A Biblical Cookbook: 'To Serve Man'

Suppose you had a food that you liked very much, but your food was very smart. Your food can read and write and have a mind of their own. So you create a book for planting, growing, cultivating, harvesting and preparing this food, your prey can read this book; so you write this book in such a way to trick your food into willingly allow you to eat it, and that your farm becomes automated. You liked your food grown and prepared a certain way. It must be grown organically without pesticides, and remain pure without defilement and be cleansed and washed before preparation. You like your food with its blood drained out, not alive! Lets face it; You wouldn't want something to eat you in this manner, the Bible says: 'do onto others as you would have them do unto you'. Lastly it must be served hot or cold or you will spit it out, food stored at a room temperature cultures germs and bacteria.

Mark 1:16-20.


King James Version (KJV)


¹⁶Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.


¹⁷And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.


¹⁸And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.


¹⁹And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.


²⁰And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

Matthew 13:3-32.


King James Version (KJV)


³And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;


⁴And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:


⁵Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:


⁶And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.


⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:


⁸But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.


⁹Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.


¹⁰And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?


¹¹He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.


¹²For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.


¹³Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.


¹⁴And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:


¹⁵For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.


¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.


¹⁷For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.


¹⁸Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.


¹⁹When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.


²⁰But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;


²¹Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.


²²He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.


²³But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.


²⁴Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:


²⁵But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.


²⁶But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.


²⁷So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?


²⁸He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?


²⁹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.


³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.


³¹Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:


³²Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Revelation 3:15,16.


King James Version (KJV)




¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Revelation 14:14-20.


King James Version (KJV)




¹⁴And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

¹⁵And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.


¹⁶And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.


¹⁷And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.


¹⁸And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.


¹⁹And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.


²⁰And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

To Serve Man

from a 1962 story by

Lloyd Bochner, Richard Kiel, Susan Cummings

adapted by Rick Shur

Jimmy Johnson was one of Homestead High School’s whiz kids. Even though he was a farm boy, who lived alone with his parents on their small piece of land far from town, he knew everything there was to know about astronomy, and his junior year science project won first prize in the science fair at the school.

The project was a satellite dish that Jimmy created to send signals into outer space. He programmed his computer to send an electronic message, “Earth people want to meet you,” in seventy-five different languages, including Morse code, towards various points in the night sky. It was Jimmy’s hope that the message would eventually be received by a superior race of alien beings somewhere in outer space. People didn’t really believe that the dish would accomplish anything, but Jimmy had put so much work into it that the judges were convinced that he should get the prize for energy and sincerity. The prize was Jimmy’s pride and joy. It was a silver ring with a large, blue sapphire. The inside was engraved with the words Homestead’s Brightest Star. He never took off the ring, not even to shower or wash his hands.

His dish shot his friendly message out night after night throughout the school year. Then, one warm, quiet Saturday night in May, the impossible thing happened. A space ship appeared, first as a speck of light, then as a silver dish in the night sky over Jimmy’s house. It came nearer and nearer, growing larger and larger until Jimmy could see the outline of a space craft. There were thousands of lights blinking on the metal frame of the ship which slowly but steadily descended toward earth and finally landed in Jimmy’s back yard.

It happened on a night when Jimmy’s parents were away for the weekend visiting relatives downstate. Jimmy was completely alone. There he was, all by himself, facing the most momentous event in earth’s history. A space ship had landed at his door because of his science project. At the same time thrilled and terrified, Jimmy watched as two small creatures emerged from the ship and walked down a ramp that came out of a door that slid open.

The creatures were childlike and wispy, with large eyes, much like many of the pictures that Jimmy had seen in alien encounter books. His body was filled with a warm glowing feeling of comfort and safety as the two blue creatures walked toward his kitchen door. Jimmy didn’t move, but he didn’t have to. The door of the kitchen opened magically. It was obvious that these creatures had telekinetic powers.

Jimmy was trembling in anticipation as the creatures went into his kitchen and found their way to his bedroom, where he was wearing only his light blue cotton boxer shorts. However, Jimmy wasn’t embarrassed that he was almost completely undressed. He was face to face with two aliens who seemed to be the kindest and most loving beings he had ever encountered and he was filled with joy. One of them opened its mouth and words like music came out that Jimmy could understand as English.

“We want to serve man.” As soon as it said those words, out of thin air, a small golden book materialized in the creature’s left hand. It had strange writing on the cover, symbols Jimmy had never seen before. “This book,” said the alien, “is our instruction book. In your language, it is called How to Serve Man.”

