Now what do we do?

Well, it's official: Tamar Galatzan has thrown her hat into the Council District 2 race.

This really comes as no surprise. Los Angeles Times blogger Steve Hymon had her number months ago...

from the Bottleneck Blog:

So what does any of this have to do with LAUSD school board member Tamar Galatzan?

Galatzan, who received more than $2 million in campaign help from a Villaraigosa-controlled committee, toppled school board incumbent Jon Lauritzen last year to win a seat on the school board. Shortly after she won election, I phoned her and asked if the rumors were true that she was going to run for Greuel's seat in 2009 if Greuel ran and won city controller?

No, said Galatzan.

I called her again Wednesday and asked the same question. But I got a different answer this time:

"I'm flattered that my name has come up and people have been talking to me about it and it's something I'm considering," said Galatzan, who is now 13 months into her four-year term as a school board member.

I reminded her of our conversation last year. "I don't remember what it was I told you," she said.

[...]

Next, I asked Galatzan about a YouTube video I had just watched. In the video -- shot during her campaign in the spring of 2007 -- Galatazan said: "I am really running for school board to make sure that my boys get the kind of world class public education that they are entitled to."

Later in the video she complained that an elementary school in Sherman Oaks didn't have enough money to purchase more paper for the copy machine. Then, in the video, she said, "You know me as someone who ruffles feathers and isn't afraid to ask tough questions. I keep my word and I stand up for what I believe in."

So, I asked, what does it say about her honesty that last year she said that she wouldn't run and now she's saying she might.

"That's definitely something I'm thinking a lot about. It really comes down to what can I do about [making] the community...the kind of place my kids and my family are safe and how are my skills best used," she said. "It's been an interesting year at L.A. Unified and the truth is I don't know how much I can do on the Board or any one person can do on the Board."

[...]

Why do reporters hate themselves in the morning?

Because I stupidly did not ask her about the tens of thousands of current and future LAUSD students she represents besides her own children -- many of whom don't have a mom who can run for office.

The few parents I've spoken with after her announcement have voiced disappointment and more than a little annoyance with Tamar. She was elected to do a job, they say, and now that we parents need her more than ever, she's ditched us ... before she's even finished serving out her elected term. Sounds like another recent quitter in the news. But what differentiates our local "quitter" from the Quitta from Wasilla, is that Tamar hasn't officially quit her school board seat, instead she's using her position on the school board as a stepping stone to a different job, a higher paying job to be sure, and one that will be helpful to the man who helped get her elected to the school board: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. She will attempt to do her school board job while campaigning hard the next few weeks for the CD 2 election on September 22. Good luck with that.

As for all the recent public outreach Tamar and her staff have been engaging in (Non Title I School Parent Summits, Student Video Contests, etc.), it all feels and rings hollow now. Those Non Title I School meetings and video contests seem more planned for future campaign resume fluffing and for campaign literature and commercial use than to truly help frustrated parents try to effect change for their children and for LAUSD in general. Apparently, I'm not the only one who's noticed the timing in all of this, and the scheduling and locations of where she's been stumping the hardest.

But now what? Now who do we Valley parents turn to for help navigating the maze that is LAUSD? We had hoped Tamar would help us, but it seems we parents have been left to fend for ourselves with nary a "by your leave..." from Ms. Galatzan. A search of her Los Angeles school board website has no official announcement from Ms. Galatzan regarding her decision to run for the Council seat recently vacated by newly elected City Controller Wendy Gruehl or what this means for the parents and students in her district. There are no assurances to parents that her work on our behalf would continue, or even reasons why she felt the need to leave her position for a new shinier one.

Nothing. Not a peep.

