Occupy The Vatican

Per the NY Times, we have a pope that knows that capitalism is the scourge of civilization, although he has no suggestions as to how to replace it.

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — His speeches can blend biblical fury with apocalyptic doom. Pope Francis does not just criticize the excesses of global capitalism. He compares them to the “dung of the devil.” He does not simply argue that systemic “greed for money” is a bad thing. He calls it a “subtle dictatorship” that “condemns and enslaves men and women.”

Having returned to his native Latin America, Francis has renewed his left-leaning critiques on the inequalities of capitalism, describing it as an underlying cause of global injustice, and a prime cause of climate change. Francis escalated that line last week when he made a historic apology for the crimes of the Roman Catholic Church during the period of Spanish colonialism — even as he called for a global movement against a “new colonialism” rooted in an inequitable economic order.

Re climate change - does he recall the levels of pollution in communist-controlled Eastern Europe? Does our pope imagine that China, now Number One with a bullet in the production of greenhouse gases (in total, not per-capita), is a typical example of a free, capitalist society? 

As to raising people out of poverty, Michael Tanner of NRO rebutted the Occupy Wall Street people a few years ago with the same sort of statistics that would probably come as news to the pope:

Throughout most of human history, nearly everyone was poor. Even our wealthiest ancestors enjoyed lower standards of living than ordinary people in America today. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that the masses started to enjoy real and growing prosperity.

 

A longer take on that point was linked just a few days ago. More NRO:

 

What was the difference? Capitalism and its offspring, the Industrial Revolution. As Charles Murray explains, “everywhere that capitalism subsequently took hold, national wealth began to increase and poverty began to fall. Everywhere that capitalism didn’t take hold, people remained impoverished. Everywhere that capitalism has been rejected since then, poverty has increased.”

 

The transformation occurred first in the West, which was quickest to embrace capitalism, but is spreading now to the rest of the world. In the last 20 years, for instance, capitalism has lifted more than a billion people worldwide out of poverty, while the share of people in developing countries living on less than $1.25 a day has been cut in half. In China alone, 680 million people have been rescued from poverty, and the extreme-poverty rate has gone from 84 percent in 1980 to less than 10 percent today. In Africa, inflation-adjusted per capita incomes rose by an astonishing 97 percent between 1999 and 2010. Hunger in India shrank by 90 percent after the country replaced 40 years’ worth of socialist stagnation with capitalist reforms in 1991.

 

One can simply look at the difference between countries that embrace free-market capitalism, to varying degrees, and those with rigid state-controlled economies. Recall the classic comparisons between East and West Germany before the Wall fell, or now, between North and South Korea.

Lefties will love this pope until he segues to abortion rights. But if one lefty anywhere in the US cites the pope as a motivation for any policy at all, well, we have decades of progressive rhetoric insisting on a Church/State separation to play back.

 

Comments

[boris]

Capitalism = devil dung

Pope poope

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Help me out here;

Greed for money is an enslaving dictatorship and devil turds.

But income inequality is a very, very bad thing indeed and and all those with less money clamoring for more of their neighbors' money are on the side of the angels?

If, as the good book says, 'love of money is the root of all kinds of evil' I'm left to wonder whether love of your own is somehow worse than coveting your neighbors'.

[Rick Ballard]

Ignatz,

Commissar Bergoglio's readings from First Karl require a bit of interpolation prior to being stuffed into the New Canon. The editing process is going to obviate the discrepancy you note. You may want to hang onto your current Bible. Until it's proscribed, of course.

[Captain Hate]

McTurtle keeps talking about having 34 Senators to approve the Iran deal. Is the Corker amendment nothing but playing politics in an issue of international security by reversing the approval numbers needed?

Baier is talking about the frustration of conservatives on how the Senate has proceeded on things. Mitch is yammering about trade being a conservative priority.

[Captain Hate]

McConnell: Total incompetence on the OPM hack and an administrative disaster. Sanctuary cities should not be receiving federal money. Doesn't want to talk about Trump nor Cruz.

[Lazybusy]

Happy Birthday Ann!

[Captain Hate]

Jim Webb: Is very worried about the Iran deal. Is doing his best to not criticize 404's military cuts. Refuses to badmouth 404's activities against ISIS. Makes a point of interrupting the interview to blast Trump because of some dipshit friend of his taking exception to his comments which weren't aimed at him. Then makes the point that he's trying to attract people who've been forgotten by both parties; the irony of that is lost in his giant empty head.

