Returning Home

For John, BLUF:  God will return His People to their land.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

From , by .

Here is the Reading, Jeremiah 31:7-9:

Thus says the LORD:
Shout with joy for Jacob,
    exult at the head of the nations;
    proclaim your praise and say:
The LORD has delivered his people,
    the remnant of Israel.
Behold, I will bring them back
    from the land of the north;
I will gather them from the ends of the world,
    with the blind and the lame in their midst,
the mothers and those with child;
    they shall return as an immense throng.
They departed in tears,
    but I will console them and guide them;
I will lead them to brooks of water,
    on a level road, so that none shall stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
    Ephraim is my first-born.

Ephraim?  Who is Ephraim?  He is, per the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephraim.

The point of the reading is that God will console the exiles of Israel, and will return them to their ancesteral lands.  Thus, the Jews returning to the Holy Land and forming the nation of Israel.  I, for one, would not wish to get in God's way in this matter.

But, as Father Mark Jette, down in Conneticutt, pointed out in an EMail, the Gospel (Mark 10:46-52) has a powerful lesson.  Blind Bartimaeus, upon hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was approaching, cried out "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me".  This is basically the Jesus Prayer.  It is short (3 Seconds) and yet powerful.  Invoking this short prayer is an effective way to orient the moment on God.

Regards  —  Cliff

How You Score DJT

For John, BLUF:  Is this the "October Surprise" of the 2024 Election Season?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trump's former chief of staff called him a 'fascist.' Harris is campaigning on that

From NPR, by Reporter Ximena Bustillo, 23 October 2024, 1:53 PM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, who was former President Donald Trump‘s longest-serving chief of staff, called Trump’s leadership style “dictatorial,” “fascist” and lacking empathy in new interviews this week.

Now Vice President Harris — who is trying to peel off moderate Republican voters and independents in key swing states — is seizing on those warnings to bolster her argument that her opponent is a threat to democracy and too dangerous to hold the office.

Trump has made more than 100 threats to prosecute or punish perceived enemies "So the bottom line is this, we know what Donald Trump wants — he wants unchecked power. The question, in 13 days, will be what do the American people want?" Harris said, referring to Election Day on Nov. 5.

I want to switch this up because I am not sure I understand how Progressives view “fascism”. I distinctly remember some woman being interviewed on NPR saying, about Mao, and the Great Leap Forward, that to "Make an Omlet you have to break some eggs."  Really?

Anyway, I ask each of you to tell me where, on this spectrum, you put Candidate Donald J Trump in terms of his fascism.

1. Woodrow Wilson (New Jersey)
2. António Salazar (Portugal)
3. Francisco Franco (Spain)
4. Benito Mussolini (Italy)
5. Adolf Hitler (Germany)
6. Joseph Stalin (Russia)
7. Mao Zedung (China)
8. Pol Pot (Cambodia)

In thinking about this, keep in mind that in Italy Carlo Levi survived WWII to write a book, but, in the Netherlands Anne Frank did not survive WWII, to allow her to edit her diaries.  The Ukrainians probably have yet to forgive Russia for the Holodomor.  While I have forgiven The Old Gray Lady and Walter Duranty and the Pulitzer Panel for lying about it, I haven't forgotten their failures.

Anyway, give DJT a score.  A score with a decimal fraction is fine.  For instances, my score for Candidate Trump is 0.8.

Then ask yourself where you would put Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz.  Think especially about their views on freedom of speech (First Amendment) and the right of People to be wrong.

Exit Question:  If, as I would assert, Joseph Stalin was worse than Adolf Hitler, does that make his Left Wing Government more right wing than Nazism?

Regards  —  Cliff

Dems Call DJT a Fascist

For John, BLUF:  I am going to blame high school history teachiing for the false belief that Donald Trump is a Fascist.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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My Middle Brother, who is a Progressive, sent me this article

Harris and Democrats Lose Their Reluctance to Call Trump a Fascist

Here is the sub-headline:

Since Gen. Mark Milley was quoted as saying Donald Trump is “fascist to the core,” a term avoided by top members of the Democratic Party is suddenly everywhere.

