Tom Faranda's Folly

Paddy Maloney founder of The Chieftains - traditional Irish music

From the Guardian (UK). The Chieftains, certainly "famous across the globe".

Paddy Moloney, who has died aged 83, was a founder and the leader of the Chieftains, a band that made Irish traditional music famous across the globe. A composer, arranger of traditional music and innovative musician on the tin whistle and the uilleann pipes, Moloney was a towering influence in Irish music for more than six decades. His ambition for the band and his love of music led to a long series of collaborations on stage and on record with a wide variety of performers, some from the pop and rock world and others who made traditional music from a variety of cultures.

The band did not perform in public until 1964 and only turned professional in the mid-1970s, so their initial reputation was based almost entirely on the recordings. The first album achieved almost cult status when featured by John Peel on his BBC Radio 1 Top Gear broadcasts, and when they did perform live, sometimes at pop festivals, their suits and ties made them unlikely targets for hippy adulation. But they and their music captivated audiences of all types and ages.

This is two minutes from their 50th anniversary in 2018 -

"Biden Follows Congresswomen Into Bathroom To Negotiate Infrastructure Bill"

He took the ploy from his supporters chasing Senator Sinema - Senator Kyrsten Sinema gets harassed going to the bathroom

"This is all just part of the process folks, it happens to everybody," he said as he followed Senator Lisa Murkowski into the restroom with a cell phone camera. "This is how we conduct negotiations around here, Jack!"

"Every woman that knows me personally has had a guy follow them into the restroom," he continued. "Every single one! But hey, that's why I always liked to hang out by the locker rooms, a great place to meet the ladies. ...

According to sources, Biden is also following men into the restroom, giving them a choice to either vote for his bill, or get a chain wrapped around their heads.

While some liberals did express a bit of discomfort with filming women as they used the restroom, most felt Senator Sinema really had brought this on herself.

When questioned about Biden's practice of bathroom negotiations, Press Secretary Psaki responded, "Aw, that's classic Uncle Joe! Gotta love it!"

Social Security benefits going up 5.9% next year - because that's been the inflation rate

From the Wall Street Journal -

Seniors and other Americans receiving Social Security benefits in 2022 will see the largest increase in their payments in four decades, reflecting surging inflation during the pandemic.

Next year’s cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, will be 5.9%, the Social Security Administration said Wednesday. The increase will translate to an addition of $92 to retirees’ average monthly benefit next year, bringing the amount to $1,657, the agency estimates.

The nearly 6% cost-of-living adjustment is the largest since 1982, according to Social Security Administration data. The adjustment is calculated based on the Labor Department’s measure of inflation faced by blue-collar workers.

The Labor Department said its broader measure of inflation, the consumer-price index, rose 5.4% in September from a year earlier, the largest annual gain since 2008.

Psychiatrist speaks out strongly against "assisted suicide"

Good. In Massachusetts, a presentation to a legislative committee. In all, it's nine paragraphs long so hit the link for the full statement.

As a Massachusetts psychiatrist and medical ethicist, I appreciate that there are people of good will on both sides of the assisted suicide controversy. Nevertheless, I believe the bills before you (Massachusetts House 2381/ Senate 1384) are masterpieces of misleading euphemisms. They represent a betrayal of medical ethics, and a clear and present danger to our most vulnerable patients. The House bill might well be called, “An Act that Gives Legal Cover to Physicians Who Assist in Their Patients’ Suicide.”

The bill perversely re-defines suicide, exonerating physicians who act under its aegis from the charge of “assisted suicide.” As a psychiatrist for nearly 40 years, I can tell you that when a patient knowingly ingests a lethal medication with the intent of dying, that is suicide. The context of terminal illness may partly explain--but does not alter--that fact. Attempts to separate suicides into “regular” and “assisted”, based on supposed psychological differences, are not well grounded in psychiatric knowledge or experience. In short, suicide is suicide.

