27 January 2012. Don’t Forget Abba Ephrem! He’s Been in Prison for a Month Now!

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27 January 2012. Don Quixote Redux… Sir Ray Tilts at Windmills… Is Fathausen His Sancho Panza?

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UPDATE:

One of my sources told me that Sir Ray did file in federal court. Perspirin’ minds wanna know… if he’s a retired priest, where’s he getting the money to pursue this? Needle’s not doing this for free. Also, I received whispers that, yes, some RC priests have sued this one and that one… and none have succeeded. My main point stands. You must prove “malicious intent”… and that’s damnably difficult. Besides that, the Winnipeg magistrate is watching this, and I believe that a criminal court CAN subpoena documents such as “confidential settlements”, if they’re deemed relevant. In short, Sir Ray has stepped into a gigantic and malodorous cow pat, and he’s trying to blame everyone but himself. Where is the OCA Holy Synod?

BMD

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Ray Velencia (RV) lives in Columbia, which didn’t even exist prior to 1967. On top of that, it’s not a city, it’s not a town, it’s not a village… it’s a CDP (Census-Designated Place). Everything’s artificial, including the three “lakes”. That is, there isn’t a Columbia “government” responsible to the voters. When you add in its proximity to the NSA campus and to Fort Meade, which leads to a certain volatility in the residential courts, it certainly doesn’t add up to a “normal” situation. The true intent behind Columbia was that it would be a Company Town… “Company” as in “The Company”… that’s Beltway-speak for the CIA. There was to be no local government to interfere with Langley’s surveillance of the area… and, to this day, the only local governance comes from Howard County or from the shadowy “Columbia Association (CA)”, a body that’s not responsible to the populace in the normal course of events. Therefore, Columbia’s an odd-job place with no history, no government, and no civic identity in the accepted sense (and not much in the way of a fixed permanent population). That’s distinctly odd in anyone’s book. Ray, of course, has lived in Columbia long enough to be contaminated by its atmosphere.

You see, if someone doesn’t “fit in”… the CA pressures them out. There’s no government to stop them, all too many residents are atomised transients, and most of the rest are Stepford Wives-style conformists and goodthinkers. In short, I wouldn’t last 30 seconds there. Not all of the Columbia CDP is “Columbia Proper”… only the part administered by the CA is that. Steeped in such a marinade, RV became a megalomaniac. He probably wasn’t the most tightly-wrapped sort to begin with, being put into a loose (almost an anarchic) situation only exacerbated it. He truly thinks that the rest of the country is like Columbia… it’s not.

In any case, I made my statements in New York State, so, he has to sue me in a New York State court or in a Federal court. Maryland courts have no jurisdiction over actions committed in New York State! Click here to see details on his court “case”. Only New York State or Federal courts have such jurisdiction. However, Ray’s gotten away with all his garbage because it’s been local. For whatever reason, he gets away with his pranks. I think that he’s got connections (probably through someone like Lyonyo or Webster) and he’s not afraid to use them. His mouthpiece, one Howard Needle, is a semi-retired guy in his 70s; he’s a former Democratic Party button-man and fixer (he was a delegate to a Maryland Constitutional Convention, which proves it). You can’t go to a local court to sue for defamation… local statutes don’t cover that! State laws do, and they differ from state to state. That’s what so odd about this. Yet, a friend of mine is correct:

This is all the OCA’s fault…they had ample opportunity to stop Velencia. Now, he’s suing clergy, which will move them to deal with him. It’s all their fault… not dealing with a problem isn’t going to make it go away… it often makes it worse. It’s the same with the sex abuse scandals… they knew about Archbishop Storheim two, almost three, years ago.

Let’s keep this on track… RV does the dreck he does because Fathausen protects him. In a normal situation, institutions “solve” personnel problems in a rather abrupt and clear fashion. It’s what happens… they’d throw RV under the bus “for the good of the Church”. You NEVER hear of RC priests suing people… NEVER. That’s because defamation is very hard to prove in the case of “public figures”. You must prove malicious intent, and that’s a slippery slope. In any case, the RCs know that if they let it be, time will “cure” most of it. If you haven’t noticed, if an RC priest gets too much “heat”, they transfer him. They don’t sue journalists or private people… they know better (and they have better lawyers than RV and the OCA has).

It’s time for action. Shall the OCA Holy Synod act? I’ll say this… if it doesn’t, Judge Pollack in Winnipeg’s gonna notice it. It won’t bode well for Seraphim Storheim. An institution is well on the road to self-willed death if it doesn’t rein in wilful officials (and priests are officials of the OCA, there’s no way around it). If the OCA Holy Synod doesn’t depose Raymond Velencia, and quickly, such inaction will have a negative impact on the Storheim case, no doubt on that. THE WINNIPEG MAGISTRATE KNOWS OF THIS FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT… trust me on that. The only way to retrieve the situation is to shitcan RV, quickly and without mercy.

Here are the choices:

• Depose RV
• Support RV
• Do Nothing

The first course is logical, but that doesn’t mean that it’ll happen. I think the chances are less than 50-50, based on past performances. The second’s crackbrained, but it’s action… and it’d precipitate cognitive dissonances that could shake apart the OCA. I don’t give this a high level of probability, either. I think that the third course will occur. Why? James Paffhausen’s a pusillanimous juvenile; he’ll block the attempts of the Synod to act. In any case, Fathausen’s a believer in California New Age Affirmation, not Orthodox Christianity per se.

Expect NOTHING. If that’s what’s forthcoming, you should tailor your giving accordingly… if they do nothing… give nothing. If they run and hide, keep your money in your wallet. You’re a damned fool, otherwise…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Friday 27 January 2012

Albany NY

27 January 2012. France 24 Report on Orthodoxy in Russia

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Click here for an interesting report (“Is the Orthodox Church really in control of Russia?”) in English on the present situation of the Orthodox Church in Russia.

BMD

27 January 2012. An Orthodox Layman Speaks…

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