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The 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards committee has decided to postponed the highly-anticipated awards show due to the coronavirus.
The show, which was scheduled to air on January 31, has been moved to March 14.
A statement was released on the Recording Academy's Instagram page.
"After thoughtful conversations with health experts, our host and artists scheduled to appear, we are rescheduling the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards to be broadcast Sunday, March 14, 2021. The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, with hospital services being overwhelmed, ICUs having reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do," the Academy said.
This will be the first time in the history of the show that it will not be aired at its designated time, but the Academy says safety is its first priority.
"Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show," the release stated.
We are glad to see that they are taking the virus seriously and using the precautions set by the Centers for Disease Control.


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KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore's CapitaLand sold its 20.75 per cent stake in United Malayan Land Bhd (UMLand) to a private firm, Seleksi Juang Sdn Bhd, that is now making a takeover offer for the rest of UMLand.
It intends to take UMLand private at RM2.50 a share, a 5.9 per cent premium to its last traded share price of RM2.36.
It bought the stake from CapitaLand also at RM2.50 a share, or RM156.45 million in total, in a direct business transaction yesterday.
Seleksi Juang's shareholders include Datuk Ng Eng Tee, who is UMLand's major shareholder and deputy chairman and executive director.
By Business Times
Friday, July 13, 2012
CapitaLand sells stake in UMLand
Posted by Kimberg at 4:04 PM
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subset: commoncrawl


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Barking Deals has 62% Off Chicken and Sweet Potato treats from Terra Paws. Terra Paws was founded on the idea of creating a line of pet treats that are "guilt-free" and help your pet stay in great shape while providing them with the nutrition they need. No preservatives, additives or fillers – these treats are made with simple, natural ingredients, hand packaged in small batches and freeze dried to lock in natural vitamins and nutrients.
Chicken & Sweet Potato treats come in a 2.45 oz. package that equals up to 11 oz of traditional ingredients. There is a limit of 5 deals per customer. Visit Barking Deals here to get today's daily deal for dogs.


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|# Copyright (C) 2011 The Android Open Source Project
|# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
|# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
|# You may obtain a copy of the License at
|# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
|# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
|# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
|# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
|# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
|# limitations under the License.
|# XBox 360 USB Controller
|key 304 BUTTON_A
|key 305 BUTTON_B
|key 307 BUTTON_X
|key 308 BUTTON_Y
|key 310 BUTTON_L1
|key 311 BUTTON_R1
|key 314 BACK
|key 315 BUTTON_START
|key 316 HOME
|key 317 BUTTON_THUMBL
|key 318 BUTTON_THUMBR
|# Left and right stick.
|# The reported value for flat is 128 out of a range from -32767 to 32768, which is absurd.
|# This confuses applications that rely on the flat value because the joystick actually
|# settles in a flat range of +/- 4096 or so.
|axis 0x00 X flat 4096
|axis 0x01 Y flat 4096
|axis 0x03 Z flat 4096
|axis 0x04 RZ flat 4096
|# Triggers.
|axis 0x02 LTRIGGER
|axis 0x05 RTRIGGER
|# Hat.
|axis 0x10 HAT_X
|axis 0x11 HAT_Y


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On Oct. 10, during the Drake University student forum discussion for the plus/minus grading system, the students present were asked if their professors use Blackboard inadequately. The majority of the students raised their hands.
At the forum, Drake students expressed the major reasons why they are unhappy with Blackboard usage. The reasons included professors blatantly not using Blackboard, the timeliness in which grades are posted and the different versions of Blackboard.
Des Moines native Suzanne Hess, a learning management system analyst at Drake, assists users and faculty with Blackboard.
"There is probably 38 to 40 percent of people using Blackboard in general, but two thirds of it, the courses are in Blackboard 9 and one third are in Blackboard 8," Hess said.
Sophomore health sciences major Hannah Rebhorn has not been impressed with the amount of professors that use Blackboard.
"During my three semesters at Drake so far, I have had less than half of my professors use Blackboard," Rebhorn said. "The professors that do use it, don't post grades often enough."
Faculty Senate President and associate environmental science and policy professor Keith Summerville, does not use Blackboard. Most of Summerville's classes are small. With only a dozen or so students, and are very hands-on.
"Blackboard is not terribly conducive to my classes," Summerville said.
Summerville thinks that if a student is concerned or unaware about his or her grade, they should talk to the professor face-to-face.
"You don't need a computer to tell you your grades, Summerville said. "Interpersonal communication is more important than intrapersonal communication."
A large part of professors' lack of usage of Blackboard may come from the learning process.
Jerome Hilscher, learning technology specialist at Drake, helps professors find the right technology to use in their classes.
"Professors might not be completely sure how to use (Blackboard), so it takes time to learn it," Hilscher said.
Drake professors can go to weekly Blackboard workshops and take an online class to better learn Blackboard. Hess teaches the sessions.
While some professors do not use Blackboard, they often use another technology tool, such as websites and social media, to communicate with students.
"They still use some form of electronic platform or learning management system, it just might not be Blackboard," Hess said. "It's just that Blackboard is what is recognized and it is what is supported."
Associate professor of marketing Andrew Norman thinks most of the tools Blackboard has are sufficient.
"Blackboard does so many different things that whatever you're accomplishing through some of those other things you could do through Blackboard," Norman said. "At least Blackboard is centralized. I see the benefit being that all the students have one place to go instead of 14 different places to go."
Norman does wish Turnitin, a plagiarism checker and online grading system, was a part of Blackboard. Drake's College of Business pays to use Turnitin every year. For Turnitin to be a part of Blackboard, the university would have to pay the licensing as a whole.
With Blackboard 9, more tools have been added like blog and wiki functions.
Philosophy professor Leah Kalmanson is in her third year at Drake. She uses Blackboard 9 for the calendar, grade book, content and discussion functions.
"I try to keep the assignments as up to date as possible so that everyone can check Blackboard and see what their grade is at any given point in the semester, " Kalmanson said.
Sophomore music and biology major from Chicago, Ill., Mallory Rasky, is generally happy with the way professors use Blackboard. However, she dislikes the two versions of Blackboard.
"Choose one. Having two is confusing," Rasky said.
Norman still uses Blackboard 8 after taking a sabbatical last year, when Blackboard 9 was introduced.
"Over the holiday break I intend to look at Blackboard 9 and see what the differences are," Norman said.
Hess said Drake is making the transition from Blackboard 8 to Blackboard 9. By May 2013, Blackboard 9 will be the only version used.
"We are making a slow phase transition and slowly easing everybody into it," Hess said.
With the new system being implemented by May 2013, some of the student discontent will be resolved.
"Blackboard is nothing more than a tool," Hilscher said. "I think the biggest thing I've heard from students is they'd like to see, not more or less of Blackboard, but more engagement with instructors."


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by Ernest O'Neill
Most of us believe that there is some Being somewhere who created the universe. It's too irrational to imagine that this complex network of planets came from nowhere. Someone somewhere must have created the original thing that exploded or evolved into what we know as the planet Earth.
Most of us also believe that God is as good a name as any to designate this creator. We think that God may be different from us in many ways, but we certainly feel he cannot be less personal than we are. He must be as personal as we are -- otherwise, how could he have designed or made us?!
Few of us think that he knows us! By analogy with the limitations we face in a mass-society we infer that he cannot possibly be aware of our personal existence. The president or the prime minister doesn't know us -- so how can the God who made everything and everyone that exists through the centuries?
Thus most of us, who believe there must be a god somewhere who created everything, are deists. We believe in a deity, but we believe he made the universe millions of years ago, wound it up, and then let it run itself. We doubt if he ever looks down at little creatures like ourselves -- and we doubt he has any time to waste on the details of our petty lives!
All of the above is our misconception! And that is why Jesus is such "good news". We think of him as a Jewish carpenter born around 4 b.c. and killed around 29 a.d.. But the historically reliable information we have of him is that his body was never found after his resurrection because his life existed outside this time-space world of ours. In other words he existed before he was born in Bethlehem and continues to be alive after his crucifixion in Jerusalem.
But there is more than this! Paul puts it like this in his letter to the Colossians 1:15 "He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation". Jesus of Nazereth is not simply the unique Son of the God who made us all, but He Himself became the first-born human being. He did not appear on earth as himself until 4 b.c., but he himself was the first of the human race in that eternal, ever-present moment when God conceived everything.
But there is even more that this! You came into existence in Him! That's what is stated plainly in Ephesians 2:10: "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus..." You are a human-being because you are part of the one great human being -- the one who is called repeatedly in the New Testament "the son of man". How close are you to God? Part of Him -- part of his very own Son!
Far from being a little nothing -- far from being the insignificant child of insignificant parents in an insignificant town, you are part of God's own inner family. Your are a bit of his Son Jesus. You are part of his body -- a unique expression of him. Why? Because Jesus is infinite and his beauty and parts can only be seen in all their glory through his living a unique life in you -- and a different one in me -- and yet another one in your mother.
But there is even more to it than this. This earth can only reflect the full wonder and complexity of God if it is fully developed in the way that he has designated for it in a free universe. Although this may involve its destruction and re-creation, it can be subdued and developed only by God's own action through his Son. Some of that work is to be done by Him through you. This is the real work that you exist to do on earth.
You may think that your job as a brick-layer is to lay bricks, as a writer is to write books, as a driver is to drive trucks, as a teacher is to teach students, but beneath these outward vocations Christ Himself is effecting changes on the earth through your life that will be evident only when the whole thing is concluded. Only then, when we are in his presence, will you see what your work (or His work in you) accomplished.
How then can you live in accordance with these realities? There is only one way - and that is to believe that this is the truth. You are not a little human being on your own trying to eke out some kind of successful existence here on earth. You are in fact part of Christ, the Son of the Creator of the universe. When you speak, you make him speak those very words. Either they are a delight and a fulfilment to Him or they are a dreadful torture and pain to Him. When you act, you make Him act. Either your actions express His love or they express indifference or dislike -- either way, He has to bear them.
He has identified Himself with you so that you could experience existence. He has buried Himself in you -- tied Himself to you. It is His miraculous life that keeps your heart miraculously beating and enables your eyes to miraculously see and register objects to your brain. This is the wonder of your life -- and this is how important you are to the gracious Being who made you.
Read Superhuman Life No. 81
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Found 8 resultsAuthor Title Type [ Year]
Filters: Author is L. Etuk [Clear All Filters]
"Are small communities at risk of population loss?", The Annals of Regional Science, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 343 - 353, 2013.,
"Latinos in Oregon: Exploring Rural & Urban Differences", Regards to Rural VIII, 2013.,
" Place-based Information to Guide Place-based Action: Rural Community Vitality in Oregon", Regards to Rural VIII, 2013.,
" Rural Brain Drain or Gain? Challenging Assumptions and Revealing Realities", Regards to Rural VIII, 2013.,
"Rural leadership development: Pathways to community change", Community Development, vol. 44, pp. 411–425, 2013.,


