Hillary Clinton makes her position clear: "Deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed."

You can believe her on this one.

Ah!  The Clinton's.  They can charm and entertain and promise you the moon.  I can't help but like them.  Seriously, Bill cracks me up, I admire is intelligence, his down-to-earthiness.  Hillary always seems reasonable, intelligent, open-minded and ever so capable at whatever she does - and these two together, make the most adorable, loving grandparents - sort of a Hepburn and Tracy kind of couple - huh?  How about that analogy?  I'm actually serious - they can just seem so darn likable!  And their daughter - Chelsea - I almost feel proud of her - like she's part of my family or something.

Then there is always something to remind me ... they're tricksters.

Mrs. Clinton rarely speaks as clearly as she did recently - giving us a glimpse into her agenda - pretty much unchanged from the trajectory of the current Administration's foreign and domestic policies...

“Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws don’t count for much if they’re not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper,” Clinton said.

“Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will,” she explained. “And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed. As I have said and as I believe, the advancement of the full participation of women and girls in every aspect of their societies is the great unfinished business of the 21st century and not just for women but for everyone — and not just in far away countries but right here in the United States.” - The DC

You can't trust the Clinton's.


Song for this post here.

The interview with Bruce Jenner ...

In the development of masculine identity 

it is important to be good in sports. 

Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons

I watched Diane Sawyer's interview.

I realized there is nothing funny about transgender.

I do not understand it at all.

People say he can't ever be a woman because of XY chromosomes.  He can make himself look like a woman -WHY?! - but biologically he will always be a man.

I get that.  

So anyway - he will be a transgender man then.  Right?

I don't know.

I can't understand it.

"Remember how dumb I used to be?"

The 'straight and narrow' ...

How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life ...


My dad used to use that term when speaking about his buddies who would maybe 'go on the wagon' - stop drinking - or just managed to stay out of jail.  He'd say, "last I heard he's still on the 'straight and narrow' ..."  It was usually only a temporary respite - and they all seemed to feel better when someone 'fell off the wagon'.  Misery loves company - especially when you're drinking.

I don't think he realized he was quoting Scripture when he said that (Matt. 7:14).  It pretty much meant that 'fun Bobby' wasn't fun any longer.  Unless you could get him off the wagon.

My dad and his buddies didn't like it when someone left them for the straight and narrow...

"For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many." - Matt. 7:13

Straight and narrow.

Straight.

Narrow.

What?

“When you intend to commit sin, who, I ask, promises you mercy from God? Certainly God does not promise it. It is the devil that promises it, that you may lose God and be damned. “Beware”, says St. John Chrysostom, “never to attend to that dog who promises the mercy of God.” If, beloved sinners, you have hitherto offended God, hope and tremble: if you desire to give up sin, and if you detest it, hope; because God promises pardon to all who repent of the evil they have done. But if you intend to continue in your sinful course, tremble lest God should wait no longer for you, but cast you into hell. Why does God wait for sinners? Is it that they may continue to insult Him? No; He waits for them that they may renounce sin, and that He may thus have pity on them, and forgive them. “Therefore the Lord waiteth, that He may have mercy on you” -Isaiah 30:18. But when He sees that the time which he gave them to weep over their past iniquities is spent in multiplying their sins, He begins to inflict chastisement, and He cuts them off in the state of sin, that, by dying, they may cease to offend Him. Then He calls against them the very time He had given them for repentance. “He hath called against me the time” -Lamentations 1:15. “The very time”, says St. Gregory, “comes to judge.” - St. Alphonsus Ligouri

Feast of St. George

St. George, come to the aid of all those suffering from

ISIS, Boko Haram, and all Islamic-extremist militants

intent upon destroying Christianity through forced 

conversion, persecution, and slaughter.

St. George, pray for us.

Blessed Mary ever virgin, Mediatrix of men to God,

Refuge of all our hopes, have mercy on us.

Ask Father: Can I sign up for the concealed pistol license (CPL) classes if I'm a convicted felon?

 I'm sorry, the classes are closed to criminals.

What?

Did you know the Michigan priest, Fr. Edward Fride was asked by his Bishop to not to offer the book based CPL lessons at the parish church?

The Detroit Free Press reported Monday that the Lansing Catholic Bishop Earl Boyea said in a statement that guns and gun lessons do not belong in a Catholic Church. The Diocese of Lansing oversees the Christ the King Church in Ann Arbor and Fride said in his Facebook post that he would respect the bishop’s decision. - Source

It's for the best.

Toto, how'd you get all that

way to Mayberry?

Earth Day. Google asks: What kind of animal are you? And that makes sense because ...

The Church has to be more welcoming to Therians.

Therian rights are the next big thing...

I told you about therianthropy* before.  I'm a poodle trapped in a man's body.  I'm actually a standard poodle, lamb-cut, champagne colored fur, limpid amber eyes, very cute and adorable.

It could be true.

Lonely single Therians do not feel welcome.

