Tom Faranda's Folly

Pope Francis celebrates Largest Mass in History of Morocco

Pope Francis concluded his historic visit to Morocco by celebrating a Mass enlivened by a mixture of Gregorian chant with the beat of drums and the rhythmic dance, music and song of 10,000 faithful—most of them migrants from countries in sub-Saharan Africa—at a sports stadium in Rabat, the capital city of this Muslim-majority country.

It was the largest Mass ever celebrated in this land, where Christianity first came between the second and third centuries but where only a tiny presence remains today.

Bishops and priests from Morocco and other countries concelebrated Mass with Pope Francis in a sports complex on the outskirts of the city. Among those attending the Mass was Brother Jean-Pierre Schumacher, O.C.S.O, the last monk survivor from the monastery of Tibhirine in Algeria. (Seven Trappist monks were killed at Tibhirine during the Algerian civil war in 1996.) Prayers were read in Arabic, French, Spanish, English and Italian.

"The Urbanization of Croton"!?

Not sure how accurate this is, or if this is the sort of "development" we'd like to see in Croton. Hit the link for more including a map showing the plan. The quoted letter was published in the Croton weekly "The Gazette." 

Trustee Ann Gallelli led resident appointees Paul Doyle, Ted Brumleve, and Bruce Kauderer in this major revision to carry Croton forward into the next century. The plan calls for development of 2-3 story buildings from the Croton Colonial Diner, looping up to include the area now occupied by the Post Office, across to the Katz property, and all the way north on Riverside past the firehouse.

Huh? What's the point?

 

The Middle Ages has returned! ... to Venezuela

Thanks to Maria for sending me this off Yahoo!. From 1977 to 1979 I lived in a similar Democratic Socialist Paradise - the one created by Michael Manley in Jamaica. For 90% of the population it wasn't pretty. Not a long article; excerpt below the link.

Venezuela returns to 'Middle Ages' during power outages

Caracas (AFP) - Walking for hours, making oil lamps, bearing water. For Venezuelans today, suffering under a new nationwide blackout that has lasted days, it's like being thrown back to life centuries ago.

El Avila, a mountain that towers over Caracas, has become a place where families gather with buckets and jugs to fill up with water, wash dishes and scrub clothes. The taps in their homes are dry from lack of electricity to the city's water pumps.

"We're forced to get water from sources that obviously aren't completely hygienic. But it's enough for washing or doing the dishes," said one resident, Manuel Almeida.

Because of the long lines of people, the activity can take hours of waiting.

Elsewhere, locals make use of cracked water pipes. But they still need to boil the water, or otherwise purify it.

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

As night casts Caracas into darkness, families light their homes as best they can.

"We make lamps that burn gasoline, or oil, or kerosene -- any type of fuel," explained Lizbeth Morin, 30.

"We've returned to the Middle Ages."

Baby elephants in "a sticky situation"

Who doesn't love elephants? Certainly the lady shouting loves them...

Here's just about the only guy who could beat Trump in 2020

Terry McAuliffe. He's got a long political resume and is just as slick as Trump. Of course he's on the wrong side of most issues.

Terry McAuliffe is moving closer to a 2020 presidential run, Democrats close to the former Virginia governor tell CNN. McAuliffe has been telling Democratic allies that he is leaning toward jumping into the Democratic presidential race next month, according to three people who have spoken to him. The former governor has long said he would make a decision by the end of March, with a potential announcement later in April.

Of all the potential Democratic candidates, few are more familiar than McAuliffe with the rigors of a presidential race. For nearly a quarter-century, he campaigned extensively in each race for Bill and Hillary Clinton and is a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Farcical: Cambridge revokes offer of Fellowship to Jordan Peterson

The reasoning? It came down to a picture taken with a guy who had an objectionable t-shirt. Here's my review of his excellent book. 12 Rules for Life, an Antidote to Chaos

And here's a commentary form Crisis magazine (online publication) about the Cambridge move.

Peterson’s academic work is highly cited; he is a respected authority on personality, social conflict, psychology of religion, and the effects of alcohol on the brain. Google Scholar shows that he has over 11,000 citations and an h-index of 52. It would be reasonable to think that the Faculty of Divinity might have a particular interest in Peterson’s thoughts on the psychology of the various biblical narratives. His online biblical lectures on the “The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories” have had millions of views. His first lecture of the biblical series alone has had over 3 million.

Nope. It was this BS.

Finally, I wondered if it could be the picture that had recently surfaced of him posing with a fan sporting a “Proud Islamophobe” t-shirt. Below the title is a list of immoral acts committed by some Muslims. It spread quite rapidly after the tragic and horrifying massacre of 49 Muslims peacefully worshipping in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. By odd coincidence, a day after Cambridge revoked their invitation, Whitcoulls, New Zealand’s largest book franchise, withdrew Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos—an odd thing for a book that promotes moral responsibility and nowhere advocates violence. And yet they carry undeniably objectionable books like Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. It turns out that this was the reason for the revocation given by the vice chancellor of the Faculty of Divinity, Stephen J. Toope. He stated:

Early last week, the Faculty became aware of a photograph of Professor Peterson posing with his arm around a man wearing a T-shirt that clearly bore the slogan “I’m a proud Islamophobe.” The casual endorsement by association of this message was thought to be antithetical to the work of a Faculty that prides itself in the advancement of inter-faith understanding.

One could argue that since Peterson often takes pictures with over a hundred people per lecture and thousands throughout his speaking tours, he didn’t notice it. Still, one could conversely argue that the photographer or others on his team could have said something. Nevertheless, even if Peterson did consciously note the shirt, does that mean he endorses the messages on every piece of clothing worn by those he meets?

