#Catholic Charities USA

[locustheologicus]

Catholic Charities USA: Oklahoma City

The Catholic Charities USA conference took place on September 16-19, 2024, in Oklahoma City. The conference brought us to a land that was weirdly beautiful. We took a journey where we shared in their history, their tragedy, their hope, and social renewal. We visited their cowboy museum (pic 7), we saw the site of the 1995 bombing of their federal building (pic 8&9). We saw the newly opened national shrine to Bl. Stanley Rother (pic 2&3) where we walked to Tepeyac hill and venerated la Virgen de Guadalupe (pic 4). Of coursem we also saw some of the amazing social ministries that Oklahoma City Catholic Charities offers (pics 6-7).

The newly built offices were designed creatively to respond to the emergency needs that would arise. They are equipped with access to potable water, emergency power and WiFi outside in order to assist the community in the midst of a disaster. They also have a warehouse that can transform into a 60 bed emergency shelter if necessary. They designed the building to be powered with geo-thermal energy and incorporated sun and green spaces in the spirit of Laudato Si’. They have a chapel dedicated to Mother Theresa of Calcutta and at their reception there is a powerful quote from her that guides their mission:

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you. - Mother Theresa

Our sessions involved going over parish engagement and community collaboration. I also went to sessions on financial literacy and workforce development. The first picture has a presentation from the new CEO Kerry Robinson. She shared with us her insights in visiting many local Catholic Charities agencies throughout the nation and from those visits she highlighted six values that she feels defines who we are.

Conviviality - the idea that we coexist with the larger community as freinds to one another; being hospitable and integrative with those we serve and partner with.

Creativity - the recognition that all our agencies are able to adapt to the local reality and can design programs and services based on these realities and the crisis that emerge.

Tenacity - our ability to persevere in providing services through great social challenges and unbelievable struggles that are clients and communities face.

Magnanimity - our ability to incredibly generous and open to the people we serve and to the communities we are a part of.

Hope - we are inspired to do our work from the hope-filled message of the gospel. We are guided in the belief that creation can and will be redeemed by our service to one another.

Reverence - our commitment to the holy dignity that is imbued throughout all creation and especially with those that we serve.

In the spirit of creativity and magnanimity, I thought about the women sanctuary project that Catholic Charities in Oklahoma established in an old mission church. Catholic Charities rebuild that mission church (pic 6) to accommodate the growing needs of women and children. They maintained the mission architecture, but expanded it to build greater spaces for women and children to take showers, wash clothes, take classes, have access to food, clothes, and internet resources and rest.

Those values guided how many of us discussed the programs we each were looking at networking with. I both shared and was attentive to how we embraced these values within the area of parish engagement in social ministries, financial literacy, and workforce development. The conversations allowed us to network with national partners to receive modules from programs like Rework America Alliance, UNIDOSUS, CFPB and others. These modules and partnerships can help us improve programs we need to offer the communities in need throughout Brooklyn and Queens. At the end of the conference Brian Corbin (the last picture) presented on the history of our mission and methodology (see, judge, act) as we discussed what we, the local Catholic Charity communities, want to see with the strategic planning process CCUSA will be going through.

Part of the concluding discussion we had was the perception that Catholic Charities has both in the public eye and with its member agencies. In reviewing it's marketing and branding strategy we asked questions concerning what we members need from CCUSA in order to help be a resource for us and a useful public presence that can help bring awareness to our local agencies. As a resource, our discussion suggested that it needs to embrace a useful internal social media platform so that we members can have visual best practices and tools for the work that we do. If the platform (for now CC connect) has useful tools and resources that we can take and adapt, then many of us will gladly participate with the larger community through this platform. As for our mission and identity, this will be an ongoing discussion throughout the process. Our mission is clear in that it is based on the social mission found in the Gospel and specifically the works of mercy. But as to what we do, we need greater flexibility with how this will be presented. We are local agencies that answer to the diocese and the needs of our community. We apply the principle of subsidiarity in this way and it will be valuable for the local community to know how we operate within the diocesan structure. But CCUSA should be able to provide institutional solidarity with each of our agencies to enhance the work that we do while defining itself as the national advocacy think-tank for the issues we face. It will be interesting to see how we move forward as we go through this process.

Along with parishes, hospitals, and schools/universities the Catholic Church has always had a thriving social service componant that is very much part of our religious identity. In the past 300 years (since 1727) this has been institutionalized by agencies which we now identify as Catholic Charities here in the United States or Caritas Internationally. There are other Catholic agencies that many of us partner with including Catholic Relief Services, the Catholic Campaign for Human Developmennt and the St. Vincent DePaul Society but Catholic Charities has been the official diocesan arm of domestic charitable work. The needs are different in every location so we strive to be adaptable to the issues we face. The Brooklyn/Queens diocese has an amazing history of promoting this specific aspect of our Church's mission. Here in Brooklyn/Queens we are attentive to providing senior housing to our elderly population, early childhood programs for our struggling families, case management and food distribution for our low-income communities, social services and resources for pregnant women, and legal service and case management for our growing migrant community.

Through CCUSA we are part of a larger network of Catholic social services and this allows us to network with one another.

[totallyhussein-blog]

Church destroyed by ISIS in Iraq completely restored 10 years later

The Dominican Church of Our Lady of the Hour, one of the most emblematic in Mosul, northern Iraq, has been completely restored after the destruction carried out by Islamic State terrorists 10 years ago.

Located in the old city of Mosul, a historic district that was characterized by strong relationships between various cultures and religions, such as Christians, Yazidis, Sunni and Shia Muslims as well as Arabs, Chaldeans, and Kurds, this church offered a space for dialogue fostered by the Dominican friars.

As Diego Lopez Marina explained, the destruction of the church was not only an architectural tragedy but also negatively affected all residents of Mosul, Muslims and Christians alike, as they lost an important symbol of the city’s history and identity.

In addition, ISIS used the church as a weapons warehouse and for torture. Its archaeological artifacts were stolen, including its famous clock, which was a gift from the wife of Emperor Napoleon III to the city’s Dominican fathers.

[noneedforbloodpressure]

Working Masterpost of Charities for Genocide & Humanitarian Crises

Want to help Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Ukraine, East Turkestan, Armenia or other places facing genocide but don't know where to donate? Have limited funds and want to make sure your money helps as many people as possible? I've compiled some resources to help you get started.

Note that this is a working masterpost, meaning that I'll update it as I find more resources. This is also an inherently non-conclusive list, in significant part because I'm just one person. I urge you to do further research of your own

TIPS FOR DONATING

Charity Navigator and Charity Watch are useful sites to vet charity organizations

If you're employed, check out Charity Navigator's guide to employer donation matches.

GENERAL

Resources here are not specific to any one region in crisis, but you may be able to specify where you want your donation to be used

Doctors Without Borders/Medicins sans Frontieres (98% charity rating)

OxFam (98% charity rating)

UNICEF (94% charity rating)

World Central Kitchen (100% charity rating!)

