LESLIE L. writes:

I have enjoyed your blog for quite some time. I am a housewife myself and thoroughly enjoy what I do. Yet I am facing a huge problem that I am hoping I can get some advice about.

My oldest daughter, who is a teenager, doesn’t want children. I don’t believe she is 100 percent adamant about it, because I think she gains some satisfaction at my dislike at the thought (maybe a control issue for her), yet I am worried I am just not setting a good example for her.

She is not the “average” teenager in that she participates in bible study nightly, doesn’t support the LGBT community (which she says is common at her high school), she doesn’t swear or dress immodestly, and wants to save herself for marriage. All of that in itself sets her apart from the average American teenager in my opinion. Read More »

GALLIWATCH reports on Sunday’s rally in Paris on behalf of marriage:

“Destroying the Family, the primary place of fraternity, is to make fraternity impossible.”

See more here.

KATHLENE M. writes:

I’ve been reading some of Wikileaks’ Podesta emails recently, and I urge your readers to do so too.  While many Americans have long known that the Washington establishment is corrupted by money, Wikileaks reveals many of the influencers behind the scenes.  Here are a few names showing up in Wikileaks.  These people have deep pockets and are supporting Hillary: Read More »

COMPASSION and Choices is the doublespeak name for the former Hemlock Society. The organization is a major player in spreading the cult of physician-assisted suicide in America and the mounting movement to devalue the lives of the sick. Things are proceeding quickly. The American Medical Association is considering next month revoking its disapproval of physician-assisted suicide.

In response to all this, the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network has released a new short film “Compassion and Choice — Denied:”

Compassion and Choice DENIED explores the effects efforts to legalize physician assisted suicide have on those who are living with terminal illness but who do not want “aid in dying.” The film features Stephanie, a wife and mother living with a terminal diagnosis. She has experienced first-hand the dangerous effects of California’s recent legalization of physician assisted suicide.

As she deals with insurance denials of treatment her doctor ordered and changes in the tone of conversations in various support groups, her story highlights the ways in which the difficulty of living with a terminal diagnosis is compounded by the growing cultural acceptance of the notion of assisted suicide. This negatively changes the ways in which people with terminal illnesses are thought of, and the ways in which they think about themselves. Source

“‘Compassion and Choices’ — they’ve challenged me a lot,” Stephanie says. “They’re trying to change definitions of words to make it sound sweet and pretty and tempting…. They’re talking about how this isn’t suicide.”

When physician-assisted suicide laws are passed, more terminally ill patients are denied treatment by their insurance carriers because suicide, she says, “will always be the cheapest option.” Furthermore, these laws demoralize those who are terminally ill and yet struggling to stay alive, making them feel their days have no meaning. “Assisted suicide” leads to compulsory suicide.

You can sign a petition here, urging the AMA to stick with the Hippocratic Oath, curing the sick and alleving their pain, not killing them. But don’t get your hopes up. You can say all you want how precious the dying are, but that won’t change the fact that big, big bucks are behind the anti-Christian death cult. In one year, contributions to Compassion and Choices almost doubled. And guess who is one of the biggest players in the assisted suicide movement, funding Compassion and Choices, the Project on Death in America (now there’s an honest name) and other suicide organizations? No surprise here. Does he have to make it any plainer?

George Soros wants us to die.

The assisted suicide movement is not a grass roots development. It’s one more “revolution from above.” They’ve opened our borders, killed our souls — and now they want us to romanticize suicide. The death movement is one more weapon of the anti-Christian conspiracy. It is connected to many other things going on in our world.

George Soros

FROM The Daily Mail:

An anonymous Frenchman wearing a hidden camera recorded the aftermath of a raid on a migrant camp on Avenue de Flandre in the north of the French capital.

After the migrants had been forced on to buses by police officers in full riot gear, all that was left was sidewalks blocked with trash, junk and mattresses.

The video also captures the scene before the hundreds of young Africans, mainly Sudanese and Eritreans, were confronted by riot shields and tear gas.

The men are shown forced to live and sleep on flat pieces of cardboard, with all their worldly belongings stuffed into plastic bags.

BISHOP Daniel Dolan writes today to his parishioners in his weekly bulletin at St. Gertrude the Great in West Chester, Ohio:

The other day several of you asked whether you could vote in good conscience for Trump, given all the character accusations against him. He certainly is a character. The answer is yes. As a matter of fact, our leaders have always been deeply flawed characters. Only the media used to hide it. Now, selective revelation is used to get those selected for attack. But I feel sorry for those only exposed to the selective propaganda from deep state….

Trump is no worse than many a politician, president or national leader of the past, now “canonized” perhaps or with his own holiday. The curious thing is the more he is attacked, the more he blurts out bits of the truth. Bring it on! Were he elected he might actually appoint some good Supreme Court justices, and more.

In any event, Trump seems uniquely qualified to destroy at least some of the now-entrenched one world, leftist deep state, with its open borders, unceasing propaganda and perpetual wars. This includes war against Catholicism, we now know, as well as against babies and so much more. How curious that perhaps a pagan could be the man of the hour.