“Oh, my God. This is such a great night,” Jimmy cried.

“With this book, we can serve man…if you will come with us to our home.”

“You want me…to…to go with you?” Jimmy whispered with amazement.

“Yes. We want you to come with us to our planet. We want to take you to our leader. It is our wish to serve man.”

“My God!” Jimmy cried! “This is the answer to all our prayers! People from another planet have come to earth to help us! All the wars and poverty and hunger and diseases that we can’t do anything about….do you have the answers to our problems?”

“We have knowledge far beyond human understanding and our only wish is to serve man!”

“But how can I help?”

“You will see. If we are to serve man, you must come with us to our home!”

“Okay. I will! I will go with you! This is wonderful! But I have to write a note to my parents. What should I tell them?”

“You can tell them that we will deliver you back to your home very soon. We will present you to our leader.”

So Jimmy ran to his desk, took a pad of paper and scribbled that very message to his parents. He didn’t even bother to get dressed. After all, why would he need clothes on an alien planet? Anyway, these beings weren’t even wearing clothes themselves. He followed the creatures into their ship.

The inside of the ship was dazzling. Panels of electronic boards and lights were everywhere. Clearly, these beings had a technology far beyond anything humans had developed so far in their puny history.

One creature showed Jimmy to a seat in the space ship. Next to the seat, Jimmy was amazed to see a table with a plate of food that any American teenager would recognize: a hamburger, French fries, and a glass of chocolate milk.

“Is this for me?” Jimmy asked, amazed.

“Yes, eat. We want to serve you.”

Suddenly, the space ship vibrated and Jimmy’s body felt heavier as the craft rose quickly, straight up into the sky. Soon, they were speeding through space, past the stars, at warp speed. Jimmy was hungry even though he had made himself some spaghetti for dinner earlier that night, so he grabbed a hamburger, still trembling with excitement and joy.

Then he noticed the strange golden book on another table next to his seat. Jimmy picked it up as the smaller alien, the one who wasn’t piloting the craft, looked on. “What is in this book?” Jimmy asked.

“You may now look at the book called How to Serve Man” said the alien, quietly, sweetly.

Excited and curious, Jimmy turned to the first pages, he was amazed to see things he recognized as part of human culture. Even though he couldn’t understand the strange alien writing, he recognized the pictures. There was a picture of a kitchen, a picture of a table, a picture of a refrigerator, a picture of a stove. There was a picture of various utensils, including a long fork, and some stirring spoons. The next page had a picture of some knives. Then there was a picture of a large butcher’s cleaver. At this point, Jimmy was a little bit confused about why a book by a superior race of beings would have such mundane human things in it. Then he turned another page and he saw a picture of a hand. It was a sawed-off human hand with blood dripping out of the wrist. Then there was the next page, with a picture of a human leg, a sawed-off human leg, with blood dripping out of the thigh. Suddenly, Jimmy started to sweat and his skin became cold as he asked the little being sitting next to him his question.

“What are these pictures?”

The alien answered quietly, “This book tells us how to serve man. It is our cook book.” Before Jimmy could say anything, he smelled a sweet gas, and in moments, he was unconscious.

A month later, one afternoon, coming home from another meeting with the police chief, after weeks of fruitless searching for their lost son, the Johnsons found a large carton at their door. It had strange writing on the outside, symbols the Johnsons didn’t understand . Mr. Johnson quickly brought the box into the kitchen and put it on the table. He opened it. There was a small note card on top of a piece of greenish wax paper, which was covering the contents of the box. Mr. Johnson picked up the note card. It had writing in English. He read it out loud:

Your son was wonderful. We wanted to serve man to our leader. Our leader was delighted. Jimmy was delicious. We are returning what we didn’t need.








Mr. Johnson lifted up the piece of wax paper that covered the contents of the box. Frozen with horror, the Johnsons looked down at their son’s blue boxer shorts, neatly cleaned and pressed. They picked up the boxer shorts to see the rest of the box’s contents: a skull, and many bones, including one finger bone, which had around it, a silver ring with a large blue sapphire.

 

Don't Forget, You Are What You Eat!

 

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Amplify’d from freethinker.co.uk

Catholics pin hopes on dead Pope’s blood to stem gang crime in Mexico

CATHOLICS have some pretty cock-eyed ideas, especially in regard to the bits and pieces of departed “holy” characters. These, they believe, possess “miraculous” properties.

