle Grazie Church, Padre Pio is wearing the brown hood of his Capuchin order, and an ice-white silk stole embroidered in crystal and gold covers his shoulders. His hands are placed on his chest under a large wooden cross, darkened fingers poking out of partial gloves.

"My heart is crying," Anna Menga, 56, said after praying alongside Padre Pio's body for the health of her sick son. "Whenever we have problems or we feel sad, we turn to Padre Pio. He has changed my life."

Roman Catholic bishops and priests were among the first to view the body, many using cellphones to snap photos. Nuns standing to one side of the coffin said prayers.

Padre Pio has such a loyal following that in some parts of Italy his name is invoked in prayer more frequently than that of the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ.

He is also big business, and business in this rustic region of southern Italy has been hurting. Numerous hotels built after Pio became a saint six years ago have gone bust, and a mayor was convicted of absconding with funds. City fathers and church officials are hoping the renewed reverence will give a boost to the economy.

Prospects look good: City officials say about 750,000 pilgrims and tourists have made reservations to view the body through June, and hotels are booked full.
Anna Manzelli, 31, of Sicily brought her sick mother-in-law to Padre Pio's hospital and her two little children to Thursday's Mass in his honor. Her 2-year-old is named for the saint.

"I pray to Padre Pio. I don't ask for money or anything like that but for love, family unity and peace," said Manzelli, who works as a psychotherapist.

In life, Padre Pio cut an imposing figure, a large but tormented man with a full beard, clad always in his brown robes. He bore stigmata, bloody wounds on his hands and feet that believers say simulate the injuries of Jesus on the cross.

Photographs almost always show Pio, who was born Francesco Forgione, with a furrowed brow and a slightly crazed look about the eyes. Believers who knew him say he could look into their souls and know their sins without a word being spoken. The lore surrounding him also says he was capable of "bilocation," being in two places at once, and was able to effect miraculous cures and tell the future.

Paula Zamparelli, 81, who knew Padre Pio for many years, credits him with curing her tuberculosis shortly after World War II, when her family was poor and hungry. She also said he helped find her a husband and encouraged her to have children, even when the doctors told her she was too sickly.

"He always had so many people around him," Zamparelli said in an interview in her small apartment as she pored over family photos showing Padre Pio at her wedding and the baptisms and first communions of her children. "He'd look at you with this steady gaze, a stare, and you'd get scared because you knew he knew everything you had done."

For critics, the adulation of Padre Pio represents the kind of superstition-infused popular worship frowned upon by more modern Catholicism. The Vatican periodically tried to rein him in, banning him from priestly duties for a couple of years, though his following only continued to grow. And he was frequently accused of being a fake, to the point of suggestions that he used acid to inflict his stigmata wounds.

However, the late Pope John Paul II embraced him fully, canonizing Padre Pio as a saint in 2002.

Even some believers, however, say the hoopla surrounding Padre Pio is the last thing the humble servant of God would have wanted. Some Padre Pio devotees, especially an older generation that knew him in life, vehemently opposed the decision to exhume his body.

"The faithful feel anguish and astonishment about what has happened and many faithful are offended," said Francesco Traversi, a lawyer who says being blessed at age 7 by Padre Pio was a life-altering experience.

Traversi, who started an organization opposed to the exhumation, planned his own counter-demonstration with banners saying, "Hands Off Padre Pio!" He accused church authorities and especially the region's archbishop, Domenico D'Ambrosio, of "tampering with the dead" as a stunt to bring tourists and revenue into a slumping economy.To be sure, San Giovanni lives on Padre Pio. His statue stares from parking lots, gasoline stations and the lobbies of hospitals erected in his honor. His name can be found on trinkets such as snow globes and key chains, and on street signs, nurseries and even a company that builds pre-fab homes.

"Today we venerate his body, inaugurating a period of particularly intense pilgrimage," Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican's office on sainthood, said at a Mass here outside St. Pio Church. "The presence of Padre Pio's body invites us above all to one memory . . . all the good that he achieved among us."

They're all nuts.

Rare Karyn Kupcinet Photo

2008-05-04T16:31:00.000-05:00

This photo is Karyn in costume. My guess is '62 or '63. For research purposes.

New Forum

2008-04-23T21:51:00.000-05:00

Although I had difficulties with Scott of findadeath.com/forum re Karyn Kupcinet's autopsy, I've learned he now has a forum up with a strong thread on KK. I wonder why he didn't contact me about that. Let bygones be bygones. I really like his site now, with the macarbre humor. For instance, to search the site (which has graveyard photos) it says "What the hell are you looking for?" next to the search button.

Anyway, I am enjoying the site. I haven't come across any lies there. Just interested people with some inaccuracies or misconceptions. But it's nice to find interested people who aren't nasty for a change.

http://www.findadeath.com/forum "actors and actresses"