GO WOKE. GO BROKE: Making classics like Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., WALL-E, The Incredibles, and the Toy Story movies, Pixar grew to employ 1,300 workers. It has since made enough woke bombs that at least 300 of those people will soon be getting pink slips.
ISRAEL: On Saturday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the International Court of Justice at The Hague to shove their case where the sun don’t shine. The court has been holding hearings on South Africa’s allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. Netanyahu made it clear that Israel will pursue its war against Hamas until victory is assured. “No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks Saturday evening, referring to Iran and its allied militias.
QUAKER RECALL: Due to possible salmonella contamination, the Quaker Oats Company is recalling a bunch of products in both Canada and the U.S. See a list of products and instructions for getting reimbursed @ https://contact.pepsico.com/quaker/article/voluntary-quaker-recall.
“Fall of the Damned” by Peter Paul Rubens ca. 1620
This post by exorcist Monsignor Rossetti needs to be read and shared:
Not long ago I received a barrage of texts from the demons in the midst of an intense case. In response, I texted back a holy picture and prayer to the Blessed Virgin and Saint Michael. I also texted back a command: “With each text, I command the demons to contemplate the beauty of our Lady while praising God with the angelic song: “Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.” I commanded the demons based upon the Church’s authority over demons given by Christ which is delegated to the Exorcist by the Bishop.
The demon texted back: “No one can tell me how to act or what to do. I decide everything; that’s been clear for years.” The demonic response is an echo of the original refusal of Satan and his minions to obey God: “Non serviam,” “I will not serve“. This is further echoed in today’s rejection of God’s will and asserting one’s own will often found, for example, in Wicca, Witchcraft, and Satanism.
The “freedom” the demons assert they have found in rejecting God’s will for their own is an illusion. In the famous 16th century case of the exorcism of Nicola Aubry, the Bishop of Leon was personally leading the exorcism. The chief demon in the case was Beelzebul (or Beelzebub). At one point, the Bishop commanded the lower-ranking demons to come forward and to speak. Beelzebul snapped back that these lower demons will NOT speak. He said, “I tell you they shall not speak in my presence. They are my servants, my slaves; I am their master. Did you ever see a slave speak in the presence of his lord?“
This has been our experience: hell is an evil empire with the more powerful demons brutally lording it over the lower demons and at times even beating them up. Demons hate humans even more than their fellow demons. And what demons do to damned souls in hell ought not be repeated.
Many today reject the Christian notion of serving and obeying God for the “freedom” of doing their own will. In reality, they are only subjugating themselves to the most cruel and merciless of masters, Satan, who was the first to reject the Divine will.
On the contrary, in obeying God, we are truly set free. “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1).
Similarly, sanctimoniously sneering at those of us who go does not mean you’re “spiritual.”
CANADA: Sean Gravells (39) has been arrested and charged with touching a person under 16 for sexual purposes, sexual interference of a person under 16, possession of child pornography, and importing or distributing child pornography. After his arrest, the North Peace Pride Society (NPPS) of British Columbia removed him as president, a role he has filled since 2018.
DEI: The University of Michigan has become “a DEI ideological complex with a university attached.” So says an an analysis conducted by The College Fix that revealed there are at least 241 paid employees focused on DEI. Their salaries and benefits add up to $30.68 million, an amount that would cover in-state tuition and fees for 1,781 undergraduate students.
END TIMES: The Book of Revelation tells us that a highly lethal, global pandemic is coming. Two items in today’s news suggest it is coming sooner rather than later.
Scientists in China report being surprised at how lethal a “pangolin coronavirus” they’re working with is. It killed 100% of the humanized mice they infected with it.
A recent worldwide study found 309 laboratory-acquired infections (LAIs) and 16 accidental pathogen escape from laboratory settings (APELS) occurred between 2000 and 2021.
MILITARY: On Thursday, an international coalition of American, British, Australian, Canadian, Dutch, and Bahraini troops carried out air strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The strikes specifically targeted Houthi missile, radar, and UAV capabilities to disrupt and degrade their ability to threaten global trade and freedom of navigation in the shipping thoroughfare.
WISCONSIN: On Jan. 8, a Racine County Circuit Court judge ruled that the use of a mobile van to facilitate absentee voting violates state election laws by favoring Democrats.
Pope Francis has a special affection for Judas, who he likes to believe repented and was saved from Hell by Jesus. This idea is so dear to him that he keeps the painting above on the credenza behind his desk beside the photo below. The one purports to show Jesus ministering to Judas when He descended to the dead, while the other allegedly shows Jesus as the Good Shepherd rescuing Judas, the “lost sheep” on his shoulders.
