#law enforcement chaplain

[medical-anon-whau]

Heya!

@bleedingichorhearts @kit-williams @egrets-not-regrets @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan

I've got another life update for everyone. Per suggestions, I was able to ask the Ultramarine how I should dress when meeting with the person in charge, and dressed accordingly, which was semi-formal. I had to run out real quick to get an appropriate pair of dress shoes before the meeting, but I managed alright.

I was rather surprised that Stalker did, in fact, show up to the meeting, but it'd definitely possible that they contacted him via Mysterious Astartes Methods. He accused me of a number of things, and here are the list of "charges"

1) aiding and abetting a "Fallen" Dark Angel

2) refusing to allow an Interrogator Chaplain to complete his sanctioned duties

3) defacing astartes armor (Jerk is still covered in glitter. I have the paint and glitter bombs on my person right now in case be pulls some more nonsense)

4) Colluding willingly with an Alpha Legionnaire to torment a Loyal Astartes

5) Distracting A Dark Angel during the course of his duties.

Now, I'm no law expert, but I figured he might pull some letitigous bullshit and have been doing some research on my own. I wasn't entirely sure what the Ultramarine Base Commander was going to say in response, but I pointed out that;

1) In the country that I am living in and so are they, the lawful government does not, to my knowledge, recognize the authority of Astartes Chaplains when it comes to crimes accused or actual committed by an astartes BEFORE THEY CAME TO EARTH

2) they did not involve local law enforcement before attempting to take the Fallen in question who has been the primary caretaker for a chronically ill and weakened human in good faith for the better part of a decade. I also got statements from both the human and their neighbors about the character of the Fallen and his daily activities, as well as from my patient's family

3) he has been harassing and willfully intimidating me with the intent to scare - which are both actual crimes - for over two months now. I have been keeping as accurate an account of each instance and brought a copy of that journal with me to the meeting (I have several copies of all the information I brought with me, in case Jerk tries anything. I also left this Intel with both Fallen and the Alpharii) for the base commander or whoever to read through at their convenience.

4) talking with other people who he's also deliberately antagonizing to try and get him to stop is not a crime, and the Alpha Legionnaire (I did not reveal that I know for a fact there are at least three of them in that house - more about the third Alpharius later) is concerned for the long term effects the stress of Jerk tormenting me will have on the care I'm able to provide to his sickly patient, and had suggestions on how to get Jerk to back off when I asked for them.

5) I JUST WANT HIM TO LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE AND STOP HARASSING FAMILY OF MY PATIENTS! JUST FUCK OFF!

Noooot that I deliberately cursed Jerk in front of the base commander. I almost cussed him out several times though. The giant fucker is tapdancing on my last nerve.

The base commander was quiet and seemed thoughtful at the gathered evidence I had provided for him. He began talking in a language I don't understand, and Jerk periodically answered back. He started getting agitated the longer the Mystery Talk went on.

A half hour of conversation I did not understand later and the base commander said that he was going to be restricting Ghaliel (Jerk's Actual Name, apparently) to base for the next month, and to report him if he breaks his restriction.

That was two days ago. So far, Jerk hasn't been trying to scare me... I was also able to speak with one of the Librarians after the meeting with the base commander.

Apparently, I have a weak bond with an astartes. I really hope it's with one of the Alpharii. They're fun, playful and caring.

Oh right! The third Alpharius!

I happened to stumble across all three of them whispering to each other, the day before I was gonna meet with the base commander, during my shift with their human family member. I'm pretty sure they did that on purpose, as alpharius number 3 handed me the last of the character testimonies I was hoping to get for Fallen in exchange for two glitter-paint bombs.

I don't want to k ow what he plans on doing with them, his cackling was terrifying.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"The Progressives’ design for the penitentiary did alter the system of incarceration. Their ideas on normalization, classification, education, labor, and discipline had an important effect upon prison administration. But in this field, perhaps above all others, innovation must not be confused with reform. Once again, rhetoric and reality diverged substantially. Progressive programs were adopted more readily in some states than in others, more often in industrialized and urban areas, less often in southern, border, and mountain regions. Nowhere, however, were they adopted consistently. One finds a part of the program in one prison, another part in a second or in a third. Change was piecemeal, not consistent, and procedures were almost nowhere implemented to the degree that reformers wished. One should think not of a Progressive prison, but of prisons with more or less Progressive features.

The change that would have first struck a visitor to a twentieth-century institution who was familiar with traditional practices, was the new style of prisoners’ dress. The day of the stripes passed, outlandish designs gave way to more ordinary dress. It was a small shift, but officials enthusiastically linked it to a new orientation for incarceration. In 1896 the warden of Illinois’s Joliet prison commented that inmates “should be treated in a manner that would tend to cultivate in them, spirit of self-respect, manhood and self-denial. . . , We are certainly making rapid headway, as is shown by the recently adopted Parole Law and the abolishment of prison stripes.” In 1906, the directors of the New Hampshire prison, eager to follow the dictates of the “science of criminology” and “the laws of modern prisons,” complained that “the old unsightly black and red convict suit is still used. . . . This prison garb is degrading to the prisoner and in modern prisons is no longer worn.” The uniform should be grey: “Modern prisons have almost without exception adopted this color.” The next year they proudly announced that the legislature had approved an appropriation of $700 to cover the costs of the turnover. By the mid-1930’s the Attorney General’s survey of prison conditions reported that only four states (all southern) still used striped uniforms. The rest had abandoned “the ridiculous costumes of earlier days.”

To the same ends, most penitentiaries abolished the lock step and the rules of silence. Sing-Sing, which had invented that curious shuffle, substituted a simple march. Pennsylvania’s Eastern State Penitentiary, world famous for creating and enforcing the silent system, now allowed prisoners to talk in dining rooms, in shops, and in the yard. Odd variations on these practices also ended. “It had been the custom for years,” noted the New Hampshire prison directors, “not to allow prisoners to look in any direction except downward,” so that “when a man is released from prison he will carry with him as a result of this rule a furtive and hang-dog expression.” In keeping with the new ethos, they abolished the regulation.