Jesus’s foreskin is a case in question. At various points in history, a number of churches in Europe have claimed to possess the snipped end of Christ’s cock – sometimes at the same time!

According to the author David Farley, who wrote Fore Shame:

Depending on what you read, there were eight, twelve, fourteen, or even 18 different holy foreskins in various European towns during the Middle Ages.

Several hundred years on and Catholics’ bizarre faith in the healing properties of grisly relics remains undiminished.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre Normand holds a glass reliquary containing the blood of the late Pope John Paul II during his beatification mass in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on May 1, 2011.

A report today says that a vial containing the late pope John Paul II’s blood will soon be winging its way to Mexico in a bid to help bring down crimes rates in the largely Catholic country. An episcopal conference in Mexico has requested that the relic be sent over and, according to Vatican Radio, the “relic”will arrive in the country on August 17 before being taken to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. A week later the vial of blood from the “blessed” Pope John Paul, a title he acquired posthumously after his successor Benedict XVI beatified him in May, will be taken on a pilgrimage to other Catholic dioceses around the country. The relic will be accompanied by a statue of the late Polish pope, born Karol Wojtyla, with the intended message one of reconciliation. Killings in parts of Mexico have shot up in recent years amid a military crackdown on organized crime and drug cartels which has sent soldiers onto the streets. Mexican bishops, in a statement broadcast on Vatican Radio, said: The reminder of John Paul II and the love he had for our country should push us to reinforce the faith of the Mexican people, at a time when our nation is undergoing profound social change. Several vials of blood were taken from Pope John Paul II during the last days of his life in 2005. This means that a few are left over to quell social unrest elsewhere. David Cameron, please take note. Read more at freethinker.co.uk

 

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World Youth Day (WYD) indulgences: Rome fiddles while we burn

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World Youth Day (WYD) indulgences: Rome fiddles while we burn

by Eugene Cullen Kennedy on Aug. 12, 2011

The sex abuse crisis among priests and other church personnel has now exploded like napalm across the entire Catholic world. New revelations tell an old story almost every day: that of the suffering of its victims, often in secret and compounded by ecclesiastical ineptitude, inattention, or moral insolvency.

How Irish that the scandal has turned into a brawl between the Irish prime minister and the Roman authorities he has criticized for their handling of the crisis. That reveals that Ireland’s green is really base metal beneath the phony gilt of its claims to be the land of saints and scholars.

Things are even worse in Germany where the non-stop revelations of sex abuse have stunned the world and embarrassed Pope Benedict XVI who, while all this is going on, is busily promoting a return of the church to the pre-Vatican II period that served as the incubator for a tragedy that has brought immeasurable grief to innumerable people, including the priest sex abusers themselves whose lack of inner growth led them into lives of pseudo-celibacy that made them seem virtuous to their bishops when they were actually menaces to their people.

Now, while Catholics burn with the shame inflicted on them by this crisis, Rome seems so pre-occupied with re-entering the shadowed yesterday of clerical domination that it has no interest or enough spiritual energy to lead the church to a fresh dawn of self-examination and self-cleansing.

The latest example is found in promising plenary indulgences to those who fulfill certain conditions when they attend World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, Aug. 18-21. BUT WAIT—as they say on infomercials—partial indulgences are also available to those who pray appropriately during this gathering even if they cannot attend in person.

As part of the Reform of the Reform, this unfortunately rings like a church bell with associations of selling such indulgences during medieval times when bartering for grace and time off from Purgatory with cash scandalized Catholics and helped bring on the Reformation.

It is worse now because it confounds the mystery of Time and Eternity in which Roman officials should have an interest even if they lack any understanding of them. These are also critical variables in the human experience of the sexual abuse crisis and confusing them can only increase the suffering of the victims of sex abuse.

Indulgences are airily explained as lessening the temporal, or in time, punishment for sin that actually takes place beyond the reach of time, or the application of its parameters, in eternity. Where there is time, as Joseph Campbell has expressed it, there is sorrow. That is a function of time not of eternity and indulgences make no sense, sold 500 years ago or promised now, as any kind of spiritual currency to bail us out of the timeless sphere of eternity.

Time, with its sorrows, has a meaning for sex abuse victims because there is no time in the human unconscious; it is always NOW. That means that a wound that was seemingly inflicted on a certain date breaks free of the calendar’s grip and is always as fresh in the victim as the moment it was inflicted. There is not statute of limitations for victims and their suffering, no plenary or partial indulgences to relieve them of their wounds.