I attended one of Tamar's Parent Summits at Balboa Magnet Elementary. I wasn't alone; a large group of parents sat right along side me for roughly three hours on a Saturday morning as we listened to Tamar and her staff go on an on about Non Title I and how we would organize and work together to change The Way Things Are currently in the battle of the Haves (Title I schools) and the Have Nots (Non Title I schools). Now in hindsight, it feels like those three hours were my unwitting contribution to the "Elect Tamar for CD 2" campaign. Little did I know that I'd be playing the part as "extra" in what I'm sure will be photos and video footage of that summit at Balboa Magnet. She managed to suck in a lot of desperate and anxious administrators, parents and teachers for her three hour campaign photo shoot.

But hey, I can't really complain; I scored some warm and yummy LAUSD coffee-cake out of that hostage situation Parent Summit deal. So, yeah... thanks for that Tamar. It wasn't a total waste of a beautiful Saturday I could have spent in a hundred more productive ways and with my family.

Oh, and good luck to you in all your future endeavors. It's been real. Real disappointing.

"When the going gets weird...

Hunter S. Thompson



...the weird turn pro". --Hunter S. Thompson

In case you're just getting home from a holiday weekend on a secluded island with no contact with the outside world: last Friday before the start of the holiday weekend, Alaska's most angriest Anger Bear Sarah Palin resigned the governership of Alaska.

Paul Begala muses: if only the good Doctor were here to see this Walking Fail go down in flames:

I wish Hunter S. Thompson had lived to see this... It was an almost impossible mission, but in resigning from office with 17 months to go in her first term, Sarah Palin has made herself the bull goose loony of the GOP.

[snip...]

Let's stipulate that if there is some heretofore unknown personal, medical or family crisis, this was the right move. But Gov. Palin didn't say anything like that. Her statement was incoherent, bizarre and juvenile. The text, as posted on Gov. Palin's official website, uses 2,549 words and 18 exclamation points. Lincoln freed the slaves with 719 words and nary an exclamation; Mr. Jefferson declared our independence in 1,322 words and, again, no exclamation points. Nixon resigned the presidency in 1,796 words -- still no exclamation points. Gov. Palin capitalized words at random - whole words, like "TO," "HELP," and "AND," and the first letter of "Troops."

Next, Sarah the Barraquitter let loose her legal hounds on the 4th of July (on Twitter no less! notes Wonkette's Ken Layne) and threatend to sue BLOGGERS and everyone else on the internet who tried to report on the rumors swirling around her resignation, most particularly those reported by blogger Shannyn Moore. That's it... if you don't like what people are saying about you, after you've put yourself in a position to be talked about... SUE THE PANTS OFF 'EM!

Using the substantial might of the Executive branch of government to bring down unenforceable legal threats on a private citizen in Alaska, and attempting to curtail free speech through intimidation on the Fourth of July? Not a particularly brilliant PR move. By specifically singling out and naming Moore, Palin has done two things; she has shown herself to be a reactionary immature politician, and she has made Shannyn Moore a lot better known. And she is not the only one in Sarah Palin's crosshairs, mind you. You stand warned Huffington Post, New York Times, MSNBC and The Washington Post! You just better knock it off!

Awww, Sarah Barraquitter haz a sad because the Internets are mean to her!

Let's take a look back, shall we, on the advice she gave to one Hillary Clinton on Hillz's "whining" about being picked on by the media, and Sarah's take on exactly how to handle the Media Meanie Bo Beanies:



Ha ha. That Sarah Palin... always good for a laugh. Expect more lulz as the Spinmeisters proclaim her latest meltdown "BRILLIANT!"

Happy 4th of July

I'm off on vacation for the next few days. Have a safe & sane Fourth of July!

