Surfing the net in sin
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST
Is it business and political interests or religious puritanism that is the motivation behind an attack led by rabbis on Internet news media sites catering to haredi audiences?
Sources in the haredi world say it's a little bit of both. Rabbis' religious sensibilities are being skillfully manipulated by businessmen and politicians, say the sources, to close down - or at least seriously damage the popularity of - several haredi Internet sites that offer news items, op-eds and talk-backs focusing on internal haredi issues, spiced with pictures and video clips.
Official rabbinic opinion allows surfing the Internet solely for business purposes. According to a recently released study by the Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2008, 55 percent of haredim who own a computer also were connected to Internet, compared to a national average of 92%.
"B'Hadarei Haredim" (in haredi rooms), "Haredim", and "Kikar Shabbat" are the three biggest haredi sites, but there are smaller sites such as "Etrog", "Ladaat" and "Kugel".
All devote the vast majority of their screen space to issues such as new rabbinic decrees, interviews with haredi politicians and coverage of demonstrations.
While the haredi print media tend to deal with "hard news" such as political and diplomatic stories, the haredi Internet sites delve into the depths of internal haredi affairs. And sometimes things get racy.
"Kikar Shabbat" will be posting an op-ed about the sexual dangers of sending young boys to the mikveh (ritual bath), not from haredi mikveh-goers, but from secular perverts who frequent the baths.
True, the piece was carefully censored by the site's editorial staff to take out words like "sex", "backside" or "deviant". Still, the subject of child abuse is strictly taboo in the haredi printed media.
Unlike the three daily haredi newspapers - Hamodia, Yated Ne'eman and Hamevaser - Internet sites are not aligned with any political or rabbinic leadership. This freedom allows them to be much more critical of rabbis, politicians and other haredi figures.
Other subjects treated by the haredi Internet sites that would never be touched by the printed media are what one site manager called "fun" and "entertainment". There are interviews with haredi vocalists, video clips and coverage of other frivolous pastimes.
And the rabbis are not happy.
"For people who stumble into their trap and cooperate with them, we warn you with the strictest of warnings not to look at those stations," said a group of leading rabbis in a statement that has been published over the past week in the three haredi dailies.
"Nor should anyone - individuals, companies or organizations - advertise there. And all of the prohibitions set by rabbis regarding TV apply to Internet stations as well."
The statement was signed by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Rabbi Haim Kanyevsky, Rabbi Aharon Yehudah Leib Steinman, Rabbi Israel Hager, the son of the Viznitz Rebbe, and Rabbi Nissim Karelitz.
As a result of the announcement Dov Fobrafsky and David Rotenberg, the founders of B'Haderei Haredim, the first haredi Internet site, resigned.
Fobrafsky told The Jerusalem Post that as a Jew faithful to rabbinic leadership he had no other choice.
"Whether or not I understand or agree with their ruling I have to accept it," Fobrafsky said, adding that he was looking to sell his shares in B'Haderei Haredim.
"If I could have at least been given the opportunity to explain my perspective to the rabbis who made the decision I would feel a little better. But I accept their decision nevertheless."
Fobrafsky said that he originally established B'Haderei Haredim eight years ago as an Internet forum that would offer an alternative to secular Internet forums that he said exposed young haredi men and women to negative influences.
Four years ago he added a news section to the forum, which has expanded over the years.
"Haredim are surfing on the Internet and there is really nothing we can do to stop them. My thinking was to provide a clean option to sites that have problematic content or ads. But the rabbis disagree," he said.
Just five months ago, Kikar Shabbat and Haredim set up sites that competed with B'Haderei Haredim.
Now Fobrafsky says he has come to the end of the road.
"Unless the rabbis decide to allow the Internet sites to continue under some kind of rabbinic supervision I will be unable to continue," he said.
Mani Gerah, manager of the Haredim site, said that if his rabbis tell him unequivocally that he must close down his site, he will listen.
"I am in consultation with my rabbis and whatever they tell me I will do."
Fobrafsky, Gerah and others involved with the haredi Internet sites say that while the rabbis' motivations were undoubtedly pure, there were political and business interests involved as well.
For instance, a series of negative news reports were published by the haredi sites against a prominent haredi mayor. They claim that it is not a coincidence that the rabbi of the mayor's city initiated the move against the haredi sites.
Also, the three haredi dailies have a vested interest in seeing the sites closed down.
"The dailies are afraid that they will lose advertising revenues to the haredi sites," said a source knowledgeable about the subject.
However, a senior editor of one of the dailies denied the Internet sites were a danger to revenues.
"Only 10 percent of the people who visit those sites belong to our readership," said the editor.
"The real story is that these sites simply went too far. They deal with subjects that are totally off limits in the haredi community, for instance, matters that have to do with the relations between men and women. They get into details of family purity. These are things that children must not be exposed to. It causes confusion.
"I believe the majority of the haredi public agree that the haredi sites have made themselves unbearable. One of two things will happen: either the sites will clean up their act and be put under rabbinic supervision or the few people who surf the Internet against the will of the rabbis will continue to do so."
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BOCA RATON, FL-- A Boca Raton Rabbi has become a victim of a hate crime during the week of Hanukkah.
Rabbi Boruch Liberow said he put a menorah on top of his car to celebrate the holiday.
