Quote of the Day:
"Anybody who votes against the Wall should have to live in a doorless house and welcome anybody and everybody who wanders in and claims squatter rights."
~ W. Lewis Amselem, "The Diplomad", at his blog.
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"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." ~John Burroughs
"It’s interesting to compare Donald Trump to John F. Kennedy. Both JFK and PDT supported civil rights for black Americans, but not for illegal aliens. JFK’s coalition looked a lot like PDTs does today, as JFK’s Democrat Party still catered to the needs and desires of working class and southern Americans – just as PDT does today.
"JFKs judicial appointments were more liberal that PDTs, because the litmus issue in those times was civil rights. The Vietnam war arose as a national issue only after the mass drafts of the post JFK years began to bite. Nor did the Boomers elect JFK. In 1960, they were still in high school, and more than ten years away from getting the right to vote as 18 year-olds.
"It is popular among today’s pop “historians” to present the years of the 1960s and 1970s as the decades in which America as a whole finally took up the New Left’s philosophy en masse, but that is simply not the case. The New Left, the hippies, the massive use of drugs, and all the rest of the cultural appurtenances of that time were always a practice of the minority. More young men went off to serve in Vietnam than rioted in the streets for one cause or another. With the possible exception of marijuana, drug use was never practiced by any significant majority of Americans (as is still the case). .... "
Via "English Monarchs": "When Britain's last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne died in 1714, the crown of England passed by the 1701 Act of Setttlement to the Stuart dynasty's German Protestant cousin, House of Hanover's King George I, who was actually 52nd in line to the throne at that time. The Act effectively excluded the hereditary Stuart heir, James II's Catholic son, James Francis Edward Stuart, thereafter referred to as the 'Old Pretender'. "Infogalactic shows why German-born King-of-England George 1st's granddaughter Queen Victoria was nicknamed "Grandmother of Europe":
"The royal descendants of Queen Victoria (Queen of the United Kingdom) and of Christian IX (King of Denmark) currently occupy the thrones of Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. At the outbreak of the First World War their grandchildren occupied the thrones of Denmark, Greece, Norway, Germany, Romania, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom."
"Come out for the Domhnall, ye brave men and proud,The scion of Torquil and best of MacLeod!With purpose and strength he came down from his towerTo snatch from a tyrant his ill-gotten power.Now the cry has gone up with a cheer from the crowd:“Come out for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!”
"When freedom is threatened by slavery’s chainsAnd voices are silenced as misery reigns,We’ll come out for a leader whose courage is trueWhose virtues are solid and long overdue.For, he’ll never forget us, we men of the crowdWho elected the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod! ...."
"No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. I could not foretell the course of events. I do not pretend to have measured accurately the martial might of Japan, but now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all!
"Yes, after Dunkirk; after the fall of France; after the horrible episode of Oran; after the threat of invasion, when, apart from the Air and the Navy, we were an almost unarmed people; after the deadly struggle of the U-boat war - the first Battle of the Atlantic, gained by a hand's-breath; after seventeen months of lonely fighting and nineteen months of my responsibility in dire stress. We had won the war. England would live; Britain would live; the Commonwealth of Nations and the Empire would live.
"How long the war would last or in what fashion it would end no man could tell, nor did I at this moment care. Once again in our long Island history we should emerge, however mauled or mutilated, safe and victorious.
"We should not be wiped out.
"Our history would not come to an end. We might not even have to die as individuals.
"Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder."
- *Fasting in itself is not a means of pleasing God. Fasting is not a punishment for our sins. Nor is fasting a means of suffering and pain to be undertaken as some kind of atonement. Christ already redeemed us on His Cross. Salvation is a gift from God that is not bought by our hunger or thirst.
- *We fast to be delivered from carnal passions so that God’s gift of Salvation may bear fruit in us.
- *We fast and turn our eyes toward God in His Holy Church. Fasting and prayer go together.
- *Fasting is not irrelevant. Fasting is not obsolete, and it is not something for someone else. Fasting is from God, for us, right here and right now.
6 “The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. 7 Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.
8 “Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed. I will always be with you to save you; my presence will protect you on every side. 9 When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond.
“If you put an end to oppression, to every gesture of contempt, and to every evil word; 10 if you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. 11 And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry.
12 Your people will rebuild what has long been in ruins, building again on the old foundations. You will be known as the people who rebuilt the walls, who restored the ruined houses.”
