DANIEL S. writes:

Pope Francis has chosen as his first official papal visit the Italian-ruled island of Lampedusa, which is a transit point for refugees from Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, and other African countries. This visit has earned the pope high praise from various “human rights” organizations, as well as Muslim leaders in Italy. While on the trip Pope Francis hailed the Muslim immigrants:

”To the dear, Muslim immigrants who today, this evening, are beginning the fast of Ramadan, with wishes for abundant spiritual fruit. The Church is close to you in the search for a more dignified life for you and your families.”

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Hippocrates, Engraving by Peter Paul Rubens

HERE is an outstanding lecture by the Canadian physician Dr. John Patrick, M.D., who discusses the origins of the Hippocratic Oath and the modern world’s revolutionary assault on ethical standards in medicine. Without the belief in objective moral truth and the immortality of the soul, medicine — even in a world of advanced science  —  becomes barbaric. Here is Patrick’s essay on the Hippocratic Oath. He writes:

The opening phrase of the Oath of Hippocrates is worthy of deep reflection. The literal form of the Oath cannot be sworn by Christians but they will relate immediately to the intent of Hippocrates and his followers, unlike sophisticated moderns and post-moderns who dismiss it as a mere vestigial marker of cultural superstitions unworthy of a scientific age. Certainly Hippocrates would find little with which to sympathize in the dominant model for the teaching of medicine today, which is founded on the cultural hubris that our categories supersede those of Hippocrates because it presumes that medicine is adequately described by the categories of biology, psychology and sociology. The transcendent dimension is denied.

DANIEL S. writes:

Pope Francis has approved the Blessed John Paul II and John XXIII for sainthood, an act clearly meant to pay homage to Vatican II and its revolution inside the Church. The most astounding component of the story is the fact that John XXIII will be elevated to sainthood without any claim of a confirmed second miracle attributed to him. The Blessed John Paul II will have a second miracle due to his intercession confirmed by the Holy Father. On the other hand, the beatification of the Venerable Pius XII is needlessly dragged out due to the persistent, cynical grumbling of secular Jews who maliciously accuse Pius XII of being complicit in the Holocaust and the refusal of the Vatican to tell these petty, opportunistic bigots to mind their own business out of fear of being called anti-Semitic or not sufficiently ecumenical (after all, it is only the Catholic Church that is expected to forsake her doctrines and principles in the name of endless, pointless interfaith dialogue).

Fireworks, Ben Kimberly

LYDIA SHERMAN writes at Home Living:

Today I am staying home and members of my family are providing our traditional home-parade, where we dress up in colonial clothing, march across the lawn with our flags and hats, fiddles and flutes. I plan to ride my tricycle (an adult sized one). After the parade, which we will film, as usual, there is an out-door buffet and  dining area set up for our cold lunch, consisting of southern fried chicken, rolls, coleslaw, tomato-cucumber salad in olive oil and vinegar, dill dressing, and watermelon and punch  made from natural fruit juices.

Like last year, we will hear political, ‘”train-stop” speeches, using the porch as the railings on the back of the train, as the podium, in order to imitate the political tours of candidates of the 1800’s. This year there will be a presidential candidate speaking at the train stop, a speech from a woman about women’s rights (it is not what you may think) and a message from an air force veteran who lives nearby. [cont.]

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THOSE who attend the Fourth of July fireworks displays in Boston and in other cities will feel like they are living under martial law, and essentially they will be. According to Reuters:

Massachusetts State Police Commissioner Timothy Alben said the state will deploy record numbers of uniformed and undercover cops, install a ‘significant’ number of new surveillance cameras, boost boat patrols, and ban items like backpacks and large coolers at the events.

“Please be assured that the steps … are not the result of any specific threat to these events. We have no intelligence of any such threat,” he said.

The security measures are the result not of a specific threat but of a constant threat. Periods of martial law and constant and invasive surveillance are the result of the presence of Islam in America.

Snap the Whip, Winslow Homer, 1872

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WILL G. writes:

Here is a picture of the mayor of St. Louis, Francis Slay, kissing the ring of a local drag queen at the Pride Parade. A new tradition perhaps? What will it mean if a mayor doesn’t kiss the ring in the future?

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DOUGLAS HAGMANN of the Northeast Intelligence Network writes on the Snowden case:

Amid all of the drama that exists pertaining to where Edward Snowden will likely end up, there is a simple, viable solution that would benefit all involved that no one seems to be talking about – perhaps for good reason. As it stands today, should Snowden return to the United States, he would not be permitted the same rights as any other citizen under the U.S. Constitution to have an open and fair trial or answer the charges against him based on the “contract” he signed for his clearance. Read More »

THE NEW YORKER magazine portrays on its cover the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie as a homosexual couple watching television, with an image of the Supreme Court on the screen. I guess we’re supposed to think this is clever.

