April 29, 2002

Cardinal Law: Boy was partly at fault for abuse. Hope that consulting with the Pope, would have helped the Bishops and Cardinals to set a real effective policy to help rebuild the trust in the church has already been dashed.  Despite the clear opinion from the Pope, a national policy on pedophile priests may have to wait until at least June. As we read further into the documents of how the church decided to handle these issue in the past we see that although blaming the 'homosexuals' now seems right, it is also OK to blame the young victim.   Cardinal Bernard Law is coming under new criticism for a legal defense where he says the 6-year old boy was partly responsible for the allegedly abusive relationship between the child and the Rev. Paul Shanley.  [ USA Today ] The pope called sexual abuse both a sin and a crime, he made clear that there is no place in the church for people who harm children.  What exactly do the Bishops have to discuss until June? More: Profile: Cardinal Bernard Law  - BBC Abuse policy to be set in June must go to Vatican  - San Francisco Chronicle No Abuse Rule Yet, Boston Prelate Says  - LA Times 11:35:15 AM

It's a Cool Site, but Its Creator Is Not Done. MDhub.com, a patient-to-doctor Internet link, has had its 15 minutes of Web fame, but it has a long way to go to fulfill its creator's vision. MDhub allows patients to send fax and email messages to their doctor from the internet, using the Little Blue Book Physician database directory, by entering your doc phone number. I would love if my Lawyer, and Doctor had this. By Barnaby J. Feder. [New York Times: Technology] 10:54:12 AM

Fox Studio quits joint venture with Disney for Movies.com  MSNBC / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Decision comes amid U.S. probe of digital distribution of films.  In a sign of the difficulty entertainment companies face in harnessing digital distribution, News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox studio withdrew from a planned joint venture with Walt Disney Co. to deliver movies on demand. More By Anna Wilde Mathews and Bruce Orwall 9:45:55 AM

End in sight for Arafat siege. The Palestinian leader says he accepts a US plan to lift the month-long Israeli siege on his compound, as Ariel Sharon plans a trip to Washington. [BBC News: world] 7:04:35 AM