Remember lots of sounds.

LOTS

(That’s neat!) How did you learn that?

wing2000 said:

...and President Trump will secure the great oil fields of Venezuela for the American people. Drill, baby, drill!

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Just like the Iraqi oil fields that paid for the war!

OldTimesCruelty said:

Excellent post! You're quite right about all of that.

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I believe no matter what, Maynard is doing all things with love. Especially his music! Therefore I KNOW that The Father is loving Maynard!

A debate has erupted online and in Indian social circles worldwide. The subject is U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who has been criticized for hoping that his Hindu wife, Usha, might one day share his Christian faith.

To right-wing Hindu extremists and left-wing elites, this is exaggerated as an act of war — proselytization, cultural assault, a colonial echo. The outrage is loud and the accusations swift. Yet beneath the noise lies a profound misunderstanding, not only of JD Vance, but of Christianity itself.

At a TPUSA event and in subsequent social media commentary, Vance spoke about his spiritual journey. When asked about Usha, a brilliant attorney raised in a Hindu home, he offered this reflection: “Do I hope, eventually, that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, honestly, I do wish that … I hope she may one day see things as I do."

Note that Vance has not suggested coercion or ultimatum. In fact, he has explicitly rejected force, saying, “But if she doesn't, then God says everybody has free will, and so that doesn't cause a problem for me.”

This is not proselytization. It is love, the kind Jesus modeled. Conversion in Christian theology is not a human transaction but a spiritual encounter. Jesus warned against forcing faith; in the Parable of the Sower, some seeds take root and others do not. Growth cannot be commanded.

Vance understands this truth. His critics do not.

Continued below.

Valletta said:

Many Democrats just didn't understand how beneficial tariffs could be to our country.

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Now even the Magadonians are starting to see how non-beneficial they can be.

Valletta said:

It will be nice for everyone to get $2000 to put back into the economy.

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It would be a lot nicer if it didn't come with the sacrifice of getting kicked off Medicare or losing ACA subsidies. Universal healthcare would be nicer for just about everybody.

These protests against Turning Point seems to be riding off the back of Charlie Kirks murder. Which is sort of the same mentality of killing Kirk for his beliefs and views.

Now its deplatforming these beliefs and views altogether from universities. Which is exactly the enforced ideology the protesters are protesting against. They are more or less saying 'only certain beliefs and views are allowed'.

We seen the same deplatforming and cancel culture going on for years. I though universities were the bastians of free speech and alternative ideas. Which actually help us discover the truth. That is what universities taught,. Critical thinking.

What are they actually teaching today. How to be a social justice warrior. How to save the world by tearing down their own insitutions and nation.

“Secretary Noem is leading efforts to rescue and stop the exploitation of the 450,000 unaccompanied children the Biden administration lost or placed with unvetted sponsors. Many of the children who came across the border unaccompanied were allowed to be placed with sponsors who were smugglers and sex traffickers. The Trump administration has located more than 24,400 of these children in-person, in the United States, through visits and door knocks," said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "We've jumpstarted our efforts to rescue children who were victims of sex and labor trafficking by working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate these children. President Trump and Secretary Noem are laser-focused on protecting children and will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to reunite children with their families."

Because of those who interfere with ICE or refuse to cooperate some of the children might not be rescued in time.

rjs330 said:

This doesn't support what was stated. They aren't saying they want no immigration. They want seriously controlled immigration.

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Apparently we read the following differently:


Although, I suppose, one could argue that Walsh isn't opposed to all immigration, just permanent immigrants - they could come and pick crops as long as they leave at the season's end?

rjs330 said:

I do too. Speeding up rhe process isn't what we want. We want a controlled immigration which may include severely limited immigration including a possibilility of no immigration until we get illegal immigration under control.

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I see, it's not that you want no immigration but that no immigration might be the best solution until some future possibly unattainable goal is met.

rjs330 said:

If 100,000 people apply for visas or citizenship or whatever and they are ALL good people with no records or no supporters of terrorism or terror regimes etc, doesn't mean we have to take them.

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What a handsome straw man! I'm sure someone, somewhere, made that argument at some time....

rjs330 said:

What we want is people we we really need. Ones that will be beneficial to this country with skills that we need. People that wont take jobs away from Americans but will supplement jobs where qualified Americans can't be found.

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Sounds perfect.

rjs330 said:

Its not anti-immigration where they don't want immigrants just cause they don't want immigrants.

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For some, it really is exactly that.

rjs330 said:

Heavily and severely controlled immigration is what is needed.

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This is an ongoing discussion with ill-defined terms.

iluvatar5150 said:

You guys keep saying that some of Biden's pardons are sketchy, but you haven't named a single one.