Concomitantly, prisons allowed inmates “freedom of the yard,” to mingle, converse, and exercise for an hour or two daily. Some institutions built baseball fields and basketbaIl courts and organized prison teams. “An important phase in the care of the prisoner,” declared the warden of California’s Folsom prison, “is the provisions made for proper recreation. Without something to look forward to, the men would become disheartened. . . . Baseball is the chief means of recreation and it is extremely popular.” The new premium on exercise and recreation was the penitentiary’s counterpart to the Progressive playground movement and settlement house athletic clubs.

This same orientation led prisons to introduce movies. Sing Sing showed films two nights a week, others settled for once a week, and the warden or the chaplain usually made the choice. Folsom’s warden, for example, like to keep them light: “Good wholesome comedy with its laugh provoking qualities seems to be the most beneficial.” Radio soon appeared as well. The prisons generally established a central system, providing inmates with earphones in their cells to listen to the programs that the administration selected. The Virginia State Penitentiary allowed inmates to use their own sets, with the result that, as a visitor remarked “the institution looks like a large cob-web with hundreds of antennas, leads and groundwires strung about the roofs and around the cell block.”

Given a commitment to sociability, prisons liberalized rules of correspondence and visits. Sing-Sing placed no restrictions on the number of letters, San Quentin allowed one a day, the New Jersey penitentiary at Trenton permitted six a month. Visitors could now come to most prisons twice a month and some institutions, like Sing-Sing, allowed visits five times a month. Newspapers and magazines also enjoyed freer circulation. As New Hampshire’s warden observed in 1916: “The new privileges include newspapers, that the men may keep up with the events of the day, more frequent writing of letters and receiving of letters from friends, more frequent visits from relatives . . . all of which tend to contentment and the reestablishment of self-respect.’? All of this would make the prisoners’ “life as nearly normal as circumstances will permit, so that when they are finally given their liberty they will not have so great a gap to bridge between the life they have led here . . . and the life that we hope they are to lead.”

These innovations may well have eased the burden of incarceration. Under conditions of total deprivation of liberty, amenities are not to be taken lightly. But whether they could normalize the prison environment and breed self-respect among inmates is quite another matter. For all these changes, the prison community remained abnormal. Inmates simply did not look like civilians; no one would mistake a group of convicts for a gathering of ordinary citizens. The baggy grey pants and the formless grey jacket, each item marked prominently with a stenciled identification number, became the typical prison garb. And the fact that many prisons allowed the purchase of bits of clothing, such as a sweater or more commonly a cap, hardly gave inmates a better appearance. The new dress substituted one kind of uniform for another. Stripes gave way to numbers.

So too, prisoners undoubtedly welcomed the right to march or walk as opposed to shuffle, and the right to talk to each other without fear of penalty. But freedom of the yard was limited to an hour or two a day and it was usually spent in “aimless milling about.” Recreational facilities were generally primitive, and organized athletic programs included only a handful of men. More disturbing, prisoners still spent the bulk of non-working time in their cells. Even liberal prisons locked their men in by 5:30 in the afternoon and kept them shut up until the next morning. Administrators continued to censor mail, reading materials, movies, and radio programs; their favorite prohibitions involved all matter dealing with sex or communism. Inmates preferred eating together to eating alone in a cell. But wardens, concerned about the possibility of riots with so many inmates congregated together, often added a catwalk above the mess hall and put armed guards on patrol.

Prisoners may well have welcomed liberalized visiting regulations, but the encounters took place under trying conditions. Some prisons permitted an initial embrace, more prohibited all physical contact. The rooms were dingy and gloomy. Most institutions had the prisoner and his visitor talk across a table, generally separated by a glass or wire mesh. The more security-minded went to greater pains. At Trenton, for example, bullet-proof glass divided inmate from visitor; they talked through a perforated metal opening in the glass. Almost everywhere guards sat at the ends of the tables and conversations had to be carried on in a normal voice; anyone caught whispering would be returned to his cell. The whole experience was undoubtedly more frustrating than satisfying.

The one reform that might have fundamentally altered the internal organization of the prison, Osborne’s Mutual Welfare League, was not implemented to any degree at all. The League persisted for a few years at Sing-Sing, but a riot in 1929 gave guards and other critics the occasion to eliminate it. One couId argue that inmate self-rule under Osborne was little more than a skillful exercise in manipulation, allowing Osborne to cloak his own authority in a more benevolent guise. It is unnecessary, however, to dwell on so fine a point. Wardens were simply not prepared to give over any degree of power to inmates. After all, how could men who had already abused their freedom on the outside be trusted to exercise it on the inside? Administrators also feared, not unreasonably, that inmate rule would empower inmate gangs to abuse fellow prisoners. In brief, the concept of a Mutual Welfare League made little impact on prison systems throughout this period.

If prisons could not approximate a normal community, they fared no better in attempting to approximate a therapeutic community. Again, reform programs frequently did alter inherited practices but they inevitably fell far short of fulfilling expectations. Prisons did not warrant the label of hospital or school.

Starting in the 1910’s and even more commonly through the 1920's, state penitentiaries established a period of isolation and classification for entering inmates. New prisoners were confined to a separate building or cell block (or occasionally, to one institution in a complex of state institutions); they remained there for a two- to four-week period, took tests and underwent interviews, and then were placed in the general prison population. In the Attorney General’s Survey of Release Procedures: Prisons forty-five institutions in a sample of sixty followed such practices. Eastern State Penitentiary, for example, isolated newcomers for thirty days under the supervision of a classification committee made up of two deputy wardens, the parole officer, a physician, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, the educational director, the social service director, and two chaplains. The federal government’s new prison at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, opened in 1932 and, eager to employ the most modern principles, also followed this routine. All new prisoners were on “quarantine status,” and over the course of a month each received a medical examination, psychometric tests to measure his intelligence, and an interview with the Supervisor of Education. The Supervisor then decided on a program, subject to the approval of its Classification Board. All of this was to insure “that an integrated program . . . may lead to the most effective adjustment, both within the Institution and after discharge.”