By turning back to the concept of giving “Get Out of Purgatory” cards to those who attend an event in time demonstrates how estranging to human experience this return to another age really is. The world’s victims are burning with suffering that is not cured by the passage of time and Rome fiddles, neglecting to plumb the depths of the still continuing sex abuse crisis, while talking irrelevantly in the language of plenary and partial indulgences.

To promise to relieve the so called temporal punishment due to sin through indulgences while failing to understand the timeless nature of the suffering of the sexually abused makes one think that Nero may have had it right when he did the fiddling while letting Rome do the burning.

[Eugene Cullen Kennedy is emeritus professor of psychology at Loyola University, Chicago.]

Vatican announces indulgences for World Youth Day

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — To help encourage prayers for a spiritually fruitful World Youth Day in Madrid, the Vatican announced Aug. 11 that Pope Benedict XVI had authorized a special indulgence for anyone who, “with a contrite spirit,” raises a “prayer to God, the Holy Spirit, so that young people are drawn to charity and given the strength to proclaim the Gospel with their life,” a Vatican decree said. The decree included the offer of a plenary, or full, indulgence to all the young people who will gather with the pope in Madrid. World Youth Day runs Aug. 16-21 in the Spanish capital; the pope arrives Aug. 18. An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for sins that have been forgiven. The conditions necessary for receiving a plenary indulgence include having recently gone to confession, receiving the Eucharist and offering prayers for the intentions of the pope. Pope Benedict decreed that World Youth Day participants can receive a plenary indulgence if they participate with prayerful devotion in any sacred event or “pious exercise” as well as attend the closing Mass, receive the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist and offer prayers for the pope’s intentions. The decree, signed by Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli, head of the Vatican office that deals with indulgences, said a partial indulgence also is available to all Catholics who are contrite for their sins and offer their prayers with the pope for young Catholics. The cardinal also asked priests around the world to make themselves available to hear the confessions of those who want the indulgence and to encourage public prayers for the success of World Youth Day. In central Madrid’s Buen Retiro Park, 200 portable confessionals will be set up for confessions that begin Aug. 14. The pope will hear confessions at the park Aug. 20. END Read more at reform-network.net

 

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Sex abuse victims to meet Archbishop

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Sex abuse victims to meet Archbishop

by Scott Grech

The 11 victims of clerical sex abuse at St Joseph’s Home in Sta Venera are set to have a meeting with Archbishop Paul Cremona today at around 11am, at his residence in Attard.

This is the second meeting in almost 18 months that the victims will have with the Archbishop.

On 3 August, two priests were jailed after they were convicted of committing sex abuse crimes at the orphanage around 20 years ago.

Carmelo Pulis, thought to be in his 70s, and who recently resided at St Agatha Convent in Rabat, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment after being found guilty of abusing nine boys.

He has since been defrocked by the Vatican.

Fr Godwin Scerri, 75, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment after the court found him guilty of sexually abusing two boys.

Following the guilty verdict, the Archbishop’s Curia released a statement, expressing regret on behalf of the Church.

The last time Mgr Cremona met the victims was on 13 April 2010, following a request by the victims.

That meeting, which lasted over two hours, was described as a “great help” to the victims, Lawrence Grech, who often acts as the victims’ spokesman, said afterwards.

The meeting came about after the Church’s Pro-Vicar, Mgr Anton Gouder, contacted the victims earlier this week through their lawyer, Patrick Valentino.

The victims have not planned to say anything in particular to the Archbishop, Mr Grech said, although he stated that the victims are “still awaiting complete justice. There’s another priest, Fr Conrad Sciberras, who is alleged to have committed sex abuse on us orphans, and we want to see Church proceedings against him sped up”.

The victims’ last meeting with the Archbishop was followed by another meeting with Pope Benedict XVI during his 26-hour pilgrimage to Malta between 17-18 April last year.

A Vatican statement after the meeting said the “Pope was deeply moved by their stories and expressed his shame and sorrow over what victims and their families have suffered. He met with each victim one by one to hear his story and to speak with each privately”. Read more at www.independent.com.mt

 

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Amplify’d from www.stltoday.com

Sex abuse victim is paid $6.3 million by Belleville Diocese

St. Peter's Catholic Cathedral in Belleville on Wednesday, August 10, 2011. Photo by Johnny Andrews | jandrews@post-dispatch.com

BELLEVILLE • A clergy sex abuse case with misconduct dating to the 1970s finally ended Wednesday when James Wisniewski's attorney was handed two checks — one red, the other blue — totaling $6.3 million.

