LITTLE NOTES

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Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

LITTLE NOTES
January 2004

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The Blanchard employee's wife dropped out of the program after the first class, but he continued. He missed the second class, failed to complete the associated class work, and was placed on academic probation. He remained on academic probation throughout the two-year program. Again, this was an opportunity not afforded other students. He skipped opportunities to re-take the class or to make up the class through other avenues. Finally, with graduation nearing, Cook allowed him to earn course credit by completing a computer correspondence course from an unrelated curriculum. He thus became the only student to graduate from the program without completing the prescribed curriculum.

The programs's director Kurt Gering would only confirm that the man in question was a graduate of the program, insisting that all other information was protected by the student's right to privacy.


AUDREY GEISEL, WIDOW OF DR. SEUSS (Theodor Seuss Geisel), became "very disturbed" when she found out a pro-life group in Ottawa, Canada used a line from her husband's book Horton Hears a Who on a poster. The line, "A person is a person no matter how small," accompanied a picture of an eight-week-old fetus. "We don't want to take a position one way or the other," said Geisel's San Francisco lawyer, Cathy Bencieengo. "But this is not an area in which Dr. Seuss participates."

Dr. Seuss may not participate in the abortion debate, now that he's dead, but Mrs. Seuss has come down firmly on the side of killing babies in the womb, and done so in the name of her late husband. The web site of the local philanthropic organization, The San Diego Foundation, has a page titled "Women in Philanthropy" which says of Theodor and Audrey Geisel, "His legacy has been preserved in the The Dr. Seuss Fund, set up by his widow, Audrey, to benefit organizations that he would support if alive."

Planned Parenthood is listed among the organizations benefiting from the fund. Also, New Notes reported last May that Mrs. Geisel chaired a big money fundraising dinner for Planned Parenthood at the Harbor Island Sheraton.


FATHER JIM BOYD, a former Navy chaplain and the new Catholic chaplain for the Port of San Diego, visits freight ships twice a week to deliver magazines to the crews and say Mass aboard ship. The seafarers, who hail from regions as diverse as India, the Philippines, South America and Greece, are usually unable to attend Mass often as the ships are almost constantly at sea. His Apostleship of the Sea ministry includes running the Stella Maris Center, located near the docks at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal. Here the seafarers can play pool, watch television, read or eat snacks. The center, which is open daily from noon to 10 p.m., has received volunteer assistance from the local Episcopalian community, who keep the center open three or four days per week. Father Boyd is seeking Catholic volunteers to assist in staffing the center on other days. He describes volunteer duties as quite simple, such as opening or closing the center, greeting the seamen, having them sign the visitors log and answering questions about San Diego. (The center provides the necessary information, such as maps and directions). "Basically," Father Boyd explained, "this is a ministry of hospitality. As Jesus said, 'I was a stranger and you took me in.'"

Father Boyd welcomes donations of materials in English and Spanish such as National Geographic, Reader's Digest and Liguorian magazines, Catholic Bibles, books and rosaries for the crews, large percentages of whom are Catholic. He is also seeking monetary donations to a buy a van for the center. For more information regarding volunteering at Stella Maris Center or making donations, please call Father Boyd at 858-292-1822.


SOME PARISHIONERS WALKED OUT during a homily given by Father Walter J. Quinn, O.S.A, of New York City-based Priests for Life at Sacred Heart Parish in Coronado the weekend of November 14-16. In his hard-hitting homily, Father Quinn chided apathetic Catholic laity, particularly Catholic politicians, for voting their finances instead of their faith. The following are excerpts from the homily Father Quinn gave at the 9:00 a.m. Mass, for which he received a hearty ovation.

"...There is nothing in our society that destroys more lives than abortion: not crime, sickness, disease, natural disasters, not even war. There are more lives taken in this country by abortion in one single year than all the wars that the United States ever fought, from George Washington right up to the present. The figures don't even come close. Death by abortion in one year is 35 times greater."

"...There are two generations of Americans who have grown up, especially if they went to public schools, hearing that abortion is somehow some kind of a right, and everybody else has to pay for it with their tax dollars. Most Americans seem to be unaware, and might be quite shocked to learn, that there are 4,400 abortions in this country every 24-hour period. That's more than [died in] the World Trade Center every single day.?

"...The great tragedy of the last and the current century is the deliberate and brutal destruction of countless human lives, sanctified by government and bought into by all levels of society including the United Nations."

"...Economics, education, war, capital punishment, jobs, whatever, none of these other life issues is equal to, superior to, can be equated with, or used as an excuse not to support the very right to life."

"...Women do not get an abortion because of freedom of choice. No. They get them because they feel they have no freedom and no choice. They feel trapped, desperate, and afraid because they have no one to turn to except the abortionist."

"...Legal abortion facilities in this country of ours are the most unregulated surgical facilities in the entire nation. Unregulated. Animal hospitals, veterinary clinics, are cleaner and safer, held to higher standards and subject to stricter legal controls than are the facilities where 4,400 human babies are destroyed every single day."

