THE SAKER reflects on the forced resignation of Gen. Mike Flynn, Trump’s National Security Advisor:

Frankly, my heart goes out to all those who sincerely hoped that Trump will be the man to free the US from the Neocons and restore the power of the “basket of deplorables” over the many minorities and special interests.  Some will now indulge in a lot of “I told you so” but they will be wrong.  To hope for the best was the right thing to do.  Those who voted for Trump did the only thing in their power to prevent Hillary from occupying the White House.  That was the right decision, they did the right thing, both morally and pragmatically.

But now we also need to gather our courage and accept the reality of what has taken place.  Minimizing the implications of this deep state coup makes no sense whatsoever, neither morally nor pragmatically.  And the reality is this:

It took the Neocons and the US deep state less than a month to overturn the results of the Presidential election.

See more analysis here by Robert Parry, who writes:

Flynn’s real “offense” appears to be that he favors détente with Russia rather than escalation of a new and dangerous Cold War. Trump’s idea of a rapprochement with Moscow – and a search for areas of cooperation and compromise – has been driving Official Washington’s foreign policy establishment crazy for months and the neocons, in particular, have been determined to block it.

Though Flynn has pandered to elements of the neocon movement with his own hysterical denunciations of Iran and Islam in general, he emerged as a key architect for Trump’s plans to seek a constructive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Meanwhile, the neocons and their liberal-interventionist sidekicks have invested heavily in making Putin the all-purpose bête noire to justify a major investment in new military hardware and in pricy propaganda operations. (more…)

PARENTS can download free audio recordings of the children's works of Father Francis Finn, S.J., who was born in St. Louis in 1859. At True Restoration Radio, Father Finn's books and other wholesome literature for children are discussed today.

THE Protestant pastor and author Church Baldwin, writing on the occasion this week of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netyanhu’s visit to the White House, condemns the Christian Zionism he once supported and warns of war with Iran. He writes:

Since my lengthy personal research and study into the Biblical teaching on Israel, I have come to learn this: the entire faith system of many professing Christians depends on their allegiance to the modern State of Israel. These Christian Zionists might recite a pledge of allegiance to the United States of America, but their true allegiance is to the State of Israel.

It is no hyperbole to say that for many professing Christians, the modern State of Israel is every bit as important as Jesus Christ Himself and their own personal salvation. In fact, many of these folks equate their allegiance to the State of Israel with their own personal salvation. And they are quick to condemn anyone to hell who does not share their allegiance to the State of Israel. I find this extremely perplexing. I truly wonder if this cultish infatuation with the modern faux Israel might be the great “falling away” and devilish deception of the last days. But I digress. (more…)

"POPE" Francis remarks this week on the right of Native Americans to protect their traditions were in sharp contrast with the many negative, scolding statements he has made about Europeans trying to protect their cultures. As Novus Ordo Watch writes: Far from it! Instead, Francis denounces the “indigenous Europeans” for rigidly clinging to their traditions, for being “closed in on themselves” and not welcoming the stranger! He accuses them of seeking refuge in certainties and “safe havens” that do not leave room for doubt, of suffering from psychological insecurity that “hides something”! He admonishes them for not being inclusive enough, for building walls instead of bridges, and for failing to see that every so-called “migrant” is basically a second Incarnation! But then, the Native Americans practice pagan idolatry, and the heritage of Europeans is, well, the Catholic Church. Humble Francis, as we know, is opposed to the Catholic Church, as were his less bumbling predecessors, Benedict XVI and John Paul II. The latter never saw a form of pagan idolatry, even the worship of snakes in Africa, that he didn't respect. Francis did not mention this week, of course, that justice to the traditions of the Native Americans can never be achieved, nor true peace and stability be attained, unless they turn away from their false gods and recognize the One True Faith. Only then can the good in their heritage and their distinctive identity shine forth.

DON VINCENZO writes:

A restaurant in Italy is offering a discount to families with well-behaved children. It’s a different approach in dealing with wayward children in restaurants.