From The Old Gray Lady, by Jonathan Weisman, 17 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus six:

The word “fascist” has hovered around former President Donald J. Trump from the moment he rode down his golden escalator in 2015 to warn of Mexican rapists and drug dealers in the memorable opening of his bid for president. But for most top Democrats, it was a provocative term loaded with dread, historical import and potential incitement — best left unsaid.

Until Vice President Kamala Harris this week made clear — again and again — that it would be just fine with her to use the word.

On Tuesday, as the radio host Charlamagne Tha God interviewed Ms. Harris, he interjected as the vice president contrasted her vision with her rival’s. “The other is about fascism,” he said of Mr. Trump’s vision. “Why can’t we just say it?”

Ms. Harris’s response: “Yes, we can say that.”

On Wednesday, speaking in Washington Crossing, Pa., Ms. Harris quoted Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Mr. Trump, describing his former boss as “fascist to the core,” as detailed in a new book from the journalist Bob Woodward.

“America,” she said, “must heed this warning.”

The quotation of Mr. Milley may have opened the floodgates for Democrats, granting new permission with the authority of his uniform and his unique closeness to the inner workings of Mr. Trump’s administration. But an element of political risk remains, even as Mr. Trump freely uses the word himself against Ms. Harris.

As an aside, one wonders if General Milley is sort of a Paronist.

But, since we are crediting General Milley with opening up the use of the word fascist, via Reporter Bob Woodward's book, War, we need to ask what it means.  I expect that to most Americans the term fascist conjurs up the image of German Fuehrer Adoph Hitler.  I think that is wrong.  Fascist comes from Italian leader Benito Musolinni, Il Duce.  He was a former Communist, looking for a new system.  This was parallel to Adolph Hitler creating a new approach for Germany, National Socialism.  While Wikipedia says "Nazism is a form of fascism", I am doubtful that Adolph Hitler was modeling his party on what was happening in Italy at the same time.  I doubt that Hitler saw Musolinni as an influencer.

It would seem that those who followed in the fascist path are Spain (Francisco Franco) and Portugal (António de Oliveira Salazar).

Yes, Benito Musolinni was a bad guy, but he was no Hitler.  Remember that Carlo Levi, a Jewish Italian Physician and Painter, lived through the war to write Christ Stopped at Eboli.  We know that Anne Frank, a Jewish teen in German occupied Holland, did not live to edit her diaries.

So, does General Milley think that Trump models himself after Musollini or after Hitler?

Yet, there are others in the Twentieth Century who might have been worse than Hitler.  I am thinking of Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union), Mao Zedung (China), Pol Pot (Cambodia) and the Kim Family (North Korea).  Each has been ruthless and each has killed a higher percentage of its Citizens.  And yet we tend to shy away from examining the evil in those four leaders and from using them as standards of evil by comparison.  A prime example is Reporter Walter Duranty, who won a Pulitzer Prize while reporting for The New York Times on the Soviet Union and the Holodomor.

In fact, it appears sometimes that Progresssives make space for such evil.  I remember, about a decade or so ago, sitting in the parking lot of the Raytheon Facility in Sudbury, Massachusetts and listening to a woman on NPR talking about Mao's Great Leap Forward, "That to make an omlet you had to break some eggs."  wikipedia has a low estimate of 15 million dead, with a high of 55 million.  Elsewhere I have heard the number 100 milliion dead.

When someone claims Candidate Donald Trump is a fascist it tells me more about the speaker than it does about Donald J Trump.

Regards  —  Cliff

Blame it on Russia

For John, BLUF:  It appeas that Russian interference in domestic politics is not going away and is not limited to the United States.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Not that Russia doesn't deserve a lot of criticism, but still, there are limits to the evil responsibilities of President V Putin.