Therianthropy is very much like LGBTQ-thropy - or genderlessness or pick your gender theory-ideology.  You are what you think you are.  Some Therians actually have surgery to make themselves look like the creature they think they are.  There is a labyrinth of terms and expressions within this identity-category - it can get as confusing as LGBTQueerness theory.

Seriously, I doubt Google's intention was to spread knowledge of Therianism - I'm sure the question is all in fun, 'what kind of animal are you?'  Sort of like Barbara Walters asking, 'If you were a tree what kind would you be?'  (Nut tree.)

I'm a single cat parent of a large litter - people at church look at me funny.

*A therian is a person who considers itself to be part of the contemporary subculture of therianthropy: Very much like genderqueer**, it is a condition based on a spiritual and/or psychological identification with animals, either from earth, extraterrestial, and or mythic.  Then there are Otherkin - but that's a whole different identity.  I once worked with a dragon who introduced me to these theories.

**FYI: A queer glossary may be found here.

Happy Earth Day.

“But if you tame me, then we
shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I
shall be unique in all the world.” 

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

What?

Final Blessing ....

Bishop confuses mic for aspergillum.

Don't forget ...

The very first apparition at Fatima took place in the spring of 1915.

Lucia saw the figure of an angel who did not speak ... the following spring of 1916 the same phenomena repeated itself, perhaps in preparation for the apparitions which took place in 1917?  I noted that here.

Some thoughts to consider from Blessed Jacinta.

“Tell everybody that God grants graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary...” - Blessed Jacinta

"I saw the Holy Father in a very big house, kneeling by a table, with his head buried in his hands, and he was weeping. Outside the house, there were many people. Some of them were throwing stones, others were cursing him and using bad language. Poor Holy Father, we must pray very much for him." - Blessed Jacinta

"Look! Don’t you see many roads, paths and fields full of people crying of hunger, not having anything to eat?  And the Holy Father in a Church praying next to the Heart of Mary?" - Blessed Jacinta

I think we're there.  Before she died, Sr. Lucia said we were going towards the trials foretold "little by little."  Closer to the date of the beatifications she told the pope we were "going towards it with great strides."  Which is why I think we are there now.

Just a thought.

UPDATE:

“Prayer, particularly the prayer of the rosary, 

is (what) will deliver us from the claws of this demon, 

the demon of terrorism. And of course, it is working.” 

- Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme

This morning, I read this:

A Nigerian bishop says that he has seen Christ in a vision and now knows that the rosary is the key to ridding the country of the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram. - Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme - Finish reading here.

Pray the rosary every day.

Minneapolis On The Map Again! Little Mogadishu and the terror recruiters are here.

The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis

 is sometimes called "Little Mogadishu."

Right here in Minneapolis.

Six Minnesota men are accused of planning to travel to Syria to help support the Islamic State militant group.

The Department of Justice said the men, who were arrested in two different states Sunday, are all charged with “conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.” Some are facing similar additional federal charges.

“As described in the criminal complaint, these men worked over the course of the last 10 months to join ISIL,” said U.S. Attorney Luger in the news release. “Even when their co-conspirators were caught and charged, they continued to seek new and creative ways to leave Minnesota to fight for a terror group.” - Bring Me the News

I think it might be more accurate to state that Minneapolis has a 'terror recruiting problem'.

This is the city in Minnesota where most Somalis live.

All the headlines say the recruiters are from Minnesota - but they're pretty much centered right here in Minneapolis.  As our Mayor noted recently:

We are also a city of refugees, of people who escaped war and persecution and were welcomed here. Minneapolis is known across the world as a safe harbor for refugees and we should be proud of that history. - Mayor Betsy Hodges, State of the City Address

BTW.  One of Mayor Hodges' main goals for her administration is Minneapolis Climate Champs Challenge.  It's a huge concern. (Freedom to marry is also big on her agenda.)

We know our collective future depends on our ability to have a planet — and a city — that can sustain life with clean air, clean water, nourishing food, and stable weather patterns. - Mayor Hodges

Really?  I'm thinking public safety may need some attention as well.  

Menswear tutorial: Don't dress like a ---.

Armani says men should dress like men.

But maybe not like this.

Designer Peter Marino lives and works in drag-leather-costume.

Don't be an exhibitionist...

Giorgio Armani comments.  This is important because?  I think it aligns with Dolce and Gabanna's anti-gay marriage stance - which is perceived by gay-fascists as being anti-gay.  D&G said nothing about men dressing as men - but Armani has done so and I'm sure he'll be criticized for it - if he hasn't been already.

Giorgio Armani, the 80-year-old fashion designer and billionaire, has criticised the way some gay men choose to dress. 

Armani told The Sunday Times Magazine: "A homosexual man is a man 100 per cent. He does not need to dress homosexual. 

"When homosexuality is exhibited to the extreme - to say: 'Ah, you know I'm homosexual,' - that has nothing to do with me. A man has to be a man."
His remarks went down pretty badly with some Twitter users. - Source

Armani 2009

This isn't what I'd call masculine,

but I like what he had to say about manliness.

So this is important, why?

