This article proves that Obama does not deserve a 4th Bush term.

Because the Republican enthusiasm is down in the primaries, Obama has a chance to repeat like Bush did against Kerry.

===============



Bank Bailout 2: Obama Lets Mortgage Abusers Off the Hook

The Obama Administration has followed a predictable pattern: Leave No One Accountable

February 9, 2012

Excellent article Caspian! Yes, exactly how I feel. Those who think this Administration is better, think so because of what this Administration say's and not what it actually does. So the question is, is anything they do really in our best interest? If not, then why would we keep them 4 more years? Don't be fooled by the line, "we can't go back to the failed policies of the past" Just ask Obama how his policies are different. And I don't want to hear him blaming the GOP. He is the president, he has to find a way to make it work or hand the baton to someone else.

http://tinyurl.com/76r2mue

"But of course, when we were ruled by the latter, everyone with any humanity was repulsed by the open looting and killing and indifference and was willing to say so. When the Administration sanctions it, however, we are supposed to bite our tongues, because it could be worse. Well, it’s worse, and it’s more insidious and corrupting of our souls than where we were four years ago. It is evil."

Excellent article Caspian! Yes, exactly how I feel. Those who think this Administration is better, think so because of what this Administration say's and not what it actually does. MG.

=============

Absolutely, and it also proves that both parties are corrupt.

The Clinton/Obama Democrats are Racketeers and the Reagan/Bush Republicans are Gangsters.

They prostitute themselves by taking Wall Street funds and passing legislation that mostly benefit their corporate masters.

Many years ago the average Joe & Jane used to look up to these crooks in politics.

Always voting for the lesser of two evils and always getting the short end of the stick.

IMO Obama, Bush, Clinton, Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, Pelosi, Reid, Boehner ,Cantor, etc. etc. etc. do not represent the masses of Americans.

We need a 3rd and 4th party so we can vote out these corporate hacks.

CASPIAN, MIKEG, MIKEQ:

was just reviewing the Gold man sacks ties to the world economic collapse and its recent unification ties to the Vatican and its coffers. Found this gem.

Words for all of us to live by. The video is insignificant.

John, you are crossing a line into uncharted waters.

Sure the Vatican has its faults with some bad apples as does every religion.

But the facts remain that Newt Gingrich Republicans joined with Bill Clinton Democrats with the blessings of
Alan Greenspan Feds and Wall Street to terminate Glass/Steagall.

And NAFTA BTW.

"IMO Obama, Bush, Clinton, Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, Pelosi, Reid, Boehner ,Cantor, etc. etc. etc. do not represent the masses of Americans. We need a 3rd and 4th party so we can vote out these corporate hacks."- Caspian

How could the elite represent the common folk or fight along side us in the trenches when they live by a completely different set of rules? Many of the rules that we must follow don't apply to them. Our founders intended a "by the people and for the people" government. Yet, we have become a Kingdom and I don't think a 3rd or 4th party will be nearly enough. We need to rely less on the Kingdom and more on each other. But the more we look toward the Kingdom to provide for us, the more power they have to rule over us. "We the people" are the rulers and government serves us. That is what the founders intended.

Obama Mortgage Refinance Plan is 'Crony Socialism'

February 8, 2012 08:56 AM


President Barack Obama's plans to help homeowners refinance their loans is, in reality, "crony socialism" designed to help big banks cushion themselves from possible defaults, says David Stockman, a former White House budget director under Ronald Reagan.

President Obama aims to help "responsible" homeowners, including those who owe more than their homes are currently worth, save an average $3,000 a year by refinancing their mortgages at attractive interest rates.

Congress would have to approve such a measure, although Stockman says the plan is probably dead on arrival (D.O.A.) and deservedly so.

"It is D.O.A. It should be. It's just one more phase of 40 years worth of meddling and tampering in the housing market that has totally destroyed its ability to function," Stockman tells Yahoo! The Daily Ticker.

The plan, arguably available to all, won't help but a few anyway.