Trudeau accuses Jordan Peterson and Tucker Carlson of being funded by Russia

From True North Wire, by Reporter Clayton DeMaine, 17 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Canadian author and psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson, as well as American media personality Tucker Carlson, of being funded by Russia without providing any evidence to substantiate his claims.

While testifying at the ongoing foreign interference inquiry on Wednesday, Justin Trudeau accused the two conservative media personalities of being on the Russian payroll.

Prime Minister Trudeau was even asked if there was a connectino between Russia and the Freedom Convoy in 2022, durihng the COVID-19 outbreak.  There appears to be none, but I am sure the Prime Minister would like to be able to point to one, since it was a thorn in his side

I have not been a close follower of Canadian politics since Blogger Ed Morrissey switched from Captain's Cabin as his blog location, but I do think Prime Ministeer Trudeau fis may be in a bit of trouble, politically.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Restricting Space Travel

For John, BLUF:  This is over a month old, but the story has not gotten better with time and now SpaceX has sued the California Coastal Commission over obstruction based on Mr Musk's political views.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden Admin to SpaceX:  Drop Dead!

From Vodka Pundit, by Stephen Green, September 11, 2024, 10:00 AM.

Here is the lede plus three:

It isn't a joke whenever I say that the new space race is Elon Musk versus the rest of the world, and I'm not joking now when I tell you that his company's biggest competitor isn't China — and it certainly isn't Russia — but the Biden-Harris FAA.

SpaceX's Starship promises to revolutionize spaceflight by reducing launch costs by two orders of magnitude — that's a 99% savings — and vastly expanding current limits on the size and mass of what can be lifted into orbit and deep space.

If SpaceX can get permission to perform the necessary flight tests, that is — and the FAA is dragging its feet.

"Starships are meant to fly," the company reminded the Biden administration in a lengthy statement released on Tuesday. "We recently received a launch license date estimate of late November from the FAA, the government agency responsible for licensing Starship flight tests. This is a more than two-month delay to the previously communicated date of mid-September. This delay was not based on a new safety concern, but instead driven by superfluous environmental analysis."

"Starships are meant to fly."  That is correct.  There is, however, an apparent tension between our free enterpise approach of exploring space and the desire of progressives to protect the environment by constraining free lance exploration that damages our enviroment and could damage enviornments on other worlds.

My sense is that a cheap trick now will cost us later.  We need to let ingenuity roam free and count on self interest to ensure we do not act, in the long run, in stupid ways.  Early constraints on such exploration is reminiscent of China in 1405 to 1433, which had conducted seven voages by its treasure fleet, only to back away from it all and eventually fall into a period of decline, finally pulling out recently.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Trudeau in Trouble?

For John, BLUF:  There is political trouble in the always polite neighbor to our north.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Some Liberal MPs are mounting a new effort to oust Justin Trudeau

Here is the sub-headline:

MPs were pulled into meetings across Parliament Hill this week to sign a pledge demanding change at the top

From Canadian Broadcastting Corporation, by David Cochrane, John Paul Tasker, Catherine Cullen, 11 October 2024, 8:00 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus four:

Pressure is building on the prime minister and his office as a growing number of anxious Liberal MPs are co-ordinating efforts to force Justin Trudeau to step down as Liberal Party leader, multiple sources have told CBC News.

Disgruntled Liberal MPs held a series of meetings to discuss a path forward for the party since the surprising Toronto-St. Paul's byelection loss in June.

Those talks accelerated with Parliament's return and the Montreal byelection loss. They escalated further this week with the prime minister and his chief of staff, Katie Telford, out of the country for a summit in Asia.

Some MPs are being asked to sign their names to what amounts to a pledge to stand together in calling for Trudeau to resign, multiple sources said.

