Women in the priesthood.

The Catholic church made it's first gestures to accepting the role of women in a pivotal role when it allowed the laymen and laywomen of the church to serve the Eucharist, both during mass and the practice to the community for the infirmed. 

November 1, 2008
Questions about Eucharistic Ministers (click here)

It is a well established practice in the USA. The Eucharistic ministers were originally all men. Deacons of the church are still men, but, I could be wrong about that. But, it was shortly after the position of Eucharistic Minister began in the USA women were included. 

So, is there hope for women in the clergy? Yes. Most definitely.  

At one time the alter was exclusively for the priests and alter boys. That has changed as well. Girls are now as much a part of the mass as any young man.

I am proud of my country. We have made it easy to be Pope Francis. He is age 76 and the Secret Service has been wonderful to him and the people that have come to see him. There are people from all over the Western Hemisphere that have come to this country to be near him. We are a great people for hosting his time in the USA without worry.

...The cause (click here) for Serra’s beatification began in the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno in 1934, and the diocesan process was finished in 1949. On September 25, 1988 he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis has announced that he will be canonized on September 23, 2015 during a Mass in Washington, DC....

The Blessed Junipero Serra is about to be canonized as a saint. This process started some time ago.

An 18th century Spanish Franciscan (click here) who founded a string of missions across Mexico and California will be canonized Pope Francis announced on January 15th.

Blessed Serra is credited with directly founding 9 missions in California, one in Baja California in Mexico and with reinvigorating established missions in Mexico.

The announcement came when Pope Francis, aboard a flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines, explained to reporters his decision to canonize St. Joseph Vaz, a 17th- and 18th-century missionary to Sri Lanka, bypassing the usual process, including verification of a second miracle attributed to the saint's intercession. Pope Francis said St. Joseph was among great evangelists whom he planned to canonize without such preliminaries, in an effort to celebrate the practice of evangelization.

"Now in September, God willing, I will canonize Junipero Serra in the United States. He was the evangelizer of the West in the United States," the pope said. He did not specify when or where the canonization might take place.

Father Vaughn said he had heard that Pope Francis considered Blessed Serra to have already met the sainthood criteria because of the way he brought the Catholic faith to California and the native populations. But that the pope was ready to move on canonizing the friar came as a total surprise, he said....

I realize there is a controversy surrounding this saint, however, he had no control over colonization. He no different than other religious men or women come to serve the people; at least in the Catholic faith. I can understand how Native Americans may think about him, but, their argument is not with him, it is with the federal government. I suppose it is unfortunate there are treaties that limit the reclamation of the USA by the original inhabitants of the land. Blessed Serra had little to do with any of that.

Catholics are attacked with remarkable regularity (click here) for supposed crimes against the native peoples of the New World. Much has been written, for example, about the demolition of the Meso-American cultures such as the Aztecs and the South American Andean civilization of the Incas by the Spanish Conquistadors, the severe oppression of the indigenous peoples, and the devastation delivered upon the Indian tribes across the Americas from displacement, disease, war, and slavery.... 

Let me put it this way. Blessed Serra had to get along with the white man, too.

While 70 million American Catholics celebrate the visit of Pope Francis, Muslims engage haj.

A Muslim pilgrim (click here) prays on a rocky hill called the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015 during the hajj pilgrimage. Mount Arafat, marked by a white pillar, is where Islam's Prophet Muhammad is believed to have delivered his last sermon to tens of thousands of followers some 1,400 years ago, calling on Muslims to unite. 

23 September 2015
By Lynne Al-Nahhas

... Many of the faithful (click here) from around the globe camped at the foot of Mount Arafat where they slept, exhausted from their journey, and prayed despite the scorching sun.
Carrying colorful umbrellas, they walked from dawn in massive crowds toward the slippery, rocky hill which is also known as Mount Mercy.
It was here that the Prophet gave his final sermon 14 centuries ago after leading his followers on Haj.
To organize the flow of pilgrims, security forces formed human chains along the roads of the vast Arafat plain.
Along the way, volunteers handed out boxes of food and cold water bottles....