***************

I do not believe that psychiatrists or other physicians should collude with the machinery of assisted suicide. That said, the bills’ provisions regarding a mental health evaluation are woefully inadequate. The bill speaks soothingly of “counseling”, but all it calls for is a single determination that the patient is “…not suffering from a psychiatric or psychological disorder or depression causing impaired judgment” and is not subject to “coercion.” There is no requirement for a thorough, face-to-face, psychiatric evaluation to assess subtle cognitive distortions that may fall short of a full-blown disorder.

 

 

Federal Judge rules healthcare workers must be granted vaccine accommodation if they have religious objections

FULL DISCLOSURE: Everyone in Farandaville has had both shots, but no one should be forced to be vaccinated.

U.S. District Judge David Hurd in Albany, New York, ruled that the state's workplace vaccination requirement conflicted with healthcare workers' federally protected right to seek religious accommodations from their employers.

The ruling provides a test case as vaccine mandate opponents gear up to fight plans by President Joe Biden's administration to extend COVID-19 inoculation requirements to tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans.

Vaccines have become highly politicized in the United States, where only 66% of Americans are vaccinated, well short of the initial goals of the Biden administration.

But- the state will fight it! More and more it seems to me the requirement to be vaccinated is basically a simple government power grab. If they can make you get vaccinated against your will, with vaccines that still only have emergency approval - to mention just one issue - then what else can they force on citizens?

New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, vowed in a statement to fight the decision, saying her "responsibility as governor is to protect the people of this state, and requiring health care workers to get vaccinated accomplishes that."

 

 

Stunning data: "... the Facts on School Closings"

During the pandemic. This is really pretty appalling. The power of teacher unions.

The article is on NR and written by two Harvard Business School professors. So probably not a product of right wing zealots with an axe to grind.

An analysis of school-closing data on the nation’s 150 largest school districts reveals something entirely different. Rather than the progress of the disease in a local community, the most important predictor of remote schooling was a school district’s historical propensity to prioritize the interests of its teachers over the competing interests of its students.

We looked at specific ways districts favor teachers over students, such as prioritizing teacher seniority over new teachers and teacher performance, granting teachers more days off, and limiting the number of hours students spend in school each day. Districts that had historically scored high on these metrics were significantly more likely to opt for the remote-learning format last year. In aggregate, these measures of district-level teacher favoritism do far more to explain remote vs. in-person school decisions than every other variable we tested, including the COVID-19 infection rates in the community. When investigating the demographic features of school districts, we found that student-favoring districts were significantly different from teacher-favoring districts. Student-favoring districts were wealthier, whiter, and less urban and had a higher percentage of families who spoke English at home. However, even controlling for these demographic variables, teacher-favoring districts were far more likely to opt for remote learning.

So the wealthier school districts were more likely to have in-school sessions.

While the full effects of pandemic-driven remote school on America’s schoolchildren will not be known for years, it is already clear that remote school has hurt the average student and that the damage has fallen disproportionately on low-income students, urban students, and students of color. Students in these groups are more likely to be in a remote school and are less able to learn in a remote classroom due to resource disparities at both the school and the household level.

So is this an example of systemic racism?

It is sad but perhaps unsurprising that more than one million students did not enroll in their local school during the first year of the pandemic, according to the New York Times. More disappointing is how disproportionately these students were from low-income neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the more vulnerable students in these teacher-favoring districts were already starting well behind their peers in student-favoring districts. Even before the COVID pandemic, students in these teacher-favoring districts had measurably worse educational outcomes: Students in teacher-favoring districts tested at a level one full year behind students in student-favoring districts and half a year behind when controlling for demographics and geography.

there's lots more if you hit the link.

 

 

Actor Denzel Washington: "Why I choose Jesus"

One of our favorite actors and a guy who has never been shy about sharing his faith. Married, with four children and a graduate of Fordham University. He's 66 years old, has won two Academy Awards, and was born in Mt. Vernon, NY.

