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YIKES!
Four years ago, a Massachusetts man was perusing an estate sale when a drawing of the Madonna and Child drew his attention. There was no indication that the piece was remarkable, besides its artistry, and on that alone he bought it. Now the drawing is making headlines as it may garner millions at auction.
What is Opus Dei? Hint: The term means Work of God. It was founded in Spain in 1928. Thanks to Chris for sending me this.
Opus Dei is a strong advocate of traditional Catholic values, focusing particularly on spreading the Catholic teaching that every individual is called to become a saint and an apostle of Jesus Christ and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity
To some it's a controversial organization - but not to me. I know a number of members - all wonderful people. FULL DISCLOSURE: Farandaville not members, but we are admirers.
The Pope expressed his desire that the faithful of Opus Dei be faithful to the founding spirit, while at the same time adapting to the challenges that today’s culture presents to Christian life. He also encouraged them to spread a love for the truth throughout the world, in order to confront the superficiality and lack of justice that reigns in social relations.
Croton Point was a vineyard and winery in the 19th century. Pretty good video which is below a few pictures we took on December 29, 2018, shortly before the entrances were blocked off.
Here's the video -
Actually a book case disaster - we were moving the large beige bookcase pictured below (with Tim's help - we'd taken off the books) when the bookcase went over and the shelves came crashing down. I took a direct shot in the beak from a shelf - lucky it's just a cut. Tim actually prevented the whole bookcase from landing on me - which would have been awkward. You can see the remnants of the jerry-rigged bookcase that had stood for 30 years against the white wall (it was always an accident waiting to happen anyway) behind the beige bookcase and which also fell. Hundreds of books to clean up and reorganize, and an opportunity to give some of them away - about 35 in two boxes set to go.
The report is worse, much worse than the first report by the NY Attorney General
The Assembly Judiciary Committee found that the now-disgraced former governor likely violated state ethics laws as he “utilized the time of multiple state employees, as well as his own, to further his personal gain during a global pandemic” in writing and promoting his memoir, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The finding contrasts Cuomo’s claims that work on his book was undertaken on a volunteer basis. The investigation found that the work was completed during regular work hours “as part of the regular course of work in the executive chamber.” A senior state official complained to a coworker that time spent on the book had taken away from that official’s ability to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, the report found.
The report adds that Cuomo was “not fully transparent regarding the number of nursing home residents who died as a result of COVID-19.”
The law firm that conducted the inquiry on the Assembly’s behalf did not interview Cuomo, though he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The report noted that the investigation had considered Cuomo’s rebuttals and concluded that “nothing in his voluminous submissions can overcome the overwhelming evidence of his misconduct.”
The Assembly report follows an investigation by New York state attorney general Letitia James earlier this year that found that the governor sexually harassed almost a dozen women in violation of federal and state law. James’ office also found that COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes had been significantly undercounted; officials ultimately raised the count by more than 40 percent.
Good follow up from the BB. This could have been on The View.
Once again, our country is facing racial injustice after Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted by claiming “self-defense.” I can’t help but think he would have been convicted if his victims were white.
We all know the story of Kyle Rittenhouse. He was filled with white supremacy, so he picked up a machine gun, crossed state lines, and then opened fire on peaceful protestors, killing three black men. And those people were there because they were protesting how a black man, Jacob Blake, was murdered by cops while shopping at a candy store, so it’s more racial injustice on top of racial injustice.
I didn’t watch any of the trial, but we know how it went down. ...
I’ve been so enraged by this whole ordeal that I’ve been careful to stay away from the specifics as I’m sure they would only trigger me. Some people suggest I got things wrong and try to correct me, but I plug my ears and scream, “LALALALALA!” at the top of my lungs when people do that because it’s a common tactic of white supremacy to downplay racial injustice with “facts” and “video evidence.”
We need to be angry. That’s how we make change. And if details get in the way of that, it’s our duty to ignore them.
My app says 4.47 miles and it took me 90 minutes. Some regular Croton Point walkers will recognize some of the spots. It was a hazy day so nothing brilliant - except the cat lover stuff at the end.
Tide was WAY in.
Cat lover stuff. At the dump area for the RV's; plenty of feral cats live there but only one yesterday.
A blow up from the prior picture.
HA! Take that you Brits!! Brigid you will just have to deal with this...
Below is a great history article, well worth reading - note that Fraunces Tavern mentioned below still exists - on Pearl St.