Late Tuesday night his family said it heard shouting and noise. They said it sounded like neighborhood teens being rowdy, but didn't think it had anything to do with them.
Wednesday morning Rabbi Liberow discovered his car was badly egged, especially the menorah.
His front yard was trashed as well.
According to a police report the vandalism caused $1,200 worth of damage.
No other cars in the neighborhood were hit.
The Liberows say nothing like this has ever happened to them before. And despite the act of hate, the Liberows says they are encouraged to be kinder.
"And sometimes there are bumps on the road...as we go along that path--- but that's actually a lesson to continue to do more and more goodness, and bring more light to this dark world," Rabbi Liberow said.
"Hatred is senseless and there is no point in it. And if people have differences they have to learn to respect it. Everyone has to learn - it's not only my way, there are different ways," said his wife Rivka Liberow.
Police do not have any suspects.
Late Sunday afternoon, the lighting of a Menorah at Sherman Green attracted three men who were not there to celebrate Hanukkah.
The three stood on the sidewalk about 60 feet from the gazebo and wore black masks over their faces. Each unfurled a flag, one with a swastika, one with an iron cross, and one with lightning bolts and a skull.
As the first candles were lit under the gazebo's roof, the men began shouting.
Rabbi Shlame Landa, who was lighting the Menorah, said he heard them but couldn't tell what they were saying, since he was conducting the ceremony.
As the rain poured down and the men continued to shout, "What was really interesting and really heartwarming was that there were a number of cars that pulled over and people got out of their cars and they joined us - it's those individuals who represent the town of Fairfield. That's the type of community that Fairfield is," said Rabbi Landa.
First Selectman Ken Flatto was also at the ceremony and he immediately called the police. He later said that he couldn't clearly hear everything that was being shouted, but the snippets that he did hear seemed inappropriate for a joyous family ceremony.
When officers arrived on the other side of the green from the three masked men, the three rolled up their flags and left in a grey Mercury, according to police reports.
Officers did not follow them, but Deputy Chief Gary McNamara told a press gathering on Monday that police may know the identity of at least one of the men.
McNamara said he isn't sure whether the three may have compromised anyone's rights, thus committing a hate crime, but "we are looking to see if any bias crime occurred."
"We understand that everyone has the right to assemble and everyone has the right to protest," said McNamara, "but the manner in which they dressed and the flags unfurled make it clear to us that this was hateful and we're certainly taking it seriously and investigating."
According to statutes, a hate crime is committed on account of the victim's religion, national origin, age, color, race, sex, sexual orientation, or physical disability and it includes either depriving someone of their constitutional rights, or damaging public or private property.
Rabbi Landa is a local leader of the Chabad movement, which he said was a national Jewish educational organization. Flatto characterized Chabad as a group that promotes Orthodox Judaism.
The First Selectman said religious displays are allowed on town property if the group that sponsors the display stays with it the whole time that it is there and he noted that the Knights of Columbus generally sponsors a creche at Christmas. The Chabad group requested the use of Sherman Green about two months ago. They had first been offered the Town Green in front of Town Hall, but they wanted something closer to the Post Road and got the approval of the Parks and Recreation Commission to use that space. When they finished their celebration on Sunday night, they took their Menorah with them.
December 17, 2009
Irish bishop resigns over sex abuse scandal
by Francis X. Rocca
Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY (RNS) An Irish Catholic bishop criticized in a recent report on clerical sex abuse apologized to victims on Thursday (Dec. 17), the same day the Vatican announced his resignation.
"I humbly apologize once again to all who were abused as little children," Bishop Donal B. Murray of Limerick said at St. John's Cathedral, adding that he had resigned because "I believe that my presence will create difficulties for some of the survivors who must have first place in our thoughts and prayers."
Murray was one of a number of church leaders criticized in the Murphy Commission report, issued last month, which found a pattern of clerical physical and sex abuse from 1975-2004 that had been covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin, at times with the collusion of the Irish police.
The report said the church had placed greater importance on protecting its reputation and maintaining secrecy than on children's welfare or justice for victims. Starting in 1940, four successive archbishops of Dublin were aware of complaints, the report said, but church authorities failed to implement most of their rules for dealing with abuse.
The report faulted Murray for his failure, while serving as an auxiliary bishop of Dublin, to act on sex abuse charges against the Rev. Thomas Naughton, who was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for abusing a boy at least 70 times in the early 1980s.
Thursday's announcement from the Vatican said Murray had stepped down in accordance with a church law calling for the resignation of a bishop "who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause."
Last week, Pope Benedict XVI expressed "outrage," "shame," and "profound regret" over the report's revelations, which Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said would lead to a "very significant reorganization of the church in Ireland."
Murray's resignation is a "small but significant first step," said David Clohessy of St. Louis, national director the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, "but wounded adults and vulnerable children need widespread reform, not sacrificial lambs."
Irish media have suggested that four other present or former auxiliary bishops of Dublin could eventually resign as a result of criticisms in the report.
I'm sorry but I am appalled that Tropper would be so stupid. If this doesn't dent our Emunas Chachomim then what will?