[rse]

Happy Birthday Ann.

Reposting from the dead thread.

Anyone else think that Dylann Roof's atrocities and the fortuitous pic of him of the battle flag is being used to eliminate it not as a symbol of slavery, but as a symbol of non-obedience to government as the boss of us.

I keep thinking about the rhetoric and the fact that the Southerners did believe they had a right to secede when they viewed the federal government as tyrnnaical. We now have tyrannical governments at all levels of both parties and the last thing acceptable is a visual symbol of insurrection.

I am still outraged of the stories I am hearing from around the country of Congress cretins across the Board from the Republican party refusing to meet with people willing to show them in print where their talking points on the ESEA reauth are wrong. They won;t even let their staffers listen.

TPA, judicial confirmations, WIOA, ECAA.

We cannot have elections in 2016 where the choices at all levels are between communist collectivism or fascist cronyist collectivism. But that is actually where Boehner and MCconnell and too many governors are taking us.

[Captain Hate]

We need a third party, rse. Depending on the likes of Common Cause Repuke shills like Alexander and Kasich is putting your trust in a very leaky vessel.

[rse]

Just finished clarice's pieces and the battle flag is being taken off the mantle of symbols to go along with those pitchforks. Not coincidental.

My elderly mother asked a young man why he wore his pants so low that they did not cover his rear. He replied that didn;t she know about slavery.

Slavery as the justification for every governmental license and the cement to foster group identity and 21st century rage.

[Captain Hate]

Panel on Greece situation. Brit: what a mess and Greece needs economic growth which an austerity plan won't deliver. Julie Pace: How many times have they been down this road. Rove on Iran: proposed deal is incomprehensible and terrible. A license to proliferate. Juan: Repubs have put donks in a bind of whether to support a deal or not especially Rodham. Pace agrees on the pressure for a Pantsuit blowout. Brit: there's no chance this is a good deal. Juan: 404 and Lurch don't agree with the head of the Joint Chiefs on Russia being a major problem per Romney. Teh Architect says "his contacts in Europe" are very concerned about Russia.

[Sandy--I Stand with Walker 2016--Daze ن]

The Pope, God Bless him.

~~

Two problems with this Pope, Francis, that immediately come to mind:

--so much of what he knows is wrong

and

--he just isn't that smart.

Sure, he's a genial fellow, who I must believe, is well intentioned.

But, aside from matters directly relating to his Papal Authority, I'm not paying much attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It strikes me that the Holy Roman Catholic Church under Bergoglio, treats traditional Catholics much like the Republican part treats its base. That is, the Repubs (Priebus, McConnel, Boehner, et al) thiink that the base (that horrible, nasty, conservative base) will always be with them, and that they need to reach out to the moderates, the illegals and otehrs to build their electoral majority (i.e. "Dem lite") when what has happened over and oover is that the conservatives sit out and the "mainstream" Repubs lose. Then they shake their heads.

Similarly, Bergoglio's reaching out--the evangelization--threatens to drive away all of those currently in the pews, for the sake of adding some souls who will come in, by and large, for te free stuff.

One doesn't attract adherents by dumbing down the entry, one drives interest through exclusivity, a entry challenge.

Hence, the SEALs or the Islamic State.

[Miss Marple]

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/07/12/harpercollins-to-new-york-times-drop-dead/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Jane on Ipad]

Wow! I just saw Chuck Todd say to Nikki Haley:" your

star is rising. There is talk of you being on the ticket, what do you think of that."

Haley replied: "it's painful". (Pause). "9 people died and we should be talking about them". And she went on to talk about them.

It was very sincere and very moving.

[Miss Marple]

Sandy,

In other words, "Are you cool enough to be Catholic?"

My sister throws up her hands at the Youth Minister where she taught. She finally lost it when the woman had the pianist play "Cecilia" by Simon and Garfunkel for St. Cecilia's day.

In case you've forgotten the lyrics (my sister hadn't), here's an excerpt:

Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom,
I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed,
Someone's taken my place.
Celia, you're breaking my heart,
You're shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on my knees,
I'm begging you please to come home.