MAUSA - Muslim Aid USA (98% charity rating)

CARE (97% charity rating)

International Committee of the Red Cross (85% charity rating)

UNHCR - UN Refugee Agency (the US branch has an 84% charity rating)

International Rescue Committee (96% charity rating)

HAIS (100% charity rating!)

Region Specific Charities Under the Cut!

PALESTINE

Palestine Children's Relief Fund (97% charity rating)

ANERA (91% charity rating)

Palestine Red Crescent Society (no specific rating, but part of a movement with the Red Cross, which - as mentioned above - has an 85% charity rating)

ALLMEP (85% charity rating)

Middle East Children's Alliance (100% charity rating!)

UNRWA (the US branch has an 89% charity rating)

eSIMs for Gaza (not currently rated, but you can read about the importance here on NBC)

Women Wage Peace (not currently rated, but you can read about their efforts on their website and via Time Magazine)

SUDAN

Sudanese Red Crescent Society (no specific rating, but part of a movement with the Red Cross, which - as mentioned above - has an 85% charity rating)

Sadagaat Charity Organization (the US branch has an 80% charity rating)

Sudanese-American Physicians Association (97% charity rating)

Khartoum Aid Kitchen (no charity rating, but you can read the effort here on NPR)

Darfur Women Action Group (not currently rated; page may be updated)

Water for South Sudan (97% charity rating)

Sudan Relief Fund (96% charity rating)

CONGO

Friends of the Congo (81% charity rating)

Panzi Foundation (91% charity rating)

UKRAINE

Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (recommended by here by Charity Watch)

Catholic Relief Services (not currently rated; read about their efforts here on Charity Watch)

ACT Alliance (recommended by here by Charity Watch)

Project HOPE (93% charity rating)

EAST TURKESTAN

East Turkestan, also called Uyghurstan, is the indigenous name for the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. If you're unfamiliar with the Uyghur genocide, you can read some intro information here on BBC

Uyghur Human Rights Project (84% charity rating)

Save Uyghur - Justice for All (94% charity rating)

ARMENIA

If you're unfamiliar with the current Armenian genocide by Azerbaijan, you can read some intro information here on CNN

CARITAS Armenia (no specific rating, but part of CARITAS, which as a 98% charity rating)

Armenia Fund (not currently rated)

Armenian National Committee of America (not currently rated)

LEBANON

ANERA - Lebanon (91% charity rating)

Oxfam - Lebanon (98% charity rating)

ICRC - Lebanon (85% charity rating)

UNICEF - Lebanon (94% charity rating)

UNHCR - Lebanon (the US branch has an 84% charity rating)

UN Lebanon Humanitarian Fund (Currently unrated, as far as I can tell)

[thecatholicbozo]

Plea for Aid to Western North Carolina

"But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together." 1 Corinthians 12:25-26

Please give whatever support you can to the relief efforts from Hurricane Helene. Western North Carolina depends on the Body of Christ right now

Many of you may not be aware that this is a region that struggles tremendously with poverty even in the best of times. Many of my neighbors & fellow parishioners rely on welfare, government assistance, & charity programs. Many others live paycheck-to-paycheck. These people do not have savings, retirement accounts, or emergency funds that they can draw from. They need help. Western North Carolina needs the Body of Christ right now

I don't know the latest death toll - yesterday in Buncombe County (Asheville) it was 30, other counties have been slow to report the deaths until they can find family members to inform first. Houses have been swept away on the water. Bridges have collapsed & roads are washed out - some of these are the only entrance & exit to people who are now stranded without food, water, and medicine. Businesses have been leveled, and some of the ones still standing have been looted. Many people are still without water & power, including some of my coworkers. Many folks will now be jobless due to businesses being destroyed. Western North Carolina needs the Body of Christ to send help.

Please send whatever aid you can through reputable organizations like the Red Cross. Lives are at stake & the wellbeing of the survivors depends on you, my brothers & sisters in Christ.

It's inspiring to hear the entire continent mobilizing to save my neighbors in danger. But once everyone has been saved, there will be a lot of rebuilding to do before things feel back to normal. I was able to get out of my driveway for the first time since Friday, and it just felt surreal. I don't really know how else to describe it.

Please share this sentiment & charity opportunities as much as you can. And if you have friends & loved ones in the area, please reach out to them. They may not have cell or internet reception yet, but I can guarantee they will greatly appreciate it. Western North Carolina needs the Body of Christ - for relief, for prayers, & for comfort.

I'm grateful to God for keeping my friends & family safe throughout all this. I'm grateful for all of the prayers & support y'all have sent already. I'm grateful for all of the emergency crews & responders from across the country who have been working 24/7 to restore infrastructure & help people in peril.

I'm especially grateful to the iHeartRadio crew who has been broadcasting updates from local callers & government officials every day - from safety alerts to resources available to just giving people a voice & for giving us a voice to keep us company. It was a very lonely weekend - I did not know when power was going to be back, and kept my phone off to save battery basically from Friday evening until this morning. The only time I turned it on was to update my parents that I was okay, and then I turned it back off. The only other contact I had with the outside world was through the iHeartRadio broadcast, and honestly it makes me break down in tears thinking about how much their show helped me to not feel alone & to feel hopeful. They're good people.

I'm sorry if this is the billionth post like this y'all have seen this week, but I just needed to dump this out there. It's been a scary weekend, and all things considered I haven't really been in any serious danger. I can't imagine what the folks in the mountain are going through right now. But they need you, the Body of Christ.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 12.15

Holidays

Army Day (Indonesia)

Bill of Rights Day

Birdland Day

Cat Herders’ Day

Coonskin Cap Day

Court Workers’ Day (Ukraine)

Cricket Day (French Republic)

Esperanto Day

Greek Operation Victims Remembrance Day

Homecoming Day (Alderney, Channel Islands)

Human Rights Day (Kiribati)

Koninkrijksdag (Kingdom Day; Netherlands) [Unless a Sunday, then 16th]

Local Charities Day (UK)

Men’s Society of Piu Festival of Mirth, Peace, Honesty, Joyousness and Love (14th Century London)

National Headband Day

National HST Day (UK)

National Play Minecraft Day

National Regifting Day

National Wear Your Pearls Day

Navidades begins (Puerto Rico; until Three Kings Day)

North Wind’s Prayer (Elder Scrolls)

Pakistan-Turkey Friendship Day

Power Engineer’s Day (Kazakhstan)

Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty (Russia)

Rugby World Cup Victory Day (South Africa)

Second Amendment Awareness Day (South Carolina)

Sleep Comfort Day

Trivial Pursuit Day

World Ice Skating Day

World Martial Arts Training Day

World Otaku Day

World Strengthened Immunity Day

Yuletide Lad #4 arrives (Þvörusleikir or Spoon-Licker; Iceland)

Zamenhof Day (Esperanto)

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Tea Day [also 5.21]

National Cupcake Day

National Gingerbread Latte Day

National Give a Wine Club Day

National Lemon Cupcake Day

Olmeca National Tequila Day (South Africa)

Independence & Related Days

New Massa (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Prudentianopolis (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

3rd Sunday in December

Hammock Day (Australia) [3rd Sunday]

Hang the Mistletoe Day [3rd Sunday]

Serene Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Seven For Sunday [Every Sunday]

Smörgåsbord Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Story Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Sundae Sunday [Every Sunday]

Sunday Funday [Every Sunday]

3rd Sunday in Advent [2nd Sunday before Xmas] (a.k.a. ... 

