OH, what the heck. We can pay it off tomorrow. (more…)

DAN R. writes:

After having one “A”-list performer after another announce that he or she would not perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration, it was announced that 16-year-old classically-trained Jackie Evancho will sing the national anthem at the inauguration.

Those putting the most pressure on singers contemplating performing were the so-called LGBT community, apparently out of revulsion for Trump’s VP Mike Pence, who as governor of Indiana signed a “religious freedom bill” (transgender bathrooms and all of that). Miss Evancho dismisses any charges of “hate” against her by stating, simply, she is not political … that it is an honor to perform at a presidential inauguration.

And now comes this ABC News feature segment, “As Jackie Evancho Prepares for Inauguration Performance, Her Transgender Sister Juliet Prepares for Gender Confirmation Surgery.”

“Born “Jacob,” Juliet Evancho is an artist at heart, who has blossomed into a civil rights activist.” (more…)

FROM The Burning Platform:

Barack Obama, the well-dressed, polished, articulate, empty suit, who has occupied the White House for the last eight years serving as the front man for the Deep State, has done more to destroy race relations and sense of community than any president in history. His divisive rhetoric and actions over the last eight years created the atmosphere for the acrimonious election and the violent protests that followed.

His failure to quell the Soros funded Black Lives Matter terrorist organization has resulted in the slaughter of police across the country. Meanwhile, his hometown of Chicago has seen 800 homicides and over 4,400 shootings in 2016 – with over 90% blacks killing blacks. His legacy is one of complete and utter failure, but his hubris knows no bounds, and he actually believes his eight year reign of error was a resounding success. Facts be damned. (more…)

A RECENT college graduate writes:

On the transgender post:

I began to read the LifeSiteNews article and after reading the common sense comments by Mat Staver I couldn’t help but cry out that this is so insane. The world is SO INSANE today!

It reminds me of being in a university philosophy class on ethics. We were having debates in the class between select groups for and against a certain topic. I voluntarily argued against three topics because I wanted the truth to be heard (abortion, homosexuality and contraception, and cloning/embryonic stem cell research/genetic engineering).

Anyway, during the homosexuality debate, insanity prevailed. A young man and I were stating the obvious. Only men and women should have physical relations. (And within marriage alone, without contraception, I argued). Their union is fruitful.

My professor was disgustingly biased, whereas the debates were supposed to be neutral. She basically set the stage for our group to be attacked and the question to be, “WHY NOT?” And of course our stance was labeled as bigotry. (more…)

  IN this fantastic talk by Judith Sharpe of In the Spirit of Chartres, Mrs. Sharpe explains why she does not put her Christmas lights and decorations up until a few days before Christmas and why she keeps them up until February 2 -- and why you should too. Remember, it's in the interests of retailers to put you in the Christmas "spirit" long before Christmas (when you are buying gifts) instead of after, when we should logically be celebrating the greatest event in human history. Not that we want to hear that canned Christmas pop in the stores after Christmas too or be running around exhausted and over-spent. (Do you notice how in America, everything is turned into work? Even childhood. Even Christmas.) No, the time before Christmas should be less festive and the time afterward should be an extension of the festivities, ideally less commercial and more peaceful. Merry Christmas! God so loved the world. That He entered into it and changed everything forever.  

  FOR your post-racial presidency!

  Les Patineurs or The Skaters (also Die Schlittschuhläufer Op. 183) is a waltz by Émile Waldteufel composed in 1882. It was reportedly inspired by the Cercle des Patineurs or 'Rink of Skaters' at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.    

AS THEY prepare for this week’s presidential inauguration, Americans of all political persuasions should pause for at least a few moments of gratitude.

Whether they approve of Trump or not, they should be thankful for our undeserved good fortune. Whatever political conflict we have and whatever riots may occur as well-funded, irate college students flock to the capital, these events will likely be nothing — truly nothing — in comparison to the course of politics in some parts of the world, especially in Africa, where democracy is often a synonym for mass butchery.

Consider the case of “His Excellency President Professor Dr. Al-Haji Yahya Jammeh,” the president of the tiny West African nation and former British colony of Gambia.

Jammeh seized power 22 years ago. His reign of terror, during which journalists and other critics have been killed or imprisoned; those suspected of being witches have been rounded up and poisoned; the economy has tanked, and Islam was declared the state religion, has left him with a weak reputation, both domestically and internationally. His “human rights” rating is very low.

Despite his dictatorial control, His Excellency President Professor (as he prefers to be called) was amazingly subject to an election last month. Unsurprisingly, he was defeated.

He now refuses, however, to accept the results. He said he would appeal to the Supreme Court. The problem is, he fired the Supreme Court judges last year. What will happen next no one knows.

Gambians are now fleeing in increasing numbers, some to Libya and then across the Mediterranean to Europe, and others are preparing for bloodshed at home. The president-elect, Adama Barrow, has also left the country.

The distressing truth is, this kind of thing happens fairly often in Africa. (more…)

FOR allowing girls to use the boys’ room (and exploiting children)! What a super-cool idea!

(more…)

FROM LIFESITE NEWS: Pro-abortion billionaire George Soros has donated nearly $90 million to feminist groups behind a January 21 protest of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. In a new report, Alatheia Nielsen at NewsBusters revealed that more than a quarter of the groups listed as "partners" on the Women's March on Washington website are funded by Soros. These include Planned Parenthood, to whom Soros has given over $21 million since 2000, and the Center for Reproductive Rights, to whom Soros has given over $3 million since 2000. Other Soros-funded groups participating include the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Catholics for Choice, Equality Now, NARAL, the National Abortion Federation, the Human Rights Campaign, and Amnesty International. The feminist anti-Trump march, which the media have touted as a massive upcoming protest has been marred by disagreements over gender, class, and race.

