From Twitter 02-11-2011

• 14:30:41: HWMBO is in the air over the Persian Gulf on his way back to London. Hooray!
  
• 18:36:02: #bornthisway
  
• 19:32:59: RT @davidkpoole Uninstalling dictator complete . █████████████████████ ..100%. It is now safe to restart your country #Egypt
  

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Today's Joke

…courtesy of MadPriest's MadDad. Blame them both.

An 80-year-old Scot went to the doctor for a check-up. The doctor was amazed at what good shape the old fellow was in and asked: "How do you stay in such great physical condition?'"

"I am Scottish and I am a golfer," said the old fellow: "and that is why I am in such good shape. I'm up well before daylight and out golfing up and down the fairways. I have a wee glass of whisky, and that's it."

"Well,' said the doctor, 'I'm sure that helps, but there has to be more to it. How old was your dad when he died?"

"Who said my Dad died?"

The doctor was amazed. "You mean you are 80 years old and your dad is still alive? How old is he?"

"He is 100 years old," said the old Scottish golfer. "In fact he golfed wi' me this mornin, and then we went to the topless beach for a walk and had anither wee dram and that is why he is still alive. He is a Scot and he is a golfer, too."

"Well," the doctor said, "that's great, but I am sure there is more to it than that. How about your dad's dad? How old was he when he died?"

"Who said my Grandad is dead?"

Stunned, the doctor asked, "You mean you are 80 years old and your grandfather is still living! Incredible, how old is he?"

"He is 118 years old," said the old Scottish golfer.

The doctor was getting frustrated at this point: "So, I guess he went golfing with you this morning too?"

"No. Grandad couldnae go this mornin' because he is getting married today."

At this point the doctor was close to losing it. "Getting married!! Why would a 118 year-old bloke want to get married?"

"Who said he wanted to?"

Pennsylvania Grand Jury report on clergy sexual abuse

Thanks to Whispers in the Loggia, I have just read a grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. (.pdf file). One would have thought that after the problems in Boston, New York, Milwaukee, and elsewhere the American Catholic hierarchy would have pulled up their purple or red socks and tried to put things right. This report seems to demonstrate that, in Philadelphia at least, priests were continually reassigned after credible accusations of child sexual abuse and the victims were ignored or prevented from reporting their abuse to the authorities.

A first for the US, I believe, is that the Grand Jury recommended that the clergyman responsible for assignment of priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese also be charged with endangering the welfare of minors, through his policy of moving those accused priests around. While the Grand jury would have liked to have charged the retired Archbishop of Philadelphia on the same grounds, Cardinal Bevilaqua, in his late 80's, is now said by his doctors to be quite ill and suffering with dementia. The Grand Jury "reluctantly" did not recommend that he be charged.

What can be learned from this sad sorry tale?

First, any organisation which has charge of children or vulnerable adults and finds that an adult responsible for the welfare of the children or vulnerable adults has been accused of abuse of any kind must immediately suspend that adult and report the allegations to the authorities.

Second, support of the victim must be independent of the organisation and must trump any other considerations.

Third, ensure that all previous cases of abuse are fully investigated, reported to the authorities, and the victims listened to and action taken.

I have set up the gift computer from my friend BK

It's a Windows 7 computer, mini-sized, with an Asus motherboard. I haven't connected up speakers or such to it, but I suspect it'll do fairly well.

Next step is to plan out how to transfer all my material from my current desktop to that machine. Once that is done, I'll move the current machine out of here and put the smaller one in its place.

Then I'll probably reformat the current machine and perhaps install another version of Windows 7 64 bit and see how that works. Perhaps HWMBO will get it.

This computer stuff is so complicated. Thanks to our Singaporean friend BK, who put the computer together in record time.

There will Always be an England...er...Great Britain...er...United Kingdom

For those who are a bit unclear on where I live and what it's part of, this video is for you. If by the end of it you are not able to name the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, those countries which recognise the Queen as head of state, the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, and Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all, you were not listening.

Today's Ray of Hope Video

Now, you may or may not be familiar with the TV game show Family Feud. If you aren't, worry not! It's self explanatory. A studio audience was asked to complete a sentence, then their answers are tallied and two family groups are asked to complete the same sentence. But when the sentence is "Name something that is passed around." the fun starts.