[Captain Hate]

Bobby Jindal says that 404 has started an arms race in the Mideast and calls on Rodham to refute it. Knows that Rodham's economic plan will produce another Greece here; credit Sanders with at least being honest about being a socialist. Slick's biggest lie was about big government being over. Strongly defends his economic record in Louisiana. He's being very direct in his answers and is impressive fielding hard questions imo; very much like Fiorina.

[Marlene]

rse @ 10:25...I agree about the CBF as a symbol of non-obedience to government. I passed a pickup truck driving home yesterday and he was flying a CBF. I had to laugh,because why is a guy from Maine flying the CBF on his truck? A small act of defiance. Also,I mentioned last week that a woman in Rockland had her CBF stolen from her pickup truck. She has withdrawn from competition for the title of Sea Goddess at the Maine Lobster Festival. The woman said she meant no harm,but she has received many negative comments. The title of Sea Goddess is a tradition (68th year) and she doesn't want to cause a distraction.

[Captain Hate]

Panel on Trump. Brit understands who he's appealing to but thinks his star will fade. Pace: Repubs will continue to be asked about him. Rove is worried about a third party; claims he hurts Cruz and Huckabee more than anybody else. Brit: the mantle of frontrunner passed back and forth in 2012. Pace: performance in debates will be key because Trump doesn't respond to criticism well.

And that's a wrap.

[Janet - I wish my family had a poncho]

A really good Ace post - http://ace.mu.nu/archives/357798.php

"First of all, let's take Obama. What is he? By temperament and training, he is a community organizer. The thing is, that's one of those terms that sounds self explanatory but really it's not, in fact it means the opposite of what it seems to mean. The term "community organizer" was coined by Saul Alinsky to describe the people who he envisioned would destabilize society. The last thing an Alinskyite wants is for a community to be organized. An organized community is functioning smoothly, all of its parts meshing seamlessly. An organized community has no need for, nor desire for, an Alinskyite. No, the job of one of Alinsky's community organizers is to destabilize a community, to disorganize it. It is only when a community becomes disorganized that the politics of division can thrive and it is divided communities that are the end goal of Alinsky's disciples. Only when a community has been fatally divided against itself is it ripe for tearing down, to be replaced by a communal Utopia. Sowing this division is all Obama has done all his entire adult life. It is quite literally all he knows."

[Miss Marple]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3157714/Chris-Christie-goes-billionaire-summer-camp-New-Jersey-governor-hugs-wealthy-friends-Sun-Valley-summit-world-s-tycoons.html

Embarrassing that he even went. Horrible pictures.

[clarice]

It's very scary to me that so many traditional Catholics are being turned off just as faith in democratic institutions wanes--Echoes of the late 1930's to me. The fabric of society is fraying and that leaves room for such horrors.

Iggy, you're a philosopher after my own heart.

[maryrose]

Janet
Very well stated
You are a wise and knowledgable person

[Rick Ballard]

Faithful Catholics will respond to the exhortations of Commissar Bergoglio by making sure the Vatican is not defiled by the presence of new devil's dung. It's going to be one of the faster examples of self correction in church history.

[maryrose]

Marlene
I went to a baby shower in the spring and the happy couple received tons of gifts
Also many now have the shower at a restaurant in a private room
The food is great too

[maryrose]

Ann
Have a great birthday

[Miss Marple]

clarice,

I understand. Those of us in areas which are more conservative and have traditional-type priests, such as mine, are simly ignoring a great deal of what comes out of Rome.

What's scary is that in liberal areas, where the Catholics are mostly democrats, this will get melded into one big anti-capitalist message and I don't know if there are enough of us to resist it.

As Jack says, the only message they will understand is a great reduction in money sent from the American churches.

[GUS]

Janet, Obama knows good "WEED" and Reggie Love too.,

Quite frankly, Obama is a pile of shit.

[Marlene]

[email protected]:47...LOL. Hubby and I were on the youth ministry committee at our northern Maine parish.The youth minister had the kids sing the Alanis Morrissette song,"What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us."
Hubby was talked into teaching the juvenile deliquent confirmation class for the high school guys who had missed confirmation class the previous year. Sadly one of the boys was an actual juvenile deliquent,he's been in and out of jail.
We also had to referee the youth minister and parish administrator,who loathed each other. Ha,good times.

