Brother Fire

I have some strong feelings surrounding this upcoming US election -- there's lots of reasons to vote for Barack Obama this fall. There are even more reasons to vote against John McCain. Here's another. One of the greatest causes of the volatility of the oil market is out-of-control oil futures speculation. And it all began with deregulation of the market due to "the Enron Loophole." John McCain recognized this loophole and railed against it until he started to have second thoughts following political connections with Phil Gramm and his wife, Wendy Gramm. See the video below -- it's worth watching. With all that we know about the deregulation of the oil futures market, what is McCain's solution to the problem of rising gas prices? The so-called "gas tax holiday." By the way...you can monitor local gas prices at GasBuddy.com . Search for gas prices by US Zip Code

Last week Roman Catholic Bishops from New York released a statement condemning the New York State recognition of same-sex marriage. The NY Bishops' Conference statement was in response to Governor David Paterson's directive that all state agencies must revise their policies and regulations to legally recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states (Massachusetts and California), as well as Canada. The Governor's memo warns that failure to do so could result in sanctions for violations of the state human rights law (You can see an Empire State Pride Agenda video of Governor Paterson announcing the directive, as well as the text of the memo here , on the New York Observer's website). What I find most troubling about the Bishops' statement is not that it condemns same-sex marriage. Such a condemnation is not news coming from Roman Catholic Church leaders. The Church has condemned most things homosexual for centuries. And I wish not to debate the Bishops...

Patrick is a local middle school student here on Long Island, NY who is a victim of bullying. His family alleges that school personnel have been unresponsive to violence being committed against Patrick. Therefore, his parents are suing the school district. Patrick decided to do something more and produced this video. His family was hoping to show the video at the school's PTA meeting, however the school wouldn't allow it because the video is "too graphic." I was victimized by bullying for most of the 13-years that I attended public school. Except for some caring adults, most teachers and other adults turned their backs on me. I remember one adult taunted me because I was not "man enough" to stand-up against my attacker (I was 12 years old). This adult was a reflection of the ignorance of most adults at the time -- most did not understand the effects of bullying on children. It should be noted that the bully was arrested soon after for sexually assaulti...

I found this amazing video from girleffect.org .

I have worked for Catholic Charities here on Long Island for a number of years -- developing housing for people at risk of homelessness and living with HIV/AIDS, as well as other disabilities including mental illness and substance abuse. I am proud of "my program" -- the S pecial Needs Housing Program, and I am proud of the good work that we do. I am especially proud of another program at Catholic Charities that I believe is truly an example of putting faith into action everyday. The Teaching Family Home Program is a community-based, structured residential treatment program for children and adolescents age five to 17. The program provides individualized treatment and care to children who suffer from serious emotional disturbances. Currently there are five homes in operation in Nassau and Suffolk counties (Long Island, NY), and more are in development. Typically, there are four children and/or adolescents living with a specially trained married couple (teaching parents) and th...