But Peterson has Muslim fans!

Muslims do not have a monolithic view of Peterson. Take for instance what one self-described devout Muslim on reddit said about Peterson:

Hi Dr Peterson, I pray you and your family are well.

I am a devout Muslim and I would like to say that I am a big fan. I loved your book ‘12 Rules to Life’ and am saddened that it’s been pulled in New Zealand, I think this will only increase the dislike certain people have for Islam. I’ve listened to most of your talks and interviews, I haven’t heard any hate speech towards Islam or to any other group for that matter.

Your sincerity in pursuing and speaking what you believe to be the truth is admirable and I pray that God continues to assist you in this.

Taz

There are numerous things to say here but I’ll mention only a couple. The vice chancellor mentions inter-faith understanding but he squandered a perfect opportunity to facilitate it. A public inter-faith dialogue with Peterson could have attracted a significant amount of attention but that would generate the sort of publicity Toope fears. Political correctness is stifling honest inquiry.

BB: Relief that President is only guilty of paying off porn stars & models

Conservative evangelicals across the country confirmed Monday they were relieved that after the Mueller Report seemingly cleared President Trump of any Russian collusion over the weekend, they now have a president who only paid off porn stars and supermodels to cover up his marital infidelity.

"Trump did not collude with Russia, showing he is God's chosen, anointed one whose only flaw is having multiple affairs and paying the women hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep it all quiet," said Pastor Robert Jeffress in an elated sermon Sunday. "His moral character is unmatched now that we know he wasn't doing Putin's bidding."

Jeffress then asked the congregation to stand and sing the church's classic hymn "Make America Great Again," which is an actual thing that exists in our reality.

"Our chosen president is making morality great again," Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr said in a special address to the student body that was called when the Mueller Report was filed.

Love it: "The politically incorrect Pope Francis - 14...Statements"

While large elements of the media like to promote the fantasy that the Pope is "Progressive" - he's actually, well, Catholic. Scroll through this posting for all 14.

The Politically Incorrect Francis—14 Shocking Statements

Here are four of them -

Abortion is Nazi eugenics with white gloves

“Children have a right to grow up in a family with a father and a mother.”

The Devil, the Devil, the Devil.

“The Church has spoken.”

Yes, and he is a strong environmentalist. But he's more than that.

 

Very funny: CNN favorite lawyer(s) get indicted

Well maybe not funny if you're a CNN fanboy. Stormy Daniel's lawyer Michael Avenetti was at one point appearing more often then once a day on CNN.

BB: Top ten proofs Jesus was a socialist

Impressive. I've excerpted two below the link, but it's all good -

We all know that Jesus was a socialist. It's pretty obvious... Nonetheless, there are many neanderthals who still don't know this beautiful truth. To help you convince them that Jesus was a passionate supporter of a centralized economy, totalitarian state, and redistribution of wealth, look no further than these 10 indisputable proofs

1.) Remember that one time he held a political rally and inflamed the masses to seize control of the means of production? - What more proof do you need that Jesus was a tried-and-true socialist? This is definitely our favorite Bible story.

8.) He hung out with tax collectors to thank them for their work - It’s commonly thought that Jesus hung out with tax collectors to get them to repent of their thievery. But this is wrong. Jesus actually was thanking them for their valuable redistributive services.

A mouse tale!

Cute video below from the UK. We just spent six weeks tracking a mouse invader who loved our kitchen, before trapping him (her?) and releasing at Senasqua.

Now this is an obsessed mouse!

Stephen Mckears, 72, first noticed objects moving in his shed in South Gloucester a month ago and asked his neighbour to help him get to the bottom of the mystery. They filmed a mouse tidying nuts and bolt that had been scattered around the floor of the shed into a plastic tub. The pair filmed the mouse tidying away the metal objects from around midnight to 2.30am - an activity it has been doing every night for around a month.

 

Mueller Report - here's a link to Barr's summary

Easy to read on your phone, or print out. Tiny excerpt below link.

Mueller report: The full text of William Barr’s summary letter

The report explains that the Special Counsel and his staff thoroughly investigated allegations that members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, and others associated with it, conspired with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, or sought to obstruct the related federal investigations. In the report, the Special Counsel noted that, in completing his investigation, he employed 19 lawyers who were assisted by a team of approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff. The Special Counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses.

CNN: Mueller report "Really good news" for Trump

From Jeffrey Toobin chief CNN legal analyst and a 100% Trump-hater.

BB: Trump visits McCain's grave every day to yell at it

Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain is gone but not forgotten....

*******

“So I’m still alive today!” Trump said to McCain’s grave in his last visit. “How about you? Oh. No witty comeback? Ha!” Trump laughed, but then his mood quickly turned darker and he yelled, “You think you’re better than me?!” before kicking the grave and hurting his foot.

“He just hasn’t gotten over McCain’s death,” explained Vice President Michael Pence. “He feels that McCain passed way too early and that there was so much left unsaid between the two of them...

So Trump visits McCain’s grave every day, stomping on any flowers people have left on it and yelling about how McCain is “nothing” and that “no one even thinks about him anymore.”

“It’s the most dedicated he has ever been to anyone,” said Trump’s wife, Melania.

Tragic: A year later Parkland shooting survivor takes her own life

Just appalling.

 

Three ways to fail a sobriety test

Very amusing - in a sick sort of way ... Thanks to my friend Paul for sending around.