"Evacuation Day" and Washington's Triumphal Entry in New York City, November 25, 1783 .
Marking the end of their occupation in America, the last of the British soldiers who served during the American Revolution left Manhattan on November 25, 1783. Following their departure, the city was secured by American troops under the command of General Knox, who promptly called for all residents to welcome New York’s Governor Clinton and General Washington into lower Manhattan.
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Meanwhile, U.S. troops sought to remove the British flag from Castle Clinton (known as the Fort on the Battery). However, thanks to British soldiers' departing gifts of sabotage (greasing the flag pole and cutting its halyards), this proved to be quite a difficult task.
After failed attempts to scale the pole, a young sailor ultimately used wooden cleats to successfully climb and raise the American flag in place of Britain’s. This triumphant symbol sparked the first Evacuation Day celebrations, which went on to last several days.
Beginning with a public dinner hosted by Governor Clinton at Fraunces Tavern, over 120 guests celebrated with 13 formal toasts in honor of Washington and his officers. Festivities continued until Washington departed the city over a week later on December 4th.
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Though once an immensely popular, city-wide celebration, interest for the holiday waned through the mid-1800s, as few witnesses of the original Evacuation Day remained.
Past efforts of Revolutionary War veterans were not carried on by following generations, and the public’s attention shifted to celebrating Thanksgiving during the end of November, as it gained prominence as a national holiday.
From one of my business friends - Diane. YIKES!
Agnes is the only laywoman among the 117 Vietnamese martyrs commemorated today.
A stunning 3AM reversal!
KENOSHA, WI—In a stunning reversal, Kyle Rittenhouse awoke this morning to discover that he had been found guilty after all.
Prosecutors explained that during the night, they had found dozens of mail-in jury votes declaring the defendant guilty on all counts. Apparently, boxes of these mail-in votes arrived in a truck at the courthouse around 3:00 am.
Attorneys for Mr. Rittenhouse were dumbfounded as to how such a thing could have happened, raising questions as to the validity of mail-in jury voting. They stated: “We’ve never heard of this. This isn’t part of the legal system. Where did these votes even come from?”
"How DARE you question the sanctity of our criminal justice system!" cried the prosecuting attorneys. "There is no justice until EVERY vote is counted!"
Prosecutors then explained that it was a new COVID measure they had just instituted. “But given how well it’s worked out,” they said, “we’re planning on making it permanent.”
Very interesting. I didn't know the governor of Vermont - home of socialist Bernie Sanders - is a republican. And the most popular in the country! only one Democrat - Lamont of CT - makes the top ten. As a basis of comparison, President Biden's Real Clear Politics average of polls has him at 41.3%. check where he'd be on this list. Hat tip to the person who sent me this - who will remain unnamed!
Some people might object because it's Thomas Keating, but you can find the same ideas in St. John of the Cross or the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing. St. Paul makes a point in his letter to the Philippians.
"Effortless total receptivity is the best way to be open to God’s guidance. It is like being a container for God. So, for a container to be filled, what is the best response? Emptiness. Openness. It is very simple, but very hard to do. All you have to do is nothing. Try it! But it does not mean you actually do nothing. It means that you are empty of all will proposals but open to God’s actions, so that you do what God wants to do. Emptiness is not total nothingness, but emptiness with an openness to becoming more – by God’s will. "
Thomas Keating
"Christian Non-Duality and Unity Consciousness,"
That We May One: Christian Non-Duality
On the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Valley, the week of November 7th over four days. More to follow on this.
Amazing. A whimsical design - and in the after-market some approaching a million dollars.
If you don't know who the guy is... What? You don't know Tyler the Creator?
Kanye West wore one. Tyler, the Creator, too. Even Jay-Z.
But the Cartier Crash is way more than a watch that happened to grace the wrists of a few famous people. Way.
In reality — surreality? — the Crash was the amalgamation of a few different forces coming together at Cartier London and in the city of London itself in the 1960s. The “Swinging Sixties” saw an increased interest in bold fashion and design, and an independent and innovative Cartier London workshop.
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a few years ago, something happened. Kanye West tweeted a photo of his Crash. Kim Kardashian got one for good measure. Cartier re-issued a modern Crash model, exclusive to its London boutique, seemingly generating more buzz for the vintage version, too. Auction results started creeping up. Suddenly, those 1991 Cartier Paris Crash models that had been selling at auction for $30,000 were selling for $100,000. Then $200,000.
