FREE LORENZO!!

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I wasn't going to say anything about Bishop Eddie, but then I caught his act on CNN this evening, and I must say; my man is a trip. I can't really blame him for fighting the allegations, and I understand that he has "lawyered" up so he is being instructed not to talk about the case. But my man compared himself to David going up against Goliath, and the church gave him a rousing amen. -All ten thousand of them who were in the house- Now that is some scary stuff.

And speaking of scary stuff: what is up with my man's hair? All those members in his church and he can't find one single barber or stylist to hook up his do? I thought Atlanta had a lot of folks in the black beauty business. Sorry, I couldn't sit through one of the Bishop's sermons because of that f^%$#d up hair. Call me petty, but that Negro made all that money off those folks and he can't spring for a twenty dollar haircut? Someone should be sued alright, but it's not Bishop Eddie, it's his barber.

How would you like to live on Ardmore Avenue in the suburb of Drexel Hill, right outside of my beautiful hometown?

"Twenty cats. Frozen solid.

Upper Darby police and health officials discovered a makeshift kitty morgue Wednesday when they searched a vacant rowhouse on Ardmore Avenue in the township's Drexel Hill section.

Neighbors say the home is owned by the mother of Denise Merget, 58, a cat hoarder who has been locked up at the Delaware County prison since Sept. 10, when she allegedly pulled her .38-caliber revolver on an animal-cruelty officer who tried to remove 55 cats from her uninhabitable house on Leighton Terrace.

Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said the dead cats - mostly kittens - were wrapped in plastic and stored in a freezer. They likely belong to Merget, who is awaiting her preliminary hearing on charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and weapons offenses.

The cat corpses have been taken to the Delaware County SPCA for further investigation.

'I don't know what the cat autopsies are going to show,' Chitwood said. 'My expectation was that these cats just died, but I think being so mentally ill, she's trying to preserve them even in death by putting them in a freezer. Cryonics. That's exactly what's going on.'

Chitwood said Merget could face animal-cruelty charges, depending on the results of the investigation. She apparently was watching the Ardmore Avenue house for her mother, who lives in a nursing home.

Residents of the block, just off Lansdowne Avenue, are still recovering from last week's raid of an alleged brothel across the street. Police arrested a prostitute and the madam of the house, who they say were advertising "massages" and performing sexual acts for a "generous tip."

'On one side, you got prostitution, on the other side, you got cats in the freezer,' Chitwood said. 'It's tragic. Obviously, this lady has some mental-health issues and needs to get them addressed.'

Neighbors say the well-kept block isn't the type of place where you'd expect to find hookers and frozen pets.

'At least it's not drugs," one resident said. 'Just crazy people."' [Story]

Wrong Mr. [Mrs] resident, hookers aren't crazy. *People who freeze cats, on the other hand, well they might have some issues.

Finally, to stay with the animal theme, (excluding the good Bishop of course) why isn't there an outcry from PETA to free Lorenzo the parrot?

"Sky News is reporting that a parrot named Lorenzo has been arrested for being a lookout for Colombian drug dealers. Apparently the bird would say, “run, run the cat is going to get you” when anybody in a police uniform would walk by." [Story]

I bet if poor Lorenzo was a cat they would have taken up his case. Still, you have to admit, Lorenzo has some skills. I wonder if he can cut hair?

What if the "anointed one" is touching someone else?

As Sunday morning fast approaches, I am sure that there are 25,000.00 faithful souls in suburban Atlanta who cannot be looking forward to going to church tomorrow morning. I can't say that I blame them; "these are truly the times that try men's souls."

People have been asking me to write about Bishop Eddie, but as I have said in the past, it's just too damn easy. Some things really do speak for themselves.

Still, one of my favorite bloggers wrote on the subject, and I did a little cut and paste job from her post.

"What does James H. Bell, Tyrone Forbes, Edwin House, Bruce Curtis Leon Dupree, Clarence Garrison and Willie L. Jefferson all have in common? They are pastors that have been arrested for sexual abuses against their parishioners. And in some of the cases, several have been convicted.

It is a fact that sexual abuse goes under-reported in communities of color. Now let's take that fact and apply it when it comes to outing a pastor, deacon, bishop, or other clergymen and women who serve as high power figures in black communities. Not only is it complicated, but in some instances it can be dangerous.

The recent Eddie Long church scandal has magnified an oft-overlooked flaw in the black community. We exempt our "leaders", and more readily, our religious leaders from moral or ethical scrutiny. And when this happens, we participate in our own oppression.

With the past 10 years of sexual abuse cover-ups, lawsuits and scandals becoming a mainstay in the Catholic church and among white clergymen, there is a notion among some black church members that their black pastors are absolved from this sin. It is as if their pastors' erections are somehow different, more divine, thus are stuck in the right orifices.

And in some instances, the victim at the church becomes the predator or the enemy in the eyes of church members---resulting in a collective exile, or one that is self-imposed due to the rejection from people they thought loved them as children of Christ.

It is no wonder why George H. Bush sought out leaders of predominately black mega-churches during election time. Not only do they hold the purse-strings of parishoners, but they control the consciousness of a powerful voting bloc. And just like the teabaggers, these folks vote for someone who is totally against their interest, all in the name of not passing out condoms at schools..." [More here]

Oh Lawd eco. soul, stop stepping on our toes.

What bothers me probably as much- if not more- than the salacious nature of this story is the monetary aspect of it. Who is watching the very long dollars that flows through the hands of these preachers and their minions, and where is the accountability to their flock?

The folks over at New Birth Missionary Baptist would do well to remember the following scripture:

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them."

OK, maybe that's a bad choice for a scripture. The fruit part was uncalled for. But you know what I am trying to say.