America

America I've given you all and now I'm nothing.
America two dollars and twenty-seven cents January 17, 1956.
I can't stand my own mind.
America when will we end the human war?
Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb
I don't feel good don't bother me.
I won't write my poem till I'm in my right mind.
America when will you be angelic?
When will you take off your clothes?
When will you look at yourself through the grave?
When will you be worthy of your million Trotskyites?
America why are your libraries full of tears?
America when will you send your eggs to India?
I'm sick of your insane demands.
When can I go into the supermarket and buy what I need with my good looks?
America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world.
Your machinery is too much for me.
You made me want to be a saint.
There must be some other way to settle this argument.
Burroughs is in Tangiers I don't think he'll come back it's sinister.
Are you being sinister or is this some form of practical joke?
I'm trying to come to the point.
I refuse to give up my obsession.
America stop pushing I know what I'm doing.
America the plum blossoms are falling.
I haven't read the newspapers for months, everyday somebody goes on trial for
murder.
America I feel sentimental about the Wobblies.
America I used to be a communist when I was a kid and I'm not sorry.
I smoke marijuana every chance I get.
I sit in my house for days on end and stare at the roses in the closet.
When I go to Chinatown I get drunk and never get laid.
My mind is made up there's going to be trouble.
You should have seen me reading Marx.
My psychoanalyst thinks I'm perfectly right.
I won't say the Lord's Prayer.
I have mystical visions and cosmic vibrations.
America I still haven't told you what you did to Uncle Max after he came over
from Russia.

I'm addressing you.
Are you going to let our emotional life be run by Time Magazine?
I'm obsessed by Time Magazine.
I read it every week.
Its cover stares at me every time I slink past the corner candystore.
I read it in the basement of the Berkeley Public Library.
It's always telling me about responsibility. Businessmen are serious. Movie
producers are serious. Everybody's serious but me.
It occurs to me that I am America.
I am talking to myself again.

Asia is rising against me.
I haven't got a chinaman's chance.
I'd better consider my national resources.
My national resources consist of two joints of marijuana millions of genitals
an unpublishable private literature that goes 1400 miles and hour and
twentyfivethousand mental institutions.
I say nothing about my prisons nor the millions of underpriviliged who live in
my flowerpots under the light of five hundred suns.
I have abolished the whorehouses of France, Tangiers is the next to go.
My ambition is to be President despite the fact that I'm a Catholic.

America how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?
I will continue like Henry Ford my strophes are as individual as his
automobiles more so they're all different sexes
America I will sell you strophes $2500 apiece $500 down on your old strophe
America free Tom Mooney
America save the Spanish Loyalists
America Sacco & Vanzetti must not die
America I am the Scottsboro boys.
America when I was seven momma took me to Communist Cell meetings they
sold us garbanzos a handful per ticket a ticket costs a nickel and the
speeches were free everybody was angelic and sentimental about the
workers it was all so sincere you have no idea what a good thing the party
was in 1835 Scott Nearing was a grand old man a real mensch Mother
Bloor made me cry I once saw Israel Amter plain. Everybody must have
been a spy.
America you don're really want to go to war.
America it's them bad Russians.
Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.
The Russia wants to eat us alive. The Russia's power mad. She wants to take
our cars from out our garages.
Her wants to grab Chicago. Her needs a Red Reader's Digest. her wants our
auto plants in Siberia. Him big bureaucracy running our fillingstations.
That no good. Ugh. Him makes Indians learn read. Him need big black niggers.
Hah. Her make us all work sixteen hours a day. Help.
America this is quite serious.
America this is the impression I get from looking in the television set.
America is this correct?
I'd better get right down to the job.
It's true I don't want to join the Army or turn lathes in precision parts
factories, I'm nearsighted and psychopathic anyway.
America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.

--Allen Ginsberg

Goodnight, street-hassle...

It's true, Joseph has shuttered street-hassle and has moved on to new projects and adventures.

He was extremely kind enough to let me infuse my own subtle brand of Dollishness over at his lovely site, and I'll forever be grateful to him for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. Joseph Mailander is the kind of writer that I grew up reading in the newspapers' Op-Ed pages... back when they had relevent Op-Ed editors.

Over at my friend Michael Higby's place MayorSam, Michael has penned a very nice farewell to street-hassle:

Tuesday night longtime blog-la-sphere fixture Joseph Mailander took down his Street Hassle blog; one that covered the civic discourse simultaneously in an erudite and cranky [I prefer the word "surly". -ed.] manner holding not only local politicians and mainstream media accountable but bloggers such as yours truly as well.