“Us Cartier-heads have been preaching for years about the virtues of the brand. As I have said countless times, Cartier is all about design — it’s their ‘complication’ and no one does it like them. Plus, I think collectors are over the Patek this and Rolex that. If there is any lesson to be learned from recent auction results, it’s that there is a lot more to the world than just Patek and Rolex,” Ku says.
The “recent auction result” on the top of Ku’s mind was Sotheby’s recent sale of an original London Crash for CHF 806,500. It’s only the third London Crash to come to auction publicly in the last 25 years. As far as I can tell, it’s also now one of the most expensive vintage Cartiers to ever sell at auction.
Where does the Crash go from here? It’s hard to imagine there’s more room for it to go up after a London Crash sold for nearly $1 million, but Ku is ready for it.
“Vintage Cartier, and particularly London models are exceptionally rare,” Ku said. “We will see prices continue to rise and interest continue to grow.”
But the Crash has always been more than a celebrity accessory or an eye-popping auction result. It has become an icon, both as a unique design that has withstood generations of changing fashions, and as a reflection of the time in which it was made.
An op ed in the Journal yesterday. Gary Kasparov was the youngest ever World Chess Champion, winning in 1985, at age 22. His political and human rights activism began in the early 1990's.
The search is on for new words for old ideas. “Cancel culture” and “woke” have become overused and abused, part of a struggle to define one’s political opponents in the harshest possible way, to dismiss ideas as not only wrong or harmful, but intolerable.
As a nonnative English speaker, I am content to avoid rhetorical fashion and use older phrases. Call it the mob mentality, groupthink, or punitive neo-Puritan orthodoxy. It is the abuse of power—mostly social, not yet governmental—to silence debate and paralyze the spread of any ideas that challenge the prevailing ideological dogma. It is the coordinated, coercive attempt to win a debate by ending debate—to punish, not to educate.
The leading practitioners of these tactics have two contradictory responses to criticism. First, they say it isn’t happening, that it doesn’t exist, that drawing attention to it is a rhetorical whine to silence critics of the establishment and shield the privileged from accountability. Second, they blame the victims, calling them bad people with bad ideas who should be banished to make room for more diverse voices. Claiming you are fighting fire with fire can be used to justify any excess; the only way to fight back is to take freedom away from someone else.
The politics of personal destruction have run amok online and off. Full disclosure: I’ve been friends with Peter Thiel for years. I disagree with him on many things, especially lately, but the attacks on him have been disturbing. In his recent book “The Contrarian,” journalist Max Chafkin assigns an ideology to Mr. Thiel, then defines it as “fascist” and even tries to blame this concocted “Thielism” for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. There is little doubt that the book would never have come to be had Mr. Thiel not supported Donald Trump in 2016. Suddenly, a secretive libertarian tech investor with a complex history and identity—immigrant, gay, Stanford Law grad, coastal elite—became simply evil, and Mr. Chafkin was quickly paid to fill hundreds of pages to support that preordained conclusion.
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Tearing down the powerful may be satisfying, if briefly, but remember who inevitably suffers most when justice is abandoned in favor of vengeance and destruction. Black Lives Matter, a necessary idea and important human-rights movement, has been hijacked by leaders who seek only power—and who are willing to sacrifice their supposed beneficiaries to achieve it. Who will be harmed most when the police are defunded, the public education system wrecked? Not the elites. The Russian Revolution dispatched some wealthy landowners, but its natural outcome was a new form of slavery under totalitarian Communism—all in the name of equality and freedom, of course.
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Increasing numbers of Americans believe their freedom is under attack, and I agree. Antidemocratic forces are on the rise. Election results are treated as suspect. Threats of violence are becoming routine.
Schools are being pressured to remove books and cancel professors for spreading the “wrong” ideas. These sentiments are all too familiar to me, and to anyone who has survived life in a dictatorship. The only answer is more freedom, more speech, not less.
This is why the Renew Democracy Initiative launched the Frontlines of Freedom project, which gives voice to dissidents from authoritarian regimes around the world. Americans have the rights and self-determination that people in Russia, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe are literally dying for. We see the pillars of American democracy under attack from within, by rioters at the Capitol and online mobs. Rights are violated in the U.S. when the system fails. They are violated in dictatorships when the system works as intended. Heed this warning.