Finally, you must consider those unspeakable characters of proven immorality who are so bitterly waging war against this man. We know their agenda. They are worried. We should be, too! They are working hard to win. Does truth still stand a chance? Personally, I doubt we will ever have another chance. I have never seen such brazen propaganda. Who can resist its pull?

The death mask of Martin Luther/ “Pope” Francis at a gathering of 1,000 Lutheran visitors to Rome

IT’S not surprising that “Pope” Francis is seeking close ties with Lutherans. He and Martin Luther have a great deal in common.

“I really like good Lutherans, Lutherans who really practice their faith in Jesus Christ. What I don’t like are lukewarm Catholics and lukewarm Lutherans”.  –— Jorge Bergoglio, Oct. 13, 2016

“Certainly God is great and almighty, good and merciful and all that one can imagine in this sense, but He is stupid.”         — Martin Luther

AT Christ of Chaos, Dr. Thomas Droleskey strongly condemns the indecent language of Donald Trump and those who dismiss it as mere “locker room talk:”

No matter Donald John Trump’s remarkable thrashing of the Republican political establishment, committed as it has long been to conserving the welfare state, plundering the national treasury, refusing to protect the innocent preborn or to secure our borders, and to engaging in one needless, immoral, unjust and unconstitutional war after another, none of this will matter to him at the moment of his Particular Judgment as he is accountable for the example that he sets for others. A presidential candidate whose throat is an open sepulcher in public helps to reinforce the acceptability of profanity and indecency that is so widespread today in every aspect of what is called “popular culture.” The innocence of children is thus further undermined and reinforced.

No one can “make America great again” by speaking profanely.

Sure, there is a lot of hypocrisy from those who adhere to the false opposite of the naturalist “left” about Donald John Trump’s vulgarity and indecency.

So what?

There is also a lot of hypocrisy from those who adhere to the false opposite of the naturalist “right” as thy seek to excuse Trump for saying things that they would never tolerate in a William Jefferson Blythe Clinton.

Also, see Dr. Droleskey, in the post “Jorge’s Kind of Catholics,” on the scandal of the “anti-Catholic” e-mails released by Wikileaks.

Update: While I also condemn Trump’s vulgarity, I do not share Dr. Droleskey’s view that we must not vote for him. Read More »

FATHER William Jenkins, of the Society of St. Pius V, argues that it is morally permissible — and may even be obligatory — for Catholics to vote for a candidate such as Donald Trump. Stick with this lecture; it is a compelling examination of the presidential election.

Still Life with Apples and a Glass, Paul Cezanne

IF I were a photographer of any ability, I would take a photograph of one of the apples I bought yesterday. Since I can’t take a decent picture, I will draw a snapshot in words.

I went to a roadside stand far from the supermarket. Instead of pristine apples from 200 hundred miles away in plastic bags, they were all jumbled together, entirely naked, in bins, separated by variety and pestered by a few bees. Buy by the large basket, and they were 39 cents a pound.

A Jonagold, this apple has tiny brown varicose veins or scribbles along the top, a small black spot where a worm or fungus had a meal, and skin that is pinkish red and dusky yellow. It is not shiny or shellacked. The hostile action of the wind and rain seem visible on its dulled skin. The spot suggests hardship too. This apple has been through some stuff.

Did you know that an apple has a soul? Yes, it does. If I wanted to really convince you of this philosophical proposition, I would put this apple on your plate and say, “See.” The apple’s musky golden-ness is all the proof you need. It is like no other apple you’ve seen and like every apple you’ve seen. Plato would say its an expression of the Form of the ideal apple. I say, it is itself, an instance of apple-ness that will never be replicated, but nevertheless is real, and no mere shadow of the ideal.

An apple has a soul, but it does not have an immortal soul.

It will die when the physical apple is gone. (Is the apple off the tree dead or is it still alive?) The material of this apple will be transformed into dirt and live on. But the soul of the apple will perish forever. Artists have spent much time and exhausting effort painting bowls or piles of fruit on tables not because they were hungry or in the advertising business for apple growers but because they were trying to capture the evanescent soul of fruit. Not easy. Not an easy thing to do at all.

When I looked at all those naked apples piled in the farm bins, I had a sudden vision of the tedium of the farm workers who picked them. (A housewife has natural sympathy for invisible tedium.) I saw their boredom. And yet at the end of the day, when those farmers or field hands put their heads on their pillows, golden apples must have filled their dreams, the souls of fruit and man intertwined.

The best apples reflect their own small part in the world’s suffering. I’m sorry to say it, but suffering imparts beauty. Goodness and suffering are inextricably linked. The best apple — unpampered by chemicals and varnish — is made for nourishment that is physical and aesthetic. Artificiality is un-beautiful. A lack of suffering is false. Seeing an apple like this, so filled with character, I am not at all surprised at what Eve is accused of doing — though obviously I cannot defend it. She wanted through the medium of the beautiful apple to experience some of the power of God, the Creator of this fruit. Such are the temptations posed by apples.