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Save the Date: 10 – 11 February 2016, BplusC, Leiden, The Netherlands
Under the umbrella of the European Music Council, this European Forum on Music Education is organised in partnership with the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC), the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS) and the European Music School Union (EMU). Building on the success of the 2011 From Seoul to Bonn – Translating the Goals for the Development of Arts Education for Music in Europe seminar held jointly with the German UNESCO Commission, the forum invites stakeholders from all areas of the music sector to network, discuss synergies and joint strategies as well as exploit and develop new partnerships and collaborations. Registration is now open!


text:
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text:
Pictures showed two fire engines outside Bristol Cathedral this morning as the congregation was evacuated outside.
Video showed crowds, priests and altar boys in ceremonial clothing outside the cathedral on College Green just after 10am.
We brought you the latest on this incident as it unfolded. Fortunately no-one was hurt and this was nothing serious. Scroll through our live blog below to recap what happened.
If you have any information about any incidents in Bristol or want to share a story with us, email email@example.com or call 0117 934 3200.
Key Events
Avon Fire and Rescue Service reveals what happened
A spokesman for Avon Fire and Rescue Service said: "An overheated transformer caused a haze in the building.
"Three appliances attended, two from Temple and one from Bedminster.
"A thermal imaging camera was used to detect the cause."
The spokesman added that cathedral staff have called in an electrician to deal with the problem.
A number of people evacuated from the building have been allowed back in.
We are on the phone with the fire service as we speak
A spokesman for Avon Fire and Rescue has just dropped us a line and we are typing up his statement as we speak, hold fire for that.
Latest report from the scene
An eyewitness told the Post: "One of the vicars just came out holding what looks like a WiFi box and told everybody that was the culprit, it had overheated. Fire brigade now leaving. Everybody back in cathedral."
Report from the scene
An eyewitness told the Bristol Post: "I can see three, fire engines nobody seems to know what's happening, the people I spoke to got here to find everybody outside, all very calm, no sign of fire."


text:
A Healthy Night Under the Big Sky for Him & Her
Complimentary Event • Prizes
Hors d' Oeurves will be served • No Host Bar
Free drop-off childcare at Small Wonder during the event
- G. Scott Smith, MD
- Breast Cancer Epidemiology & Screening Strategies
- Katherine Messner, MD
- Skin Cancer Epidemiology & Detection
- Felipe Martignoni, MD
- Cancer Care & Your Heart
Seating & Childcare is limited.
Please RSVP by October 10 to Ann Tuss by email at firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone at 406.535.6309.
Information Available On:
- 3D Mammography
- Infusion Services (chemotherapy)
- Cancer Support Groups
Central Feed Grilling Co
What do you get when you combine a 12 Barrel brewhouse (That's 372 Gallons!) with two beautifully crafted fermentation tanks? If you guessed creative, delicious, delightful, distinctive, enticing, exquisite, heavenly, luscious, nectarous, scrumptious, craft beer and mouth-watering food you would be correct! There are roughly three types of restaurants: new spots, old standbys, and the ones people talk about and want to visit no matter how far or time of year. Central Feed Company is a grill, steakhouse, craft brewery and wine bar all wrapped into a friendly, warm, inviting atmosphere located in the historic Mercantile Building in Downtown Lewistown, Montana.


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Your credit score has a huge impact on your ability to take out a mortgage, buy a car, and even get approved for a credit card.
The good news is, with the help of a service called Borrowell, checking your credit score is fast, simple, and totally free.
Boost your score by 100s of points
In just 3 minutes Borrowell will show you your Equifax credit score and credit report.
You can access your credit information anytime, and Borrowell updates it every month so you can easily keep track of your progress.
And if your credit score isn't where you'd like it to be, Borrowell's free credit monitoring service will give you personalized tips to help you turn things around fast.
"I followed their advice and went from a 560 to a 680 in a few months," says Oswald, a Borrowell customer since 2019.
Oswald also took advantage of Borrowell's customized product recommendations, which show you the best offers on financial products like loans and credit cards.
"I got a recommendation for a LOC and… was approved at a decent interest rate," he says. "Highly recommended."
Unexpected vet bills don't have to break the bank
Life with pets is unpredictable, but there are ways to prepare for the unexpected.
Fetch Insurance offers coverage for treatment of accidents, illnesses, prescriptions drugs, emergency care and more.
Plus, their optional wellness plan covers things like routine vet trips, grooming and training costs, if you want to give your pet the all-star treatment while you protect your bank account.Get A Quote
Knowledge is power
Sometimes life throws you a curveball and a drop in your credit score is unavoidable. Just ask Michelle, whose score took a major hit when her cat Epic got sick and she had to take out a predatory loan from the veterinary clinic.
"You're desperate so you take high interest, high fees, and generally dirty practices to save your pet's life," she remembers. "I was in a very bleak situation."
But then Michelle started monitoring her credit with Borrowell and soon her score did a 180.
"Being able to have all the information that came along with the credit monitoring was... really helpful, especially at the beginning," she says.
Once her credit cards were paid off, Michelle took out a debt consolidation loan with Borrowell, and now her high-interest loan is history. And in case you're wondering, Epic is doing great.
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After a few years of skating by, Amanda found out she was going to have a baby and decided it was time to do something about her financial situation.
"The moment I realized I [had] to change things was when I looked at my credit statement and saw that it was going to take 73 years to pay it off, paying only the minimum," she says.
She started using Borrowell and took advantage of their free AI-powered credit coach, Molly, which gave her personalized advice on how to boost her score and get out of debt faster.
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Trade Smarter, Today
With a wide variety of investment chocies, CIBC Edge makes it easy for you to trade how you want, when you want.


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Ham Can Shrines & GrottosCatherine Bastian (1910 - 2006)
Earlville, 52041, United States
1960s to 2000s
At least one Bastian grotto is still standing at the Feldman Family Farm. It is visible from Highway 20 running through Earlville. Bastian's Ham Can Shrines sometimes appear at thrift shops in the Dubuque, Iowa area.
About the Artist/Site
Catherine Bastian (née Feldmann) was born May 22, 1910 in Dyersville, Iowa. She worked for many years at a bakery before retiring in 1959. In 1962, she and her husband Bill, inspired by a neighbor, built grottoes in honor of "Our Lady of Grace" in the front yards of family and friends. Her grottoes ranged in size from seven-inches to six-feet and were located throughout Earlville and Dubuque. One grotto, erected in the yard adjacent to the Feldman Family Farm, is still visible from Highway 20 running through Earlville. It is unknown how many others are still standing.
When Bill fell ill with tuberculosis, Catherine promised the Blessed Virgin Mary that if he recovered his health, she would devote her life to making grottoes in thanks. He did recover, and sometime after, Bill and Catherine vacationed to Florida and together collected seashells that they would later use in the grottoes. According to Catherine's niece, she eventually produced an astounding 900 "ham can" grottoes, which she created in assembly-line style in her basement using stones, colored glass, seashells, bright jewelry, plastic beads, fake flowers, and broken rosaries embedded in cement. Catherine used 1.5-pound, 3-pound, and 5-pound ham cans, which she likely acquired from the now defunct Dubuque Packing Company. She used colored felt to line the bottom of her shrines and never signed her work.
Catherine never sought publicity for her sacred art, and the majority of her work was given away to loved ones across the country. Catherine remained active in her faith and church community and was a member of St. Columbkille Catholic Church, it's Rosary Society, Sacred Heart League, United Commercial Travelers Auxiliary, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and World War I Auxiliaries. She dedicated countless hours to volunteering her time in the service of others, especially the elderly. Catherine died July 17th, 2006 at age 96 while living at the Dubuque Ecumenical Towers.
Contributed by Becca Kacanda, 2020
ham cans, found objects, glass, shells, stones
Map & Site Information
, 52041 us
Nearby Environments
Café Deluxe / Café Wade Zine
Province of Ouezzane, Gharb-Chrarda-Beni Hssen
Abdel Karim Baz
Chefchaouen, Tangier-Tetouan
Castillo Monumento de Colomares
Benalmádena, Andalucía
Nairobi, Nairobi County
Jardín / Garden
Guainos Bajos, Andalucía
Freddie Zuidijk
Nerja, Andalucía
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Special highway lane restrictions could cause Pan Am–demonium in 2015
We expected playing host to the second-largest multi-sport extravaganza in the world would create a few headaches, but this is still pretty remarkable. The Toronto Star is reporting that organizers of the 2015 Pan American Games are considering reserving lanes on major Toronto roads "for athlete and official use only." The plans are still being hammered out, but the Star's sources say that the 401, 427, QEW, DVP and Gardiner could each have two lanes removed (one in each direction). The other option on the table is to make use of the shoulder, which, apparently, is not just for ambulances and cops anymore. Councillor and noted car lover Denzil Minnan-Wong is concerned by the proposal, with good reason. With Toronto pining away for the day it can shut down the whole city for a Stanley Cup parade, choking its highways for three and a half weeks for the Olympics Lite is just too much to bear. Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »


text: The face of homeschooling is changing across North America as more and more black parents choose to educate their children in order to give them the best possible schooling possible. On episode 5 of the Woke Mommy Chatter Podcast, I am talking to Eva Greene Wilson author of the blog socamom.com and Yolanda Newton, Director of EducationRevolt.org. We talkContinue reading "On Homeschooling…"


