The NY Daily News has published the names of 3 of the Mepham High School rapists and pictures of 2 of them. The said they did this even though the rapists are juveniles because of "the horrific nature of the crime". I think this may be a good thing as people should know the names and faces of dangerous criminals in their neighborhood. I have known the 3 names for weeks now and even published a "memo" to the 3 using just their last names on this site but after a couple of days I took it down because I wasn't sure if this was right. I think, but am not sure, the Daily News did the right thing. Without being charged as adults, these rapists will practically get away scot free. Now hopefully the other two involved in the rapes will be charged. I also hope that this will send a very strong message to every high school sports team in the country.

Update: Newsday has an article online about the Daily News printing the names and photos of the rapists. Seems the lawyer for one of the jocks complained about it, but the article contains some half-truths. The article states the "identities had only been whispered house to house in Bellmore". Actually, the names of the 3 rapists involved in the attack could be found on the News12 Long Island Sound Off message board. Also, someone created a website (Mepham.us) that contains a message board where the 3 names of the attackers were given, then confirmed and spelling corrected by students from Mepham weeks ago. This board also contains the names of the two other attackers, both of whom have not yet been charged. Is this another example of the "new media" topping the "old media"?

TRANSUBSTANTIATING THE CULTURE: ANDY WARHOL'S SECRET

Cool article about Warhol, a complicated and contradictory Catholic. From Godspy.

I almost forgot re: my Chris Farley post:

Tommy Boy= Best Film Ever!

Mepham players accused of sex assault reportedly admit guilt in PA court

Voice of the Faithful to Begin Vigils

*Sigh* So many of the VOF types here are good Catholics who want to do the right thing. Why can't they forget about being able to meet on Church grounds? Is it that they want the stamp of approval so badly? I wish they would concentrate on working in the diocese to reform it and make it rival Lincoln, Nebraska as one of the "best" dioceses in the country. I just can't help but think that they are wasting a lot of energy that could be very useful to the Church here.

Priests for Life Offers $50,000 Reward


"Priests for Life, the Catholic association which assists clergy of all denominations to address the abortion issue, announced today that it is offering $50,000 to anyone providing authorities with information leading to the capture of fugitives wanted for abortion clinic shootings."

This was a great idea and apparently they have had some criticism of it. To read about it click on the link and scroll down to the Commentary.

Dead comedian’s brother brings a ‘live’ message about addiction

I was (am) a big fan of Chris Farley's wacky comedy. I didn't know he named his motivational speaker character after a priest. Like most of SNL the bit was overplayed and overdone but the first sketch with this character is still one of the funniest bits ever from that tired old show. Farley's death was really a tragedy-too bad his faith couldn't reach deep enough or whatever so he could overcome his problems.

Chris Farley Foundation

Heart, Mind & Strength links to an article about some people blaming the television show ER for the nursing shortage. I heard this on NPR on the way home from work and laughed out loud. The nursing shortage has been a problem in this country for years now and it is real serious. I saw how great nurses are when my dad had cancer-it was the nurses who were there in the home with the patient day after day. Nursing is a very noble profession and although I think it is a bit silly to blame ER for a situation that existed before the show was on the air, I hope that this group's campaign will raise awareness. With the baby boomers getting older the health care industry is going to become even larger and the problems in the field must be dealt with now. I would hope that government, universities and private industries could create scholarships and programs to encourage more people to become nurses. I think the fact that it is an industry traditionally dominated by women is keeping many men from considering the field. And the fact that nurses are overworked and underappreciated keeps the turnover rate high. Hopefully the field will see nurses paid better and treated better so their ranks grow.

Mepham Letter Warns of Execution

The story of the Mepham High School rapes just keeps getting worse. There are many other stories regarding Mepham located here.

Guard Sentenced For Art Theft

Jailguards on Riker's Island stole a Salvador Dali sketch of the Crucifixion and replaced it with a copy. One of them destroyed the original to get rid of the evidence.

Well, I wanted to post about today's NY Post article regarding Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ movie. I read it first thing this morning and immediately noticed that the only "non-professional" in the group liked the movie. The priest, professor, rabbi, and film reviewer all criticized the movie based mostly on it's depiction of jews. But since I came home and read a few blogs, I noticed that Amy Welborn and Envoy Encore have already posted this and received several comments. I am not the only one who noticed that people basically saw what they wanted to see. Also, I noticed others commented on the violence in the movie, which is my only concern. I don't know if I can stand watching 2 hours of torture and death.

Brutal Hazing Charges Nothing New at Mepham High