Apparently there are new rules concerning Statues in NYC
Last night a far-right extremist group vandalized a statue of George Floyd in Brooklyn. A racist, loathsome, despicable act of hate.
The City Cleanup Corps is repairing the statue right now and a hate crime investigation is underway. We will bring these cowards to justice. pic.twitter.com/mTwzwIyG4z
That’s rather odd as I was reliably informed by the left and media that going after statues was protected free speech and not an act of violence.
Apparently the limits on apply statues of vandalization statues only applies on those the left don’t approve of.
This Wednesday the 7th episode of the 2nd season of the Chosen will be available for streaming. They recently boasted one million subscribers on their youtube channel with a goal of 1 billion people viewing the series.
If I was them I’d hire Gina Carano to play the woman with the hemorrhage in season three or four. They’d get their billion views in a hurry and a lot of eyeballs that they would not normally have.
There is news out of Afghanistan that the Taliban is burning shops & govt buildings and detaining people as they advance while we prepare to leave. The reports were described as “shocking”
Given what we know about the Taliban I don’t know why anyone would be shocked.
Another riot in Portland was averted when ANTIFA was informed that a suspect that the police shot and killed was white rather than black.
Now I don’t know if this shooting was justified or not but we’ve discovered that Apparently white privilege, is defined as the privilege of being shot to death by Police without having anyone care.
Finally I found this image amusing:
While this is good for a laugh I should point out that unless these folks vote red the bad ideas they are running from will follow them.
Unless I missed it, there was no mention from either men of the major underlying reason for most murders in big cities such as Chicago: out of control street gangs.
While it’s America’s third-largest city Chicago, with about 2.7 residents, has more gang members than any other–about 100,000.
I’m having a heck of a time finding recent statistics on the percentage of shootings in Chicago that are gang-related–so my guess is that they are no longer being tabulated. Perhaps that has something to do with the monumentally stupid deciscion by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to eliminate Chicago’s gang crimes unit in 2012. His successor, leftist ideologue Lori Lightfoot, is unlikely to bring it back. Fortunately for decent Chicagoans there are less than two years left in her term.
However, while speaking of Chicago’s gang culture in 2015, then-Chicago Police superintendant Garry McCarthy said, “It’s very frustrating to know that it’s like seven percent of the population causes 80% of the violent crime.”
What about the shootings?
“Eighty-three percent of the shooting victims in Chicago are black,” Fox Chicago’s Mike Flannery said on his Flannery Fired Up show this weekend, “and about 96 percent are black and brown.” Of course not all shooting victims are gang members. Some are small children.
With such a small population committing so many violent crimes, it’s pretty easy to determine the most-direct way to attack violent crime in Chicago and other big cities. But big city mayors, all of whom are Democrats, don’t seem to be spoiling for this necessary fight against street gangs.
In Chicago it’s worse. Chicago magazine, in a 2011 article that has been sadly overlooked, “Gangs and Politicians in Chicago: An Unholy Alliance,” exposed several job-fair type meetings between aldermanic candidates and people representing street gangs. The messsage the organizer of those meetings, Hal Baskin, a candidate for the City Council that year and a former gang leader who died in 2018, received was clear to him. “Who do I need to be talking to so I can get the gangs on board?”
Gangs not only are part of the criminal culture of Chicago, but they are part of the political one as well. Which partly explains why politicians in Chicago regulary decry “gun violence” but not gang violence. Gangs and politics go back decades, including the time when Chicago was overwhelmingly white. While not a gang in the modern sense, the Hamburg Athletic Club, which did not peddle drugs, was involved in politics. The “Hamburgers” were blamed for some of the violence of the bloody 1919 Race Riot in Chicago, part of the tragic “Red Summer” that year. Three years after the riot future Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley was the president of the Hamburg Athletic Club.
In 1984 while running for president, Jesse Jackson publicly thanked the infamous El Rukn gang for their help in a voter registration drive. The gang’s founder, Jeff Fort, is now an inmate at the supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Jackson’s half-brother, Noah Robinson, is serving a life sentence for murder and racketeering schemes that involved the El Rukns.
In the 1990s the Gangster Disciples gang, which was started by Larry Hoover, now a lifer at the supermax, founded a political organization, 21st Century V.O.T.E. They were organizing a national gang summit at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, where I was working at the time. Man oh man, that was a wretched experience. Oh, Al Sharpton was there. Isn’t that special!
Back to 2011:
According to that Chicago magazine article there were similar gang-pol gatherings before 2011.
I have no proof but I suspect such meetings still occur. After all we are discussing Chicago, one of the most corrupt cities in America.