[snip...]

Joseph provided significant sunshine and water to Mayor Sam not only contributing great and often provocative content but machinating behind the scenes to expose the blog to the movers and shakers in local government as well as local media.

Mailander provided me with many chuckles whether it was his goading of uptight Westside blogger Kevin Roderick, his creation of catchphrases such describing the LA Times as the Former Fishwrap of Record and coining fun aburdities like 80 FAKE HUIZAR WONDERLANDS (a sly cross-referencing of Councilmember Jose Huizar's trucked in snow holiday events and criticism of alleged fake neighborhood watches claimed by Mayor Villaraigosa when he was a Councilman). Though "bloggers" like Roderick referred to Mailander as living in a parallel universe and the "farting wonder" [This should actually be: OLD CHOLA MARC COOPER. --ed.] of LA journalism Marc Cooper called Joe the "village idiot of the local blogosphere," it was Mailander more often than not who called out "nanny poo" bloggers such as Roderick, Cooper and Mickey Kaus (who imagined a gang riot in Brentwood one Halloween evening.)

I'm excited to bookmark Joseph's newest site, minor arcana. I suggest you all do the same.

And the Crappiest Dad of the Year Award Goes To...

...let's broaden the scope, shall we? Let's say the Crappiest Dad of the Twentieth Century, and quite possible the Twenty-First Century as well.

It's no secret that Michael Jackson had major Daddy Issues, and it isn't hard to see why.

Michael K. over at Dlisted has Joe Jackson's cold-ass number down, and calls attention to the timing and appropriateness of old Joe walking the red carpet at the BET awards held Sunday night and his generally being a useless a-hole; an a-hole who has spent the majority of his children's lives pimping them out for every dime he could squeeze; beating his children and wounding them in ways some of them would never recover from.

I know Joe Jackson isn't known for being a fluffy teddy bear filled with hugs and kisses, but dude wasn't even pretending to have the sads about his dead son. When Don said that this must be awful for the entire family, Joe said, "It has. The world lost the biggest star." What he meant by that is...."I just lost my favorite cash cow! MOOO!"

While watching this epic display of uncomfortableness, I wondered why Joe Jackson was even there. And then the answer came to me at the 3:20 mark. Joe actually plugged his new production company and some Blu-Ray Discs he's putting out. This is the most awkward infomercial ever!

I'm surprised Joe didn't go all out by saying, "And Michael Jackson will be buried in NIKE sneakers, because NIKE was his favorite brand. Just do it. Yesh, he loved NIKE. Also, my fondest memories of Michael Jackson is when he would call me on Sunday nights to tell me how delicious HOT POCKETS brand paninis are. Michael used to say how tender and flaky on the outside. HOT POCKETS, Michael Jackson's favorite microwaveable treat. Oh and Michael was also looking forward to seeing ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS which hits theaters this Wednesday, July 1st.........."

This is going to be, by far, the greatest show Joe Jackson has ever produced... I'll be surprised if he doesn't have Michael's corpse on strings moonwalking in some freak "Weekend at Bernie's" musical number; and while he's looking at whose feet to lay the blame for his son's untimely demise, Mr. Jackson would be well served to take a good look at the man in the mirror.

Summertime

It's summer, the kids are on vacation (except for the one in summer school. he haz the CHARTER SCHOOL) and it's time for me to take a break as well.

I'll be back after I get the kids settled into their summer groove; I need to find my own summer groove first...

For Zuma Dogg...

And the Crappiest Mom of the Year Award goes to...

Ugh. I'm so sick you of conservative LAMERZ who have nothing better to rant and rave about other than a stoopid joke about one of Sarah Palin's stoopid family members and yet somehow, it's okay for John McCain to say this:

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."

