Tim Minchin's response to Cardinal George Pell

Cardinal George Pell is the most powerful dude in the Catholic Church of Australia. He’s currently working at the Vatican, but The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has demanded his presence in Australia.

But George has sent a doctor’s note saying he’s too unwell to fly.

The whole thing stinks to high hell, and many people in Australia are very, very angry…not least of all, the survivors in Ballarat, where abuse was sickeningly rife.

Pell was born and educated in Ballarat, and at one point actually lived with Gerry Ridsdale, one of the most prolific (and allegedly protected) paedophiles in Australian history. He has been accused of covering up the actions of others, and of sexually abusing a kid himself.

The church in Australia (like elsewhere in the world) knew of the actions of many of their priests, and rather than going to the police, shuffled them from diocese to diocese, facilitating their abuse rather than arresting.

The idea that Pell was unaware of the behaviour of Ridsdale (and others) is laughable to me.

http://www.timminchin.com/2016/02/16/come-home-a-charity-single-2/

Maurice Ashley Plays Chess trash talking guy In Central Park

Maurice Ashley (The younger guy in the clip) is an American chess grandmaster, author, commentator, app designer, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker. He is currently a Director's Fellow at the Media Lab at MIT.

Army of ducklings, attack!

These cute ducklings could warm even the most cold of hearts.

The best dunk of NBA All-Star Weekend, in jeans.

The best dunk of NBA All-Star Weekend, in jeans.

Diver Saves Puffer Fish From Hook

After spotting a puffer fish with a hook caught in its mouth, this brave diver decides to help the little guy out and manages to remove it. Well done!

Conan O'Brien - Arrived at Incheon Airport (Korea)

Conan is a rockstar people!!

'Venom Man' Lets Deadliest Snakes Bite Him

AN AMATEUR scientist can shockingly take back-to-back bites from the world’s deadliest snakes on purpose and claims to be making himself immune from their venom. Divorced Tim Friede, 37, has self-inflicted more than 160 bites in 16 years of research and is hoping his experiments will help to develop a human vaccine for snake bites.To prove his self-immunisation theory works, Tim from Wisconsin, USA, recently took back-to-back bites from two of the world’s deadliest snakes – a taipan and a black mamba whose bite can kill in minutes. Unsurprisingly, his obsession with saving the tens of thousands of lives lost every year to snakebites has nearly killed him on a number of occasions and also cost him his marriage. His wife Beth Friede, 35, divorced him in October after 20 years together when she finally had enough of Tim’s snake obsession. Despite the controversial nature of his experiments Tim does have some backing from the scientific community. Dr Brian Hanley, a PhD Microbiologist from the University of California, says a test suggests Tim now has twice the number of antibodies and hopes his company Butterfly Sciences will help him develop his vaccine and find investors to get it into the field.

Videographer / Director: Ruaridh Connellan
Producer: Dan Howlett, Nick Johnson
Editor: Ian Phillips