*
Rabbi Leib Tropper of the Eternal Jewish Family (EJF) and Yeshiva Kol Yaakov (Monsey, NY) in a phone conversation with his mistress
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlacLILZ5Kw
Vicki Polin, the head of The Awareness Center, The International Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault, noted that adult women are more likely to be victims of clergy sexual abuse than are children. “This is just one of many cases in which a member of the clergy uses their authority to lure in…unsuspecting adult women for their own personal pleasure.”
http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2009/12/exclusive-the-story-behind-the-tropper-scandal-345.html
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A woman in the process of converting to Judaism told FailedMessiah.com a well known and powerful ultra-Orthodox rabbi who supervises conversions worldwide asked her for sexual favors in return for completing her conversion.
SICKENING PUTZ! MANIAC FRAUD!
http://jta.org/news/article/2009/12/17/1009796/eternal-jewish-family-head-resigns
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Conversion agency founder quits amid controversy
December 17, 2009
NEW YORK (JTA) -- The head of an organization that oversees conversions to Judaism has resigned amid accusations of sexual improprieties.
Rabbi Leib Tropper, head of the Eternal Jewish Family based in New York, is leaving the independent organization he founded five years ago.
Tropper, in a statement released this week by the organization, said his desire to “pursue a variety of other interests” led him to resign.
Stories have surfaced recently of his sexual misconduct while overseeing the conversion process. A woman, whose name has not been released, told FailedMessiah.com that Tropper allegedly asked for sexual favors in return for completing her conversion process.
Tropper, the woman claims, also arranged for sexual encounters between herself and Tropper's wife that the rabbi allegedly watched. Tropper also is accused of allegedly pressuring woman to engage in sexual encounters with other men.
According to FailedMessiah.com, the alleged female victim made unauthenticated video and audio tapes of sexual encounters with Tropper intended for leading rabbis involved with Eternal Jewish Family, yet the tapes were leaked through the Internet to various bloggers over the past few days.
“These tapes appear to support her claims,” FailedMessiah.com wrote.
Tropper did not address the accusations in the statement announcing his resignation.
Over the summer, billionaire EJF financier Guma Aguiar accused Tropper of embezzling funds from the organization, and the two since then have been engaged in an ongoing dispute.
Representatives of two groups supporting those abused by priests called on Bishop William Lori Wednesday to be more "transparent," regarding allegations of abuse against priests in the diocese.
"The continuing exposure and release of diocesan records, processes and responses, especially in recent weeks, shows Bishop Lori in full view defending all activity to maintain power and influence," said John Marshall Lee, a representative of the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, as he stood outside the Catholic Center Wednesday afternoon holding a poster-sized photograph of one of the priests accused of abuse.
"The broader public is listening and making their own decisions about how this series of episcopal leaders from Bishop Walter Curtis to Bishop Edward Egan and now to Bishop Lori have received allegations of abuse and found ways to settle quietly and confidentially such claims by a clever combination of law, process and secrecy."
Added Gail Howard, of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests: "Bishop Lori allowed these secret payoffs and allowed these priests to remain active in the diocese."
Diocese spokesman Brian Wallace declined comment on the protest.
The protest was held less than a week after a Minneapolis lawyer disclosed that the diocese had paid a total of $40,000 in 2004 to two men he represented who claimed they had been abused by Monsignor William Genuario and Monsignor Frank Wissel in the late 1970s and
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early 1980s.
Wissel, pastor at St. Mary Parish in Greenwich, has denied the claims.
It was the second time the diocese has paid to settle a claim against Genuario, who sits of the diocese marriage tribunal. In January 2006 the diocese paid an unspecified amount to settle a claim of abuse against the priest.
TEXAS -- A new law allows victims of sexual abuse break their leases to escape violence. Starting January 1st, 2010, children and adults of abuse can legally terminate their lease early, leave the unit, and no longer be required to pay rent or additional fees.
In most cases, if you move from your apartment before your lease ends, you can be held responsible for all the rent that would be owed until your lease expires. Your landlord could sue you for this money.
There are three reported cases of sexual assault in San Antonio every day.
The law requires a 30-day notice in writing to your landlord. You must provide proof of sexual abuse by police, licensed care professional, or rape crisis center advocate.
People make mistakes. It's unfair to attack Tropper. He did not force himself upon any women, and what he is guilty of is sheer stupidity. That's not a crime.
http://lubavitch.com/news/article/2027936/How-Chanukah-Came-Out-of-Closet.html?ixcollect=691
Britain’s Supreme Court has told an Orthodox Jewish school that its criteria for orthodoxy is unlawful, prompting fears about the state intruding into definitions of faith...
Rabbi Tropper's infidelities are a private issue with which no comment is needed other than to say he is a hero for stepping down, something that I'm sure wasn't easy to do.
But I cannot fathom the idea that the Jpost renders legitimacy to the gay movement with the insinuation that somehow orthodoxy and homosexuality are intertwined with each other.
Tropper deserves no mercy. He is an arrogant man. I would never trust EFJ or any Rabbi they replace him with.
The Rabbis in Israel have forbidden the internet and you must follow their orders. We don't want anymore UOJs spreading filth and lies about Kolko or other unfortunate victims via impure internet websites.
Without Cyberspace we could practically guarantee Kolko and others would have been acquitted, and therefore daas torah forbids this form of comminication, even for business purposes.
