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U.S. Bishops’ full statement on immigration and opposing mass deportation released

Irish Star on Republican attacks on the bishops' message. (via MSN)

Mainly so I can quote this bit from Pentagon journalist Laura Loomer, who seems to be simultaneously supporting and opposing antisemitism on the right, with a dash of nostalgia for the anti-Catholic Klan.

1764967742580.png
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Why Is It So Hard for Christians to Talk About Justice and Greed?

Can you give examples of exactly what aspects of justice you’re referring to because I’m not aware of Christians avoiding the topic in general.
Sure. One example has to do with the poor. Many label calls to help those who are poor, or born at an economic disadvantage, as "social justice". And many 'Christians' avoid discussions along those lines specifically, as one example.
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"Don't Give up the Ship"

...because blowing up boats with very expensive ordance makes for a good TV show......yet they still have not realeased the full, unedited video to the public.

I would have have loved to be a fly on the wall when the Naval commander of the USS Ford received orders to leave the Mediterranean sea and head to......Venezuela. I'm sure there were a few choice words used.....
I've seen a rough cost estimate of about $1,000,000 per "narco-terrorist" killed, counting most costs involved in the total operation.
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I feel the church too hermetic..

I pray you will find a parish that knows outreach. Orthodoxy is often not well organized for outreach which is unfortunate. I am in America and my understanding of Orthodoxy in Europe is obviously uninformed. In America, Orthodoxy is really variable in outreach and evangelism and some parishes thrive. I wish you were near our parish in the US; you would be faithfully welcomed & received efficiently.
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Consumer Prices Will Go Down From Day One? Will Gas Prices Go Down 50% Within A Year?

Let's watch each month and make the 2026 election a referendum on the keeping of those promises.
1) Does inflation go down each month compared to a year ago?
2) Do food prices go down, actually go down as promised?
3) Does the price of eggs go down?
4) Do gas prices go down?
I don’t expect them to go down but if they don’t go up I would say that’s an improvement.
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Consumer Prices Will Go Down From Day One? Will Gas Prices Go Down 50% Within A Year?

Trump’s Affordability “Con Job”

LIKE CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE EPSTEIN FILES, the affordability issue is a “hoax.” So saith our president.

SO WHAT CAN TRUMP ACTUALLY DO about any of this? The answer is not much, but ideally none of the things he’s currently doing.

It’s unhelpful, for instance, that Trump has jacked up tariffs to the tune of approximately $1,700 for the average household

The president could also stop mass deportations of the agricultural workforce, which even his own administration says is a threat to “the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.” Same with the construction workforce, which is needed to build more houses.

There’s no knob under the Resolute desk that presidents can use to dial down prices, but there are a few isolated things Trump could do to help. Extending the ACA subsidies, for instance, would shield people from a doubling of their premiums. But that might require acknowledging Democrats were right [which also applies to the previous items on this list.]
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Do the Ten Commandments apply to Christians today?

The helpful website, gotquestions.org, has over 10,000 answers to frequently asked Bible questions, such as this one: "Do Christians have to obey the Old Testament law?"

After briefly explaining some of the laws that were given to God's people, (Ten Commandments, civil, ceremonial) their website states, "None of the Old Testament law is binding on Christians today."

Do you see any problem with their answer?

While it is true that God does not expect believers today to follow the Old Testament laws regarding the sacrificial system, food and clothing rules, etc., it is unwise in my view to claim that the Ten Commandments are not "binding on Christians today."

After all, examine the New Testament instructions given to Christians in the words of Jesus, and the writings of Paul, Peter and James. While Scripture makes it clear that Christians "are not under law, but under grace," (Romans 6:14) followers of Christ are presented with many rules for holy living in the New Testament. And these godly instructions line up beautifully with the Ten Commandments.