It was within the framework of these procedures that psychiatrists and psychologists took up posts inside the prisons for the first time. The change can be dated precisely. By 1926, sixty-seven institutions employed psychiatrists: thirty-five of them made their appointments between 1920 and 1926. Of forty-five institutions having psychologists, twenty-seven hired them between 1920 and 1926. The innovation was quite popular among prison officials. “The only rational method of caring for prisoners,” one Connecticut administrator declared, “is by classifying and treating them according to scientific knowledge . . . [that] can only be obtained by the employment of the psychologist, the psychiatrist, and the physician.” In fact, one New York official believed it “very unfair to the inmate as well as to the institution to try and manage an institution of this type without the aid of a psychiatrist.”

Over this same period several states also implemented greater institutional specialization. Most noteworthy was their frequent isolation of the criminal insane from the general population. In 1904, only five states maintained prisons for the criminally insane; by 1930, twenty-four did. At the same time, reformatories for young first offenders, those between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five or sixteen and thirty, became increasingly popular. In 1904, eleven states operated such facilities; in 1930, eighteen did. Several states which constructed new prisons between 1900 and 1935 attempted to give each facility a specific assignment. No state pursued this policy more diligently than New York. It added Great Meadow (Comstock), and Attica to its chain of institutions, the first two to service minor offenders, the latter, for the toughest cases. New York‘s only rival was Pennsylvania. By the early 1930’s it ran a prison farm on a minimum security basis; it had a new Eastern State Penitentiary at Grateford and the older Western State Penitentiary at Pittsburgh for medium security; and it made the parent of all prisons, the Eastern State Penitentiary at Philadelphia, the maximum security institution. Some states with two penitentiaries which traditionally had served different geographic regions, now tried to distinguish them by class of criminals. In California, for instance, San Quentin was to hold the more hopeful cases, Folsom the hard core.

But invariably, these would-be therapeutic innovations had little effect on prison routines. They never managed to penetrate the system in any depth. Only a distinct minority of institutions attempted to implement such programs and even their efforts produced thin results. Change never moved beyond the superficial."

- David J. Rothman, Conscience and Convenience: The Asylum and Its Alternatives in Progressive America. Revised Edition. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 2002 (1980), p. 128-134

[kit-williams]

Survivalist anon here again with an update and some local development in my area.

The spacewolves trio have become regular visitors to my property. They're enjoying the brewing silo I've constructed for them and the pack leader seems to patrolling more and more near by. It feels a little more safer around here knowing I've got such a wonderful pack nearby. The two youngest are like older brothers, the pack leader is a little more reserved yet his affections come in the form animal skulls, interesting left behind trinkets...and recently a hand carved charm. My place pretty has been considered a second den for them.

Now, I may have some new developments. There's been reports of a fast moving marine in the area. The local farmers have been devastated by a string of predations from a "mysterious beast" that kills every few days. An eyewitness that I interviewed a while states she saw the thing that slaughtered six of her prize sheep and the leading ram. It was a dark colored marine with red eyes a white face.

In an unrelated incident, another bloodsucker of sorts was caught red handed....or should I say red mawed...when a local dairy farm found him laying down with a nearly insanguinated cow. Apparently the big red vamp felt guilty for what he did and stopped halfway before he could dry the poor thing up. It recovered, but local law enforcement have no idea what to do with him.

Any suggestions?

~ Survivalist anon

@egrets-not-regrets @liar-anubiass-blog @barn-anon @bleedingichorhearts

Congrats that you're still alive!

Good call on the silo. Space wolves, and most space marines but, like to have multiple places to call home and be able to rendezvous at a particular location or safe space. Now your home might just be a location that should things go bad they use as a rally point, maybe even use it as a place to go along the way to check on you, they also could be using your property to store some extra supplies. All depends on the space marines. But, gifts are a great sign!

If its "midnight clad" it might be a Night Lord. I'm safe to say that if the word "face" is used. Unlike early descriptions of Astartes when human skin leather would adorn their armor the whole person's face description might reference to really any type of Chaos Space Marine. But, Night Lords have a skull face motif so it might be them, might be a mutated Chaos Space Marine, could even be a blood angel's chaplain since chaplain's (usually) have skull masks.

Blood Angels, regardless of loyalty, suffer from something called 'the Red Thirst' so they usually need periodic intakes of blood. Sounds like he wasn't getting anything recently. My suggestion is actually to let the nearest base of blood angels know about him because they are equipped to handle it. If they can't I mean someone could foster him until they can come look at him.

Good luck!

[beardedmrbean]

WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the appeal of a Minnesota woman who said she was wrongly denied unemployment benefits after being fired for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 because of her religious beliefs.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development determined she wasn’t eligible for benefits because her reasons for refusing the vaccine were based less on religion and more on a lack of trust that the vaccine was effective.

The case shows that the vaccine debate continues to smolder after the pandemic and after the Supreme Court in 2022 halted enforcement of a Biden administration vaccine-or-testing mandate for large employers but declined to hear a challenge to the administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care facilities that receive federal funding.

Still pending is an appeal from military chaplains who challenged the military’s vaccination requirement. Although that requirement was later rescinded at the direction of Congress, the chaplains argue they lost out on training opportunities and promotions because they requested religious exemptions.

'Cancel culture' Supreme Court rejects case on dust-up between Catholic student and Native American

Minnesota said the unemployment benefit appeal denied Monday wasn’t worth the Supreme Court’s time because benefits have been given to others who were found to have a sincerely held religious objection to the vaccine, so there’s no overarching question to address.

Lawyers for the Upper Midwest Law Center, which represented Tina Goede, had argued she was treated differently by the Minnesota courts than others who successfully appealed their denial of benefits. 

Refusing to get vaccinated, fired from a pharmaceutical company

After refusing to get vaccinated, Goede was fired in 2022 from her job as an account sales manager for the pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca. Her position had required her to meet with customers in hospitals and clinics, some of which required proof of vaccination.

She told the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development her religious beliefs prohibit injecting foreign substances into her body, which is a “temple of the Holy Spirit.”