The New Yorker has been junk for many years and it will never rise again. It now serves merely to document the triviality, immorality, rage and low-brow taste of the late American liberal intellectual.

LIZA MUNDY in the June issue of The Atlantic argues that homosexuals will make marriage better for everyone because they will free society at last from the burden of traditional sex roles. This is a remarkable piece even in a world of remarkably vile nonsense. Mundy writes:

What if same-sex marriage does change marriage, but primarily for the better? For one thing, there is reason to think that, rather than making marriage more fragile, the boom of publicity around same-sex weddings could awaken among heterosexuals a new interest in the institution, at least for a time. But the larger change might be this: by providing a new model of how two people can live together equitably, same-sex marriage could help haul matrimony more fully into the 21st century. Although marriage is in many ways fairer and more pleasurable for both men and women than it once was, it hasn’t entirely thrown off old notions and habits. As a result, many men and women enter into it burdened with assumptions and stereotypes that create stress and resentment. Others, confronted with these increasingly anachronistic expectations—expectations at odds with the economic and practical realities of their own lives—don’t enter into it at all. Read More »

IN 2010, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ran a glowing article, “Two Dads Are Better than One,” about two homosexual men living in Australia who had adopted a baby boy from Russia. The blogger Wintery Knight has the full text of the article, which has allegedly been pulled from the Internet. The piece is similar to countless others about the wonders of homosexual “parenthood” and the deep desire to become “fathers.” The article begins:

A shiny child’s bike lies on its side on the front lawn of an immaculate garden.

Around the back gay dads Pete and Mark chase their son’s pet chickens around, trying to catch them.

Drake, 5, exclaims that the little birds are too fast for him.

It’s a happy, relaxed family scene. But it wasn’t an easy road to get there. After many hurdles Drake was born by surrogacy in Russia. Read More »

The battle of Gettysburg, Pa. July 3d. 1863.
Published by Currier & Ives.
Lithograph, hand-colored.

SPENCER WARREN writes:

One hundred fifty years ago this week, one of the most fateful events in the history of our nation took place.

At Gettysburg, between July 1st and July 3rd, 1863, the Union Army, under the command of General George G. Meade, finally and decisively defeated the invading army led by the heretofore invincible Robert E. Lee. Gettysburg is the greatest battle ever fought in the Western hemisphere, with 51,000 casualties. Read More »

SINCE 1837, it has been illegal to use explicitly Christian language in civil marriage ceremonies in Britain. But authorities appear to be getting more serious — or rather, deranged — about the law, probably in preparation for the sodomizing of marriage. As reported in The Telegraph, Gary and Louise Lidington, of London, were recently ordered to remove the words “in sickness and in health” from their pending vows because the words were too religious and did not comply “with the relevant legality process.” Sadly, the couple seems to have laughed the whole thing off. They would have been better off refusing to participate in the civil institution of marriage.

The modernist chapel at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis says daily mass

AT Tradition in Action, Atila Sinke Guimarães analyses a recent statement by Pope Francis regarding his reasons for rejecting the princely splendor of the papal apartments in favor of the relatively austere (and ugly) Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he now lives.

Guimarães writes: Read More »

MIKE BERMAN writes in this entry:

There is another reason, aside from Paula Deen’s groveling, why I cannot be sympathetic. She voted for Barack Hussein Obama. Twice. She endorsed Black Run America. She wanted that hope and change and she got it.

When I get asked if I’ve ever used the N-word, I reply, “Every day! I’m a big fan of rap music and I sing along.” I advise everyone to pick up some CDs and memorize some of this garbage. Think of it as insurance.

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PAUL WESTON, founder of the Liberty GB Party in Britain, reflects on the recent decision by the British government to forbid Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller from entering the country. The British Parliament, he writes, is “terrified of Islam:”

And this terror of Islam is because Islam uses terror. And quite clearly uses it very well.

Father Francois Murad

DANIEL S. writes:

Fr. Francois Murad, a Franciscan friar, was recently kidnapped and beheaded by Syrian Muslim rebels after they accused him of cooperating with the Assad regime (a mere pretext to murder him). In the gruesome video posted online by the rebels, a crowd of Syrian villagers (including women and children) and Muslim militants stand around chanting “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Most Great) as a Muslim fighter beheads Fr. Francois and two other men.  Read More »