The document isn't a letter to be circulated; sources describe it as a vehicle to secure a commitment from MPs to seek a leadership change, and to bind the MPs to that goal if the prime minister and his supporters push back.

If the Canadians are finally seeing the problem with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, surely American Votrs will be able to see the problems ahead with a Harris/Walz Administration.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Musk Frustrated in the Golden State

For John, BLUF:  California Bureaucrats are acting to strangle Mr Elon Musk's ingenuity and initiative.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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California officials reject more SpaceX rocket launches, with some citing Musk's X posts

From The Los Angeles Times, by 11 October 2024 at 2:35 PM.

Here is the lede plus five:

SpaceX's plans to launch more rockets from the California coast were rejected by a state commission this week, with some officials citing Elon Musk's political posts on X and raising concerns about the billionaire's labor record at his companies.

The plan to increase the number of rocket blasts into space up to 50 a year was rejected by the California Coastal Commission on Thursday despite assurances from Space Force and Air Force officials that they would increase efforts to monitor the effects that rocket launches have on nearby wildlife.

The military also vowed to mitigate the reach of sonic booms that often span across 100 miles of coastline, an issue that has caused controversy.

Members of the California Coastal Commission commended Space Force and Air Force representatives for reaching an agreement, but some cited their concerns about Musk, the owner of SpaceX, before rejecting the plan.

Among the issues raised were Musk's decision to insert himself in the presidential race, his spreading of conspiracy theories, the labor record of his companies and derogatory comments he has made about the transgender community.

"We're dealing with a company, the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race," commission Chair Caryl Hart said.

We are talking about shutting down an operation that just recaptured a first stage back onto a gantry, ready to refuel and relaunch.  For the first time.

Is there any question about why firms are leaving California?

This kind of action in California adds to the swirl around if the Federal Government is out to get Mr Elon Musk.  I hope this is just internet misunderstandings.

Regards  —  Cliff

A Relook at Voting History

For John, BLUF:  An interesting dive into history that looks at a big political myth.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Goldwater landslide myth

Here is the sub-headline:

Alabama political columnist needs a history lesson

From Don Surber Substack, by Reporter Don Surber, 15 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus ten:

It’s that time in the presidential election year when lazy journalists roll out their frightening fairy story about Nixon’s southern strategy. The fable is meant to portray Republicans as racists. It is of course a lie but it goes like this, as reported by Steve Flowers whose weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature.

He wrote:

Lyndon Johnson was the Democrat nominee for president. Johnson carried 44 states and won the presidency by a landslide. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona carried only his home state and the five deep south states, including Alabama. Goldwater carried Alabama overwhelmingly, thus the label given to the Republican victory in the south was ironically the Goldwater Landslide.

The so-called “Solid South” had been Democratic more out of tradition and protocol than philosophy. Both national parties took the south for granted in national elections. The Democrats ignored us because we were in the barn and the Republicans ignored us for the same reason.

The 1964 election was the turning point when the deep south states voted for Barry Goldwater. The south has never looked back. It was the race issue that won them over. Goldwater and the Republican party captured the race issue.

Let us look at the facts.

Goldwater was one of only 6 Republican senators who opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The other 27 voted for the act — clearly a higher percentage of the support than the Democrats who split 44-23 on passage of the law. The two-thirds majority was necessary to overcome a Democrat filibuster.

Goldwater indeed carried 5 of the 11 Confederate states with his stand against civil rights. Four years later, Nixon too carried 5 of the 11 Confederate states.

None of them, however, were the 5 states Goldwater carried. Those five states all went to a Democrat which shows that if Nixon had a Southern strategy of wrangling klansmen into the Republican Party, he failed miserably.

For example, Goldwater received 87% of the vote in Mississippi in 1964. Four years later, Nixon received less than 14% of the vote in that state.

Of course, Nixon had no such designs on the South. He was an ardent supporter of civil rights as vice president and therefore, President of the Senate.

This is different from how the "Nixon Southern Strategy" is normally portrayed.