Anyways, my secret boyfriend Jim Newell "nails it" (PERV!) once again for all the dum dums who just... don't... get... it, and sadly, never will.

Why does Sarah Palin treat her 14-year-old daughter, Willow, like a piece-of-shit Nerf shield? That’s the real story. Willow’s mother, Sarah Palin, thinks of her young, impressionable daughter as nothing more than a six-month-old McDonald’s bag, reeking of moldy onions, found under the car’s front seat when she’s desperately searching for something to vomit in after downing 20 Crown Royal & gingers, and meth, at eight in the morning.

Because obviously Letterman was making a joke about Bristol Palin, the girl who famously got “knocked up” last year, and not about 14-year-old Willow, who did not. Sarah Palin understood this, guaranteed, and then chose to launch a desperate publicity stunt about how an OLD MAN wanted to RAPE the 14-YEAR-OLD daughter WILLOW. Surely Willow loved seeing her name plastered all over teevee and the Internet like this. Thanks Mom! Go Mom, 2012!

Another “funny” Willow story, from last October: Sarah Palin was invited to drop a ceremonial first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers home opener. Philadelphia Flyers season-ticket holders, of course, are the most violent and confrontational humans since the ancient Spartans, and Sarah Palin knew she would get booed and potentially murdered. So what did she do? She dragged lil’ Willow onto the ice with her! And 7-year-old Piper, too! Everyone booed, still, and she complained afterward about how disturbed those fans must be, to boo small children like that. Meanwhile, Willow was scarred permanently. All those toothless hockey fans, screaming, “BLEEHHHH.” Vomiting. [via Wonkette]

Ha ha. Secret Boyfriend For The Win!

As a mother, I can judge this shit and I will judge this shit: SARAH PALIN IS TEH SUCK AS A MOTHER. She exploits and uses those chldren like nothing I've ever seen before.

Ugh. Total MOM FAIL.

That is all.

PS. IF (HA.. HA... WHEN) MY DAUGHTER GETS KNOCKED UP AT 16 BY A SELF-DESCRIBED "FUKKIN' REDNECK" WHOSE MOMMA IS A METH DEALER, YOU CAN MAKE ALL THE LAME JOKES ABOUT HER YOU WANT... I SWEAR!!!!

Don't have a cow, man!

Apparently the usual Right Nutwing faction has their panties in a bind yet again...

My girl Sarah K. Smith over at Wonkette gives us the low down on this whole Dave Letterman Fiasco, because really, there's nothing else going on in the world; Hussein Obama is still up to his old Muslin tricks; and it's not like the FOX NEWS FED RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS aren't trying TO KILL US ALL in the name of Bill O'rly and Newt and Sean Hannity. Oh noes, none of that is going on at all...

It's perfectly safe out there for STRAIGHT, LIB, LEFT, PRO-CHOICE, HUSSEIN LOVIN', BROWN, ACORN, SOCIALIST, BABY-KILLER LOVIN', BUDDHIST WHO FRATERNIZES WITH TEH JeWWS GIRL LIKE ME.

from Wonkette:

How many daughters does Sarah Palin have? Like fourteen? Well, David Letterman made a CRUDE REMARK about one of them, apparently intending to refer to the oldest one ( “Bridgeport”) but inadvertently referring to the middle one ( “Jester”).

And yet, somehow... all these OFFENDED (spare me) pundits with their self-righteous punditry are all freaked out about... wait for it... c'mon .... wait for it... a joke. Not really an indecent one, as indecent humor goes; and not even crass or tasteless either, taken in its proper context. At its worst, it's a jab that didn't carry much punch. We know Dave wasn't suggesting the statuatory raping of 14 year olds, but that won't stop certain factions from inserting perversion where there is none simply to score some political points.

Now that's pervy!

A Mother's Work Is Never Done

I posted this earlier today at street-hassle, with the above graphic (sans Blingee). After an editorial decision, the pic was removed, because after all... we're trying to keep things much more refined over there...