"...At the March for Life in Washington in January, I usually stand at the corner of Seventh and Constitution, because when you're in the parade, you don't see it. From curb to curb, there are 25 or 30 people abreast. Every four rows is 100, every 10 units is 1000. It's simple mathematics that there has to be 250 to 350 thousand or more people there. And yet we get phone calls and e-mails from all over the country in which people tell us that they didn't read or hear about it in their local press. That's called suppression of truth."

"...Human life is being destroyed on a massive scale, and all the levels of society are looking the other way, just like they did in Nazi Germany in the 1930s."

"...Don't be bullied by slogans that sound very, very nice such as pro-choice. It sounds very fair, very feeling, very American. But some choices have victims. The child of abortion is the obvious victim, destroyed by the mother's choice."

"...Those who continue to support and to vote for candidates, persons and programs [that support abortion] are simply making possible the deaths of millions of innocent human lives."

"...It's long overdue that all those anti-life and so-called pro-choice Catholics begin to suffer a guilty conscience, because someday they will meet God, and then they will know the meaning of God's will and God's grace."


HOMOSEXUAL CITY COUNCILWOMAN TONI ATKINS (District 3) was appointed deputy mayor by Mayor Murphy on December 1. Her appointment succeeds that of former deputy mayor Ralph Inzunza who, along with fellow councilmen Charles Lewis and Michael Zucchet, is under indictment on charges of taking bribes from Cheetah's strip club owner Michael Galardi.

Before her election to the city council, Atkins served for seven years as an aide to fellow lesbian and former city councilwoman, Christine Kehoe. Before that, Atkins directed clinic services for the now-defunct WomanCare abortion shop in Hillcrest. According to a Union-Tribune report, Atkins said of her appointment, "This really is a good day for the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] community."

But the appointment of Atkins did not go unchallenged. Don Stillwell, a Christian who frequently speaks at council meetings, told councilmembers, "I believe that God will not be pleased by this appointment. The Bible shows what God can do when man displeases Him often enough. With this building built over a fault, and with the Pacific Ocean such a short distance away, I would not want to be in this building when God finally decides He doesn't like what is happening here."


SAN DIEGO CITY ATTORNEY CASEY GWINN prepares to vacate his post next year due to term limits, four candidates -- Mike Aguirre Deborah Berger, Leslie Devaney, and Howard Wayne are vying for the job. In October, News Notes asked each candidate what they will do, if elected, to prosecute adult businesses that violate city ordinances. Here is the question, followed by their answers:

The City of San Diego has determined that adult sex businesses attract crime and prostitution and contribute to the spread of disease. This is why there are codes restricting their locations and operations. Many of these businesses continuously violate the ordinances and few, if any, are prosecuted. What will you do to change this?

Mike Aguirre: They do more than just what you've identified. They're also in many instances involved directly or indirectly in criminal activity or help to foster it. We will enforce the law strictly within the city to stop the spread of organized crime. I'm not talking about it from a pornographic point of view; I'm talking about the businesses that help to spawn organized crime. One of the things I intend to do is to mount a very aggressive effort to look at the relationship between adult businesses and organized crime.

Deborah Berger: Well, assuming that what you're representing is true, because I don't know that it is, and they are in fact violating the law, then that's something that definitely should be looked into. My whole notion of how the city attorney should operate is that whatever priorities exist in the community should be given priority by the city attorney. If there is a problem in the community with adult entertainment and the enforcement of the ordinances is not happening, then that will be a priority for me.

Leslie Devaney: City regulations, which have been designed to comply with applicable court rulings, exist to ensure that adult businesses do not open next to schools, churches and other adult businesses. Regulation of these businesses exist because they attract crime, including prostitution, and they contribute to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Enforcement of these laws and regulations is the job of the police department and code enforcement. Under my administration, I will partner with the community, the police department and code enforcement to carefully monitor these businesses so that violations are quickly addressed and violators are held accountable. In addition, I will assign a deputy who will specifically address adult entertainment issues (land use and permit enforcement).

Howard Wayne: I will enforce the law. I share those same concerns that the businesses produce any socially undesirable results. The council has made certain determinations as to what standards they should be held. I would have to investigate and look at the police reports to see what's going on, and then based on what I learn make a decision to take action. As somebody who's spent 24 yrs in a prosecutorial office, I'm very strong on enforcing the law. The council sets the policies, clearly, but the job of the city attorney is to enforce.


FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON has published a list of his 21 favorite books. Making the list was his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton's recent book Living History. The choice may have been made out of gratitude. The widely panned autobiography glossed over and omitted much of President Clinton's legendary infidelity. A more startling inclusion on the list is Thomas A Kempis's 15th-century spiritual treatise, The Imitation of Christ. Laugh seekers can peruse the whole list at www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2003-11-21-clinton-book_x.htm.

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