I can only wonder what kind of guilty conscience has led the pontiff to embrace an idea that contradicts 2,000 years of consistent church teaching that Judas Iscariot is in Hell. In addition, we have the personal testimony of modern-day exorcists who report that Judas shows up at exorcisms to help the demons!
In Exorcist Diary #234, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti writes about just one of these encounters. “In a very difficult exorcism some time ago, we were faced with hundreds of demons. We went through layers and layers of demonic cohorts, each captained by a different leader. At each point, I demanded to know that cohort leader’s name, which helped in casting them out. When each leader left, his entire cohort left with him. At one point, demanding the name, I was surprised to hear the response, ‘Judas!’ I further inquired, ‘Are you a demon using his name or the real human who betrayed Jesus?’ In a shout filled with shame, he answered that he was truly the man.”
As evidence for his bizarre theology, Pope Francis points not to Scripture, not to the Magisterium, nor to any Church Father, Doctor of the Church, or approved apparition. Nope. He points to a Medieval carving atop a column in the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene in Vézelay, Burgundy, France. But even here, he has nothing but his own perhaps guilt-ridden fancy to justify the identification. For starters, note in the cropped image above that the figure he would like to claim is Jesus has short hair and is clean shaven.
As you can see in the images above, the earliest Christian illustrations of Jesus’ “99 sheep” parable do show the good shepherd as an adolescent. However, later on, when the Good Shepherd had become not merely an illustration of a parable, but a type for Jesus Himself, He is depicted with long hair and a beard. The statue below is from the same (Romanesque) period as the Vézelay capital.
It is unlikely in the extreme that sculptor of the Vézelay capital intended his carving to suggest the opposite of what the church had always taught – i.e., that Judas is in Hell. This is especially apparent when we compare the capital figure with the Romanesque Good Shepherd statue. Jesus the Good Shepherd is standing upright, cradling the sheep on His shoulders; the sheep is relaxed and appears to be smiling. By contrast, the guy hauling Judas is bent over and looks very grim. He appears to be burdened by his task, suggesting he is simply an unfortunate soul who got stuck with hauling the body away for burial.
I did quite a lot of research into the Vézelay basilica, particularly the capital carvings. The original church and capital carvings were constructed in the Romanesque style between 1120 and 1150. The thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars, barrel vaults, and decorative carvings are all typical of the period.
As far as I can discern, the capital the pontiff likes so much is one of the dozens that decorate the tops of the columns that separate the nave from the two side aisles. The red squares are piers; the blue rectangle is an arch.
There appear to be three capitals per arcade. (An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by a colonnade of columns or piers.) In the photo above, you can kind of see how each arch is supported by two columns, atop of which are carved capitals. Between the arches there is a vertical element that, on the nave side, is relative undecorated. However, on the aisle side, there appears to be a third capital carving.
This fits with the photos I found at the University of Pittsburgh site linked below, which show at least some of these capitals in sets of three. Unfortunately, I did not find any photos or information about the capital depicting the death of Judas. I wish I had, because I believe these capitals likely relate to one another thematically, so it would have been instructive to see what else was near that one.
2024: I dunno if anyone cares (I don’t), but I should probably mention that Chris Christie has dropped out of the race. Not the Bee suggested it was possibly because he had learned there’s no buffet at the Iowa caucuses. ::snork::
Flashback: In 2017, the corpulent, then-Governor of New Jersey closed down all the state’s beaches because of a government shutdown. On July 2, when reporters asked if he had gotten to enjoy the beautiful summer day, he said, “I didn’t get any sun today.”
Later, photos emerged of him lounging in the sun at empty Island Beach State Park. When asked about his alleged lack of sun, his spokesman told reporters that, “He did not get any sun. He had a baseball hat on.”
When asked to apologize for his beach time that nobody else in New Jersey had been permitted to enjoy, he said no. “I think I’ve proven over the last eight years, if I have a choice to make between my family and political optics, then I’m going to pick my family.”
ECONOMICS: CLICK https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1744876943382905066 [1:30] to hear a Gen Zer complain (rightfully) about the crappy economy. However, I would like to point out to her that (a) working 40 hours/week is not “working your tail off” and (b) par for the course for young people who are new to the work force. I graduated from college in 1976 and had my first full-time job by the end of summer. I earned minimum wage, shared a one bedroom apartment with another woman, and needed a second, part-time job to pay off school loans. I worked 7 days/wk. Of course, there was a Democrat in the White House then too, so there’s that.