Advent Sunday

Detinjci (Serbia)

Gaudete Sunday

Joy Sunday

Rose Sunday

Zoology Day [3rd Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning December 15 (3rd Full Week of December)

Gluten-Free Baking Week (thru 12.21) [Week before Xmas]

Festivals Beginning December 15, 2024

Christkindlmarkt (Lancaster, Texas)

Cocktails at Christmas (Middletown, Virginia)

Night of the Proms (Bremen, Germany)

Feast Days

Alcyone (Greek Kingfisher Goddess)

Betty Smith (Writerism)

Candlenights begins (pan-religious, pan-sexual, personal pan pizza winter holiday; from Adventure Zone & My Brother, My Brother, and Me)

Centipede Boot-Making and Shoe-Repair Season Starts (Shamanism)

Consualia (Ancient Roman festival to Consus, god of the harvest and stored grain)

David Teniers the Younger (Artology)

Drina Martyrs (Christian; Saint)

Drostan (Aberdeen Breviary; Christian; Saint)

Dumanios (Darkest Depths; Celtic Book of Days)

Edna O’Brien (Writerism)

Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Winter Veil begins (World of Warcraft) [thru 2.2]

Feralia: Day of Purification (Pagan)

Francesco Zahra (Artology)

Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Artology)

George Romney (Artology)

John Horden and Robert McDonald (Episcopal Church; USA)

Joseph "Le Petomane" Pujol Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Kurt Schaffenberger (Artology)

Lagrange (Positivist; Saint)

Maria Crocifissa di Rosa (Christian; Saint)

Mesmin (Christian; Saint)

Muriel Rukeyser (Writerism)

Navidades (Puerto Rico; Everyday Wicca) [until 1.6]

Nicholas P. Dallis (Artology)

Nino (Christian; Saint)

Othmar the Grouch (Muppetism)

Sattar Bahlulzade (Artology)

Stupid Inventions Day (Pastafarian)

Stupid Toy Day (Pastafarian)

Valerian of Abbenza (Christian; Saint)

Virginia Centurione Bracelli (Christian; Saint)

Virgin of Cotoca (Roman Catholic) [Bolivia]

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Full Moon [12th of the Year] (a.k.a. ... 

Beaver Moon (Amer. Indian, Colonial, Traditional)

Dark Moon (Celtic, North America)

Digging Moon (Traditional)

Flower Moon (South Africa)

Freezing Moon (Alternate)

Frost Moon (Alternate)

Hunter’s Moon (North America)

Ill Full Moon Poya Day (Sri Lanka)

Loy Krathong (Floating of the Lamps Festival; Thailand)

Palden Lhama Festival (Tibet)

Rutting Moon (Traditional)

Sassafras Moon (Choctaw)

Snow Moon (England, Wicca)

Southern Hemisphere: Corn, Flower, Hare, Milk

Tazaugmone (a.k.a. Thasaung Mong; Festival of Lights; Myanmar)

That Luang Festival (Theravada Buddhism; Laos) 

Trading Moon (Cherokee)

Tree Moon (Neo-Pagan)

Whitefish Moon (Traditional)

White Moon (China)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [48 of 53]

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [30 of 32]

Prime Number Day: 349 [70 of 72]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [30 of 30]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [59 of 60]

Premieres

Alaska (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

Alice in the Jungle (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Alice the Piper (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1924)

BBC incorporated (UK Broadcast Network; 1922)

Beatles ’65, by The Beatles (Album; 1964)

Birdland (NYC Jazz Club; 1949)

Buddy the Dentist (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Carol and the End of the World (Animated TV Series; 2023)

Charlotte’s Web (Film; 2006)

Choclat (Film; 2000)

The Chronic, by Dr. Dre (Album; 1992)

The Concept of Mind, by Gilbert Ryle (Science Book; 1949)

Driving Miss Daisy (Film; 1989)

Dude, Where’s My Car? (Film; 2000)

The Emperor’s New Groove (Animated Disney Film; 2000)

Ferdinand (Animated Film; 2017)

Folsom Prison Blues, by Johnny Cash (Song; 1955)

Gabriel Churchkitten (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1944)

Gone With the Wind (Film; 1939)

The Ice Pond (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1939)

In Venice (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1933)

Jumanji (Film; 1995)

Little Buck Cheeser (Happy Harmonies MGM Cartoon; 1937)

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (Animated Film; 1979)

The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom, by James Burnham (Political Theory; 1943)

Madame Curie (Film; 1943)

Mothership Connection, by Parliament (Album; 1975)

Never Say Never Again (UK Film; 1983) [James Bond non-series]

One Piece Film: Z (Anime Film; 2012)

One, Two, Three (Film; 1961)

Out on a Limb (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Film; 1976)

Pollack (Film; 2000)

The Rachel Papers, by Martin Amis (Novel; 1973)

Revolutionary Road (Film; 2008)

Sabrina (Film; 1995)

Schindler’s List (Film; 1993)

Sense and Sensibility (Film; 1995)

Silent Night, Holy Night (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Special; 1976)

Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (Film; 2017)

Stormy Weather, recorded by Lena Horne (Song; 1941)

Superman (Film; 1978)

To Hare Is Human (WB MM Cartoon; 1956)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith (Novel; 1943)

Tweet Tweet Tweety (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Two-Gun Mickey (Disney Cartoon; 1934)

War Is Over ad campaign, by John Lennon & Yoko Ono (Peace Advertising; 1969)

The Who Sell Out, by The Who (Album; 1967)

Wonka (Film; 2023)

Woody the Giant Killer (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1947)

Young Frankenstein (Film; 1974)

Today’s Name Days

Carlo, Christiane, Nina (Austria)

Marin, Valerijan, Viktorija (Croatia)

Radana (Czech Republic)

Nikatius (Denmark)

Kalli, Kelli, Killu, Kulla (Estonia)

Heimo, Nooa (Finland)

Ninon (France)

Christiane, Nina, Paola (Germany)

Anthea, Eleftherios, Elevtherios, Lefteris, Sossana, Sylvia (Greece)

Valér (Hungary)

Cristiana, Nino, Valeriano (Italy)

Jana, Johanna (Latvia)

Gaudenė, Gaudenis, Kristijona (Lithuania)

Hilda, Hilde (Norway)

Celina, Fortunata, Iga, Ignacja, Ignacy, Krystiana, Nina, Walerian, Waleriana, Wolimir, Żegota (Poland)

Antia, Elefterie, Suzana (Romania)

Ivica (Slovakia)

Valeriano (Spain)

Gottfrid (Sweden)

Adlai, Adler, Carney, Mirella, Mireya, Tanner (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 350 of 2024; 16 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of Week 50 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 11 (Bing-Zi), Day 15 (Gui-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 14 Kislev 5785

Islamic: 13 Jumada II 1446

J Cal: 20 Black; Sixthday [20 of 30]

Julian: 2 December 2024

Moon: 100%: Full Moon

Positivist: 14 Bichat (13th Month) [Isaac Newton]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 84 of 90)

Week: 3rd Full Week of December

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 24 of 30)

[angeltreasure]

Hello :)

Do you have any tips on where I can donate stuff to? I see you talk about donating and helping the needy sometimes (something I keep wanting to do more of) I feel bad cuz I haven’t been too involved recently :/

I really want to help out or give stuff to people who need it more

Good Afternoon!