"There are 110 million households in this country, 35 million are renters, it does nothing for them. Thirty million own their homes free and clear with no mortgage, it does nothing for them. Of the 50 million with mortgages, 40 million aren't underwater and have recently refinanced or have no reason to refinance," Stockman says

"So what you are basically doing its picking out a pool of 10 million households with mortgages that are underwater or deeply underwater, and you are basically going to come in and offer some free money and again interfere with the market's ability to sort this out."

What it will really do is help big banks conveniently get bad mortgages off their books.

"This is ultimately at the end of the day a bailout for JP Morgan and Wells Fargo," and other big underwriters of second mortgages and home equity lines, Stockman says.

"Those [second liens] are in great jeopardy because of homeowners way underwater on primary mortgages and are likely to default or throw in the keys at some point down the road."

"Either we are a market, capitalist economy or we are not," Stockman says, adding Obama's plan to use taxpayer money to help out a few is "the worst kind of crony socialism."

Other experts say Republicans in Congress will kill off the proposal's chances for survival due to its increased participation of government in the housing sector.

"The president pretty clearly signaled that [the program] would need some kind of congressional action," says Brian Gardner, senior vice president of Washington research at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, according to U.S. News & World Report.

"To the extent that it does, I think it's D.O.A."

"We the people" are the rulers and government serves us. That is what the founders intended. Mike G.

------------

What is a more perfect union?

Look how long the African slaves, poor, and women had to wait for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Females were allowed to vote in 1920 and civil rights 1964.

Why are only the wealthy elites represented in Congress?

Truth is a viable 3rd and 4th party are not welcomed in America.

P.S. Bill F., you have it wrong again.

Stockman calls it crony capitalism .

IMO it is Socialism For The Wealthy.

Caspian: Ask yourself with all the wealth that the RC church has accumulated, the untaxed properties, hospitals etc. Why can't they seem to manage to keep open the many parishes that supported them for decades even centuries? Where's the love? Where's the devotion? Where's the defenses of the needy?

Where's the gold accumulated over the past decade of centuries from the Crusades in the Middle Ages on up to the looting of the America's gone?
Remember that church and it's properties enjoy tax free status here and in Europe and most probably everywhere else on this planet.This wealth has been accruing value at a rate that is absolutely unconscionable.
Nuns and priests work for food and shelter. You can't say that anything should be lost in upkeep because with good public relations most of these projects should be going to and paid for with local neighborhood parishioner donations.
Universities and hospitals should be self sufficient. So why are schools and teaching of the faith being abandoned?
Why can't those within the church be defrocked but, their parishioners held to higher standards? Why is this Pope silent on wars that take thousands of lives needlessly? Genocide? Arms dealing?
Just a little common sense in addressing these shortfalls and oversights would bring so much good will and a welcomed return to good graces in the eyes of the worlds peoples, ya think?
Hence, the gold man monika impertinent as it may appear to be does fit some of the actions and inactions as a miserly and politically calculating organization, rather than the charitable non-profit conduit that the church was created for and to emulate the good shepherd and Saviour.
Accepting these rather obvious flaws of the spiritual character of this Vatican Council as a casual matter when childrens lives are at stake simply cannot be what the lord intended.

When this church and its officials vow to stop tending to it's duty to feed and shelter the needy- as a leverage point, which master do they serve?

MikeG & Caspian: How can you propose to work a system that has 0001% of the population owning 40% of the entire nations GDP supporting them.
The 99% may in nickles and dimes comprise the remaining 60% but most of that money goes into just paying the bills to maintain a modest standard of living- if that is still possible.

America-
27% at or below the poverty level- NO SPENDABLE INCOME.
Middle Class- shrunk by 17% over ther past decade. At $49,000 median income how much do you think "we the people can afford to piss away from their families needs to this futile endeavor of campaign financing a "real" candidate, versus a one person super pact with $5million ready to burn and all the media coverage the corporate elites and their puppet masters can muster to an Obama, a Romney or a Gingrich?
Obama has even signaled that he has opened the floodgates to foreign nation and foreign caucus campaign donations. Isn't that precious? We float their Euro's and Yuans with our tax dollars and they can now feel free to use it against our better interests- in our elections.

