​You’d think you were reading about changes in city hall, the mayor solidifying his hold on how things happen.​

The story broke last week in the Spanish-language newspaper Clarin, and was reported today by the Rome-based Corrispondenza Romana.

Clarin suggested Muller would be replaced by Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, known as a yes-man in Church circles. Other candidates include Vienna Cardinal Chistoph Schonborn and Archbishop Victor Fernandez, a close collaborator of Pope Francis.

​Looking ahead to the next election?

​The claim of a desperate woman.

​You must remember this, a leak is still a leak, a lie is still a lie, as CNN goes on . . . ​and on and on . . .

(Apologies to creators and singers of a great song, since 1931.)

​

​Cook County Judge Evelyn Clay set to retire this summer:​

​
“You could not ask for a more fair, even-tempered judge,” said attorney Jim McKay, who as an assistant state’s attorney led the prosecution at [Andre] Crawford’s 2009 trial [at which he was convicted]. “I’m sorry to hear she’s going.”

Known for her generally reserved temperament on the bench, Clay earlier this month . . .

​It was not always so, as in this 2009 urging by NBC Chicago to “throw the judges out”:​

​Evelyn B. Clay [per Chicago Bar Assn.].

“Concerns were raised about Judge Clay’s knowledge of the law and poor judgment in making insensitive comments from the bench.”

The Chicago Council of Lawyers also found Clay unqualified. “[She] sometimes exhibits indecision on the bench and inconsistencies in her rulings.”​

​The perils of being a nice guy — at readers’ expense.​

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The job — overseeing Vatican departments — was a new one. He resigned “unexpectedly” after two years, giving no reason, had said three months ago he was “enthusiastic” about the assignment.​

The background of​ [Libero] Milone’s
resignation is the fight between Cardinal George Pell’s Secretariat for the Economy and Cardinal Domenico Calcagno’s APSA, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, ​​
the most resistant to introducing greater financial scrutiny. Milone belonged to the Pell-group​.​
​

​​And the Pope?

Pope Francis first wanted Pell’s Secretariat to replace APSA, ​​
but then gradually rowed back. Milone’s resignation is ​​
another example of a pope ​​
who promised reform, but is delivering ​​
more of the same.

He can’t clean his own house? Ineffective where he has most influence? Or prophet without honor in his own country?

Later, the Vatican responds:

(Vatican Radio) The Press Office of the Holy See released a statement in connection with the statements from the Vatican’s former Auditor General, Libero Milone, which were widely quoted today, saying the Holy See notes “with surprise and regret” the remarks made by the former Auditor General.

Milone told reporters from several news organizations that he had been forced to resign after discovering unspecified “irregularities” within his bailiwick – or face criminal charges he told reporters were fabricated.

The Statement from the Holy See’s Press Office goes on to say, “In [acting] this way, [Milone] has failed to agree to keep confidential the reasons for his resignation from the Office. It is recalled that, according to the Statutes, the Auditor General’s task is to analyze the budgets and accounts of the Holy See and the related administrations. Unfortunately, the Office headed by Dr. Milone, exceeding its powers, illegally commissioned an external concern to conduct investigative activities into the private lives of Holy See Personnel.” [Italics added]

The Statement also says, “In addition to constituting a crime, this [course of action] irretrievably crippled the trust placed in Dr. Milone, who, faced with his responsibilities, freely agreed to resign.”

Note the illegality, hiring the “external concern” etc. Did the world wrongly think that his appointment signaled an opening to the outside world? Hard to swallow, that.

Source: Instead of just saying ‘Everyone should have equal rights’ the left is always searching for a victim to advocate for in order to gain votes.

​14 charges dropped.​

The only retained charge is that Merritt conspired to invade privacy. However, no undercover investigative journalist has ever been so charged. The law applies to private conversations, and the CMP videos were taken in a public venue. Also, ​[California Attorney General

​ ​

Xavier] ​
Becerra prosecuted Merritt without allowing her to constitutionally face her accusers, and Becerra did not give proper legal notice so Merritt could mount a defense.

“Sandra Merritt did nothing wrong," Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver explained. "The complaint by the California attorney general is unprecedented and frankly will threaten every journalist who provides valuable information to the public.”​ [Italics added]​

​Yay.​

​​​The scholar is 86-year-old Egyptian Greek Melkite Jesuit Father Henri Boulad, who explains why he believes Islamist terrorists are applying what their religion teaches them, and why the Church fails to address this because she has fallen prey to a leftist ideology that is destroying the West.

Fr. Boulad wrote Pope Francis about how he talks about Islam, ignoring the reality of the situation, including the need for Christians facing martyrdom for words to live (and die) by:​

“In the extreme fragility of Christians — both in the West and in the East — they are expecting something from you other than vague and harmless declarations that may obscure reality. Your predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, had the courage to take a clear and unambiguous position. His attitude has raised a lot of shields and earned him many enemies. But is not a frank confrontation healthier than a dialogue based on compromise? When the Jewish hierarchs asked the apostles to stop announcing the Gospel, they replied: "As for us, we cannot not proclaim what we have seen and heard …" (Acts 4:20)

“It is high time to emerge from a shameful and embarrassed silence in the face of this Islamism that attacks the West and the rest of the world. A systematically conciliatory attitude is interpreted by the majority of Muslims as a sign of fear and weakness. If Jesus said to us: Blessed are the peacemakers, he did not say to us: Blessed are the pacifists. Peace is peace at any cost, at any price. Such an attitude is a pure and simple betrayal of truth.”

​Here is the priest’s extended interview with Natl. Catholic Register about how the West ignores the nature of Islamic terror and persecution.​
​

​
​Really old problems never die.​

​
​Digging in.​