[Altered Boy]

Anything to keep the flock's mind off of gay priests and pedophilia.

[Marlene]

Happy Birthday,Ann!

[clarice]

You know this redistribution stuff seems to me to be a violation of the Thou Shalt Not Covet,,,Of course it's been decades since I went to Mr Garfinkel's New Method Hebrew School so I might have misremembered the 10 Commandments.

[GUS]

RICHTARD FOWLER on FOX. CLOWN.

[Janet - I wish my family had a poncho]

maryrose, that is a quote from the Ace link

[GUS]

Janet...this "Poncho", does he ride a horse and hang with a masked white dude.

[Wilting at tindmills.]

Poncho Sanza rides a mule. Hangs with a dude with a horse.

[He's chillin']

All is well. The Vatican is air-conditioned.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Of course it's a violation, clarice.
God's plan is for the rich and ept to give to the poor and inept, not for the tax collectors and prefects to literally rob Peter to pay Paul.

James 1:27;
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Proverbs 30:8,9;
...Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.

Ecclesiastes 3:13;
...and also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

[squaredance]

Oh, all of the stuff coming out of the Vatican has absolutely nothing substantive to do with Christian Doctrine, proatice or History.

One will not win with these people by "debating with them either.

Face, the Pope is a Communist. He is not some dolt being manipulated; he is communist and he is delivering the Church up to its enemies.

This is no difference that the Chinese controlling religion.

And the vast majority of people in the world have absolutist no Idea who the Left are and what they are up.

The Church is supposed to stand up to these barbarians, not be co-opted by them. Once they establish complete dominance, they will send true believers to the camps.

What a disaster: Watch the Pope give the Democrats full support and cover this Dec., and these very people have pushed through Gay marriage as a device to persecute Christians.

The West is mad. The West is suicidal.

[Rick Ballard]

Clarice,

Careful with that New Method stuff. Lots of Jews wound up as brick makers in Babylon due to trying out new methods. That and challenging Assyrian dominance.

I'd rather focus on the moral imperative to aid the helpless poor, rather carefully defined as widders and orfinks, while contemplating a nation where the biggest health problems among the "poor" are linked to obesity.

[GUS]

When The Pope..(I am Catholic) goes to "Latin" America, does he fly on the wings of a SNOW WHITE DOVE or does he defile Gaia with more global warming juice.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--The West is suicidal.--

Think I'll send that along to James Burnham as an idea for a book.

Wait; no point. He already wrote it....and he's dead.

[Cecil Turner]

Is doing his best to not criticize 404's military cuts.

The guy who resigned as SecNav back in 1988 over the mothballing of 16 frigates (back when we had 566 battle force ships), who then stated:

"Since I became Navy secretary last year, I have stated . . . frequently my belief that the force levels of our sea services remain minimal and must not be reduced,"

And now can't find a discouraging word (as total battle force drops to 273)? If he ever had a principle, he lost it during his senate stint.

[Miss Marple]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-taps-anger-hear-day-carly-fiorina/story?id=32385918#.VaKK9-34L94.twitter

[Cecil Turner]

"The Bolivian government insisted there was no political motive behind the gift."

So quit hating, haters.

[Miss Marple]

Cecil,

Obviously the Pope has no advance man or protocol person. How could that photo have even been taken?

I don't care if the Pope has a frowny face; that crucifix is sacrilegious.

[rse]

I went through MM's link from Idaho which is quite long. About 3/4's of the way through, in the midst of the beautiful people, is the President and CEO of McGraw Hill Education.

Coincidental that they just happen to be developing the kind of K-12 assessments that measure and manipulate the kind of subjective comprehension the UN is calling for with its Learning Metrics Task Force and lamar and the house are enshrining into federal law as a state and local obligation?

McGraw Hill Ed has the Ga contract so I know precisely how cutting edge what they created is intended to be. I also know that David Coleman, who supposedly created the Common Core and who is now Pres of the College Board, sold his company to McGraw Hill Ed.

And the Pres and CEO merited an invite to mix with this crowd.

Thanks mm.

[pagar]

"doing his best to not criticize 404's military cuts.'

"OPM director focused on gender identity rights before data breach announced because . . . priorities!"