It should be pointed out that the Candidacy of Alabama Governor George Wallace iin 1968 impacted who got which Elecoral College votes.

This year we are seeing such blocks breaking up as votes look to issues rather than to racial groups.

Regards  —  Cliff

Reason for Large Illegal Immigration

For John, BLUF:  The Department of Homeland Security has a problem with putting out a coherent story that sells across the fruited plain.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Trust Me, We Would NEVER Do That, Says Mayorkas to Disbelieving Americans

From PJ Media, by Reporter Victoria Taft, 14 October 2024, 9:18 AM.

Here is the lede plus six:

Alejandro Mayorkas, the impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary, wants you to know that he's vewy, vewy angwy that people would dare say that the reason he, Border Czar Kamala Harris, and President Joe Biden, have opened the borders to a marauding horde of millions of illegal aliens is to import new Democrat voters.

That's just "disinformation," he said on CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday morning, with just a tad too much-feigned disbelief in his voice.

Mayorkas told Margaret Brennan that these kinds of stories combined with the concerns over helping North Carolina hurricane victims vote this election have caused Americans to "lose confidence in the integrity of the election system, and we need people in positions of authority to actually communicate accurate information to the voting public."

Getting "accurate information" would be a refreshing change, wouldn't it?

But this was my favorite line from Mayorkas. Make sure you're not eating or drinking anything while you read on.

"The notion that we in law enforcement have sought to intentionally allow individuals to cross the border illegally for the purpose of voting is preposterous, and everyone should condemn that rhetoric," he solemnly told Brennan. "Everyone, regardless of party affiliation."

That's right. It's not his contemptible behavior that begs explanation, it's our daring to ask the question that's the problem.

So, can we say that the flood of illegal immigrants is due to incompetence on the part of the Bush Administration?  Or, are they tryihng to compensate for all those childless cat ladies?  Maybe it has to do with fertility collapse.

Fertility has collapsed worldwide owing to female empowerment, urbanization, economic insecurity and climate concerns. "Peak humanity" is upon us – and that's before we factor in another pandemic or accelerating climate disasters.

Yes, we need more immigration in the United States.♠  However, we need to do it the right way.  The Senator Schumer supported Immigration Reform Bill is not the right way.  For one thing, it allows for 1.82 milllion illegal immigrants a year before actions kick in, if they are not waived by the Administration.  Really?  Just go with the House Bill they have been suppressing.  Hypocrits all the way down.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠ 

Getting the News

For John, BLUF:  Back in the day we believed that there was objectivity in our news sources, the days of Yellow Journalism having passed.  No more.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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CBS and Objectivity

From Chicago Boyz, by Mike, 10 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus four:

CBS has had an interesting week. First there was the interview of Ta-Nehisi Coates by “CBS This Morning” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil regarding Coates’ book “The Message.” Dokoupil treated Coates well, like a Republican, in that he asked some pointed questions about Coates’ book; his claim Israel was a white supremacist ethnostate akin to the Jim Crow South, that he treated Palestinians exclusively as victims without agency, and that he failed to state how Israel was surrounded by enemies pledged to destroy it.

Tough, but civil…. and then all heck broke loose

Apparently the morning show staff was so traumatized by the interview that CBS held a struggle session the next day. One of the criticisms that was hurled at Dokoupil was that he ignored the “one-sheet:”

”…the network went through its standard protocol of vetting questions through its legal, standards, and race and culture departments. The properly vetted questions were then included on what’s known as a ‘one-sheet,’ from which everyone within the show works.”

It’s standard protocol to vet questions through a race and culture department?

Mike seems to think that CBS is a fraud in terms of being an objective news organization.  For example, he calls out one of my big concerns:

The first is the standard DEI mantra of equating a certain percentage of racial/gender/LGBT+ identities in their newsroom with a diversity of viewpoints.