There are enormous crowds at every turn of this Pope's visit. Incredible.

Considering the accomplishments of Pope Francis to date, it is easy to call him the "Dove of Peace." He has been very successful. Never saw such accomplishments by other Popes.

Senator Graham is wrong on Russia in the Middle East. Israel and Russia are as much allies as the USA and Israel. There has been every indication Russia has respect for the establishment of Israel.

Russia will stabilize the Middle East with plenty of political fodder from the USA Republicans. Supposedly, Russia is going to increase the threat to global if not regional war. It's nonsense. Russia has as much interest in the stability of the Middle East as the USA and China.

April 21, 2015

By Raphael Ahren

...“Israel’s policy on Ukraine (click here) resulted in some damage to the fabric of relations with the US. We’re talking about cumulative damage here, especially at a time when relations are already at an all-time low,” said Roman Bronfman, a Russian-born former Knesset member.

Last year, a senior US administrator condemned Israel’s refusal to censor Russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine and to vote in favor of an anti-Russia resolution at the United Nations General Assembly. America is Israel’s best friend in the world, always there to defend its junior ally in the diplomatic crises it constantly faces, the official noted, and therefore Washington can expect some quid pro quo....

Israel remains neutral to most exchanges between the USA and Russia. Are there no Russian Jews? Israel maintains an interest in all of it's diaspora and for that reason alone, it has diplomatic relations with major powers on Earth.

I am proud the USA can embrace China for it's wonderful people, while holding the line on maintaining the peace in the Pacific.

September 22, 2015
By Nancy Benac

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Chinese President Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan visit (click here) Washington later this week, President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, face the daunting task of trying to throw a warm and inviting dinner party for guests of honor accused of cyber-spying on the U.S., trampling human rights and engaging in assertive military tactics....

The Democratic debates are going to prove to be featuring the excellence within the Democratic Party.

I am looking forward to the Democratic debates, especially from Jim Webb.

September 22, 2015
By Daniel Wiser

Jim Webb, (click here) a Democratic presidential candidate and former secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, urged President Obama on Tuesday to issue stern warnings to the visiting Chinese President on Beijing’s militarization of the South China Sea and cyber attacks against U.S. businesses and federal agencies.
Webb said in a Facebook post that Xi Jinping’s state visit comes “just days after his government doubled down on South China Sea sovereignty, actually warning the United States against freely navigating those international waters.” China has embarked on an aggressive campaign in recent months to build nearly 3,000 acres of manmade islands in the South China Sea and outfit them with military-style facilities, including runways, surveillance towers, and artillery pieces....

Jim Webb has the best point of view regarding China. China has to live within it's natural borders. I have stated early on when the focus of the USA Navy turned it's attention to the Pacific there were going to be plenty of tensions that could explode. Jim Webb is correct. There is plenty to develop policy regarding China's movement into the Pacific.

This is just observation and speculation regarding China's currency problems. The Chinese government does not intervene with private commercial economic development unless there is serious problems. When there was a problem with dog food in the USA, China took over the issue and there were criminal prosecutions.

The Chinese currencies are the business of the government. Considering the actions of China in the Pacific a reasonable assumption has to be that the currency turbulence is as much a military tool as any of it's military ships.

One of the reasons the USA has to preserve it's stores of petroleum, including the Arctic, is because of the power of China to turn the global economy upside down. Implosions of Wall Street from time to time is measured by China to know exactly how to use it's currency as an aggressive tool. The Chinese government doesn't care about it's oligarchs as much as the financial markets wants to believe it does. China cares about it's people and growing the country's Middle Class, but, this is a communist government. The government has priorities far beyond it's oligarchs.

If China sets a path to aggression with the USA it clearly has enough clout on every front to be as much as a threat as Russia. Perhaps even more so. The USA's petroleum resources is very depleted. Peak oil clearly occurred in 2005 and the industry went to extremes to maintain it's case flow. The USA has to preserve it's petroleum resource still in the ground for future generations.