Read more: http://www.bizpacreview.com/2015/07/11/opm-director-focused-on-gender-identity-rights-before-data-breach-announced-because-priorities-223375#ixzz3fhD0ArVw

None of these leftists care about the security of America, IMO.

[GUS]

Miss Marple. LOOOOOOOK AT HIM FOR GAWDS SAKE!!!
The Pope is way deeeeep in thought!!
Why is Tony Orlando giving The Pope a HammerandCrufix.

[Miss Marple]

rse,

You're welcome. I was concentrating more on Christie's obvious neediness to be included with the big shots, but I knew others would notice more in those photos.

The Daily Mail is really good for including lots of photos for events, so you can see who is hanging out together. The article about Chelsea Clinton being invited to Nicky Hilton's wedding was another with some odd groupings.

Thanks for the explanation on the Mcgraw Hill thing!

[Miss Marple]

GUS,

I am tired of a Pope who uses words like "dung" and stirs up envy, which is a SIN.

So I am ignoring him. It's the best I can do.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Not sure Christ crucified on a hammer and sickle has quite the connotation that dude was going for.

[clarice]

It's liberation theology religious art, Iggy.

[Miss Marple]

http://conservativetribune.com/trey-gowdy-donald-trump/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=RepealItNow&utm_content=2015-07-12

Gowdy takes Trump's issues seriously.

[squaredance]

Iggy: Well yes, surely Burnham is right. Here is a good summary, and somewhat germane to this discussion.

However, I doubt he even foresaw the horrid spectacle of this Pope actually jamming Communist doctrine into the Church. His idea is that "Liberalism" is a sort of substitute "fake" religion against Christian tradition--a best a sort of heresy. He also made an ever so slight distinction between "Liberalism" and out and out Marxist Leninism (we was after all discussing the "Liberalism" of the Cold War "Liberal").

He does not seem to see Liberalism as a merely political front to a Communist agenda.

That is rather my point, and even the link above seems to miss this point.

The Church of his day was rather a different institution than it evidently is today. It itself is siding with the enemies of the Civilization that nurtured it, and do so in the crudest intellectual and moral terms. This is truly suicide, and on broader terms than Burnham every articulated.

As for Fiorina: Brava Carly!. This is the response every GOP candidate should have given.

[Miss Marple]

http://therightscoop.com/immigration-reform-is-almost-impossible-john-boehner-deflects-on-why-they-didnt-just-pass-a-bill/#ixzz3fhFkSPlr

[squaredance]

Or, Miss Maple, the Pope is also a Latin American Communist. He certainly knew who he was talking to. If his people cared about offending non-communists, the would have done something about it.

Looks more like a meeting of fellow travelers rather than an ambush. I here no clarification out of the Vatican.

After decades of preaching and open declaration of doctrine against Communism, and much public preaching by the two prior Popes, the pope cannot claim innocence here.

It is a clear message to me.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I know what it was trying to say clarice, but the cross was a symbol of human (Roman) torture and injustice turned on its head by Christ as a symbol of forgiveness and hope.

Likewise the hammer and sickle, which Senor Morales (and his gubmint) adores, is a cruel symbol likewise given new meaning by God's grace.

Morales, the grinning dunce, plays the part of Pilate and doesn't even know it.

[Miss Marple]

Well, squaredance, I was being charitable.

[squaredance]

Well, Miss Marple, that is certainly very kind and Christian of you. For my part, I feel that Communists, like the Devil, deserve no charity. They will certainly extend none to you.

[Miss Marple]

I detect a change in the attitude towards Trump amongst the political class. Several are now saying they understand his frustration and he is reflecting a lot of anger out in the country.

Various people who seem to have changed a bit include Fiorina, Nikki Haley, and Perry, who seemed too walk back a part of his earlier harsh statement.

Meanwhile, Bill Kristol and another Weekly Standard writer are saying that Trump needs to be taken seriously.

I can only assume that there has been some internal polling and they all saw the rally in Phoenix.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Upset that the US has taken the lead in the race to perdition, Germany goes to the whip in the far turn as its national Ethics Council advises that incestuous marriage is the next step down what no one should be stupid enough to call a slippery slope.
It's a cliff.

[Cecil Turner]

Why is Tony Orlando giving The Pope a HammerandCrufix.