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How the Church Protected Father Paul David Ryan and One Victim Committed Suicide
Broken Rites
April 19, 2012
Broken Rites research has revealed how the Catholic Church authorities harboured Father Paul David Ryan, a sexually abusive Australian priest. This cover-up should be investigated by a public inquiry.
When Ryan was charged (and convicted) in an Australian criminal court, Broken Rites examined the prosecution file. This article is based on that research, plus numerous Broken Rites interviews.
Ryan has admitted guilt.
One of his Australian victims ended up committing suicide and this boy's mother (Mrs Helen Watson) has finally forced the church to apologise.
With the permission of his Australian superiors, Father Ryan made seven trips to the United States and he ministered in parishes there. In between these trips, his Australian superiors kept placing Father Ryan in various Australian parishes, giving him access to Australian victims. In Australia, the church even promoted him to a higher rank in the priesthood.
Father Ryans movements were revealed in an Australian criminal court case, held on 8 September 2006. Ryan appeared in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court in the state of Victoria, aged 57. He was jailed for at least a year after pleading guilty to indecently assaulting two altar boys in his parish house at Penshurst, a rural district in south-western Victoria. Three incidents concerned one boy (Drew) and two incidents concerned the other boy (Anton).
These two were not Ryans only victims. These were merely the two who were chosen by the prosecutors for the purposes of this court case. It is impossible to estimate the number of boys who were targeted by Ryan in both countries.
The tragic story of another Australian victim (Peter), who committed suicide, is told towards the end of this article. Ryan was never prosecuted for the sexual offences against Peter.
What the priest did
In Australian states, the crime of indecent assault involves an invasive touching of another persons genitalia that is, offences falling short of rape or buggery. Typically, Ryan used to invite a boy to his parish house, where he would show him videos containing sex scenes. He would offer alcohol (and, in the United States, marijuana) to the boy before undressing him and mauling him in the lounge room or in bed or while the boy was having a bath.
Ryans offences were facilitated by the fact that his status as a celibate priest placed him above suspicion in the Catholic community. Unsuspecting parents would allow their son to have an overnight stay in Father Ryans parish house, thinking that their son was in safe hands, but the victims were reluctant to report the assaults because they felt embarrassed or because they did not want to upset their parents or because they thought their complaints might not be believed.
The cover-up disrupted the adolescent development of these victims, and some had to undertake years of psychological counselling to repair the damage.
The inside story of this criminal priest
When Broken Rites began operating an Australia-wide telephone hotline in 1993, it soon began hearing mentions of Father Paul David Ryan in the Diocese of Ballarat. This diocese covers the western half of the state of Victoria.
Broken Rites kept contact with some of these callers. Eventually, in 2005, detectives from Victoria Police began investigating Ryan. Broken Rites co-operated with that investigation, giving the detectives some possible lines of inquiry.
Broken Rites can reveal now the full story of Father Ryan and the church's handling of this case.
According to his passport application (of which Broken Rites possesses a copy), Paul David Carl Ryan was born 12 September 1948 in Melbourne. In his younger years, he evidently spent some time in Adelaide, South Australia. After working in his late teens, he began training for the priesthood at the Adelaide Catholic seminary (St Francis Xavier's seminary, conducted by the Vincentian Fathers) in 1969, aged 20. In June 1971, half-way through third year, the Adelaide seminary asked Ryan to leave.
Meanwhile, Ryan became a close friend of prominent priest of the Melbourne archdiocese, Father Ronald Dennis Pickering, who had already been a priest for 20 years. Ronald Pickering had contacts in the Catholic hierarchy. For example, Pickering knew the new Bishop of Ballarat, Bishop Ronald Mulkearns. Pickering and Mulkearns had both studied for the priesthood at the Melbourne seminary in the early 1950s. Pickering became Ryans main mentor and career adviser for the next 20 years.
Trainee priest, Melbourne 1972-6
In late 1971, Paul David Ryan moved to Victoria to take up a temporary teaching position in the Diocese of Ballarat. This position was at St Josephs College, Mildura, in the far north-west of this state. In October 1971, Ryan applied to Bishop Mulkearns to sponsor him as a Ballarat candidate for the priesthood at the Melbourne seminary (Corpus Christi College). Paul David Ryans Adelaide references were not good but Ballarat accepted him as a candidate and he spent the next five years at the Melbourne seminary.
According to seminary documents, Ryans seminary teachers reported that they found him abrasive and difficult to deal with. In mid-1975, as the end of Ryans training approached, the Ballarat Diocese and seminary authorities had to decide what to do about him. Before ordination, he was given a three-months probationary period in St Columbas parish, Ballarat North, and he spent some of this time teaching at a Ballarat Catholic school.
On 28 May 1976, aged 27, Ryan was ordained in St Patricks Cathedral, Ballarat. In that very week, a Ballarat woman (Mrs M) contacted the diocese in distress, complaining that Ryan sexually abused her son (Sid) at the Ballarat North parish. After this abuse, she said, Sid had a breakdown and had to leave his university course. The mother blamed Ryan for this and she threatened to go to the newspapers about Ryan if he was allowed to minister in parishes. Despite Mrs Ms complaint, the church took a tolerant attitude towards Ryan, hoping that he might mend his ways.
Sex in the seminary, 1972-6
After his ordination, like all seminarians, Ryan remained at the Melbourne seminary until the end of 1976 to complete his studies. About October 1976, according to seminary correspondence, the seminary authorities learned that Father Ryan had been engaged in sexual relationships with about six trainee priests during his seminary course [more about this later].
At the end of 1976, having completed his seminary course, Paul Ryan was living with Fr Pickering, who was the parish priest at St Peter's parish at Clayton, in Melbourne. Ryan was to also to become a frequent visitor at a later parish of Pickering's, in Gardenvale, Melbourne. Ryan frequently carried out priestly duties in Pickering's parish, including conducting services.
At the end of 1976, church authorities were considering which parishes their newly-ordained priests would be assigned to for the coming year. But where could they put Ryan? According to seminary documents, the seminary arranged for him to see its consulting Catholic psychologist, Ronald Conway who, in turn referred Ryan to a Catholic psychiatrist, Dr Eric Seal. On 18 November 1976, Dr Seal wrote to the rector of the Melbourne seminary (Fr Kevin Mogg), saying that he had a comprehensive report from Ronald Conway and I have also spoken at length about him to Fr Pickering who is an old friend and confident of his [Ryans]. Seal supported a suggestion by Pickering that Ryan should have at least a years spiritual formation in a religious community overseas.
The American solution, 1977
The Melbourne seminary happened to know a Father John Harvey in the U.S. who specialized in ministry to homosexuals. Harvey (who was located at De Sales Hall school of theology in Hyattsville, Maryland, USA) later founded a Catholic group, called "Courage", for ministering to homosexuals.
In January 1977, Fr Harvey was asked where Paul David Ryan could undergo spiritual formation in the United States. The Ballarat diocese was keen to place Ryan in the U.S. quickly because Ballarat usually made its parish appointments at this time (January) and some awkward questions could be asked if Ryan was not assigned to a parish or to further study.
Father Harvey suggested that Ryan could stay at a certain Catholic spiritual center in the state of Maryland. Harvey's letter suggested that, as well as spiritual formation, Ryan should do some form of work or study while here. (This idea about Ryan working in the U.S. would eventually result in more sexual abuse against U.S. victims.)
Fr Harvey requested details from Australia about Ryans kind of sexual activity. Did it involve adults or minors? The Melbourne seminary replied to Harvey (on 19 February 1977), stating that the sexual behaviour of Ryan and his fellow seminarians had included mutual masturbation
but it seems certain that more serious acts occurred not infrequently. The letter said that Ryan was sexually active even on the night of his ordination.
The Melbourne seminarys letter added: As to how long homosexual acts have been occurring, I do not know. A close friend of Pauls, Fr Ron Pickering, told me that some seven years ago he met Paul in Adelaide and the company he was mixing with at that time was definitely questionable . . . I know that during his stay at Ballarat incidents occurred. [But the letter did not mention that the Ryan incidents in Ballarat included offences against a teenager Mrs Ms son Sid.]
Ryan went to the U.S. in February 1977 for 15 months (trip no. 1). When he returned to Australia in June 1978, the Ballarat Diocese considered appointing him to one of its parishes but a senior priest pointed out that Mrs M (the above-mentioned mother of Ryans victim Sid in 1975-6) might protest, thereby creating a public scandal for the church.
Ryan remained in Victoria, for the next 12 months and spent much of this time at Fr Ronald Pickerings new parish -- St James's parish in Gardenvale, Melbourne. Ryan used to bring boys to the Gardenvale parish house -- and so did Pickering.
Ryan continued to visit the Melbourne seminary for several years, even in the 1980s, and acted as a mentor to younger seminarians. Through Pickering, he came into contact with prominent clerics and this networking continued into the 1980s.
Offences in the U.S., 1979
From June 1979 to April 1980, Paul Ryan was again in the U.S. (trip no. 2) and did some theological studies there.
During these U.S. study trips, Ryan lived and ministered in parishes. One was the Star of the Sea parish in the city of Virginia Beach (Diocese of Richmond) in the state of Virginia. His role there included work as a counsellor with a local Catholic school, the Star of the Sea school. This was a primary (or grade) school, going up to Year 8. While he was still in this parish, it was discovered that Father Ryan was sexually abusing boys at the school in 1979.
As background for the September 2006 court case, Australian police obtained information from several ex-students of this school.
One boy (B) was in 7th and 8th Grade, aged 14, at the Star of the Sea Grade School when Ryan was there. G stated that Ryan plied him with alcohol and marijuana and took the boy to bed, where he sexually abused him.
Two other boys (M and R) stated that Ryan held counselling and religious instruction sessions with the two boys (when they were aged 14 to 15) and sexually abused them.
Victim B wrote in a letter to his local diocese in 1995: Although the general population of the church [at Star of the Sea parish] was shielded from knowing the specific details for Fr Ryans removal, it was more or less common knowledge among certain known victims and their families.
Ryan's Australian superiors exchanged letters with his U.S. supervisors throughout 1977-1980 and, presumably, his offences in the U.S. were reported back to Australia. (If not, why not?)
Sex education classes, 1980-5
In April 1980, Paul David Ryan returned to Australia, and, despite his record, the Ballarat Diocese appointed him as an assistant priest in St Josephs parish in Warrnambool, a substantial city on Victorias south-western coast. This included acting as a chaplain for Warrnambool Christian Brothers College and St Annes College (these two schools later merged as Emmanuel College). Ryan conducted sex education classes and took Confession from students. Hearing these Confessions enabled Ryan to identify boys to whom he would give special attention.
According to the prosecution documents, one such student, Daryl (then aged 17) divulged to Ryan in Confession that he felt he was attracted to males. Within a month of this, Daryls parents went away for a weekend and arranged for Father Ryan to mind Daryl and his younger brother at their home. On the first night, Ryan told Daryl to take a bath before he went to bed. Daryl told police (in 2006) that Ryan got into the bath with him and handled him indecently.
In 1985, after five years in the Warrnambool parish, Ryan applied for leave from the Ballarat Diocese to do a Doctorate in Ministry course in at the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, USA. The diocese granted this leave and Ryan left for the U.S. (trip no. 3). Ryan told the Ballarat Diocese that he hoped to find a parish position while in the USA. During this trip, Ryan's address was: Church of the Holy Angels, 218 K Street, Dayton, Ohio.
In January 1986, Bishop Mulkearns appointed Ryan as an assistant priest at St Thomass parish in Terang, in south-western Victoria, under Monsignor Leo Fiscalini. Ryan then returned to Australia from Ohio to take up this post. A Terang man (Paddy) has told Victoria Police that, at age 16-17, he attended a youth group for which Father Ryan was the convenor. He said that Father Ryan gave him alcohol at the parish house and on several occasions performed sexual antics in front of him, such as walking around naked, with an erection, and masturbating in front of him.
In April 1988, Ryan went to the U.S. for a few months (trip no. 4) to complete his doctorate in ministry. He then returned to the Terang parish.
Promoted, 1989
Despite Ryans record, Bishop Mulkearns appointed Ryan to the rank of Parish Priest (i.e., in charge) at St Josephs parish, Penshurst, as from 14 January 1989. The Penshurst parish was a small rural one but this was a promotion to a higher status (previously, at Warrnambool, he had been merely an ASSISTANT priest). At Warrnambool and Terang, he had been under the supervision of other priests but at Penshurst he was on his own unsupervised. The Penshurst parishioners were ignorant about Ryans past.
At Penshurst (according to the September 2006 prosecution file), Ryan used to coax one or other of the altar boys to the parish house to watch sexy videos and for an overnight stay.
One altar boy, Drew, told police in 2006 that he had several sleepovers at Ryans parish house in 1989-1990, aged 16. He said Ryan walked around the house naked (with an erection), made the boy take a bath with Ryan, took the boy to bed and groped the boy while the priest masturbated himself. Drew tried to evade Ryans unwelcome assaults. The prosecutions summary of charges states that Drew was in fear, out of respect for Father Ryan, as he was the parish priest and someone whom all the community looked up to.
In a very similar manner, Ryan assaulted another Penshurst altar boy, Anton, aged 13-14, during sleepovers in 1990. When Ryans attacks on Anton became increasingly forceful and invasive, Anton escaped and ran home. Not wishing to tell his mother the full extent of the attacks, Anton merely told her that Father Ryan had wanted to have a bath with him. Several days later, the mother went to the bishops office in Ballarat and expressed her concern about Ryan.
In early 1991, Mulkearns decided to move Ryan from Penshurst but delayed the move until Easter time (a time when other changes are often made) so that this move would not seem extraordinary.
Despite the Penshurst complaint concerning Anton, the Ballarat Diocese then assigned Ryan as a relieving priest at the Immaculate Conception parish in Ararat, western Victoria. Again, Ryan proceeded to target boys at this parish. One witness, Sam, told police in 2006 that he went to Ryans parish house after being kicked out of home. Father Ryan told him that he could stay at the Presbytery for the night but that he would have to stay in Ryans bed.
Another boy who was invited to Ryans parish house at Ararat was "Peter". Eventually, Peter committed suicide and his story is told towards the end of this article.
Overseas again, 1991
Early in 1991, Ryan's superiors and colleagues were wondering what to do with him. Someone in authority suggested sending Ryan to work somewhere on the African mission for a while but Fr Ron Pickering asserted that the Africa idea was unsuitable for Ryan, who really needed a period of leave, say a year to recuperate spiritually. [It is not clear what Pickering meant by spiritually.]
Later in 1991, Ryan went to the U.S. (trip no. 5), where he received some advice from a certain priest, and he then did a retreat in Rome with another priest. [But three years later, on 3 February 1994, while Ryan was being interviewed by the sexual-abuse committee of the Ballarat Diocese, Ryan had difficulty remembering the name of either of these two priests.]
In September 1991, while Ryan was overseas, Bishop Mulkearns received a complaint from a mother about Ryan sexually abusing her son [the above-mentioned matter of Daryl] at Warrnambool Christian Brothers College in the early 1980s. Daryl (aged 25 in 1991) was himself in trouble with the police in 1991 and was about to face charges in a Melbourne court for sexually assaulting a boy. Daryl was telling police that, at school, he himself had been sexually abused by Father Paul David Ryan. Bishop Mulkearns was concerned that Daryl's accusation against Ryan might cause scandal for the church.
Another parish, 1992
In December 1991, Paul Ryan returned to Victoria and stayed at Fr Ron Pickering's parish house in Gardenvale, Melbourne. Bishop Mulkearns appointed Ryan to an ongoing position at the Ararat parish as an assistant priest (instead of merely being a relieving priest) as from 18 January 1992. This was despite the fact that Ryan had not cleared his name regarding the various sex-abuse allegations, including the new allegation by Daryl.
Ryan moved into the Ararat parish house (under the supervision of the resident parish priest) but, immediately, his Ararat career was scuttled when the secret of his sexual abuse of Daryl started to leak out. In early January 1992, Daryl appeared in court charged with sexual assault of a boy and was jailed. Daryls barrister told the court, in defence of Daryl, that Daryl himself had been abused by a priest. Newspaper coverage of Daryls trial did not name the abusive priest but Ryan's superiors and fellow-priests knew that it was him.
In jail, Daryl was telling everybody that he had been sexually abused by Fr Paul David Ryan. It seemed possible that, in the future, Daryl might well lay criminal charges against Ryan. Bishop Mulkearns was concerned that it would be hard for Ryan to defend himself because Ryan sexually abused Daryl after hearing the boys Confession about same-sex leanings -- and the Catholic Church has always claimed that a priest was not supposed to reveal (or take advantage of) anything that he learns from a penitent during Confession.
Ryan continued living in the Ararat parish house as a guest, instead of having an official appointment there. He also continued making visits to Fr Ron Pickerings parish at Gardenvale, Melbourne.