Continued below.
And anyone can red HEBREWS 8:13 says that the LAW has WAXETH. OLD // GOROSKO is in the PRESENT TENSE

in the ACTIVE VOICE , in. the NOMINATIVE CASE in. the SINGULAR. in. the NOMINATIVE CASE , in. the NEUTER


READY // ONGYS. is and ADVERB

TO VANISH AWAY //. APHANISMOS. in. the GENITIVE CASE. in. the SINGULAR

And check. Acts 25:28 and isa 1:12. !!

dan p
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I hold a view similar to the Open View of God.

It was not a lie. It was a threat. And, indeed, if they had not repented, he would have destroyed them. (By the way, if he had not intended that they repent, why would he go to all that trouble to send Jonah in the precise way that he did?

That's a side issue. I'm not saying he's happy that most will perish.

No. I'm saying that it is a logically self-contradictory notion. (Nobody but God is entirely free). So why would he even consider it? It's not that he can't. It's that it is a non-thing.

The story of Nineveh and Jonah is not about salvation, by the way, so it is not the same sort of repentance. I can go to the fridge to get cream cheese for my bagel, go to the living room where my bagel is, and when I open the cream cheese, it has gray hair growing in it. I repent of my course of action. I go back to the kitchen for something else. The people of Nineveh were wicked, God demanded they change their ways or else. This is not repentance concerning their sinfulness. It is simple repentance of what they were doing. Would you claim they loved God after that repentance? It was still corrupt. But, at least, and for a time, they stopped what they were doing.

Define free choice. Uncaused choice? That makes no sense. Only God chooses, uncaused to do so. If you like, we can into the details of that. Can you show me how anything happens uncaused to do so? Only God is uncaused.

Does the capability of rejecting God's commands, and even God's offer of forgiveness and salvation, imply free will? Demonstrate to me that there is anything we do entirely spontaneously. For starters: Is there anything we do that we don't most want to do at that instant of decision?

Here and above, you consider "God's will" as only one thing. The implication is that God fully intended that we all be holy as he is holy; yet, somehow, only Christ Jesus has been able to do that.
Yes, that is true, if you replace "intended" with "desired".
The law —all of it God's will—was given to demonstrate our sin and our need for him
Not to tell us what He wants us to do?
, because we are unable to obey it perfectly, and so we deserve death.
But His law included the steps to take when the laws were disobeyed. How do you obey those parts if you never disobey the other parts? God's law helped people to avoid death.
We need his mercy. Even you don't believe that is all that his will is. He also wills for things to happen quite apart from his law.
Opposite His law? In other words, does God both will that all oeople keep His law and at the same time will that all people break His law? What lawmaker would do that? Maybe you should divide between God's intended will and God's contingent will, like Nineveh.
And those things are a little harder to know. So there are at least two things that are called/considered the will of God. The one thing is not the same as the other. If you think God never intended for Lucifer to rebel and Adam to sin, then why did he bother to make us?
I dont understand the question. Are you saying that we are undesired by God unless Lucifer rebelled and Adam sinned?
He made us to be the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Children of God, the Dwelling Place of God, his People with Him in a way the angels can never be. And THAT would not happen, but for Redemption.
Or perfect obedience in the first place. That makes the current scheme contingent.
So everyone has acted against his command (his revealed will), but none of us can ruin his plans (his hidden will).
Are our sins part of His hidden will? Every sin ever committed? If He couldn't make a sinless population from the start, He desires us to sin instead?
He doesn't fly by the seat of his pants to accomplish some general end.
Huh? Is someone suggesting that?
Read the prophets where repeatedly God used foreign kings to punish Israel —even refers to one of them as a tool— and then punishes them for doing so. They were not obeying.
Can't they both obey the command to punish Israel and also disobey commands for the treatment of the people? I don't see why it has to be a dichotomy.
They were only accomplishing what God had planned for them to do.
Plus some extra God didn't want them to do
Do you think that Satan will not have to pay for what he did to Job?
I don't know how God accounts for Satan's individual acts, but he didn't have to argue with God, did he? Are you saying that God wants Satan to kill, steal, and destroy? Why then is God any more moral than Satan?
Yet God put him up to it, fully intending that that beautiful book would be read by his people.
Was that the whole purpose of the episode? Or was God actually working to bring about a better understanding for Job, his wife, his friends?
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Lindsey Halligan, and the dog that ate the transcript.