Truth is, I’ve never witnessed the kind of behavior described in this article, but there is always a “first.” I find it amusing that the owner has devised his strategy of dealing with children without the experience of having his own. (more…)

ONE OF the proofs of the immortality of the human soul is the fact that most people in history have believed in it. Even when their own culture denied it, the common people often embraced it. Perhaps God conveyed this knowledge to the earliest humans and they passed it down from generation to generation so that, while it appears in many forms, it can never disappear or fail to become a common opinion, even if ill-defined and vague. In the modern world, many people say they believe the soul is annihilated after death, but at the same time they sometimes talk, especially at funerals, as if it will live on, as if they cannot truly accept what they say they believe. This constant gravitation toward the belief in immortality suggests that it is true.

The Ancient Egyptians had a very strong sense of immortality and, as is well known, the tombs of the wealthy were intended to be actual dwelling places during the afterlife. Here is one of the remarkable true-to-life scenes that decorated the Tomb of Meketre, the royal chief steward who began his career under King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II during the Middle Kingdom. Entire model scenes such as this were created out of wood for the homes of the prosperous dead so that they would have a comfortable afterlife: (more…)

P. L. FORD writes:

I have been reading your website every day for the past couple of years. The information you provide has been very helpful and encouraging as I make my journey from the Protestant to the Catholic Church. You appear to be a very traditional Catholic, as evidenced by the content of your site, so I value your opinion and beg a few minutes of your time. I live in rural West Georgia where there are few Catholic Churches, however there is a very nice church not far from us although it is a Novus Ordo Church. Is it wrong to attend the Novus Ordo Mass?

My wife and I were both raised in the Southern Baptist Church and unfortunately both have a previous marriage that ended in divorce so we cannot be confirmed into the Catholic Church. I am 64 and my wife is 62 years of age. Since the fall of 2014 I have been reading and studying the Catholic faith and discovered that I am Catholic in my beliefs. The Protestant church is becoming more difficult to accept and attend and it seems so wrong not to attend any church at all. There are no traditional Catholic Churches within a few hundred miles from our home.

Your opinion is valuable based on the wonderful articles you have posted on your website.

Thank you for your time to read this. (more…)

HISTORICAL revisionist Michael Hoffman considers the 72nd anniversary of the Allied firebombing of the German city of Dresden in which an estimated 100,000 civilians were killed.

STUDENTS at a small Pennsylvania college are wearing white puzzle-piece symbols to remind themselves that they are beneficiaries of "white privilege." The idea came from a Lutheran pastor named Barb.

Litany of the Love of God
(Composed by Pope Pius VI, 1717 – 1799)

Lord have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father in heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
(more…)

   DEAR Young Lovers, I am thinking of you today. I hope your troubles are few. May the Sovereign Heart enlighten your hearts. Be brave, young lovers. Red is for lovers -- and for martyrs too. I wish you -- whoever you are -- a Happy St. Valentine's Day.  

  DANISH composer Bo Holten's First Snow: You lucid, lustrous, tender snow, Who paint the landscape all one shade, The living, dead, ugly, fair, You color all things white. You fled your mother's tender arms Into the air as blueish mist; Turned home again one blizzard night, So pure, but grim and cold.

NO field, including obscure specialties in mathematics, is left untouched by feminist social engineering.

STEPHEN IPPOLITO writes from Australia:

I do hope this finds you and your family well.

A reader’s comment to you on February 7th under the post “Disgusting Pictures” was timely for me as I happened to be on the brink of writing to you at that time to express just the opposite impression of your site.

One of the most important of the many edifying features of The Thinking Housewife, it seems to me, is your regular publishing of beautiful works of religious-themed art, especially of the Madonna and Child, for which you must be commended.

As someone who daily struggles to maintain, let alone to grow, his faith, I particularly enjoy the  life-affirming devotional art you sprinkle through the site depicting Our Lady and Lord together.

Such images recall to my mind the beautiful thoughts expressed upon our Lady’s nature by both St Maximilian Kolbe and St Louis Marie de Montfort. The former ventured of her: ” The creature most completely filled with God himself, was the immaculate...” whilst the latter observed: “She is an echo of God,  speaking and repeating only ‘God’. If you say ‘Mary’ she says ‘God’ “.

These are, surely, succinct expressions of the very essence of Our Lady’s  nature and the key to the standpoint from which she must always be approached, namely that Our Lady’s will is always and wholly at one with God’s own.

