Many today violently rebel against God Who reveals Himself to us through reason and, most fully and perfectly, through the Catholic faith. The rebellion has beguiled even members of Christ’s Mystical Body, leading them to abandon Christ and His Way, leading them to apostasy. What are we to do? What is the Church to do?
Some, even among Bishops, would tell us that the Church has to change her doctrine, her Sacred Worship, and her discipline, in order to accommodate the culture. They talk about a necessary paradigm shift or an ill-defined synodal way which declares that all are welcome in the Church without making clear the conversion to Christ which is necessary to be a member of His Mystical Body.
They forget that the king in the Parable of the Wedding Feast, who had welcomed all, “the good and the bad,” to the marriage feast for his son, when he saw “a man who had no wedding garment,” had the man cast out from the banquet. Our Lord concludes the Parable of the Wedding Feast with the admonition: “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Yes, Our Lord wants all of us to share in the banquet of divine grace, but we cannot do so unless our hearts, one with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, rest in His Most Sacred Heart, unless we allow ourselves to be clothed with Him in our daily life.
The way of the Church in today’s crisis is the same as it has always been. The teaching of the Deposit of Faith and of all the riches of the Catholic Faith, daily prayer and worship of God “in spirit and in truth,” and a good and holy daily life.
Before the great challenge of our time, Pope Saint John Paul II cautioned us that we will not save ourselves and our world by discovering “some magic formula” or by “inventing a new programme.” In unmistakable terms, he declared: "No, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person, and the assurance which he gives us: I am with you."
He reminded us that the program by which we are to address effectively the great spiritual challenges of our time is, in the end, Jesus Christ alive for us in the Church. He explained:
The program already exists: it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the living Tradition, it is the same as ever. Ultimately, it has its center in Christ himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem. This is a program which does not change with shifts of times and cultures, even though it takes account of time and culture for the sake of true dialogue and effective communication."
In short, the program leading to freedom and happiness is, for each of us, holiness of life, in accord with our state in life and the particular gifts with which God has endowed us.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day, 2023.
In that thread, I addressed the New Apostolic Reformation movement which sees itself as having a mission to make restore a (Protestant) Christian culture to the nation, some by any means possible.
Some have wondered about Speaker of the House Johnson's connection with this.
The Lord began to wake me up, through this three-week process, in the middle of night to speak to me,” Johnson insisted. “Now at the time,” he continued, “I assumed the Lord is going to choose a new Moses.” But because of his own lesser rank among the GOP’s leadership, Johnson said, he believed the heavenly message to be: “You’re gonna allow me to be Aaron to Moses,” citing the role of the Old Testament prophet’s brother and biblical sidekick.
But then Johnson watched as candidate after candidate failed to generate the necessary Republican support to win the Speakership. “Ultimately 13 people ran for the post. And the Lord kept telling me to, ‘Wait, wait, wait,’” Johnson recalled. “So I waited, I waited. And then at the end … the Lord said, ‘Now step forward.’” Johnson regaled the audience with his surprise to be tapped as the Moses figure: “Me?” Johnson said. “I’m supposed to be Aaron.” But that was not the message, Johnson insisted, recalling: “‘No,’ the Lord said, ‘Step forward.’
Now, if you are Catholic, like me, this is the sort of thing that causes you to peek outside early in the morning to see if Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army have shown up yet.
Make no mistake about this, there's something going on here that is far beyond the normal American association of politics with religion. A person's politics should be informed by their religion.
But people who see themselves in the role of prophets, let alone one of the most significant prophets of all time . . .?
Johnson clearly sees himself as shepherding the People of God somewhere.
I'm late in posting this and, frankly, so many things have been posted it would hardly be necessarily.
Justice O'Connor was the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court. Frankly, even though this came in relative terms, in 1981, fairly close to the pioneering appointment of an African American to the Supreme Court bench, it was later than it should have been. Having said that, like Nixon going to China, coming by way of a conservative, Ronald Reagan, perhaps it meant more in real terms than it would have had it come under an earlier President, such as Jimmy Carter.
O'Connor had been a member of the Arizona Court of Appeals at the time of her appointment. She was a Westerner by birth, having been raised on a 198,000 acre cattle ranch in that state. She attended Stanford as an undergrad and as a law student, and oddly enough had received a proposal of marriage from William Rehnquist while still a student.
Her accomplishments cannot be denied, but frankly, like a lot that Reagan did, her appointment has a mixed record. I frankly don't think she was as great of jurist as people now wish to recall, and like many of the "conservative" justice of her era, she was conservative only in a very reserved way. True conservatives wouldn't really reappear on the Supreme Court for many years, none of which takes away from her personal accomplishments.
Well, at least an orange haired tycoon associated with dubiousity wasn't involved.