I am looking forward to the policy Jim Webb will bring to the Democratic debates. He is former Secretary of the Navy and we already know his position on the Iraq War. He is more than qualified to be President and/or Vice President. It should be interesting.

I didn't know Hillary Clinton had given a TED talk.

Some like to say Hillary's announcements today was timed perfectly. As if she was speaking out while the Pope distracted Americans. That is a bit of an insult. 

It is important for leaders to speak out when a vital need of the American people, namely pharmaceuticals, has become a bit bizarre. So, I applaud Hillary Clinton for her very important and timely message to remind how important the health of the American people have become to their government. 

She also stated today she would not be endorsing the Keystone XL pipeline. I thank her for that, but, this again is an issue that needed an answer. Recently, some folks in the petroleum industry was dusting off this hideous project to put it back into the political sphere. She needed to be absolute. The entire project is ridiculous. The lands of Native Americans should never be in question. It's ridiculous for any corporations to covet land that is protected. Where do they get the nerve? But, no matter, Hillary Clinton saved me the trouble and I appreciate it.

September 22, 2015
By Stephanie Condon

Hillary Clinton (click here) on Tuesday is rolling out a plan to crack down on high prescription drug costs, a problem that plagues millions of Americans.
Clinton's plan, which she'll formally unveil in Iowa, is premised on leveraging the nation's bargaining power to get better deals for patients on Medicare, reforming policies to foster competition in the pharmaceutical industry and implementing new rules to ensure consumers aren't exploited.
In a memo released early Tuesday, the Clinton campaign notes that "too many American families and seniors are being squeezed by rising drug costs." The memo cites a Consumer Reports survey from August showing that one in four Americans facing higher drug costs were unable to afford all their medical bills or medications. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry has a higher profit margin than just about every other major industrial sector....

He is a great man. A great Pope. He is unafraid of his people and his world.

By David Willey

...“He learned )click here) that scores of homeless people were sleeping rough literally on his doorstep, sheltering in the embrace of Bernini’s colonnades facing St. Peter’s Basilica, or in doorways around the Vatican. So he asked his almoner, the Polish priest whose job it is to help the most needy in the Vatican neighborhood, to distribute hundreds of new sleeping bags, to install showers in the public toilets discreetly hidden behind the colonnades, and to arrange for a barber to give free haircuts once a week."...

It is pretty heady stuff. He is the authority on God for all Catholics in the world. The entire world. Yet, he reaches for the poor and the neglected and those least thought of, as a global leader. He has the heart and soul of 20 percent of the world's population. He is unmatched in his influence.

Ted Cruz has always taken up with the right wing extremists that claim the Supreme Court is just unelected lawyers. 

HERE AGAIN, the right wing after stating they love the USA and it's constitution are saying they hate the USA Constitution. Someone is confused and I know it isn't me.

Duncan Hunter is ranting and raving on FOX about a Green Beret.

August 21, 2015
by Liz Klimas

A Green Beret (click here) is set to be “involuntarily discharged” from the U.S. Army on November 1 and the reason why, some say, is “troubling.”

Sgt. First Class Charles Martland, according to a letter sent from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) to Defense Secretary Ash Carter, hit an Afghan Local Police Commander in 2011 after he allegedly raped a boy and beat his mother for telling the U.S. military.
“To intervene was a moral decision, and SFC Martland and his Special Forces team felt they had no choice but to respond,” Hunter wrote in the letter addressed to Carter on August 18, published by Fox News in an exclusive report....

First, Sgt. Martland should be holding open press conferences rather than huddling with the right wing media.

Additionally, Sgt. Martland needs to be specific in the ways the USA military is treating him unfairly. I know there is a great deal of support at FOX and Megan Kelly stated she understood there is a difference in culture, but, this is us on our own bases.

That is exactly what is wrong with nation building. We'll never change anything in Afghanistan when it comes to a culture that belongs in the Stone Age. 