This has been viewed/listened to almost two million times since it was posted a month ago.

 

Headlines the Babylon Bee would have written in bible times

I especially like "Water Identifies as Wine".

Sadly, The Babylon Bee has only been around for five years, which is 5,995 fewer years than the Earth has been around. Had we existed during Bible times, we definitely would have had some hilarious, scathing headlines to cover all the events that happened in ancient Israel and beyond.

A few samples -

OLD TESTAMENT 

Crazy Young-Earth Creationist Adam Claims Earth Is Only 7 Days Old

Bigot Noah Only Allows Two Genders of Each Animal on Ark

Work On Tower Of Babel Near Completion, Grbizt Mcbkd Flimadpt Dipbdeth Swn

New Reality Show Follows Wild Misadventures Of Jacob, 2 Wives, And 13 Boys

Pharaoh Starting To Get Weird Feeling He Should Let Israelites go

Moses Accidentally Drops Tablet Containing 11th Commandment Saying 'Thou Shalt Not Start A Social Media Company'

Manna Renamed To More Inclusive ‘Theyna’

Jericho Wall Collapse Blamed On Failure To Pass Infrastructure Bill

Results Of David And Goliath Bout Bankrupts Numerous Bookies

God Confirmed Libertarian After Warning Israel Against Having A King

'Real Housewives Of Solomon's Harem' Reality Show Announced 

Breaking: King Solomon Diagnosed With Syphilis

Jonah Telling Crazy Stories Again

Israel Totally Going To Be Obedient And Follow God This T--Update: Never Mind They Blew It

Sources Confirm Ba'al Was Indeed On The Crapper While His Prophets Were Getting Owned

NEW TESTAMENT 

King Herod Calls For Destroying Any Clumps Of Cells Less Than Two Years Old

Cana wedding reception; Water Identifies as Wine

Zacchaeus Sues Jesus For Not Following ADA Guidelines At Event

Pharisees Condemn Jesus’s Miraculous Healings As Unapproved Treatment For Leprosy

CNN Reports Jesus Only Able To Walk On Water Because Of Climate Change

Jesus Hatefully Slut-Shames Woman At Well

Jesus Uncancels The Whole World 

Local Stoner Named Saul Becomes Apostle 

Apostle John Praised For Isolating, Social Distancing On Island Of Patmos

New plan for Guantanamo: parents speaking at school board meetings to be sent there

Terrorists Released From Guantanamo Bay To Make Room For Parents Who Protested At School Board Meetings

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Terrorists are being released from Guantanamo Bay in order to make room for parents protesting their children's education, sources at the State Department confirmed today.

Dangerous terrorists from the Middle East, Europe, and Fresno are being released in droves as their cells are needed for this far greater threat. "See you later, Bob!" said one guard as he sent Bob the Bombin' Terrorist Guy out of the prison facility on a helicopter. "Good times playing cribbage and all that—I'll get you next time! Have a good one!" The guard then waited for the next load of detainees to arrive, and took custody of Cindy Alpers from Orange, California. "Right this way, Cindy. You'll be in a high-security cell. It's the same one Murderin' Steve stayed in for a couple of decades. Ah, Murderin' Steve. I miss that guy."

Game one of the playoffs - a home plate steal!

Tampa Bay robs the Red Sox, and it really wasn't close at the plate. The Series is tied, one game each.

Tesla moves from California to Texas. I wonder why?

It seems that the Covid era has encouraged technology workers to consider whether they prefer Gov. Gavin Newsom (D., Calif.), who is partial to mandates and taxes, or Gov. Greg Abbott (R., Texas), who favors a different path.

The Journal’s Rebecca Elliott and Rob Copeland report:

Tesla Inc. is moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas, cementing Chief Executive Elon Musk’s commitment to the Lone Star State and adding to a handful of Silicon Valley companies that have relocated there.

