#pope francis rome reports

[worldnews90]

Pope Francis shares written message while continuing hospitalization

A first-person written message from Pope Francis was shared Sunday as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church continues his hospitalization in Rome.  

"I have recently received many messages of affection, and I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children," Pope Francis posted on X Sunday. "Thank you for your closeness, and for the consoling prayers I have received from all over the world!" 

"I urge you to continue your apostolate with joy and to be a sign of a love that embraces everyone, as the #GospelOfTheDay suggests," another post said. "May we transform evil into goodness and build a fraternal world. Do not be afraid to take risks for love!" 

Read More

[thecolourrainbow]

does america’s former sweetheart, hillary rodman clinton have a shot at recovery? or will her societal status remain in critical condition like pope francis lay dying today? this & other major breaking news following a quick break from my sponsor.

[reality-detective]

The Vatican: Human Trafficking Hub

The Vatican Underground- Cleared

The Dulce Base- Underground Cleared

The Area 51 Underground Base- Cleared

Orion Group ❌ (Defeated)

Ciakharr Group ❌ (Defeated)

Killy Tokurt Group ❌ (Defeated)

These are the three main factions responsible for the

The CIA is connected to the Killy Tokurt Ops. They are the one who specialize in soul scalping. This is how our government leaders were replaced. Removing the light body & soul and replacing it with a physical vessel void of any connection to source.

Sherry Shriner covered this in many videos/audios. Megan Rose spoke about this in one of her books. Corey Goode is also another source who spoke on the caste system of the Ciakharr who are the top elite in their race.

Remember when I mentioned that people were not ready once they found out who have been eating the children? Guess what was the capitol for the "Child Sex Trafficking" breeding hub?

The Vatican.

Do you remember the story or report that came out in July of 2019 where thousands of bones was unearthed in two ossuaries discovered in the Vatican City, as part of an ongoing search for clues into the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl more than three decades ago in 1983?

Do you remember the mass grave full of baby bones found along the shores of Israel's Mediterranean coast, in the ancient seaport of Ashkelon in 2014?

Do you remember An Indigenous group said the remains of as many as 751 people, mainly children, had been found in unmarked graves on the site of a former boarding school in Saskatchewan?

As a matter of fact that was a 2,300 page document that leaked that verified Pope Francis’ cover up of a Vatican Pedophile Ring. Did you know 20 Chilean Priests who went public on their connection to that very same Pedophile Ring, were killed in a plane crash right after their meeting with Pope Francis?

Back on July 20 2014 the International Common Law Court of Justice in Brussels found defendants Pope Francis Bergoglio, Catholic Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Pachon and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby guilty of rape, torture, murder and the trafficking of children. (Nothing Is Happening?)

I highly doubt it.

Two adolescent women told the ICLCJ Court that Pope Francis raped them while participating in child sacrifices during the Springs of 2009 and 2010 in rural Holland and Belgium. According to a former employee of the Curia in Rome, rapes and murders of children also took place at the Carnarvon Castle in Wales and an undisclosed French Chateau.

A Prosecutor introduced notarized affidavits by eight others claiming to witness these same crimes organized by the Vatican. Another witness testified that they were present during meetings with the then Argentine priest and Bishop Francis and the military Junta during Argentine’s 1970′s Dirty War.

According to the witness, Francis helped traffic 30,000 children of missing political prisoners into the Vatican Pedophile Ring.

Do you know why this has taken so long? If you knew how vast these underground tunnels are you would understand why certain EOs signed by D. Trump kept getting extensions.

The Military at some point will disclose the battles that went underground.

The weapons used.

The strategies used.

The entries/exits used.

The medical technology used.

The portals/gateways that were used.

You got a glimpse of this during the fight that went on underground with the Phil Schneider lectures that still can be found on YouTube about the Dulce extraterrestrial confrontation that resulted in lives being lost and him being scarred from it.