Sgt. Martland has a point, however, that means the gates to US bases are closed to all Afghan people. If that is what is necessary then we definitely don't have a reason to be in Afghanistan. I thought the USA was training the Afghan military these past 14 years. It is difficult to train Afghans if the gates are closed.

But, the idea Duncan Hunter can come on the news and simply rant about how unfair life is, is a bit of a joke isn't it? If he really wants to help Sgt. Martland he can do it without exploiting the man for political gains. Rep. Hunter should seek a different assignment for the Sargent where he cannot be offended by the cultural practices in Afghanistan. I think a US service man can find offense in some practices and if they are unable to 'buck up' and get on with their day, then they are simply causing problems and should be sent to a different assignment.

September 21, 2015
By Edwin Mora 

The American command (click here) in Afghanistan has told U.S. service members to ignore child rape by Afghan soldiers and police officers, reports The New York Times (NYT). 
“Generally, allegations of child sexual abuse by Afghan military or police personnel would be a matter of domestic Afghan criminal law,” Col. Brian Tribus, the spokesman for the American command in Afghanistan, told The Times via email, adding that “there would be no express requirement that U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan report it.”
Col. Tribus said an exception is when child sexual abuse is being used as a weapon of war.
“The American policy of nonintervention is intended to maintain good relations with the Afghan police and militia units the United States has trained to fight the Taliban,” reports NYT. “It also reflects a reluctance to impose cultural values in a country where pederasty is rife, particularly among powerful men, for whom being surrounded by young teenagers can be a mark of social status.”...

This is a liberal?

This was four years ago. I think Donald Trump can claim his membership to a conservative party. He is proud being a conservative and fighting their fight. "I get things done....I want to move on to China and how they are ripping us off. Getting OPEC to behave...." That is what is annoying him now. He is fighting against the mindless war of 'infighting.' He wants to get on with his campaign.

Don't over react to the VW deceit.

There are too many VWs on the road that provide fuel economy to do anything except correct the software.

For a systemic issue to exist there was only one man making the decision and ordered it. The CEO. 

There are many jobs at stake if this turns into a circus. Prosecute the CEO. He had to be the one person that told everyone else to look the other way. 



Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn (click here) could learn fate at board meeting tomorrow.

LIVE 
Volkswagen brings forward board meeting, as NY Attorney General launches investigation into emissions 'cheating' scandal

23 September 20 
By Jon Yeomans and Julia Bradshaw

01.35

The latest from AP:

Tennessee plans to hold hearings over whether the Volkswagen emissions scandal could imperil the nearly $900 million in state and local incentives that have been directed toward the German automaker's lone US plant in Chattanooga.

Republican state Sen. Bo Watson, who has been a vocal critic of Volkswagen's labour policies, cited the state's "significant investment" in the Chattanooga plant in calling for a Senate Finance Committee hearing.

"I am very concerned as to the financial impact these violations could present to the state of Tennessee," Watson wrote in a letter to the panel's chairman. "Any action that threatens the stability and sustainability of the investment should be reviewed by the finance committee, without delay."

I don't think an investigation has to conclude before filing charges against the CEO. The West has a very bad habit of allowing the tail to wag the dog. Enough of that. A CEO has to be responsible for the operation of his corporation. That means when a problem this size occurs it is considered systemic and the CEO is directly responsible.

Mr. Winterkorn needs to stand trial. Just that simple. The corporation of Board members will have to be held accountable for any fines and costs.

There is no reason for workers, unions or consumers to suffer because of the greed of one man. The software has to be repaired and the autos brought into compliance. I think this is an excellent time to look at diesel fuel and it's virtue as a fuel for vehicles. 

But, to seek to investigate to the most minuscule detail only allows those leading the corporation to bury their responsibility elsewhere. Governments have to hold CEOs responsible. Just that simple. Everyone can say but the company can't do without it's genius. A genius that breaks the law is not a genius. 