Ichiro Suzuki retires from baseball

A great player who had 27 seasons in Japan and the US Major Leagues.  An incredibly disciplined player. Suzuki retires at age 45. Most of his American career was with the Seattle Mariners, but he was a Yankee for a couple of years.

TED talk: A new Homo (human) species discovered - Homo Naledi

Very, very interesting 11 minute talk, proving once again that in science nothing is ever "settled."

Che Guevara announces run for President; Democrats say he's "too moderate"

SANTA CLARA, CUBA—Is Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara too moderate for a 2020 run as a Democrat?

Marxists for Equality, Socialism, and Stalinism. MESS activists arrived in Santa Clara earlier this week and summoned Guevara's spirit back from the dead using dark, demonic rituals... then hastily photoshopped a birth certificate for Zombie Guevara so he would be eligible to run for president of the United States.

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

"I'm just not sure Guevara is far enough left to be a viable Democratic candidate this election," said one political pundit on CNN. "He's really a centrist in the midst of this field of radical leftists, and we just don't think he's going to stand out this time."

Democrats pointed out that while Guevara was a mass murderer, he really needs to specifically come out as allowing murder up to and including the moment of birth if he's going to be accepted as a mainstream Democratic candidate. They also demonstrated that his brand of totalitarianist terror was a fine starting point, but he needs to show his willingness to silence anyone who even seems to slightly disagree with the left if he's going to get any traction.

"I just looked up the Wikipedia article on Che," Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted while she was supposed to be working. "I don't see anything about him addressing climate change and wanting to destroy an entire economy based on wild-eyed apocalyptic predictions. I might have to throw away my Guevara T-shirts, to be honest."

 

CNN: A Look at Trump's 2020 re-election campaign

Pretty interesting as Dana Bash interviews Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale .

Outdoorsy stuff: Knife and hatchet review off "All Outdoor" website

Of interest to some people -like me. I cut and pasted off their website - they won't mind.

... here’s what I’ve been up to recently since moving on from being the Editor-in-Chief of AllOutdoor:

• • How to choose and mix bladed tools for preppers
  • Best survival knives for preppers
  • Best field knife sheaths and accessories
  • Best Bowie knife and large knives
  • Best machete and kukri
  • Best survival tomahawk
  • Best survival hatchet
  • Best survival axe
  • How to sharpen a knife for preppers
  • Best knife sharpening strops and compounds
  • Best knife sharpening stones
  • Best pull-through knife sharpeners

All of the guides above are really long and substantial, so take a look if you’re curious about any of those topics and would like to know way more than you ever thought there was to know on any of them.

BB: Party of Progress - "Everything is bad; don't have kids"

Cable news channels are highlighting this position ...

“The world is going to end in twelve years. If you have kids, it will end in probably like six years or something because they’ll just breathe more,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on a recent Instagram Live broadcast. “I have the science right here.” Ocasio-Cortez held up a copy of National Geographic. She later realized she had been referencing an article from 1989 warning that the world would end in 2001 if deep and wide environmental policies were not enforced. “If scientists from thirty years ago said the world was going to end in 12 years, who am I to doubt science?” she said upon realizing this.”Science is science.”

However, in conflict with the traditional progressive view of not having children, some evidence suggests that one of the world’s greatest resources is the bright young minds of tomorrow. Research shows that children born today could be tomorrow’s innovators, finding solutions to the world’s problems this generation never even thought of. “That’s junk science,” said progressive researcher Darrell Lyons from the University of Henshaw. “Name one generation who was improved by the next generation. It’s a myth. People are born, they pollute the Earth, the world ends. That is how it has always worked out as long as the Earth has existed.”

“Name one person who isn’t born yet who could fix the world’s problems,” Lyons went on. “I’ll wait.” Lyons sat with his arms crossed for close to thirty minutes before reporters began exiting the conference room.

“True progressivism knows the truth: this generation is the last possible hope for mankind,” Bridges continued on her live stream. “We know that the most brilliant minds to ever exist, past or future, are ours. If we don’t have our way, that’s the real Armageddon.”

Interesting - Inside stories on the first landing on the moon

Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and (of course) Neil Armstrong. A good short read of a book review, from the Mirror (UK).

"Secret feuds and heartbreak at the centre of the historic first landing on the moon"

Donovan said: "I discovered that the Moon landing was even more dangerous than anyone outside Mission Control knew.

"When the primitive Apollo Guidance Computer - with just 72kB of memory and a processing speed millions of times slower than today's average smartphone - began to blare alarms at 40,000 feet it took incredible skill on the part of the controllers not to abort the entire mission."

In the course of researching his book, Donovan discovered that careful plans had to be made in case events took a tragic turn.

Command module pilot Michael Collins was worried about the many things that could go wrong when the lunar module Eagle separated from his main craft Columbia and, later, when the astronauts attempted to make their rendezvous with him after leaving the Moon's surface.

In fact, there were no less than 18 variations on the procedure to follow in the event of such an emergency.

One of these, which Collins had to burn that would send him back to Earth if his two crewmates had to be left on the Moon to die.

Donovan said: "Collins developed tics in both eyes at the thought of being unable to retrieve his two comrades and having to turn homeward and leave them on the Moon or circle it until they perished."

More if you hit the link (may take a moment to load).

 

Good article: "Weirdo O’Rourke"

From NR online - His $9 million net worth is the figure from 2015; no doubt it's higher now. An excerpt below the link.

Texan Democrat Beto O'Rourke is a rich dilettante who has finally figured out what he wants to do with his life: Run for president in 2020.

Robert/Beto is a man so apart from other human beings that he recently thought nothing of ditching his wife and three kids so he could drive around the country, alone, accosting unsuspecting dentists to help him apply Novocaine to his aching soul. He might be the first person ever to run for the White House on a platform of asking the nation help him figure out who he is.