People are only looking at the human aspect of this process. They are not looking at this as governments officials serving a unknown species that want world dominion who is an entire different secret government whose base are in these DUMBS-(Deep Underground Military Bases) who control all of our 3 letter agencies who are middlemen/conduits who these covert species use to control Washington. 🤔

Julian Assange

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Villarreal at LGBTQ Nation:

The Vatican is organizing its first-ever pilgrimage for LGBTQ+ Christians, their relatives and allies during its 2025 celebration of Jubilee, a Holy Year that only occurs every 50 years. The historic event is just the latest in numerous recent pro-LGBTQ+ overtures made by Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church. The pilgrimage — which is entitled “Church: Home for All, LGBT+ Christians and Other Existential Frontiers” and which will take place on September 6, 2025 — will include a visit St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (the Catholic Church’s city-state located in Rome, Italy), a prayer vigil for members of the LGBT+ community and their families held in the city’s Il Gesù church (built in 1584), and a celebratory mass overseen by Bishop Francesco Savino, Vice-President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. The pilgrimage will be led by Tenda di Gionata, an Italian gay rights group that helps “society and the churches to open up to the understanding and reception of homosexual people,” The Catholic Herald reported. At its previous events, the group has depicted Jesus Christ as a transgender person, wearing a rainbow halo or standing in front of a rainbow flag.

The idea for the pilgrimage reportedly came from Bolognese Jesuit, Pino Piva, who has cared for LGBTQ+ people over the past few years, according to the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero. Pope Francis reportedly approved of the pilgrimage despite “internal resistance” from Holy Year organizers. Though the event is not yet listed in the Vatican’s official calendar of events, it reportedly has the support of Holy Year preparations coordinator Archbishop Rino Fisichellaand Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference.

A first in Vatican history: Tenda di Gionata, an Italian LGBTQ+ rights group, will lead the pilgrimage called “Church: Home for All, LGBT+ Christians and Other Existential Frontiers” on September 6th, 2025.

[apenitentialprayer]

May 11, 2023

Earlier today, Pope Francis declared that 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians, who were beheaded by Islamic militants in Libya in 2015, would be added to the Roman Martyrology. Francis made the announcement during an audience with Pope Tawadros II, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The “21 Coptic New Martyrs of Libya,” as they are called, were martyred on February 15, 2015. Less than a week later, they were declared saints in the Coptic Orthodox Church by Pope Tawadros. The Copts celebrate their feast on the anniversary of their death, February 15, and it appears that this will also be their feast day on the Roman calendar.

The world was shocked in February 2015, when a 5-minute video was uploaded to the internet by ISIS militants. The video showed the 21 kidnapped men in orange jumpsuits being beheaded on a beach near the Libyan city of Sirte. 20 of these martyrs were Egyptian Copts who had gone to Libya to do construction work. The last member of the group, Matthew Ayariga, was a fellow worker from Ghana. It is said that he told the executioners, “Their God is my God. I will go with them.” There has been some question over whether he was already Christian or whether the witness of his 20 coworkers led to his conversion, but nevertheless, his Christian witness and solidarity are inspiring. It was reported that as they died, they chanted hymns and prayed aloud.

The deaths of these men as Christian martyrs is undeniable. The extraordinary photos of Blessed Miguel Pro, a Catholic priest who was executed by the Mexican government in 1927 during the Cristero War — taken just moments before the he was shot by the firing squad — are perhaps the only other photographic images recording a Christian martyrdom as it happened. And yet the recognition of the 21 martyrs as Catholic saints is unprecedented for several reasons.

The primary reason, of course, is that the Coptic Orthodox Church is not in full communion with Rome. The Copts are Oriental Orthodox (as opposed to Eastern Orthodox), because they split from the other Christian churches in the year 451 at the Council of Chalcedon due to differences over the nature of Christ. They are also referred to as “Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Churches.” This means that they recognize the first three ecumenical councils, whereas the Eastern Orthodox recognize seven, and the Catholic Church recognizes 21 ecumenical councils.

