Saturday, January 29th, 2011
CHRISTINA KONINGISOR, - The Atlantic
Stephan:
Foaming at the mouth, rolling of the eyes, assuming serpentine characteristics in the face or body: all classic signs, explains Father Gary Thomas, of demonic influence.
Father Thomas, pastor of the Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, California, is an avid Giants fan and a 28-year veteran of the priesthood. He is also a practicing exorcist; in the fall of 2005, Father Thomas traveled to Rome to complete a year-long training course under the tutelage of a master Italian exorcist. The story of his training inspired The Rite, a Warner Brothers film starring Anthony Hopkins that opens in theaters Friday.
Despite this fictional portrayal, Father Thomas is also the embodiment of a new trend in the American Catholic church: Long the purview of American cinema, Catholic exorcism is being reclaimed, publicly, by its real-life practitioners. A factual account of Father Thomas’s training has been published in a book by journalist Matt Baglio; the Discovery Channel recently announced the airing of a reality show featuring the accounts of trained Catholic exorcists (though the Vatican has denied any official involvement with the series); and last November, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois convened a two-day conference to discuss the practice […]
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Saturday, January 29th, 2011
BRETT COUGHLIN, - Politico
Stephan: This is where millions of Americans are going to end up, and the profit potential can hardly be over-emphasized. This is what you get when profit and not wellbeing is the driving priority. The system is now set-up, just as the Boomers are beginning to die off, to suck the dollars out to the last breath. We aren't really humans, we're just little petcocks tapping into the money pipeline.
Data released Thursday suggest that the long-term care industry is an economic juggernaut, but an ongoing inspector general investigation is examining how nursing homes have incorporated hospice care into their business model and whether that’s good for patients or Medicare.
The data, released today the American Health Care Association, show that in 20 states, long-term care is one of the top 10 employers. In eight states - California, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio and New York - the industry provides more than 100,000 jobs.
‘In this economic engine that is the American economy, long-term care is one of the pistons, consistently firing even in the worst of hardships,
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Friday, January 28th, 2011
DAN WIESSNER, - Yorktown Patch
Stephan: This report is somewhat parochial to the part of Virginia where I lived in Gloucester County, and Virginia Beach. But it is also a well done analysis of what is going on all along the Eastern Seaboard. These changes are upon us, whether the Deniers like it or not, and the effects are only going to get worse. Nature bats last.
Larchmont is practically underwater.
Not the upscale Sound Shore community; this Larchmont is a middle-class neighborhood in Norfolk, VA that’s surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay and the mouths of several rivers.
Much of the area is under constant threat of inundation, as the surrounding waters have risen by 14.5 inches since 1930-the highest relative increase in sea level of anywhere on the East Coast. A recent New York Times article called Larchmont ‘the front line’ in the battle against rising waters and detailed the tribulations of local residents and the multi-million dollar projects that may or may not produce a solution.
But how far off is this headache for Westchester’s Larchmont and other communities along the Sound and the Hudson River? What does it mean for residents? The potential consequences could affect local utilities, regional commuters, waterfront businesses and local property owners.
‘It could happen next summer,’ said Kristin Marcell, a member of the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Hudson River Estuary program, referring specifically to a once-in-a-generation storm that, coupled with rising waters, could wreak havoc on waterfront developments, including homes, roads, train tracks and recreation areas.
Debates over the cause and extent of climate change continue to rage around the […]
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Friday, January 28th, 2011
ALAN COWELL, - The New York Times
Stephan: This regional turmoil began in large part as food riots just as in 2008. As before protests over both shortages, and greatly increased food prices. But this is different than 2008 because of years more of war and occupation. It may explode into a game changing fall of dominoes fundamentally altering the geopolitics of the Middle East. If that happens expect the built-up anger against the U.S., for what are seen as its invasions and occupations of Islamic nations, to manifest as virulently anti-American views coming into power.
After days of protests that have toppled one president and shaken many others, governments across the Middle East braced on Friday for new outbursts of rage and discontent directed at entrenched regimes confronting an exceptional clamor for democracy.
The immediate epicenter of the protests was Egypt, where Internet and cellphone connections were closed or restricted in Cairo, Alexandria and other places. Riot police took to the streets of Cairo before the Friday noon prayers that in many parts of the Islamic world have been a prelude to unrest as worshippers pour onto the streets.
The protests have underscored the blistering pace of events that have transformed the visage of the Arab world, particularly among regimes that have traditionally enjoyed the support of successive administration in Washington.
Earlier this month, entrenched autocracies seemed confident of their ability to ride out protests. But, just two weeks ago, on Jan. 14, President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia fled abruptly into exile after weeks of protest and his departure emboldened demonstrators to take to the streets in other countries.
The imagery of the lowly challenging the mighty has been relayed from one capital to the next, partly through the aggressive coverage of Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite […]
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Friday, January 28th, 2011
SAHIL KAPUR, - The Raw Story
Stephan: When secrecy and paranoia combine under the color of law it is inevitable that there will be abuse. This is universal across time, geography, and culture.
A video covering this story was posted online by CNN, Thursday.
Leaked internal FBI documents reveal dozens of employee transgressions ranging from sex-related misconduct to felonies involving the abuse of power and classified information.
One employee gave sensitive information to his girlfriend, who was a journalist, and later threatened to release a sex tape of the two after they had broken up. The employee lied under oath during the inquiry.
Another employee became obsessed with a co-worker and continued to press for a closer relationship despite ‘clear indications’ that the colleague wasn’t interested and persisted even after receiving orders to cease contact.
A third FBI employee shoplifted two ties from a local store.
In another instance, an employee obtained FISA-derived information from over 1,500 unauthorized searches of the FBI database and shared it with a non-FBI employee.
The revelations came in quarterly emails (.pdf) between January 2008 and January 2009 — and some dated January 2011 — from the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility, which were leaked to CNN.
Other examples of employee misconduct included domestic violence, improper sexual relations with sources, misuse of government property, illegal firearms transactions, and driving under the influence of alcohol. In all cases, the employees were punished either with dismissal or suspension for up to months.
According to CNN, the FBI confirmed […]
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