THIS cross, which was designed by the Italian sculptor Lello Scorzelli, has been carried by six popes: Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVII and now Francis I. At Tradition in Action, Marion T. Horvat examines the history and meaning of the cross, with its contorted, grotesquely emaciated body and claw-like hands. Admirers of the cross say it conveys the suffering of Christ. It would be more accurate to say it conveys meaninglessness, animal resignation and despair. The cross was first used at the closing of Vatican II in 1965, a fitting end to an event that did so much to drain the sense of the sacred from the world. It is reasonable to argue that in Vatican II, Christ underwent a second crucifixion. But it didn’t look like this. He will rise again from the tomb of the Revolution.

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WHILE the French police have harassed, beaten and whisked away peaceful protesters against the new same-sex marriage law, including a group of young people who were walking down the Champs Elysées recently without signs or banners, they did little when hoodlums descended on the Champs Elysées and the Trocadero on Sunday after the Paris Saint-Germain soccer club won. The soccer team, according to French writer Bernard Antony, was “formerly Parisian but now [is] owned by the Islamist State of Qatar.” Antony called Sunday’s riots “a barbaric rampage obviously engendered by the most total racist contempt for France and the French.”

Tiberge at Galliawatch has a number of important posts. She writes:

Some readers have suggested that this week-end’s rampage was part of a pre-programmed attack on France by Islamic forces, and other enemies of France. Manuel Valls [the Minister of the Interior] has ridiculously tried to compare the violence to the incidents that have occurred during the Manif Pour Tous. For him there is no difference. (Actually, there IS a difference: the Manif is much worse in his way of thinking, but he cannot quite bring himself to say that publicly.)

The passive, unperturbed, unmovable indifference at the highest level of government today is not very different from the passive unperturbed complacency of President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin in 2005 when the ghettos rampaged for days on end (October 27 – November 17 approx.), setting the stage for all future rampages, accelerating the Islamization of France, and forever paralyzing the police, under permanent orders to treat the vandals gently.

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AT VDARE, Susie Green suggests what the late Lawrence Auster would say to the current immigration bill that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. From the 2006 VFR post, We Must Stop Lying to Ourselves or We Will Die:

The level of lying that has become common in the illegal alien debate is truly frightening and bespeaks an America that has passed some new threshold on the road to self-destruction. (more…)

DON VINCENZO writes:

On April 21, I wrote that U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati would soon decide the case of the Romeikes, a homeschooling German family seeking political asylum. Yesterday, the three-judge panel, including two George W. Bush appointees and one Clinton appointee, denied the Romeike petition, which had enormous popular support among homeschooling families in this country. I was not surprised. (more…)

THE Revolution is so bewilderingly fast-paced it is impossible at times to tell whether you are encountering fact or fiction. Here’s a late-breaking bulletin, which a reader says is true. At Portland State University, a conference intended to be a “comparative critical dialogue” between revolutionaries of various stripes reportedly turned ugly Sunday when two transgender males attacked feminists. The men said they believe in traditional sex roles. According to a website called GenderTrender:

The women were attacked in a coordinated assault as they sat at a table which sold feminist books and literature. The men destroyed the books and marked up the table display with permanent markers. One of the women was also marked up by the men. Predominantly male conference onlookers by all reports allowed the attack to take place, watching in stunned silence. Two males affiliated with the same group as the feminists -Deep Green Resistance- were also in attendance and the “trans women” threw a projectile at the head of one of them. (more…)

  DANIEL S. writes: What has multiculturalism wrought? American-based Muslim leaders of the mosque attended by the Boston bombers have published a Saudi fatwa advocating Muslim husbands strike persistently "disobedient" wives; Britain is seeing the rise of temporary marriages, called mut'ah, among Shi'ite Muslim immigrants; and Sweden has handed out a light sentence to an Iraqi Muslim who brutally murdered his sister for fleeing an arranged marriage. And where is the feminist group FEMEN for all of this? Why protesting against traditionalist Catholics celebrating the feast day of St. Joan of Arc, of course.

WHEN JAMIE PURSLEY arranged for her second cousin, Kristen Broome, to be a surrogate mother for her and her husband, she agreed to let a photographer document the whole process, which included Mrs. Pursley stroking and talking to the belly of the pregnant woman, entering the hospital herself on the day of the birth and acting out the part of a woman who had just delivered a child. She even left the hospital in a wheelchair.

Mrs. Pursley, who apparently showed no concern for how her son may someday view this spectacle, is an extreme manifestation of the feminist view of motherhood as a beautiful hobby. See the photos of her husband, Jacob Pursley, the boy-man who sits on the sidelines of this orgy of maternal lust, dazed and submissive. One can only imagine what emotional retribution he might have suffered if he had not participated in his wife’s fantasies.