Don’t worry, it’s never too late to donate. I got you covered! A good place to start is your own diocese webpage!

Other examples:

- your own family members in need

- your next door neighbor

- your friends

- your church (this is probably the most active with a variety of options!)

- Mental Health Ministry

- Knights of Columbus

- Marians of the Immaculate Conception

- EWTN

- Relevant Radio

- pro life crisis pregnancy centers

- Maggie’s Place

- St. Gianna’s Place

- food banks (don’t donate expired food and be mindful of what is currently most needed) like this one

- hospitals (medical supplies like canes, wheelchairs, etc)

- St. Jude

- homeless shelters (think of clothing, gift cards, food, etc)

- nursing homes

- schools

- Charity and Development Appeal

- The Society of St. Vincent de Paul

- Catholic Charities USA

- Catholic Relief Services

- Kolbe Mission

- Sisters of Life

- Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America

- Wounded Warrior Project

- The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

- You can even donate to homeless on the streets. I always carry an extra bottle of water when I drive, as well as prayer cards and Rosaries. If that person is not next to the highway exit, I’ll go buy them fresh food. For homeless dogs, I have a bottle of water and some dog food in a bowl.

[agentfascinateur]

The illegal "spiritual battle" over the US elections

A network of ultrawealthy Christian donors is spending nearly $12 million to mobilize Republican-leaning voters and purge more than a million people from the rolls in key swing states, aiming to tilt the 2024 election in favor of former President Donald Trump. These previously unreported plans are the work of a group named Ziklag, a little-known charity whose donors have included some of the wealthiest conservative Christian families in the nation, including the billionaire Uihlein family, who made a fortune in office supplies, the Greens, who run Hobby Lobby, and the Wallers, who own the Jockey apparel corporation. Recipients of Ziklag’s largesse include Alliance Defending Freedom, which is the Christian legal group that led the overturning of Roe v. Wade, plus the national pro-Trump group Turning Point USA and a constellation of right-of-center advocacy groups.

The reporting by ProPublica and Documented “casts serious doubt on this organization’s status as a 501(c)(3) organization,” said Roger Colinvaux, a professor at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.

“I think it’s across the line without a question,” said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a University of Notre Dame law professor.

[sylvia-lydia-morelos-1974]

September 28, 2024...2:20 p.m.

"856 DENUNCIAS DE ABUSO INFANTIL EN BC [Baja California]."

Semana del 20 al 26 de Septiembre de 2024

Numero 2634

Costo $20

Portada: S.A.

911. The CVS at 10889 Wellworth, Los Angeles, CA. 90024, the supervisor SANTILLAN (her last name, the one she's using), she's the one on the cover. She PERMS her hair to make fun of the innocent, see statue by the VIRGIN MARY inside BLESSED SACRAMENT CHURCH off of CHEROKEE & SUNSET, 90028. The employees there all wear red shirts with a heart on the back of it. I worked there for ~6 months, reported 911 terrorism, found my own children there and other children who were being brutalized. Santillan also bragged: "i killed your fetus at ALVARADO PARKWAY INSTITUTE in San Diego." And "I killed your baby nephew!" My brother's baby, "she doesn't know." I reported other crimes. They always knew my babies were related to me, PATRIOT FAMILIES, and to FREDERICK DOUGLASS, um poqhuino. They also KNEW (THOMPSON as well) that we are directly related to the pope, John Paul II

(my little one, the 19 month old, with ADHD, Thompson scratched up his face sideways, with more than 20 perps, CVS included. My little one looks like John Paul II; Thompson ALWAYS knew; he rubbed it in my face. he lost his head over it.(grin). /S./)

...my other little boy, Um Poqhuino, who is directly related to Frederick Douglass, also my family, also is related to Pope_John_XXIII, whom I also look like:

Richard Clayton Thompson, dob 09 17 75, ss # 435 65 1226, ALSO knew this, as did CVS at 10889 Wellworth, 90024 off of Westwood, across the street from

PAPA JOHN.

SANTILLAN knows. So do the rest. I reported a LOT of crimes there. Then i left. I just got back from Mexico and friends told me other crimes committed against my children and other children and teens. United Pacific at 7900 Beverly Blvd. off of FAIRFAX, i.e. Jonathan Aguilar, Karina Castaneda, Omar Martinez, Raul Payan Lomeli-Azoubel dob 08 12 73, Richard Clayton Thompson, Susan Bakota, 310 478 7733 and Ramsey Lewis, MSW at Tina Pleasant Baker Board and Care (2006) 2438 K. Street, 92102 are all involved in crimes/rapes against students at schools, trafficking etc., right by LIBERTAD entrance, Jose Barocio, class of 1988 Berendo Jr. High school too. They were uniforms light blue and white? You've been implicated by the USA in trafficking, etc. You are wearing the same color of uniforms as TROLLEY COPS, light blue and BLACK (death) and yellow and black. Not a coincidence. Lomeli, Hernan placed my kids in plastic trash bags; now you know the city is NOT honoring you it's been condemning you. Orange sybolizes WARDING OFF EVIL that you are. PUMPKINS and JACK O LANTERNS too.

You perps are the trash. San diego is VERY CATHOLIC. WELCOME TO CATHOLIC "CHARITIES" too. There are many other things you perps don't notice. But you are predictably COMFY.

FUN! We know where to find you. You come back for more COMFY. Including inside the RONALD REAGAN UCLA medical center. UCLA loves the kids and patriot kids.

F Y I.

the perps inside that cvs are kept VERY close to UCLA.

there are NO coincidences.

/S./

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Andy Kroll and Nick Surgey at ProPublica:

A network of ultrawealthy Christian donors is spending nearly $12 million to mobilize Republican-leaning voters and purge more than a million people from the rolls in key swing states, aiming to tilt the 2024 election in favor of former President Donald Trump. These previously unreported plans are the work of a group named Ziklag, a little-known charity whose donors have included some of the wealthiest conservative Christian families in the nation, including the billionaire Uihlein family, who made a fortune in office supplies, the Greens, who run Hobby Lobby, and the Wallers, who own the Jockey apparel corporation. Recipients of Ziklag’s largesse include Alliance Defending Freedom, which is the Christian legal group that led the overturning of Roe v. Wade, plus the national pro-Trump group Turning Point USA and a constellation of right-of-center advocacy groups.