Early in 1992, Ryan began having counselling with a Ballarat priest-psychologist, Father Daniel Torpy. Following the publicity about the Daryl court case, Ryan realised that it would be impossible for him to minister in the Ballarat diocese. He decided that it would be "best" to work in the U.S., with which he had some familiarity.
Therefore, in late January 1992, the Ballarat Diocese contacted a religious order, called the Servants of the Paraclete, which runs a refuge in Jemez Springs, New Mexico, USA, for sexually abusive priests. Ballarat asked if Ryan could visit this refuge to discuss his options for exercising his ministry in the USA. It is unclear whether anything eventuated from this application. (Another sexually-abusive Ballarat Diocese priest, Fr Gerald Ridsdale, had already spent time at this refuge.)
More travels, 1993
Later, the Ballarat Diocese applied to admit Ryan to the St Luke Institute, Maryland USA (another refuge for priests with sexual problems). Ryan arrived at this institute in early 1993 (trip no. 6) and underwent an evaluation process but was unable to gain admission to the institutes program. The St Luke Institute did a medical examination of him and advised him that he had an alcohol problem and that he should cut down his drinking. However, Ryan said he kept on with his normal drinking pattern.
Leaving the St Luke Institute, Ryan returned to Australia but did not contact Bishop Mulkearns. During 1993, he spent time in Western Australia, where his mother and brother were living.
Returning to Victoria from Western Australia, Ryan still did not contact Bishop Mulkearns but evidently stayed as a guest in the home of a Warrnambool family.
Meanwhile, Ryan's "spiritual advisor", Fr Ronald Pickering, was in trouble. Early in 1993 a Melbourne man alleged that, as a teenager in the 1960s, he had been sexually abused by Pickering. After learning about this complaint, Pickering suddenly left his Melbourne parish in May 1993 and went to England. Later in 1993 Paul David Ryan made a trip to England (without informing Bishop Mulkearns) to spend some time with Pickering, who was living near Margate.
In the 1994 Directory of Australian Catholic Clergy (and also in the 1995 edition), Father Paul David Ryan was still listed as a priest of the Ballarat Diocese ("on leave from the diocese). On 3 February 1994, while Ryan was house-sitting a friends house in Warrnambool, he was called before the Ballarat Diocese Special Issues Committee (an in-house committee, responsible for dealing with complaints about clergy sex-abuse in the diocese). The committee questioned Ryan about the matter of Daryl at Warrnambool and also about Ryans plans for the future.
On 19 July 1994, the Ballarat Diocese vicar-general (chief administrator), Fr Brian Finnigan (who later became an auxiliary bishop in Brisbane), signed an Employment Separation Certificate on behalf of Ryan, making it possible for him to apply for Australian Government social security benefits. The certificate stated that Ryans church employment began on 28 May 1976 (his ordination) and ended on 31 December 1993. In ticking boxes to give the reason for the termination, the diocese ticked unsuitability for this type of work. It did not tick unsatisfactory work performance. Nor did it tick "misconduct".
[This Employment Separation Certificate is significant -- and not just for the Ryan case. The Catholic Church usually claims that its priests are not employees but self-employed freelancers. Thus, the church seeks to limit its legal liability when victims claim damages from the a diocese for its negligence in inflicting an abusive priest on to vulnerable parishioners. Ryan's Employment Separation Certificate describes Ryan as an "employee" and it describes the Ballarat Diocese as his employer. This document will be useful for any victim claiming compensation from the Ballarat diocese.]
Counselling for U.S. victims, 1995
Meanwhile, during the 1980s and '90s, Paul Ryan's victims at Virginia Beach (in the U.S. Diocese of Richmond) were still needing psychological counselling to try to repair the damage done to their lives by Ryan in 1979. In 1995, the U.S. victims sought payment from the Catholic Church for the cost of counselling. A Virginia Beach lawyer, J. Brian Donnelly, acted for these victims.
The Richmond Diocese insisted that these expenses should be paid by the Ballarat Diocese, because Rev. Paul D. Ryan had come to the United States with the permission of the Ballarat diocese.
The Ballarat Diocese accepted responsibility and made one modest lump-sum payment to each of the Virginia Beach victims. These payments were not compensation but merely a contribution towards the victims' on-going counselling expenses. By mid-2006, one Virginia Beach victim alone had already spent three times as much on psychiatrists' fees as the amount that he received from the Ballarat Diocese.
When the Ballarat diocese made these payments, it required the U.S. victims to sign a Deed of Release, certifying that the Ballarat Diocese had no further liability. However, the church concealed the fact that Ryan had also committed offences in Australia. The Virginia Beach victims were led to believe that they were Ryan's only victims. Therefore, these Deeds of Release were based on deception, which may undermine their validity.
More victims
How many other children did Reverend Paul D. Ryan target in the U.S.? According to U.S. documents, Virginia Beach was not the only parish in which Ryan lived while in the U.S. Father Paul T. Gaughan, who supervised Ryan at the Virginia Beach parish in 1979-80, has stated that Ryan was also involved in a parish in Dayton, Ohio, where he might have committed further offences. In a statement to U.S. church authorities, dated 26 September 1995, Father Paul Gaughan said: Paul spent some time on more than one occasion in Ohio under the pretext of study. He was living in a parish. I am afraid that the same problem might very well have happened there but I guess you might as well let the dead dog lie.
It is possible that the parish in Dayton, Ohio, was the Church of the Holy Angels.
At last, Ryans name was deleted from the 1996 edition of the Directory of Australian Catholic Clergy.
In early 1996, Ryan asked the Ballarat Diocese for financial help for a course of studies. The diocese agreed to continue quarterly payments to Ryan until the end of 1996 to help him re-skill himself in another field.
In 1997, Ryan was in the USA (U.S. trip no. 7).
A suicidal victim
On 22 May 1997, the Catholic Churchs newly-formed Professional Standards Resource Group for Victoria (also called "Towards Healing") received a complaint from Mrs Helen Watson who had discovered that her son (Peter) was abused (and badly damaged) by Father Paul David Ryan at Ararat in the early 1990s. Mrs Watson told the diocese that, by 1997, Peter had made at least two attempts to commit suicide, the last time being when he tried to shoot himself. Mrs Watson said that Peter is in this condition because he was abused by Paul David Ryan when he was relieving at Ararat for a few months for Father Brendan Davey."
At the end of May 1997, Ronald Mulkearns took early retirement from the position of Bishop of Ballarat and moved to a seaside house at Aireys Inlet, Victoria. In an open letter to fellow priests and parishioners on 30 May, he alluded to the pressures of the criminal investigations into sexual abuse by priests and religious brothers in the Ballarat diocese. He said: My own emotional energy has been sapped by the pressures of leadership over 26 years and especially the draining effect of endeavouring to cope with the effects of the tragic events which have come to light in recent years (Herald Sun, Melbourne, 31 May 1997).
Mulkearns was referring mainly to the scandal of Father Gerald Ridsdale, but also various other priests and religious Brothers in the Diocese of Ballarat.
Ryan moved to far north Queensland and worked for several years as a government-funded mental health officer for Aboriginal communities. In Queensland, he called himself Dr Paul-David Ryan, on account of his American Doctorate in Ministry degree. He also hyphenated his forenames as Paul-David Ryan.
This criminal priest is brought to justice
In 2003, yet another woman was telling the churchs Professional Standards Resource Group how Ryans sexual abuse had damaged her son. Understandably, her son had kept silent about the abuse for more than a decade and this secrecy disrupted his personal development. This mother was wondering whether other boys had also been damaged by Ryan. However, this mother says that a representative of the PSRG told her, on several occasions, that this particular priest's name [Ryan] had never been reported, or come up, before.
Eventually, in late 2005, this womans son was ready to have a chat with the Victoria Police sexual offences and child abuse (SOCA) unit at Warrnambool, where he lodged a formal written statement about Ryan. The Warrnambool Criminal Investigation Unit then began making inquiries in the parishes where Ryan had ministered. Broken Rites gave the detectives several lines of inquiry.
The detectives learned that the Ballarat Diocese had been receiving complaints about Ryan since his ordination in 1976 and, furthermore, that the Professional Standards Resource Group had indeed received a complaint about Ryan (from Mrs Watson, about her suicidal son Peter) in 1997.
The detectives soon located various victims of Ryan. In April 2006, aged 57, Ryan was arrested at his unit in Cairns, Queensland, and was charged with Victorian incidents of indecent assault. While on bail, awaiting a court hearing, he taught English in Cairns. Extradited to Victoria, he appeared at Warrnambool Magistrates Court on 8 September 2006.
For procedural reasons, the Victorian state prosecutors confined the charges to two Penshurst victims. The magistrate was not required to take into account that Ryan had abused other teenage boys and that he had been exposed as a child-abuser long before he went to Penshurst. Nor did the magistrate have to consider that after resigning as the parish priest at Penshurst, Ryan was moved to the Ararat parish and assaulted another boy (Peter) who later committed suicide. The matter of Peter was never prosecuted.
Similarly, the earlier incidents in the U.S. were not relevant to the Victorian court. The U.S. incidents were dealt with as civil matters, resulting in the Catholic Church making payments towards the victims' counselling expenses.
Referring to the two Penshurst victims, Magistrate Michael Stone said Ryans behaviour had been "classic grooming of young people for sexual pleasure". He told Ryan: "You were in a position of trust. You grossly abused that trust.
Mr Stone sentenced Ryan to 18 months jail, with possible release on parole after 12 months. He said Ryan would be a registered sex offender for the next 15 years.
Ryan was escorted from the court in custody on his way to prison.
The court hearing was finished by 11.00am. Because Ryan had pleaded guilty, the victims were not required to give evidence in court. The prosecution merely had to submit a file of documentation to the magistrate.
Previously, on behalf of victims, Broken Rites had alerted all media outlets about the court hearing. As a result, the west Victorian TV network (WIN TV) had a camera crew at the court. Footage of Ryan (arriving at the court) was shown in that evenings news bulletin. The conviction was reported in newspapers in Melbourne, Warrnambool and Ballarat. Thus, the Ryan case and the churchs cover-up of sexual abuse became a topic of conversation throughout Victoria. The cover-up was over.
One victim's story
One victim, Drew, was in court as an observer, together with his family. After the court hearing, Drew (now 32) said that, looking back, he had been an easy target for Ryan at the age of 15-16, being the eldest of a large family and living a fairly isolated existence on a farm.
Drew said: His [Ryans] whole idea was that my interests were his common interests. I was happy, innocent, fresh. When everyone was going out to parties at 16 and 17, I was watching a video and drinking cola. That was my idea of having a good time.
Drews mother told Broken Rites: Ryan befriended our family, he made out that he shared common interests with my husband such as gardening, renovation etc. He certainly worked on gaining our trust, now that we look back. He shared many meals with us.
At that time, another of our children had an adverse medical diagnosis. Fr Ryan was so supportive, as it was a difficult time for us. All the time, it was just part of his disgusting plan.
My husband and I have been so sick with guilt for ever trusting Ryan. However, we have moved on from this emotion, now we are very angry and bitter towards the Catholic Church. All the pain and suffering endured by Ryan's victims and their families could have been prevented if the Catholic hierarchy had removed Ryans priestly status.
My son is a wonderful man. He endured so much in those 15 years of silence. Our family is so open and up front, one would never imagine any one of them to be so afraid to speak out. I guess this is the case with most of the victims.
We are appalled by what has unfolded about Paul David Ryan. We are also appalled by the covering up, deceit and lack of care for families in the church community who trusted this person with their sons.
The last 3 years have been an emotional roller coaster for our family, trying to come to terms with the devastating results of Ryan's abuse. Learning that the Catholic Church had full knowledge of his behaviour over the years and kept him circulating around devastates us beyond belief.
My son is a beautiful person There have been many hurdles in his personal life, but these hurdles that would have been non-existent if the Catholic Church had done the right thing by the community.
The victim who ended up committing suicide
Also present in the Warrnambool Court hearing was Mrs Helen Watson, whose son Peter committed suicide in 1999 after his life had been damaged by Paul-David Ryans sexual abuse at Ararat. After the court case, Mrs W spoke to Broken Rites, telling the story of her son.
About 1991, Peter (then aged 15-16) was a student at Marian College, a Catholic secondary school (for Years 7 to 12) in Ararat situated next door to Father Paul David Ryans parish house. Until then, Peter had been a normal boy with a quick wit and a love of sport.
One day, Ryan (smelling of alcohol) drove Peter home to the familys farm after the boy had stayed overnight at the parish house. On arriving home, Peter immediately started acting in a disturbed manner and he was never the same after that."
Peter did not tell his parents about Ryan's sexual abuse, and his parents were puzzled why Peter's personality suddenly changed. He became a disturbed teenager, with low self-esteem. He got into drugs and he abandoned sports. By age 18, he was leading a transient life, was unable to work and tried several times to kill himself.
In his late teens, a psychological report on Peter said he spoke about having been sexually abused "by a priest" (un-named). It was only at about age 20 that Mrs Watson realised that the abuser was Paul David Ryan. By then, Peter's life had been badly damaged. Like most church victims, Peter had remained silent about the priestly abuse because he thought it would upset his parents to know about the priest. Furthermore, like many church victims, he felt guilty himself for what the priest had done to him.
In 1997, when Peter was 22, Mrs Watson contacted the Catholic Church's newly-established Professional Standards Resource Group for Victoria (the "Towards Healing" process) and told them how Father Paul David Ryan had damaged her son's life. A member of the resource group interviewed Mrs Watson but all he did was to offer to arrange "counselling" for herself. Mrs Watson believes that it was the church hierarchy, not she, who needed "counselling".
A lonely death
Meanwhile, Peter was deteriorating. By age 24, he was in a psychiatric unit but in March 1999 he went missing and his mother never saw him alive again.
Six years later, police ascertained that Peter had committed suicide. It turned out that, in October 1999, a young man had been found hanged in a bathing box on a Melbourne beach but this body could not be identified at the time, so it was buried in a paupers grave. In late 2005 a check of fingerprints revealed that this body was Mrs Watson's son Peter.
Peters body was exhumed, so his mother could give him a proper funeral, which was held in December 2005.
In February 2006, two months after Peter's re-burial, Mrs Watson went to see the Bishop of Ballarat, Bishop Peter Connors (who had succeeded Mulkearns as bishop in 1997). She wanted to tell the church what it had done to her son. At that time, Mrs Watson did not know that the police were investigating Ryan. But the diocese knew -- and it realized that the Ryan cover-up was about to become public. Mrs Watson says Bishop Connors offered to arrange "counselling" for her. She says: "The church still does not get it."
Later, Mrs Watson received a letter from Bishop Connors, dated 20 March 2006, apologising on behalf of the Ballarat diocese for the harm done by Father Paul David Ryan.
But Mrs Watson can neither forgive nor forget. The church, she says, knew that Ryan was a danger when it ordained him in 1976.
Ms W said she believed that her son was one of many unknown victims of sexual abuse by the clergy.
She said: "Hopefully, Peter's tragedy will encourage other victims of sexual abuse to find the courage to come forward and speak up against pedophile priests and cover-ups by the Catholic Church."
Two families meet
At the Warrnambool court hearing, Mrs Helen Watson met the family of one of the Penshurst victims (Drew) for the first time.
"It was overwhelming. I take my hat off to the whole family" Ms W said. "It was a hugely emotional experience. I realise now that victims are not alone. Here is a young lad who took a huge risk living in a small country community."
Ms W said she had drawn a lot of strength from Drews family.
"I'm in awe of how they handled it. Hopefully other people can come forward," she said. "It means there is some gratification in Peter's life, that people don't get away scot- free."
Final words from a grieving mother
At the courthouse, Mrs Watson hoped to make a statement to Paul David Ryan as he was being escorted to jail but this was not possible. Mrs Watson later showed Broken Rites a copy of what she wanted to tell Ryan:
I do not want you to speak to me, as nothing you say will right the wrong you have done to my son Peter; nothing could ease the pain that I have endured; nothing could bring my son back to life; and, last but not least, nothing you say could change my opinion of you.
You are an evil predator who used your position of power and trust in the Catholic Church to force young males into submission with your atrocious acts.
You are a disgrace to yourself, you profession and your family, especially your mother.
The one decent thing you can do now is to confess your crimes of sexual abuse against Peter to the authorities and serve the appropriate sentence. . .
Mrs Watson later posted this statement to Ryan in prison.
Broken Rites will continue to investigate the career of Father Paul-David Ryan .. and the church's cover-up of sexual crimes.
Broken Rites protects the privacy of victims -- that is why we uusually change the names of victims in the reports of our cases on this website. However, Mrs Helen Watson has already gone public about the church's abuse of her son Peter, and therefore Broken Rites is publishing Mrs Watson's name.
Broken Rites has also researched Father Ronald Pickering who helped to recruit Paul David Ryan to the priesthood. Pickering's victims, also, became suicidal.


