HERE IS the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show, without the pole dancing, the wagging rear ends, the pelvic thrusts, the black leather, the overpaid striptease dancers, the cute children in cages, the fireworks, the occult symbolism and the lewd, jungle sounds. Phew, that was a lot to edit out! Enjoy!!

    ENGLAND will officially end 47 years in what is known as the European Union later today, more than three years after the Brexit referendum in which a close majority voted to leave. The New York Times reports: Flags will line Parliament Square and The Mall, the ceremonial avenue leading to Buckingham Palace, and government buildings will be lit up in the red, white and blue of the Union Jack. A countdown clock will be projected onto the front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence, along with a commemorative light display to “symbolize the strength and unity” of the four nations of the United Kingdom, the government said. But a campaign for a celebratory 11 p.m. chime from Big Ben — the great bell of Parliament’s clock tower, which is currently silenced for restoration work — did not succeed. Congratulations, England! . (Video from Little England is Ours; Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams)  

FROM Chuck Baldwin's latest column: Donald Trump’s so-called Deal of the Century unveiled this past Tuesday is actually a deal with the devil. This so-called Middle East Peace Plan would more accurately be called the “Permanent Palestinian Enslavement Act”—otherwise known as the “Save Benjamin Netanyahu’s Derriere Act.” On the very day that Netanyahu was formally indicted on corruption charges by the Israeli Knesset, Donald Trump rolls out his “Deal of the Century” Middle East peace plan. As with Trump’s assassination of General Soleimani, this is nothing but a ploy to try and save Trump’s partner in crime and fellow Zionist, Benjamin Netanyahu—and to further endear himself to the much beguiled Christian Zionists within America’s evangelical voting bloc. The people who live under the yoke of Israeli oppression in Palestine, however, know exactly what this is all about. And they rightly reject it. [cont.] More analysis of the deal here and here.  

Such, in broad light, is Shakespeare’s testimony to the position and character of women in human life. He represents them as infallibly faithful and wise counsellors, — incorruptibly just and pure examples — strong always to sanctify, even when they cannot save.

—- John Ruskin

FROM John Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies (1894):

Note broadly in the outset, Shakespeare has no heroes;—he has only heroines. There is not one entirely heroic figure in all his plays, except the slight sketch of Henry the Fifth, exaggerated for the purposes of the stage; and the still slighter Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. In his laboured and perfect plays you have no hero. Othello would have been one, if his simplicity had not been so great as to leave him the prey of every base practice round him; but he is the only example even approximating to the heroic type. Coriolanus—Caesar—Antony stand in flawed strength, and fall by their vanities;—Hamlet is indolent, and drowsily speculative; Romeo an impatient boy; the Merchant of Venice languidly submissive to adverse fortune; Kent, in King Lear, is entirely noble at heart, but too rough and unpolished to be of true use at the critical time, and he sinks into the office of a servant only. Orlando, no less noble, is yet the despairing toy of chance, followed, comforted, saved by Rosalind. Whereas there is hardly a play that has not a perfect woman in it, steadfast in grave hope, and errorless purpose: Cordelia, Desdemona, Isabella, Hermione, Imogen, Queen Catherine, Perdita, Sylvia, Viola, Rosalind, Helena, and last, and perhaps loveliest, Virgilia, are all faultless; conceived in the highest heroic type of humanity.

Then observe, secondly,

The catastrophe of every play is caused always by the folly or fault of a man; the redemption, if there be any, is by the wisdom and virtue of a woman, and, failing that, there is none. The catastrophe of King Lear is owing to his own want of judgment, his impatient vanity, his misunderstanding of his children; the virtue of his one true daughter would have saved him from all the injuries of the others, unless he had cast her away from him; as it is, she all but saves him. [emphasis added] (more…)

  "EVERY single commercial is a dorky white guy made to look stupid. Does that move product?" See many more examples here at "White Men are Stupid in Commercials."  