[...]

Ziklag’s 2024 agenda reads like the work of a political organization. It plans to pour money into mobilizing voters in Arizona who are “sympathetic to Republicans” in order to secure “10,640 additional unique votes” — almost the exact margin of President Joe Biden’s win there in 2020. The group also intends to use controversial AI software to enable mass challenges to the eligibility of hundreds of thousands of voters in competitive states. In a recording of a 2023 internal strategy discussion, a Ziklag official stressed that the objective was the same in other swing states. “The goal is to win,” the official said. “If 75,000 people wins the White House, then how do we get 150,000 people so we make sure we win?”

According to the Ziklag files, the group has divided its 2024 activities into three different operations targeting voters in battleground states: Checkmate, focused on funding so-called election integrity groups; Steeplechase, concentrated on using churches and pastors to get out the vote; and Watchtower, aimed at galvanizing voters around the issues of “parental rights” and opposition to transgender rights and policies supporting health care for trans people. In a member briefing video, one of Ziklag’s spiritual advisers outlined a plan to “deliver swing states” by using an anti-transgender message to motivate conservative voters who are exhausted with Trump.

But Ziklag is not a political organization: It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity, the same legal designation as the United Way or Boys and Girls Club. Such organizations do not have to publicly disclose their funders, and donations are tax deductible. In exchange, they are “absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office,” according to the IRS. ProPublica and Documented presented the findings of their investigation to six nonpartisan lawyers and legal experts. All expressed concern that Ziklag was testing or violating the law. The reporting by ProPublica and Documented “casts serious doubt on this organization’s status as a 501(c)(3) organization,” said Roger Colinvaux, a professor at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.

[...]

“Dominion Over the Seven Mountains”

Ziklag has largely escaped scrutiny until now. The group describes itself as a “private, confidential, invitation-only community of high-net-worth Christian families.” According to internal documents, it boasts more than 125 members that include business executives, pastors, media leaders and other prominent conservative Christians. Potential new members, one document says, should have a “concern for culture” demonstrated by past donations to faith-based or political causes, as well as a net worth of $25 million or more. None of the donors responded to requests for comment.

Tax records show rapid growth in the group’s finances in recent years. Its annual revenue climbed from $1.3 million in 2018 to $6 million in 2019 and nearly $12 million in 2022, which is the latest filing available. The group’s spending is not on the scale of major conservative funders such as Miriam Adelson or Barre Seid, the electronics magnate who gave $1.6 billion to a group led by conservative legal activist Leonard Leo. But its funding and strategy represent one of the clearest links yet between the Christian right and the “election integrity” movement fueled by Trump’s baseless claims about voting fraud. Even several million dollars funding mass challenges to voters in swing counties can make an impact, legal and election experts say.

Ziklag was the brainchild of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur named Ken Eldred. It emerged from a previous organization founded by Eldred called United In Purpose, which aimed to get more Christians active in the civic arena, according to Bill Dallas, the group’s former director. United In Purpose generated attention in June 2016 when it organized a major meeting between then-candidate Trump and hundreds of evangelical leaders.

After Trump was elected in 2016, Eldred had an idea, according to Dallas. “He says, ‘I want all the wealthy Christian people to come together,’” Dallas recalled in an interview. Eldred told Dallas that he wanted to create a donor network like the one created by Charles and David Koch but for Christians. He proposed naming it David’s Mighty Men, Dallas said. Female members balked. Dallas found the passage in Chronicles that references David’s soldiers and read that they met in the city of Ziklag, and so they chose the name Ziklag.

The group’s stature grew after Trump took office. Vice President Mike Pence appeared at a Ziklag event, as did former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz, then-Rep. Mark Meadows and other members of Congress. In its private newsletter, Ziklag claims that a coalition of groups it assembled played “a hugely significant role in the selection, hearings and confirmation process” of Amy Coney Barrett for a Supreme Court seat in late 2020.

Confidential donor networks regularly invest hundreds of millions of dollars into political and charitable groups, from the liberal Democracy Alliance to the Koch-affiliated Stand Together organization on the right. But unlike Ziklag, neither of those organizations is legally set up as a true charity. Ziklag appears to be the first coordinated effort to get wealthy donors to fund an overtly Christian nationalist agenda, according to historians, legal experts and other people familiar with the group. “It shows that this idea isn’t being dismissed as fringe in the way that it might have been in the past,” said Mary Ziegler, a legal historian and University of California, Davis law professor. The Christian nationalism movement has a variety of aims and tenets, according to the Public Religion Research Institute: that the U.S. government “should declare America a Christian nation”; that American laws “should be based on Christian values”; that the U.S. will cease to exist as a nation if it “moves away from our Christian foundations”; that being Christian is essential to being American; and that God has “called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.”

One theology promoted by Christian nationalist leaders is the Seven Mountain Mandate. Each mountain represents a major industry or a sphere of public life: arts and media, business, church, education, family, government, and science and technology. Ziklag’s goal, the documents say, is to “take dominion over the Seven Mountains,” funding Christian projects or installing devout Christians in leadership positions to reshape each mountain in a godly way. To address their concerns about education, Ziklag’s leaders and allies have focused on the public-school system. In a 2021 Ziklag meeting, Ziklag’s education mountain chair, Peter Bohlinger, said that Ziklag’s goal “is to take down the education system as we know it today.” The producers of the film “Sound of Freedom,” featuring Jim Caviezel as an anti-sex-trafficking activist, screened an early cut of the film at a Ziklag conference and asked for funds, according to Dallas.

[...] A driving force behind Ziklag’s efforts is Lance Wallnau, a prominent Christian evangelist and influencer based in Texas who is described by Ziklag as a “Seven Mountains visionary & advisor.” The fiery preacher is one of the most influential figures on the Christian right, experts say, a bridge between Christian nationalism and Trump. He was one of the earliest evangelical leaders to endorse Trump in 2015 and later published a book titled “God’s Chaos Candidate: Donald J. Trump and the American Unraveling.” More than 1 million people follow him on Facebook. He doesn’t try to hide his views: “Yes, I am a Christian nationalist,” he said during one of his livestreams in 2021. (Wallnau did not respond to requests for comment.)

[...]

“Operation Checkmate”

In the fall of 2023, Wallnau sat in a gray armchair in his TV studio. A large TV screen behind him flashed a single word: “ZIKLAG.” “You almost hate to put it out this clearly,” he said as he detailed Ziklag’s electoral strategy, “because if somebody else gets ahold of this, they’ll freak out.” He was joined on set by Hiss, who had just become the group’s new day-to-day leader. The two men were there to record a special message to Ziklag members that laid out the group’s ambitious plans for the upcoming election year. The forces arrayed against Christians were many, according to the confidential video. They were locked in a “spiritual battle,” Hiss said, against Democrats who were a “radical left Marxist force.” Biden, Wallnau said, was a senile old man and “an empty suit with an agenda that’s written and managed by somebody else.”