Destroying the mechanisms of democracy to preserve democracy won’t work. We can’t promote marginalized voices by telling them what is acceptable to say. We must fight to preserve the free flow of ideas, of debate and an open society, however uncomfortable it makes us. Democracy has never been a safe space.
Mr. Kasparov is chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative.
Good heavens! From the WSJ Best of the Web column.
When it comes to motivational speaking, President Joe Biden is no Kirby Smart. But this week Mr. Biden is gamely trying to sell his latest 13-figure spending law at a series of events in various states.
The first stop on the tour was a New Hampshire bridge that crosses the Pemigewasset River in the Woodstock area. ...
Attendees at Tuesday’s event must have had a hard time figuring out whether Mr. Biden was promising, at long last, to fix the bridge. According to the official White House transcript the president lauded the Democratic members of Congress attending the event and said:
My message to the people of New Hampshire is simple. It’s this: Because of this delegation, New Hampshire and America are moving again. Your life is going to change for the better, and that’s literal. For example, the Pemi Bridge here you just — I just walked across — opened in 1939 — twenty- — excuse me, 82 years ago. This may not seem like a big bridge, but it saves lives and solves problems...
And folks, this is bridge [sic] that has been structurally deficient for years. I’m preaching to the choir here, I know. But the fact is: It used to be able to carry 40-ton trucks. Now the bridge is down to 20-ton restrictions.
In a couple of weeks, it’s going to be closed to put steel plates down over — excuse me — down and — over the weakened and — for sections of this deck.
That steel plate is basically like putting a Band-Aid on a major wound. This is going to make it bumpy for drivers, difficult for snow plows, and it’s still dangerous for bikers. And when that’s done, the bridge may need even more weight restrictions.
The state has already spent a quarter of a million dollars on “Band-Aid” repairs on this bridge alone.
And right now, there are 215 bridges in your state — 215 bridges deemed structurally unsafe in New Hampshire alone.
Not that funny - I know Croton people who'd agree...
"It's clear that this judge cannot be impartial," said CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who was wearing a large trenchcoat and nothing else for some unknown reason. "The American flag is a symbol of oppression and white supremacy. Any judge who would allow that hateful symbol in his courtroom has no business presiding over this important case."
Further reports indicated that the Judge is a white male, has a family, and is a model citizen— and these are all serious red flags.
"To our knowledge, Judge Schroeder has never even worn a Che Guevara t-shirt, and never committed arson during a mostly peaceful protest," said Toobin as his hands disappeared out of frame. "He's never even called for violent revolution to overturn Western Civilization! Just horrible!"
CNN claims that if Rittenhouse is acquitted, it will only be because the case was decided by an unfair racist Judge who refuses to proclaim the virtues of communism.
"It's a dark day for our democracy," said Toobin.
What a great honor! How will we compete with other nations? Check the chart below - From the WSJ -
The Tax Foundation recently compared the combined tax rates on individual income at all levels of government across major nations. Today the U.S. is in the middle of the pack with a still very high top rate on income of 42.9%, including federal and average state tax rates. That’s a little above the current Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average of 42.6%.
But not for long. Under the Democratic plan, the combined U.S. top rate would climb to 57.4% by 2026. The U.S. would leap over 22 other countries in the OECD tax ranking, including Italy (47.2%), Sweden (52.3%), and even France (55.4%). Germany comes in at a relative bargain at 47.2%. Congratulations, America, you’ll be Number One.
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And it won’t stop there. The current 37% top rate on ordinary income will rise to 39.6% in 2026, as the individual provisions in the 2017 tax reform are scheduled to expire. Add up these changes plus the 6% average top state tax, and you get the eye-popping 57.4% rate.
This is the compromise that Democrats settled on after Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema opposed an increase in the current rates for individual and corporate income. The surcharges will spare many affluent earners who make less than $5 million from a tax-rate increase, though they’ll pay in other ways.
If you don't know who Treebeard is, go here. Thanks to my friend Bob pointing this out to me.
Here's Treebeard
Elon Musk breaks the gentleman's rule of never matching wits with an unarmed man...
Sanders is now 80 years old and I'd bet he hasn't read a book in 50 years.
Musk: “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.” Here's the context -
Musk, whose $286 billion fortune has made him a target for supporters of a wealth tax, responded: “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.”
In a subsequent tweet early Sunday, the chief executive officer of Tesla and SpaceX asked: “Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word…”
Musk was still firing off tweets 11 hours later, saying Sanders “is a taker, not a maker.”