  PHILADELPHIA rock group Sheer Mag has a message for America -- played at a Bernie Sanders rally last fall. (As if Bernie is anti-establishment! Ha! Ha! Ha!) If Democrats don't win in November, these college grads are gonna get tough! Expect the Bayonet From the sorrow we created A fragile state of blood and whim Made for rich men in their white skin People bolder than I Stood up to the lie That equality has left! (my, my) But it leaves no doubt in my mind I've been reading the news and you'll surely regret If you don't give us the ballot, expect the bayonet! Well, expect the bayonet! (yeah, yeah) Expect the bayonet! Don't say I didn't warn ya 'Cause for every man high upon the hog There's a dogwood forest buried in the fog How naked is your eye? Do you ever wonder why You're being asked to recompense When it's the last sign of your defence? So you better resolve or you'll surely regret If you don't give us the ballot, expect the bayonet! Well, expect the bayonet! (Yeah, yeah, yeah) My hunch is that these kids "in their white skin" have never known a day of hard manual labor and wouldn't know what to do with a bayonet.   When they say "rich men in their white skin" who made a "fragile state of blood and whim" do they mean people like this?   They…

"WHEN you gossip about a person it means that you have removed the person from your heart. But be aware, when you remove a man from your heart, Jesus goes away from your heart with that man." -- Padre Pio  

"BE NOT therefore dismayed or troubled but continue to give thanks to God for all things, praising, and invoking Him; beseeching and supplicating; even if countless tumults and troubles come upon you, even if tempests are stirred up before your eyes let none of these things disturb you. For our Master is not baffled by the difficulty, even if all things are reduced to the extremity of ruin. For it is possible for Him to raise those who have fallen, to convert those who are in error, to set straight those who have been ensnared, to release those who have been laden with countless sins, and make them righteous, to quicken those who are dead, to restore lustre to decayed things, and freshness to those which have waxen old. For if He makes things which are not, come into being, and bestows existence on things which are nowhere by any means manifest, how much more will He rectify things which already exist." --- St. John Chrysostom, in a letter to Olympias    

  IN AN interview on Good Morning Britain today, Anne Frank's stepsister Eva Schloss said that the sensational photos released internationally of Auschwitz when it was liberated from the Germans 75 years ago were fake. She said the Soviets, who released the photos, admitted to her that they were staged later. At minute 4:47 in the interview, she discusses the famous pictures. She lived at Auschwitz for one year. She noticed that the photos [did not] include snow, but there was heavy snow at the time of liberation. Mrs. Schloss said her mother, who later married Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank, was selected to be "gassed" at the camp, but was not. They were also supposed to be part of a "death march," but overslept that day, she said. Auschwitz, located in Poland, was visited monthly by International Red Cross inspection teams during the war, up until the last few months. The teams were permitted to speak to prisoners alone. In a 1650-page report by the Red Cross, there was no mention of gas chambers. (Read more here.) Here is a video tour of Auschwitz. Will the elderly Mrs. Schloss be jailed for her comments that the photos were fake, as was the 91-old-German woman Ursula Haverbeck, who has never harmed anyone or advocated violence and is currently in jail for publicly challenging the official historical record of World War II events? This is not the first time there has…

 A SHY, Italian widow who was always busy tidying up her property and had for years taken care of her husband, who had Parkinson's disease and dementia, lived across the street from us when we were growing up. Whenever there was a big snowstorm, my father or brother would go over to her house and clear her driveway with a snowblower. A huge pot of chicken that she made herself would arrive the next day. It was a traditional Italian recipe for chicken stewed in many cloves of garlic. It was the essence of garlic and was delicious. Here is one version of the dish. You don't have to use exactly 40 cloves of garlic. I often use fewer to save time. Whenever I make this, I think of our neighbor, who had experienced great tragedy in her life. I think of her resilience and her shyness. And, I think of snow. Snowblower Chicken 1 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, (or eight chicken thighs) at room temperature Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon unsalted butter About 40 garlic cloves, peeled 2 sprigs fresh thyme (if you have it) 3/4 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth 1 1/3 cup chicken stock 1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 2. Dry chicken pieces with paper towel and season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place a deep, nonreactive pot or Dutch…

"MY WAY is: I consider the poetic sentiment, correspondent to my idea of the musical expression, then chuse my theme, begin one stanza, when that is composed—which is generally the most difficult part of the business—I walk out, sit down now and then, look out for objects in nature around me that are in unison or harmony with the cogitations of my fancy and workings of my bosom, humming every now and then the air with the verses I have framed. When I feel my Muse beginning to jade, I retire to the solitary fireside of my study, and there commit my effusions to paper, swinging, at intervals, on the hind-legs of my elbow chair, by way of calling forth my own critical strictures, as my, pen goes." ----- Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796)  

  THE English folk song "Greensleeves" was not originally a Christmas song. The first of several versions of a ballad to a "Lady Greene Sleves" appeared in the 16th century and has been wrongly attributed to King Henry VIII. This early version is performed by the Baltimore Consort.  