But now here (ahhh... Sweet Here!) my standards, as you can tell, they are not so high. And so I'm reposting the piece here, along with the edited pic. Except I have improooooved the graphic via Blingee. Because I can.

When the going gets tough...

Somehow, none of this surprises me.

via LANews:

Two Southern California women are accused of trying to smuggle an estimated $100,000 worth of marijuana, with two kids in their minivan, officials said. The pot --166 pounds of it -- was discovered by U.S. Border Patrol Monday on Westbound I-8 in Pine Valley, Calif. Agents discovered the bundles of marijuana stuffed into storage compartments in the vehicle.

The 34-year-old driver and 28-year-old passenger, both residents of Los Angeles, were arrested.

Border patrol says a local social services agency took custody of the children.

Ok, I know, a Mom's Gotta Do What A Mom's Gotta Do, but seriously, they couldn't go in on a sitter together?

Beyond that, perhaps discussions about legalization and all the tax revenue that might create for the state could take place in a serious and meaningful way.

Ahh, yes. That's much better now. Off to cook dinner!

A mother's work is never done.

Hell yeah, I'm taking it personally....

Yesterday's murder of noted women's healthcare provider Dr. George Tiller was not only an act of domestic terrorism, it was also an act of sexism and patriarchal misogyny.

American author Sara Paretsky nails it in the guardian.co.uk (emphasis mine):

The National Council of Catholic Bishops, the National Right to Life Committee, Operation Rescue, and other groups opposed to women's reproductive health and privacy are almost all headed by men. In the 36 years since the supreme court decided Roe, followers of these and other groups have performed acts ranging from murder and attempted murder (26), acid attacks (108), bombings (41) and arson (175). Relatives are threatened and support staff attacked.

The head of Operation Rescue issued a statement after Tiller's murder. "He was one of the most evil men on the planet … He deserved … a legal execution." The organisation also compared Tiller to the Nazis.

In Barack Obama's commencement speech at Notre Dame – preceded by protests from Roman Catholic bishops because he is pro-choice – the president urged pro-choicers to find common ground with anti-abortion zealots.

I do not know how you find common ground with someone who says you deserve to die. For such people, women are not as deserving of rights as the foetuses they may carry. Supreme court Justice Anthony Kennedy made that clear: he ruled that one recent law did not need to provide an exception to protect the health of the pregnant woman. This law also allows the partners or parents of a woman who terminates a pregnancy to sue the doctor for emotional damage to themselves. It says, in essence, that a pregnant woman is the property of her parents or male partner.

[snip...]

I hope George Tiller's death begins a real search for common ground. I hope his murder galvanises people into thinking that women deserve equal protection under the law as that accorded to their unborn children. This didn't happen in the wake of Dr David Gunn's murder in Pensacola, nor Dr Barnett Slepian's murder in Buffalo. It didn't happen when protesters at a Cleveland clinic poured petrol on a nurse and set fire to her. It is time we stopped pandering to terrorists just because they claim to be speaking in the name of Jesus. I'm not optimistic, but change in this respect is way overdue in America.

Amen. Again.

Yesterday

Ha ha.

Hey! The Irish Papists Have the Molesters too!

photo: peter morrison/AP


The LAT reports on the release of Ireland's Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse report:

from the Times:

The five-volume report is a major blow for a religious institution that continues to wield enormous, albeit declining, influence on Irish society, especially on moral issues such as divorce and abortion.

Even then, it wasn't tough enough for some of the victims. Many are angry that the report includes no names of alleged offenders, an omission that one of the religious orders under investigation won in court. Only pseudonyms are used, making the chances of criminal prosecution slim.

"We expected that these people would be named and shamed and that some of them would be convicted," John Barrett, who testified before the commission, told Irish radio station TodayFM. "At the end of the day, some of us won't sleep tonight. We're still nowhere near the truth."