Seven coal miners at the Nunnery Colliery in the United Kingdom were killed when a rope hauling a mine transport severed.
Interestingly, at least to me, an elevator cable severed in an elevator I was riding in last week. It was retroactively horrifying, but not like this.
Released on this date in 1923. It was the first film to feature Peggy-Jean Montgomery, aka "Baby Peggy".
She died at age 101 in 2020, being the last person with a substantial career in the silent film industry. She struggled in later years to disassociate herself from her childhood role, which brought her derision from other in the industry. She became a successful author, and was a convert to Catholicism.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Well, Part X wasn't up for long before the next edition was necessary.
Ugh.
If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.
Kipling.
And so, the byproducts of the Great War continue to visit us, specter like. A war in Ukraine between a Slavic chauvinist empire, and one in the Middle East, sorting out the rubble of the Mandate.
So let us begin.
October 15, 2023
Hamas v. Israel.
Hamas infiltration attempts are continuing, but have dropped off on the West Bank.
Iran is warning the war could go regional, which it will not.
An Israeli ground offensive is imminent.
The US asked American citizens in Gaza (why on earth would anyone with American citizenship stay in Gaza?) to move closer to the Egyptian Rafah border crossing, which would likely suggest the U.S. has worked out some sort of deal with Egypt regarding Americans being displaced in the Gaza Strip (why on earth would anyone with American citizenship stay in Gaza?).
A bomb threat was levied against the Louvre yesterday, which is suspected to be related to this conflict in some fashion.
Russo Ukrainian War
Russian attacks on Avdiivka are continuing, but Ukrainian lines are holding. Apparently the offensive was anticipated.
October 16, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
From Twitter, and linked directly to what was put up there. Weapons displayed by the IDF that were used in the recent Hamas raid.
The really surprising one here is the ancient submachine gun. Apparently it is a Lanchester, which I've never even heard of. It looks like a German MP28 as it is in fact a version of it. They were actually produced, to my surprise, in large numbers during World War Two.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pizzaballa stated in an interview that he was willing to exchange himself as a hostage for the kidnapped children.
October 17, 2023
Hamas v Israel
Four Iranian nationals have been detained at the Del Rio crossing between the US and Mexico since October 1, with two Iranian nationals regarded as terrorist threats.
The Church of Saint Porphyrius, built in 1150 through 1160, a Greek Orthodox Church, is now housing Palestinian refugees of all religions.
2,000 U.S. troops are being readied to deploy to the region in support roles to Israel.
The Diocese of Cheyenne is asking Catholics in the Diocese to pray for Peace in the Holy Land, and has issued this prayer.
Pray for Peace in the Holy Land
Lord God, merciful and strong,
who crush wars and cast down the proud,
who extend mercy and tenderness to all,
we pray to you for the Holy Land, for the people of Israel and Palestine
who are under the grip of unprecedented violence,
for the victims, especially the children and their families.
Be pleased to grant healing for the wounded, the release of hostages,
protection for the innocent, and eternal peace to the dead.
To all those affected by war, grant healing, consolation, and the grace to forgive.
Almighty God,
guide the minds of world leaders to act with wisdom, prudence, and justice,
and to promote the common good.
Lord of Justice, help us to commit ourselves to building a fraternal world
so that these peoples and all those suffering similar conditions of
conflict, instability, and violence may walk together as sisters and brothers.
Help us to be peacemakers by practicing justice, dialogue, and reconciliation.
O God of Peace, who are peace itself,
grant that those in conflict may forget evil and so be healed.
Help those who have experienced violence to forgive their enemies,
as Christ taught us and after his example on the cross.
We pray that the whole of humanity may be reconciled as one family,
without violence, without absurd wars, and with a fraternal spirit,
and live united in peace and concord.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
cont:
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine struck Russian airbases deep within Russian occupied Ukraine with ATACMS missiles acquired from the United States
October 18, 2023
Hamas v Israel.
President Biden is in Israel.
Democrat Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib's accused Israel of bombing a Christian's hospital in the Gaza stating "Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinians (doctors, children, patients) just like that," in a tweet.
Israel replied within an hour that Islamic Jihad was responsible for the strike with an errant missile.
China v Taiwan and everyone else
The U.S. has accused China of increasingly dangerous actions with its fighter aircraft.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine made small gains around Bakhmut and Russians tiny gains around Avdiivka.
The US completed deliveries of M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
October 29, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine raided across the Dnipro near Kherson.
Iran v. United States
October 20, 2023
Hamas v. Israel, Iran v. The West
DOD assets in the Red Sea, Iraq and Syria responded to missile and drone attacks over the past two days, as U.S. service members look to deter groups from using the Israel-Hamas war as an opportunity to launch conflict that could engulf the region, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said today.