FOR opening combat positions to women!! What a cool idea!

BJK writes:

I heard a story on WCBS news this morning about the “Terror of Demons” motorcycle club.

“Two Staten Island pastors have found an interesting way to tend to their flock. They are the co-founders of the “Terror of Demons” motorcycle club, a two-wheeled ministry that’s smashing stereotypes and finding a new way to connect with the faithful.

Meet Father Angelo Micciulla, the pastor of the Holy Family parish, and Father Jean-Paul “Jack” Soler, the pastor of St. Clement-St. Michael on Staten Island. What’s the best part of being a priest on a bike? Father Soler says it’s most definitely the reaction of surprise people have when he removes his helmet and reveals he’s a man of the cloth.”

Not that long ago, ‘extracurricular’ activities like this by a priest, let alone two pastors, would almost certainly have merited some sort of reprimand from the presiding bishop — not anymore. Appearances matter, they symbolize what a person is: perhaps the ‘surprise’ expressed is that a priest would enjoy dressing like an ‘outlaw’ biker.

Additionally, what this article didn’t state – but which was heard in the radio interview with Fr. Jean-Paul “Jack” Soler – was the description his of ‘collection’ of prominent tattoos, one of which was described as covering his entire arm, with the text described as ‘Gospel verse in Hebrew scripture.’ (more…)

PREDICTIONS of what this week will hold in terms of protests and blocking actions can be found here.

FROM The Three Ages of the Interior Life by Reginal Garrigou-Lagrance, O.P. (1877-1964):

As everyone can easily understand, the interior life is an elevated form of intimate conversation which everyone has with himself as soon as he is alone, even in the tumult of a great city. From the moment he ceases to converse with his fellow men, man converses interiorly with himself about what preoccupies him most. This conversation varies greatly according to the different ages of life; that of an old man is not that of a youth. It also varies greatly according as a man is good or bad.

As soon as a man seriously seeks truth and goodness, this intimate conversation with himself tends to become conversation with God. Little by little, instead of seeking himself in everything, instead of tending more or less consciously to make himself a center, man tends to seek God in everything, and to substitute for egoism love of God and of souls in Him. This constitutes the interior life. No sincere man will have any difficulty in recognizing it. The one thing necessary which Jesus spoke of to Martha and Mary (1) consists in hearing the word of God and living by it.

The interior life thus conceived is something far more profound and more necessary in us than intellectual life or the cultivation of the sciences, than artistic or literary life, than social or political life. Unfortunately, some great scholars, mathematicians, physicists, and astronomers have no interior life, so to speak, but devote themselves to the study of their science as if God did not exist. In their mo­ments of solitude they have no intimate conversation with Him. Their life appears to be in certain respects the search for the true and the good in a more or less definite and restricted domain, but it is so tainted with self-love and intellectual pride that we may legitimately question whether it will bear fruit for eternity. Many artists, literary men, and statesmen never rise above this level of purely human activity which is, in short, quite exterior. Do the depths of their souls live by God? It would seem not. (more…)

FROM Michael Rozeff at LewRockwell.com: The CIA is an organization that perpetually undermines traditional American values and moral values. It consistently kills innocent people. It continually causes instability and wars. It undermines other societies and our own. It interferes constantly in foreign nations, to the detriment of them and us. It is an unelected power that challenges elected officials. It favors abuses of power, including torture. Its actual value at generating usable intelligence is minimal, often wrong, often misleading, inaccurate and harmful as in the WMD that were never found in Iraq. “The Association for Responsible Dissent estimates that by 1987, 6 million people had died as a result of CIA covert operations. Former State Department official William Blum correctly calls this an ‘American Holocaust.’ This quote and a detailed timeline of CIA atrocities is available. William Blum has listed CIA interventions for us. All that needs to be done to understand the enormity of CIA crimes against humanity is to associate each of these interventions with the deaths, injuries, disruption of lives and destruction that they have caused. The most recent of these are ... [cont.] A related story here.

NEW HEAVEN, NEW WAR

— Robert Southwell, SJ

Come to your heaven, you heavenly choirs,
Earth hath the heaven of your desires.
Remove your dwelling to your God;
A stall is now his best abode.
Sith men their homage do deny,
Come, angels, all their fault supply.

His chilling cold doth heat require;
Come, seraphims, in lieu of fire.
This little ark no cover hath;
Let cherubs’ wings his body swathe.
Come, Raphael, this babe must eat;
Provide our little Toby meat.

Let Gabriel be now his groom,
That first took up his earthly room.
Let Michael stand in his defense,
Whom love hath linked to feeble sense.
Let graces rock when he doth cry,
And angels sing his lullaby. (more…)

REVOLUTION is expensive.

The anti-Trump protests scheduled for Washington, D.C. during inauguration week are most definitely not simply an emanation from the people. Kevin Mooney writes at Lifesite News:

Disrupt J20 does not disclose or identify itself with nationally known groups or major donors. It says the “direct action” planned is “supported by the work of the D.C. Welcoming Committee,” which it calls “a collective of experienced local activists and out-of-work gravediggers acting with national support.” (more…)