A Catholic opposed to abortion, Goede also objected to the COVID-19 vaccine because she believed it was manufactured using or tested on an aborted fetal-cell line. (A cell line from an abortion decades ago was used to create Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine. Fetal cells were used in the early testing, though not in the production, of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.)

But Goede told the unemployment law judge she wouldn’t receive the vaccine no matter how it was made “because it doesn’t work.”

The judge said Goede was declining to take some vaccines, but not others, “because she does not trust them, not because of a religious belief.”

Goede’s attorneys said the judge had interrogated her religious beliefs with “unfair `gotcha’ questioning."

“He couched his denial of benefits in Ms. Goede’s credibility and then discounted her religious beliefs by determining that her secular beliefs outweighed them,” the lawyers told the Supreme Court.

At the same time the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld that decision last year, it reached the opposite conclusion for two others who had been denied benefits after asserting religious objections.

Goede’s lawyers said her case presented a question that will reoccur: how to analyze a religious objection to an employer policy when those objections coincide with secular beliefs.

[travelingue]

Naples (3): Daylight robbery

On our first morning here, I was curious to see if Naples by day looked better than Naples by night.  It did.

The bar, admittedly, was low.  My previous post described the Piazza Mercato, where we had dinner, as a brutalist dystopia dominated by the statue of a dog turd.

The breakfast room of the hotel commanded a striking view of the square (pictured above).  It was still hideous, but interestingly so.  Note the 17th-century campanile next to the Camorra-built housing block.

As we ambled through Centro Storico, daylight revealed the photogenic side of poverty: doorways festooned with naked wires, fresh graffiti adorning scaly walls, washing hanging overhead amid football bunting - Napoli has just won the Italian championship.

Even the old city’s street shrines were festooned in the club’s white and blue colours. 

Google Maps took us to L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele, which featured in Clive Myrie's series on Italy and, according to the restaurant's website, "incarnated the philosophy of Neapolitan pizza".

Da Michele is famous for making customers take a number and wait two hours for a takeaway margherita.  At 10 am, however, it was closed. 

Workmen were giving the front a lick of paint, no doubt on account of the publcity generated by Myrie’s endorsement.

I must have muttered in my native language as I scanned the window for a menu, because a young man next to me asked: "Vous savez quand ça ouvre?"

I said I knew nothing about the opening hours, and had stopped by just of curiosity.  And, just out of curiosity, I enquired if he was a fellow Parisian.  He said he was (from Saint-Ouen precisely) before cutting short the banter and walking away. I fumbled in my jacket pocket: my phone was gone.

I ran to the hotel, found that I could cause my phone to self-destruct remotely and triggered the security protocols for digital hara-kiri.

The next thing to do was to report the theft to the authorities – purely for insurance purposes.  The receptionist pointed us to a police station.  I had visions of waiting hours, along with hundreds of similarly ingenuous tourists, before enduring remonstrances from surly officers.

The Commissario di polizia in Centro Storico has no obvious entrance.  An archway led to a deserted courtyard guarded by a gate.  I buzzed an intercom and heard "pronto".  I want to report a stolen phone, I said in English.  "Secondo piano," the voice said.

We made our way up a grand staircase.  In my Neapolis-Nablus dichotomy, this was decidedly Neapolis.  We had left the third world behind the gate.

On the second floor, we met an officer who made what I understood to be an apology for keeping us waiting.  He took us to his desk and gave us his full attention for the next hour.   Despite the language barrier, it was the warmest interaction I have even had with law enforcement.

The man duly recorded my account of the robbery and gave us tips on how to avoid such mishaps in future.  I admitted that I had been careless and was at pains to explain that the thief was not a local, but a Frenchman.

During our exchange a couple of people dropped in.  One was a middle-aged woman, whom the officer called "bellissima" and "my girlfriend".  She was politely flattered by his effusions.

The other visitor was a large man in full ecclesiastic regalia, who was carrying water and an aspergillum.  Spotting us, he beamed: "Cattolico?"

We're actually miscreants but this was no time for theological argument.  I pointed to Lesley saying "Anglicana" and to myself saying "Cattolico". The priest sprinkled holy water over before going on to extend his blessings to other parts of the station.

The officer smiled, indicating that he was happy that we had witnessed the scene. "He is the chaplain specially attached to this commissario," he explained.

The police report printed and signed, we all shook hands.  Back on the street, Lesley and I were braced for Nablus again.

Previous entries on Naples:

1. Ryanair 2. Neapolis or Nablus?

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF BLESSED DOMINIC COLLINS Feast Day: October 30

Dominic Collins (aka Doiminic Ó Coileáin) gave up the life of a soldier for the peace of religious life, but was executed when he accompanied a military force as a chaplain in a campaign to free Ireland from English Rule.

Collins was born to a well-established family in Youghal in County Cork about the year 1566 when Elizabeth I was queen of England and Ireland. The Irish Parliament had established Anglicanism six years earlier as the official religion of the land.

These laws were not fully enforced yet in Youghal, but young Catholic men had few careers open to them so young Collins chose to leave Ireland to seek his fortune in France. He managed to enlist in the army of the Duke of Mercoeur who was fighting against the Huguenots in Brittany. He served with distinction in the cause of the Catholic League for over nine years and rose through the ranks. His greatest moment came when he captured a strategic castle and was appointed military governor of the region.

With the passing of time, Collins became less and less enamored of soldiering, even though King Philip II had granted him a pension and placed him in the garrison at La Coruña on Spain’s Bay of Biscay.

During Lent 1598, he met a fellow Irishman, a Jesuit priest called Thomas White, whom he told of his desire to do something else with his life. He decided that he wanted more than anything else to join the Jesuits and serve as a brother. The superiors were initially reluctant to accept him because they felt that a battle-hardened soldier would never be able to settle into religious life. Dominic bombarded the provincial with requests and was finally admitted to the novitiate in Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain.

If he was seeking peace and quiet in religious life, he was not to find it. He had barely arrived in Santiago when the Jesuit College was struck by plague.