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Lady's Lane 2015
Australia - Heathcote - Victoria
Tasting notes
Appearance: deep ruby colour.
Nose: redcurrant, leather, red crushed berries with a hint of toffee, incense and curry.
Palate: this is a powerful and generous wine expressing itself with delicacy thanks to a very delicate tannic structure. Intense flavors of ripe fruits and spices combined to a fine acidity – a hyphen between richness and strength reflecting perfectly the terroir of Heathcote.
Grape variety/varieties: Shiraz.
Harvest: The crop is manually harvested at maturity, avoiding over-maturation.
Soil: Red soil from the Cambrian Period.
Vinification: The grapes are 100% destemmed. Fermentation takes place in concrete tanks. Vat times are long (from 4 to 6 weeks) and a gentle extraction is performed by pumping-over. It aims at obtaining fine and delicate tannins.
Ageing: Ageing 100% in French oak barrels with low proportion of new oaks (10-15%) for 14 months.
Alcohol content: 13.5


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Kirk Demarais once wrote a book, Life of the Party: A Visual History of the S.S. Adams Company, that is now hard to obtain. But dig if you can because it's filled with hilarious memories of the mischievous monkey business kids got up to with gags manufactured by the S.S. Adams Company.
While the book is out of print and expensive, this entry by Demarais on his blog gives you a taste of the fun kids used to be able to have in terrifying their elders. http://secretfunspot.blogspot.com/2006/05/mechanical-servant.html


