I created one of those Frappr! maps but not for Gen X Revert readers. It is for my Catholic Blog Directory and I am encouraging all Catholic bloggers to put their pin on the map so it will become a map of Catholic blogs.

If you have a Catholic blog and it is listed on the Directory, please add your pin, thanks.

8th Commandment 101

Kellenberg High School became somewhat famous when it announced it would no longer sponsor a senior prom. Now, some Kellenberg students make the news again -

"Two teenagers videotaping a school project caught a convicted thief on camera allegedly stealing money from a church in Malverne. "

I'd say give those kids an A+.

Tassone's domestic partner asks for "marital privilege" in court

"Two months after former Roslyn Superintendent Frank Tassone implicated his longtime companion in an $11.2-million embezzlement scheme, the partner says Tassone would be violating "solemn" vows they made during a commitment ceremony in the Caribbean if he testifies against him."

From Newsday, a list of stories on this scandal

The scandal at the Roslyn school district involved several figures stealing millions of dollars over the course of several years. The school district discovered assistant superintendent Pamela Gluckin had stolen some money and allowed her to pay it back and quietly retire. The school district did not tell anyone, not even the police for fear of scandal. Sound familiar Catholics? The scandal broke when an anonymous letter was sent indicating what had happened. It turned out a lot more money was stolen than the district realized. The scandal involved many people and shocked this very wealthy neighborhood. The people involved were absolutely selfish- Frank Tassone gave up information on his homosexual lover, the former assistant superintendent Pamela Gluckin gave up information on her own son (John McCormick) and niece (Debra Rigano), and the district auditor (Andrew Miller) tried to cover up the embezzlement by altering documents. He ended up losing his entire business. What were these people thinking? Is Long Island so filled with trash that important jobs can't even be filled with honest, decent people? Gluckin was the most conniving, even keeping records on all the rest so that when the crimes were uncovered she would be able to give up the others in exchange for a lighter sentence. It makes you wonder how the people in this very good and very wealthy school district could be so clueless about the character of the people they trusted. I mean I really don't find it too hard to tell when a person is a liar, a professional charmer, two-faced, etc... Newsday should do a story on the people who knew these crooks, worked with them, dealt with them to see how so many people could miss so many clues.

From the minutes of the Long Island Voice of the Faithful regional meeting (9/8/5):

"VOTF will continue to “sing a new Church into being.”

I prefer the old Church thanks.

The chief engineer at the television station of the Diocese of Rockville Centre was arrested. He was accused of setting up a company to do the maintenance work around the station's tower and this work was never done. Telecare paid for this work for several years and the engineer, Joseph Kosik collected the money. Telecare said this was discovered after a routine audit that occurred soon after a new priest took over the station. This is the second time I have seen someone arrested after a "routine audit" after a leadership change. The last time was when Holy Family parish in Hicksville got a new pastor and two men who were long time employees of the parish were discovered to have used the parish's credit cards for all sorts of personal uses. The Diocese needs to keep good control over what goes in the seminary, the priesthood but also all the various apostolates.

This would probably also be a good time to ask whether it is worth having Telecare around. It is nice to have a place where people can see what is going on in the Diocese, but perhaps the network should stick to showing EWTN mostly and just produce a couple hours of local Catholic programming a week. EWTN has succeeded because it is not Catholic Lite, it is fully Catholic. Sadly, this cannot be said about Telecare.

"T’hee zichro Baruch. [May his memory ever serve as a blessing.]"

I like this expression I stumbled upon. It comes from a local rabbi's reflection on the death of Pope John Paul II.

Monsignor's resignation stuns
Sudden departure of noted clergyman at cusp of seminary review surprises faculty and students

I heard about this a few days ago. I am not sure what to think of this, although I think that mentioning the seminary review is a bit of yellow journalism, surprising from Newsday quite frankly. (They are anti-Catholic bigots there but politically correct to the max.). I have briefly met Msgr. Schneider and don't really know much about him. I have seen changes at the seminary over the past few years that are rather good.

Mass celebrates LI immigrants

Nice Newsday article on the annual Mass for Immigrants.

"Hammers, saws and dozens of volunteers swung into action to help a breast cancer survivor with a much needed home repair."