Neratinib Shows Promise in Treatment of HER2-positive Breast Cancer
Researchers involved in an international Phase I/II study have reported that the addition of neratinib to Taxol® (paclitaxel) produced promising response rates among women with metastatic, HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer. These results were presented at the 2009 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).[1]
Twenty to 25 percent of breast cancers overexpress HER2. Overexpression of this protein leads to increased growth of cancer cells and a worse breast cancer prognosis. Herceptin® (trastuzumab) is currently the only drug FDA-approved specifically for HER2+ target HER2+ breast cancer. Neratinib is an investigational oral medication that targets HER2 as well as HER4 and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).
At the 2008 SABCS researchers presented Phase II results of single-agent neratinib in 136 patients with advanced HER2+ breast cancer.[2] There were 66 patients who had received prior Herceptin, and 70 patients with who had not received prior Herceptin. Objective response rates were 26% in patients who had received prior Herceptin and 51% for patients who had not received prior Herceptin. At the 2009 SABCS researchers presented detailed cardiovascular and gastrointestinal toxicity associated with neratinib monotherapy in this study.[3] These authors concluded that neratinib was not associated with significant cardiac toxicity. However, diarrhea was significant and occurred early in treatment. These authors suggest that diarrhea can be easily managed with supportive care and dose interruptions and/or reductions.
At SABCS 2009 the results of an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial of neratinib in combination with Navelbine® (vinorelbine) in women with HER2-positive breast cancer were presented.[4] Neratinib was also evaluated in combination with Xeloda® (capecitabine) in patients with solid tumors.[5] However, there is a paucity of response data from these two trials.
To evaluate the safety and efficacy of neratinib in combination with Taxol, researchers conducted a Phase I/II trial among women with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer. Some of the study participants had received prior treatment for metastatic breast cancer, and others had not. This study is ongoing, but at the time of the current analysis, information was available for 99 patients treated with a combination of Taxol and neratinib.
Sixty-nine percent of patients experienced a partial or complete reduction of detectable cancer following treatment. Overall response rate was 70% among patients who had not been previously treated for metastatic breast cancer and 68% among patients who had been previously treated. Progression-free survival was roughly one year (52.1 weeks). The most common side effect was diarrhea, which affected 91% of patients.
Comments: These results suggest that the combination of neratinib and Taxol is active against metastatic, HER2+ breast cancer. Based on these results, a Phase III clinical trial is underway to compare this combination to Herceptin plus Taxol in the initial treatment of advanced, HER2+ breast cancer.
Irish Church Sex Abuse Report Spurs Resignation
A group of four senior clerics are being pressured to resign following the dismissal of an Irish bishop over implications with a child sex abuse case.
Bishop Donal Murray was forced to hand-in his resignation after his handling of the abuse case had been deemed ‘inexcusable’.
The sixty-nine-year-old Irish Bishop is the first senior cleric in the country to resign since last month’s publication of the sex abuse report.
It emerged recently that through the course of 3 decades, widespread sexual abuse involving priests and minors had been covered up by leaders of the Irish Roman Catholic church.
Bishop Donal Murray was exposed as not having properly handled the allegations targeting an abusive cleric. Investigators even called his behaviour pertaining to one case as “inexcusable”.
Murray apoligised to members of his church during mass at Limerick’s St John’s Cathedral, saying that he felt sorry for all those who had been sexually abused as children.
Once the Vatican had confirmed the bishop’s resignation, surviving sex abuse victims demanded the immediate resignation of every bishop active since 1974 onwards at the Dublin Archdiocese.
These would include Eamonn Walsh, Jim Moriarty, Martin Drennan and Ray Field.
These senior clerics allegedly played a role with the investigation of the forty-six-priest investigated sample.
Support group One In Four executive director Maeve Lewis said Bishop Murray was amongst several auxiliary bishops based at the Dublin Archdiocese who were aware of serial sex abusers within the clergy community and who never acted upon his knowledge, thus ensuring that other kids went through the same kind of ordeal.
___________________________________
http://www.wcjb.co.uk/irish-church-sex-abuse-report-spurs-resignation-34940
Shlomo Mandel places children in danger every day by employing accused child abuser and molester Yehudah Nussbaum. Mandel is a rasha gamur, this is a known fact, especially those who experienced it first hand.
Does anybody know why SOL was extended in my case, when in other states, like New York, they don't?
------
http://www.examiner.com/x-12837-US-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m12d18-Shane-Sparks-charged-with-8-counts-of-child-molestation
The report states that the statue of limitations has been extended in the case and that the victim, identified as Monique F. was under the age of 15 when the molestation incidents occurred. She filed a report with the California authorities on May 21, 2009 and filed a criminal complaint within the year following. The report states that due to the magnitude of the sexual abuse, including sexual intercourse and oral copulation, the statute of limitations has been extended.
There really isn't anything positive to say about yob. My days were sad and filled with fear and anxiety.
I'm pissed off for the physical and emotional scars they left me with.
I know they have had incidents of child molestation that have gone unpunished and that is a huge crime. Nonetheless, why isn't anything being done for the physical and emotional torture, this for some reason is more acceptable for people to disregard and I do not understand why?
A little tough love never hurt anybody. Just ask Isaac Hersh.
http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_14017165
A Duchesne County boarding school employee accused of sexually abusing boys now faces more charges.
Geary David Oakes, 57, was charged with an additional six counts of forcible sexual abuse of a child and six counts of distribution of a controlled substance. Those come after two charges each of forcible sex abuse and forcible sodomy were filed earlier in December.