  "THE CONVERSION of Saul" by Caravaggio is one of the world's great dramatic paintings. It depicts St. Paul (Saul) on the road to Damascus, when he is struck blind and thrown off his horse, forever changed. Caravaggio completed the painting in 1601 for the Cerasi Chapel of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in Rome.You may never make it to Rome to see this incredible painting but you can experience it online. Here is a basic introduction in a video lecture. One of the interesting characters in the painting is the horse. He overwhelms Paul. What is Caravaggio suggesting? Nigel Halliday writes: Why is the horse so important? He is huge, filling two thirds of the canvas. He is clearly not there just as a prop to emphasize Saul’s fall from human pride. The light catches his flank and he is beautifully painted – Caravaggio’s realism at its best. Writers often comment that the horse is oblivious to what is happening, just a dumb animal. But that would mean that Caravaggio has devoted a huge amount of brilliant painting to a subject that is peripheral to the action. To me what is most striking about the horse is how careful it is not to harm Saul. The horse’s eye is clearly on the prostrate figure. The horse is posed with its front right hoof raised and twisted out towards the viewer as if it is being specially careful…

"HOLOCAUST revisionism, for the time being, will have to be a personal vision quest. Each of us will have to take the journey from belief to disbelief alone. Germans, Jews, Americans, everyone! Revisionists are not going to force governments, or anyone dining out on the Holocaust story, to admit the Holocaust is, in most of its particulars, a lie. Salvation from this emotional conditioning - this brainwashing – lies not in the power of revisionism, but within yourselves. The roadmap to freedom is on the internet. Revisionist websites are packed with the tools with which to break the mental chains that bind you to liars and thieves who have preyed upon your credulity for so long. Take them up. Freedom beckons." --- John Weir, "The Holocaust as Myth: Betraying the Public Trust"  

  "A TRAMP may become a hired soldier, but he can hardly rise to the promptings of patriotism. His life has too little in it to be worth much defending. His life is cheap. He waits for whatever may happen. When a man has a home he becomes immediately interested in the peace of a community. He has given hostages against mobs. It is important for him that the pavement stones should keep their places, and not go flying through the air. Both heads and windows acquire a sacredness from those in which he is interested. A man without a home has little motive for standing against public perils. If a land does not furnish a man so much as a home, he can drift away when it becomes dangerous to remain anchored. Fill any land with good homes and it must be a good place in which to live. ... The walls about the hearth shut out all the world, and shut in a kingdom. This is the fort; keep it clean and free, and religion will thrive and liberty will dwell in the land forever. --- C.H. Fowler and W.H. De Puy, Home and Health and Home Economics, (Phillips & Hunt, 1880); p. 10.  

  "ABBOT Antony pointed out to a brother a stone and said to him, 'Revile that stone, and beat it soundly.' "When he had done so, Antony said, 'Did the stone say anything?' "He answered, 'No.' "Then said Antony, 'Unto this perfection shalt thou one day come.'" [Sayings of the Saints of the Desert, Cardinal John Henry Newman, St. Athanasius Press, 2017]  

  "THE FORCE of the wind will carry the inhabitants of the earth off their feet, and whirl them aloft in the air; trees will be uprooted, houses unroofed. Long peals of thunder will resound in the Heavens, the flashes of lightning, like serpents of fire, will light up the sky, and with their forked tongues, playing about the dwellings of mankind, will kindle a general conflagration, amid the crash of thunder. The waters of the ocean will be so agitated that their waves will rise mountain-high, towering almost to the clouds. The roaring and raging of the storm-swept billows will last for some time. All the beasts of the earth will lift up their voice, and their dismal howls will fill the air, so that the hearts of men will stand still for terror. "Yet this is but the beginning of sorrow, Our Lord tells us. What will next occur He describes in these words: 'Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from Heaven, and the powers of Heaven shall be moved.' --- Rev. Martin Von Cochem, O.S.F.C. The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell and Heaven  

  THE commercial Christmas season has ended, thank goodness, and the stores are filling up with pink hearts. But the liturgical season lasts until February 2. Rejoice and be glad. We embrace suffering --- and thereby embrace joy. We are meant for joy, as the bird is meant for the open sky.