Judges lash out at Justice Department for still listing Lindsey Halligan on court documents

One of those judges, Magistrate William Fitzpatrick, said at a criminal case hearing Tuesday that filing criminal charging papers “under Ms. Halligan’s name” at this time “is simply not acceptable,” according to a transcript obtained by CNN.

Both Fitzpatrick and another judge in the district, Michael Nachmanoff, told prosecutors this week they believed the ruling was clear that Halligan wasn’t the US attorney for all cases. They both noted, in separate hearings this week, according to court transcripts, that the Justice Department hadn’t appealed the ruling about Halligan, nor asked any court to pause it for a possible appeal.

The Justice Department’s reasoning for keeping Halligan’s name on criminal filings has been thin, from the perspective of prosecutors appearing in court.

“The Office of Legal Counsel told us to put the name as is as it has been presented on these indictments. That’s what we are going on at this point,” Roberts said in court on Tuesday, according to court records obtained by CNN.

Can the United States Government defraud itself?
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The rise of menace as a mainstream political tool

The rise in political menace is even affecting our 51st state.
Oh, the thread is open to other countries?

Germany: Dozens injured at Berlin pro-Palestinian protest


Some 1,200 Israelis — around 800 civilians — were killed and another 250 abducted in the attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023. Israel's military response has seen over 53,000 Palestinians — mainly women and children — killed, according to health authorities in Hamas-led Gaza Strip, whose casualty counts do not differentiate between militants and civilians but are regarded as reliable by international organizations, and much of the territory laid to waste.​
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The rise of menace as a mainstream political tool

Clarington councillor charged with uttering threats

Ward 3 Coun. Corinna Traill facing 2 counts linked to alleged threats made about potential mayoral candidate​

A municipal councillor from Clarington, Ont., is facing criminal charges over alleged threats made in a voicemail involving a potential mayoral candidate, police say.

Coun. Corinna Traill has previously denied making any threats, saying the voicemail in question was generated using artificial intelligence.

In a social media post from September, former mayoral candidate and retired police officer Tom Dingwall alleged that in August, he received a voicemail from Traill telling him to stay out of next year's mayoral race to allow a friend of hers to "run unencumbered."

Dingwall went on to say that the message "made it clear" that if he did not, he would be killed and his wife would be sexually assaulted.
What does something in Canada have to do with American Politics?
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The Final Experiment (Flat Earth Bites The Dust)

Sportswear boss offers his £3billion firm to anyone who can prove Earth is flat

In a video posted on Columbia Sportswear’s YouTube channel on Tuesday (December 2), the boss, dressed in a casual navy quarter-zip and red and white checked shirt, challenged conspiracy theorists to prove him wrong.

Mr Boyle said: ‘This message is for flat Earthers. You guys claim there’s an end to the Earth?

‘Well just go snap a picture. Send it to us – and you get the assets to the company. All of it.

‘No paperwork, no lawyers, no catches.’

He is then interrupted by a man who appears to be a part of Columbia’s legal team, dressed in a black suit and blue patterned tie, who said: ‘Um, Tim, there is some paperwork.’

Is the Earth flat?​

The first flat Earthers can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia who thought the earth was disc-shaped and under a dome.

But by about 300 BCE, educated scholars overwhelmingly accepted that the Earth is a sphere
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"Don't Give up the Ship"

My question (still unanswered) is, why are we blowing up those boats instead of interdicting them in the usual way, like the USCG is still doing successfully in the Pacific?

...because blowing up boats with very expensive ordance makes for a good TV show......yet they still have not realeased the full, unedited video to the public.

I would have have loved to be a fly on the wall when the Naval commander of the USS Ford received orders to leave the Mediterranean sea and head to......Venezuela. I'm sure there were a few choice words used.....
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Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t, Either

It's odd. The far left generally loves Jews in America, and hates them in Israel. The far right generally hates Jews in America, and loves them in Israel. Only a generalization; there are exceptions.