Department of Defense.
Effectively, Iran, often acting through its militias, is in a low grade war with the United States right now.
October 23, 2023
Hamas v. Israel, Iran v. The West
The weekend news shows were absolutely frighting on this topic, this weekend. A bill is being introduced in Congress to authorize the use of force under the War Powers Act, for instance.
October 24, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War.
The Chinese ship Newnew Polar Bear has entered the Port of Arkhangelsk with a missing anchor. Finnish investigators suspect it lost the anchor by dragging it into the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. It will take six months to repair.
cont:
Congo
The Allied Democratic Forces killed people in the city of Oicha in North Kivu province on Monday. The group has ties to the Islamic State.
The Administration reports that Russia has executed its own soldiers for refusing to carry out orders.
Hamas v. Israel
Israel killed the deputy head of Hamas’s intelligence directorate, Shadi Barud, in a strike in the Gaza today.
Iranian backed forces have targeted US sites in Israel and Iraq.
October 27, 2023
Iran v US
The US struck two Iranian backed militia sites in Syria in an air raid earlier today.
Hamas v. Israel
Israel has raided into Gaza.
October 28, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
Slovakia's right wing populist government is ceasing aid to Ukraine.
Ireland has called for increased European support for Ukraine.
October 29, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
The IDF has entered Gaza.
November 1, 2023
North Korea
North Korea is closing a large number of embassies, apparently due to financial concerns.
Hamas v. Israel
From Yemen's Houthi militia:
Our armed forces launched a large batch of ballistic missiles and a large number of drones at various targets of the Israeli enemy
The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that this operation is the third operation in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine and confirm that we will continue to carry out more qualitative strikes with missiles and drones until the Israeli aggression stops.
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stated, in response to reports that millions of Palestinians could cross into Egypt, that Egypt was “prepared to sacrifice millions of lives to ensure that no one encroaches upon our territory”.
November 2, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
President Biden has called for a pause in the war to aid in removing refugees. It's unlikely to occur.
Nigeria
Thirty-seven have been killed in a Boko Haram terrorist attack.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi stated in an essay in The Economist yesterday that the has taken on a positional nature. His article is entitled. "Modern Positional Warfare and How to Win It".
It's odd for a commander to write such an op ed during a time of war, but that the war has become static is pretty obvious. This needs to be overcome if Ukraine is to achieve victory. If it does not, Western nations will ultimately lose interest in funding the Ukrainian effort.
November 4, 2023
China v. Everyone
Japan and the Philippines are moving towards a troop cooperation agreement.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken engaged in a round of regional shuttle diplomacy yesterday.
The IDF has split the Gaza Strip in two.
November 7, 2023
Sudan
Jihadi militias have murdered over 800 Massalit tribe members in Darfur, Sudan over the past few days. Like their oppressors, the Massalit are Muslims, but they are generally somewhat relaxed in their observance and retain some pre conversion practices in spite of having long been Muslims. Over recent decades they have become more orthodox in their observance.
I frankly don't know what this conflict is about.
November 8, 2023
Hamas v. Israel War
U.S. Rep Rashida Tlaib was censured for her "river to the sea" comment. Tlaib is of Palestinian extraction and has a vocal critic of Israel.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman claimed n a television interview that Palestinian protests in the US were due to Palestinian infiltration of the U.S. government.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukrainian's seem to have crossed the Dnipro in some force and to have ferried armored vehicles across the river.
November 9, 2023
Myanmar
Myanmar has lost control of much of its border with China due to attacks by three ethnic rebel armies in Shan State.
Iran v the West
The U.S. has attacked an Iranian backed militia's weapon storage facility in Syria via the air.
November 10, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
Israel agreed to pause its offensive actions periodically for humanitarian reasons but not to provide for a ceasefire or ceasefires.
Headline in the British newspaper The Telegraph:
‘Queers for Palestine’ must have a death wish
Truly.
The Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and Gaza, have one of the world's worst records for intolerance of this topic in the world. Homosexual Palestinians fairly frequently flee to Israel.
Russo Ukrainian War
Russian forces have nearly encircled Avdiivka.
November 12, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
Israel has rejected calls for a cease fire and has indicated that it will retain security control of Gaza fater the war.
Russo Ukrainian War
Russian offensive activities in recent days have been resulting in huge casualties to their army.
November 16, 2023
Iran v. the West
The U.S. navy shot down a drone launched from Yemen aimed at a ship yesterday.
November 18, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukrainian forces have established bridgeheads on the east bank of the Dnipro and are pushing Russian forces back beyond artillery range of the west bank.
November 20, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
Houthi rebels have taken a cargo ship in a helicopter raid on the same. They have asserted this is legitimate as the ship had Israeli connections.