Chicago’s aldermen are notoriously crooked, since 1973 over thirty members have been sentenced to federal prison. Do the math, that’s one “public official” locked away every 18 months.
So, how many Chicago public figures have ties, however casual, with gangs? We’ll probably never know.
One current Chicago alderman who sees the truth on gangs is Raymond Lopez of the Southwest Side’s 15th Ward. “If you really want to get to what is at the heart of a lot of this [the violence], it is gangs, and it is the borderline collapse of the family unit in many of our neighborhoods,” Lopez told the Washington Examiner in a recent interview. “Lightfoot] has avoided calling out gangs in our community as a source of violence in our city.”
In a Tweet, Lopez offered indirect support to the “broken windows” theory of policing. Big time criminals also commit petty crimes. “In less than 24 hours, a new gang ‘family’ moved onto a block, they immediately opened a fire hydrant after settling in, and just moments ago took to shooting at a passing vehicle.” Lopez Tweeted two weeks ago. “The property owner can expect a call from me tomorrow. I want them gone. Now!”
In less than 24 hours, a new gang “family” moved onto a block, they immediately opened a fire hydrant after settling in, and just moments ago took to shooting at a passing vehicle. The property owner can expect a call from me tomorrow. I want them gone. Now!#EnoughIsEnough
Instead of “defunding the police” the far-left is now parsing their words, calling their approach “reimagining the police.” I’m calling for reimagining law enforcement. Federal authorities, to crush the gangs that have destroyed American cities, they need to aggressively utilize wiretaps, informants, and offering those who testify against gangs participation in the witness protection program.
Street gangs nation wide need to be neutered by the feds. Just like they did to the mafia.
It would take many years for such a crackdown to succeed but that should take care of the urban gun violence problem.
This months indulgence calendars are now available for download.
As before we have both a full calendar with the names of people to gain indulgences for daily and a blank calendar so that you can fill in names yourself ready for download.
Both of these calendars will be shortly available at the WQPH radio website as well.
As before each day in the indulgence calendar is in the following format:
The blank calendar excludes the particular name.
If there is a person you want included in a future indulgence calendar feel free to leave their name in the comments. We always reserve some spaces for such requests every month.
Starting this month my home parish in Fitchburg MA is now participating in this ministry with its own indulgence calendar (I’m not including it here as printed copies are available at the parish) and I would encourage any other parish that wants to do this to download our blank calendar and fill it in for their parishioners and/or use it as a template for their own calendar (or calendars if they have a lot of people participating).
Remember praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy and don’t forget the words of Christ:
Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy.
Matthew 5:7
Remember when we show mercy to others we are also calling down God’s mercy on ourselves.
For those who didn’t see our June Post here are the indulgence norms which are listed on the back of the sheet repeated.
Indulgence Norms and notes
Communion on the day of an indulgence. This can be applied to any amount of indulgences that day.
Confession within 20 days of the day of an indulgence. Applies to all indulgences during that period
Prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father (an Our Father, Hail Mary or any appropriate prayer) once per day of indulgence.
To earn an indulgence you must be in a state of grace (no unconfessed mortal sin) at the time of the indulgenced act.
Indulgences can only be applied to the dead or to the person earning the indulgence. They can not be applied to any other living person.
For a PLENARY indulgence you must have NO attachment to sin. If such an attachment exists the indulgence earned is only partial.
A plenary indulgence can only be earned one a day (expect if death is imminent), there is no limits to partial indulgences daily.
An indulgence attached to a feast day is still valid if the feast day is transferred lawfully.
A specific day’s indulgence requiring a visit to a particular church or oratory can be made from noon the previous day to midnight on the actual day.
No unbaptized person nor any Christian who is currently under the penalty of excommunication may earn an indulgence.
You must ACTIVELY seek and or state your intention to obtain an indulgence for the act or prayer that carries it to be valid.