Musk offloaded almost $7 billion worth of Tesla stock last week, helping push the automaker’s shares down 15%. The stock fell 2.6% at 9:36 a.m. Monday in New York.
The share disposals began after Musk polled Twitter users on whether he should sell. But some of the transactions were carried out under a trading plan he pre-arranged in September, well before he consulted his substantial social media following.
Sanders no longer refers to millionaires - it's the billionaires he's after - maybe because Sanders is worth $3 million? And he owns three homes ... And Sanders net worth doesn't include the wonderful government pension he's going to get - How Congress Retirement Pay Compares to the Overall Average - if he's not already drawing it.
Article in the Guardian (UK). There's no pay wall so the link will work and worth reading the whole article. Proof that success and money don't necessarily = happiness or contentment. But at least Adele (beautiful voice!) is trying.
Adele opened up about the pain of her divorce, losing the dream of a nuclear family, commentary over her weight and her strained relationship with her late father in a candid, ranging interview with Oprah Winfrey.
During the sit-down in Winfrey’s rose garden, recorded prior to her first concert in more than four years for the CBS special Adele One Night Only, the singer revealed she felt “embarrassed” that she couldn’t make her marriage to Simon Konecki “work”.
“I’ve been obsessed with a nuclear family my whole life because I never came from one,” said the 33-year-old singer, who shares nine-year-old son Angelo with Konecki. “I from a very young age promised myself that when I had kids, that we’d stay together. We would be that united family.
“I was so disappointed for my son, I was so disappointed for myself, I just thought I was going to be the one that stopped doing those bloody patterns all the time,” she added.
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The singer also addressed widespread fascination with changes in her body since her last public tour in 2017. She confirmed she’d lost about 100 pounds (45kg) – and became an “athlete” who could deadlift 170 pounds (77kg) at her best – over a two-year period as she coped with “the most terrifying anxiety attacks” while leaving her marriage. “I noticed how much I trusted my trainer’s presence when I was feeling so lost, but also I didn’t have any anxiety when I was out at the gym,” she said. “It became my time – me having a plan every day when I had no plans.”
He was born about 1200 and lived until 1280. He came from a fairly well off family in Bavaria and had a very fine education.
Some interesting stuff -
Albert was very interested in Aristotle, and he made commentary on nearly all of Aristotle's works. He also studied the teachings of several Muslim scholars. At this time, the Islamic world led Europe in terms of scholarship, science, and medicine.
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Five years later, in 1259, Albert participated in the General Chapter of the Dominicans along with Thomas Aquinas and several other contemporary leaders of the Order. They created a program of study for the Dominican order and developed a curriculum for philosophy. From this course of study would later arise the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, in Rome. Today, the university which is known as the "Angelicum," is one of the foremost theological colleges in the world. It is still run by the Dominican order.
In 1260, impressed with his acumen, Pope Alexander IV appointed Albert as bishop of Regensburg. Although he was a bishop, Albert refused to ride a horse and went everywhere on foot. This seemingly unusual practice was consistent with the rules of his order. The life of a bishop did not agree with Albert and he resigned from his post in 1263.
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In his later years, Albert became renowned as a mediator. He mediated disputes between individuals as well as resolving a dispute between the people of Colonge and their bishop. He also founded Germany's oldest university in that city.
Before his death, he mourned the early passing of his great student, Thomas Aquinas, who would later be recognized as a saint and doctor of the Church. Aquinas died in 1274. Albert spent his last years defending the work of Aquinas which is among the most important work in the Church.
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Albert was beatified in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. He was canonized and recognized as a doctor of the Church in 1931, by Pope Pius IX. He is the patron saint of scientists. His feast day is November 15.
From the Department of Labor. Looks like inflation is hitting the Republican leaning states harder than the Democrat ones - with some exceptions. Perhaps because they opened their economies before the Democrat states did? And NY, NJ and Pennsylvania have the lowest inflation rates - no one else under 5.5%.
Nobody here but us chickens...
Several angry parents wielding torches and pitchforks began to grow angry and demanded to see their kids.
"You have nothing to worry about!" said Merfle. "We're not teaching them that gender is on a spectrum or that promiscuity is really fun, or that America was built by white supremacists specifically to oppress black people and the only way to achieve justice is to dismantle the whole system or anything! But don't come in and look! It's a bad time right now."
The school superintendent also assured parents everything was fine. "Yeah, we're teaching them things like reading, history... um, what was the other one? Oh yeah—math. All that stuff. Definitely no extreme Leftist indoctrination here, no siree!"