Promoting Red Dawn, obviously.

[matt]

We had one of our parish priests over for dinner with friends last night. He is a Vietnamese refugee who spent years working as a mechanical engineer before he entered the seminary.

Smart, effusive, and one of Christ's happy warriors. We talked a bit about bad priests and bad decisions, but did not talk about the present pontiff.

I think he has already pissed off enough of the Church that our next one will be an opposite.

We have a Norbertine Abbey up the road, and they are seriously intellectual and conservative. Some of them believe that the Church is entering an age of persecution. It may force us to go underground.

Francis has been railing against the wrong people. He is a part of the oligopoly but doesn't realize this.

Peronist Argentina is highly stratified like most of the rest of South America and despite the violence and pressures of the 70's - and 80's, the Church was protected.

Today it is the crony capitalists, the multinationals and the Oligarchs who run the world. There is no morality and in this the Pope is correct.

But his language and worldview are based upon a very flawed understanding of what capitalism truly is.

Raising 600 million Chinese out of abject poverty, along with similar numbers in India and Africa is one of the greatest boons to humanity in history. He ignores this completely. He ignores the Industrial Revolution and the inventions of Whitney or James Watt or Edison or Morse which transformed the world.

Argentina has no home grown technology or culture of invention. It is statist and redistributionist with the major burden on the middle class, which is hated.

I think perhaps our Pope needs a history class or two.

[Miss Marple]

I am going to do some work to try to earn filthy capitalist profit so that I can pay for my unnecessary air-conditioning and also eat.

Back later.

[Captain Hate]

Morales, the grinning dunce, plays the part of Pilate and doesn't even know it.

I was wondering if I was the only person thinking that.

[narciso]

Happy birthday, ann.

[Cecil Turner]

Here's the rest of that crucifix story:

The cross with a hammer and sickle is a reproduction of another carved during the 1970s by Fr. Luis Espinal Camps, a Spanish Jesuit who was a missionary in Bolivia who was killed in 1980 during the Bolivian dictatorship.

I still think it was poor form and political, but there is another side to it.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Kevin Williamson manages to get just about everything wrong (except that Trump is a buffoon) in labeling people upset that the GOPe is pretty close to a de facto subsidiary of the Dems or at least a co-conspiritor as WHINOs. Har. Har.

The new ani he is acquiring in comments are probably not as fun as inventing childish acronyms.
Even less fun is how many more people did he just drive into the arms of the buffoon.

[squaredance]

Well now, judging from the Pope;s rhetoric, he has had plenty of History lessons, and of the mst nefarious sort. This sort of "Fi;thy Capitalists" agitprop comes from one source: the propaganda organs of the early Soviets.

There is no mistaking this. For man of his age, coming from where he does and the positions that he has held, there can not be much confusion about this.

I rather doubt it is ignorance or naivete here.

The Pope is spouting mainline Communist propaganda here. i rather doubt it stems from good intentions led astray by a "flawed understanding".

If this is some sort of excuse, then we might as well say that Stalin and Mao did not "really understand" either Capitalism or Communism.

Face it: the Pope is Communist and of the sort that once populated the COINTERN and the Politburo of the USSR.

There is absolutely no meaningful excuse for this sort of thing out of a pope, not after the last two popes and the role of the Vatican in the Cold War. He is the Pope, not a teenager.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Massive El Nino shaping up.

[Old Lurker]

No problem for us Iggy. Cannot imagine a live person wanting sex with my sister or your brother.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

OL,
My brother is actually very handsome.
Fortunately the nuttiness comes out before he has managed to pass his genes on.

At least I don't think he has. I'm not aware of any kid named Damien around here and I don't think he knows anyone named Rosemary.

[[email protected]]

great pieces this morning Clarice. the Hanson link was brilliant.

http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2015/07/09/god-help-us-all/#more-44019

Belmont Club too.

[[email protected]]

Happy Birthday Ann.

[jim]

The pope needs to be replaced when he suffers from dementia.

[Old Lurker]

Iggy, some people think my sister is attractive too. To me, I am reminded of those movie trailers where you see an attractive person momentarily revealing the really ugly being within before returning to the pretty outer shel...

[Sandy--I Stand with Walker 2016--Daze ن]

squaredance,

You may be right. Face it: the Pope is Communist and of the sort that once populated the COINTERN and the Politburo of the USSR.

