Uncomfortable Shoes

And other shoes continue to drop in the ongoing scandal within the Catholic Church. It is now revealed that Pope Francis discontinued Pope Benedict's sanctions against Cardinal McCarrick, and also covered up for him until it was impossible to do so any longer in the face of the ugly, nauseating facts.

The "shoes of the fisherman" are apparently a bad fit for Francis. He should perhaps rethink his wardrobe entirely.


Link: Petition to Remove Cardinal Wuerl

Of Millstones and Money Changers

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
~ John 2

In the wake of the disgusting revelations of the Pennsylvania's grand jury report on hundreds of sexual crimes against children by priests, and ensuing coverups by their superiors, I've heard and read many references to the New Testament's millstone warning. It appears in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and it quotes Jesus saying the following:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea."

There it is, in black in white: hurt the children, and you're going to face fearsome punishment.

That dire admonition directly from the Lord's lips doesn't seem to bother the perverted priests or the complicit hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The details of the Pennsylvania report are sickening to read and too obscene for me to reference directly.

The millstone warning (my term for it) is all well and good, but there is another New Testament story that I believe fits the situation equally well. It appears in the second chapter of John's gospel and describes the fury of Jesus upon entering the temple and finding commerce being conducted. He actually fashioned a "whip of cords" and physically drove the money changers from the temple, overturning their tables and scattering all of their loot in the process.

That's what righteous anger looks like, and it was over selling birds and livestock in what the Lord called "my Father's house." Consider the famous question, "What would Jesus do?" with regard to the widespread rape of children (see "millstone," above) in his Father's house. This is not sin by merchants selling their wares, but depraved, deliberate evil by priests anointed to God's service, against the most innocent and vulnerable--young children. That unspeakable atrocity, repeated for many decades countless times the world over, was followed by the crime of coverup by those in authority over the criminals. What would Jesus do? I can't speak for the Lord, but somehow I doubt that a "whip of cords" would be sufficient for his response.

Jesus Drives out Money Changers

As a practicing Catholic, I am enraged. Just this month Pope Francis declared capital punishment "inadmissible." Yet Pope Francis has expressed only "shame and sorrow" (through a spokesman, no less) over the criminal obscenities reported in Pennsylvania's grand jury report. That's absolutely pathetic. I've got more than a few questions for the pope, and as a Catholic I have every right and duty to ask them.

When will child rape and sexual defilement be "inadmissible" in the ranks of the Catholic Church? When will the bishops who covered up these obscenities be exposed and held accountable? When will the offending priests and bishops be stripped of their privileges, handed over to law enforcement authorities, charged with rape, prosecuted, convicted, and thrown into prison for the remainder of their natural lives?

When will you deal with the evil that is rotting the Church from within? Until you do, your "holiness," you are a coward who is as guilty of these filthy, unspeakable crimes as the priests and bishops who committed them.

I remain a Catholic. As I explain to people who inquire, my obligation is to the Lord, not to any man or institution. Each of us someday will die and face God's judgment. I will need to answer for myself and for my sins. The pope, the bishops, all of the Church hierarchy that aided and abetted this corrupt and ubiquitous scandal*, and each and every evil priest who destroyed a child's life will need to answer for their own sins. Good luck with that.

*Link to petition to remove Cardinal Wuerl (added 8/27/18)

Aretha Franklin names her favorite songs

The Train to Nowhere

Image from ALIVE East Bay Magazine

I've lived in California for several decades, but I've never adjusted to the state's profligate spending. Of course, the liberals are in the majority in the state assembly and senate, which perfectly explains the lack of common sense, but let's leave that aside for the moment. California flings money at a multitude of useless projects ranging from the highly impractical to the absolutely ridiculous.

The state's stalled "bullet train" is one financial disaster that fits both descriptions. Despite the complete waste of $77 billion on a project that is now eleven years behind schedule, Jerry "Governor Moonbeam" Brown still insists that California's bullet train is the future of transportation and environmental nirvana.

Just between us, I think he's still high from his last Linda Ronstadt concert.

Think about $77 billion dollars frittered away over the course of more than a decade by the government, with nothing to show the taxpayers for it. The "bullet train to nowhere," as it's called in polite circles, has an imaginative variety of alternate nicknames among the state's residents. I've heard it called the "crazy train," the "cuckoo choo-choo," and the "scam tram," among other monikers not suitable for this blog's editorial standards.