Giving and continuing the rich taxbreaks, leaves them with more leverage than they need to fund more candidates that are willing to work against higher wage standards, and healthcare provisions that many just treading the thin line between poverty and the abyss are struggling to maintain. When they are either allowed as you say or forced to sink- we pay. That also, again means less for us to spare to elicit change.

Then there's that upper middle/millionaire class that wouldn't part with a nickle to sponsor a candidate who would raise their taxes and would vote with the Romneys, the Gingrichs, Santorums, and the Obama's and against "we the people" every day and twice on Sunday. Right, Mike?

hahaha Gotcha!

"When they are either allowed as you say or forced to sink- we pay. That also, again means less for us to spare to elicit change." John

Wow, How differently we think!

You talk about the church as if it MADE all its money by being tax free but it made all it's money by voluntary donations, much of which which is also used to help so many of the poor and needy. The taxes would have gone not to You and I but to big government mis-mangement, who by the way, cannot balance their books. So they need more and more and more in order to NOT be able to help those in poverty. The only reason WE PAY is because government says we must. Yet those who donate to the church, do so voluntarily.

You keep preaching a gospel of "love thy neighbor" and "thou shall not steal" which is a good gospel. But unfortunately, it is overshadowed by your "coveting of thy neighbors goods" and "judging lest you be judged" so the seeds you plant just never take root.

John:

Your premise is wrong about the financial wealth of the Vatican and much of their teachings.

They are always against wars, death penalty, abortion, etc. etc.

The Church always feeds and gives financial support to the poor communities.

The Salvation Army as well as all Catholic charities give assistance to people in need.

Didn't John Paul 11 forgive the would be Muslim assassin?

That speaks volumes too me when someone turns the other cheek.

In Revelation JESUS finds fault in All the Churches, which means humans are not perfect.

=========================

As some U.S. dioceses face financial crisis, Vatican has own problems
Jul-9-2004
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0403779.htm



http://www.charitywatch.org/toprated.html

There you go Caspian well said. Now those seeds that you just planted have a good chance of growing. Bravo!

I am speaking about the current Pope, guys. I am calling into review the practices of the church over the past decade and a half of closing schools. The sanctuary of church abandoning communities that gave lifetimes of support and donation that were spent elsewhere.

Duh! The mentioniung of tax free means that their resources have not been diminished anything other than their own suspicous neglects or facilitations. If charitable donations have dropped off during this period. It is the fault of the Vatican Council and not the fault of anyone else. Not God, not the parishioners, not the donaters.

It is, just like with the problems within our government the sole fault and dereliction of its heirarchy to remove and permanently deflock flagrant r@pists of children.
Those perverts committed much more than those the highest of civil crimes against the children entrusted into their care, they robbed their innocent souls and left permanent indelible scars, that in so many cases impaired an entire lifetime of their decisions and capacity to love or trust without reservation. The tremendous guilt that must be shouldered by any parent of a violated child has to be weighed as well.
So now you have a fuller understanding of the factors that are truly pertinent in this discussion. Argue against that.
No church can live on the laurels of the past. A church and its shepherds must live and abide by the higher standards that they set and impose upon its flock. When justice and truth are over ridden and deals are made to protect the guilty where is the consistency? What is sin? Where lies this churchs convictions.

OXYMORONS- The MANMADE LAWS of church will condemn any couple who enter intyo the sacrament of marriage to an entire lifetime of hell, rather than release them of the contract they made under treat of permanent ex-communication. Absolutely no regard is taken for the children who are forced to witness the destruction and who carry the scars and bad influences into their own relationships with others. IS THIS GODLIKE,... OR IS IT DISMISSIVELY PUNITIVE AND UNJUST? Where's the peace? Where's the obligation to teach nourish and protect "all" of Gods children.
Yet, this same council of flawed human flesh will make and impose activist decisions granting sanctuary and even providing new enticements and playgrounds for the r@pists of children, the perverters of faith, destroyers of the soul.
Church is not a business. It is an institution and a sanctuary for us to commune w/ the Almighty. Church has the obligation "teach" the highest principals and to be gracious in sparing all souls that have dedicated their trust and obedience not to councils, not to parish con men who might indulge pledges of monetary donations in order to receive gods favor, ...absolve past sins, etc.

For a church to truly be a church, it must be honorable, and aspire to the purposes of the highest authority. To be Christlike in dispensing mercy, ... and most of all to teach "the way" providing the path to heavenly coexistence and inclusion with all creatures great and small; everything that the creator placed upon this planet for our successful survival and return to the gracious glory of his designs. For us, who he graced with "freewill" and "con-science"[with science] to evolve to this awareness, shredding weapons, instead joining together rich and poor sowing seeds of replenishment with renewed dedication to achieve all that is good. Eventually, after having seen the the true vision that is intended with true guidance- the distractions, the chains of evils, and wretchedness will fall away. Replaced by banners of "fearless" unbiased achievements, we give tribute and honor our mother earth, beautify and adorn her with magnificent splendor as we again resume our quest for greater challenges to conquer.
First, we must overcome our addiction and affliction to fear. Love conquers all. Money and possession is but a distraction from the higher purposes of "true" belief. The belief that we are all regardless of point of origin are the offspring of our creator who neither has nor wants anything created in his image. For he wants us to see him in everything that he created.

...loving it, nourishing it, and sacrificing when necessary a part of us with all of our hearts. Knowing that deep inside of us, that their is a little bit of god inside of us called a soul- and this "fertile" earth was molded for the seeds of his imagination, crafted his gift so wonderfully that it be perfect planned and created for all of us- his Eden for his beloved children of Adam & Eve.

...then came the fears, which led to jealousys, then the conceit. Followed by destructions, compounded by wars. Wars led to hubris, hubris breeds contempt, contempt leads to persecution, enslavements led to self loathing, self loathing led to debauchery... and the downward spiral continues.

It is time to return to con-science. To know that we will not be defeated UNITED AS "ONE" to restore Gods Eden to the heavenly existence as fully described in the "Our Father" prayer passed on by the Apostles as- "THE WORD" of our lord.
Amen- to all men woman and child was will open their hearts and minds to Believe in a real and executable "better" tomorrow.

NEVER "fear". IT IS LOVE NOT WARS THAT CONQUERS- "ALL" FEARS.

God bless us all.

John, the Pope only is infallible on two issues and nothing else, Faith and Morals.

We have seen change in policy with regard to pedophile priest.

It was 100% wrong to keep them and move them around in different parishes.

To be fair, back in the day, they thought by just getting psychiatric help was enough.

It was not enough and they should have been defrocked and reported to the authorities.

1% of priest ruined it for the 99% of priest who are honorable and doing GODS work.

I'm sure you know that even in secular society pedophiles exist and are a blight on the victims and their families.

I agree with much of your post but I disagreed with your statement about the Vatican and Wall Street.

Caspian: Guess what topic just so happened to surface yesterday?

Take a look. CHECK OUT THE DATE OF THE ARTICLE. Stay ahead of the curve.
http://news.yahoo.com/monsignors-mutiny-revealed-vatican-leaks-140524856.html

Sometimes I've begun to wonder, if somebody upstairs is watching our board discussions. I've lost count of how many times this has happened. We've gone off topic to discuss issues, and within a blink of an eye- "the topic" became the new focal point, evolved into a newsbreaking event, or presented verification or confirmations of the new challenge.

Sometimes I've begun to wonder, if somebody upstairs is watching our board discussions. John.

==========

LOL Yes, the good LORD does watch over us all.

I salute you again for good investigative reporting and I'm going to research this.

Kim Lengle is doing a great job with Fracking and maybe Rich will put her on this case.

The day the Democrats took over (January 3rd 2007) :

November 28, 2011

The day the Democrats took over was not January 22nd 2009, it was actually January 3rd 2007, the day the Democrats took over the House of Representatives and the Senate, at the very start of the 110th Congress. The Democratic Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995.

For those who are listening to the liberals propagating the fallacy that everything is "Bush's Fault", think about this: January 3rd, 2007, the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress: The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77

The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%
The Unemployment rate was 4.6%
George Bush's Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOB CREATION!

Remember that day... January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee. The economic meltdown that happened 15 months later was in what part of the economy?

BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES! THANK YOU DEMOCRATS (especially Barney ) for taking us from 13,000 DOW, 3.5 GDP and 4.6% Unemployment...to this CRISIS by (among MANY other things) dumping 5-6 TRILLION Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac FIASCOES!

(BTW: Bush asked Congress 17 times to stop Fannie & Freddie - starting in 2001 because it was financially risky for the US economy). Barney blocked it and called it a "Chicken Little Philosophy" (and the sky did fall!)
And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac? OBAMA

And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie? OBAMA and the Democrat Congress, especially BARNEY!!!!So when someone tries to blame Bush...

REMEMBER JANUARY 3rd, 2007....THE DAY THE DEMOCRATS TOOK OVER!"...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: barneyfrank; freddiemac
continued:

...Bush may have been in the car but the Democrats were in charge of the gas pedal and steering wheel they were driving the economy into the ditch.

Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party. Furthermore, the Democrats controlled the budget process for 2008 & 2009 as well as 2010 & 2011.

In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got tough on spending increases.

For 2009 though, Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the 2009 budget.

And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as President to complete 2009. Let's remember what the deficits looked like during that period:

If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending. After that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that includes Barack Obama, who voted for the budgets.

If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself. In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is "I inherited a deficit that I voted for,
And then I voted to expand that deficit four-fold since January 20th."

"The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living."

John:

I do not think this recent Vatican story will have legs.

The problems stem from the Vatican wears two hats, political and religious.

The wrong doings are the same as any other government who give their friends contracts, ie Halliburton etc.

It was interesting too me that Godfather III was based on truth.

Truth is always stranger than fiction.

Go Figure?

lol

Caspian: Your assessments represent this precise reasonings that this issue will never come to the fore in the MSM format.
Government just loves this pin-up model of hypocritical inconsistancy to hold up before the public for its rationale to promote "godless" society. While at the same time donning its own sanctimonious cloak of NWO idolatrys demanding total obedience from the sheeple of the nation, to its own pontiffical designs.
Conversely, it is up to the monsignors and parish priests and parishioners to hold their bishops and church hierarchy to gods highest standards.
==========
The fact that it has been concluded in the articles expose- that both popes were/are in states of declining states of mental capability should be enough to warrant fuller investigation into the fiscal and moral morass that their high positioned subordinates carried out or conveyed to them as advisors.
Should those findings be found to have enough relevance to create doubt, then these questions of papal authority would have to be re-visited.
=========
Great movies always seem to reveal more of those spicy little tidbits and unseemly grains of truth embedded within them that go unnoticed to the untrained eye, don't they?

JFK, X, Godfather 2-3, Apocalypse Now...

============
UNCONNECTED:
Here's a great story for you to locate about the trials and tribulations of an innocent- then tormented human soul whose consciousness had been altered by societys less tolerant influences which bridges several lesser explored areas and controversal topics.
MAP OF THE HUMAN HEART- 1994 Excellent!!! Enjoy!!!

John, I would say this pope is still very sharp and was very instrumental and influential for many years before being elected pope.

This pope did the same thing Cheney did when he was looking for a VP and then choosing himself. LOL

Cardinal Ratzinger was in charge of finding the next pope.

Truth is always stranger than fiction.

Its all politics, I know, but the pope is supposed to be a successor of Saint Peter the Apostle.

MAP OF THE HUMAN HEART seems to be a very touching human interest story.

Poor Jason Lee died tragically just like his father, gone too soon.