For us living through the unfortunate consequences of that bungled snack, the apple’s beauty is a consolation and an inspiration. It’s a mysterious vestige and promise of Paradise no photograph or words can capture. The great painters come the closest — the dream life of man and the earthbound life of fruit intertwined. I cannot do justice to the apple’s nobility in words. I cannot even do a halfway decent job of it. I give up. It communicates to me on a spiritual level. It inspires me to renew my vow to try, in my own flawed way, to love what is greater than myself. While the apple itself is not greater than me, its beauty is. I am not wise, but I can love wisdom. I am not beautiful, but I can love beauty. I am not good, but I can love goodness. The faculty of admiration survives the apple. Thus the apple partakes of immortality. This small thing reminds me that we have everything we need.

Netanyahu and Obama — laughing at your gullibility?

SEE Mike King’s chronology of the events leading us to global war:

Donald’s Trump’s openly stated desire to get along with Russia and avoid World War 3 has earned him the contempt of the Globalist elite. One of the most intense propaganda campaigns in history has been aimed at Trump. During the final stretch of the campaign, the New York Times has been running as many as 10 attack items in a single day! Trump’s peaceful foreign policy, and not his controversial statement, is the real reason he is under attack. Donald Trump, as flawed as he is, represents the last chance to avoid the coming war for Globalism and Zionism.

ON “transgenderism,” Joe Sobran wrote:

I don’t pretend to speak for the entire transphobic community, but my own strong belief is that transphobia is not a matter of choice. I was born this way, and there is nothing “wrong” with it.

“Diane Speaks His Piece,” Joe Sobran

And here’s the deceased columnist on Hillary and Bill:

Hillary and Bill are like members of a trapeze act who hate each other’s guts, but can’t let go: if one falls, the act is finished.

JOHN HALPIN of American Progress wrote in 2011 to John Podesta, Hillary’s current campaign chairman, expressing his view of Catholics. These comments are idiotic; they are hard to take seriously. But here’s one:

It’s an amazing bastardization of the faith. They must be attracted to the systematic thought and severely backwards gender relations and must be totally unaware of Christian democracy. [bold added]

You decide who has backwards gender relations:

Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna with Child and Two Angels

HERE IS TRUMP yesterday — strong, forceful and clear — on the latest Wikileaks revelations from Hillary’s emails:

‘We’re protecting the borders of foreign countries,’ he said, forecasting a new Clinton administration. ‘But not our borders.’

‘These Wikileaks emails confirm what those of us here today have known all along: Hillary Clinton is the vessel of a corrupt globalist establishment that’s raiding our country and surrendering the sovereignty of our nation,’ he said.

‘This criminal government cartel doesn’t recognize borders but believes in global governance, unlimited immigration and rule by corporations.’

Emails by her campaign chairman John Podesta talk of Soros-funded subversion of the Catholic Church. There’s no surprise here (see report from FoxNews, if you can stand a few minutes of Me-GYN Kelly) but probably many are not aware of it. This sort of thing has been going on since Vatican II. (Actually, it’s been going on for 2,000 years.) George Soros is a major influence at the Vatican. See more by Elizabeth Yore at The Remnant.

I expect this will make no serious difference in the “Catholic” support for Hillary.

John Podesta and Hillary

THE SPIRIT OF INNOVATION — creative, determined, inspired — flourishes unabated in small towns and big cities across the land. Here is but one example: Read More »

SUSAN-ANNE WHITE writes from Northern Ireland:

I cannot understand why you are recommending that your American readers vote for Donald Trump. To say that this is hypocritical on your part is an understatement. You have written at length about his immorality and his support for the LGBT lobby etc. He is an adulterer and as pro-LGBT as he could possibly be and he also seems to waver on the Muslim and immigration issues. He and Hillary Clinton are evil and mirror images of each other. I fail to see how anyone could vote for either of them. The “lesser evil” argument still involves voting for evil yet, incredibly, some in America are claiming this about Trump. Read More »

HAVE you ever wondered why there are not more female inventors? Why not more women like the remarkable Hedy Lamarr, the Hollywood actress who co-invented (with a man) a secret communications system based on work done by her husband (whom she divorced)?

Hedy Lamarr, both sexy and inventive, nurtured her idea for decades.

The reason is less obvious than you may think. It has little to do with the copiously documented superiority of men in mechanical skills and their competitiveness. It also has little to do with the fact that women have been busy taking care of inventors and giving birth to and raising inventors.

The real reason is that for far too long people have been comparing the ideas of inventors to “light bulbs.” This persistent metaphor has discouraged women, whose ideas are more like seeds — not light bulbs. There’s a huge difference, as you know, between a “light bulb” and “a seed.” One takes genius; the other involves lots of care. Male inventors were simply switching on bulbs — and that was pretty easy. Words kill. The wrong words kill the ideas and initiative of invisible inventors.

Thomas Edison had the ultimate “light bulb” idea

The New York Times reports:

Researchers found that we find an idea more or less exceptional depending on the metaphors used to describe it. And not just that: Those metaphors had different effects depending on the gender of the idea’s creator. Read More »