Consider what $77 billion dollars could do if it had been in vested in a real necessity, such as firefighting and drought mitigation. For far less than that mind-boggling sum, there could be more water treatment and desalinization plants built, more firefighting airplanes and helicopters bought, more firefighters hired, trained, and deployed to knock down the recent monster fires that California has been suffering in recent years.

I heard one conservative commentator declare that "drought is a choice." It's an interesting perspective, one that would have benefited California immensely had it been adopted by the state politicians even a few years ago. But, like it or move, California's politicians have us all traveling on the train to nowhere. If they only had a brain.

Old News is No News

Image from Politico

As our president signs legislation

To satisfy pledged obligation

The media news stations

Pursue old allegations

And leave us in newsless starvation.

 

Closing in on History

Congratulations, Trevor Hoffman ~ Hall of Fame Pitcher

A Quiet Triumph

Image: Paramount Pictures

I've always maintained that a script writer never allows a pregnant woman to go unexploited for dramatic purposes, and I think I've been proven correct in every TV show or movie I've ever watched. But never have I seen a pregnant woman used so extensively--and effectively--as Emily Blunt's character in the almost unbearably suspenseful film,  A Quiet Place.

In a post-apocalyptic world, the monsters have arrived yet again. In this incarnation, they are blind but hunt by sound. The creatures are extremely ugly, seemingly indestructible, and incredibly fast when they respond to an inadvertent noise. A Quiet Place is a quiet film that will keep you riveted to the edge of your seat, right from the start.

Directed by John Krasinski, who also stars, the story follows the Abbot family: father Lee, mother Evelyn, and their children, one of whom is deaf. The fact that the entire family is able to communicate fully in sign language no doubt has aided them in their survival. But as is the case in any successful horror movie, things will go wrong for the characters you have come to care about. The tension builds ever upward to the dramatic conclusion. I had a bit of a stiff neck by the time the credits rolled, but it was well worth it.

In a sociological analysis, A Quiet Place could be said to mirror our current national atmosphere, where one wrong sound brings immediate destruction. Just ask Roseanne Barr or the former CEO of Papa John's pizza, to cite two recent examples. But in a more intimate sense, the movie is a simple story of one family's love, resilience, sacrifice, and redemption. Get your bowl of popcorn and watch--quietly.

Hail to a Very Special Chief

Chief Joseph Pfeifer retired today from New York City's fire department. Pfeifer was the first FDNY chief on the scene at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. His firefighter brother, Kevin, was among those killed in the terrorist attack.

Chief Pfeifer had actually been eligible to retire a few days before 9/11 happened. In one interview, Pfeifer said he stayed on active duty so as not to end "on a sad note." His leaving the fire service marks the end of an era and, I hope and pray, the beginning of many joyful years ahead with family and friends.

Chief Pfeifer, a brave, unassuming, and enduring American hero. Godspeed.

Independence Day

Image from The History Cat

The Declaration of Independence of The United States of America

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth,
the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and
of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their Safety and Happiness.  Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments
long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;
and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed
to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing
the forms to which they are accustomed.  But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce
them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now
the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment
of an absolute Tyranny over these States.  To prove this, let Facts
be submitted to a candid world...

[You can read the exhaustive list of grievances against the English king 

within this link to the transcript]

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in 
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world
 for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority 
of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That
 these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and 
Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the 
British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the 
State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that 
as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, 
conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all 
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for 
the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection 
of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our 
Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Consequential Choices

"Elections have consequences."

~ President Barack Obama, 2010

Image from FITSNews

Oh yes, President Obama was right about that. Elections certainly do have consequences. Obama went on to crow, "I won." Well, winning tables have a way of turning.

The Supreme Court was the driving force behind untold numbers of American voters deciding in favor of Donald Trump. With the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who in his three decades on the high court was an unpredictable and often upsetting swing vote, the appointment of the next justice assumes momentous import. As Marc Theissen wrote today, Trump voters "have just been vindicated."

Here's a link to President Donald Trump's list of 25 potential nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump first compiled the list as a presidential candidate in 2016, has added a few names since, and has stated that he will choose the next justice from among them. Speaking as one of 2016's innumerable "Supreme Court voters," I can say that I'm supremely content.