Seven of the community were infected and many others fled for fear of catching the awful disease. Collins stayed on and tended the victims for two months, nursing some of them back to health and comforting the others in their last hours. He had proved his worth and completed his novitiate without further question. A report sent to Rome by his superiors states that he was a man of sound judgment and great physical strength, mature, prudent and sociable, though inclined to be hot-tempered and obstinate.

Ireland was in turmoil at this time. In Ulster O'Neill and O'Donnell were defying the power of the English crown and trying to call all of Ireland into revolt. In 1601, King Philip III of Spain decided to send an army to the help of the Irish rebels. A number of priests traveled with the expedition including an Irish Jesuit, Father James Archer who asked that Brother Collins be sent as his companion for the journey even though the priest had never met Collins.

The two set sail on different vessels, however, which became separated during a storm. Collins' ship had to return to La Coruña before finally reaching Ireland. Collins arrived at Castlehaven on Dec. 1, 1601, only 30 miles from his native Kinsale, where the main part of the Spanish fleet was already ensconced. A large English army under Lord Mountjoy had laid siege to the town.

Irish forces converged on Kinsale from North and South. The leaders were Hugh O'Neill, Red Hugh O'Donnell and O'Sullivan Beare from West Cork. The Irish army surrounded the English on the outside while the Spanish faced the English from inside the town. The Irish attacked at dawn on Christmas Eve, but for reasons never fully understood, suffered a humiliating defeat, with no help from the Spaniards who remained within the town.

The Irish scattered, with the O'Neill and O'Donnell armies marching northward while O'Sullivan Beare led his people home to the Beare peninsula. Dominic Collins accompanied him in his retreat. Thus he found himself some months later besieged inside Dunboy Castle with 143 defenders.

As a religious, Dominic Collins could not take part in the fighting but tended the wounded. After a bitter siege, with huge casualties, the defenders surrendered.

Almost all were put to the sword, but on June 17, the Jesuit was taken off in chains for interrogation. He was savagely tortured and promised rich rewards if he would renounce his Catholic faith. Even though some of his own family visited him and encouraged him to pretend a conversion in order to save his life, he stood firm.

On October 31, 1602, Dominic was taken to Youghal for execution. Before he ascended the scaffold to be hanged, he addressed the crowd in Irish and English, saying that he was happy to die for his faith.

He was so cheerful that an officer remarked: "He is going to his death as eagerly as I would go to a banquet."

Collins overheard him and replied: "For this cause I would be willing to die not once but a thousand deaths."

[head-post]

Unknown assailants stormed Ukrainian cathedral in Cherkasy

About a hundred people masked in balaclavas stormed the territory of the St. Michael’s Cathedral in Cherkasy and forced parishioners out of the night liturgy, according to Ukrainian media.

The unidentified men who took over the cathedral fired gas guns and used pepper spray. Parishioners tried to defend the cathedral, with Metropolitan Theodosius arriving later to speak to the attackers.

Overnight, the Cathedral, transferred to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), was seized by alleged supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), who disagreed with the decision to transfer. OCU parishioners reportedly managed to recapture it.

MP Artem Dmytruk said that local authorities were allegedly gathering people to hold a rally in favour of the OCU. Local law enforcement officers did not intervene in the conflict, Ukrainian media reported.

Calm down, please. I didn’t come here to fight. Did I come to hit someone?

Meanwhile, a military chaplain Volodymyr Pedko called for a repeated storming of the cathedral, whereas Cherkasy mayor Anatoliy Bondarenko urged citizens to “express their opinion about the existence of the Moscow church in our city.” Bondarenko explained that the city authorities did not interfere in the transfer of the church, as parishioners voluntarily joined the OCU.

The storming of St. Michael’s Cathedral is not the first case of oppression of religious freedom in Ukraine. However, neither the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) nor Human Rights Watch provided any comment on religious violence in the country.

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends the European Council in the hope of persuading allies to back his “victory plan” to counter an external threat, Ukraine is torn by domestic strife.

St. Michael’s Cathedral, the largest Orthodox church in Ukraine, officially joined the OCU on Thursday, 17 October, inviting parishioners to pray in the Ukrainian language.

Read more HERE

[dankusner]

Dallas priest arrested on two counts of indecency with child in Garland

Ricardo Reyes Mata, 34, served as parochial vicar of the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

A Dallas priest is accused of inappropriately touching two children, police said Tuesday.

Ricardo Reyes Mata, 34, a priest with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, was arrested Monday on two counts of indecency with a child, Garland police said in a statement.

Two children reported the inappropriate contact after the priest visited a home in Garland, police said. Detectives are working with the Dallas diocese.

In a statement, the diocese said it immediately filed a report with Child Protective Services and law enforcement after becoming aware of allegations by a juvenile girl of inappropriate touching.

The priest was also removed from public ministry, the diocese said, adding that no inappropriate activity was reported on diocesan property.

Detectives ask that anyone with information regarding this investigation or other such incidents, call Garland police at 972-485-4840.

Reyes Mata, who lives in Dallas, is being held at the Garland Detention Center with bonds set at $75,000 and $100,000.

Reyes Mata was appointed parochial vicar of the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Dallas in 2023, according to the cathedral’s website.

Before that, he served as parochial vicar of St. Jude Parish in Allen.

He also served as chaplain for Bishop Dunne High School in Dallas.

Dallas Bishop Edward Burns thanked law enforcement for its thorough response.

“We take all allegations of misconduct seriously,” the diocese’s statement said. “At the Catholic Diocese of Dallas, the safety and well-being of everyone is of paramount importance.”

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, urged the diocese to lead outreach to identify any additional victims.

“This disturbing news from Texas reaffirms that clergy sexual abuse is still very much a thing of the present,” the advocacy organization said in a statement. “It can take victims decades to acknowledge their abuse and find the courage to come forward. However, the fact that one survivor has already been identified, may help to shorten this process.”

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Four law enforcement officers were killed and four others injured in a shootout in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday.

The fallen officers include three U.S. Marshal task force members and one Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officer.

“What a tragic afternoon,” Franklin Graham posted on Facebook. “Our hearts break for their grieving families.

“The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief is right—today we lost heroes who were simply trying to keep the community safe. Please pray for their loved ones and the entire department.”

Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) chaplains have deployed to minister emotionally and spiritually to CMPD officers and their families following...

[bravenewolympus--hq]

𝒐𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒓𝒂, 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒔. this character is allied with and/or an employee of a law enforcement agency, the government, and the justice system. suggested faces — please note, this character must be 25+ years old. gina torres; maggie q; dichen lachman; elodie yung; lupita nyong'o; danai gurira; florence kasumba; serinda swan; levi tran; jamie chung; alyssa diaz; tessa thompson; stana katic; vanessa ferlito; katheryn winnick; maggie siff;chyler leigh; kate mara; ming-na wen; adrianne palicki; mary elizabeth winstead. suggested occupations. first responder, ideally a detective, sargeant, or a police officer now working as a training officer or instructor at the police academy; disgraced federal agent licking her proverbial wounds back home in athens; police chaplain; city councillor; member of the armed forces, either in the reserves, on active duty, or discharged.

𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏.

ʙʀᴀᴠᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ᴏʟʏᴍᴘᴜꜱ : ᴀ 21+ ᴍᴏᴅᴇʀɴ ɢʀᴇᴇᴋ ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏʀᴅ ʀᴏʟᴇᴘʟᴀʏ. athens, new york: an island city, all trees and marble, glass and steel and highrises set against an ocean skyline. bustling and loud, crowded, but not without a bizarre sense that it must have sprung up overnight, somehow, when surely it must have always been here, no? on a clear night, you might even be able to see the lights of its more famous cousin, new york city, across the water…if you squint hard enough. it may not get as much attention as the shiny apple across the hudson, but those not so blinded by the lights must certainly have been coming here for years. is there something in the water here, too? no one leaves, not in any meaningful way anyway. feels like it has a special way of pulling you back in, if you try. they, that is anyone who was anyone or paid even an iota of attention to the evening news,, called him the minotaur. the media does love a catchy nom de guerre, doesn’t it? sells newspapers like hotcakes in the morning. ambrosia, whether it’s the latest designer drug trend or the latest pestilence sweeping the streets of athens, just depends on how tightly you clutch your pearls on sundays. must infuriate the police, don’t it? that without fail, by the time they arrive to any crime scene at all, all that’s left is the heap of little cream-coloured business cards, the red lines of a labyrinthine logo more taunting than they are helpful. between an epidemic of pearlescent powder, neatly parceled out in small plastic baggies, a tide of crimson bull graffiti, casinos and bordellos and the nightlife (oh my!), it’s no small wonder they call this an atlantic sin city. it’s a vice eat dog world, ain’t it? and anyone who calls athens home is just living in it. powerless, with no memory of their past lives, what's a god gotta do to survive?

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"When, twelve years ago, I first went to prison, I began to remember what I had heard and read about convicts, prisons and prison reform. I knew that Thomas Mott Osborne had spent a week of voluntary imprisonment in Auburn (New York) Prison. I had read the book in which he describes what he experienced and learned during that week. One of the things he learned was that crime is due, among other things, to the individual criminal's maladjustment to his environment; from which Mr. Osborne concluded that crime is a problem in abnormal behavior for the solution of which society should look to the psychiatrist. I knew, too, that leaders in penological thought considered this idea sound and were trying to reform American prisons in accordance with it. It seemed to me that it was an idea which ought to meet with ready response from the convict, since it offered him a chance to learn what, as a maladjusted individual, was wrong with him; and a chance, with the help of the psychiatrist, to readjust and eventually to rehabilitate himself. But I heard, to my great surprise that, for the most part, my fellow convicts were unfriendly to the idea that there was anything wrong with them or that they needed any help from the psychiatrist. I found that their typical attitude was very aptly illustrated by the dictum I have already quoted: "Bug tests are strictly the bunk!" Upon what, I am asked, is this attitude based? What lies behind this contempt for and hostility toward the psychological tests and the psychiatric examinations? After a great deal of close contact with every known type of criminal, I believe that I can answer these questions.

At the very outset, it is well to bear in mind the fact that the average prison inmate is keenly aware of some of the purposes of these tests and examinations. He knows, for example, that if he fails to make a good showing in the psychological test he may be classified as incapable of holding certain desirable intramural jobs. He knows, too, that if the psychiatrist discovers him to be abnormal in his mental or emotional reactions, or antisocial in his attitude toward law and order, he may be classified as incapable of so conducting himself in the free world as to be safely recommended for parole. He knows, in other words, that the psychiatrist and the psychologist have the power (from his point of view) to hurt him. To the extent, moreover, that he fears somehow that he is feeble-minded or queer, and believes that the discovery of his true condition will result in his transfer to a less desirable institution, he concedes to the psychiatrist and the psychologist even greater power to hurt him. Out of this knowledge arises a fear of the mental specialists and of the tests themselves.

This is one fact which underlies the average convict's attitude toward tests and examining specialists. Another fact, the importance of which is not generally understood, is that the average convict regards the psychologist and the psychiatrist as representatives of law and order. He fears, hates, or is bound by the underworld code at least to pretend to fear and hate policemen, prison guards, and other enforcers of the punishing law and order. He makes no subtle distinctions. The warden, the chaplain, the prison physician, any one in authority unless he clearly demonstrates his friendliness is the convict's natural enemy; and thus he numbers the psychologist and the psychiatrist among his enemies.

This hostility toward the officials who represent law and order is based upon reasons which, from the viewpoint of the criminal, are entirely logical. As all experienced criminals know, crime thrives best in social darkness and needs a grim secrecy. Even the younger and less experienced criminals know that it is dangerous to give information about themselves to their enemies, the enforcers of law and order. Thus it is that such axioms as "Keep your mouth shut!" and "Death to informers!" constitute the first and second commandments of the underworld code of behavior. This means that the average criminal deems it not only weak and foolish, but positively dangerous, to be honest and truthful in his dealings with any individual from the ranks of his enemies; and since he usually considers the psychologist and the psychiatrist his enemies, he is pretty sure to be dishonest and untruthful in his dealings with them. This is a fact which these examining specialists will do very well to keep in mind.