Mr. Musk announced the move from Tesla’s Austin-area factory, which the company began building last year and where it held its annual shareholder meeting Thursday. He added that Tesla plans to expand its activities in California but that the company’s ability to scale up in the San Francisco Bay Area is limited.

It seems that the Covid era has encouraged technology workers to consider whether they prefer Gov. Gavin Newsom (D., Calif.), who is partial to mandates and taxes, or Gov. Greg Abbott (R., Texas), who favors a different path. According to the Journal:

Tech companies were among the earliest to send employees home at the start of the pandemic, and a number of prominent players in the industry have allowed their employees to work remotely on a permanent basis. That shift has prompted many Silicon Valley employees and startup CEOs to relocate to other parts of the country for cheaper housing, less traffic and a better quality of living.

Mr. Musk nodded to some of those challenges, saying of the Bay Area, “It’s tough for people to afford houses, and a lot of people have to come in from far away.”

Texas, particularly its capital of Austin, has attracted more technology companies and startup development in recent years, offering lower taxes and less regulation than California and more affordable real estate.

Further up the west coast from the Golden State, Oregon and Washington impose much more reasonable tax burdens. But too many local politicians succumbed to the civic insanity of 2020 and concluded that police are the problem with public safety. Reading Maxine Bernstein’s heartbreaking new report in the Oregonian newspaper, one would think she is describing a visit to a war zone, not a beautiful American city

Off the BBC: Intel, free markets, and the real "Build Back Better"

Intel expanding it's semiconductor production. FULL DISCLOSURE: I don't own Intel.

 

T-Rex long ago ancestor unearthed

And it's the size of a chicken! But nasty... Found in South Wales.

 

CNN: "New Poll Numbers “Brutal” For Joe Biden"

Wow and amazing considering many polls show that 40% of voters would NEVER deviate from support for the Democrat Party.

Quoting TS Eliot, "Not with a bang but a whimper" as Yankees out of playoffs

Quote is from "The Hollow Men".

Yankee top pitcher Gerrit Cole ($1million per start) only lasted two innings as Boston won 6-2.

As most fans know, star pitcher Cole signed a record-setting nine-year, $324 million contract with the Yankees following the 2019 season. The entire dollar amount is guaranteed and will include an annual average salary of $36 million, which comes out to just over $1 million per start

 

Here Cole faces the reporters and tries to explain what happened.

 

 

Maryknoll sisters elect new leadership team

Maryknoll world headquarters is in Ossining, NY where I am from. As a first and second grader (very long ago!), Maryknoll sisters were my "released time religious instruction" teachers. Despite having the title of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, most of the Maryknoll vocations now come from abroad.

"Maryknoll Sisters Elect New President And Leadership Team"

Eighty-three delegates representing 18 places around the world met in General Assembly at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY from September 12 through 23, 2021 to plan for the future of the Congregation and elect a new leadership team for the next six years. In the General Assembly opening liturgy, the Sisters announced the theme, "Be the Co-Creative Energy of Divine Love", reflecting on and discussing the new paradigms of mission and of our life together that the Holy Spirit is calling us to.

 

ABC: Here's the facebook whistleblower

Republicans and Democrats agree on something? That in itself is suspicious. Only Tim and myself in my house have a facebook account. I hardly ever visit mine and I don't think Tim uses his very much.

 

Senator Kyrsten Sinema gets harassed going to the bathroom

Her crime? She's a Democrat, but doesn't believe in fairy tales and won't support the Bernie Sanders style budget.

 

CNN: Former Democratic Candidate for President Andrew Yang on why he left the Democrat Party

He has registered as an Independent (like me). I thought he had some good ideas (probably why he never got any traction in the Democrat Presidential primaries) and for better or worse I think his idea of a Universal Basic Income (he favored everyone getting $1,000 a month from the government) is likely to soon be reality. 