Oakes spent the past 10 years as director of social services at Cedar Ridge Academy, arranging off-site medical trips and phone calls to parents. The school serves youth who are struggling in school and with drug issues but have not committed criminal acts. Oakes apparently set up a system where he would dispense drugs to students in exchange for sexual favors, said Robert Nielson, academy director.
In two incidents last month, he gave a 15-year-old boy cigarettes in exchange for oral sex, once at a school building and once at his house, according to charges filed earlier this month in 8th District Court.
He allegedly abused a second boy, also 15, after checking him out of school for medical treatment, and later gave him two Vicodin pills, according to the charges.
"We were just hit from behind with this," Nielson said. "We all thought he was happily married, somewhat religious and devoted to his wife."
A boy came to Nielsen saying Oakes had inappropriately touched him. While Nielson and his staff had a difficult time believing the accusation, he said he called
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the Division of Child and Family Services for advice, and had a police detective investigate. As the questioning started, a second boy came forward. Eventually Oakes admitted to some of the abuse, charging documents state.
He was fired Nov. 30.
School officials had no complaints about Oakes in the past, but several boys came forward with complaints spanning the past few months at the school that charges $6,500 per month in tuition, Nielson said.
He said he talked with all 40 of the current boys and girls at the school, and contacted the school's alumni. He said they all responded with shock at the news and that no one had any past encounters with Oakes.
smcfarland@sltrib.com
The Tropper scandal has it everywhere.
http://gothamist.com/2009/12/20/prominent_orthodox_rabbi_accused_of.php
Orthodox Rabbi Accused Of Trading Religious Conversion For Sex
An Orthodox rabbi is accused of telling a woman he would help her convert to Judaism if she had sex with him and his friends. According to the blog Failed Messiah, Rabbi Leib Tropper of Rockland County told Shannon Orand, a 32-year-old gentile who was interested in becoming a Jew: "If you fulfill my needs, I'll fulfill yours — and you need a conversion."
The Post reports that Orand recorded a conversation in which the rabbi urged her to have sex and participate in phone sex with his friends including an individual called "the Satmar guy." He purportedly told the woman, who he called "darling" and "cutie pie," that he "could role-play a rape...but I couldn't actually rape you — you know what I'm saying, darling — does that make sense?"
On the recordings, the rabbi talks paying the woman money for a lawyer and a stipend of $1,300 per month, and discusses putting that agreement in writing. Orand told the Post she didn't mean for the recordings to become public. "It was only supposed to go to a few leading rabbis." She added in a written statement:
While an individual 'rabbi' acted in an inappropriate manner, my desire to become a bona fide Jew is undeterred. I remain inspired by the beauty and wholesomeness of authentic Judaism. One unhealthy person cannot and will not interfere with my quest to become a fully committed observant Jew. I want nothing more than to focus on my family at this time.
Orand's conversion was supposed to be finalized last week, but a religious court apparently canceled it at the last minute. Tropper wouldn't comment for the Post, but he resigned on Dec. 12 from Eternal Jewish Family, a Monsey-based organization he founded that tries to convert gentiles in interfaith marriages to Judaism.
A leading rabbi accused Pope Benedict XVI of "insensitivity" towards Jews yesterday after the head of the Catholic Church moved his controversial World War II-era predecessor Pope Pius XII a step closer to sainthood.
Vatican will be asked to remove four bishops if they don’t quit
The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, will ask the Vatican to remove four Irish bishops from office if they refuse to step down over the Murphy report into clerical child sex abuse cases in the Dublin archdiocese.
The dramatic split at the top of the Catholic Church in Ireland has emerged over the refusal of some bishops to accept responsibility for the abuse scandals detailed in the hard-hitting report.
Bishop of Galway Dr Martin Drennan, one of the four former auxiliary bishops who served in Dublin, is under pressure to resign to show “collective responsibility” for the abuse scandals.
The three other bishops facing resignation calls are Dublin auxiliaries Raymond Field and Eamonn Walsh, and the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Jim Moriarty, a previous auxiliary in Dublin.
The Bishop of Limerick Dr Donal Murray, who was also an auxiliary bishop in Dublin before being promoted to Limerick, resigned from his position last week.
It has emerged that if the four bishops — who say they did no wrong — do not stand down voluntarily on the principle of collective responsibility, Archbishop Martin will petition the Congregation of Bishops in Rome to remove them early in 2010.
On Friday, the Irish Primary Principals' Network also wants the four bishops to be accountable for their actions — or inactions — in discharging their child protection responsibilities.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen backed Archbishop Martin's stance, saying it was “a time for leadership and accountability” in the Catholic Church. Mr Cowen said: “The resignation of Bishop Murray is a welcome indication that those who are in positions of leadership and responsibility in the Church are facing up to their responsibility in the light of the very clear findings of the Murphy Commission.”
However, neither Mr Cowen nor Justice Minister Dermot Ahern have any intention of expanding the investigations into all dioceses in Ireland.
Galway West Fianna Fail TD Frank Fahey said there is no reason for the Bishop of Galway, Dr Drennan, to resign.
Bishop Drennan mounted a robust defence of his position on RTE last Friday, hitting back at a call by Archbishop Martin to take collective responsibility for the report into a systematic cover-up of abuse complaints from victims of priests. He said his conscience was clear and he had no intention of resigning from office.