Thankfully I am a far center centrist. I can hate Jews in America and Israel.
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The rise of menace as a mainstream political tool

Clarington councillor charged with uttering threats

Ward 3 Coun. Corinna Traill facing 2 counts linked to alleged threats made about potential mayoral candidate​

A municipal councillor from Clarington, Ont., is facing criminal charges over alleged threats made in a voicemail involving a potential mayoral candidate, police say.

Coun. Corinna Traill has previously denied making any threats, saying the voicemail in question was generated using artificial intelligence.

In a social media post from September, former mayoral candidate and retired police officer Tom Dingwall alleged that in August, he received a voicemail from Traill telling him to stay out of next year's mayoral race to allow a friend of hers to "run unencumbered."

Dingwall went on to say that the message "made it clear" that if he did not, he would be killed and his wife would be sexually assaulted.
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Donald Trump Says US To Launch Land Action in Venezuela ‘Very Soon’

"Maduro is definitely a poor leader who also stole the election."

No, those are not good reasons for invading another country.

If those are good reasons by Republican standards, then someone should have invaded the US when Biden won.
To me those are better reasons than "stopping" drugs. But yes, it would be an act of goodwill, that is in America's interest. I don't think it will be an all out war, likely far less than the Falklands. Capture Maduro, if he won't leave peacefully and the war part is over? The nation building is another matter. I think we will soon see. I do think Trump should get Congressional approval though. Let him lay the case out and have a vote.
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WHEN WAS THE LAW TAKEN AWAY. AND GRACE BEGAN. ??

# 1 IN ////. EN. is a PREPOSTION

# 2. THAT HE SAITH //// LEGO. is. in. the PRESENT TENSE in. the ACTIVE VOICE

# 3 A. NEW. //// KAINOS. in. the ACCUSATIVE CASE in. the SINGULAR

# 4. COVENANT /// KAVEN

# 5. HE HATH MADE ///. PALAIOO. in. the PERFECT TENSE in. the INDICATIVE MOOD , and this MOOD , means you BETTER BELIEVE IT

# 6 THE /// HO is a DEFINITE ARTICLE in. the ACCUSATIVE CASE , in. the SINGULAR

# 7. FIRST ///. PROTOS. , in the ACCUSATIVE CASE , in the SINGULAR

# 8 OLD /// PALAOO , in. th PERFECT TENSE , in. the ACTIVE VOICE , in. the SINGULAR

# 9 NOW ///. DE. , is a CONJUNCATION

# 10 THAT WHICH DECAYETH. ,///. in the PRESENY TENSE , in the PASSIVE TENSE . in. the NOMINATIVE CASE. in. the SINGULAR in. the NUTER

# 11 AND ,/// KAI is a CONJUNCATION

# 12 WAXETH. OLD. , /// GORASHO. in. the PRESENT TENSE in. the ACTIVE VOICE means CHRIST is causing. it to be OLD is a PARTICIPL

in the NOMINATIVE CASE in. the SINGULAR and in. the NEUTER , meaning neither MALE or FEMALE

# 13. READY. , ///. ONGYS. is an ADVERB

# 14 TO VANISH AWAY , ///. APHANISMOS. in. the GENITIVE CASE in. the SINGULAR

#A. THIS MEAND THE OLD LAW OF MOSES has been sat aside FOREVER. !!

# B. And Rom 6:14 FOR YOU ARD NOT. //. OV s a DISJUNCATIVE PARTICLE NEGATIVE and means you will NEVERRRRR. be under

the LAW but UNDER GRACE. ,

# C This means that SALVATION is by ROM 10:9 and 10

# And John 3:3 and verse 5. will not save anyone and John is speaking to Israel ONLY. !!

dan p

UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in midtown Manhattan, law enforcement official says

Speaking of Miranda rights

Video shows Luigi Mangione says he didn't want to talk. Police kept asking questions

Although Mangione signaled he wasn't interested in speaking, police continued asking questions, and he continued answering, video showed. Nearly 20 minutes passed before police informed him of his right to remain silent.
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