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

The source of the angst is evident: Beto is a brainless rich kid who yearned to be cool and wasn’t very good at it. He flunked out of punk. He failed as a fiction writer. He belly-flopped as an alternative-newspaper publisher. And he’s so clueless that his apartment was once robbed while he was sitting in it. At his pricey Virginia prep school (Woodberry Forest School these days carries a sticker price of $48,000 a year), he thought he “just stuck out so badly” because of the “monoculture” there, which the Dallas Morning News called “white, wealthy and southern.” O’Rourke was and is white, wealthy, and southern, so he couldn’t have stuck out much more than Miracle Whip at the mayonnaise convention, yet he was wounded and alienated. Or maybe not. He put this in his high school yearbook: “I’m the angry son. I’m the angry son.” Below that: “I owe you everything, Mom, Dad . . .” You have to pick one, though, don’t you? You can’t be a seething rebel and a dutiful child. You can’t be Kurt Cobain and Kenny G. One pose nullifies the other. Or maybe O’Rourke was even then trying to position himself as acceptable to all constituencies.

But I don’t think so. I think Robert (as he called himself at boarding school, having shed his childhood nickname because he wanted to fit in) didn’t even spot the contradiction. Hey, you’re not a phony if you genuinely don’t know who you are. O’Rourke is a guy who was trying to make it as a punk rocker at the same time he was working as a nanny. Leonard Zelig wasn’t a phony, he just had this involuntary nervous reaction that turned him fat when he was next to a fat guy or Chinese when he was next to a Chinese guy. Zelig was . . . weird.

O’Rourke did do a normal Texas thing when he started an IT business at the turn of the century, but that didn’t go anywhere. When sold two years ago, it was still worth less than $500,000. So what’s the deal with his net worth, which is estimated at $9 million? I came across this line, on Heavy.com: “Peppertree Square Ltd. Imperial Arms is a real estate company, and Peppertree Square is a shopping center in El Paso, which was a gift from his mother.” Jeez, I remember when I thought my mom was sweet for buying me a blazer. I want Beto’s mom. When Beto’s dad died, he left the boy an apartment complex worth $5 million. Also his father-in-law William D. Sanders is worth a packet. Bloomberg once estimated he was worth $20 billion.

BB: Elizabeth Warren leaves nasty 1 star review on Ancestry.com

Not breaking news -

Internet users noticed a particularly negative review of the site's DNA testing and family tree analysis services. They were then able to link the account, JefeWarren2020, to the presidential candidate's official email address.

"Site suggested I was only 1/1024th Native American, even though I have a lot of anecdotal family stories from my mama and my papa that suggest otherwise," she wrote in the bitter review. "Very bad services. I would not use them again."

"I even used my Native American heritage to get a leg up in life, and now some cheap website comes along and tells me it's all a lie? I don't think so, Buster!" the review continued. Warren then left a list of Native American words she knows as proof of her Indian heritage: teepee, maize, and buffalo.

"So as you can see, Ancestry.com is a huge scam!"

BB Report: "Trump treated for 3rd degree burns after signing bibles"

Trump will reportedly be discharged soon under strict instructions to sign only copies of Art of the Deal and issues of Playboy.

The burns have been connected to a recent event at which President Donald Trump was seen signing people's Bibles in the aftermath of a deadly Alabama tornado.

After Trump signed the Bibles and began his return journey to the White House, he began to complain of an itch on his hand that started to run all the way up his arm. 

Then, just as Trump was getting ready to tear into his customary Big Mac, his arm burst into flames. "Agggghh!!!" Trump cried, attempting to put the fire out with his Diet Coke. Aides rushed to his side but were unable to quench the supernatural fire, and the president was rushed to the WHMU for immediate emergency treatment.

Bill Maher agrees ... with Mark Dice?

Gives new meaning to the term "Odd Couple". Bill Maher is, well Bill Maher - centi-millionaire leftist whacko. Mark Dice is a popular right wing gadfly and modest conspiracy theorist.

This is off Dice's youtube channel.

WSJ: "An Army Hero Travis Atkins will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for saving lives in Iraq."

Below, all from the Journal-

The White House notes: Staff Sergeant Travis W. Atkins will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions of June 1, 2007, in support of IRAQI FREEDOM. While serving in Iraq with Company D, 2d Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Staff Sergeant Atkins engaged in hand-to hand combat with a suspected insurgent. As he attempted to subdue the man, Staff Sergeant Atkins realized the insurgent was attempting to detonate a bomb strapped to his body. When he noticed the insurgent was about to trigger the suicide vest, Staff Sergeant Atkins tackled him, selflessly using his own body to shield his fellow soldiers from the imminent explosion. Staff Sergeant Atkins’ heroic actions, at the cost of his life, saved the lives of three of his teammates.

In 2015 the Washington Post reported that the native of Bozeman, Montana “had already been in and out of the Army and done a combat tour in Iraq when the draw of service pulled him to join again in 2005.” The following year he was once again deployed to one of the most violent parts of the country. The Post reported:

“He was an absolutely brilliant noncommissioned officer,” said Atkins’s former company commander, who asked not to be named because of the nature of his current job, recalling the foul-mouthed soldier with the shaved head. “There are some men who just know they need to be wearing stripes, down in the dirt with the guys, and he was one of them.”