Findings from the Sexual Abuse section of the Comission to Inquire into Child Abuse

18. Sexual abuse was endemic in boys’ institutions. The situation in girls’ institutions was different. Although girls were subjected to predatory sexual abuse by male employees or visitors or in outside placements, sexual abuse was not systemic in girls’ schools.

19. It is impossible to determine the full extent of sexual abuse committed in boys’ schools. The schools investigated revealed a substantial level of sexual abuse of boys in care that extended over a range from improper touching and fondling to rape with violence. Perpetrators of abuse were able to operate undetected for long periods at the core of institutions.

20. Cases of sexual abuse were managed with a view to minimising the risk of public disclosure and consequent damage to the institution and the Congregation. This policy resulted in the protection of the perpetrator. When lay people were discovered to have sexually abused, they were generally reported to the Gardai. When a member of a Congregation was found to be abusing, it was dealt with internally and was not reported to the Gardaí.

The damage to the children affected and the danger to others were disregarded. The difference in treatment of lay and religious abusers points to an awareness on the part of Congregational authorities of the seriousness of the offence, yet there was a reluctance to confront religious who offended in this way. The desire to protect the reputation of the Congregation and institution was paramount. Congregations asserted that knowledge of sexual abuse was not available in society at the time and that it was seen as a moral failing on the part of the Brother or priest. This assertion, however, ignores the fact that sexual abuse of children was a criminal offence.

21. The recidivist nature of sexual abuse was known to religious authorities.

The documents revealed that sexual abusers were often long-term offenders who repeatedly abused children wherever they were working. 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. The risk, however, was seen by the Congregations in terms of the potential for scandal and bad publicity should the abuse be disclosed. The danger to children was not taken into account.

22. When confronted with evidence of sexual abuse, the response of the religious authorities was to transfer the offender to another location where, in many instances, he was free to abuse again. Permitting an offender to obtain dispensation from vows often enabled him to continue working as a lay teacher.

Men who were discovered to be sexual abusers were allowed to take dispensation rather than incur the opprobrium of dismissal from the Order. There was evidence that such men took up teaching positions sometimes within days of receiving dispensations because of serious allegations or admissions of sexual abuse. The safety of children in general was not a consideration.

23. Sexual abuse was known to religious authorities to be a persistent problem in male religious organisations throughout the relevant period.

Nevertheless, each instance of sexual abuse was treated in isolation and in secrecy by the authorities and there was no attempt to address the underlying systemic nature of the problem. There were no protocols or guidelines put in place that would have protected children from predatory behaviour. 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. 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.

24. In the exceptional circumstances where opportunities for disclosing abuse arose, the number of sexual abusers identified increased significantly.

For a brief period in the 1940s, boys felt able to speak about sexual abuse in confidence at a sodality that met in one school. Brothers were identified by the boys as sexual abusers and were removed as a result. The sodality was discontinued. In another school, one Brother embarked on a campaign to uncover sexual activity in the school and identified a number of religious who were sexual abusers. This indicated that the level of sexual abuse in boys’ institutions was much higher than was revealed by the records or could be discovered by this investigation. Authoritarian management systems prevented disclosures by staff and served to perpetuate abuse.

25. The Congregational authorities did not listen to or believe people who complained of sexual abuse that occurred in the past, notwithstanding the extensive evidence that emerged from Garda investigations, criminal convictions and witness accounts.

Some Congregations remained defensive and disbelieving of much of the evidence heard by the Investigation Committee in respect of sexual abuse in institutions, even in cases where men had been convicted in court and admitted to such behaviour at the hearings.

26. In general, male religious Congregations were not prepared to accept their responsibility for the sexual abuse that their members perpetrated.

Congregational loyalty enjoyed priority over other considerations including safety and protection of children.

27. Older boys sexually abused younger boys and the system did not offer protection from bullying of this kind.

There was evidence that boys who were victims of sexual abuse were physically punished as severely as the perpetrator when the abuse was reported or discovered. Inevitably, boys learned to suffer in silence rather than report the abuse and face punishment.