[...] A prominent conservative getting money from Ziklag is Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer and Trump ally who joined the January 2021 phone call when then-President Trump asked Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” enough votes to flip Georgia in Trump’s favor. Mitchell now leads a network of “election integrity” coalitions in swing states that have spent the last three years advocating for changes to voting rules and how elections are run. According to one internal newsletter, Ziklag was an early funder of Mitchell’s post-2020 “election integrity” activism, which voting-rights experts have criticized for stoking unfounded fears about voter fraud and seeking to unfairly remove people from voting rolls. In 2022, Ziklag donated $600,000 to the Conservative Partnership Institute, which in turn funds Mitchell’s election-integrity work. Internal Ziklag documents show that it provided funding to enable Mitchell to set up election integrity infrastructure in Florida, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

[...] For Operation Watchtower, Wallnau explained in a members-only video that transgender policy was a “wedge issue” that could be decisive in turning out voters tired of hearing about Trump. The left had won the battle over the “homosexual issue,” Wallnau said. “But on transgenderism, there’s a problem and they know it.” He continued: “They’re gonna wanna talk about Trump, Trump, Trump. … Meanwhile, if we talk about ‘It’s not about Trump. It’s about parents and their children, and the state is a threat,’” that could be the “target on the forehead of Goliath.” The Ziklag files describe tactics the group plans to use around parental rights — policies that make it easier for parents to control what’s taught in public schools — to turn out conservative voters. In a fundraising video, the group says it plans to underwrite a “messaging and data lab” focused on parental rights that will supply “winning messaging to all our partner groups to create unified focus among all on the right.” The goal, the video says, is to make parental rights “the difference-maker in the 2024 election.”

According to Wallnau, Ziklag also plans to fund ballot initiatives in seven key states — Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Montana, Nevada and Ohio — that take aim at the transgender community by seeking to ban “genital mutilation.” The seven states targeted are either presidential battlegrounds or have competitive U.S. Senate races. None of the initiatives is on a state ballot yet. “People that are lethargic about the election or, worse yet, they’re gonna be all Trump-traumatized with the news cycle — this issue will get people to come out and vote,” Wallnau said. “That ballot initiative can deliver swing states.” The last prong of Ziklag’s 2024 strategy is Operation Steeplechase, which urges conservative pastors to mobilize their congregants to vote in this year’s election. This project will work in coordination with several prominent conservative groups that support former president Trump’s reelection, such as Turning Point USA’s faith-based group, the Faith and Freedom Coalition run by conservative operative Ralph Reed and the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups closely allied with Trump.

ProPublica takes a look at a secretive Christian Nationalist organization called Ziklag, a network of ultrawealthy Christian donors seeking to mobilize Republican-leaning voters to turn out for the general election with three different operations: Checkmate, Steeplechase, and Watchtower.

Read the full story at ProPublica.

[abettranempire]

I am unapologetically bigoted against Catholics.

Like yes, there are a lot of legitimate reasons outside of bigotry to hate this religion and its institutions; the attacks on LGBT and abortion rights, the sexual misconduct, the literal unchallenged patriarchy of Vatican City and the papistry, the colonialist nature of missionary work, the list just goes on and on.

But I can recognize how a majority of protestant religions also suffer the same problems. The fact is my hatred comes from a more personal place, and that's what makes it a bigotry. I grew up in a majority white-catholic neighborhood, and over time (especially once I came out) each of my neighbors revealed themselves to be fair-weather, two-faced little bitches. I grew up in close enough proximity to this religion to confidently say you don't have a single belief that isn't utterly stupid. Stop it! Your obsession with blood is weird and gross, your holy book is crappily written and your interpretations of it are even worse, you profess to love women... until they open their mouths, and most of you are only still following this belief because it gave you comfort as a child, which is a pathetic reason to do anything. Judaism has a lot of stupid beliefs too, but the difference is most jews I've met aren't dumb enough to take their beliefs literally; you people do! Protestants do just as much if not more damage on the global stage, but the difference is they manage to be at least 25% less punchably smug about it.

You are an overprivileged, credulous lot who think "persecution" means any attack on the status quo, and "charity" means handing your money and time over to what is already the most opulent building in town. You are eager to share your beliefs with others, but heaven forbid you deign to listen to any of the inferior "pagan" beliefs of your neighbors. You promote antisemitism and then turn around and have the gall to compare attacks on your freedom to oppress others to the holocaust. Deconvert now or be prepared to go fuck yourselves.

EDIT: I can't wait for the replies to start rolling in. My money says its going to be minor nitpicks from catholics about what I got wrong about their doctrine. You don't get it; I don't give a shit. Your religion had 25 years to make a good impression on me; I know enough to know that you suck. The only responses I want to hear are

"Yes ma'am"

"No ma'am"

"I'm sorry"

and "You're right, if we can't get a woman pope within the next decade the USA should have the right to audit the piss out of the Vatican"

[totallyhussein-blog]

Snoop Dogg and Ooberfuse rally for the UK's homeless this Christmas

There was great news at the weekend, as my good friends at Ooberfuse have teamed up with US rap royalty Snoop Dogg, to take on the prejudices surrounding homelessness here in the UK.

Their new single (out December 1st) is also aiming to raise much needed support for those helping the homeless on the streets of London this Winter.

While this is great news, if you live here in Manchester and want to get involved, there are two excellent organizations who will also be working extra hard this Christmas to assist those living on the streets of the city and they would welcome your assistance.

Reach out to the Community is an award-winning charity which helps people who find themselves homeless or living in food poverty. They welcome all contributions, which can be dropped into their community hub at 488 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester, M21 9AS. You can also call 0161 862 9415.

Another service is Mad Dogs Homeless Project, which provides support to rough sleepers across Manchester. They go direct to people living on the streets giving out hot meals, drinks, clothing and other lifesaving essentials. They can be contacted via: info@maddogshomelessproject.org.uk or call 07591-571-555 for more information.

[lboogie1906]

Warrick De’Mon Dunn (January 5, 1975) is a former football running back who played in the NFL for twelve seasons. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12th overall in the 1997 NFL Draft, after playing college football at Florida State. He was named AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and earned three Pro Bowl selections in his career. He took a minority stake in the Falcons’ ownership group.

At Catholic High in Baton Rouge, he played quarterback, cornerback, and running back. He helped lead Catholic High to the state 4A championship game. He was an All-America honorable mention selection by USA Today as a senior.

On January 7, 1993, his mother Betty Smothers, a Baton Rogue Police Officer, was murdered while working an off-duty security job. He became the head of his family and raised his siblings.

He established the Homes for the Holidays program and started Warrick Dunn Charities as a way to grow programs and services. HFTH recipient families are chosen through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity affiliates and WDC with complete home furnishings and down-payment assistance. HFTH has assisted over 150 single parents and over 300 dependents in Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Tampa, and Tallahassee.