Of that fateful day in 2007 in Al Yusufiyah, the Post added:

...Atkins’s Humvee was parked on Route Caprice, a dirt road that insurgents seeded with bombs, when another truck radioed up that it had spotted a group of four “military-aged males” walking nearby, acting fishy. Heading toward the intersection... with Atkins in the right-front seat, the crew spotted two of the men.

To [Humvee driver Michael Kistel], the two looked like teenagers. When Atkins swung open the Humvee’s heavy armored door to get out and question them, he left his rifle on his seat and approached with his arms spread wide, trying to act friendly.

“You look upset,” Kistel heard Atkins joke to the closer of the two young men as the distance between them closed. “Let me give you a hug.”

The next thing Kistel knew, Atkins and the Iraqi were locked together, struggling, Atkins seemingly focusing on grabbing the man’s hands. After a few seconds Kistel saw his squad leader engulf his opponent in a bear hug, lift him off the ground, and slam back down. Then he heard, saw, and felt the explosion, and both men vanished.

 

Eleven days later, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported:

The 11-year-old son of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins trembled and cried Tuesday as he watched two soldiers fold the American flag draped over his father’s casket.

Trevor Oliver then bravely fought off his tears, regained his composure and straightened his posture to receive the flag the soldiers handed over.

Afterward, Trevor raised his right hand to his forehead and saluted the men.

The Associated Press added:

A 31-year-old soldier from Bozeman who was killed this month in Iraq was remembered Tuesday as a brave man who loved God, his family, sports and the outdoors... Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday for Atkins’ funeral at Resurrection Catholic Parish, and for burial at Sunset Hills Cemetery...

After the service, a military escort led the funeral procession to the cemetery, where Atkins was buried among other veterans who died serving in wars. Along the route to the cemetery, hundreds of people lined the streets waving flags and holding their hands over their hearts.

If it took the federal government a while to recognize the full measure of Sgt. Atkins’ bravery, his neighbors seem to have figured it out immediately. A few months after the funeral, the A.P. reported from Bozeman:

A new memorial at the library here is in honor of Travis Atkins, the first Bozeman soldier killed in Iraq while serving in the military.

“He was a great student of military history, so I think the library is a fitting place for a memorial,” said Elaine Atkins, mother of the Army staff sergeant killed June 1 after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive. “I know Travis would be proud.”

Atkins, 31, was in a division based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

The Bozeman Public Library was a frequent destination for the mother-and-son pair on summer mornings when he was a child.

The following year Atkins was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. In 2013 the Watertown Daily Times reported on a ceremony to rename a building at the 10th Mountain Division’s Fort Drum in honor of Staff Sgt. Atkins:

His father, Jack Atkins, a Vietnam veteran, told the audience how his son in 1994 had taken out his new snowmobile without asking, only to return an hour later with mixed news.

“I rolled the sled, Dad,” Mr. Atkins said. “But the good news is the windshield just pops off like nothing happened.”

He said his son must not have known where the brakes were, since he rarely used them.

Rest in peace, Travis Atkins.

"Crossing the Bar" - Brigid's brother Neville

After a battle with cancer and surrounded by love. Nev was eighty, nine years ahead of Brigid. So her big (and only ) brother. Nev had a wonderful career as a ship's pilot. In Brisbane, Australia he'd pilot the big ships up the river and dock them. A few pictures below Tennyson.

Crossing the Bar

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Sunset and evening star,

      And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar,

      When I put out to sea,

 

   But such a tide as moving seems asleep,

      Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep

      Turns again home.

 

   Twilight and evening bell,

      And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell,

      When I embark;

 

   For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place

      The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face

      When I have crost the bar.

 

Here's Brigid and Nev, and then with Nev's wife Gerry and their oldest daughter June, with Brisbane in the background. This was two years ago when Brigid was visiting in Brisbane.

 

 

 

Brigid is not sure how old Neville is in this. In his 30's? On the back it says in his handwriting - "off to work."

 

 

And not sure how old Brigid is in these pictures with the big brother. Four maybe? Long ago.

 

 

Adoring her brother!

 

 

 

Politics; one picture worth a thousand words - "50 shades..."

I know, I know, Trump is awful... so bring on the clowns.

Is nothing sacred? Icing sprains and bumps is ineffective?

An article in the Washington Post. Owned by Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, so it must be true. FULL DISCLOSURE: I frequently ice my knee; it helps. Worth hitting the link for the whole article.

"Why icing a sprain doesn’t help, and could slow recovery"

If you’ve ever needed to recover from an athletic injury, you’ve probably used ice to reduce soreness and swelling. For decades, doctors and athletic trainers have recommended RICE — rest, ice, compression and elevation — to reduce the pain and inflammation of sprained ankles. Inflammation has been viewed as the enemy of recovery.

But what if that’s not quite right? What if inflammation is an indication of recovery, and icing and other cold-based “cryotherapy” only delays it?

Icing, it turns out, is like flossing: an ingrained practice that seems practical but is not strongly supported by clinical evidence. The oldest justifications for icing, dating to the 1970s, have melted under scientific scrutiny, some cryotherapy researchers say, and most scientific studies on icing haven’t provided the solid results that would justify its popularity. This is true, they say, both for icing for daily recovery and for an injury.

For example, a 2008 meta-analysis published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine, which looked at multiple studies on cold therapy’s effect on acute soft tissue injuries, concluded there is “insufficient evidence to suggest that cryotherapy improves clinical outcome in the management of soft tissue injuries.” Similarly, a 2012 paper published in the Journal of Athletic Training, which reviewed multiple, peer-reviewed studies, noted that the practice of using ice to treat sprained ankles “is based largely on anecdotal evidence” and that “evidence from [randomized controlled trials] to support the use of ice in the treatment of acute ankle sprains is limited.”