What is great about the film is that while it is a story of a relatively inconsequential individual [to put it mildly] ... this main character opens up and challenges in reflection many socially and religously accepted non-sequitors.

The Dresden bombing sequence alone should be enough to forbid forever the bombing of innocent civilians.

There are many, many other visual observations and pivotal situations that the director brilliantly presented that when viewed objectively let you the viewer have a chance to decide for yourself what you would have done in that particular situation.

Have we "evolved" or "descended" into accepting destructions as the accepted norms?

The pope is "sharp"... etc. -Caspian

So are the pedophile priests, and their facilitators.
That notation *sharp, doesn't make him an exception to any rule or absolve him from his primary duty and obligation to serve god and obey his sons divine teachings and commandments.
Case in point, "SHARP". So are the pedophile priests, and their facilitators.

This pope has a past, that is bone-chilling and has been curiously swept under the rug. He came into power at the very height of the PEDOPHILE SCANDALS. Many of the bishops who were embroiled in the center of these controversies, received higher or different appointments either during or since his appointment. Hmmmmm!
Forgive me if I am wrong- but, this track record going back, reads like the wily old fox stealthfully guarding the hen house, surrounded by his close inner circle.
On the other side of the ledger- where has this man been on the atrocities of bombing civilians in large cities, ...his obligation to address Mexico and its cartel driven atrocities, ... why hasn't he spoken or convened the leaders of all faiths to bring together their vast influences over the masses which would inevitably bypass this intentional political stalemate and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict- ...once and for all?
Man of god??? ...or just a pacifying high hat "tool" of big $$$ and PC influences- and inertia???
Where and "what is" his practical usefullness as "the" agent of god on this earth?

EXCERPT: TWO DAYS AGO
http://news.yahoo.com/irish-envoy-pope-consistent-stopping-abuse-144522870.html

Ratzinger in 2001 was responsible for a new church edict ordering bishops worldwide to forward all known abuse cases to the congregation, so that offending priests could be more effectively defrocked under terms of the church's own canon laws.

But that and several other key church messages, including the pope's 2010 papal letter to the Irish people, have ignored accusations that Vatican policies discouraged Irish bishops from telling police about crimes. To this day, official Vatican policy remains ambiguous on the matter, stressing the need to observe the church's own rulebook.

A decade of Irish fact-finding commissions into the scandals has determined that church officials did not tell police of any crimes until the mid-1990s and only because Irish abuse victims had started to sue the church, challenging decades of Irish deference to church authority. One bishop was found to have continued to cover up crimes as recently as 2008.

The Vatican refused to respond to letters sent by Irish investigators seeking access to the church's secret files on abuse cases in Rome. The Vatican later said it couldn't respond because the investigators had failed to file their information requests through the Irish government.

More than 14,000 people have received abuse settlements in Ireland exceeding euro1.2 billion ($1.6 billion). GET THIS ---> The payouts have been funded largely by "taxpayers" ... rather than the church, another source of continuing church-state tensions.

Hmmmmmm! You are, as we all are, entitled to your own opinion; but, closer inspection reveals- inertia, double speak, and "zero" $$$ compensation coming from the church and its facilitators.
=============
ANALYSIS: "Wily" FOX GUARDING THE VATICAN TROUGHS & HEN HOUSE under full "state" and "empirical" protections.
=============
OPENED FOR DISCUSSION- What's the upside of his leadership?