After more than 15 centuries, our hope of reunion may seem remote. After all these years, the two Churches have independently developed their own traditions, theologies, forms of worship, and prayers. Yet some things have remained the same. Both Churches have maintained apostolic succession and the sacraments: Pope Francis is the successor of St. Peter and Pope Tawadros is the successor of St. Mark. In recent decades, the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church has become closer. For example, in 2017, Popes Francis and Tawadros made a joint statement indicating mutual acceptance of the validity of baptism in both Churches.

Pope Francis has praised the Martyrs of Libya many times, and today he recalled our shared baptism, as well as the blood of martyrs that enriches the Church. He said, “These martyrs were baptized not only in the water and Spirit, but also in blood, a blood that is the seed of unity for all of Christ’s followers.” In the past, the pope has discussed how we must realize that we, the baptized, have much more in common than what divides us. This shared recognition of sainthood between the two Churches is a significant step towards Christian unity.

This sets a new precedent. In 1964, when the Ugandan Martyrs were canonized by Pope Paul VI, St. Charles Lwanga and the other 21 Catholics among his companions were declared saints. The 23 Anglicans who were martyred alongside them were mentioned briefly in the pope’s homily, when he said, “And we do not wish to forget, the others who, belonging to the Anglican confession, met death for the name of Christ.”

Another reason why today’s announcement is unique was that Pope Francis did this by an official act. The Roman Martyrology is the official list of saints officially recognized by the Latin Church. Many Eastern Catholic Churches have their own processes for canonizing saints according to their traditions. Historically, when groups of Eastern Catholics have come into full communion with Rome, they will bring along their saints and prayers and traditions. Many of these saints aren’t officially canonized by Rome, and they are usually only venerated in their own tradition. By inscribing the names of these martyrs in the Roman Martyrology, Pope Francis has made it clear that these martyrs are to be venerated by Roman Catholics as saints.

Finally, in declaring them saints today, Pope Francis sidestepped the typical canonization process. They are saints, without having passed through the usual stages of Servant of God, Venerable, and Blessed. This “skipping” of steps is commonly referred to as “equipollent canonization.” Essentially, when a pope declares someone a saint by an official act, that person is recognized as a saint in the Church. This is not the first time Francis has moved a case along in this way. For example, when he canonized Popes John XXIII and John Paul II in 2014, he waived the requirement of a second miracle for John XXIII so that the two popes would be canonized on the same day. In 2013, he elevated the Jesuit Peter Faber, whose status had lingered at “Blessed” since 1872.

Perhaps the most interesting case is that of St. Gregory of Narek, an Armenian monk venerated as a saint in the Armenian Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Unexpectedly, Pope Francis named him the 36th Doctor of the Church in 2015. Living from in the mid-10th century through the early 11th, St. Gregory lived at a time when the Armenian Church was not in communion with Rome. After several failed attempts at reunion, the Armenian Catholic Church was officially recognized as an Eastern Catholic Church in 1742. Interestingly, the Armenian Catholic eparchy of Buenos Aires (established in 1989 by Pope John Paul II) is called the Eparchy of Saint Gregory of Narek. Perhaps this is how Pope Francis became familiar with the saint.

We Christians are blessed with a wide variety of saints from all sorts of backgrounds. They help make up the beautiful tapestry of the people of God — praying for us, interceding for us, and inspiring us. This is something worth celebrating.

21 Coptic New Martyrs of Libya, Pray for Us!

Mike Lewis. Bolded emphases added.

[scotianostra]

On July 13th 1807 Henry Benedict Stuart died, Henry was the fourth and final Jacobite to publicly lay claim to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Born on 6th March, 1725, at the Palazzo Muti, Rome. The same day he was christened Henry Benedict Maria Clement Thomas Francis Xavier by Pope Benedict XII at the Pallazo Balestra.

Styled Duke of York from birth, Henry was an intelligent child and was reported to have written and spelled better than his brother "Bonnie" Prince Charlie. Henry Stuart was a good-looking young man, with the same dark eyes as his brother Charles, but lacked Charles' height. In common with his father, he was more introverted, cautious and certainly less high spirited than his exuberant older brother.