Though the case during trial shed a light on how disgraced priest Raymond Kownacki was reassigned to minister at different parishes, it brought little resolution to a set of uncertainties facing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville.

A large group of priests in Southern Illinois has been calling for Bishop Edward Braxton's resignation, claiming he mismanaged the Wisniewski case and others. Braxton also has brought the attention of a national Catholic publication that recently suggested the diocese has financial woes.

The $6.3 million was paid after a nine-year court battle marked by multiple appeals by the diocese. The damages were paid three years after a jury awarded Wisniewski, of Champaign and now in his early 50s, $5 million in a suit in which he claimed Kownacki sexually abused him as a child. But since the 2008 verdict, the judgment grew by another $1.3 million with interest as the Belleville diocese continued to contest the case, drawing criticism.

As recently as last month, Braxton asked the Illinois Supreme Court to reconsider the matter. Of the original $5 million award, $2.6 million was designated as punitive damages.

"I hope this will help the Catholic community," Wisniewski's attorney, Mike Weilmuenster, said after a brief hearing Wednesday at the St. Clair County Courthouse. "It has been quite splintered."

He thanked the jury in the case because it compensated his client and attempted to send "a message to the Belleville diocese that enabling childhood sexual abuse and covering it up will not be tolerated by this community."

Weilmuenster said later in an interview that his client has yet to receive a direct apology from church leadership.

The Rev. John Myler, a spokesman for the diocese, said, "The diocese continues to express our regret for any instances of childhood sexual abuse by a member of the clergy."

Even though the payment was made, with at least $1.5 million coming from insurance, the diocese wouldn't comment specifically about the case. Myler would only add that the "diocese is committed to adhering to its childhood protection policy and the diocese will continue to assist victims and their families according to that policy."

Kownacki was removed from the ministry in 1995 after abuse allegations began to surface. A former housekeeper accused him of raping, beating and performing an abortion on her in the 1970s. That case, which alleged Kownacki was quietly shuffled between parishes, was dismissed after the state Supreme Court ruled that it exceeded the statute of limitations.

Even though Wisniewski filed his case about three decades after he was abused, the jury agreed that the diocese concealed and misrepresented facts about Kownacki, so the statute of limitations did not bar his claim. It's a detail that will likely be argued in other clergy sex abuse cases, particularly those involving Kownacki.

Another case was filed against Kownacki in 2003 by a man identified as John Doe, who as a boy mowed the parish lawn at St. Theresa's Catholic Church and School in Salem, Ill., where Kownacki was pastor from 1979 to 1986. That case was settled in 2009 for $1.2 million. Wisniewski's case also stemmed from the time Kownacki was at St. Theresa's.

Two more cases are pending against the diocese that allege Kownacki sexually abused young boys who are now grown men, as well as a third case involving a different priest.

Kownacki recently moved from a small apartment in Dupo to an assisted living home in south St. Louis. Asked about the case on Wednesday night, he said he did not remember it. He also said he had suffered a stroke that affected his ability to communicate.

The diocese would not comment about the pending cases or the criticism that Braxton has received.

In a June letter to his flock regarding the effort to get the Illinois Supreme Court to reconsider the Wisniewski verdict, Braxton said it was a difficult time to be bishop. But he said offenses by priests continue to have "moral, emotional, legal and financial consequences."

"We are not doing this to 'hide behind the law' as some might suggest," he said of seeking the appeal. "We are doing this in the hope of a clarification of the law and a consistency in applying the law to the Catholic Church. We are also doing it in the hope of conserving resources for responding to other abuse victims and for sustaining the pastoral services of the Diocese of Belleville."

The Southern Illinois Association of Priests has long asked that Braxton be replaced and recently cited the Wisniewski case as an example of why.

The National Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic newspaper, reported in July that a member of the Belleville diocesan finance council, James Friederich, had called Braxton "a financial disaster."

Friederich noted that Braxton "did not ask the council for its advice or consent before allowing the Wisniewski suit to go to trial," nor did he seek "the advice or consent of the council before he decided to appeal the $5 million judgment rather than try to settle for less money."

