Bob Flanagan

Worcester’s Bob Flanagan, of the Ron Kovic chapter of Veterans for Peace, was profiled this week in Worcester Magazine:

. . . the Vietnam War was going on and we had a friend, Flipper, and he joined the Marine Corps and he never came home; he was blown away. Then there was another guy in Westboro, then Georgie Adams and Paul Bellino. About six or seven guys I knew as a kid never came home. Probably being the sensitive type, I never knew what to do with the anger.

Bob’s weekly vigil at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, was profiled at Worcester Indymedia. Bob’s also active with the Worcester Veteran’s Shelter.

Today is a notable one for counter-recruitment activists, as the U.S. Army has suspended all recruiting for the day in order to “emphasize proper conduct” to recruiters who have been accused of conning potential recruits.

Bob Flanagan vigils against war at the Recruiting Center in Worcester, Mass.

Bob Flanagan, of Veterans for Peace, vigils against war at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. Photo: Mike Benedetti.

Botox: Cosmetic or Chemical Weapon?

Botox: Cosmetic or Chemical Weapon? is a forceful Christian critique of vanity and violence in the form of a crazy tract. It was written by Mike Ciul and designed by Jim Speer. They hail from Philadelphia, a city of many crazy tracts.

  • Download “Botox” (.pdf file, 183KB), suitable for printing on letter-size paper, 2 tracts to a page

Continue reading “Botox: Cosmetic or Chemical Weapon?”

Kassie Temple House, Philadelphia

Sunday, the House of Grace Catholic Worker community in Philadelphia opened a new house of hospitality, Kassie Temple House.

Sunday, the House of Grace Catholic Worker community in Philadelphia opened a new house of hospitality, Kassie Temple House.

Kassie TempleThe house is named after long-time Catholic Worker Kassie Temple, who died in 2002 after being part of the New York Catholic Worker community for 27 years.

The house has five bedrooms and will house mostly refugee families.
Continue reading “Kassie Temple House, Philadelphia”

More Papal Tidbits

The last pope before John Paul I to use a new papal name was Pope Lando in 913. They say he was also the last pope to use his given name as his papal name. [See comments–ed.] There has been no Pope Chewbacca.

On the radio I heard the morning DJs joke that the new pope could have chosen any name for his papacy, even Cletus. Little did they know that the third pope ever was Pope St. Cletus.

Continue reading “More Papal Tidbits”

Pre-trial Summary

In December 2004, after reading media reports of mass killing, rape, and displacement of African civilians in the West Sudanese region of Darfur, a Catholic Worker Peace Team was formed. It included Brenna Cussen of South Bend, Indiana, Chris Douçot of Hartford, Connecticut, Grace Ritter of Ithaca, New York, and Scott Schaeffer-Duffy of Worcester, Massachusetts.Chris Douçot and Grace Ritter in Sudan with African chiefs and Arab sheiks

They visited four huge camps for “internally displaced people” in Darfur. Their observations confirmed the charge that the Sudanese government is guilty of genocide.
Continue reading “Pre-trial Summary”

Popery and Potpourri

My online papist friend Victor Morton wrote this obituary of
John Paul II for his Moonie-owned newspaper, the Washington Times.

My online papist friend Victor Morton wrote this obituary of
John Paul II for his newspaper, the Washington Times.

Perhaps John Paul Jones will convert, be elected, and not have to change his name. We could have the rockinest papacy ever.

Catholic-Hierarchy is an interesting website where you can find detailed history about all the different dioceses and historical bishops and such.

Continue reading “Popery and Potpourri”

What is our responsibility?

St. John’s Parish is in the news again today, in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The complete article is on Worcester Indymedia; here’s the intro:

Vigil to focus on homeless
By Martin Luttrell TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Friends of a homeless man who died sleeping in a church garage last week say there are not enough services for the homeless, and they plan to hold a vigil in front of City Hall a week from today to remember him and raise awareness of the need for services.

Bobby was in the unheated church garage because he did not feel safe (according to the paper) at the city’s main shelter, the PIP. This raises a couple of questions. (1) What kinds of living conditions do we owe those to whom we offer hospitality? (2) What is going on when someone would rather spend the winter in an unheated garage rather than a homeless shelter?

St. John’s does a lot of good work, and I hope their efforts are not hindered by this wannabe-scandal.

I wish the article had included more specific suggestions on what the city should do, or what individuals should do other than “raise awareness.”