*******

Even the doctor who coined RICE no longer promotes it. “It’s perfectly fine to ice if you want, but realize it’s delaying healing,” Gabe Mirkin said, “[Icing] is not going to change anything in the long term.”

Instead of icing to reduce inflammation, athletes might be better off letting it run its course. Better yet, get moving again, Mirkin said: “Don’t increase your pain, but you want to move as soon as you can.”

Athlete and journalist Christie Aschwanden feels a bit vindicated by the research. Despite her experience as a champion cyclist and professional cross-country skier, the use of ice, whether to recover from a hard workout or a rolled ankle, has never appealed to her.

“I used to have a teammate who was really, really devoted to ice baths,” Aschwanden said. “She would fill our hotel bathtub with ice and then go sit in it. I tried it a couple times, but it was really painful. The discomfort and unpleasantness of it canceled out whatever benefits there were.” Now, she said, after researching the issue, “I know there probably weren’t any benefits.”

After further ruminations, on why it's bad the author then backs off and hedges a bit -

This isn’t to say cryotherapy has no physiological effect. Icing to numb something definitely works, and “icing is the safest pain medicine we have,” Mirkin said. Ice may also help people get a damaged area moving again. “If you have an injury, the muscles around it switch off,” limiting mobility, said Chris Bleakley, a professor of physical therapy at High Point University in North Carolina who has studied icing. “Ice helps to switch those muscles back on again.”

Some experts and research organizations who acknowledge the lack of high-quality data in support of ice nevertheless maintain that it’s an important tool for athletes. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the National Institutes of Health both recommend icing for sports injuries.

*****

In the book, Aschwanden describes an encounter with a friend (an icer) who inquired about its effectiveness. “What would you say if I told you it didn’t help?” Aschwanden replied.

“I wouldn’t believe you,” the friend said.

“She wasn’t dismissing me, like I’m not credible source on this,” Aschwanden said. “She was just like, ‘I know it works for me.’ I think for a lot of this stuff, it really comes down to that. People have their personal experiences and those can be very convincing.”

WSJ: Tax receipts up 10%, year over year

How can this be? After the evil Trump cut tax rates? You mean ... tax cuts work? OMG!

"A February Revenue Surprise. Federal tax receipts rose 10% from a year ago, in case you haven’t heard."

CBO says in its latest monthly budget review that individual income-tax withholding and payroll tax receipts rose 5% in February from a year earlier, while income-tax refunds fell 13%. The year-over-year increase is important because we are now getting the comparative results for the time period in which tax reform has been fully implemented. Tax receipts from rising incomes appear to have offset lower receipts from the cut in tax rates and 100% business expensing. The February revenue rise outstripped even a 7.3% spending increase from a year earlier, so the deficit declined by $12 billion in the month.

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

The budget deficit is rising because spending is soaring—up nearly 6% or $142 billion more in the first five months of fiscal 2019. The bipartisan budget deal that traded more defense for more domestic spending is contributing more to deficits than tax reform.

 

Four CRS (Catholic Relief Service) members on the Ethiopian jet that crashed

This from the Jesuit magazine America. Also lost, a campus minister from Georgetown University, originally from East Africa.

"Although we are in mourning, we celebrate the lives of these colleagues and the selfless contributions they made to our mission, despite the risks and sacrifices that humanitarian work can often entail," CRS said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and all of those who lost loved one as a result of this tragedy."

And the Georgetown campus minister and third year law student was doing God's work -

Asiavugwa was a residential minister at Georgetown. He had served as assistant director of advancement at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School, a free high school for orphans with HIV/AIDS in Nairobi, before enrolling at the law school. He also had served refugees and marginalized people Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and Zimbabwe before enrolling at Georgetown, the letter said.

During the current semester at Georgetown, Asiavugwa was enrolled in the Center for Applied Legal Studies clinic, working with refugees seeking asylum in the U.S.

"Cedric's goal was to return to Kenya after his studies to pursue a career promoting the rights of refugees in East Africa and beyond," Father Bosco wrote.

 

Mind-boggling - sexual harassment at Google can be incredibly profitable

From the Wall Street Journal this afternoon.

Google agreed to pay $135 million in exit packages to two top executives who left the company after being accused of sexual harassment and covered up the reasons for their departures, according to a complaint filed in a lawsuit unsealed Monday.

The former executives, Andy Rubin and Amit Singhal, oversaw some of the company’s most important and profitable arms. Mr. Rubin, who left in 2014, created the company’s crucial Android software, while Mr. Singhal, who departed in 2016, headed search.

Mr. Rubin was accused by a subordinate of pressuring her into oral sex, among other claims, according to the lawsuit. Mr. Singhal was accused by a female employee of groping her at a “boozy off-site event,” according to the suit. The board of directors of Google’s parent, now called Alphabet Inc., GOOGL 2.55% approved the payments with little dissent, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint, which cites information from Google, says the company agreed to pay Mr. Singhal about $45 million, the first time that number has been made public. It only ended up paying $15 million because Mr. Singhal later joined a competitor.

The former executives didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The New York Times last year reported the amount of some payouts, including $90 million to Mr. Rubin.

A Google spokeswoman said in a statement: “There are serious consequences for anyone who behaves inappropriately at Google.

That's right. They get paid ten's of millions of dollars. "Serious consequences."

I get lucky with four birds, who needs Mike, Dennis, or Paul?

At Chez Novotny for lunch on Saturday.

AOC: "capitalism as an ‘irredeemable’ system"

Oh please, just shut up.

