Boys Club

Over and Out

Weiner Tells House Leaders He’ll Resign NYTimes

Representative Anthony D. Weiner during a news conference last week. Richard Perry/The New York TimesThe top Democratic official said Mr. Weiner called Representative Nancy Pelosi of California and Representative Steve Israel of New York last night while they were at the White House picnic to inform them he had decided to resign on Thursday.

Democratic leaders are prepared to hold a meeting today to discuss whether to strip the 46-year-Weiner of all committee assignments, an action that would highly impact the Congressman’s effectiveness. Nancy Pelosi has also called for an ethics investigation into Anthony Weiner’s online activities.

It’s reported that that Weiner will resign today at 2pm, in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. This was the spot where he announced his first campaign for City Council in 1992.

Oh Those Bishops!

Bishops Won’t Focus on Abuse Policies NYTimes

Some of the most conservative Catholics are questioning whether American bishops comply with their own policies on child sexual abuse. In the diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph, Bishop Robert W. Finn has admitted allowing a priest who took pornographic pictures of young girls to celebrate Mass and continue having access to children.

“There’s no accountability and there’s no transparent protocol,” said Pat O’Neill, the co-owner of a public relations and marketing firm in Kansas City, who once served as a consultant for the diocese there. “I have never seen the anger as deep and widespread as I have seen and heard and felt it these last three weeks. It’s coming from people that I know of as very conservative, very devout, especially younger people.”

Catholic bishops renew abuse prevention plan as is despite pressure to close loopholes The Washington Post

US bishops unlikely to change sex-abuse policies despite new criticism CatholicCulture.org

The most recent complaints about American bishops’ handling of the abuse scandal, aired in Philadelphia and Kansas City, involve the apparent failure of some bishops to follow the policies established at the Dallas meeting. Nicholas Cafardi, the author of Before Dallas, told the Times that the key consideration is fraternal correction among the bishops.

“Unless the bishops are willing to call each other out,” Cafardi said, “we will always have individual bishops who think that they can ignore the requirements of the charter.”

RedTracker | Beyond the Veil

Jolie To Visit Hatay, Turkey

Angelina Jolie to visit Syrian refugees Ahram Online

Fresh from release of the first image in her Louis Vuitton Core Values campaign, Angelina Jolie will travel from Istanbul tomorrow to Hatay province in support of more than 8,000 Syrians staying in three refugee camps after fleeing Syria.

Also: Syria launches media offensive to counter global outcry Ahram Online

Not So Fast Boys

Muslim Woman Seeks Egyptian Presidency NYTimes

Bothaina Kamel is running for president of Egypt. Abdalla Hassan for The International Herald TribuneBothaina Kamel is a woman of conviction. As a familiar face on Egyptian television, she joined two other women to form Shayfeen.com — ‘We Are Watching You’ in colloquial Arabic to monitor elections to parliament.

In 2006, Kamel refused to read newscasts on state television if she believed them to be untrue. As a result, she took a leave of absence.

For six years, she hosted a popular weekly radio program called “Nighttime Confessions.” Broadcast past midnight, listeners called the program to talk about personal dilemmas and seek advice, bringing up such sensitive topics as sexual abuse, and premarital and extramarital sex. The program was abruptly taken off the airwaves in 1998, accused by a state committee on religion of damaging the reputation of Egypt and its youth.

Six years and one revolution later, the television anchor and activist Bothaina Kamel is the first woman to run for the presidency of Egypt. Her campaign motto is ‘My agenda is Egypt’.