There is absolutely no meaningful excuse for this sort of thing out of a pope, not after the last two popes and the role of the Vatican in the Cold War. He is the Pope, not a teenager.

For now, though, I am sticking with:
--so much of what he knows is wrong

and

--he just isn't that smart.

BTW - has anyone read Windswept House by Fr Malachi Martin, written in 1998 ? I've read several places that Fr Martin gave a radio interview wherein he commented saying that the
"book was about 85% true, and that he changed only the names and certain identifying particulars, for obvious reasons. In that same interview, Father Martin was asked if he feared for his life since writing this book. Father Martin said he did, but that he was too old to change his ways. Since then, Father Martin died under very suspicious circumstances. He was found unconscious and bleeding in his home with hard wood fragments inbedded in his skull. He was taken to the hospital, and eventually woke from his coma for an instant and said it was a murder attempt, but he didn't get a chance to see who did it. Then he fell back into his coma, received the sacrament of Extreme Unction, and died. If you read this book, you'll know why his enemies couldn't let him live. He blew the lid off the satanic cabal in the church, and he even went so far as to describe their black mass in detail. As a prolific excorcist, he knew a lot more than most about Freemasons, satanists, and the communists in the Vatican. The Church is in crisis, with a war between the good guys and the bad . . . and if you ever doubt it then just check the news and ask yourself why so many murders have occured recently in the Vatican." (from one of the reviews at the Amazon site.

YMMV.

But, certainly the Catholic Church is in crisis.

[Sandy--I Stand with Walker 2016--Daze ن]

errr, the "You may be right" was me, not squaredance.

[Jeff Dobbs]

After a short respite, we are going back out to the beach.

TCFAB!

I am very conflicted. Too many people - but good people watching.

[clarice]

HEH,OL!!!

[[email protected]]

Posted by: rse | July 12, 2015 at 10:25 AM-

I would tend to disagree. South Carolina has changed radically since the previous controversy surrounding it in the 1990s, which was remedied by putting it at the capitol Civil War memorial. It is of a piece of the "we gotta do something" #hashtags when the something to do is far to difficult for those in power to do (setting aside, for the moment, all the other Maoist like erasure of it).

Additionally, in the specific case of the shooting, if the reporting in the British press is to be believed-the shooting was entirely preventable and all it would have taken is a phone call. Roof had indicated plans to shoot up the College of Charleston to friends of his. Had those friends been more sober (although they were sober enough to locate and hide his gun when their own safety seemed threatened) and had more trust in local law enforcement the Charleston tragedy would have never happened.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Family photo album;
My dad finds my brother out in a field.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Ol's sister's first baby picture;

[Old Lurker]

:-)

[Marlene]

Ig,LOL. Hubby and his brother (both older) told their sister that she was hatched from a dinosaur egg that their parents found on the river bank. That story is a big family joke,but my sister-in-law doesn't think so!

[[email protected]]

hope you two never decide to play matchmakers ... yikes.

[rse]

rich-as a Georgian I would agree wholeheartedly that SC has changed a great deal. Like most Southern states they will now promise virtually anything to get auto plants or US corporate HQ located in their states.

I was also sympathetic when Barnes wanted the battleflag removed from Ga's flag because causing unnecessary pain seemed foolish.

But there is something else here that is going on with the flag. Maybe it is because I remember Lewis's lies about someone uttering epithets or how what MLK really wanted and what is truly being sought in the name of civil rights is rarely discussed in the open. It is though commonly discussed in emails I get and forums I attend. I get what is being forced into federal legilslation that is then misrepresented drastically in interviews.

I get to read the need to have governments in charge of people and to lock in perception around politically useful concepts grafted in at a neurological level and monitored via required government data gathering.

And the banner of the last time in history people said no is off limits even on Confederate Memorial day on veterans graves. I am hurt about a lot of things being forced down our throats but nobody cares because the whole point is to make people who are bright and productive the objects of control and exploitation.

[rse]

Speaking of which. http://collegeinsurrection.com/2015/07/umass-prof-wants-to-make-the-confederate-flag-a-hate-crime/

The equivalent of a swastika he says.

[Extraneus]

Haley replied: "it's painful". (Pause). "9 people died and we should be talking about them". And she went on to talk about them.

