I Predict: No Mail Today October 13, 2003January 22, 2017 But there’s this: ACCULINQ Bryan Norcross: ‘Do you use AccuLinQ for your calling card? It’s great… and if you use it from home it costs 4.9 cents/min. And is super cheap for international. 7 cents or so to Russia.’ MORE MOONIES PleaseDon’tPrintMyName: ‘I once worked for a company that did a very large amount of business with the Moonies. Probably over $1 million per year. As many people know, the church maintains several ‘recreation’ camps in various parts of the U.S. North Garden, South Garden, East Garden etc. They bring church members to the Gardens for teaching various church tenets. Fishing is considered a ritual or sacrament, I’m not sure which, but there was a lot of fishing going on. One time Rev Moon invited my boss and several other men to accompany him to one of the Gardens. They came back horrified. He had one of the most foul mouths they had ever heard. He complained that our company did not provide him with enough gifts. The large fruit baskets in his room were not enough. He wanted large commercial items and kickbacks. At dinner, it was time to pray, but not to God, but to him. All prayers must be invoked in his name. His followers consider him to be their True Father, and, of course, the Messiah. No, thank you.’ MORE MARRIAGE Sam: ‘My wife’s cousin is a Catholic priest studying in Paris. I was surprised to learn from him that he was studying to be a lawyer for the church. What application of law I wondered? He was studying to assist Catholic couples that want to split up find a church-justified reason for the action.’ Ed Biebel: ‘Sadly, being a Catholic today is much like being an American abroad. I spend an awful lot of time apologizing for our leadership and telling people that if you really understand the faith and theology you’ll see that it’s just the misguided people at the top of the hierarchy. (I always think of the discussions I’ve had with my ‘penpal’ in the UK, saying all Americans aren’t like George Bush and John Ashcroft, and it really is a nice place to live. and we have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, etc.) There are many Catholic parishes that challenge the leadership on these issues. There is a parish with a gay/lesbian social group. Some Parish priests here have refused to read the diatribes from the pulpit. These priests often have the protection of a religious order (like the Jesuits and the Vicensians). (I won’t bore you with how order priests differ from diocesan priests.) There are even a few good men like my pastor who, though a diocesan priest, said publicly in the paper that the church should be welcoming. (The church replaced him because [in my opinion] he set aside money for the poor and didn’t give the diocese a cut.) It is people like my pastor who symbolize Catholicism and not the mitre-wearing bishops. We look to the role models of earlier years such as St. John Neumann (the bishop of Philadelphia in 1800s), who once arrived at a parish riding in a manure cart because it was the only transport available. This is certainly not Bernard Law. And we look to the role models of today like my parish priest, who symbolize the truth of the faith.’ SPECIAL PROSECUTOR Russell Turpin: ‘The following exchange occurred October 4, 1997, on Evans & Novak.’ JOHN ASHCROFT: The truth of the matter is that if the law’s been violated, we should be able to ascertain that. We can, if we have an independent person without a conflict of interest… ROWLAND EVANS: …The attorney general has shaved down all the allegations that Vice President Gore apparently down to one single allegation — which telephone he used to make these fundraising calls from. Do you really think that alone is worthy of a special prosecutor? ASHCROFT: …you know, a single allegation can be most worthy of a special prosecutor. If you’re abusing government property, if you’re abusing your status in office, it can be a single fact that makes the difference on that. So my own view is that there are plenty of things which should have caused [Attorney General Janet Reno], a long time ago, to appoint a special prosecutor, an independent investigator. ☞ If using the wrong phone to make fundraising calls may have violated a law written before there even were telephones – and justified a special prosecutor – how about blowing the cover of a CIA agent, endangering lives and jeopardizing national security? Nah, says Ashcroft now. Apparently that doesn’t rise to the same level.