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Well, I've named one before, namely pardoning his son. I haven't forgiven him for that.

Dikaioumenoi said:

So the structure is:

• No one is able to come
• unless the Father draws him (this produces ability)
• and I will raise that same him -- that is, the one drawn/enabled

The one who is drawn = the one who is enabled to come = the one who is raised. There is zero grammatical space to claim that the αὐτόν of clause 3 refers to anyone other than the αὐτόν of clause 2. No Greek reader in the first century would have inferred any other referent. Not without a theological presupposition forcing something into the text that isn't there.

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Logic certainly has to play its role here. I’d have no problem with your understanding if the passage said, “All who are drawn will come, and I will raise them up on the last day.”

John 6:44 can be rephrased as:
"All who come have been drawn, and I will raise them up on the last day."

This establishes a direct, firm connection at best between those who come and those who will be raised up, not between those who are drawn and those who come. The recipe for being raised up: drawing>coming>raising. If God draws but I don’t come, there will be no raising. Thus:
“Those who come to the Father I will raise up on the last day.”

Now, even then, was Jesus meaning to be exhaustive with that requirement, or was He just concisely stating a basic principle about the means to reach God and eternal life? Does a person who comes to God need to remain; can they stray? And what does coming to God mean? Does it mean there will be evidence of good fruit in our lives, of love for one another? Or does it just mean that I’ve ascertained that I believe in a certain manner?

With Scripture shedding light on Scripture, I believe there’s a gap of criteria or info left out of John 6:44, even as the principle itself is sound and true. When Jesus says in Mark 16:16, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned”, does that mean that eternal life depends on baptism, for one? People argue it both ways.

When Jesus tells the rich young man in Matt 19:17, “If you want to enter life, keep the commandments”, was that meant to exhaust the requirements for salvation?

When Jesus tells us in Matt 5, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” or “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”, do those conditions exclude the necessity of faith, or can/should we read that part in?

BobRyan said:

Jesus said that was true before the cross, in John 16. IT is not something that became true at some later time.

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Jesus had not left yet meaning that He had not been resurrected and gone to Heaven. The Holy Spirit will not come until then,


“But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭7‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

BobRyan said:

In John 14 Jesus said the Holy Spirit already dwelt with His followers... before the cross

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The Holy Spirit was not yet indwelling the believer. In John 14 it is a future promise and in John 16 it tells you when.

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever;”
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭16‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

wing2000 said:

In a sharp reversal, President Donald Trump said late Sunday that House Republicans should support a measure that would require the Justice Department to release the information it has related to its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — after key lawmakers said support was building ahead of a closely watched vote.


It's refreshing to see Republicans finally exercise their Constitutional power to counter the Executive Branch. It may be a first under the Trump era.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/16/house-epstein-discharge-petition-trump/

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Let's keep in mind the only reason why there was vote to force another vote in the house and the senate if it passes the house, is because Trump and his DOJ refuse to release the Epstein data.

In other words if Trump really wanted it out like he says in his reversal, there is no need for any voting and he can just release them today.

This is just tweeting with confidence now that he has ordered his Consigliere, Pam Bondi, to open an investigation on everyone but the person most mentioned in the Epstein emails (Trump himself) so they can now say, "we can't release anything, it's under investigation".

Hentenza said:

But this kind of mind set leads to all kinds of absurd ideas. Think about it for a minute. Whites commit 69% of all rapes and 74% of all sexual crimes. Should the police stop all whites for suspicion of rape or sexual crimes? Blacks commit 52% of all robberies should all blacks be stopped for suspicion of robbery?

Table 43

ucr.fbi.gov

Do you see the absurdity? There is no difference in the look of an illegal alien or a legal alien or citizen walking or driving down the street. There is no sign hanging from their necks identifying them either way. In general, a brown Mexican born here looks no different than one that did not.

Look, I have no problems deporting every illegal alien criminal living in the US which is what Trump ran his campaign under. But the bedrock of our justice system is probable cause and due process. Everyone in the US that is accused of a crime needs to go through the judicial system not just arbitrarily adjudicated guilty. What Trump is doing parallels to what we did to the Japanese during WWII. If our judicial system is not for everyone then the system fails everyone. Who knows another president might decide that Christians need to go and Trump is setting precedence.

Agreed.

I did not vote for Harris because of where the Democratic Party its been heading for quite some time. Trump, at the time, was the lesser of two evils but an evil nonetheless. My vote was against Harris but not for Trump. Both parties are operating at their respective extremes and that needs to change.