Oh, not the confederate flag?

[I have just now begun to barf.]

Cecil, you go to war with half the Navy you used to have.

[clarice]

Haley's a doll. I love her.

[And to remain unclean.]

The sickle represents how many Christians have been reaped by Marxism and the hammer represents those only beaten down.

[When we were obligate locavores, malnutrition was the norm by Spring.]

Bon Appetit, Miss Marple.

[[email protected]]

we'll just have to agree to disagree rse.

ultimately I think it is an empty gesture in response to a senseless brutal crime and reading any further meaning into it is fruitless.

A better expression of Charleston's (and SC's) grief was the memorial walk across the Cooper River Bridge and the other public expressions of faith.

[James D.]

President Evo Morales of Bolivia, who wore a Che Guevara patch on his jacket during Francis’ speech, claimed the pope as a kindred spirit

Of course he did. Because nothing says you're concerned about the poor and downtrodden like honoring a mass-murdering sociopathic monster.

[[email protected]]

Iggy-

I am generally a fan of Williamson's columns, but sometimes he just goes a little too far. He certainly come off as an asshole in that column.

>>>Whining is no substitute for winning.<<<

And importing the 3rd world "brainiacs" looking for lower cap gains rates has provided stunning victories ...

[Jack is Back!]

Since we are discussing religion [which i refuse to do in re The Red Pope because I don't have enough spit to get that mad] there is a Congressional response to the SCOTUS decision on SSM - A Relgiious Freedom bill of their own. Interestingly, it may get blocked by the Republican leadership because it author and leader of the growing coalition of votes is challenger to McCarthy who controls the floor schedule.

I hope Trump does more that make noise but gives the suits up on the hill the gumption to bring down the GOPe leadership there and replace it with men who don't fear outright partisanship. Its getting ridiculous.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/247599-religious-freedom-bill-picks-up-momentum

[Buckeye]

I think I will put my "Don't tread on me" flag out.

Only a matter of time before that becomes a hate crime also.

[Sandy--I Stand with Walker 2016--Daze ن]

Since we're talking about reds,
regarding Jim Webb, a few thoughts:

Jim Webb, successful man; Naval Academy graduate, combat warrior, lawyer, SecNav, principled departee' from government during the Reagan Administration, Pulitzer winning author, script writer, author, inter alia, of "Born Fighting." A man in search of a mission, decides to run for and wins the confidence and trust of constituents, a position as a Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As a Senator and more importantly as a United States MARINE, positions considered to among the most exclusive "clubs" in the world, he was similar to many of his constituents whom, like myself and perhaps some reading this comment, took a durable oath to

"solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same."

We, his constituents, looked to his candidacy and eventual election as Senator for the Great Commonwealth of Virginia as an opportunity for a man of distinguished performance and renown character to bring a sense of civility, maturity and intellect to the Senate.

Alas, we were all too stunned with his lock-step support for the administration that has proven itself to be the furthest to the left, most socialist and anti-American administration of all time.

Indeed, on any one of a significant number of votes, Jim Webb could have stood in the breech, defending the honor and integrity of the American Way Of Life. Like so many of his forebears, he could have recalled that he was born fighting and would likely (metaphorically) die fighting, but at least he would be remembered as fighting for America.

As it is, he will be remembered as a lackluster one-term senator from Virginia, who accomplished nothing of substance during his six years in the Senate.

His service in the Senate, probably the last time he will be in government, will be that for which he will most remembered. Some will hold the view that he was a traitor to the Constitution of the United States of America and to the ideals of the American Republic; I am not unsympathetic to that view. But, perhaps calling him a traitor is too unforgiving, given his previous service.

Thus, I will recall Webb as a disappointment of colossal proportions, of a magnitude perhaps only exceeded by his ego.

[Jack is Back!]

Sandy,

I believe his animus to W was so heavy he jsut wanted to hurt him, the republican's who elected him and their whole political culture. It was very personal and unbecoming an officer and gentleman.

Also, I have always been suspicious of Webb, as a USNA grad and Marine to use the excuse that the reason Ollie North beat him in the 1967 Brigade match was because he was afraid to hit him in the head. Ollie had suffered a head injury 3 years earlier in a car accident. What a loser.