 

Biden cracking down on border crossings; no more gift baskets

At the southern border - sounds like a step in the right direction but see below - they are still giving out the coupon book & voter registration cards ...

The situation at the southern border is out of control, and it’s no more Mister Nice Guy for President Biden. He’s taking his harshest measures yet, suspending the program to hand out gift baskets to everyone who illegally crosses the border. “Cheeses, crackers, a bottle of locally made wine...” Biden told the press. “If you think you can illegally cross our border and get all of that, well, that’s no longer true.”

This cruel measure has made Biden unpopular with left-wing activists. “It’s inhumane,” said Monica Ballard, a liberal pundit. “If we stop giving people delightful gift baskets, they’ll begin to think we don’t want them to illegally cross our border.”

Critics on the right, though, don’t think Biden has gone far enough. “You have to stop giving them that coupon book, too,” said an angry, racist redneck. “That coupon book is full of valuable savings — they don’t deserve that for illegally crossing our border! And stop giving them all voter registration cards; there’s something suspicious about that.”

With the program at the southern border ended, Biden is instead sending all the gift baskets they already had to the Taliban.

 

Yanks slide into the playoffs. Here's how.

So Tuesday on to the one game wild card playoff against the Red Sox in Boston. Here's how they won yesterday in the bottom of the ninth, 1-0. Good move putting Tyler Wade on as a pinch runner after the single!

 

WSJ: "There May Soon Be a Covid Pill. Big Pharma comes to the pandemic rescue one more time."

I posted about this a few days ago here - Merck Pharma - has antiviral pill effective against Covid.

Here's the Journal -

Since the beginning of the pandemic, doctors have been hoping for an oral antiviral that could prevent recently infected patients from getting sicker. The FDA approved Gilead’s remdesivir for emergency use in hospitalized patients last spring, but the intravenous drug isn’t available to those not sick enough to be admitted.

An early stage trial this spring showed that molnupiravir rapidly reduced the amount of virus in patients. Based on that promising result, the Biden Administration in June signed a $1.2 billion contract for 1.7 million courses. Critics of Big Pharma complain the government is paying $700 per treatment, but Merck is spending to develop the treatment and scale up production at its own risk.

Merck has also signed licensing agreements with generic manufacturers to accelerate the pill’s availability world-wide. Manufacturers in low-income countries don’t need special expertise and supervision to produce the pills, unlike with the Covid vaccines. Molnupiravir can be easily distributed in poorer countries.

*****************

Molnupiravir would have been enormously helpful during this summer’s Delta surge that has swamped some hospitals. Preliminary results released Friday from the Phase 3 trial showed 7.3% of at-risk patients who received molnupiravir were hospitalized, and none died within 29 days of treatment. By contrast, 14.1% of placebo recipients were hospitalized or died.

Evidence also indicates that the drug is effective against different variants and is unlikely to produce viral resistance. The pill could make Covid more manageable in low- and middle-income countries while countries expand vaccine manufacturing and distribution. It may also help reduce transmission and the severity of breakthrough infections.

The government throughout the pandemic has overlooked the pressing need for a Covid pill, but the FDA can help make up for this mistake by now fast-tracking molnupiravir.

An interesting Saint: Theodora Guerin, missionary to America

"Let us never forget that if we wish to die like the saints we must live like them."

— St. Théodore Guérin

Note that her name is Theodore Guerin but she was designated St. Theodora - not sure why. Below I've put the miracles attributed to her, leading to her canonization.

She was only recently canonized - in 2006 by Pope Benedict. Today is her feast day.

St. Theodore Guerin (1798–1856), also known as St. Theodora, was born in Etables, France, towards the end of the French Revolution. She was a pious child who loved prayer and who knew her vocation was to be a nun. However, she was delayed in following this path after the murder of her father when she was 15, which, in addition to the previous death of two of her siblings, sent her mother into a deep depression. St. Theodore took on the household tasks and the care of her mother and her remaining sister.