During the '45 he travelled to France to petition Louis XV for funds to support the uprising, historians have said he was humiliated in doing so. Henry was present to greet Charles in France on his return from Scotland, the brothers embraced each other warmly and at first seemed to continue in the close and affectionate relationship which had previously existed between them. They were soon to find that they no longer had much in common and Charles' supporters aggravated matters by complaining they felt that Henry not done enough to ensure that the French fleet sailed for England to support the rebellion. The sensitive Henry himself considered such criticism unfair as he had been appointed nominal commander of the French fleet but possessed no real authority.

After Charles's death in January 1788 the Papacy did not recognise Henry as the lawful ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland, but referred to him as the Cardinal Duke of York.

He spent his life in the Papal States and had a long career in the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, rising to become the Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri. At the time of his death he was (and still is) one of the longest serving Cardinals in the Church's history.

Henry became known by Jacobites, and within his personal entourage, as Henry IX of England, although publicly he referred to himself as Cardinal-Duke of York nuncupatus, he did however sign his will Henry R. In it he wrote he was to be succeeded in all his claimed rights by his friend and nearest blood-relative, Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia. But Charles never asserted nor renounced his Jacobite claims, nor have any of his successors to this day.

Henry Benedict, his brother, his father and his mother are buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. There is a monument to the Royal Stuarts designed by Antonio Canova in the basilica to their memory on one of the columns in the basilica, the crypt was paid for by George III, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen mother paid for restoration work to it during the middle of the 20th century.

[nostalgicamerica]

This fact-checked from Snopes. There are other sources also on the subject;

U.S. President Joe Biden pooped his pants during a meeting with Pope Francis in Rome.

False

This rating indicates that the primary elements of a claim are demonstrably false. At the end of October 2021, as U.S. President Joe Biden met with Pope Francis during the G20 summit, hashtags such as #poopypantsbiden and #poopgate started circulating on social media, along memes based on the unsubstantiated claim that the commander in chief had a "bathroom accident" during his trip:

There's no evidence that this claim and the social media trend that sprang from it were based on anything other than idle gossip. 

This claim wasn't derived from photos or videos of Biden, or any credible news reports. This rumor appears to have been started (or at least popularized) by former Nevada Republican Party Chairwoman and frequent Newsmax guest Amy Tarkanian,

"The word around Rome is that Biden's meeting with the Pope was unusually long because Biden had a bit of an 'bathroom accident' at the Vatican & it had to be addressed prior to him leaving. I know we joke often about this, but this is the actual rumor going around Rome now."

An "actual rumor" is not a fact. 

Biden, of course, is not the only president to have unflattering and untrue rumors spread about his bodily functions on social media. Social media users previously claimed that former President Donald Trump had pooped his pants on the golf course (this rumor was based on a fake photo), that he had peed his pants before or during a public appearance in Tennessee (real photo, misinterpreted), and that he had once worn his pants backwards (this claim was based on some seemingly ill-fitted pants).

As to Joe eating his boogers; I'm sure just like the other claims, they are made up. That's depending on your hatred of him at the moment and the boredom you've experienced because you can't fact check several sources.

NOTE: This is the last anonymous 'ask' of this sort I'm going to answer. Either come out of the shadows like a man (or woman) or shut your cake hole.

I trust Snopes almost as much as I trust a politician moonlighting as a used car salesman.

If you can look back at Biden's track record as a public 'servant' and honestly say he is a good man, there is no point in debating with you because you're delusional. In every aspect of his professional and personal life the man has demonstrated he has the morals of a sewer rat.

Let's consult Ashley's diary, shall we.

He is vermin through and through.

[bopinion]

2024 / 44

Aperçu of the week

"I think artificial intelligence will eventually lead us to our doom!" "I think human intelligence is already doing that!"

(Dialogue in a drawing by German cartoonist Klaus Stuttmann)

Bad News of the Week

Georgia has voted. I'm not talking about the early voting in the southern US state, but the elections in the former Soviet republic in the Caucasus on Europe's easternmost border. In the run-up to the elections, the forecasts were clear and the opposition could safely assume that it would replace the existing government. Even on election day itself, the monitoring at the polling stations painted a clear picture: the pro-Russian party "Georgian Dream" (Kartuli Otsneba / KO) would lose its power, the country would move closer to Europe and shake off Russian dominance. Then came the official result. It was a shock.