He also said to love the your neighbor and not oppress the stranger. I don’t think that we should demonize a whole race merely because some have crossed the border illegally.

““You shall not oppress a stranger nor torment him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭22‬:‭21‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Exodus 22:21 “You shall not oppress a stranger nor torment him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. | New American Standard Bible - NASB (NASB2020) | Download The Bible App Now

“You shall not oppress a stranger nor torment him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

bible.com

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Questioning someone’s citizenship is not oppression. Instead of inciting anger against ICE and HSA, it time would be better served in explaining the constitution to citizens.

Do you know how to handle police encounters?

You have the right to remain silent. If you talk to police, you waive that right. Instead of taking, show ID. If the officer does not believe you, argue in court, not with officer doing his job

Arguing and resisting arrest escalates the situation and gives the officer cause to subdue and detain you.

First rule of answering an officers questions is “I don’t have time to discuss my day.” You can say I am a citizen and show ID at this point but say nothing else. If he keeps asking questions, then ask, “Am I being detained or am I free to go?” If being detained, say I invoke the 5th amendment, then stay silent. Don’t answer any questions.
It is also important to say “I do not consent to any searches”

The officer will try to engage you in conversation with the goal to get you to waive your rights. I don’t care how justified you feel, arguing and resisting arrest crying racism does nothing to solve the problem. It gets resisting arrest and assaulting an officer charges added on.


We live in a nation of laws. We can learn to navigate the law or get run over by the law
Constitutional rights are only effective if used properly and not waived. They can’t be invoked retroactively.
It is the best way in the world found so far to regulate law enforcement. Learn your rights and proper behavior for law enforcement encounters, and you will live peacefully. Raids and targeted enforcement happen because it works. Illegals who have no right to be here are being removed

Latino people are not the enemy and they are not being treated as such. There is a nationwide search for criminals. If you are not a criminal, learn your rights to protect yourself, or you can keep listening to left wing agitators that make the situation worse, and then the insurrection act will be invoked, and guess what happens then? No one will have any rights

Do you really think that attacking ICE is doing any good to advance Latino dignity?

BelieveItOarKnot said:

Adam and Eve ceased to be individuals the moment God spoke His Words to them, ala Mark 4:15

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Adam and Eve are still individuals when Paul writes to Timothy:

1 Tim. 2: 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Individuals are judged and not couples.

Mark 4:15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

How does this have to apply to Adam and Eve prior to sinning?

Are you trying to blame satan for Eve sinning?

BelieveItOarKnot said:

From that point on it was Adam and the tempter within him, as well as Eve, with the tempter within her.

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Are you saying satan was in Adam and Eve prior to their sinning and if not what caused them to sin?

BelieveItOarKnot said:

They left the garden with the tempter intact, in their own sorry hides, predetermined to the death of their own flesh and so on to today

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Do you know for sure they did not go on to heaven after they died and how do you know that?

God did not say: “The tempter is inside you from now on” and if he was, he not the one causing you to sin?

Bradskii said:

Do you know why people, and this will almost certainly include you, prefer to buy goods that are manufactured overseas? Clothing, shoes, white goods, Tv's, computers, mobiles..?

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I don't think that's actually true. Americans want quality products more than cheap foreign junk. The exception would be high quality products made in places like France, Germany, Switzerland or Italy. We'll gladly pay for their top goods.

​

‘Working on this piece was, for me, a form of prayer in motion,’ says sculptor, who is now planning a trip to the Marian sanctuary in Portugal.

Think of the largest and most iconic sculptures on the planet. Do the Statue of Liberty in New York or Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro come to mind?

Now, an even taller statue has debuted: the largest sculpture of Our Lady of Fatima in the world, inaugurated on Thursday in the Brazilian city of Crato.

With an impressive height of 177 feet (the equivalent of a 15-story building), the new sculpture rises in the middle of an extensive urban plain — making visible the strong Marian devotion of the region’s inhabitants, inscribing faith in the landscape itself.

With an interior made of polyurethane and an exterior composed of fiberglass membranes with resin, a gel finish and special paint, the sculpture was created in parts, which were then transported to Crato and assembled like a 3D puzzle. In total, the work took one year and five months to complete, involving a team of more than 30 people. At the same time, a new sanctuary was built around it, equipped with services for pilgrims, a replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, and pastoral assistance.

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"Unfortunately, the worst fears have been confirmed," Tusk said in a post to X on Monday morning. The detonation "of an explosive device destroyed the railway track," the prime minister added.

Tusk did not name any suspects or a potential motive for the alleged sabotage. The prime minister did, however, note the line's importance in delivering aid to Ukraine.