28. Sexual abuse of girls was generally taken seriously by the Sisters in charge and lay staff were dismissed when their activities were discovered. However, nuns’ attitudes and mores made it difficult for them to deal with such cases candidly and openly and victims of sexual assault felt shame and fear of reporting sexual abuse.

Girls who were abused reported that it happened most often when they were sent to host families for weekend, work or holiday placements. They did not feel able to report abusive behaviour to the Sisters in charge of the schools for fear of disbelief and punishment if they did.

29. Sexual abuse by members of religious Orders was seldom brought to the attention of the Department of Education by religious authorities because of a culture of silence about the issue.

When religious staff abused, the matter tended to be dealt with using internal disciplinary procedures and Canon Law. The Gardaí were not informed. On the rare occasions when the Department was informed, it colluded in the silence. There was a lack of transparency in how the matter of sexual abuse was dealt with between the Congregations, dioceses and the Department. Men with histories of sexual abuse when they were members of religious Orders continued their teaching careers as lay teachers in State schools.

30. The Department of Education dealt inadequately with complaints about sexual abuse. These complaints were generally dismissed or ignored. A full investigation of the extent of the abuse should have been carried out in all cases.

All such complaints should have been directed to the Gardai for investigation.

The Department, however, gave the impression that it had a function in relation to investigating allegations of abuse but actually failed to do so and delayed the involvement of the proper authority. The Department neglected to advise parents and complainants appropriately of the limitations of their role in respect of these complaints.

Ugh. Just.... ugh.

I think a million dollars per kid, per act of fellatio, vaginal rape and sodomy these kids had to perform/endure should be about right...

And I hope they get it and I hope they spend all that money on all the stupid shit they can buy.

Amen.

Profiles of the Rich and Stupid

Hotter than Chelsea? Uh.... no. Definitely NO. Wait... OMG those are CHOLA eyebrows!!

We were worried for a bit...

But my Super Secret Sexxxy Ginge Boyfriend, Jim Newell is well and on fiyah, what with all that fire-hair growin' all over ... it's no wonder.

He reports on perpetual Val-Accented Repub Princess Meghan McCain (also known as Dopey McDopette) having a tantrum because Ms. Thang was only given TWO tickets to the White House Correspondents Dinner and homegirl brought TWO friends.

Homegirl can't add. Also.

from Wonkette:

If Meghan ever wants to make Admiral like her grandfather and great-grandfather, this will not do:

Sen. John McCain’s daughter — who writes online for The Daily Beast and will soon release a book about life as a Republican — lost it after getting stopped by security when she arrived at the White House Correspondents dinner Saturday. The problem? She had only two tickets, but brought two friends.

“The security guard sent her to talk to someone to sort out the situation, but Meghan got bratty and nastily told him, ‘We’ll just stand here then,’ like an insolent child,” our source said, adding that after dealing with the guard, “She muttered to her friends, ‘Does he even know who the f— I am?’ ”

An insider told us, “Those tickets were harder to get than gold dust and Meghan blatantly only had two and thought she didn’t have to follow the same rules as everyone else.”

The vocal McCain “was complaining about everything from the air-conditioning to the wait,” says our leak.

Then she got mad at Wanda Sykes for making a joke about how Cindy McCain is rich. Cindy, meanwhile, was able to handle it.

Ugh. Won't these people ever go away? Especially the retarded little McMeghan McCain Dopette, she's so freakin' annoying.

It's a joke... right? Right...???

Srsly? Is it April Fool's Day?

Today is Prevention of Teen Pregnancy Day, and who is out cold pimpin' for ABSTINENCE? Why if it isn't QUEEN OF TEH ABSTINENCE Bristol Palin Herself, cradling her precious little bundle of ABSTINENCE on the TODAY Show!!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And as for her Baby Daddy? Levi Johnston say's Bristol's Abstinence campaign is "Unrealistic".

Dude should know.

[via Wonkette and HuffPo]