There was growing speculation yesterday that the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr Jim Moriarty, may take the decision to step down in the face of grassroots anger at his handling of sex abuse cases.
Some parents in Co Carlow have suggested they will remove their children from religious sacraments officiated by the bishop, a move that makes his position vulnerable.
Bishop Moriarty has said he does not consider that there are any grounds on which he should resign.
But several parents in one parish had decided not to allow their children to attend a Confirmation ceremony if Bishop Moriarty was officiating at it.
Tax evasion & money launder-schemes are all too common practices. I'm surprised the feds haven't caught more big fish.
Turning a blind eye to sex abuse
I NOTE the patronising irony with which Pope Benedict has moved two of his predecessors, Pius XII and John Paul II, closer to sainthood (Irish Independent, December 19).
I am not entirely convinced that it is within the remit of the present Pope to confer sainthood upon those in the Catholic Church who repeatedly turned a blind eye to crimes of clerical sexual abuse, up to and including himself.
Next thing we know, Pope Benedict will be moved closer to sainthood by the next Pope, who is more than likely currently serving as one of his cardinals, all of whom, it looks like, repeatedly turned a blind eye to the same crimes of clerical sexual abuse.
I do think, when all else fails, the Catholic Church should tell the truth about what happened and confess its wrongs to its young, helpless sex abuse victims.
Patrick Henderson
Killarney, Co Kerry
Before Monday's sentencing, about 270 letters were submitted to the court by Weisz's family and other supporters who wrote that the religious leader had devoted his life to the service of others and deserved leniency, according to his attorney, Brian Hennigan.
Hennigan, of the Irell & Manella law firm, asked that his client be sentenced to house arrest, saying the rabbi fully accepted his responsibility and made efforts to reach out to other religious communities after his 2007 arrest, encouraging them to comply with the law.
Although prosecutors said that Weisz's outreach had been "helpful and extraordinary," they insisted that the rabbi should receive a three-year sentence -- the maximum allowed by his plea agreement -- so that he would serve as a deterrent to others. Wiretap recordings showed that Weisz was "a very hands-on director of the scheme," they wrote in court papers.
The rabbi "may have intended to benefit his own community, but he did so at the expense of others," prosecutors wrote. "The entire nature of this criminal enterprise is that the U.S. taxpayer, made up of people from diverse communities and diverse faiths, subsidize the operations of the Spinka religious institutions."
Before handing down the sentence Monday, U.S. District Judge John F. Walter remarked on Weisz's work in his community and on the fact that he didn't commit the crimes for his own benefit, attorneys said.
Three people who made contributions and received bogus tax deductions have also pleaded guilty and received sentences ranging from three months to six months in prison.
Authorities have said they are still investigating more than 100 individuals who may have similarly benefited from the enterprise.
Nothing will ever be done about molesters and their enablers until
they start getting charged criminally.
They care more about money then the welfare of children. We need to put pressure on legislatures to overturn these insane statute of limitations which provided freedom to perpetrators.
Yeshiva World News has no mention as to the reason R' Leib Tropper resigned, not surprising, as they and Yated and other Rabbi-controlled media outlets wouldn't touch on Jews acting in opposition of what they preach. This is reminiscent of the Kolko case where not a word was mentioned in regards to the allegations or to the outcome.
Child-abuse groups call for The Who to be banned from Super Bowl gig
Campaigners in the US are reportedly calling for rockers The Who to be axed from next year’s Super Bowl gig because of guitarist Pete Townsend's 2003 child-porn arrest.
The British rockers are set to perform in the half-time show at the American football final on 7 February 2010.
But child-abuse groups have said the band should be dropped from the concert – which is watched by hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide – and have even asked US immigration chiefs to bar Townsend from entering the US, according to reports.
The trick with molesting boys is to molest one boy at a time so that the other can't be a witness.
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/12/23/111381_ntnews.html
'We all knew' of child sex abuse
NIGEL ADLAM
December 23rd, 2009
ANOTHER former Territory Government insider came forward yesterday to say that it was common knowledge a language teacher was abusing boys while on taxpayer-funded trips to Indonesia in the 1990s.
"We all knew about it," he said. "But nobody did anything because there was no absolute proof."
The insider said at least one politician was convinced the teacher was a pedophile and refused to have any dealings with him.
Carl Francis Walker, 65, died in Royal Darwin Hospital last month after falling ill in Berrimah prison. He was serving seven years for molesting Indonesian children.
Walker, who filmed himself abusing young boys, ran an Indonesian language course for the Territory Government.
He often accompanied official delegations to Indonesia in the 1990s and maintained a flat in Kupang, where he lured children and sexually assaulted them.
Interpreter Luciana Ferrero said in the NT News yesterday that many NT public servants knew Walker was a pedophile or at least had suspicions.
That prompted the other insider to admit it was widely known the teacher abused children while on Government business in Indonesia.
"Walker was a slimy character. There was nothing decent about him," the second insider said.
"But he was protected.
"Few people were surprised when he got busted."
Emotions are running high in New York following the removal of part of a Brooklyn bike lane by city authorities.
Critics claim the route in Bedford Avenue, South Williamsburg has been axed as a political favour to the Hasidic Jewish community there.
The community reportedly objected to it on grounds that it caused parking problems, was a danger to people getting off school buses and attracted immodestly dressed female cyclists.
