First SNOWBELLS

It's the same each and every year:

The first Snowbells, harbingers of Spring

Is this possible?

To all the nefarious goings-on in the Catholic Church, there are still those who are willing to downplay the crime of sexual predation, particularly against children.
Those defenders will blatantly state that "Priests too are just people and people make mistakes!"
What a primitive defence this is.  It totally disregards the elevated position a Priest holds in the mind of a child, or other primitive person, and further does not take account of the hushing up of the crime by Church Authorities. 
Priests, in fact, are not "just people". They claim to be the representatives of Christ, here on Earth and are supposedly following higher standards than those of us who truly are "just people."
It is suggested that no accusation is to be made and the Biblical Verse "let him, who is without sin, throw the first stone", is cited: as a defence? or as an attempt to silence the critics!

Now the Pope has called for a four day meeting, during which these nests of vipers and their criminal activities are to be examined and discussed. How long have they been "discussing" those crimes?
Each and every time one of those moral hoodlums was discovered, he was simply transferred to another Diocese, where he, unchecked, could continue seeking and finding new victims.
In fact, Mr. Ratzinger, who goes under the pseudonym of 
"Pope Benedict 16th" stated in writing, that such transgressions (like the rape of children) is not to be reported to the Civil Authorities, but is to be dealt with by the institution of the Catholic Church.
This man had the audacity to place the members of his gang over and above the Laws of the Country and to deny the State jurisdiction over common criminals.
Instead of spending an appropriate amount of time in jail, these monsters enjoyed the hunt for new victims in new surroundings.

What will now happen after this four day conference? 
I fear nothing will happen. Some talk talk talk, but little, if any, action. 
Pope Franciscus, an honest, but misguided man, stands almost alone in this fight. He is surrounded by a phalanx of Bishops, Cardinals, and other high positioned members of the Clergy, who will desperately defend their turf and their cushy jobs.

The numbers, of which we speak, the 10,000 victims in the USA, the 15,000 in little Ireland,  the thousands upon thousands reported in Germany and Austria, the uncounted victims all over the Catholic world, are, researchers admit, but the tip of the iceberg.

To paraphrase a biblical quotation, for those who hurt even one of the little ones, it would be better, if a millstone be tied around his neck and he be dropped into the depth of the ocean.

Bertstravels
would be satisfied with some years in Jail at hard labour.

A question to the issue below:

66.4% of the victims were male! 
Does that mean that the preponderance of priestly perpetrator were homosexuals?

Define: Terrorist

Do you really believe that between 2010 and 2018, in Austria, there were only 1,974 victims of criminal sexual predators belonging to the Catholic Church?

This is only the number of reported cases. The real number is probably a multiple, multiple of those.

This number is carefully detailed by the investigating commission, created by Vienna's Cardinal Schönborn.

Can such hideous crimes truly be broken down into percentages, without somehow also considering the likelihood, nay, certainty, that only a fraction of those, victimized by Priests, Bishops and Cardinals, will have had the intestinal fortitude to become public accusers?

To accuse persons of such high moral reputations as those criminal perpetrators enjoy, or enjoyed, takes a good deal of bravery, and an almost brazen disregard of one's own credibility, if not to say, safety.

Fortunately, there were those 1,974 who took this brave step.

66.4% of the victims were male, 33.4% were females.

Over 60% of all victims were children between the ages of 6 and 12 years.

In order to “compensate” these victims, the Catholic Church paid about

27,3 Million Euros.

What is the real damage done to those victims?

The world would rather not hear this question, since there is no answer.

How does one define the word “Terrorist?”

Bertstravels 

knows one kind.

A sturdy Wall

Trump's Wall

Mr. Trump wants xyz billions of Dollars 

to build a wall on his Mexican border.

I could build one for a lot less...
and I would make it sturdy enough
 to keep him inside for a long time

unusual lighting

How did this happen?

In dark surroundings, the hippo's head is lit beautifully.

No flash was used.

It's a bit of a puzzle

Footprints

Bert, where do you come from,

where are you going?

The House at the Lake

or, the continuing Saga of Bishop Alois Schwarz:

There will just not be peace in the Causa Bishop Alois Schwarz.

At first there is the easy manner in which he is said to have handled his promised Celibacy.

Then we hear about his sense of justice, covering for a rogue sexual predator Priest.

Not enough of that, there are the financial dealings which caused losses to the Bishopry amounting to Millions of Euros.

He apparently was not only a lousy Man of the Cloth, but also a less than clever businessman.

Now comes the story of

“The House at the Lake”

According to the Bishop, it was an elderly lady who wanted to “do something good for the church”.

She sold some real estate (building with 5 apartments) with private access to Lake Wörther, to the Bishopry for 1.38 Million Euros, which the Bishopry, one year later, sold for 1.5 Million Euros to a Foundation owned by the Austrian weapons manufacturer and dealer Gaston Glock.

Now, would you believe such a coincidence, at the same time, this same Glock Foundation made a most generous donation, amounting to 600,000 Euros to the Bishopry.

Had the Bishopry sold this Real Estate to Glock for 2.1 Million Euros,

an amount closer to the real market value of such Real Estate, the entire upside would have been taxable. There is however, no tax payable on Donations received by the Church from generous donors.

So, what does a devious, tax cheating Bishop do? He sells the property for just a little more than the purchase price, so as not to excite the tax department, and for the difference he graciously accepts a non-taxable donation to the Bishopry from the purchaser.

Now with Bishop Schwarz, transferred to another Bishopry, and the Vatican having sent an “Investigating Team” a “self accusation” is quickly filed with the Tax Authorities, in order to mitigate possibly arising penalties.

How does it happen that a man with the character of Alois Schwarz rises to the upper echelon of the Roman Catholic Church, when he would probably have been well suited for membership in the Mafia?

Because there is seemingly not much difference between those two organization.

Bertstravels

will just have to ignore 

the RCC, as he ignores the Mafia.

Vultures and the Wildebeest

A Lapped Faced Vulture finds the highest perch

from which he can see the on-coming herd of Wildebeest.

Steve Schwarze, friend and acknowledged  Bird Expert tells me

that Lapped Faced Vultures "see" rather than smell their intended prey from large distances.

The first of an estimated 10,000 Wildebeest approach the river.

After a short hesitation they plunge into the Croc infested waters.

On the opposite shore line, several hundreds of opportunistic Vultures 

 (there are 50 in this picture)

have gathered, in the knowledge that a good meal awaits them.

Some of the antelopes missed the narrow Hippo trail

and now face this vertical shore line,

where Crocs and Vultures await them.

Of course, most of the Wildebeest crossed the river successfully 

There are Wildebeest from Mara's shore to the horizon.

and your intrepid photographer knows no rest

The Hotel

The evil rumor that we stayed in this hotel 

in no way corresponds with the facts.