November 22, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
Israel has agreed to a four-day cease fire for humanitarian reasons. Hostages are to be released during that time period.
Iranian backed militias launched missiles at a US base in Iraq, causing the US to retaliate with an airstrike.
November 23, 2023
India v. Sikh separatists.
The US has announced that it foiled a plot on the life of a Sikh seperatist living in the US. A successful attempt on the life of a Sikh figure in Canada has lead to tension between those two countries. India denies being involved.
November 25, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
A prisoner exchange (Palestinian prisoners for Israeli and multinational hostages) took place yesterday as scheduled. Twenty four hostages were releaed, including 13 Israelis, 10 Thai citizens, and one Filipino citizen.
I was surprised to see this article by Reich, and I thought it would be on the late stages of the Vietnam War, but I'll note that I too am not a Kissinger fan.
I'm starting this a bit earlier than normal (I still had room to post on the last one), but the dawning realization that not only that it's possible that Trump might win, but rather that he will, is finally sinking in. The Economist got to this point after I did.
Democratic pundits like Robert Reich and Donna Brazile are going to keep on saying that we shouldn't worry, things will be fine. Baloney, worry, things aren't going to be fine. Joe Biden is not going to suddenly pull the rabbit out of the hat.
Nor are voters going to suddenly realize that the economy is doing well and love Biden. This vote isn't about the economy. Indeed, the fact that the economy is doing well in part provides the luxury to focus on social issues in a time of extraordinarily extreme stress.
Democrats need to move to the right, and right now. If they don't, they're going to hand this election to Trump, and we'll have four years like we've never seen before. Part of that means dumping an 80-year-old candidate that people don't like, and his highly annoying left wing running mate. And right now.
From our last edition:
Overall in the Republican race right now, the following are the serious candidates in terms of still (sort of) being contenders against Trump.
Trump.
Doug Burgum
Chris Christie
Ron DeSantis
Nikki Haley
Asa Hutchinson
Of the above, Hutchinson should drop out, as his campaign is gaining no traction and is essentially the same as Christie's. Burgum should drop out as well as his campiagn has generated little interest, mostly due to his own waffling on Trump.
GOP candidates still around that nobody is paying any attention to are:
Scott Alan Ayers
Ryan Binkley
Robert S. Carney
John Anthony Castro
Peter Jedick
Perry Johnson
Perry Johnson
Donald Kjornes
Mary Maxwell
Glenn McPeters
Glenn J. McPeters
Scott Peterson Merrell
Darius L. Mitchell
Vivek Ramaswamy
Sam Sloan
David Stuckenberg
Rachel Swift
Of these, only Ramaswamy is newsworthy, but most due to his being noisy and somewhat of a gadfly. So, in terms of real candidates, what the GOP actually has is:
Trump.
Doug Burgum
Chris Christie
Ron DeSantis
Nikki Haley
Asa Hutchinson
Vivek Ramaswamy
On the Democratic side, there are actually just about as many people running, but really only Biden and Dean Phillips are serious candidates. . . so far.
The Colorado State District Court, Judge Sarah B. Wallace, held tonight that the former president “engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021 through incitement, and that the First Amendment does not protect [his] speech." The court also held that he
"acted with the specific intent to disrupt the Electoral College certification of President Biden’s electoral victory through unlawful means." The court thus found as both fact and law the preconditions to the former president's disqualification under Section 3.
But then, accepting wholesale the former president’s tortured constitutional arguments, the court held that the Presidency of the United States is not an “office under the United States” and that the former president
was not an "officer of the United States" and did not take an oath to “support the Constitution of the United States” in 2016 when he took the presidential oath in Article II, Section 1, Clause 8, to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
It is unfathomable as a matter of constitutional interpretation that the Presidency of the United States is not an “office under the United States.” It is even more constitutionally unfathomable, if that's possible,
that the former president did not take an oath “to support the Constitution of the United States” within the meaning of Section 3 when he took took the presidential oath “to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
The Constitution is not a suicide pact with America's democracy. Indeed, it is the very contrary in this instance. It is plain that the entire purpose of Section 3, confirmed by its literal text,
is to disqualify any person who, having taken an oath to support the Constitution, engages in an insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution. The former president did exactly that when he attempted to overturn the 2020 election and remain in office
In something really scary, in context, given his recent tweets, former President Trump, the GOP front-runner was filmed serving an early Thanksgiving dinner to uniformed personnel reported to be Texas National Guardsmen and "border patrol agents" who are more likely Texas law enforcement officers. Many of them stopped to have their picture taken with the former President, who now has one judge on record with an opinion that he has been an insurrectionist.
The U.S. military, although less so the National Guard, has traditionally been non-political. Indeed, up until World War Two military officers regarded it as a personal duty not to vote.
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