There is, finally, the general attitude of the convict toward plans to reform him. Without going into a detailed discussion of this attitude, it is perhaps sufficient to say that the convict is, on the whole, indifferent to any plan of prison reform which does not promise an immediate amelioration of his own present condition. He is not interested in any far-reaching, general plan for classifying and segregating criminals for society's benefit. To such a plan he is often deeply hostile and at best lazily indifferent. He is interested only in plans which promise immediate and personal only in plans which promise immediate and personal benefit to himself; such as better food and entertainment, or a shortening of the length of his imprisonment. Since the psychological tests and the psychiatric examinations not only do not promise him any immediate, personal benefit, but, on the contrary, threaten to bar him from a soft prison job or a chance for release on parole, he is not merely suspicious of them, but actively opposed to them.

The convict is thus seen to have developed an attitude of fear, hatred, active antagonism toward the tests and the examining specialists.

- Victor F. Nelson, Prison Days and Nights. Second edition. With an introduction by Abraham Myerson, M.D. Garden City: Garden City Publishing Co., 1936. p. 271-273

[sroctre]

Taking the Secretary of Defense to Task, Military Chaplains Are Asking the Supreme Court to Simply Enforce the Rule of Law | The Gateway Pundit - https://devishop.gives/taking-the-secretary-of-defense-to-task-military-chaplains-are-asking-the-supreme-court-to-simply-enforce-the-rule-of-law-the-gateway-pundit/

[chaplain0]

The Basics

NAME | Zosia Kaczmarek.

FORMAL TITLE | The Rev. Zosia Kaczmarek.

NICKNAMES | Zosi, Zoë, Mother.

DATE OF BIRTH | 12 November 1981.

HOMETOWN | Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States.

BIRTHPLACE | Miami, Florida, United States (of Polish and British descent).

The Physical

HEIGHT | 5'5".

WEIGHT | 120 lb.

HAIR | Dark brown, curly (except for when she tries to straighten it out).

EYE COLOR | Brown.

The Workings

OCCUPATION | Episcopal Priest, Diocese of New York; Chaplain (formerly - and occasionally - Junior Detective), New York Police Department.

SQUAD, BOROUGH, DIVISION | 27th, Manhattan, Homicide.

WORK PARTNER(S) | (N/A — prefers working alone, primarily in case of a pastoral call, but won't hesitate to ask for someone to accompany her if need be).

DIRECT SUPERIOR(S) | The Diocesan Bishop, Lieutenant Kate Dixon, Captain Olivia Benson, and Sergeant Ayanna Bell.

The Relations

FAMILY | Anton Kaczmarek (father, living); Maritza "Maria" Kaczmarek, née Jones (mother, living).

SIBLING(S) | Mikael "Mika" Kaczmarek (younger brother, living).

PET(S) | Polka (male black cat).

OTHER KNOWN RELATIVES | Opa and Oma Kaczmarek (paternal Grandparents, living, Manhattan), Grimpa and Grinma Jones (maternal Grandparents, living, London, England).

MARITAL STATUS | Single.

The Heart

PERSONALITY AND BACKSTORY | Zosia was raised with an appreciation for both the ordained ministry and law enforcement. Born to a now-retired police officer and a fashion designer, she received a good education between both the private and public school systems; despite that, she was sexually abused by a close male friend during her sophomore year of high school — an event that she would continue to heal from, but refuse to let hinder her life. At the age of 23, after moving to New York City she took up after her father and became a Junior Detective in the NYPD; but the fun plot twist came about when she began to discern the call to the Episcopal Priesthood. With the support of her Precinct, she entered into the Ordination process and attended Seminary; following this she was ordained into the Priesthood on the Eve of Trinity Sunday, 2015. In 2016 her Diocesan Bishop gave her permission to serve as a Police Chaplain, and her Office can be found in the 27th Precinct Building.

ORIENTATION | Hetero asexual.

ALIGNMENT | Neutral- borderline chaotic-good.

TALENTS | Alertness 3 — Athletics 3 — Brawl 2 — Dodge 3 — Empathy 3 — Expression 3 — Intimidation 3 — Leadership 3 — Streetwise 4 — Subterfuge 3.

SKILLS | Animal Ken 3 (gets along well with pets) — Crafts 2 (drawing, photography) — Drive 3 (can rush to a pastoral care emergency without breaking the speed limit or someone's neck) — Etiquette 4 — Firearms 3 — Melee 2 — Performance 1 (singing) — Security 3 — Stealth 3 — Survival 4.

KNOWLEDGES | Academics 3 — Enigmas 2 — Finance 2 — Investigation 3 (former Detective, NYPD) — Law 4 (Episcopal Canon Law, see also Investigation) — Linguistics 2 (English, Polish, German) — Medicine 2 — Occult 2 — Politics 2 — Religions 3 (Episcopal Priest) — Science 2.

The Psyche

BACKGROUNDS | Allies 3 — Contacts 3 — Fame 2 — Influence 3 — Mentor 2 — Resources 3 — Status 2.

MERITS | Code Of Honor 1 — Common Sense 1 — Ambidextrous 2 — Natural Linguist 2.

FLAWS | Dark Secret 1 (was sexually abused as a teenager) — Nightmares 1.

VIRTUES | Conscience 4 — Conviction 3 — Courage 3 — Willpower 5.

The Attributes

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES | Strength 2 — Dexterity 2 — Stamina 3.

MENTAL ATTRIBUTES | Perception 3 — Wits 3 — Intelligence 4.

SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES | Charisma 3 — Manipulation 2 — Appearance 4.

The Important Miscellaneous

STATS STYLE | Classic World of Darkness (White Wolf System).

FACE CLAIM | Amber Rose Revah.

CHARACTER SORT (FANDOM) | Original Character (Law & Order).

THEME SONG | “La Forme” (Hot Chip King of the Mountains Remix), Kraftwerk.

TYPIST | Jenn (or, the Engineer).

[ramrodd]

Civil War Confederate President Wasn’t Tried, Why It Matters In Trump Ca...