His achievements have been recognized over the years. He received a Giant Steps Award in civic leadership from President Bill Clinton. He was presented with the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. This award is the only NFL award that recognizes a player for his community service as well as for his excellence on the field. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he challenged all NFL players, except for those who play for the New Orleans Saints, to donate at least $5,000 to the effort. The effort received over $5 million in contributions.

He co-founded Athletes for Hope, a charitable organization that helps professional athletes, sports industry professionals, and fans get involved in charitable causes. For his exceptional involvement on and off the field, he was awarded the 2009 Bart Starr Award. He received a Jefferson Award for Outstanding Athlete in Service and Philanthropy in 2011. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[brookston]

Holidays 12.15

Holidays

Army Day (Indonesia)

Bill of Rights Day

Birdland Day

Cat Herders’ Day

Coonskin Cap Day

Court Workers’ Day (Ukraine)

Cricket Day (French Republic)

Esperanto Day

Greek Operation Victims Remembrance Day

Homecoming Day (Alderney, Channel Islands)

Human Rights Day (Kiribati)

Koninkrijksdag (Kingdom Day; Netherlands) [Unless a Sunday, then 16th]

Local Charities Day (UK)

Men’s Society of Piu Festival of Mirth, Peace, Honesty, Joyousness and Love (14th Century London)

National Headband Day

National HST Day (UK)

National Play Minecraft Day

National Regifting Day

National Wear Your Pearls Day

Navidades begins (Puerto Rico; until Three Kings Day)

North Wind’s Prayer (Elder Scrolls)

Pakistan-Turkey Friendship Day

Power Engineer’s Day (Kazakhstan)

Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty (Russia)

Rugby World Cup Victory Day (South Africa)

Second Amendment Awareness Day (South Carolina)

Sleep Comfort Day

Trivial Pursuit Day

World Ice Skating Day

World Martial Arts Training Day

World Otaku Day

World Strengthened Immunity Day

Yuletide Lad #4 arrives (Þvörusleikir or Spoon-Licker; Iceland)

Zamenhof Day (Esperanto)

Food & Drink Celebrations

International Tea Day [also 5.21]

National Cupcake Day

National Gingerbread Latte Day

National Give a Wine Club Day

National Lemon Cupcake Day

Olmeca National Tequila Day (South Africa)

Independence & Related Days

New Massa (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Prudentianopolis (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

3rd Sunday in December

Hammock Day (Australia) [3rd Sunday]

Hang the Mistletoe Day [3rd Sunday]

Serene Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Seven For Sunday [Every Sunday]

Smörgåsbord Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Story Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Sundae Sunday [Every Sunday]

Sunday Funday [Every Sunday]

3rd Sunday in Advent [2nd Sunday before Xmas] (a.k.a. ... 

Advent Sunday

Detinjci (Serbia)

Gaudete Sunday

Joy Sunday

Rose Sunday

Zoology Day [3rd Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning December 15 (3rd Full Week of December)

Gluten-Free Baking Week (thru 12.21) [Week before Xmas]

Festivals Beginning December 15, 2024

Christkindlmarkt (Lancaster, Texas)

Cocktails at Christmas (Middletown, Virginia)

Night of the Proms (Bremen, Germany)

Feast Days

Alcyone (Greek Kingfisher Goddess)

Betty Smith (Writerism)

Candlenights begins (pan-religious, pan-sexual, personal pan pizza winter holiday; from Adventure Zone & My Brother, My Brother, and Me)

Centipede Boot-Making and Shoe-Repair Season Starts (Shamanism)

Consualia (Ancient Roman festival to Consus, god of the harvest and stored grain)

David Teniers the Younger (Artology)

Drina Martyrs (Christian; Saint)

Drostan (Aberdeen Breviary; Christian; Saint)

Dumanios (Darkest Depths; Celtic Book of Days)

Edna O’Brien (Writerism)

Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Winter Veil begins (World of Warcraft) [thru 2.2]

Feralia: Day of Purification (Pagan)

Francesco Zahra (Artology)

Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Artology)

George Romney (Artology)

John Horden and Robert McDonald (Episcopal Church; USA)

Joseph "Le Petomane" Pujol Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Kurt Schaffenberger (Artology)

Lagrange (Positivist; Saint)

Maria Crocifissa di Rosa (Christian; Saint)

Mesmin (Christian; Saint)

Muriel Rukeyser (Writerism)

Navidades (Puerto Rico; Everyday Wicca) [until 1.6]

Nicholas P. Dallis (Artology)

Nino (Christian; Saint)

Othmar the Grouch (Muppetism)

Sattar Bahlulzade (Artology)

Stupid Inventions Day (Pastafarian)

Stupid Toy Day (Pastafarian)

Valerian of Abbenza (Christian; Saint)

Virginia Centurione Bracelli (Christian; Saint)

Virgin of Cotoca (Roman Catholic) [Bolivia]

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Full Moon [12th of the Year] (a.k.a. ... 

Beaver Moon (Amer. Indian, Colonial, Traditional)

Dark Moon (Celtic, North America)

Digging Moon (Traditional)

Flower Moon (South Africa)

Freezing Moon (Alternate)

Frost Moon (Alternate)

Hunter’s Moon (North America)

Ill Full Moon Poya Day (Sri Lanka)

Loy Krathong (Floating of the Lamps Festival; Thailand)

Palden Lhama Festival (Tibet)

Rutting Moon (Traditional)

Sassafras Moon (Choctaw)

Snow Moon (England, Wicca)

Southern Hemisphere: Corn, Flower, Hare, Milk

Tazaugmone (a.k.a. Thasaung Mong; Festival of Lights; Myanmar)

That Luang Festival (Theravada Buddhism; Laos) 

Trading Moon (Cherokee)

Tree Moon (Neo-Pagan)

Whitefish Moon (Traditional)

White Moon (China)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [48 of 53]

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [30 of 32]

Prime Number Day: 349 [70 of 72]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [30 of 30]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [59 of 60]

Premieres

Alaska (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

Alice in the Jungle (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Alice the Piper (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1924)

BBC incorporated (UK Broadcast Network; 1922)

Beatles ’65, by The Beatles (Album; 1964)

Birdland (NYC Jazz Club; 1949)

Buddy the Dentist (WB LT Cartoon; 1934)

Carol and the End of the World (Animated TV Series; 2023)

Charlotte’s Web (Film; 2006)

Choclat (Film; 2000)

The Chronic, by Dr. Dre (Album; 1992)

The Concept of Mind, by Gilbert Ryle (Science Book; 1949)

Driving Miss Daisy (Film; 1989)

Dude, Where’s My Car? (Film; 2000)

The Emperor’s New Groove (Animated Disney Film; 2000)

Ferdinand (Animated Film; 2017)

Folsom Prison Blues, by Johnny Cash (Song; 1955)

Gabriel Churchkitten (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1944)

Gone With the Wind (Film; 1939)