FIDUCIA SUPPLICANS: Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid has moved to quash opposition to Fiducia Supplicans, warning his priests that “we are going to fully apply the Pope’s doctrine” on same-sex blessings.
Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest, a Russian Orthodox bishop, who has called Fiducia Supplicans both “dangerous” and “misleading” also says it has virtually eliminated any hope for a reunion between Catholic and Orthodox.
HUNTER’S STUNT: As the House Oversight Committee was debating whether to hold #1 son in contempt for ignoring their subpoenas, Hunter made a grandstanding surprise appearance that apparently had more to do with distracting the media from the contempt issue than anything else.
Meanwhile, at the nearby Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Pramila Jayapal [R-WA-7] attempted to deflect debate about Hunter’s contempt of Congress by claiming that it was way more important for them to talk about how Donald Trump had “incited an erection.”
Rep. Byron Donalds [R-FL] noted, “Donald Trump Jr. showed up for five congressional subpoenas. There was never this circus.”
IOWA: Republicans in Iowa will be the first to cast their votes in support of a presidential candidate in the 2024 election when they attend public gatherings on Monday, January 15, known as caucuses. Trump, who won 39 out of 40 delegates in 2020, has a yuge lead, which is giving leftie jerknalists the sadz. I saw a lot of, “But Iowa often has surprises!!“
GRAMMY NOTES: After enjoying a day in #4 Happy Land over my pretty boxes, I am now mired somewhere between #2 and #3 as I pick through all the memorabilia I tossed into boxes labeled “Miscellaneous: Scrapbook” and “Miscellaneous: Genealogy.”
I am hoping to make “Heartwarming Graphic” a regular feature here, right before my final “LOL Graphic.” ❤
2024: Multiple news sites report that President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is hosting political reporting teams from ABC, NBC, The Wall Street Journal, Fox, NPR, Reuters, Bloomberg, and others at the Wilmington HQ. Word has it the Biden team hands out a coverage spreadsheet that lays out the areas where the team believes reporting has fallen short. I’m curious to know if their responses are, “Yes, Massuh” or “WTF.”
STUPID RICH PEOPLE CLOTHES: JW Anderson is a “provocative ready-to-wear designer, celebrated for his androgynous aesthetic.” I’m thinking that sad/angry model isn’t celebrating anything.
VAXXX: A study entitled “Metformin mitigates insulin signaling variations induced by COVID-19 vaccine boosters in type 2 diabetes” was posted on January 2, 2024 at MedRxiv to make it available for peer review. In it, the authors report that 61.1% of their Type 2 diabetic subjects exhibited aggravated insulin resistance after the shot.
GRAMMY NOTES: Once upon a time, I had a sister-in-law from Japan. My favorite Seiko-ism was when she called a “fly swatter” a “fly slaughter.” If only they were that effective!
The Saint Paul Catholic Church in Lexington, Kentucky, proudly posted a picture of their priest, wearing a rainbow stole, as he blesses a lesbian couple. The text claimed the blessing had been done according to the guidelines in Fiducia supplicans.
Fiducia supplicans states that “one should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation.” It looks to me like the rainbow stole provided for and the photograph tooted on social media promoted.
Some of the CINO groups and individuals praising Fiducia Supplicans are saying out loud what pope-splainers are not. That is, that Fiducia Supplicans is an intentional endorsement of homosexual relationships that they hope will undermine the teachings of Jesus Christ and result in overturning a chunk of the Magisterium of the Church.
A group of Belgian bishops have published an enthusiastic statement in support of blessing “faithful and lasting homosexual relationships.”
The Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference urges pastors not to perform blessings for same-sex couples.
The prominent African prelate Cardinal Robert Sarah has joined the growing numbers of bishops who have rejected Fiducia Supplicans, stating that it proposes a “heresy that gravely undermines the Church, the Body of Christ, because it is contrary to the Catholic faith and tradition.”
The Catholic bishops of the Ivory Coast wrote to their priests:”We your Archbishops and Bishops, your spiritual guides of the Catholic Church in Côte d’Ivoire, reaffirm our attachment to the values of the family, of the sacrament of marriage between a man and a woman, as God has intended since the beginning. We therefore ask ordained Ministers to refrain from blessings of same-sex couples and couples in an irregular situation.”
The bishops of Togo have issued a statement urging priests in the country to not perform blessings of homosexual “couples.” In the text, they cite Pope Francis’ own words from last July in which the latter said that “rites and prayers are inadmissible which could cause confusion between that which constitutes marriage.”