It is a little sad that we need to filter our news, looking for inherent biases that might distort what we are learning.  It is even sadder that there are people working in such organizations who have to filter what they say or write in order to conform to some socially constricting standards impose by identity politics.

It is incumbent on all of us to widen our news souorces and do the tear and compare of what we are hearing, so we can be better voters and citizens.

Regards  —  Cliff

You Still Have to Govern

Blog Template.
Winning an election is only the first step.  Then you must govern.  It appears the aparliamentary Labour Party og Greak abritain was not prepared for this second step.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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LABOUR DITCHES 100 DAY CELEBRATION

Here is the sub-headline:

NO PLANS FOR CELEBRATION OF DISASTROUS FIRST 100 DAYS OF LABOUR

From Order Order, by Guido Fawkes, 11 October 2024, 12:26.

Here is the lede plus one:

No 10 has just confirmed at today’s Lobby briefing that there are no plans to hold a celebration to mark 100 days of government.  Starmer will be holed up in Downing Street this weekend working on his “reset”…

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has run into a number of issues since moving to No 10 Downing Street.  Among them is a major popularity crash.  Not that the Tories (Conservatives) have managed to get their act together .

The best of British Luck to our cousins across the pond.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

24/7

For John, BLUF:  I am impressed that Waffle House provides greaat waffles 24/7, and works to do it under all conditions.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Yes, Waffle House really has a storm center

Here is the sub-headline:

Waffle House has a reputation for not only staying open 24/7, 365 days a year, but also for its disaster response. Here’s what we can VERIFY about its storm center.

From Verify This, by Author Erin Jones, 5:29 PM EDT, 9 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus one:

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

On Oct. 8, an X post with over 2.6 million views claimed Waffle House, a popular restaurant chain with more than 1,900 restaurants in 25 states, set up a storm center ahead of Milton.

“Waffle House has a Storm Center with an entire operations team that is so good at their job they assist FEMA during hurricanes,” the post said.

Many people who commented on the post questioned if Waffle House really has a storm center.

Yes, Waffle House has a storm center and it works to keep its resturants open or to get them back up and runnihng, even if with a limited menu and on temporary power.

Excellent food and excellent serice, 24/7.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Ignorant Students

For John, BLUF:  Asw a college graduate I am embarrassed at the way students at Columbia University, and elsewhere, are acting toward Israel and their Jewish Classmates.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Columbia's Student Protesters Really Have Embraced Hamas

From Hot Air, by Opinionator John Sexton, 8:40 PM, 10 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus seven:

I touched on this earlier this week when Columbia's anti-Israel group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), held a walkout/protest on the anniversary of 10/7, but I think it probably deserves more attention.

You may remember this guy, Khymani James, one of the student organizers at Columbia who made news earlier this year when a video circulated of him saying, "Zionists, along with all white supremacists, need to not exist." He added, "Be glad, be grateful that I'm not just going out and murdering Zionists."

After this made news in April, James was suspended and CUAD put out a statement, apparently from James himself, apologizing for his comments.

“CUAD and the Gaza Solidarity Encampment have made clear that my words in January, prior to my involvement in CUAD, are not in line with the CUAD community guidelines. I agree with their assessment,” the apology read. “Those words do not represent CUAD. They also do not represent me.”

This week, CUAD reversed course, not only saying it regretted its earlier statement but making it plain that the group supports violence, i.e. it supports Hamas.

The pro-Palestinian group that sparked the student encampment movement at Columbia University in response to the Israel-Hamas war is becoming more hard-line in its rhetoric, openly supporting militant groups fighting Israel and rescinding an apology it made after one of its members said the school was lucky he wasn’t out killing Zionists.

“We support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance,” the group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, said in its statement revoking the apology.

The group marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by distributing a newspaper with a headline that used Hamas’s name for it: “One Year Since Al-Aqsa Flood, Revolution Until Victory,” it read, over a picture of Hamas fighters breaching the security fence to Israel. And the group posted an essay calling the attack a “moral, military and political victory” and quoting Ismail Haniyeh, the assassinated former political leader of Hamas.