TORONTO – A French teacher at a private Jewish school has been charged with sexually assaulting a girl and police say they are looking for more potential victims.
Police are alleging that Jaskaransingh Ramburn, 68, who taught French at the Bnei Akiva School which encourages students to spend time in Israel, assaulted a girl between Nov. 26 and Dec. 3.
Ramburn, also known as Jask, was charged on Monday with sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation and invitation to sexual touching.
Police have not said if the suspected victim was a student at the school. The school is headed by rabbis and has a curriculum involving extensive Jewish studies.
Police said the teacher has also taught in the Niagara region.
“Police believe there may be more victims,” said a police spokesman.
I thought you should know who my latest hero is.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jackson-fbi23-2009dec23,0,5769479.story
A second Irish bishop has resigned in the wake of a report exposing a cover-up of sexual abuse by priests in the Dublin archdiocese.
Bishop James Moriarty of Kildare and Leighlin offered his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI on December 23—less than a week after Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick had stepped down. Both were auxiliaries in the Dublin archdiocese during the period covered by the Murphy Commission report, which recounted a series of failures to address complaints of sexual abuse.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has encouraged the bishops who were criticized by the Murphy Commission to reconsider their current situations. (The Murphy Commission investigated the administration of the Dublin archdiocese over a period of time that ended before Archbishop Martin’s installation.) Bishop Moriarty had indicated that he would resign if he concluded that the move would be helpful to the Church. His resignation comes just 2 years before he would have reached the age of 75, the normal retirement age for Catholic bishops.
But brings up the Torah to defend other situations. He is as phony as they come.
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The executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America expressed disappointment with Jewish activists who have attempted to use Judaism – and Senator Joseph Lieberman’s personal Jewish observance – to criticize the Connecticut lawmaker for his opposition to a Congressional health care bill that contains a “public option.”
Some religious representatives of Jewish and other groups have accused Mr. Lieberman, because of his opposition to a particular version of the health care reform bill, of not properly expressing his religion’s ideals. One group, the Philadelphia-based Shalom Center, has gone so far as to call on the senator to “do teshuva” and “bring… the values of an ‘observant Jew’ to the public service of the American people.”
“One can argue the details of the health care bill in good faith,” said Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel. “But to claim that one or another position on those details is mandated by the Jewish faith is simplistic at best.”
“The rabbis of the Mishneh,” the Agudath Israel leader noted, “taught that Torah should not be ‘made into a shovel with which to dig’ – that people should not appropriate the mantle of Judaism to promote their own personal or political convictions. The Torah has much to say about caring for the sick. But turning it into a tool to promote a particular provision of a health care plan – or into a bat with which to pummel an outstanding public servant who happens to think that provision is objectionable – dishonors the Torah.”
It is ironic, Rabbi Zwiebel added, “that people who are usually disapproving of anything that smacks of mixing religious beliefs and politics here are so harshly criticizing an observant Jew for not hewing to their particular notion of ‘faith and religious tradition’ with regard to the health care debate.”
I find it laughable the warnings to stay away from the internet actually makes headlines across the board - shouldn't these rabbis find something more constructive to do than base their whole life trying to control people - it just never ends.
When will the gedolim - hum - ketanim apologize for breeding forces of evil that want no part in rectifying molestation infestation in their communities?
http://www.wiredprnews.com/2009/12/24/jimmy-carter-apologizes-to-jewish-community_200912247712.html
Jimmy Carter apologizes to Jewish community
Carter is quoted by the AP as stating in the letter, “We must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel… As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so.”
http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2009/12/rabbi-leib-tropper-is-heard-on-tape.html
Boro Park said...
Duvid Yide Greenfeld was arrested this morning approx. 7:30, by the Sex Crimes Unit of the NYPD. Charges were pressed by a Belzer chosid who's son he allegedly tried to molest in the Tosher mikveh, however the kid took off with his hat, trousers and underpants. DYG is the son Rabbi Baruch Chuna Greenfeld, Dayan and personal Gabay (secretary) of Rabbi M. D. Unger, the wannabe Bobover rebbe, commonly known in BP as the KARCHINER REBBE. D. Y. who is now 39, is alleged to have been molesting kids since before his teens. He was recently fired from the Mosholu Yeshiva in BP under pressure by Reb Nochum Rosenberg. The principal was warned a couple of years ago, by several yungeleit, not to hire him because of his history. On the same token he was teaching BarMitzvah age boys in SPINKA camp this past summer, after the Glogiver Rebbe (brother in law of the Spinker) ignored warnings to the same alleged facts.
A shaken Pope Benedict has said Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter's shortly after being knocked over by a spectator who jumped a barrier.
The woman, said to be mentally unstable, managed to grab him by his vestments near the neck area as a security guard tried to overwhelm her.
The Vatican said she had made a similar bid to jump at the Pope last year.
French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, was standing a few metres away and fell and broke his leg during the incident.
Proceeding with the Mass, Benedict looked shaken and stumbled over some words.
All of a sudden this person sort of flew over the barricade
MaryBeth Burns
eyewitness
The service in the Vatican started two hours early because officials did not want the pontiff, 82, to get tired.
As members of the 1.1-billion Catholic community celebrated Christmas around the world, thousands of pilgrims gathered in Bethlehem where Latin Patriarch Foud Twal, the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, said the region's aspiration of peace remained out of reach.