In a later post, Tusk said the incident was "an unprecedented act of sabotage targeting directly the security of the Polish state and its civilians. This route is also crucially important for delivering aid to Ukraine."

"We will catch the perpetrators, regardless of who their backers are," Tusk added.

“Leo will ask Cardinal Arthur [Roche, prefect of the dicastery] to be generous.”​

Sources close to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales told The Pillar that Pope Leo appears poised to grant widespread exemptions to Traditionis custodes, without revoking the motu proprio itself.

Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, apostolic nuncio to Great Britain, gave a recent address to the plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, informing the bishops that the Vatican would “be generous” when asked to dispense from the restrictions to the traditional liturgy, a senior cleric told The Pillar.

According to one source present for the address, the nuncio explained that while Pope Leo is “not minded to change [Traditionis custodes], but as there are many different rites in the Church, there’s no reason to exclude the TLM.”

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essentialsaltes said:

Justice Department says "violent riot" under investigation by FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in the face of the enormity of three arrests and one injury. UC Berkeley acknowledges "There is no place at UC Berkeley for attempts to use violence or intimidation to prevent lawful expression or chill free speech"

According to a statement from the Berkeley Police Department, two men were arrested on suspicion of fighting in public. One of those individuals was released after officers determined that a 25-year-old man had stolen his chain and he was attempting to get it back.

Two other individuals were arrested by campus police for failing to comply with directions, a university spokesman said.

One 45-year-old man attending the event was hit by a glass bottle and transported to the hospital.

ETA: oh a car backfired, which scared TPUSA attendees.

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I watched the video and after the TPUSA guy was beaten and was there bleeding I heard the jeers. It's a climate of violence. Last evening at mass the homily was about persecution, and the situation in Nigeria with so many Christians being executed and Berkeley were used as examples. Because of the shooting in our area our parish feels it necessary to add extra security measures. You know something is deeply wrong a poll showed that 41% of voters aged 18–29 considered the killing of an insurance executive "acceptable."

We’ve all, much to our dismay, had to endure a lot of Fr. James Martin recently.

The Jesuit priest is seemingly everywhere, meeting the Pope, meeting with the bigwig politicians, thumbing his nose at the faith and morality, leading quote “pilgrimages” into St. Peter’s, and then rounding it off by confirming an openly homosexual news anchor and his “husband.”

An Anglican, Fr Calvin Robinson, put the absurdity of the situation best:



We’re so used to seeing him around laughing in triumph in our faces that we forget that Martin is *just* a Jesuit priest. He’s the associate editor for the Jesuit magazine America, yes. He’s also an author, was invited to be part of the consultant for the Vatican secretariat of communicationsby Francis, and runs an “LGBTQ ministry.”

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Slightly over 10 years after it redefined marriage to include same-sex couples, the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 declined to revisit that controversial decision, upholding at least for now its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that made “gay marriage” the law of the land.

A decade after that ruling, nearly a millionsame-sex couples in the U.S. are participating in what the law now defines as marriage. Yet the Catholic Church has continued to affirm the definition of marriage as being exclusively a union between a man and a woman.

That has been the prevailing definition of marriage around the world for at least about 5,000 years of human history, though many societies have allowed polygamy, or multiple spouses, in various forms. The same-sex variant of marriage, meanwhile, only became accepted in recent decades.

The Church has held since its beginning that marriage is strictly between one man and one woman. The Catechism of the Catholic Church directs that marriage occurs when “a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life.” It is “by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.”

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PloverWing said:

For years, I have bought my Christmas cards from Conception Abbey: Christmas Cards . (They used to call their shop "Printery House"; now it's called "Altar + Home".) They also sell cards for Easter and other holidays, along with cards for occasions like baptism and confirmation.

As to the OP: A few of my friends still send cards, but it doesn't seem to be as common a practice as it used to be. Too bad -- it's a nice custom.

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I never thought of buying Christmas cards from a church, thanks.

It's why there is a push to make AI take over mundane and white-collar jobs.

A rebel group's attack on a Catholic hospital's maternity ward in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed around 20 people, including breastfeeding mothers and their babies. Authorities have blamed the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed group affiliated with the Islamic State, for the massacre.

The strike occurred Friday night in the village of Byambwe in North Kivu province's Lubero territory, where the ADF terror group targeted a health facility run by the Little Sisters of the Presentation.

Armed men moved swiftly through the village, killing patients in their beds and setting fire to the center, local administrator Col. Alain Kiwewa told The Associated Press on Saturday.

"Women who were breastfeeding were brutally slaughtered and found with their throats slit in their hospital beds," Kiwewa was quoted as saying. Of the 17 people killed, 11 were women and six were men, he said.

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