Finally, when she was 25, her mother gave her consent, and Theodore left home to enter the religous life. She joined the Sisters of Providence who served God by educating children and caring for the poor, the sick, and the dying.

In 1840 she was asked to lead a band of missionary sisters and establish her order in the United States of America, specifically to serve the pioneers in Indiana. Even though her health was fragile, she crossed the Atlantic and then traveled by steamboat and stagecoach until she reached the wilderness mission of St. Mary of the Woods, which consisted only of a tiny log chapel. She and her five sisters endured the extreme hardships common to life on the frontier. Less than a year after arriving she opened an academy which became the first Catholic women's Liberal Arts college in the United States, still active today, called St. Mary of the Woods College.

St. Theodore also established numerous schools, pharmacies, and orphanages throughout the state of Indiana. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II and canonized in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI. Her feast day is October 3rd.

Miracles attributed to Guerin - from wikipedia

The first miracle attributed to Guérin is said to have occurred in 1908. Before going to bed on 30 October, Sister of Providence Mary Theodosia Mug prayed at Guérin's crypt in the Church of the Immaculate Conception on the motherhouse grounds at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods for another sister who was ill. However, Mug herself suffered from damaged nerves in both arms and her right hand, breast cancer, and an abdominal tumor. When she awoke the next day, Sister Mary Theodosia was able to move her arms without pain, and the lump in her abdomen had disappeared. The cancer never returned. Sister Mary Theodosia died of old age in 1943 at the age of eighty-two.^[1][40][41]

The second of the miracles attributed to Guérin involves Phil McCord of Terre Haute, Indiana, and occurred in January 2001.^[42] McCord, who had worked in facilities management for the Sisters of Providence, stopped by the Church of the Immaculate Conception and was drawn in by music from the pipe organ. After entering the church, McCord felt compelled to pray to Guérin, asking for strength to undergo surgery, a cornea transplant for his right eye to improve his failing eyesight^[43] (Previous eye surgeries did not fully restore his eyesight, which had deteriorated to a legally-blind status of 20-800 in one eye and 20-1000 in the other.) McCord returned to his home, and when he awoke the next morning, his vision, although still blurry, had improved. A follow-up visit with his eye doctor confirmed that McCord no longer needed the cornea transplant. With subsequent laser treatment, McCord's eyesight returned perfect, 20-20 vision. Ophthalmologists and others investigating the case could find no medical explanation for the change in his condition. In 2006 the Catholic cardinals at the Vatican reviewed and approved the findings in the case and declared the event a miracle, paving the way for the final step in Guérin's canonization process.^[42][44]

BB: "Trump Finally Concedes He Only Won 2020 Election By A Small Margin"

Heck, Trump only lost the popular vote by 7 million!

PALM BEACH, FL—At a press conference held at the Mar-a-Lago Club today, former President Donald Trump finally acknowledged that he didn't win the 2020 election by a massive landslide, and that he only won it by a normal, narrow margin.

Trump said he was convinced by mounting evidence coming out of recounts and audits in various states and now agrees that he did not win the election by 10 million votes, but "probably more like 2 or 3 million" overall.

"After reviewing all the evidence, I'm willing to concede that I didn't win the 2020 election by a record landslide margin, and only won it by a smaller, normal margin," he said somberly to reporters. "I'm a fair guy. Maybe the fairest ever. And I know when I'm wrong. People say that to me all the time. They say, 'Hey, Don, you know what I like best about you? Your intelligence. But do you know what I like second best about you? Your humility and your willingness to admit when you're wrong.' Very smart people say that, all of 'em."

"So I come to you humbly now and ask your forgiveness for being slightly wrong about just how many votes I won by."

Trump then demanded Biden leave the White House now that he has conceded that he only won by a decent margin.