The electoral commission declared that the Dream had received 54% of the vote and that the government would therefore remain in power. There was not only a huge outcry among the pro-European opposition. The OECD election observers also came to the conclusion that there were "massive allegations of manipulation that cast doubt on the legitimacy of the elections". And even President Salome Zurabishvili, who was directly elected by the people, spoke of fraud, saying that her country had become the victim of a "Russian special operation". The fact that the neighboring superpower, which still has troops in the secessionist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, supports the strange private party KO is entirely official policy.

And "Georgian Dream" is indeed strange in many respects. It was only founded in 2012 by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his billions in Russia, as an electoral alliance with the sole purpose of replacing President Mikhail Saakashvili. The plan succeeded, there was no other political program. The KO sees itself as a "conservative political platform", with the sole aim of supporting Vladimir Putin since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine. In view of Georgia's historical experiences with him, this should actually be a no-go.

The people of Georgia are fed up and are taking to the streets. They are largely pro-European, the prospect of EU membership had caused just as much euphoria here as in Ukraine and Moldova. Now they are gathering in front of the parliament again, the media report, singing the European anthem and waving the blue European flag with the yellow stars. "The government has not only stolen the election, but the future," says a politics professor at Georgia's Ilia University. The Dream is still at the levers of power. Which many now only perceive as a nightmare.

Sidekick: In the region around Valencia in Spain, heavy rain has caused a flood disaster of unprecedented proportions. Several hundred people have died and immense damage has been caused. Here, too, the authorities have to face some unpleasant questions.

Good News of the Week

Spot the mistake: among others, Die Zeit publishes a group picture with Pope Francis from within the Vatican. Of the 86 people in the picture, he is the only man. Period. We are talking about the Catholic Church - this picture is a sensation. The World Synod met in Rome for four weeks. It was attended by 462 participants, including those 85 women. Unbelievable for this reactionary organization called the Catholic Church, which has always found the role of women... well... difficult. Let's get one thing straight from the start: The priesthood is still not open to women. And there is still no equality for same-sex partnerships. But that was not to be expected.

Nevertheless, this World Synod - a kind of self-positioning of the Church - took place under completely new auspices of openness and transparency that had never been seen before. The procedure alone: A motley crew of a dozen participants sat around a round table. In the first round, everyone had three minutes to speak. Then three minutes of silence "for the work of the Holy Spirit". In the second round, everyone could respond to everyone else, followed by silence again. And finally consensus and voting. 155 defined topics were dealt with in this way.

The Pope's declared aim of bridging the gap between clergy and laity in the Church was also remarkable. With a clear message to his own management: the bishops should no longer condemn or devalue other ways of life, they should respect people as they are. Boom. The formal conclusion of the World Synod fits in with this. Francis declared that there would be no papal letter on the subject, that their own text would apply. The synod members applauded at this announcement.

Yes, a lot still needs to happen. For example, not only one active participant thought it was a shame that no victims of abuse had their say. I went to a convent boarding school myself. And I actually experienced the two sides of this coin myself. I myself and my two children are not confirmed - and that is no coincidence. But I also know that change takes time. And Francis himself wrote in his recent encyclical that "it is difficult for us to trust because we are wounded by so much deceit." In my view, this is nothing less than an admission of own fallibility. And that from the Pope. Wow.

Sidekick: The run-off election for the presidency has taken place in Moldova. And the incumbent head of state, Maia Sandu, has clearly won. That's good, because she will undoubtedly continue the pro-Western course of government - after all, that's why she was re-elected.

Personal happy moment of the week

I have been writing this blog for almost five years now. In the beginning, I wrote extensive monthly reviews of books and music albums and only short statements on current political issues. These became more and more extensive and required more and more time. As a result, my funny posts such as "Just asking for a friend...", "Inconvenient truths", "Rules that should be laws" or "Breaking news" eventually died out. Now I've received an email from Tumblr congratulating me on 500 posts. I would like to thank you for that. To the readers who give me a few minutes of their time every week to find out what a Bavarian and European thinks about globally more or less relevant political issues. Thank you very much! PS: Maybe one day I'll find the time again to be culturally critical or simply funny ;-)

I couldn't care less...