COMMENTARY:

The basis of the US Constitution is the syndication of the several states iby the Declaration of Independence, ratified at Yorktown, forged by fire and quenched by the blood of Patriots who were enlisted in a well-regulated militia. This syndication is a pretty much off-the-shelf unlimited liability underwriting that is eternal. It's unbreakable. The Hudson Bay Company is an identical syndication,

The Declaration of Independence is a blood covenant, right out of Genesis 15. It is unbreakable. It is not a divine document, but bi-lateral. An agreement between human persons to living , breathing social contract.

The essential fallacy of the libertarian logic of the Confederacy is that it may be legal to build a castle in the sky, but it would require the repeal of the law of gravity to do so.

The mission of the Federalist Society is to ensure that this legal argument would always win in any court, anywhere int America,  It's like the Heller decision, Scalia did for the US  Constitution what Thomas Jefferson was doing to Sally Hemings That's an example of Fresh Water economics.

Salt Water economics is based on Valley Forge.

Jefferson Davis was arguing a finite game was infinite. It's the basis of Supply Side seconomics It's what the economics of shite supremacy is all about: repeal the law of gravity where useful.

That's everything covered by the January 6 agenda and the Total Depravity Gospel of the Pro Life Evangelical chaplains subverting the loyalties of serving soldiers.

Jefferson Davis's States Rights theory of property, labor and the means of roduction are founded squarely on the willingness to suspend disbelief in the contingent repeal of the law of gravity.

On a related issue, Ukraine needs to settle for a victory in the defense of their soverignty and the need to let the United Nations enforce a cease fire and  begin to sort things out with NATO. As that is being accomplished, America can begin to shift from funding battle and begin funding Marshall Plan reparations. NATO can work out with Russia how to flow reparations into the region This is right out of the Dayton Accords hand book for actual beginning of the Peace Dividend GHW Bush promised and Clinton delivered.

There are 13 stripes on Old Glory. The White Streps are  graphic  and abstract representations of the essence of the the Declaration of Independence: the Ideals: Life, Liberty, Fraternity, Equality, Equity and the Pursuit of Happines. Basically, the Democratic Socialism of the shower scene in Starship Troopers. The White Strepes. That's what I am saluting before "Play Ball" at Nationals Park.

The Red stripes represent the blood spilled by the serving Patriots who gave their oath to defend and protect, This is a  graphic presentation of the moral content of the Ideals of the Republic, the white Stripes, being covered by the blood of the red stripes in a blatantly bibilcal symbol of a blood oath.. The Southern slave owners were totally committed to that proposition of breaking that blood oath of the social contract right out of Burke in order to keep their slaves.

Before the Federalist Society, a writ such as that which cold prevail before the Supreme Court would have never gotten past appeals. This is how Trickle Down economics continues to work out in Jackson, Mississippi or Montgomery, Alabama.

It's that simple.

[survivor-network]

Cautionary Guide to Death Notifications

by Chaplain Jeffrey Wolfe

Death notifications are challenging tasks for Law Enforcement Chaplains. They deliver heartbreaking news to families about the loss of their loved ones. Typically, the local Coroner’s office handles most deaths, but sometimes, they request a Police Chaplain to make the death notification.

Here are some crucial points to remember when making a Death Notification:

1. Confirm the Coroner's Positive ID

Upon receiving a call from the Coroner’s Office, confirm if they have a positive ID of the deceased. To prevent mistakes, ask how the identification was made. Common methods include fingerprint, facial identification, dental records, and DNA.

2. Gather Accurate Details of the Decedent and the Incident

Accuracy is vital. Ensure you have correct details such as the decedent’s full name, birth date, time of death, residence, cause of death, and the Coroner's details.

3. Request Assistance from a District Car

For safety reasons, always request a district car's assistance when going to notify the next of kin.

4. Be Cautious when Knocking on the Door

Wait for the district car to arrive and then inform the officer about the death notification details. Always stand to the side of the door when knocking.

5. Show Your Credentials

When the door opens, identify yourself clearly and show your credentials.

6. Confirm You are Speaking to the Legal Next of Kin

After identifying yourself, confirm if you're talking to the legal next of kin before delivering the news.

7. Don’t Give the Death Notification at the Front Door

Ask for permission to come inside the house. This is a matter of respect and privacy for the family.

8. Be Direct with the Death Notification

Start by saying, “I have some bad news for you” to prepare the person for the upcoming information. Use explicit words like “died” or “killed” to kickstart the grieving process.

9. Know the Family's Cultural and Religious Practices

Understand the grieving processes and death rituals of the family's religion or culture to show respect and avoid misunderstanding.

Continuous learning about other faiths, local resources, and enhancing chaplain skills is crucial in this line of work.

Checklist:

Checklist:

[ ] Confirm the Coroner's Positive ID

[ ] Gather Accurate Details of the Decedent and the Incident

[ ] Request Assistance from a District Car

[ ] Be Cautious when Knocking on the Door

[ ] Show Your Credentials

[ ] Confirm You are Speaking to the Legal Next of Kin

[ ] Don’t Give the Death Notification at the Front Door

[ ] Be Direct with the Death Notification

[ ] Know the Family's Cultural and Religious Practices

[ ] Continue learning about other faiths, local resources, and enhancing chaplain skills

Note: One of the courses required for the Basic Chaplain Credential within the International Conference of Police Chaplains is called Death Notifications. Make sure you go through proper training and even observe an actual death notification before attempting to make your first notification solo (with an officer).

About the Author

Fr Jeff is the Managing Consultant for Write Right Consulting (Write Right, LLC), a First Responder Chaplain Consultant Firm specializing in Law Enforcement and Disaster Response Chaplaincy; a Contributing Editor, Writer, and content provider for ChaplainUSA.org; Adjunct Professor for the SCA University of Theology and Spirituality; a former Chaplain with the Indiana Guard Reserve (IGR), under 81st Troop Command as a member of the Chaplain Corps (US Army protocol) and a graduate of the Indiana Guard Reserve Military Police Academy; a member of The American Institute of Stress (https://stress.org); and a member of the Hendricks County, Indiana Crisis Response Team (NOVA CRT Trained and a CISM Instructor).