Friederich also predicted the diocese "will soon be bankrupt because of (Braxton's) arrogance" with finances and handling of sex abuse cases, according to the National Catholic Reporter story.

Friederich recently declined to comment to the Post-Dispatch. A request to interview James Mroczkowski, the chief financial officer of the diocese, was denied.

Weilmuenster, the attorney, said priests have approached him in support of the case that resulted in the payment Wednesday. Both he and his client, Wisniewski, are still Catholics. He said "it's a shame" that priests overall have been "tarred with the brush of actions" from those who committed abuse.

"The vast majority of priests live very good lives and do very great things," Weilmuenster said.

Related Stories

Related: Pa. cardinal, 88, called to court in abuse case Related: Germans quit church during 2010 sex scandal Related: Related: Illinois high court won't reconsider award in Belleville abusive priest case Related: Priest from Africa is 'gift of faith' as U.S. churches face shortage Read more at www.stltoday.com

 

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Wants to raise the retirement age!

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Romney - Cut Social Security, Medicare

2012 Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said he wants to raise the retirement age but he does not want to raise the cap on the payroll tax so that wealthy Americans pay more into Social Security. He also claimed Medicare was contributing significantly to the budget deficit. Cenk Uygur breaks it down. The Largest Online News Show in the World. Google+: http://www.gplus.to/TheYoungTurks Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tytnation Twitter: http://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=theyoungturks Subscribe: http://bit.ly/eWuu5i

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U.S. Appeals Court Rules Against Obama's Health Care Law

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U.S. Appeals Court Rules Against Obama's Health Care Law

| FoxNews.com

federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled Friday that a provision in President Obama's health care law requiring citizens to buy health insurance is unconstitutional, but the court didn't strike down the rest of the law. The decision is a major setback for the White House, which had appealed a ruling by a lower court judge who struck down the entire law in January. But given that another appeals court, in Cincinnati, has upheld the law, it is increasingly clear that the Supreme Court will have the final say.

"We strongly disagree with this decision and we are confident it will not stand," White House spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said in a statement.

On Friday, the divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with 26 states that filed a lawsuit to block Obama's signature domestic initiative. The panel said that Congress exceeded its constitutional authority by requiring Americans to buy insurance or face penalties.

"This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority," the panel said in the majority opinion.

The majority also said that a basic objective of the law is to "make health insurance coverage accessible and thereby to reduce the number of uninsured persons." Without the individual mandate, the majority said, the law "retains many other provisions that help to accomplish some of the same objectives as the individual mandate."

The decision is a review of a sweeping ruling by a Florida judge, who not only struck down a requirement that nearly all Americans carry health insurance, but he also threw out other provisions ranging from Medicare discounts for some seniors to a change that allows adult children up to age 26 to remain on their parents' coverage.

The states urged the 11th Circuit to uphold U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson's ruling, saying in a court filing that letting the law stand would set a troubling precedent that "would imperil individual liberty, render Congress's other enumerated powers superfluous, and allow Congress to usurp the general police power reserved to the states."

The Justice Department countered that Congress had the power to require most people to buy health insurance or face tax penalties because Congress has the authority to regulate interstate business. It said the legislative branch was exercising its "quintessential" rights when it adopted the new law.

During oral arguments in June, the three-judge panel repeatedly raised questions about the overhaul and expressed unease with the insurance requirement. Each of the three worried aloud if upholding the landmark law could open the door to Congress adopting other sweeping economic mandates.

The arguments unfolded in what's considered one of the nation's most conservative appeals courts. But the randomly selected panel represents different judicial perspectives. None of the three is considered either a stalwart conservative or an unfaltering liberal.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the only private group to join the 26 states in the lawsuit, cheered the decision.

"Small-business owners across the country have been vindicated by the 11th Circuit's ruling that the individual mandate in the health-care law is unconstitutional," said Karen Harned, executive director of the group's legal center.