Prayers & Acts that carry an indulgence (Partial list) All indulgences partial unless BOLD
Prayers
The Actiones Nostras, Act of faith hope and Love, Any Devout Mental Prayer, Adsumus, Adoro te Devote, Prayer to St. Joseph, Prayer of Thanksgiving, The Angelus, Domine Deus Omnipotens, Spiritual Communion, The Apostles Creed, Angels Dei, The Niceane Creed, The office for the dead, Any approved Litanies, Psalm 130, Iesu Dulcissime Redemptor, Ave Maria Stella, Maria Mater Gratiae, Exaudi Nos, O Sacrum Convivium, Prayer for the Pope, Prayer for the Dead, Psalm 51, Sub tuum praesidium, Prayer for Benefactors, Angel of God Prayer, Te Deum, Public Novenas for Pentecost Christmas or the Feast or the Immaculate Conception, Tantum Ergo, Prayer for Vocations, The Sign of the Cross, Sancta Maria Succurre Miseris, The Magnificat, Vista Quaesumus Domine, Act of Contrition (expect during Sacramental Confession), Prayer to St Michael, Chaplet of St Michael, Come Holy Spirit, Prayer before a Crucifix Plenary if done after communion Friday in Lent, Five decades of the Rosary Plenary if done in a family, religious community or Pious association, The Stations of the Cross Moving from Station to Station (unless physically unable to do so)
Actionsthat carry an indulgence
Making a Pious invocation raising your mind to god while performing the duties of life
Devoting yourself or your goods in compassionate service to your brothers in need
Voluntarily abstaining from something that is licit & pleasing in the spirit of penitence
Adoration of the blessed Sacrament Plenary if done for a half hour or more
Reading the scriptures Plenary if done for a half hour or more
Teaching Christian Doctrine
Visiting a church on All Souls day (Nov 2)
Going on a religious retreat for 3 or more days
Use a blessed religious object Plenary if blessed by a Pope & used on the Feast of Sts Peter & Paul
Visiting a Parish Church on the Feast day of its Saint(s) or on Aug 2nd (say Our Father & Creed)
Attending the 1st Mass of a newly ordained priest or his jubilee mass (25th 50th or 60th anniversary)
Visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead (Plenary if done from Nov 1st through Nov 8th)
At the beginning of the year, my wife and I dumped our Facebook accounts. We pulled off our pictures and then selected the “Delete Facebook” button, which is not conveniently located in the Settings menu. After a brief “cooling off” period, Facebook finally deleted our accounts.
So, now that its almost July, how has that worked out? Well, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.
The biggest downsides is there are many places that only communicate with their patrons over Facebook. My girls very Christian ballet studio is one of them, which is ironic because Facebook is becoming more and more anti-Christian everyday, and its likely just a matter of time before their Facebook page will get suspended due to “hate speech.” It seems that people forgot how to use a website, blog, email, or text messaging to communicate with their customers, and instead of these relatively private methods, instead picked an application that hates their beliefs and sells their private data.
The other big downside was losing Messenger Kids. No Facebook account, no Messenger Kids. My kids used the crap out of that to talk with their friends. Now we’re looking at Duo and Signal, but its hard because so many people can’t think of using anything but Messenger.
In the “plus and minus” column is the number of people my wife and I lost contact with. I still use LinkedIn, and I had a lot of people reach out to connect with me because I had dropped off Facebook. We’re now getting more friends texting and talking on the phone, but if anyone had only connected on Facebook, we don’t have much contact with them now.
The upsides are pretty huge though, and the first is time. I spent a LOT of time scrolling on Facebook, and with pretty much no positive gain. I couldn’t even say I was “reading the news,” knowing that Facebook was significantly filtering my feed. I now have a lot more time for other pursuits. I put in 1,700 square foot garden this year, hosted a few maskless parties, finished writing my book, and expanded many other pursuits. It’s hard to realize how bad of a time-suck Facebook is until you are removed from it for an extended period of time.
I also feel better. Facebook had become increasingly negative. Between “Orange Man Bad” and the preachy woke mob, it wasn’t free of politics and it wasn’t particularly friendly when you expressed anything remotely conservative. We had a close friend lose her mind when we pointed out that Trump, as un-Christian as he is in other matters, had a better record on abortion than most Presidents. There’s nothing untrue in that statement, and you don’t have to like Trump to agree with it, but she took it as a personal attack, and we haven’t talked this whole year. Honestly, I don’t miss it. I avoid personally attacking people, and I’m happy to debate a topic, but if you get so riled up thinking you’re woke position is 100% correct, well, I can’t help you.
The last big benefit is privacy. While there are still plenty of ways people will steal or sell my data, I’ve certainly turned off the biggest offender. At least now I have to exchange real functionality (like Google Maps) for private data. Facebook was just happy to hoover everything up and tell you to suck the big one if you didn’t like it.
Right now there are still many people that “can’t survive” a loss of Facebook. Six months later, I don’t understand that. Yes, you lose some functionality. Yes, there really isn’t a full-on replacement app. Parler, MeWe and Rumble all have aspects of Facebook, but aren’t the full package. But there have always been better ways to interact with people electronically. Facebook, for all its advertising about “bringing people together,” is happy to tear apart the fabric of society when it suits its liberal agenda. The benefits of not being there, whether its time or mental health, far outweigh the fake social interactions I had before.
This post represents the views of the author and not those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or any other government agency.
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