When asked by parents if they could come in and check, he ran inside and called the FBI.
I posted this last year - decided worth repeating -
Wow. What a story. What a sacrifice. The sort of thing that can make you tear up. Everything below the picture is from the Wall Street Journal.
Alwyn Cashe died in Iraq in 2005 but he will no doubt be serving as an inspiration to Americans for generations to come. Dan Lamothe reports in the Washington Post:
The Senate passed legislation on Tuesday that clears the way for President Trump to award the nation’s highest award for valor in combat to Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, who repeatedly entered a burning vehicle in Iraq to save six fellow soldiers and an interpreter from harm and died a few weeks later.
The legislation, passed by unanimous consent, waives the legal requirement that the Medal of Honor be awarded within five years of a service member’s acts of valor. Cashe has long been considered one of the war’s great American heroes and would be the first African American to receive the award for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Former defense secretary Mark T. Esper supported the move in a letter to Congress in August after years of deliberations within the Army.
One naturally wonders why years of deliberations were required, given the events of an October day in 2005 in Samarra, Iraq. An improvised explosive device detonated under Sgt. Cashe’s Bradley fighting vehicle. According to the U.S. Army website:
The blast ignited the fuel cell on the vehicle causing fuel to spew everywhere. The vehicle came to a stop and immediately erupted in flames.
Sergeant First Class Cashe was initially slightly injured and drenched with fuel. Despite his condition, he bravely managed to get out of the gunner’s hatch, crawl down the BFV and assist the driver out of the driver’s hatch.
The driver had been burned and Sergeant First Class Cashe extinguished his flames. The following minutes were crucial. Six soldiers and a translator were in the back of the Bradley. Flames had engulfed the entire vehicle from the bottom and were coming out of every portal. The squad leader inside the vehicle managed to open the troop hatch door to help the soldiers escape.
Without regard for his personal safety, Sergeant First Class Cashe rushed to the back of the vehicle, reaching into the hot flames and started pulling out his soldiers. The flames gripped his fuel soaked uniform. Flames quickly spread all over his body.
Despite the terrible pain, Sergeant First Class Cashe placed the injured soldier on the ground and returned to the burning vehicle to retrieve another burning soldier; all the while, he was still on fire...
During all this and with severe burns, Sergeant First Class Cashe bravely continued to take control of the chaos... His injuries were the worst as he suffered from 2d and 3d degree burns over 72% of his body. Sergeant First Class Cashe’s heroic actions saved the lives of six of his beloved soldiers.
Weeks later, on Nov. 8, 2005, Cashe died at a military hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Given his astounding bravery and monumental sacrifices for his fellow soldiers, it may be hard to imagine why he did not receive the nation’s highest honor during the presidential administrations of George W. Bush or Barack Obama.
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Cashe was initially approved for the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor in combat. His commanding officer, then-Lt. Col. Gary Brito, later said that he did not initially have a full understanding for what Cashe did and has sought an upgrade for years...
Cashe’s sister, Kasinal Cashe White, said... recently that she did not believe discrimination had a role in the Army’s failure to award the Medal of Honor sooner. She cited a conversation that she had with Brito, who also is Black, in 2007...
“What I feel is that the information did not get back in time,” she said.
White added that she “won’t allow anybody to make it a race thing.”
“He did what he did not because he was Black, but because he was a soldier and because he loved his men,” she said. “And I believe they loved him in return.”
Rest in peace, Alwyn Cashe.
Chocolate and coffee - two proofs for the existence of God. I've excerpted two three benefits below the link - hit the link for the rest.
Caffeine is found in almost every commercial fat-burning supplement — and for good reason. It’s one of the few natural substances proven to aid fat burning.
Several studies show that caffeine can boost your metabolic rate by 3–11% (10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).
Other studies indicate that caffeine can specifically increase fat burning by as much as 10% in obese individuals and 29% in lean people (12Trusted Source).
However, it’s possible that these effects diminish in long-term coffee drinkers.
Caffeine stimulates your nervous system, signaling fat cells to break down body fat (13Trusted Source, 14).
But it also increases epinephrine (adrenaline) levels in your blood (15Trusted Source, 16Trusted Source).
This is the fight-or-flight hormone, which prepares your body for intense physical exertion.
Caffeine breaks down body fat, making free fatty acids available as fuel (17Trusted Source, 18).