Volunteer Fire Departments on Long Island

Newsday is starting a series of reports on the volunteer fire departments here on Long Island. This is sure to open a can of worms but this type of local reporting is what Newsday does best. The fire departments are cherished and act as more than just a fire department, they are also am important social network. It is good to know you have neighbors who will come to your aid when you need them, and vice versa. Long Island is supposed to be the largest area covered almost exclusively by volunteer firemen. Many of the volunteers work for pay in the NYC fire departments. The system works well, but there are some growing questions about the budgets and ability of the departments to handle things compared to how we would do with paid firefighters. Nobody here wants to say we should get rid of the volunteer system as it is too much a hallmark of Long Island, and the volunteers are great people. I would hope Long Island can create a paid system, perhaps one for each county, but still maintain a large system of volunteers. As any Long Islander can testify, the volunteer firefighters here are some of the best men and women you will meet.

One thing I read in the article that I have also heard in the Knights of Columbus is the difference between the older volunteers and the younger volunteers. The older people ask what can I do for this community, and the younger ask what can this do for me.

Great guys!

"Two bodega workers helped save about two dozen mentally handicapped residents from a Harlem group home yesterday when a fire destroyed the three-story building."

"A crowd of about 1,500 Muslims attacked and burned two churches in eastern Pakistan on Saturday following reports that a Christian man had desecrated Islam's holy book, the Quran, police said."

"Local Muslim leaders used mosque public address systems to urge Muslims to attack the churches"

More nonsense from the "Religion of Peace". Instead of falsely accusing Christians of things and then committing acts of violence shouldn't these people be doing something for the survivors of that horrible earthquake over there?

Candidate Class of 2005

"We will confront these cowardly terrorist groups that have no religion or conscience."

-King Abdullah of Jordan speaking of those who blew up the hotels in his country.


"The world saw with horror the attacks on innocent people in Jordan by killers who defile a great religion"

-President George W. Bush on those same bombers


"But saying they're Muslim is a subject of angry dispute"

-Article in the Washington Times on the rioters in France

The Religion of Peace.com

Thou shalt not steal!

"The woman at the center of the Roslyn School District scandal pleaded guilty Thursday as part of a deal that will keep her from serving some serious prison time."

Pamela Gluckin was from Bellmore, the town that was home to the Mepham High School rapists Ken Carney, Tom Diasparra and Phil Sofia.

Study finds U.S. Catholic teens less religious than Protestant teens

"I did not have sex with that woman. Ms. Lewinsky"

Hofstra University started their presidential conference on William Jefferson Clinton today. They will study his presidency for 3 days. In the end, all of Clinton's accomplishments as president, and there were some, will be forgotten and he will be remembered as a man of no integrity, a liar. Years from now, after he is dead, he will still be known as a liar. That is what he is. I do believe Clinton/Gore did some good things in their 8 years, especially in attempting to make the government more efficient and in keeping things fiscally straight. They also turned their party to the middle just as Reagan turned his to the right. Obviously the shape this country is in now is not where we were during the 1990's and we could use a little of the direction we had in those days. But I am sure there are men and women who can lead this country in this direction with integrity and honesty. I wish people who run for office, or lead companies would at least attempt to be honest.

Amy Welborn and Jeff Miller review Bad Catholics Guide to Good Living, the book that is the subject of our next Faith on Tap session.

WAL-MART BANS CHRISTMAS:
BOYCOTT LAUNCHED

I don't usually pay attention to boycotts, but The Catholic League gives reason # 2,456,891 to hate Walmart. This Big-Box Mart store is famous for low wages, treating employees like crap, and for forcing Mom and Pop stores to close down.

"Oh Big Box Mart, look what you’ve done to me,
He’s gotta start all over now, at the age of 53…

Oh Big Box Mart, my paycheck reminds me,
Your everyday low prices have a price, they aren’t free."

lyrics to the Jib-Jab cartoon featuring a Massapequa native via WalMart Watch

Update: 10/10/05 My mother sent an email to Wal-Mart - the Fogelman lackey as per The Catholic League. She received an email reply saying they believe the original response sent to the woman who complained was entirely inappropriate.

"The King's good servant, But God's first"

Dennis Dillon, a great Catholic, pro-life man, and awesome DA lost his re-election last night.