...that "Hello Kitty" is celebrating her 50th birthday. My daughter is now 21 years old. So I no longer have to buy pencil cases, rucksacks and T-shirts featuring the admittedly rather cute cat. And don't make a Japanese licensor for around 50,000 products (!) even richer.

It's fine with me...

...that my children are indeed responsible for some downloads and uploads, because compared to the official average figures, they actually seem to be below average. Young people in Germany used the internet for a total of 63.7 hours per week in 2023, with the renowned Postbank study only counting time spent online on smartphones, tablets and mobile or desktop PCs. If you add gaming consoles and smart TVs, the numbers are even higher.

I think these are incredible figures. However, I have to admit that my personal media usage has also changed. I now spend more time on news and media websites than on paper newspapers and magazines, which I still subscribe to. If I then add to that the time I spend online for work - collaboration tools, online editing, communication, server use, etc. - as well as streaming services and other media and portals that I consume in my free time, I'm probably not far off.

As I write this...

...I'm quite afraid of the night ahead - it's November 5th. Because I still remember 2016 well: when I went to bed, all was still right with the world. I should have stayed there. Because when I got up and read the first news, I vacillated between incredulous amazement, fits of maniacal laughter, hysterical fits of weeping and blunt unconsciousness. This time I know that it can actually happen. And what it would mean. And that scares me.

Post Scriptum

The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - or better known as COP29 - will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, the second half of November. Quite the whole world has this event on the agenda. But there is a little sibling to this conference that already took place last week in Cali, Colombia: the COP16 of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). Why haven't you heard anything about it? Because there is hardly anything to report. Because the results are unfortunately, to put it mildly, "manageable".

After tough negotiations, the delegates failed on what is probably the most important issue: how species protection should be financed. The conference had already been extended once. But on Saturday, the Colombian environment minister and president of the conference, Susana Muhamad, had to announce that there were no longer enough participating countries present to continue the negotiations. A few small partial successes remain, such as the appeal to the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries to pay into a fund that benefits the countries that supply the basis for their products. Or the establishment of a body to represent the interests of indigenous peoples. Better than nothing. But not enough.

[brookston]

Holidays 8.21

Holidays

Actuaries Day (India)

Appreciation Day (Elder Scrolls)

Aquino Day (Philippines)

Argonian Day

Ask Questions Day

Bitcoin Infinity Day

Black Indie Authors Day

Buhe (Ethiopia)

Bunny Day (Japan)

Cadillac Day

Crazy Day

Eagle Scout Day

821 Day (Texas)

Festival of Goliath, Parade of Giants begins (Ath, Belgium)

Fête de la Jeunesse (a.k.a. Youth Day; Morocco, Western Sahara)

Good Roads Day

Gospel Day (Micronesia)

Grandfather and Grandson’s Day (Argentina)

ICBM Day

International Day of Mosques

International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism (UN)

Internet Self-Care Day

Kosrae (Gospel Day; Micronesia)

National Brazilian Blowout Day

National Dreams Are Possible Day

National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day

National Meme Day

National Report Upcoding Fraud Day

National Senior Citizens Day

Ninoy Aquino Day (Philippines)

Officer’s Day (Russia)

Order of the Lone Star Day

Our Lady of Knock

Poet's Day

San Martin Day (Argentina)

Senior Citizens' Day

Six-Row Barley Day (French Republic)

Thiruonam (Parts of India)

World Entrepreneurs’ Day

World Fashion Day

World Goat Day

Youth Day (Morocco)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Beer Institute Day

Grog Day

National Shiraz Day (Australia)

National Spumoni Day

National Sweet Tea Day

Independence & Related Days

Hawaii Statehood Day (Original Date; 1959)

Latituda (Declared; 2006) [unrecognized]