The Ice Pond (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1939)

In Venice (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1933)

Jumanji (Film; 1995)

Little Buck Cheeser (Happy Harmonies MGM Cartoon; 1937)

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (Animated Film; 1979)

The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom, by James Burnham (Political Theory; 1943)

Madame Curie (Film; 1943)

Mothership Connection, by Parliament (Album; 1975)

Never Say Never Again (UK Film; 1983) [James Bond non-series]

One Piece Film: Z (Anime Film; 2012)

One, Two, Three (Film; 1961)

Out on a Limb (Disney Cartoon; 1950)

The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Film; 1976)

Pollack (Film; 2000)

The Rachel Papers, by Martin Amis (Novel; 1973)

Revolutionary Road (Film; 2008)

Sabrina (Film; 1995)

Schindler’s List (Film; 1993)

Sense and Sensibility (Film; 1995)

Silent Night, Holy Night (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Special; 1976)

Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (Film; 2017)

Stormy Weather, recorded by Lena Horne (Song; 1941)

Superman (Film; 1978)

To Hare Is Human (WB MM Cartoon; 1956)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith (Novel; 1943)

Tweet Tweet Tweety (WB LT Cartoon; 1951)

Two-Gun Mickey (Disney Cartoon; 1934)

War Is Over ad campaign, by John Lennon & Yoko Ono (Peace Advertising; 1969)

The Who Sell Out, by The Who (Album; 1967)

Wonka (Film; 2023)

Woody the Giant Killer (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1947)

Young Frankenstein (Film; 1974)

Today’s Name Days

Carlo, Christiane, Nina (Austria)

Marin, Valerijan, Viktorija (Croatia)

Radana (Czech Republic)

Nikatius (Denmark)

Kalli, Kelli, Killu, Kulla (Estonia)

Heimo, Nooa (Finland)

Ninon (France)

Christiane, Nina, Paola (Germany)

Anthea, Eleftherios, Elevtherios, Lefteris, Sossana, Sylvia (Greece)

Valér (Hungary)

Cristiana, Nino, Valeriano (Italy)

Jana, Johanna (Latvia)

Gaudenė, Gaudenis, Kristijona (Lithuania)

Hilda, Hilde (Norway)

Celina, Fortunata, Iga, Ignacja, Ignacy, Krystiana, Nina, Walerian, Waleriana, Wolimir, Żegota (Poland)

Antia, Elefterie, Suzana (Romania)

Ivica (Slovakia)

Valeriano (Spain)

Gottfrid (Sweden)

Adlai, Adler, Carney, Mirella, Mireya, Tanner (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 350 of 2024; 16 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of Week 50 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 11 (Bing-Zi), Day 15 (Gui-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 14 Kislev 5785

Islamic: 13 Jumada II 1446

J Cal: 20 Black; Sixthday [20 of 30]

Julian: 2 December 2024

Moon: 100%: Full Moon

Positivist: 14 Bichat (13th Month) [Isaac Newton]

Runic Half Month: Jara (Year) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 84 of 90)

Week: 3rd Full Week of December

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 24 of 30)

[nsfwmiamiart]

Part 4 - Incoming Text Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) and Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) and Rosario Dawson (@rosariodawson): “An Idea Worth 500 Million Dollars”

Question:

Who is Thomas Peter Shadyac, born on December 11, 1958?

Here is the link to Tom Shadyac's Wikipedia page, where you can find detailed information about his life and career: Tom Shadyac - Wikipedia​ – (click on the blue link)

ChatGPT Answer:

Thomas Peter Shadyac (born December 11, 1958) is an American filmmaker, comedian, author, and philanthropist known for his successful Hollywood comedies as well as his later work in promoting simplicity and humanitarian values. He is recognized for his shift from directing blockbuster films to focusing on personal fulfillment and social justice. Below is a detailed profile of Shadyac:

Early Life and Education

Date of Birth: December 11, 1958

Place of Birth: Falls Church, Virginia, USA

Family Background: Thomas was raised in a Roman Catholic family. His father, Richard Shadyac, was a prominent attorney and later served as the CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Education:

High School: Graduated from J.E.B. Stuart High School (now Justice High School) in Falls Church, Virginia.

College: Attended the University of Virginia, graduating in 1981 with a degree in telecommunications.

Graduate School: Enrolled in the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinema-Television, where he honed his filmmaking skills.

Career

Comedy and Filmmaking

Shadyac began his career as a writer and performer in comedy. He worked with Bob Hope, contributing to Hope's comedy specials, before transitioning to filmmaking.

His directorial debut, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), launched Jim Carrey's film career and established Shadyac as a major comedy director.

Notable Films

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

The Nutty Professor (1996)

Liar Liar (1997)

Patch Adams (1998)

Bruce Almighty (2003)

Evan Almighty (2007)

These films were commercial hits, known for their humor and moral undertones, grossing hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.

Documentary and Shift in Focus

After a near-fatal bicycle accident in 2007, Shadyac experienced a profound personal transformation. He began questioning the meaning of wealth, success, and happiness. This led to a dramatic shift in his career:

I Am (2010): A documentary exploring human interconnectedness, happiness, and sustainability. It features interviews with philosophers, scientists, and spiritual leaders. The film reflects Shadyac’s new approach to life, emphasizing simplicity and purpose.

Philosophy and Lifestyle

After his accident, Shadyac sold his mansion and many possessions, choosing to live in a modest mobile home community in Malibu, California.

He advocates for minimalist living and dedicates his time to humanitarian efforts, teaching, and philanthropy.

Teaching and Philanthropy

Shadyac has taught courses in storytelling, communication, and film at institutions such as the University of Colorado and Pepperdine University.

He has supported numerous charities, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, reflecting his commitment to giving back.

Books

Shadyac authored "Life's Operating Manual" (2013), which combines essays and dialogues to explore life's deeper questions about purpose and interconnectedness.

Legacy

Thomas Shadyac is celebrated not only for his contributions to comedy filmmaking but also for his profound impact on discussions around wealth, happiness, and social justice. He represents a rare example of a Hollywood figure who has successfully combined entertainment with activism.

[impossibleperfectionnerd]

the seriousness of the conflict in here. The shootings in here are in the extreme. There are 11 hospital ambulances downstairs.!!!! Red Cross (owned by Maiden RINA herself it’s a Swiss charity) is around. Men are injured downstairs. Opus Dei. Aileen Payumo. Inez javellana gamboa, Nicole Schulze ex Lopez, Doc JEGL, Sylvina and Cosel. Cecilios are the villains. Joan Chua. Is the one keeping the terrorists in here. Leads: Woodrose 98. Ateneo. College 2002. College batch 2004. Psychology department in Ateneo. New York network. British ex Romanian network. Ex UP (people that UP threw out). Because not pure UP. northeastern univ. USA medical doctor network. East coast) Torrance LA. Goes to Italy & France sometimes daily. Iloilo and Bataan network politician & super thief network. EDSA shrine Catholic Church network knows