The Reward for Keeping the Sabbath:
13 The Lord says, “If you treat the Sabbath as sacred and do not pursue your own interests on that day; if you value my holy day and honor it by not traveling, working, or talking idly on that day, 14 then you will find the joy that comes from serving me. I will make you honored all over the world, and you will enjoy the land I gave to your ancestor, Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken.”Isaiah 58: 6-14 (Good News Version)
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19
1 "God addressed Samuel: “So, how long are you going to mope over Saul? You know I’ve rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your flask with anointing oil and get going. I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I’ve spotted the very king I want among his sons.”
2-3 “I can’t do that,” said Samuel. “Saul will hear about it and kill me.” God said, “Take a heifer with you and announce, ‘I’ve come to lead you in worship of God, with this heifer as a sacrifice.’ Make sure Jesse gets invited. I’ll let you know what to do next. I’ll point out the one you are to anoint.”
4 Samuel did what God told him. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the town fathers greeted him, but apprehensively. “Is there something wrong?”
5 “Nothing’s wrong. I’ve come to sacrifice this heifer and lead you in the worship of God. Prepare yourselves, be consecrated, and join me in worship.” He made sure Jesse and his sons were also consecrated and called to worship.
6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Here he is! God’s anointed!”
7 But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”
8 Jesse then called up Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. Samuel said, “This man isn’t God’s choice either.”
9 Next Jesse presented Shammah. Samuel said, “No, this man isn’t either.”
10 Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel. Samuel was blunt with Jesse, “God hasn’t chosen any of these.”
11 Then he asked Jesse, “Is this it? Are there no more sons?”
“Well, yes, there’s the runt. But he’s out tending the sheep.”
Samuel ordered Jesse, “Go get him. We’re not moving from this spot until he’s here.”
12 Jesse sent for him. He was brought in, the very picture of health—bright-eyed, good-looking.
God said, “Up on your feet! Anoint him! This is the one.”
13 Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed him, with his brothers standing around watching. The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life.
Samuel left and went home to Ramah."
"State Department officials said the cash payment was 1 million Central African francs, roughly $1,700. Cameroon's GDP per person is about $1,300.
"Cameroon's government, aid organizations operating in the area and the U.N. — which also had officials in the convoy — contributed another 5 million francs, bringing the total cash payout to more than $10,000.
"In addition to money, officials said the U.S. government provided a pair of cows; hundreds of kilograms of flour, onions, rice, salt and sugar; and cartons of soap and oil. Still to come: A well that will provide the village with fresh drinking water.
"State Department spokesman Jeffrey Loree called it a "compensation package commensurate with local custom, as well as the needs of the family and village."The BBC reported on the incident in April:
"Ms Power's motorcade was moving at a fast speed when the sixth vehicle in it hit the boy after he darted on to the two-lane highway near the small city of Mokolo, the Associated Press news agency reports.
"The vehicle that struck the boy stopped, but was then ordered by US security forces to continue travelling through the unsecured area, AP reports.
"Ms Power later met children at a camp for people who fled attacks by Boko Haram, which is fighting to establish an Islamic state in the region. "All of you who are attempting to fight this terror, the United States stands with you,'' she said, AP reports.
"Boko Haram is the most dangerous militant group in the region."
"The news agency said the motorcade was traveling at speeds of more than 60 mph, while villagers lined up along the sides of the road. ....
"The vehicle that hit the boy initially stopped but was ordered by American security forces to continue traveling through the unsecured area. An ambulance in the US caravan immediately attended to him.
"......The motorcade moved at a significantly slower pace for the rest of the day. "
"Ms. Power was not informed of the accident until after she arrived in Mokolo for her first meeting, with a local official. ...[After the day's meetings concluded, Power returned to the scene of the accident.] Mr. Cooper said her security officials had balked at returning to the village, but Ms. Power had insisted, saying, “I’m going.”
"This time when the convoy arrived in the village, there were no laughing and waving children running on the side of the road. Instead, hundreds of villagers, surrounded by dozens of black-clad Cameroonian soldiers, stood near the road, staring stone-faced at the motorcade.
"The vehicles, engines idling, sat on the road for 30 minutes as Ms. Power went in to pay her respects to the boy’s parents.
"When she got back in her car, the convoy resumed its journey. For the rest of the way, it continued at a speed of about 25 miles per hour."
" completely stopped his speech after a woman in the crowd fainted.
"Is she OK?" a stern-faced Trump inquired multiple times, in addition to calling for a doctor and demanding his aides get the woman a glass of water.
"We love our people, we've got to take care of our people," Trump said. "Who cares, we'll hold it for a couple of minutes."
...."After a couple of minutes passed, the woman gave Trump the OK to continue. Trump told the woman to rest backstage and to return for the end of the speech.
"And if she wants me to stop, I'll stop on a dime."I just have a feeling that President Trump would expect his appointees to follow the same rules in other countries that he would expect them to follow here: the same for everybody.