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N.W. writes:

In the midst of all the other news out there, your readers may have missed two interesting stories concerning one of the last bastions of manhood in our country, the Marine Corps Infantry.

The first story concerns an investigation launched by Rep. Jackie Speier, the California Democrat who describes the United States military as harboring “a culture that permits and seems to encourage sexual assault and abuse.” Her evidence includes a number of popular Facebook groups which provide an unadulterated glimpse into the hard-charging and depraved mind of your average junior enlisted infantryman.

Fighting men haven’t changed much over the millennia. When they aren’t training, they’re usually fighting, chasing women, or drinking.

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AT Fox News, we have this inspiring profile:

Heather Seeger is a staff sergeant in the Air Force, but when it comes to raising six children while her husband is deployed, she is commander-in-chief.

Seeger, a noncommissioned office who for 14 years has served in the Air Force, is in charge of production analysis for the 1st Maintenance Operations Squadron. When the 32-year-old is not at work overseeing maintenance of the military’s F-22 stealth fighter jets, she’s caring for her six children — ages 3 to 12 — while her husband is deployed in Japan.

The job is no easy task, says Seeger, but her skills learned in the military likely help in the home.

“It requires a lot of patience, organization and scheduling,” she told FoxNews.com.

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JAY from Goshen writes:

Have a look at Mrs. Obama’s new ‘do.’ It sets a new standard for Mrs. O’s special brand of hideousness. On the other hand, although I am no judge of women’s fashion, the dress is floral, pretty, and at least decently cut.

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  Ye men of Galilee, why wonder you, looking up to heaven? Alleluia. He shall so come as you have seen Him going up into heaven, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. (Acts 1. 11)

  "WHEN an intellectually and spiritually indolent person has to choose between two conflicting views he often decides to 'split the difference' between them; but he may be splitting the difference between truth and error, or between two errors. In any case, he must dispose of the question of truth or error before he can properly begin to mediate at all. Otherwise he will run the risk of resembling the English statesman of whom it was said that he never deviated from the straight and narrow path between right and wrong." -- Democracy and Leadership, Irving Babbitt

AT The Orthosphere, in an essay “Can Man Live Traditionally,” Alan Roebuck addresses the argument that men should refuse to marry because of the high risk of divorce. He advises against marriage strikes and contends men should approach marriage as soldiers entering into battle:

Know that you are a warrior participating in a noble cause. We all desire peace, but ours is not a peaceful time. Every man faces only two choices: contributing to the leftist destruction of our nation by going along with the status quo, or emulating your ancestors in building up our nation and fighting leftist barbarians in whatever way you can.

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  MARY JANDA, a teacher in Skagit County, Washington told her middle school students in a class discussion on bullying that Muslim terrorists are raised to be martyrs for Allah and to kill innocent people. A Muslim student in the class objected and informed her parents who then, without ever discussing the case with the teacher or the school, informed the Concil on American Islamic Relations. CAIR has been harassing Janda ever since and requested a Department of Justice investigation of the school. See Pamela Geller's piece at Freedom Outpost. Geller writes: We see this pattern repeated in small towns and cities across America. Hamas-CAIR, armed with millions of dollars from Islamic supremacist countries, is waging its own stealth jihad in our schools, workplaces and political arenas. They have enormous funds to harass, intimidate and bully small, ill-equipped organizations and individuals who have the audacity to tell the truth about jihad violence and Islamic supremacism. Mary Janda is just one of many. Wherever Islam flourishes, truth is suppressed with this kind of persecution.

THE New York Times reports staggering increases in suicide among the middle-aged, especially among men. The rate for middle-aged men jumped by almost 50 percent between 1999 and 2010. It rose to 27.3 deaths per 100,000 men, as compared to 8.1 deaths per 100,000 for women, which also represents an increase. Many of the commenters in the ensuing discussion blame the economy and the inability of men to provide for their families. As Congress ponders further increases in legal immigration and visas for foreign workers, the commenters tell stories of lost jobs, careers suddenly terminated, depleted savings and divorce.

One commenter writes:

My brother committed suicide last July. He had just turned 60. He lost his IT job in the Great Recession in 2008. Despite hundreds of resumes being sent out, and a lifetime of IT experience, he got few interviews and no job offers. He spent down his 401(k) and when he died the only thing he owned was a beat-up car. We later found out he had a lot of credit card debt, with which he had tried to keep himself afloat. After four years of no job offers, unemployment running out, having no health insurance, etc., his dignity was shot. He had lost hope of ever working again. How I wish he had not committed suicide; how I would give anything and everything to have him back. (more…)