She directed some of her sharpest comments at an economic system that she said values profit over people. “Capitalism is an ideology of capital — the most important thing is the concentration of capital and to seek and maximize profit,” Ocasio-Cortez said. And that comes at any cost to people and to the environment, she said, “so to me capitalism is irredeemable.”

“It doesn’t feel good to live in an unequal society,” she said, citing an increase in homelessness in New York City among veterans and the elderly while penthouses sit empty. “It doesn’t feel good to live in a society like that.”

And who runs NYC? The self-described progressive De Blasio.

Sandmann Lawyer: CNN to be sued for over $250 million

As he represents Nick Sandmann. I posted about this media charade, which occurred at this year's March for Life on January 18th. Here's one example: More on the smear campaign against Covington Catholic students.

The defamation lawyer the the family has working for them is big time. He's won many name cases in the past 25 years.

“CNN was probably more vicious in its direct attacks on Nicholas than The Washington Post. And CNN goes into millions of individuals' homes,” Wood told Fox News host and best-selling author Mark Levin.

 

https://www.foxnews.com/person/l/mark-levin

Sample test for US citizenship

Applicants for citizenship have to pass a civics test. 24 questions on this particular sample. Basically easy, but I got one wrong! Hit the link below for the test.

An important part of the application process for becoming a US citizen is passing a civics test, covering important U.S. history and government topics. There are 100 civics questions on the naturalization test. During the interview process, applicants are asked up to 10 questions and must be able to answer at least 6 questions correctly. Here is a sampling of what may be asked. How would you do?

US Citizenship Test - Could You Pass?

Marvelous - "The window washer"

Thanks to my friend Alicia for sending me this two minute beauty.

 

Anti-semite Ilhan Omar in real trouble now; she criticized Obama!!

The Minnesota Congresswoman who is a Muslim immigrant. It's one thing to hate Jews but to criticize "Hope and Change"? OMG! She better watch her 6 o'clock...

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar ripped former President Barack Obama in an interview published Friday, belittling his “pretty face” and saying his agenda of hope and change was an illusion.

She cited the “caging of kids” at the Mexican border and the “droning of countries around the world” on Obama’s watch — and argued that he wasn’t much different from President Trump

“We can’t be only upset with Trump,” the freshman firebrand told Politico Magazine.

“His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than he was,” Omar said.

“And that’s not what we should be looking for anymore. We don’t want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile.”

The explosive comments about a man lionized by Democrats were only the latest in a series of incendiary statements that have put the national spotlight on Omar, a Somali-American Muslim who spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya after her family fled the violence in their homeland.

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

And Omar — along with Rashida Tlaib of Michigan the first Muslim women in Congress — said she’s willing to keep speaking out and be a Republican punching bag if it helps advance her agenda, a prospect that likely makes many of her fellow Democrats cringe.

14 foot Atlantic Sturgeon found in Hudson River

Wow. Thanks to Jessica for sending me this - in the Daily Mail (UK). Also, here's a link to the original National Geographic article that's also linked in the excerpt below.

A sighting of a 14-foot Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River has left researchers astonished, and buoyed hopes that the endangered species could be making a comeback. 'When I first saw it, I said, "You've got to be kidding me,"' University of Delaware geologist John A. Madsen told National Geographic in a story about the amazing sighting published on Thursday.

A sighting of a 14-foot Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River has left researchers astonished, and buoyed hopes that the endangered species could be making a comeback.  

'When I first saw it, I said, "You've got to be kidding me,"' University of Delaware geologist John A. Madsen told National Geographic in a story about the amazing sighting published on Thursday.

Bloomberg Finance - Great! "Wage Pressure Coming as Unemployment Nears 3%"

This is great news. Real wages, adjusted for inflation, are rising. This is a short video - the chart is very interesting. And there are now more job openings then there are unemployed people. The wage rise is in all ends of the work market, not just the high end.

Catholic politicians "risking hell"

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann. Hmmm about 45 years too late, but nice to hear. "Heaven starts on earth... and so does Hell." - Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“While we can object to the actions of these public officials, we are not able to judge their souls. At the same time, we know there will be a Judgment Day,” he said in a statement last week. “Conscious and unrepentant mortal sin endangers our eternal souls and places ourselves on a path to Hell.”

Naumann said their abortion advocacy is seriously immoral. He said he felt compelled to condemn their actions so that other Catholics are not misled.

“Recent efforts to perpetuate and expand abortion in state laws have illuminated the deplorable actions of some Catholic public officials and advocates,” the archbishop said. “Their efforts to support and even celebrate such legislation will result in killing many more unborn children, as well as the spiritual and emotional wounding of their mothers and fathers.

“Advocating for intrinsically evil acts, like abortion, is a serious immoral act – one that involves grave matter, the prerequisite for the commission of a mortal sin,” Naumann said.

********

“I also have a serious obligation to protect other members of my flock from being misled by a seeming tolerance of the scandalous behavior of some Catholics in public life,” he continued. “If even after an extended dialogue a Catholic in public life persists in scandalous actions, I have found it necessary to request that they not present themselves to receive Holy Communion, for their own spiritual welfare and for the protection of many others from moral confusion.

He urged pro-abortion politicians to repent and seek forgiveness.

“To receive our Eucharistic Lord, while in a state of mortal sin, only further jeopardizes the eternal fate of our souls,” the archbishop said. “Sincere repentance, a conversion of heart, and a genuine effort to make amends for the harm caused by our sin, are essential to be able to receive God’s mercy.”

Ocasio-Cortez's Mom moved to Florida to avoid NY's high taxes.