One wonders what is happening at Columbia University.  From a cultural point of view there students seem to have slipped away from American, into some new grouping.  It is one thing to be against Zionism, or evewn the return of Jews to their ancesteral home, now Israel.  It is another to call for killing of Zionists.

Further, the student protestors seem to not give a fig for the 7 million Israelis.  What is to become of them.&nsp; To not care about them is to betray the progress our Western Culture has made in accepance of Jews.  It would be like the United States standing by and saying nothing as Liberia was buldozed into the Atlantic Ocean.  Morally unacceptable.

There is no doubt we need peace in the Middle East.  To get there e need to recognize the underlying animosity of Iran toward israel and the United States.  Not Irran as a whole, but the Mullahs of Iran, from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on down.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Compare and Contrast

For John, BLUF:  Not all Parishes are the same, but it is the smae Mass and same Communion; the sme Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church

Last weekend I Celebrated Mass in a different location:

THERE—As I walked in there was holy water for me to bless myself.
HERE—Not so much

THERE—Processioning down in front of the Celebrant was an Altar Server with the Cross and seventeen other Altar Servers.
HERE—Not so much

THERE—Two Readers, one for each of the first two readings.
HERE—One person for both plus the Psalm.

THERE—There were nealers for those receiving Communion who wished to use them.
HERE—What, kneeling to receive?

THERE—Three Priests distributed Communion.
HERE—Praise God for our Lay Euchristic Ministers.

THERE—Just after Mass started the Deacon had to duck into the back to get a replacement microphone set.
HERE—Mics seem iffy.

Regards  —  Cliff

Register Your Chickens

For John, BLUF:  The British Government has gone overboard in its fight against avian flue by registering every owner of a chicken in England.  It has not gone well.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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As God Is My Witness, I Thought Roasted Chickens Could Fly

From VodkaPundit, by Blogger Stephen Green, 10:15 AM on 8 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus five:

Ordinary people need to enjoy a little taste of rebellion against their oppressors now and then, particularly when it comes in the form of a delicious roasted chicken. But there's something I need to get off my chest before we get to Britain's tawdry tale of chicken registrations and crashed government websites.

Watching the once-Great Britain slowly slide into soft totalitarianism has been a great disappointment. It's virtually impossible to do anything in the UK any longer without being surveilled on video, audited, indexed, reported to the authorities, or jailed for silently praying. You can't own a pistol, and they've considered banning knives. You'll be hounded or stabbed by Islamic colonizers or beaten with reeds for using the incorrect imaginary personal pronouns.

I made up the part about the reeds. But Britain's Labour government has considered making it a hate crime punishable by up to two years in jail for purposely using the "wrong" pronouns.

All this is from the people who invented the English liberty that evolved here into American exceptionalism.

True, it's sad, but glimmers of Ye Olde English Liberty remain.

Following a 2021 outbreak of avian flu that resulted in millions of culled birds, the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) was placed in charge of new registration requirements for chickens.

I was beginninhg to have my doubts about Vera Lynn and her singing There Will Always be an England:

There'll always be an England
And England shall be free
If England means as much to you
As England means to me

I am not English.  I am an American.  But, both. physically and politcally I am a descendent of England,  Thus, this gives me hope.  This tells me there are people in Merry Old England who still believe in individual freedom and who are willing to tweek the nose of oppressive government.

The point is that if you have just one chicken, even for a pet — and I won't judge you, I swear — as of Oct. 1, you have to register your bird with DEFRA. (I swear I keep reading that as "DERPA.")

This is when Britons have finally said, "Enough!" because pranksters hit the registration page so hard last week that they crashed it.

The prank registrations aren't limited to Tesco roasted chickens. Some people have reportedly registered rubber chickens and even chicken nuggets.