2024: A federal judge in Wyoming has rejected an attempt to keep Trump off the state’s primary ballot.
In other news, SCOTUS has agreed to hear Trump’s appeal to a Colorado Supreme Court decision to keep him off the ballot. Oral arguments are scheduled for Feb. 8.
PSA: Fortunately for me, Mama Buzz was the one who got stuck buying and using this altered product. She is also hypersensitive to “fragrance” but not nearly to the degree that I am. I was just thinking I needed to order more shampoo too. I have written a blistering letter to Giovanni Cosmetics, Inc. Maybe they’ll care. Maybe they won’t. I’m done with them. Now, to find a new shampoo I tolerate. ::sigh::
VAXXX: A paper entitled “Presence of viral spike protein and vaccinal spike protein in the blood serum of patients with long-COVID syndrome” was published in European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences at the end of 2023.
In it, researchers report finding genetic sequences unique to the Pfizer COVID vaccine BNT162b2 within the DNA of people suffering from long COVID. They note that these findings are consistent with “intracellular reverse transcription.” IOW, in some number of the jabbed, the mRNA serum forcibly and permanently altered the DNA.
This study looked only at blood samples. It is not known yet if any of the jabbed had the DNA of their gametes (sperm, eggs) altered or if any babies have resulted who carry the altered DNA.
GRAMMY NOTES: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ0UFe69iOo [8:36] for an interesting review of once-popular appliances that are thankfully now gone and mostly forgotten. My sister had one of those hair dryers (above). And my mom told me once about using her wringer washer when my then-toddler brother stuck his arm in. She watched in horror as his little hand came out the other side. She said she totally forget the thing had an emergency release and just reverse cranked his arm back out. Thankfully, she had been wringing thick bath towels, so no harm done.
EPSTEIN: On January 4, 2024, second batch of filings showing the unredacted names of people connected to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was released. More documents are scheduled to be released.
FLORIDA: Last year, Gov. DeSantis signed a new law requiring unions to apply for re-certification if their membership falls below 60% of those they allege to represent. United Teachers of (Miami-) Dade (UTD) has failed to meet this threshold which means it will no longer be allowed to directly withdraw dues from public employee paychecks.
UTD’s most recent financial statement lists its annual revenues at $11,435,087, all of which comes from dues paid by teachers out of their salaries. The stated mandate for this organization is to use its only income stream – teachers’ dues – for “Maintaining Labor Relations, Promoting the Welfare of Children. Strengthening the Educational Institutions.”
Starting salaries for beginning teachers in Miami-Dade County are $52,470 with a bachelor’s degree, $56,058 with a master’s degree, and $60,868 with a doctorate. Meanwhile, the current annual combined salaries of UTD only five full-time staff – a president, a vice president, two directors (finance and advocacy), and a secretary – is about $704,000. These five overpaid slugs siphoned 46% of Miami-Dade’s teachers’ dues to finance the political shenanigans of Far Left Democrat enablers like the AFL-CIO, the National Education Association, and Randi Weingarten.
Since UTD handles a budget of $11 million and has only one secretary, I think it’s fair to say she qualifies as someone who should be a “highest-paid type of secretary.” According to Zippia, which claims to be a “career expert”, the average salary for someone like is is $107,366. UTD’s secretary’s salary is $140,622.
IOWA: At about 7:37 a.m. local time on January 4, 2024, a 17-year-old senior opened fire at Perry High School. Before turning the gun on himself, he killed a six-grader and wounded five others (four students, one administrator). Because of the early hour, there were few students in the building; school was canceled and law enforcement officers searched the building, finding an IED (improvised explosive device) which they rendered safe.
Hours before the shooting, the shooter posted a photo of himself, in the school bathroom, with the caption, “Now we wait.” The photo showed a blue duffel bag on the floor of the stall. The duffel likely held the shooter’s weapons – a pump-action shotgun and a handgun – both of which are illegal for a 17-year-old to obtain in Iowa.
N.b., I have long had a policy of not naming the perpetrators of violence unless their names become so famous (e.g., George Floyd) that it would be tedious in the extreme to avoid using them.
GRAMMY NOTES: “It’s a Wonderful Life” is near and dear to our family. The author of the original short story used to drive through our little village and regularly saw the building shown above. He liked the name so much, he used it for his protagonist. When our high school drama club did a production of the play, our very own Army Princess played Mary Bailey. :)<3
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