Latvia (Passing of the Constitutional Law on the Status of the Republic of Latvia as a State and Actual Restoration of the Republic of Latvia; 1991)

3rd Wednesday in August

Hump Day [Every Wednesday]

JUVEDERM Day [3rd Wednesday]

Miss Crustacean Hermit Crab Beauty Pageant and Hermit Crab Races (Ocean City, NJ) [3rd Wednesday]

National Medical Dosimetrist Day [3rd Wednesday]

Wacky Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Wandering Wednesday [3rd Wednesday of Each Month]

Website Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Wiener Wednesday [3rd Wednesday of Each Month]

Festivals Beginning August 21, 2024

Corn Palace Festival (Mitchell, South Dakota) [thru 8.25]

gamescom (Cologne, Germany) [thru 8.25]

The Great New York State Fair (Syracuse, New York) [thru 9.2]

Hythe Venetian Fete (Hythe, United Kingdom) [thru 8.21]

Idaho County Fair (Cottonwood, Idaho) [thru 8.24]

Pluk de Nacht Film Festival (Amsterdam, Netherlands) [thru 8.31]

Ransom County Fair (Lisbon, North Dakota) [thru 8.25]

Reading and Leeds Festivals (Leeds and Reading, United Kingdom) [thru 8.25]

Tønder Festival (Tønder, Denmark) [thru 8.24]

Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) [thru 9.1]

Feast Days

Abraham of Smolensk (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Albert Irvin (Artology)

Amontons (Positivist; Saint)

Apologise Day (Pastafarian)

Asher Brown Durand (Artology)

Aubrey Beardsley (Artology)

Bernard Ptolemy, Founder of the Olivetans (Christian; Saint)

Blessing Against Jealousy Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Bonosus and Maximilian (Christian; Martyrs)

Broderick Crawford Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Christian Schad (Artology)

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

Euprepius of Verona (Christian; Saint)

Festival of Consus (God of Good Council; Ancient Rome)

Heraclia (Celebration of Hercules; Ancient Rome; Everyday Wicca)

Jane Francis de Chantal (Christian; Saint)

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (Artology)

Joseph (Muppetism)

Jules Michelet (Writerism)

Luxorius, Cisellus and Camerinus (Christian; Martyrs)

The Magic of Lemon Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Maximilian of Antioch (Christian; Saint)

Menashe Kadishman (Artology)

Narcisse-Virgile Díaz de la Peña (Artology)

Nathaniel Everett Green (Artology)

Our Lady of Knock (Christian; Saint)

Pius X, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Radish Tordia (Artology)

Richard, Bishop of Andria (Christian; Saint)

Robert Stone (Writerism)

Sidonius Apollinaris (Christian; Saint)

Stephen Hillenburg (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 233 [51 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [29 of 37]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 39 of 60)

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [22 of 30]

Premieres

Ain’t Misbehaving’, recorded by Fats Waller (Song; 1938)

American Ultra (Film; 2015)

An American Werewolf in London (Film; 1981)

Axe Me Another (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1934)

Bambi (Animated Disney Film; 1942)

Be Here Now, by Oasis (Album; 1997)

Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris, by A.J. Liebling (Memoir; 1959)

Blade (Film; 1998)

A Brief History of Time (Documentary Film; 1992)

Crazy, recorded by Patsy Cline (Song; 1961)

Diesel and Dust, by Midnight Oil (Album; 1987)

Dirty Dancing (Film; 1987)

Dynamite, by BTS (Song; 2020)

Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart (Novel; 1949)

Eve of Destruction, by Barry McGuire (Song; 1965)

Facelift, by Alice In Chains (Album; 1990)

Fireman’s Brawl (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1953)

First Monday in October (Film; 1981)

House of the Dragon (TV Series; 2022)

How You Remind Me, by Nickelback (Song; 2001)

Inglorious Basterds (Film; 2009)

Kiko and the Honey Bears (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1936)

Life with Fido (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1942)

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (Animated Film; 1992)

Motörhead, by Motörhead (Album; 1977)

Next Stoop Wonderland (Film; 1998)