Given these effects, it’s unsurprising that caffeine can improve physical performance by 11–12%, on average (20Trusted Source, 29Trusted Source).
Therefore, it makes sense to have a strong cup of coffee about half an hour before you head to the gym.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease and the leading cause of dementia worldwide.
This condition usually affects people over 65, and there is no known cure.
However, there are several things you can do to prevent the disease from occurring in the first place.
This includes the usual suspects like eating healthy and exercising, but drinking coffee may be incredibly effective as well.
Several studies show that coffee drinkers have up to a 65% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease (28Trusted Source, 29Trusted Source).
From the BB -
The failed candidate then threw a smoke bomb and disappeared from the stage in a cloud of purple smoke.
Experts warn that McAuliffe is still out there somewhere plotting his revenge, to one day come back and steal all the children and lock them away in state indoctrination centers forever. "We have to be vigilant," said one parent.
According to several anonymous sources, McAuliffe was last seen at Walmart buying more tiki torches.
From the NY Times - this is really stunning.
The story that he only spent $153 is incorrect. he actually spent $2,200.
For nearly a decade, Stephen M. Sweeney, the second most powerful lawmaker in New Jersey, seemed truly unassailable. He boasted deep ties to the most feared political power broker in the state and unyielding support from the influential building trade unions. Four years ago, the state’s teachers’ union spent more than $5 million to unseat him. He won by 18 points.
This year, his challenger was Edward Durr, a truck driver for Raymour & Flanigan, a furniture chain, who had never before held office. His campaign video was shot on a smartphone.
Yet Mr. Sweeney, the State Senate president and a Democrat, was ousted in a shocking political upset by Mr. Durr, a Republican, as voters opted for a political unknown in a result that immediately rattled the political moorings of the state. Voters also nearly ousted Gov. Philip D. Murphy; the governor narrowly won re-election over his Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, leading by 1.6 percentage points.
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Mr. Durr told news outlets that he had spent $153 on his campaign, but financial disclosure reports indicate he spent roughly $2,200 on his race. His meager campaign included the 80-second campaign video, where he accentuated his working-class roots with an opening scene of his stepping down from his truck cab, and ending with his riding away on a motorcycle. His victory was announced on the same day Mr. Durr was on a shift driving his truck.
BB.
“Yeah, our ground game was clearly to blame,” said McAuliffe to tearful reporters. “After studying the numbers, there is just no way to sugarcoat our failure to turn out the 3 a.m. ballots. Bottom line is, we simply came up short. The votes in the key 3 a.m. demographic just weren’t there.”
The DNC is looking closely at what went wrong in Virginia to make sure they don’t repeat the mistakes in the crucial 2022 election. So far, the clear takeaway is simply to make sure they have enough ballots in reserve to make up for a rise in racism, pornophobia, LGBTQaphobia, Islamophobia, and Marxismaphobia among the voters.
“We thought we had it in the bag with all the early vote ballots, all the absentee ballots, all the dead voter ballots, and frankly we got a little lazy and let the country down,” said McAuliffe campaign head Biff Tannen. “Let this be a lesson to all Democrat candidates facing an election in this hostile environment full of terrorist parents who don’t want their girls raped in school bathrooms by guys wearing skirts. Do not rely on actual people voting for Democrats! The 3 a.m. ballot demographic is key to Democrat victory from now on."
Democrat strategists also determined to push the wildly popular CRT a little more next time.
Love Winsome Sears - You go girl!
Richmond, VA—After spending the week leading up to election day wielding tiki torches, chanting support of white supremacists, and condemning the election of a black, female Lieutenant Governor, Democrats began wondering if they might be on the wrong side of history.
“Come to think of it, standing here with confederate flags on our jackets and yelling about how electing a black state official is the worst thing for our state does sound, I dunno, racist I guess,” said one of Virginia’s Democrat leaders while staring ponderously into the flames of his tiki torch. “We may have to rethink our strategy.”
Another operative for the Democrat party seethed upon hearing news a Cuban-American had been elected Attorney General of Virginia, only to pause afterward and ask herself why she held such disdain for a minority candidate.
At publishing time, the Democrats were questioning whether their mass enrollment into the Ku Klux Klan might be sending the wrong message.
Martyrs of Albania. Stain glass depiction at the Catholic Cathedral in Prishtinë
Most murdered/executed between 1945 and 1952; the last - Blessed Mikel Beltojoa - in 1974.
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