This is rich. In the Daily Mail (UK)

'God played quite a joke on me with this politics stuff!' The privacy-loving mother of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells how she had to flee New York because of high taxes

• U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's mother Blanca Ocasio-Cortez has spoken exclusively to DailyMail.com about her Democrat star daughter
• Blanca Ocasio-Cortez – BOC – is still settling down in Eustis, Florida, a small city in the far suburbs of Orlando with her mother Clotilde, 78, and a rescue dog 
• She said: 'After my husband died the family went through tough times. I was cleaning houses in the morning and working as a secretary in the afternoon' 
• 'We moved from The Bronx to Yorktown Heights, but it was difficult making ends meet. I was skipping mortgage payments and we almost lost the house twice' 
• Early on, AOC didn't show signs she'd get into politics - except that she talked incessantly and itched to show off her brains, her mother said  
• 'She wasn't raised to be a socialist,' Mrs. Ocasio-Cortez said. 'That's not how Puerto Ricans are. She's a democratic socialist, and it's very different'
• Blanca was particularly put off by the controversy surrounding AOC's move into  D.C. high-rise, saying 'that building isn't even that expensive by D.C. and New York standards'
• The mother-of-two said her new Trump-supporting Florida neighbors don't know she is AOC's mother, saying she doesn't like the limelight for her family

 

 

Rugby: USA now #1 in World 7-a-Side series

The USA finished second in the prior four tournaments on this several month world-wide circuit. So were tied points-wise with New Zealand for #1 ranking. There are seven more tournaments to go. But right now ...

Peekskill Restaurant review: "Fin and Brew"

Basically very good food but location and atmosphere leave a bit to be desired. Farandaville will have to try it. UPDATE: Will try when the weather gets better!

From Westchester Magazine - Review: Peekskill's Fin & Brew Rocks Surf and Suds, Plus So Much More. A hands-on chef-to-watch proffers beautiful plates at this dock-to-dish Peekskill riverside restaurant.

21 years old: a Kardashian is world's youngest self-made billionaire

"Kylie Jenner, the founder of Kylie Cosmetics, has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire."

Marketing celebrity - not sure she's "self-made." As they say in the 3 minute video "cult following."

Lent - The Penitential Season Begins

From today's 1st reading, in the 2nd chapter of the prophet Joel.

Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.

So, I'll be giving up a few things and re-reading Von Balthasar's great book Prayer which is an extended meditation on the Trinity and Incarnation.  Below is Cardinal Dolan's Lenten message - an under 2 minute video.

What else? Well, take some actions of course. We will see, as the 40 Days progress.

Ocean's warming and the Seychelles reef

FULL DISCLOSURE - I know a fair bit about reefs - having lived in Grand Cayman and done lots of diving. Sad to see these dead reefs - but they are resilient - they do come back. On a recent program with Richard Attenborough about the Australia Great Barrier Reef the point was made that their reef has disappeared and regenerated at least once and maybe three times in the last 20,000 years. Aboriginal Australians living along the coast have the rise and fall of sea levels, and their need to migrate, in their folklore and music. 

 

WSJ: Regulators looking at limits on Wall Street Pay

I'm agnostic on this.

Banking regulators are discussing reviving a proposal that would require big banks to defer some compensation for executives and to take back more of their bonuses if losses pile up at a firm, according to people familiar with the matter.

The talks are in early stages and involve top officials from at least three bank regulators: the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve, the people said. Some bank executives are open to having the agencies write a new version of the rules, betting the limits would be milder during the Trump administration than if a Democrat takes the White House in 2020.

The rules are required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law, a fact bank regulators have pointed to as they begin work on a new rule....

Spokesmen for the Fed and OCC said their agencies are committed to finishing the incentive-compensation rule. An FDIC spokesman declined to comment. The Securities and Exchange Commission and two other regulators would have a vote on any new proposal.

Banker pay became a lightning rod during the financial crisis. Critics blamed executives’ upfront cash bonuses for encouraging risky, short-term bets that contributed to the crisis. President Obama called the billions in bonuses that firms paid in 2009 shameful.

*****

The Dodd-Frank law, passed a year later, mandated new rules to limit payouts and more closely align them to firms’ long-term financial health. Pay fell sharply in the postcrisis years, in part because of this backlash and in part because bank profits sank.

As those profits have rebounded, pay is starting to tick back up, although pressure from shareholders has led banks to replace big cash bonuses with more stock awards and performance-based metrics.

*****

The idea behind deferring pay, or holding it back from employees for three years or more, is that employees will have more of an incentive to work for the long-term interest of the company.

Alan Johnson, a consultant who helps banks design their pay plans, said much of what regulators had hoped to accomplish with the pay rules is already a reality. Today’s bankers and traders are paid less than a decade ago, and banks have curbed the riskiest kind of trading and lending that drove losses during the meltdown.

“I think the regulators are going to refight a war they’ve already won,” Mr. Johnson said.

Banks say they have already tightened compensation requirements. Since 2009, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employees have received a single year’s worth of share-based compensation over three years, as opposed to all at once, and they can’t sell the stock for five years. Goldman employees took home 33 cents of every dollar in revenue last year, down from 44 cents in 2006.

That belt-tightening, though, has been overshadowed by raises for top executives. JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO James Dimon was paid $31 million in 2018, the first executive to crack the $30 million line since the crisis.

*****

Enactment of the pay restrictions would add a regulation at a time when Trump-appointed regulators have sought to ease some rules. They have, for instance, proposed softening restrictions on securities trading and taken steps to lighten the compliance load on midsize banks. Banks are more closely regulated, better capitalized and healthier than a decade ago.