As of this writing, one week later, the website is still "unavailable due to technical issues."

Good on you People of England.  Good on you for standing up to petty bureaucrats who would crush the idea of individual freedom.  Good laws make everyone safer and happier.  However, oppressive petty restrictions are the bane of freedom and democracy.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

China's Economy

For John, BLUF:  The economy in China is being kept moving by stimulations.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Did Democrats Take Control of China?

From VodkaPundit, by Blogger Stephen Green, 8:45 AM on 8 October 2024.

Here is the lede plus four:

Obamanomics — borrowed from FDR and since resurrected as Bidenomics — was the fine art of taking an economy that had been knocked on its back, firmly stepping on its throat with the jackboot of regulation, and bashing it repeatedly on the head with a giant sackful of money while shouting, "WHY WON'T YOU DO ANYTHING?"

While we're just four weeks out from learning whether Obamanomics will be rebranded once more as Kamalanomics, our friends in Communist China are learning the hard way what it's like to be ruled by truly ambitious Democrats. Or Communists. It's all so confusing sometimes.

The point is that China's massive economy has been flat on its back for a while now, thanks in no small part to strongman Xi Jinping's determination to restore Communist control. His severe COVID lockdowns only made things worse, convincing consumers that they'd better stuff all their money under the proverbial mattress.

This is where classic New Deal/Obamanomics comes in.

The New York Times breathlessly reported Monday that "China’s Policy Reversal Sparks ‘Mind Boggling’ Stock Rally." The report opened with, "Just a few weeks ago, many investors in China’s stock markets were ready to give up and eager to sell. Then late last month, traders rushed in to make bullish bets after the government’s leaders announced a series of steps to stimulate China’s faltering economy."

Then it fell and more stimulation is needed.

Is it possible that the economy in China is like the economy under Bidenomics?  At many levels no, but at some yes.  China is caught in an effort to be a capitalist society with Communist characteristics.  Perhaps the question is, how much freedom do people need to make a capitalist systaem work?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Happy 5785

For John, BLUF:  Today, 3 October, is the beginning of the new Jewish Year, Rosh Hashanah.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Rosh Hashanah

Here is a Wikipedia explanation:

Rosh Hashanah is a two-day observance and celebration that begins on the first day of Tishrei, which is the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year. In contrast to the ecclesiastical lunar new year on the first day of the first month Nisan, the spring Passover month which marks Israel's exodus from Egypt, Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the civil year, according to the teachings of Judaism, and is the traditional anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman according to the Hebrew Bible, as well as the initiation of humanity's role in God's world.

Happy New Year and a better year in 5785.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Spirit Falls

For John, BLUF:  The Holy Spirit falls far and wide.  As Christians we should be open to what the Spirit wishes to empower us for.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Numbers 11:25-29):

The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.
Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses,
the LORD bestowed it on the seventy elders;
and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.

Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad,
were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp.
They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent;
yet the spirit came to rest on them also,
and they prophesied in the camp.
So, when a young man quickly told Moses,
"Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, "
Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses' aide, said,
"Moses, my lord, stop them."
But Moses answered him,
"Are you jealous for my sake?
Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!
Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!"

I think this is an importnt passage from the Old Testament, about the new Christian church.  Saint Paul lists the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as (1 Corinthins 12, Douay-Rheims):

8 To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom: and to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;
9 To another, faith in the same spirit; to another, the grace of healing in one Spirit;
10 To another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the discerning of spirits; to another, diverse kinds of tongues; to another, interpretation of speeches.
11 But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will.

So the 72, including Eldad and Medad, received, from the Spirit, the gift of prophecy, just as Saint Paul tells us, Christians who received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit may receive, amongat several gifts, the gift of prophecy.  Thus, as one should expect, there is continuity between the Old and New Testament.

And the infilling of the Holy Spirit is something each Christian should strive for.  And they shoould be open to exercising the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Regards  —  Cliff