What I would like to know is how is all that soot and emissions going to be removed from the troposphere?

Pope Francis is here !!!!!!!!!!

He runs a tight ship. He said he would be here at 4:00 PM. He has American flags on the front of the jet. He is a pretty cool guy. There are many Cardinals welcoming him.

This is a map of the direct solar rays as of right now.

Beginning of Autumn is September 23 at 4:31 AM EST.

This is the website (click here) to understand you sunlight where ever you are.

The map to the left is the traverse of the sun during the day at near 45 degrees latitude. The reporting states dusk is 20:11 on a 24 hour clock. But, a 12 hour clock it would be 10:11 PM. And that is correct. The daylight is only starting to get shorter at 45 degrees north. Dawn occurs at 7:01 AM. At 45 degrees north the daylight starts at 7:01 AM and ends at 10:11 PM.

What will happen tomorrow is that the sun will pass over the equator. The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are designations of star clusters/constellations in the sky. The names are affiliated with the Zodiac calendar.

The "tropics of" are significant because that marks the height of summer and winter. Our seasons change according to the direct solar rays and the latitudes it passes over. So, tomorrow the sun will be exactly over the center and widest place of Earth. 

Below is a satellite of Earth's north and west hemisphere. The water vapor is concentrated at the ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone) near the equator because of the concentration of sunlight.



September 22, 2015
1830.18z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of North and West Hemisphere (click here for 12 hour loop - thank you)

For the most part the troposphere looks fairly quiet. But, that will change once the direct rays of the sun are in the southern hemisphere and the tilt of Earth allows the sun rays to reach into the northern hemisphere again.

By using the sunlight calibrator above, I know when the equinox occurs one of the towns it will pass over is Sucumbios, Ecuador.

What is it with the Rubber Ducky?

WorkersWorkers (click here) travel on a speedboat past an inflatable Rubber Duck installation by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman on a lake at a botanic garden in Changsha, China, on Sept. 21, 2015. 

August 12 - 15, 2015 (click here) 

“DUCK” into BELLAIRE…let the
“QUACKIN” begin..The Bellaire Chamber of Commerce is pleased to present the 28th ANNUAL RUBBER DUCKY FESTIVAL
This year’s festival is part of Bellaire’s 12 Days of Summer Celebration August 6
– August 15, 2015 with the highlight of the festivities being the Rubber Ducky Festival – including a quarter-mile race on August 15th – when 2000 yellow ducks are dumped into the Intermediate River with the Ducks stopping at RIVERSIDE MARINA, the finish line! ...

The world's largest Rubber Ducky. The Rubber Duck is everywhere. 

SAN PEDRO (CBSLA.com) — A six-story-tall rubber duck (click here) paddled into the Port Of Los Angeles Wednesday. 
KNX 1070’s Ron Kilgore reports the oversized bath toy is in town to help kick off the 2014 Tall Ships Festival in San Pedro.... 

There is something about this. There is definitely a Rubber Ducky phenomena.

"...Very special little pal...."

August 12 - 15, 2015

“DUCK” into BELLAIRE…let the “QUACKIN” begin..The Bellaire Chamber of Commerce is pleased to present the 28th ANNUAL RUBBER DUCKY FESTIVAL
This year’s festival is part of Bellaire’s 12 Days of Summer Celebration August 6 – August 15, 2015 with the highlight of the festivities being the Rubber Ducky Festival – including a quarter-mile race on August 15th – when 2000 yellow ducks are dumped into the Intermediate River with the Ducks stopping at RIVERSIDE MARINA, the finish line!
- See more at: http://www.bellairechamber.com/rubber-ducky-festival-55/#sthash.JH0j5cUF.dpuf

I am sure there is some mechanism in the United Nation's charter that provides for amendments to treaties with a majority vote by the General Assembly. 

I really could not understand how the Kyoto Protocol simply expired. It should have been looked at and improved with an amendment to completion.

Ambassador's are suppose to mean something.

Retired Geneal Petraeus sees the USA chronically at war in his world vision.

March 28, 2014
By Annalise Mantz

...The general (click here) also said that the complexity of his job made it especially draining. Petraeus envisioned the military working differently than previous operations. When a soldier asked him if he saw the World War II general Douglas MacArthur as a role model, Petraeus explained that his vision more closely aligned with Rudy Giuliani’s strategy as mayor of New York City....

There is that ambition to satisfy 'the President.'

Gen David Petraeus said his tenure as commanding general in Iraq and director of the CIA included countless sleepless nights, catching a stray bullet in the chest and even a mountain bike race against former President George W. Bush...

For those that see a career in the USA military and aspire to highest levels of leadership, a political component plays into the decisions made by Generals, except those that actually care about the country and it's soldiers such as the Retired Secretary Shinseki.

General Petraeus is a neocon. When the scandal resulted it was well known he was surrounded by those that saw him as President sometime in the future. If he ever made it into office in the USA, war would be a high priority. Damn the non-proliferation treaty.

Why would anyone consider nuclear war, or better yet the Cheney Limited Nuclear engagement, as a go to resolve? Because the impact doesn't effect those in power.

The best example of that extremism was when September 11th occurred. Why would a Vice President state to Senator Feinstein they would not be able to get to the CIA PDB for the next six months when in reality the PDB stated three months? Because there are always nukes to settle an argument.

If there was any exchange of nuclear weapons anywhere in the world the last people effected is the military and political leadership. The people within a country would be left to their own means. There would be complete chaos and anarchy. A nuclear war would bring survival to the forefront of any people of any country.

Those that survive the attack would still have to deal with the radiation and global wind patterns. It would be catastrophic with a warming planet that already has winds dominated by Coriolis. The contamination would rain down for an extended period of time and cause a great deal of damage even when the fires ended. The air would be very acrid. The only deterioration people could hope for is the half life of the radiation which is more than generations of time.

So, let's just stop and realize why the non-proliferation treaty is paramount to the quality of life of people in any country. People like Petraeus are really unwelcome leadership.

...Between the two bombings, (click here) it is estimated that 210,000 people were killed within the months immediately following the bombings (This number is variable based on the source. It is unknown exactly how many people perished in the bombings). [1]

Additionally, numerous other Japanese citizens were exposed to radiation from the bombs but did not die from the acute effects of the exposure. Many of these people went on to have children afterwards. In some cases, the mothers were already pregnant and both they and the fetuses were exposed to the radiation in-utero. In other cases, however, the parents were exposed and years later had children. It is an area of ongoing research to determine what the possible effects were on the children that experiences either of these types of exposure. The bulk of the research concerning these children was conducted in the 40 years immediately after the bombing events (1945 onwards). The main risks that were evaluated in these children were (1) cancer risk, (2) risk of mental retardation, and (3) risk of congenital birth defects....

The attacks on Japan really were not imaginable to any world power other than the USA. There is still today no accurate understanding of what happened in those days of radiation release to defeat the Japanese. I imagine they had no clue to the events until the USA claimed surrender. I can't imagine waking to a world completely foreign without attributing it to some god from some millennia.

But, it stopped the war and to that end the USA stands today. We can't afford a nuclear war anymore. It was an incredibly horrible act of war and countries need to resolve to strengthen and move forward with the Non-Proliferation Treaty. There probably should be an updated conference for the world we live in today. There are stealth bombers that can deliver these heinous weapons within a far shorter period of time than ever before. Then there is Star Wars, the nightmare provided to the USA by Reagan.

The USA has to dedicate itself to end such threats to the world. Anything short of eliminating this nightmare to our children's future is evil.

Just an amendment and not a return to ratification.

August 8, 2015
By William J. Broad

Twenty-nine of the nation’s top scientists (click here) — including Nobel laureates, veteran makers of nuclear arms and former White House science advisers — wrote to President Obama on Saturday to praise the Iran deal, calling it innovative and stringent.