We know this to be true because we first see it in her initial meeting with the divine in the form of the Angel Gabriel at the annunciation when, according to St Luke, Our Lady freely consented to God’s revealed plan for her to bear and rear Christ: “Behold I am the servant of the Lord; Let it be done unto me according to your word” and because we have the credible modern testimony of numerous seers such as the little shepherds at Fatima and of St Bernadette at Lourdes that Our Lady even today steps back into human time to bring to us her son’s wishes and counsel.

It is for this reason that I was very disappointed, although hardly surprised,  to recently read  a newspaper’s  interview with the playwright of the latest “important” play to open here, staged by what is arguably Australia’s premier theatre company. I don’t know if the subject would be of interest to your readers or not, but here are my thoughts on the play for what they are worth:

“The Testament of Mary“, based on the book by Colm Toibin, purports to explore the truth behind Our Lady’s own lived experience, as a woman and mother,  in the face of Our Lord’s final sufferings and sacrifice on the cross.

The subject matter is, of course, not necessarily objectionable of itself, as we know that Our Lady was and remains a fully human and loving mother and a person of the most exquisite sensibility and therefore must have felt immense pain as she witnessed her son’s final sufferings. Although generally a believer in the old saw that one should trust to the tale rather than to the teller, and so I will often see a play or film that has been poorly reviewed in order to judge it for myself, Toibin is so emphatic in this interview about what he was trying to achieve with the play and about how he perceives Mary, that I could not bring myself to attend it and make no apology for that. (more…)

WHILE many Americans want to stem the invasion of Mexican immigrants, the man they have elected to the presidency appears to have a personal grudge against the country. The language of his comments during the campaign were often hostile to the Mexican government itself, as if government operatives were actually sending criminals into America. Fred Reed offers a theory for this hostility: Trump was shortchanged in a business deal there.

The repeated assertion that Mexico is cheating the US, exploiting it, being unfair, (Oh! Poor widdle Colossus of the North) is either garishly ignorant, personally vindictive or, more likely, both. Mexico is governmentally weak, corrupt, and utterly under the thumb of the United States. Is NAFTA a Mexican plot against the US? Actually it forced Mexican farmers into competition with hopelessly superior American agriculture and drove them into the cities, where there are no jobs. Along the border American maquiladoras pay poor Mexicans miserably low wages. Mexico crawls with DEA agents forced on it from the north and loses countless lives fighting America’s drug war. On and on. (more…)

  FRENCH presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has announced that if she is elected in May, French citizens will not be able to hold simultaneous citizenship in Israel. In the United States, citizens of Israel may hold dual citizenship and even hold influential government posts. This is a common sense measure that prevents conflicts of interest. Trump should do the same. In Israel, one cannot become a citizen unless one can prove one is genetically Jewish. Le Pen is, of course, being accused of anti-Semitism. Citizens of the United States and all other countries outside the EU would also have to choose between citizenship in France and their home country, she said. See commentary on other recent developments in France, including the Le Pen ad above, at Galliawatch.

ANN CORCORAN at Refugee Resettlement Watch continues to report on Trump's suspension of the refugee influx: One more thing before I give you a few snips from the “chaos” news.  Don’t allow anyone to use the argument made at the end of this article that we only take a fraction compared to say Turkey or Pakistan. Our refugees become permanent citizens and those presently swamping those countries will not be accepted as citizens.  They will be expected to return to their own countries when the conflict ends. Mark my words, if this flow from Syria to America gets going full steam, as it has for Somalia, we will still be taking Syrians for decades no matter what happens in their homeland.

I HOPE I am the first to wish you and your families a most joyous and love-filled National Pizza Day!

This is a time to celebrate. A holiday established by the bigwigs in the Pizza Industrial Complex is indeed a special occasion. And celebrate you should. Instead of having just four slices today, have eight! Instead of giving your children just pizza bagels for breakfast and Pizza Crunchables for lunch, go on and have yummy pizza burgers (above) for dinner too. It’s the patriotic thing to do. Pizza may have originated in Italy, but America has devoted so much culinary creativity and capitalist energy to this dish that pizza, in its modern industrial form, can rightfully be said to be American, not Italian. Who needs home-cooked meals when you can have a hot dog pizza with FREE mustard dip instead?! Who needs Mom when Papa Johns is just a phone call away? Pizza stands for progress.

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