"The wish that we most want, we most hope for, is not coming," he said after passing into Bethlehem in a traditional holiday procession from nearby Jerusalem.
"We want peace."
Why Should we have any comment on an individual who is not and was not affiliated with Agudah?
http://www.thejc.com/news/world-news/25321/sex-tapes-rock-orthodox
Why aren't these midgets commenting on the Tropper scandal. Could it be the same reason they wash away the truth by child molesting?
Where are the big-mouthed Agudah creeps who never seem to shy away from a microphone?
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2009/12/26/Three-linked-to-rabbis-slaying-killed/UPI-43891261847733/
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NABLUS, West Bank, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The Israeli military said Saturday it killed three Palestinians planning an attack and three others blamed for the death of a Jewish settler.
Maj. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli Central Command, said Israeli forces tracked the three Palestinians suspected of killing Rabbi Meir Hai to the city of Nablus, where each suspect was killed after refusing to surrender, The New York Times reported.
Hai, a 45-year-old father of seven, was fatally shot Thursday while traveling near the settlement of Shavei Shomron.
Lerner said all of the suspects allegedly had ties to the militia group Aksa Martyrs Brigade via past activities.
Meanwhile, three Palestinians were fatally shot in Gaza Saturday after Israeli forces saw them allegedly crawling near a border barrier, the Times reported.
The Israeli military maintains after soldiers' warning shots were ignored, the three Palestinians suspected of plotting an attack were fatally shot by an Israeli aircraft.
Action by the Israeli military against three suspected Palestinian militants is drawing protest.
Palestinian activists in the West Bank are calling for revenge against Israel for the killing of three men suspected of involvement in the highway slaying of a 45-year old rabbi.
The Israeli troops entered the city of Nablus in Area A where security is supposed to be handled by the Palestinian Authority.
According to the Israeli news media, two were unarmed when they were shot for refusing to surrender and the third was gunned down when he opened fire.
GEORGETOWN, Del.- A hearing for a Delaware pediatrician suspected by state police of molesting several patients has been postponed. Also, state Department of Justice officials said Wednesday that they believe there may be up to 100 child sex abuse victims in Delaware alone.
A preliminary hearing for 56-year-old Dr. Earl B. Bradley of Lewes, which was supposed to be held Wednesday, has now been rescheduled for Jan. 14 in Georgetown. Department of Justice officials say concerns about Bradley's mental state played a role in the postponement. According to officials, Bradley is under suicide watch in his jail cell at Sussex Correctional Institution.
Delaware State Police arrested Bradley last week following a nearly year-long investigation. He now faces a total of 33 charges, including first-degree rape, sexual exploitation of a child by photo or film and endangering the welfare of a child. He is being held on $2.9 million bond.
Police estimate the victims ranged in age from 3-months to 13-years-old.
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference that so far there are seven confirmed victims. He added, however, that investigators believe that there may be up to 100 victims in Delaware alone, with incidents dating all the way back to 1998. Biden noted that Bradley also had licenses to practice medicine in three other states besides Delaware: Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida.
According to Delaware court documents, the sex abuse Bradley is accused of committing included oral sex, sexual intercourse and taking sexually explicit photos and videos of the victims. Police say they seized photographic and video evidence that shows Bradley sexually abusing victims.
Court documents state that in one incident, which is alleged to have occurred as recently as on or about Dec. 13, Bradley forcibly engaged in sexual intercourse with a girl between the ages of 2 and 3. He was wearing his doctor's scrubs at the time of the incident, according to court documents.
Court records state that in another incident, also alleged to have occurred on or about Dec. 13, Bradley videotaped himself engaging in oral sex and vaginal intercourse with a girl between the ages of 2 and 3 as the child "screams and attempts to run away two times but is captured by the defendant."
State officials have set up a special hot line for parents of children who may have patients of Bradley, or anyone else who may have had any connection to Bradley to call for advice or counseling. That number is 1-800-VICTIM1.
Anyone who believes his or her child may have been a victim of Bradley is asked to call Delaware State Police at (302) 856-5850, ext. 216.
In related news, parents who took their children Bradley's office may contact Beebe Medical Center, the hospital Bradley was affiliated with, for copies of their children's medical records.
The hospital has agreed to take custody of the records until the charges against Bradley are adjudicated. Parents of children who were patients at the practice may obtain copies only of the records. Police say the hospital has agreed to distribute copies of the medical records for free. Any parent needing a copy may call the hospital's records department at (302) 645-3281.
Wallace Hudson, Beebe's vice president of corporate affairs, also said the hospital will provide "counseling free of charge for victims' families." He said the remaining pediatricians on Beebe's staff would take on Bradley's patients. Parents can call the hospital physician referral number at (302) 645-3332.
CHILD ABUSER: The following person is a child abuser - Name: Rochelle Kempler (but uses the false last name of Fink), address: 5201 14th Ave. Apt. 6F, Brooklyn, NY 11219, phone number: 718-438-0025, SS#: 085-60-7582... In addition to being a child abuser, she is a theif, a lesbian, and mentally deranged (she plays with and eats her own feces - yuck!); and it is believed that she is a hermaphrodite. She masquerades as a frum Jew, but she is NOT! She needs to be run out of decent society, and removed from our community!
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