"The court reaffirmed what small businesses already knew - there are limits to Congress' power. And the individual mandate, which compels every American to buy health insurance or pay a fine, is a bridge too far," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Amplify’d from www.space.com

Sun Unleashes Largest Solar Flare in Years

by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Senior Writer

This still from a video taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the Aug. 8, 2011 solar flare as it appeared in the ultraviolet range of the light spectrum. The flare registered as an X6.9 class sun storm, the largest of the Solar Cycle 24. CREDIT: NASA/SDO/GSFC View full size image

An extremely powerful solar flare, the largest in over four years, rocked the sun early Tuesday (Aug. 9), but is unlikely to wreak any serious havoc here on Earth, scientists say. "It was a big flare," said Joe Kunches, a space scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center. "We lucked out because the site of the eruption at the sun was not facing the Earth, so we will probably feel no ill effects." Today's solar flare began at 3:48 a.m. EDT (0748 GMT), and was rated a class X6.9 on the three-class scale scientists use to measure the strength of solar flares. The strongest type of solar eruption is class X, while class C represents the weakest and class M flares are medium-strength events. [Sun's Wrath: Worst Solar Storms in History]

The flare is the largest one yet in the sun's current cycle, which began in 2008 and is expected to last until around 2020. Solar activity waxes and wanes over an 11-year sun weather cycle, with the star currently heading toward a solar maximum in 2013.

"This flare had a GOES X-ray magnitude of X6.9, meaning it was more than 3 times larger than the previous largest flare of this solar cycle - the X2.2 that occurred on Feb 15, 2011," scientists with NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, a space observatory that monitors the sun, wrote in an update.

Before the Feb. 15 storm, the largest recent solar flare occurred in December 2006, when an X9-class solar storm erupted from the sun.

Solar flares occur when magnetic field lines on the sun get tangled up into knots, building potential energy until they reach a tipping point. Then, that energy is converted into heat, light and the motion of charged particles. While all X-class solar eruptions are major events, they pose the greatest threat to Earth when they are aimed directly at the planet. During those events the sun often releases a cloud of plasma called a coronal mass ejection into space, and sometimes toward Earth. This ejection hurls charged particles that can damage satellites, endanger astronauts in orbit, and interfere with power systems, communications and other infrastructure on the planet.  Today's solar flare, and resulting coronal mass ejection (CME) was not aimed at us, however. [Stunning Photos of Solar Flares & Sun Storms] "Because of its position the CME is going to shoot out into space and not be Earth-directed, and we don’t expect any big geomagnetic storm with this," Kunches told SPACE.com. "We did luck out. If this would have happened a week ago, who knows?" However, some VLF and HF radio communications blackouts have been reported, according to Spaceweather.com, a website that monitors space weather events. Whatever particles do head our way should reach us in a few days. [Video: Aug. 9 Solar Flare Briefly Knocks Out HF Radio] "The cloud will probably miss Earth," SpaceWeather.com wrote. "At this time, however, we cannot rule out a glancing blow from the flank of the CME on or about August 11th." The plus side of such a collision is often unusually spectacular auroras, or Northern and Southern Lights, which occur when charged particles interact with Earth's magnetic field. You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Amazing New Sun Photos from Space A User's Guide to Solar Flares Photos: Sunspots on Earth's Closest Star Read more at www.space.com

 

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World is witnessing financial WWIII

Amplify’d from rt.com

World is witnessing financial WWIII – Max Keiser

Following the loss of the US’s triple-A credit score which sparked sell-offs on global markets, a new war using financial derivatives has been waged, which by no means can bear the name of WWIII, financial analyst Max Keiser told RT.

Investors however remain unconvinced the country's finances are solid enough. Problems in the Eurozone will be up for discussion by the French and German leaders next week. Max Keiser, financial analyst and host of the Keiser Report on RT, said French banks are now loaded with toxic derivatives that were sold to them by US investment banks. “The US investment banks and the rating agencies are now attacking these French banks. They know where the bodies are buried, and they are using the weapons they sold them to attack them,” he said. “The rating will be downgraded again. This is part of a new era on Wall Street – they go after sovereign debt. Wall Street and rating agencies are working together to destabilize the sovereign debt of these countries,” he added. With the markets swinging back and forth, it looks like traders are panicking. And as Max Keiser believes, it does not look likely to settle any time soon. “The volatility was the goal; by downgrading the rating you create volatility,” he explained. “The derivatives’ volume this week is exploding higher than any week in history. That is making many people on Wall Street and in the City of London very rich. So they will continue to downgrade and to milk the system to extract wealth,” Keiser stated. As austerity measures are forced on people in Europe and the US, they are inevitably going to hit the most vulnerable members of society like those dependent on Medicare and Medicaid in the US, said Keiser. But there are also fears these cuts could slow growth and bring about a new wave of recession. “This is WW III, a new war using financial derivatives. The objective is to preserve the speculative rates given to the Wall Street bankers of zero per cent,” he concluded. Read more at rt.com

 

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