The pope is "sharp"... etc. -Caspian

So are the pedophile priests, and their facilitators.
That notation *sharp, doesn't make him an exception to any rule or absolve him from his primary duty and obligation to serve god and obey Our Lords divine teachings and commandments.
===========
Sunday Feb 19th
http://news.yahoo.com/irish-envoy-pope-consistent-stopping-abuse-144522870.html
Read between the carefully worded sentencing structure in this search for truth.
..."This pope has a past, that is bone-chilling and has been curiously swept under the rug. He came into power at the very height of the PEDOPHILE SCANDALS. Many of the bishops who were embroiled in the center of these controversies, received higher or different appointments either during or since his appointment. Hmmmmm!
Forgive me if I am wrong- but, this track record going back, reads like the wily old fox stealthfully guarding the hen house, surrounded by his close inner circle.
On the other side of the ledger- where has this man been on the atrocities of bombing civilians in large cities, ...his obligation to address Mexico and its cartel driven atrocities, ... why hasn't he spoken or convened the leaders of all faiths to bring together their vast influences over the masses which would inevitably bypass this intentional political stalemate and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict- ...once and for all?
Man of god??? ...or just a pacifying high hat "tool" of big $$$ and PC influences- and inertia???
Where and "what is" his practical usefullness as "the" agent of god on this earth?

EXCERPT: TWO DAYS AGO
http://news.yahoo.com/irish-envoy-pope-consistent-stopping-abuse-144522870.html

Ratzinger in 2001 was responsible for a new church edict ordering bishops worldwide to forward all known abuse cases to the congregation, so that offending priests could be more effectively defrocked under terms of the church's own canon laws.

But that and several other key church messages, including the pope's 2010 papal letter to the Irish people, have ignored accusations that Vatican policies discouraged Irish bishops from telling police about crimes. To this day, official Vatican policy remains ambiguous on the matter, stressing the need to observe the church's own rulebook.

A decade of Irish fact-finding commissions into the scandals has determined that church officials did not tell police of any crimes until the mid-1990s and only because Irish abuse victims had started to sue the church, challenging decades of Irish deference to church authority. One bishop was found to have continued to cover up crimes as recently as 2008.

The Vatican refused to respond to letters sent by Irish investigators seeking access to the church's secret files on abuse cases in Rome. The Vatican later said it couldn't respond because the investigators had failed to file their information requests through the Irish government.

More than 14,000 people have received abuse settlements in Ireland exceeding euro1.2 billion ($1.6 billion). GET THIS ---> The payouts have been funded largely by "taxpayers" ... rather than the church, another source of continuing church-state tensions."

Hmmmmmm! Caspian, You are, as we all are, entitled to your own opinion; but, closer inspection reveals- double speak, decades long inertia and denial, ...and "zero" $$$ compensation coming from the church, and its facilitators.
=============
ANALYSIS: "Wily" FOX GUARDING THE VATICAN $$$ & HEN HOUSE under full "state" and "empirical" protections.

-SINCE WHEN DOES IT TAKE TWO DECADES TO ESTABLISH WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T A FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF GODS LAW?
-THE ARTICLE CLEARLY ESTABLISHES THE FACT THAT RATZINGER PRESIDED OVER THE ABUSE COUNCIL FOR AT LEAST 17YRS WHERE NOTHING WAS DONE.
-ARTICLE ALSO CLEARLY STATES IN DETAIL WHO ACTUALLY PAID THE DAMAGES FOR THE ASSAULTED IN IRELAND.
=============
OPENED FOR DISCUSSION- What's the upside of his leadership?

John, you are right on the merits and you deserve an abundance of credit, but this pope like Bush and Cheney will never be prosecuted.

Ratzinger was very powerful for many years even before he became pontiff.

Now, today in 2012 the whole world is very aware of pedophiles and the church did enact new laws.

Even the laity who volunteer have to submit to back ground checks into their past.

P.S. Today The Vatican has to pay taxes now on all church property undoing Berlusconi.

Caspian: "P.S. Today The Vatican has to pay taxes now on [all] church property undoing Berlusconi.

NO. THEY MUST NOW PAY TAXES ON ALL "COMMERCIAL PROPERTYS" THAT THEY OWN.

Caspian: "P.S. Today The Vatican has to pay taxes now on [all] church property undoing Berlusconi.

NO. THEY MUST NOW PAY TAXES ON ALL "COMMERCIAL PROPERTYS" THAT THEY OWN.

Hello. impressive job. I did not anticipate this. This is a impressive story. Thanks!

Well I sincerely enjoyed reading it. This information procured by you is very practical for accurate planning.