It counters gender-queer theory/ideology.  It counters the inclination to wear all the trends and to be an ostentatious parody-stereo-type of gay.  Don't dress gay - and don't dress like an action-hero figure either.

Know yourself.  Accept your manhood.  Be a man.  Be proud.  Support masculinity.

Then repent and live a chaste and holy life in service to others.

What?

Armani 2012-2013

I'd avoid this look too.

Myself?  I've always been a Polo-type guy... or maybe like Pat Sajak.

“You can't find a more decent guy than Pat, you know.”

Song for this post here.

The ISIS slaughter advances: Ethiopian Christians beheaded and shot.

Some were migrant workers.

A shocking new video appearing to show at least 30 Christians being beheaded and shot by ISIS in Libya has been released. 

The 29-minute video, titled 'Until It Came To Them - Clear Evidence', shows dozens of militants holding two separate groups captive, thought to be in the south and the west of the country. 

At least 16 men, described by Islamic State as the 'followers of the cross from the enemy Ethiopian Church', are lined up and shot in a desert area while 12 others are filmed being forced to walk down a beach before being beheaded.

This follows another video in February of the beheading of a group of 21 Coptic Christians on the beach in Libya, though that terrain was rockier than the one shown in the latest film. 

It raises fears that ISIS is consolidating its presence on the 'doorstep of Europe', as Libya is just a few hundred miles from the coast of Italy. - Story here.

Pray, pray, pray ... without ceasing.


O God, you are my God. 

It is for you that we face death all day long
and are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

 Awake, O Lord, why do you sleep?

Arise, do not reject us for ever!

Why do you hide your face
and forget our oppression and misery? 

For we are brought down low to the dust;
our body lies prostrate on the earth. 

 Stand up and come to our help!

Redeem us because of your love! - Ps. 44

-image source-

God once said to Abraham: 

"Go forth out of your country." 

Soon perhaps we shall hear it said to us: 

"Go forth out of every country." 

It would be well if we were to obey, 

and come to see in the heavens 

the place which is known as 

"the kingdom of the heavens." - Origen

Praying for the immigrants and martyrs.

Rosary Workshop

Martyr's Rosary.

A friend sent me an early birthday present, a skull rosary from Rosary Workshop.  They call it a Day of the Dead Rosary, but I use it in honor of the martyrs and those fleeing persecution.  It is beautifully crafted.

My friend asked if I brought it to church and I laughed and said that would be ostentatious, I pray the rosary discreetly, bunching it in my hand so no one notices - this rosary is quite large.  My friend was surprised - he seemed to think Catholics like to show off their rosaries and I'd be the envy of everyone.  I laughed out loud.  He's not a Catholic nor is he religious - so it is rather amazing to me that he would even think to give me a gift like this.

Anyway, I'm praying for the martyrs and those lost at sea, with or without the "Martyr's Rosary" - but the Martyr's Rosary is an excellent reminder.

Migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

The Pope - speaking on Sunday morning after the Regina Coeli prayer in St. Peter’s Square, - told tens of thousands of people “They are men and women like us, our brothers seeking a better life, starving, persecuted, wounded, exploited, victims of war. They were looking for a better life". 

Faced with such a tragedy – Pope Francis continued - I express my most heartfelt pain and promise to remember the victims and their families in prayer.

"I make a heartfelt appeal to the international community to react decisively and quickly to see to it that such tragedies are not repeated," he said, before asking the crowd to pray "for these brothers and sisters". - VR

When I die.

"Cosmo, I just want you to know, 

no matter what you do, you're gonna die."

I'll be dead.  DEAD!

When I die, I will have died.  I'll be dead.

"Terry died (fill in the date)."

"Hello?  Is Terry there?"

"No, he's not here - he's dead."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No we don't"

Do you know when he will be back?

"Passed" what?

Why do people say Cardinal George 'passed'?  Why does anyone use the term 'passed'?  Passed what?  A test?  Passed out?  Passed by?  Passed gas?  Passed 'Go'?

I know, I know, it's supposed to mean he passed on.  On to eternal life.  If you mean that - then say it - "George passed on to eternal life - we think."

We don't know where George is right now.  But we know he's dead.  Just say, Cardinal George died.  He's dead.

I think we have problems with death.  We are afraid of it.  We don't know how to talk about it so we make it nice.  We do that to everything.

"Oh poodle, he's in a better place."

"Where?"

"Up there."  Points to ceiling...

Don't make stuff up.

Just say dead.

I blame centering prayer

for this crap.

Okay. I think I now know why men don't go to Mass...

The Gather Hymnal.

Horrible songs/music, bad singers, piano bar style piano, and the happy organ...

I apologize, but the thought just came to mind while I was at Mass.  I didn't 'entertain' it though.  The thought was like a flash of light, saying, "Terry!  This is it!"   Every weekend it's the same hymnal, same songs, same shrill voices singing from the throat.  I'm not complaining for myself, because I can normally tune it out, but this week, I think it came to mind due to the recent discussions online as to why men don't go to Mass.

Just as the happy organ began to play the recessional ... it dawned on me ...

I have no idea what hymn/song it was... but parts of it reminded me of this: