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November 27, 2009 BBC World

DUBLIN, Ireland — Police officers, government officials and bishops of the Catholic church in Ireland have been harshly censured in a report on clerical child abuse over three decades in the Archdiocese of Dublin. Coming just a few months after an equally harsh report on the ill-treatment of children in Church-run industrial schools, the latest revelations have shocked Catholics and non-Catholics alike throughout the island.

An official commission investigated 320 allegations against a sample of 46 out of 183 priests from 1975 to 2004. It found that several cardinals and bishops protected criminal priests while taking no action to protect children.

Responding to the report, Ireland’s Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said that “the era where evil people could do so under the cover of the cloth, facilitated and shielded from the consequences by their authorities, while the lives of children were ruined with such cruelty, is over for good.” He added: “The bottom line is this: A collar will protect no criminal.”

In one of the most telling comments, the religious affairs correspondent of Irish national broadcaster RTE said on the main evening news that the report “represents the failure of civil Ireland, in the independent republic of Ireland, to stand up to the royalty of Ireland, the Catholic Church.” Deference to the clergy in this once devoutly Catholic country caused the police to conclude that the crimes of the Catholic Church were outside their remit.

Connecting.the.Dots: What is as close as we're going to get to a calling-to-account for the former Decider, and his puppet Tony Blair, for thousands of deaths in Iraq is unfolding, largely out of American media sight, before a panel of British nobles.

Informed Comment: IAEA condemnation of Iran: An omen of new sanctions or a symbolic slap on the wrist?

Seeing the Forest: Name it "The Bush Death Tax"

TheCunning Realist: Fear Factor

Ed Cone: Corn hole

James Wolcott: America Burps and Goes Shopping

Say what you will about Bill Gates and Microsoft (and Vista victims should have plenty to say), I try to separate that out from Gates' work with his wife, Melinda, at the Gates Foundation, which is doing great work in helping to fund research and global efforts to combat AIDS. The foundation now appears to be broadening its emphasis to encompass the cause of global health care. (Watch Glenn Beck's hair catch fire at the very thought.)

Bill and Melinda will be on Meet the Press today, and what they have to say will probably be worth listening to. (No one will blame you for skipping the Rick Warren half of the show, though.) It'll also be a nice changeup from the usual menu of gasbag Beltway insiders -- although certain matchups (Dede Scozzafava and Ed Gillespie on Face the Nation, and Howard Dean vs. Mike Huckabee on CNN) will probably be worth seeing for the entertainment value ...

(All times EST)

•ABC’s “This Week,” 9:30 a.m. — Guests: Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican; Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont independent.

•CBS’ “Face the Nation,” 1 a.m. Monday — Guests: Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat; former House majority leader Dick Armey, Texas Republican; Dede Scozzafava, former Republican U.S. House candidate in New York; Ed Gillespie, former Bush White House counselor.

•CNN’s “State of the Union,” 8 a.m. — Guests: Sen. Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican; Sen. Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat; Rep. David Obey, Wisconsin Democrat; former British prime minister Tony Blair.

•“Fox News Sunday,” 9 a.m. — Guests: Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican; Sen. Evan Bayh, Indiana Democrat; former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Republican; Howard Dean, former national Democratic Party chairman; Maj. Gen. Carla Hawley-Bowland, commanding general of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Army’s North Atlantic Regional Medical Command.

•NBC’s “Meet the Press,” 9 a.m. — Guests: Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Rev. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.

So, what's catching your eye this morning?

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(The Rolling Stones - 1971 with Mick Taylor, guitar - Heading off to France shortly)

Something to go along with your post-Thanksgiving weekend - a live concert (via the BBC) from Leeds University on March 13, 1971.

Aside from this being one of the last stops on their infamous "Goodbye To Britain Tour" of 1971, I don't think any other explanation is necessary other than turn up the volume and enjoy the show.

Sarah Palin, professional victim unit? From Zaius Nation, click here for larger.

Open Thread below....

Tarantino's director buddy Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) fronts the band Chingon for the Kill Bill 2 Premiere.

Our sister site, Newstalgia, has for their Saturday night concert, a taste of something recorded in Havana on March 31, 1957 - the legendary Cuarteto D'Aida with an orchestra arranged and led by the equally legendary Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill.

Happy Saturday.

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(Cuarteto D'Aida - Cancion Cubano at its best)

A taste of something recorded in Havana on March 31, 1957 - the legendary Cuarteto D'Aida with an orchestra arranged and led by the equally legendary Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill.

This is a whole world of music not a lot of people (at least here in the U.S.) have checked out, or even been exposed to. Thanks to films like Buena Vista Social Club, awareness of this rich vein of musical culture has finally come back into light. Sadly, it's been hidden away for too many years. Blame the Cuban revolution in 1959, blame the U.S. embargo, blame lots of things. Fact is - it's great music and it's gone unnoticed for a very long time. But lots of it, like this track, Profecia, have been sitting in the vaults at RCA and other U.S. labels and haven't been reissued since they first came out. RCA had studios in Havana and recorded a lot of these groups, as did many other labels. Fortunately, much of it is being reissued and discovered and is slowly becoming available.

So if this track appeals - there's a lot more where that came from.

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(The Perceived World Of Leisure - 1958 - it looked good on paper)

From the CBS Radio Documentary series "The Hidden Revolution", broadcast from April 1958 narrated by Edward R. Murrow. The subject was The Twenty Hour Work Week, and how life in 1958 was adjusting to it (which, of course it never really did - then as now, leisure time was a foreign concept). But at the time, all things were possible.

Edward R. Murrow: “Americans living in 1958 face an era in which all of the problems of the good life, including the uses of leisure time can be, indeed must be, assessed as one of the most important parts of the Hidden Revolution. In the next thirty minutes, we intend to explore the possibilities inherent in a situation where most men and women may find themselves working in what our fathers would have thought of as paradise; a time, a place where an individual works a twenty hour week.”

Well . . .it sounded good. But reality was a different thing entirely.

From GRITtv--Week In Review: Which Side Are You On?:

What happened to organized labor in the US? With the decline of manufacturing jobs and rise of female-dominated service fields, does the old labor union model still hold up, or do we need new ways of organizing and supporting workers? And what happened to solidarity?

Paula Finn, Editor of the New Labor Forum, Thomas Frank, author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? and The Wrecking Crew and Wall Street Journal columnist, Tom Geoghegan, labor lawyer, recent Congressional candidate, and author of Which Side Are You On?: Trying to Be for Labor When It’s Flat on Its Back joined Laura to talk about labor’s problems and suggest some solutions to help all of us, whether we’re union members or not.

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Dennis Kucinich takes on man-on-dog Rick Santorum on what America should be doing in Afghanistan. Par for the course Santorum has nothing but tough talk and meaningless slogans to offer. Always lots of money to drop bombs on poor people's heads, but heaven forbid don't ask anyone to pay for it by taxing the wealthy, or take care of anyone here at home instead. I think these "Christians", and I use the term loosely for Santorum, forgot about the part of the Bible that includes Christ.

QUESTION: Will the president be ready to roll out a decision in the week after Thanksgiving, or will it take longer?

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There are a series of decisions that have to be made, and the president is working through many of those decisions in order to come to what he believes is the best way forward for our national security. And I think the American people want the president to take the time to get this decision right, rather than to make a hasty decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BREAM: Next Tuesday, President Obama is set to address the nation on his proposed policy for the Afghanistan war, a proposal that may come with a $50 billion price tag. Still with us now, former senator and FOX News analyst Rick Santorum and Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich.

Congressman, I'd love to start with you. You have great concern, I understand it, about how this Afghanistan situation could possibly affect our national security.

KUCINICH: Well, it will have an effect on our national security, and I would suggest that the fight isn't in Afghanistan, it's here in our own country. We're mired deeply in debt. We'll go deeper into debt for this war. Our gross domestic product is down. Savings are down. Bankruptcies are up. Home foreclosures are up. We're doing more foreign borrowing. This war is undermining our nation, and we need to address this issue head on and ask what do we gain from this because I don't see any up side at all.

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