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Golden Chip2 Reviews
An award winning fish and chip shop, with a wide variety of dishes to choose from.
Information and Contact Details
|Chip Shop
|Sit In
|You can Sit-in
|Take Away
|You can take food away
|No home deliveries
|Drive - Through
|There is no drive through
|12 a Comber Road
|County Antrim
|Northern Ireland
|Phone Number
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Various aspects that help rate a venue. Vote yourself, it only takes a second!
Quality of Food36/100 10 Votes
Value for Money44/100 10 Votes
Customer Service24/100 10 Votes
Overall53/100 10 Votes
Comments and Reviews on Golden Chip
There now follows 2 other reviews of Golden Chip
Congratulations on your award but the food this evening was far from award-winning. The chips had a lot of crispy ends and were a bit tough and dried out. The chicken breast was as dry as a bone. Not sure if I will be back. Max 2 and a half out of 5.Submitted by KEN on 26/08/2019
i visited last week and ordered a sausage and cheese burger the shop was packed but only 2 workers both grumpy one male one female although the food was ok customer service is crap i was third in the chippy but kept geting pushed back in favour of couples , 5 star rating on the wall 3 would be more fair and 0 for customer serviceSubmitted by e mcmahon on 30/07/2013
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Telephone: 0330 0948 424
Search and view our courses below or contact our team today on 0330 0948 424 to find out more
As a hub of learning for the construction and utility industry our training centre offers both practical and theory based training for our candidates.
Our practical training area enables weather-proof training that simulates real life environments helping to develop skills and confidence to those who attend our courses.
From MEWPs to Fork Lift Trucks to Scaffolding, our dedicated practical training offering is ideal for organisations or employees in the manufacturing, warehousing, construction and utility sectors.
Using tools, equipment and machinery that you will be using in your day to day work, we guarantee that those who attend our courses will leave us with the necessary knowledge and skills to work safely.
Abrasive Wheels – Hand Held Petrol Driven Cut Off Saw NPORS
Abrasive Wheels – Including Practical In House
Abrasive Wheels Awareness In House
Abrasive Wheels Including Practical NPORS
Counterbalance Experienced Worker Assessment NPORS
Counterbalance Novice NPORS
Counterbalance Refresher NPORS
Harness Awareness and Fall Arrest
IPAF MEWP Harness Inspector Training Course
IPAF MEWP Harness User Training Course
MEWP Boom 3b IPAF
MEWP Scissor 3a IPAF
MEWP Scissor and Boom 3a and 3b IPAF
MEWP Static Boom 1b IPAF
Pallet Stacker Novice NPORS
Pallet Stacker Refresher NPORS
Reach Truck Novice NPORS
Reach Truck Refresher NPORS
Rear Tipping Dumper Novice NPORS
Rear Tipping Dumper Refresher NPORS
Rescue at Height Refresher
Rescue at Heights Novice
Road Roller Novice NPORS
Road Roller Refresher NPORS
Safe Working at Height
Safe Working at Height NPORS
Sideloader Lift Truck Novice
Sideloader Lift Truck Refresher
Thrust Boring
I would not hesitate to recommend Expedient to any of my colleagues. Thank you for a great service, keep it up!"
Engineering Organisation
Expedient staff always try to go the extra mile to assist with any late or urgent training requests that we might have. I have always received great feedback and assistance from staff at Expedient while trying to arrange any courses. Thank you!"
Engineering Organisation
I have dealt with Expedient Training Services Limited for many years during which time they have provided us with an excellent service in the areas of Health and Safety and Plant Training. The trainers are well qualified, the centre is accredited and they offer guidance and support before and after the training event. Being familiar with our work and our premises and having built up a partnership over time, Expedient Training Services are the perfect training provider for us. Their training expertise is well documented and reliable. I can confidently recommend Expedient Training Services as a solid and reliable supplier, and experts in their field."
Marine Engineering Organisation
Everything from my initial enquiry to the booking has been dealt with professionally and every member of the team I have spoken with has been very friendly and have gone over and above to meet my training needs."
Engineering Organisation
Claire and all her team, in particular Maria, made our annual training event a success. Delivering 15 different courses , over 2 weeks for 21 staff is a huge task. No request was too difficult and all our training aims and objectives for this year were met. The feedback from our staff has been all positive. This has been the fourth successful year of training with Expedient and we intend to carry on using their services in the future. Many thanks for making the very complicated training programme a success."
Engineering Organisation