NY Times economics op ed writer Paul Krugman goes full Modern Monetary Theory whacko; suggests minting a 1 Trillion dollar coin

Krugman got the Nobel Prize in 2008 for his work on international trade policy. Other than that - having read his columns more or less for 20 years - he's a dope and know nothing.  The Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen thinks it's a dumb idea without actually using the word.

Krugman's column -

The fact that Republicans routinely say such nonsense is why the Biden administration should mint a $1 trillion platinum coin or declare that the Constitution gives it the right to issue whatever debt is needed to fund the government — or use some other trick I haven’t thought of to ignore the looming crisis.

Fr. Emil Kapaun, Chaplain and Medal of Honor winner, receives his 70 year overdue funeral.

This was shown live on EWTN and other places, and it's an amazing story about a priest who died in a North Korean prison camp in 1951 and is being considered for beatification. He was captured because he stayed behind with wounded soldiers while part of his unit made an escape. His remains were only identified a few months ago.

'A heart of courage' - the funeral of Fr. Emil Kapaun

A funeral Mass was held Wednesday for Servant of God Emil Kapaun — a priest who died in a Korean POW camp seven decades ago, a Medal of Honor recipient who may one day be declared a saint.

The priest, whose remains were identified only this year, is venerated in the United States for his ministry to soldiers and prisoners of war during the Korean War. He died in May 1951, himself a prisoner, and his cause for canonization was opened in 2008.

Here are some excerpts from the homily by Bishop Carl Kemme -

“The Lord has shown us his Fatherly goodness in allowing [Kapaun’s] earthly goodness, his body, back to the land of his family, back to Kansas.”

—
“I consider it a singular but undeserved honor as the present Bishop of Wichita to lead us today in the Mass of Christian burial. Six of my predecessors longed for and prayed for this day, but perhaps none more so than Bishop Mark Carroll. It was Bishop Carroll who, we are confident, acted under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and permitted Fr. Emil to return to active duty as a military chaplain in 1948.

It was Bishop Carroll who ministered to Fr. Kapaun’s family when word was received of his untimely demise. In the nearly monthly letters between Bishop Carroll and Fr Kapaun there is revealed a deep paternal and filial relationship between a bishop and one of his priests. I found in those letters much to ponder and to consider.”

“God’s goodness and everlasting love was to be witnessed in a …mysterious way in the life of this young priest, from Pilsen, Kansas. Now, no doubt the Holy See and, in particular, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints would want me to remind you that we are not here to beatify this man; the work of the Church’s investigation continues. We are here today to provide for Father what was not provided for him 70 years ago: A Mass of Christian Burial.

Though many of us pray for his intercession, today we pray for his repose.”

Brigid and I saved the video and watched the first half one day and the second half the next day; very moving. You can get to it through the first link above.

 

Merck Pharma - has antiviral pill effective against Covid.

From the NY Times and of course covered in all the other media. Testing went very well - a massive potential breakthrough. Funny that I'd posted about this a few days ago here NBC News: "A Daily Pill to Treat Covid could be just months away"   - And there are other likely antiviral treatments in the pipeline, if you read the NYT article.

Merck Says It Has the First Antiviral Pill Found to Be Effective Against Covid The drug maker will seek authorization for molnupiravir, the first drug of its kind for Covid. Experts said such pills could be a powerful tool against the virus.

The drug maker Merck said on Friday that its pill to treat Covid-19 was shown in a key clinical trial to halve the risk of hospitalization or death when given to high-risk people early in their infections.

The strong results suggest that a new wave of effective and easy-to-use treatments for Covid will gradually become available in the United States, though supply is likely to be limited at first. Merck said it would seek emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its drug, known as molnupiravir, as soon as possible. The pills could be available by late this year.

Merck’s drug would be the first pill to treat Covid-19; it is likely to be followed by a number of other antiviral pills that other companies are racing to bring to market. They have the potential to reach more people than the antibody treatments that are being widely used in the United States for high-risk patients.