The letter, from some of the world’s most knowledgeable experts in the fields of nuclear weapons and arms control, arrives as Mr. Obama is lobbying Congress, the American public and the nation’s allies to support the agreement.

The two-page letter may give the White House arguments a boost after the blow Mr. Obama suffered on Thursday when Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, a Democrat and among the most influential Jewish voices in Congress, announced he would oppose the deal, which calls for Iran to curb its nuclear program and allow inspections in return for an end to international oil and financial sanctions.

The first signature on the letter is from Richard L. Garwin, a physicist who helped design the world’s first hydrogen bomb and has long advised Washington on nuclear weapons and arms control. He is among the last living physicists who helped usher in the nuclear age....

Why waste the focus the world has right now? Update the NPT. All countries should have the security the NPT actually is needed to achieve a lasting peace without nuclear weapons. The NPT should have it's own world vision.

Let's see. If I had a brother that was a total failure with the Iraq war and I had no experience with the US military, who would I want for a Vice President?

September 22, 2015
By AP

Washington (AP) — Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus (click here) is apologizing again for sharing classified information with his biographer and mistress, Paula Broadwell, in his first time testifying publicly before Congress since resigning as CIA director.
Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that he made a "serious mistake" four years ago that brought "discredit and pain" to those closest to him. He says he violated the public's trust and breached his own values....

His sentence was for two years. It is unclear the date where his two years probation begins and whether or not it was retroactive to the date of his resignation. But, he had a fine of $100,000.

1. The Broadwells romanced as we learned of Paula's infidelity (click here)"The most amazing detail about the Petraeus affair, which continues to serve up bizarre amazing details by the hour," says Hannah Rosin at Slate, is that as the world was learning of Broadwell's affair with Petraeus, she was having a romantic birthday dinner with husband Scott at Virginia's Inn at Little Washington, a veritable "factory of 'romantic.'" Assuming that Mr. and Mrs. Broadwell didn't have their smartphones on during dinner, "it's possible, and maybe probable... that her husband found out along with the rest of the world." What we do know, says Carol Ross Joynt at the Washingtonian, is that the couple were in "good" and "upbeat" moods on Thursday night and Friday, and suddenly "not in very good moods" late Friday. By the time they checked out, earlier than expected on Saturday morning, Scott was described as "not talkative." The plan was to head to Washington for Paula's 40th birthday party, which was abruptly canceled. "A source close to the intelligence community said General Petraeus was scheduled to attend that party."...

The Republicans are trying to deal him back in.

March 3, 2015

By Philip Ewing

...With the criminal case against him (click here) in the final stages of resolution, Petraeus could have the last foundation-stone in place to take the next step in the public rehabilitation he’s slowly been pursuing since his resignation from the CIA in 2012.
His allies say that can’t come soon enough.
“Now he can put this behind him and move on and continue to serve the country,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
A longstanding Petraeus ally, McCain told POLITICO that the U.S. needs him back in public life given his deep experience in Iraq and Afghanistan....


Well, he is better than Cheney. Isn't he?

We are a country of laws, not men. At least in the court system. Most of the time. At least 97 percent of the time. But, definitely when it counts.

September 22, 2015
By Adam Beam and Claire

In this Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015, file photo, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, with Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee at her side, greets the crowd after being released from the Carter County...

Frankfort,, Ky. (AP) — She's already spent five days in jail, (click here) and now a Kentucky clerk could be back in court soon for altering marriage license forms issued to same-sex couples.
Monday, lawyers for two gay couples and two straight couples questioned the validity of the new marriage licenses and asked a federal judge to order Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis' office to reissue them. If she refuses, the lawyers asked the judge to put the office in receivership and have someone else do it.
Davis stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide. Two gay couples and two straight couples sued her. A federal judge ordered Davis to issue the licenses, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that order.
But Davis refused, citing "God's authority." That's when U.S. District Court Judge David Bunning threw her in jail, prompting a fierce debate in the public square about religious liberty versus the civil rights afforded to all U.S. citizens....