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Tickets for wheelchair users
The Salzburg Festival offers tickets for wheelchair users in all venues. When ordering your wheelchair place, please announce whether you require a seat for the person accompanying you or not. Reduced-price tickets are available for registered accompanying persons who can provide the necessary identification. You will find the number, position and prices of the wheelchair places indicated on all the hall seating plans.
Ticket office
Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz 11
5020 Salzburg
+43 662 8045 500
Barrier-free access via a ramp (on the right side of the gate).
Shop and Tickets (from Easter)
in Haus für Mozart/Felsenreitschule
Hofstallgasse 1
5020 Salzburg
Access through the doors on the left of the shop window marked with the wheelchair symbol.
How to get there
Starting one hour before the beginning of a performance, vehicles can enter the Hofstallgasse and let visitors out. However, no parking is permitted. The entry and pickup is regulated by the police.
The closest parking possibility to the Festival Quarter is the Altstadtgarage. Further information about parking you find on the site of the specific venue.
Parking Garage
Altstadtgarage A+B (Mönchsberg)
Hildmannplatz 1, 5020 Salzburg
Please note that the entrance height of the parking garage is 2.05 meters. Disabled parking spaces are available at every parking level.
Opening hours: daily 0-24 h
From the underground car park Altstadtgarage B you have direct access to the Festival Halls.
At the cash desk you can show your tickets one hour before the event starts and purchase a discounted parking ticket for 6€, valid for 8 hours.
Just a few meters from Großes Festspielhaus, on Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz, there is the nearest bus stop (line 1, 8, 10, A, 22, 23). Most other venues can also be easily reached by bus
Festival Ticket = Bus Ticket
Tickets for Festival performances will be vaild for travel within the city of Salzburg in the so called core-zone by trolleybus, bus or S-Bahn from three hours before the performance begins until the last service. This offer is vaild for the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and the Salzburg Festival in summer.
There is a wheelchair taxi in the City of Salzburg and the surrounding area. It offers space for 2 wheelchairs and 6 people. Reachable under: +43 664 7380 9509
Reservations recommended.
The taxi vouchers of the City of Salzburg are valid for the wheelchair taxi. More >
Access for wheelchair users
GROSSES FESTSPIELHAUS (Hofstallgasse 1)
Barrier-free accessibility via the foyer Grosses Festspielhaus / Hofstallgasse 1.
A lift in the foyer will take you to the level of the hall (tier or "Rang"). The wheelchair places are located on the left and right side of the tier, on a landing near Row 3.
4 wheelchair places.
FELSENREITSCHULE (Hofstallgasse 1)
Barrier-free access via the Faistauer Foyer / Hofstallgasse 1.
On the right side of the foyer, 2 ramps lead past the coat-check to the level of the halls Haus für Mozart / Felsenreitschule.
2 wheelchair places in the parquet are reached via the Karl-Böhm-Saal (Entrance A). The wheelchair places are positioned on the right side on a landing near Rows 2-4.
2 wheelchair places in Row 29 are reachable via the elevators in the Foyer of the Haus für Mozart / Felsenreitschule (2nd Floor, Entrance D+E) as well as a wheelchair elevator on the 2nd Floor (Entrance E).
HAUS FÜR MOZART (Hofstallgasse 1)
Barrier-free access via the Faistauer Foyer / Hofstallgasse 1.
On the right side of the foyer, 2 ramps lead past the coat-check to the level of the halls Haus für Mozart / Felsenreitschule.
6 wheelchair places are reachable through the Entrances "Parterre" on the right and left sides, "Rows 20-27" at the Haus für Mozart. The positioning of the wheelchair places is on the left and right sides near Row 26.
EDMUNDSBURG (Mönchsberg)
Barrier-free access via the Toscanini-Altstadtgaragen-Passage through the entrance "Edmundsburg / Haus für Europa".
An elevator will take you to the entry level of the Edmundsburg and to the coat-check (on the right side of the elevator). Another elevator will take you to the level of the hall, marked "Europa Saal, HS 240".
2 wheelchair places.
KOLLEGIENKIRCHE (Universitätsplatz)
Barrier-free access via the back church entrance (via Kreuzkapelle), on the corner of Wiener Philharmonikergasse and Furtwängler Park.
The positioning of the wheelchair places varies according to the seating chart.
2 wheelchair places.
PERNER INSEL (Hallein)
Barrier-free access on the right side, past the ticket sales point, through the aisle. A wheelchair elevator in the back yard (hint for e-wheelchair: maximum load 200 kg) will take you to the level of the hall.
The wheelchair places are located on a riser on the right side, at Row 6.
2 wheelchair places.
ST. PETER (Stift St. Peter)
Barrier-free access via Franziskanergasse, entrance Hof St. Peter, through the door/gate to the left of the church entrance (monastery).
2 wheelchair places.
UNIVERSITÄTSAULA (Furtwänglerpark)
Barrier-free access via Furtwänglerpark (across from the Festspielhäuser).
An elevator in the foyer (on the left, behind the ticket sales point) will take you to the hall level on the 1st Floor.
The wheelchair places are on the left and right sides near the first row of chairs.
4 wheelchair places.
MOZARTEUM (Schwarzstraße)
Barrier-free access via Schwarzstrasse through all entrances.
An elevator in the foyer (on the left, next to the coat-check) will take you to the hall level on the 1st Floor.
The wheelchair places are located on the right side of the parquet, near Rows 7 and 11.
2 wheelchair places.
LANDESTHEATER (Ecke Schwarzstraße/Makartplatz)
Access via the right side entrance (Mirabellgarten side or bus stop Makartplatz) through a door with an automatic opener.
From here, there is barrier-free access to the hall.
The wheelchair places are located on the right side of the parquet near Rows 7 and 10.
2 wheelchair places.
Barrier-free access via Residenzplatz and Kapitelplatz.
The wheelchair places are located on the left and right side, directly in front of the first row of chairs.
4 wheelchair places.
SZENE (Anton-Neumayr-Platz)
Barrier-free access via Anton-Neumayr-Platz.
The wheelchair places are located on the left and right side near the first row of seats.
4 wheelchair places.
MUSEUM DER MODERNE SALZBURG am Mönchsberg / RESTAURANT m32
Barrier-free access via the Mönchsberg Elevator (on Gstättengasse).
Assistance for visitors with hearing impairments
An Induction loop is available at the following venues:


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John 1:42 (NIV)
And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).
I read a story about a man who had a huge boulder in his front yard. He grew weary of this big, unattractive stone in the center of his lawn, so he decided to take advantage of it and turn it into an object of art. He went to work on it with hammer and chisel, and chipped away at the huge boulder until it became a beautiful stone elephant. When he finished, it was gorgeous, breath-taking.
A neighbor asked, "How did you ever carve such a marvelous likeness of an elephant?"
The man answered, "I just chipped away everything that didn't look like an elephant!"
You may have heard a version of this story that uses the name of Michelangelo as the man who is doing the sculpting (sometimes the story gives his explanation of how the statue of David was created, other times the statue of Moses).
But the story also illustrates how God creates men in His likeness. He starts with nothing much more than a boulder, but like a great artist, he sees the potential for what lies within and chips away until we are shaped in His image.
Look at how Jesus dealt with men like Peter. Who would have looked at Peter -- the loud mouth who was always saying things he would later regret -- and seen the disciple he would become? Who would have looked at James and John -- nicknamed "Sons of Thunder" because of their temper -- and considered them to be ideal candidates? But Jesus had a way of looking into the hearts of men and women, seeing not only what they were, but what they had the potential to become. Then he set about the task of "chipping away" to uncover the beauty that lay beneath the surface.
Wouldn't it be great it we could learn to look at those around us the same way -- to see not only what they are, but to see what they can become? If we would only do that, perhaps instead of seeing people as "worthless boulders", we would set about the task of chipping away to reveal their full potential.
Dear Lord, open our eyes so that we may see the potential in those around us instead of the hunk of rock. In Jesus' Name, Amen.


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This age old craft has been largely developed over the years in to a fun, challenging and competitive sport that can be enjoyed by everyone.
Suitable for both children and adults, our Archery sessions will introduce you to the thrills and skills of outdoor archery, under the supervision of our experienced GNAS archery instructors. A great way to spend a few hours with friends and family.
The archery range is set within the grounds of Lurgaboy Adventure Centre.
Cost £15p/p
(Minimum group size 6)
Minimum age 8
Price includes Public Liability insurance, use of specialist equipment, experience and fully qualified guide.
Venues: Lurgaboy Adventure Centre
Duration: 1.5hrs
Book Now


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1944: Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane
29 comments June 10th, 2013 Meaghan
(cc) image from fintbo.
(Thanks to Meaghan Good of the Charley Project for the guest post. -ed.)
On this date in 1944, four days after the Allied invasion of Normandy, an SS battalion from the 2nd SS Panzer Division massacred almost the entire village of Oradour-sur-Glane in west central France, slaughtering in all 642 people.
You can read all about this hecatomb and its aftermath on this very thorough and impressive website dedicated to the atrocity, from which much of the information in this account is drawn.
The tiny village, which you could walk through in all of ten minutes, had been the victim of mistaken identity.
Twenty miles away was a somewhat larger town with a similar name, Oradour-sur-Vayres, which was known for its Resistance activity. Adolf Diekmann, commander of the SS battalion, had been informed that the French Resistance had captured an SS officer (possibly the kidnapped Waffen-SS Sturmbahnfuhrer Helmut Kampfe, who had been executed by the Resistance earlier that same day) in Oradour-sur-Vayres and decided reprisals were needed, but he got the two villages mixed up and went to Oradour-sur-Glane instead.
When the SS arrived in the village at lunchtime, they ordered all the inhabitants to assemble in the fairground to have their papers checked. Everyone had to come, including children and the sick. Six people who were not residents but happened to be in the village at the time were also sent to the fairground.
Twenty villagers who had some compelling reason to avoid the Nazis, or merely had a bad feeling about the whole thing, hid or left the village as soon as the SS division showed up. These twenty survived. One seven-year-old boy, Roger Godfrin, was spotted and shot at, but survived by playing dead. He was the only survivor in his family, and the youngest survivor from the town.
The women and children were locked in the village church, and the men were lead to barns and sheds where the machine guns were set up. They were shot in their lower bodies and legs, in order to prolong their deaths. One of the men, who'd lost a leg in World War I, supposedly cried out, "Those bastards! They have cut my other leg off!"
After the shooting, as the men of Oradour-sur-Glane lay helpless, the SS men locked the sheds and set them on fire.
Only six men were able to escape. They hid in some rabbit hutches for several hours before attempting to escape the village. Five of them made it, but Pierre-Henri Poutaraud was spotted later that day and shot dead. The SS man who shot him then tethered a horse to Poutaraud's outstretched hand.
In all, 190 men were killed.
The SS division then went back to the church, set off a smoke bomb inside it, and set the building on fire. Anyone who tried to get out of the church was machine-gunned. One woman cried out that she was German, not French, and begged to be released, but the SS shoved her back into the flames.
47-year-old Marguerite Rouffanche was able to slip out the back window, and another woman followed her with her seven-month-old baby, but all three of them were shot and only Marguerite survived, hiding in a garden for more than 24 hours until help arrived. Her two daughters were killed. (Marguerite refused to leave Oradour after the massacre. She remained there for the rest of her ninety-one years and is now buried in the village cemetery.)
The church fire and shootings claimed the lives of 247 children and 205 women.
Children from the village's girl's school, in the 1942-1943 school year. All of these girls were killed in the massacre.
Unbeknownst to the Nazis, there were several Jews living in the village, among them five children between the ages of eight and fifteen. Twelve of them were killed. In the case of a Jewish family called Pinede, the parents decided to present themselves for inspection but told their three children to hide. The children survived; their parents did not. One of those three Jewish survivors was still alive as of 2004.
Several days passed for the 26 survivors were permitted to bury their dead. Only 52 of the bodies could be identified; the other ones were burned too badly to be recognizable.
Collective punishment in reprisal for the actions of others was par for the course in Nazi-occupied Europe, and Adolf Diekmann had directed his unit to commit a number of mass shootings. Even so, he didn't have authorization for the bloody events at Oradour-sur-Glane and his commanding officer requested for a court-martial, saying, "I cannot allow the regiment to be charged with something like this." Field Marshal Erwin Rommel supposedly volunteered to preside over the court-martial himself.
But before that could happen, the war took care of Diekmann: he was killed on the Normandy front on June 19, hit in the head with shrapnel, a mere nine days after his last atrocity. The front, in fact, took care of most of his unit: only 65 of the 200 members survived the war.
In 1953 in Bordeaux, a military tribunal convened to hear the case against the surviving members of the 2nd Panzer Division. Only 22 of them were present in the courtroom; the others were in East Germany, which refused to extradite them. All but one said they'd been conscripted into the SS; one of them admitted he'd joined voluntarily to fight Communism.
To further complicate matters, 15 of the defendants present were actually French nationals of German descent, from Alsace-Moselle, and 14 of them claimed they'd been drafted against their wishes.
(After they conquered France, Germany declared inhabitants of Alsace to be German citizens whether they wanted to be or not, and drafted the region's men. The conscripts were known in France as Malgre-nous, meaning literally "despite ourselves.")
In addition, eight of the French defendants had been under the age of 18 when they were drafted into the SS, making them minors under French law. Many French people, including some of the survivors of Oradour-sur-Glane, viewed the Alsatian conscripts as fellow-victims of Nazi Germany and didn't believe they should be held responsible for their actions.
Most of the defendants were cagey.
They implicated each other, but not themselves, admitting to some specific offenses but denying other, far more serious ones. One man, for example, said he'd been part of an execution squad that shot 20 men, but insisted he'd only helped load the machine guns and hadn't personally shot anyone. Another said he hadn't been in Oradour-sur-Glane at all, but was stationed as a sentry outside the village to prevent escapes. Only one of the defendants had admitted to killing anyone at all prior to the trial.
Twelve members of the victims' families came to watch the trial proceedings, including an eight-year-old girl whose father and grandfather had been killed. Marguerite Rouffanche was ill at the time of the trial and very weak, but she showed up anyway and testify about her experience. Roger Godfrin, the little boy who played dead, also testified.
The tribunal's judge demanded the defendants view photographs of the charred corpses of the victims, saying, "Let them look at the glorious work of the valiant Third Company of Der Führer Regiment."
When the prosecutor summed up the case, he referred to the defendants' evasive statements and said, "You might as well say despite the heaps of ashes and ruins, that the massacre never took place. But the people of Oradour are dead."
The tribunal deliberated for thirty-two hours before returning its verdicts. One of the defendants was able to prove he hadn't been in Oradour-sur-Glane the day of the killings, and was acquitted. The rest were convicted.
The 46 members of the SS unit who hadn't shown up for trial were sentenced to death in absentia, as was one of the German nationals and one of the French. The others got various prison sentences, mostly between five and eight years, none exceeding twelve years. The Germans tended to get longer prison terms than the French. In addition, the Germans were prohibited from residing in France for at least twenty years.
Survivors of the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre.
No one in France was happy with the tribunal's ruling: some said the sentences were too harsh, others, too lenient. In the face of widespread protests from the Alsace area and threats to secede from France, the French National Assembly passed a bill granting amnesty to all Malgre-nous (at a vote of 319 to 211, with a whopping 83 abstentions) and 13 of the 14 Frenchmen were released only eight days after the verdict was rendered. (One of them, the one who had volunteered for the SS, got no sympathy from anyone and no such leniency.)
Germany was upset, saying it was unfair to pardon the French SS but not the Germans. But within five years, everyone had been freed. No one was actually executed.
In 1981, East German authorities tracked down Heinz Barth, a second lieutenant in the 2nd Panzer Division, and put him on trial in their country for his role in the Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre.
He never tried to deny his participation in the attack, and used the old "just following orders" defense, saying, "In war one acts harshly and with the means available." Barth admitted he helped round up the village men and personally shot fifteen times into the crowd. He also acknowledged responsibility for the deaths of nearly 100 people in Czechoslovakia.
Barth was convicted in 1983 and sentenced to life in prison. In 1991, still behind bars, he was awarded a pension as a "war victim" because he'd been wounded in Normandy in August 1944 and lost a leg. The resulting howls of protest led the government of a newly reunited Germany to pass a law stripping convicted war criminals of their pensions.
Barth was released from prison in 1997, and managed to finagle his war pension back somehow. He died of cancer ten years later, at the age of 86.
Marguerite Rouffanche died in 1988. Her fellow-survivor Roger Godfrin died in 2004.
The survivors of Oradour-sur-Glane created a new village after the war, but the burned-out ruins of the old village remain, with rusted cars, sewing machines, bicycles and other personal items lying in plain sight on the street, a grim testimony to what happened there nearly seventy years ago.
The ruins of the village of Oradour-sur-Glane today. (cc) image from Olivier Lepicier.
On this day..
- 1996: Huugjilt, wrongful execution - 2020
- 1566: Bartholome Tecia, Geneva sodomite - 2019
- 1697: The Paisley Witches - 2018
- 1863: Not Nathaniel Pruitt, reprieved deserter - 2017
- 2015: Aftab Bahadur Masih, "I just received my Black Warrant" - 2016
- 1822: Armand Valle, carbonari plotter - 2015
- 1902: Hirsh Lekert, Jewish assassin - 2014
- 1896: Amelia Dyer, baby farmer - 2012
- 1876: Kenneth Brown, father of Edith Cowan - 2011
- 1692: Bridget Bishop, the first Salem witch hanging - 2010
- 1942: The village of Lidice, for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich - 2009
- 1358: Guillaume Cale, leader of the Jacquerie - 2008
Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Borderline "Executions",Burned,Children,Execution,France,Germany,Guest Writers,History,Innocent Bystanders,Mass Executions,No Formal Charge,Occupation and Colonialism,Other Voices,Shot,Wartime Executions,Women
Tags: 1940s, 1944, adolf diekmann, french resistance, june 10, oradour-sur-glane


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It is unprofitable for Russia to maintain a foreign economy, no matter how sanctions concealed the protectionist measures.
25.Jul.14 5:41 AM
By Ube Salorainen
Photo moneyjournal.ru
During the meeting of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev with partners who and Russian representatives in other countries, he supposes that introducing sanctions by USA is a protectionism for its enterprises. Medvedev believes that the country cannot allow the development of other countries at its expense, veiling under sanctions the protection of certain companies and doing this, by passing all agreements which are obligatory to all members of the world trade organization.
The Prime Minister mentions that it is necessary to keep track of all the cases of discrimination of domestic companies and to predict such methods. He noted that it is essential to defend our interests, to explain the meaning of taken decisions and the reason for their introduction.
The country has to defend its economic interests in the world community and has to use all possible legal means, said Dmitry Medvedev.


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Deputy saves pregnant woman, 11-month-old twins from burning truck
TULSA, Okla. (Gray News) – A deputy in Oklahoma saved a pregnant woman and her 11-month-old twins from a burning vehicle Tuesday morning.
According to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Ivan Patino was traveling on Highway 75 when he noticed a truck stopped on the side of the roadway.
The deputy pulled over to check on the people inside the truck. As he approached the vehicle, he noticed smoke coming from the hood.
The truck's engine then caught fire and Patino pulled the mother and her twins from the truck.
The sheriff's office said Patino used his fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire, but the engine exploded, and he was overcome by smoke.
Patino was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
"Deputy Patino risked his safety to save this young family. We are exceedingly proud of him," the sheriff's office wrote in a Facebook post.
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.


text:
php is having a function to extract slice of an array.
Find below the syntax of this function array_slice().
Here, the length argument is optional.
If you want to remove first two items from an array, you can use as below,
We can specify negative number also as the offset. In this case, it will be taken from end of the array.
More Articles...
Thursday, May 7, 2009
array_slice function in php
Labels: PHP


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Thursday, September 30, 2010
Miniature Bluetooth Transmitter Plugs Into Nikon DSLRs for Easy Geotagging
Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 06:00 PM
"Wiesbaden-based Foolography has released new GPS modules for the Nikon D3100, D5000, D7000 and D90, which enable these cameras to include location data captured by any Bluetooth GPS receiver in the EXIF."
Well this is a clever little device! Every other GPS solution I've seen has been bulky and ugly, but this looks like it's small enough to not get in the way - but remember that you'll still need to have a Bluetooth GPS to go along with it; I mistakenly thought this was an entire GPS unit unto itself at first, but it's a slightly less interesting product. 125.21€ is the price tag, which seems expensive for a Bluetooth receiver, and it looks like it's only available in Europe. While this looks like a decent solution, I'm really surprised that neither the Nikon D3100 nor the D7000 have a built-in GPS. It seems like a no-brainer at this point, but Nikon obviously doesn't agree, so devices like this are necessary.


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This step appears when a standard term is being made into a nonstandard term.
The purpose of this step is to migrate all relevant semantic relationships from term being made a nonstandard to the new standard term.
Click on a term relationships in the left column to migrate it over to the new standard term. Migrated relationships will appear in the right column.