Ready or Not (Film; 2019)

Ritual de lo Habitual, by Jane’s Addiction (Album; 1990)

Run, Run, Sweet Road Runner (WB MM Cartoon; 1965)

Sherman Was Right (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1932)

A Sunbonnet Blue (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

The Wings of the Dove, by Henry James (Novel; 1902)

Wrongfully Accused (Film; 1998)

Today’s Name Days

Pius (Austria)

Agaton, Pio, Sidonija (Croatia)

Johana (Czech Republic)

Salomon (Denmark)

Sven, Sveno (Estonia)

Soini, Veini (Finland)

Christophe, Grâce, Ombeline (France)

Pia, Oius, Maximilian (Germany)

Hajna, Sémuel (Hungary)

Cristoforo, Pio (Italy)

Janīna, Linda, Sidnejs (Latvia)

Gaudvydas, Joana, Kazė, Kazimiera, Medeinė (Lithuania)

Ragni, Ragnvald (Norway)

Adolf, Adolfa, Adolfina, Alf, Bernard, Emilian, Filipina, Franciszek, Joanna, Kazimiera, Męcimir (Poland)

Jana (Slovakia)

Pío (Spain)

Jon, Jonna (Sweden)

Gianna, Jane, Janelle, Janessa, Janet, Janette, Janice, Janie, Janine, Janiya, Jayne, Shanice, Sheena (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 234 of 2024; 132 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 34 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 19 of 28]

Chinese: Month 7 (Ren-Shen), Day 18 (Ding-Si)

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

Hebrew: 17 Av 5784

Islamic: 15 Safar 1446

J Cal: 24 Purple; Threesday [24 of 30]

Julian: 8 August 2024

Moon: 94%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 9 Gutenberg (9th Month) [Amontons]

Runic Half Month: As (Gods) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 63 of 94)

Week: 3rd Full Week of August

Zodiac: Leo (Day 31 of 31)

[archduchessofnowhere]

While Goyon was thus embroiling French policy at Rome, a few miles to the south on the Tyrrhenian coast the Bourbon Francis II and his eighteen-year-old bride, Maria Sophia Amalia, were making their last stand at Gaeta. The imminence of the fall of still another royal throne to the Sardinian bandits, as the Empress [Eugénie] now regarded them, enraged her fully as much as the plight of the Pope. Their case was the more appealing because of the spirit and pluck of the young Queen. A Wittelsbach, younger sister of Elizabeth of Austria, she was, like the Austrian Empress, of exquisite loveliness. During the siege she would ride up to the batteries, indifferent to the shells falling about her, to encourage the gunners and to comfort the wounded. The thought of so much beauty in distress — for her conduct was well broadcast in the Legitimist press throughout Europe — had the power to exact sympathy from the most hardened anti-royalist. To the Empress it was emotional dynamite. Eugénie herself had been known to say that if France were in danger she would be the first to mount her horse and rally the troops. Maria Sophia’s heroism exactly suited Eugénie’s romantic conceptions of queenly conduct. As in the case of Louise of Parma, the Empress took the young Queen’s cause as her own and began begging the Emperor to send the French fleet to the aid of the besieged royal couple.

Napoleon himself as early as September 26, on his return from Algeria, had already conceived of the idea of sending a naval force to Gaeta as part of his formal, public opposition to the invasion of southern Italy. Perhaps he had in mind the reports of Legitimist agitation and believed the presence of his fleet would be a fitting gesture to placate clerical opinion. On October 13 the French government announced that Rear Admiral de Tinan would proceed to Gaeta to forestall a Sardinian attack by sea.

How much the Empress had to do with this decision is conjectural. Whatever the truth of the matter, the British and Italian diplomats attributed this “politique de sentiment” to her “inspiration” and blamed her for the creation of a maddening situation. The French fleet did not interfere with the siege operations on land but it did hold at bay the Sardinian fleet on the sea and made possible the revictualling of the beleaguered town. The move, inconsistent with the rest of French policy, seemingly irrational, was infuriating to Cavour.

Yet after all, even if the Empress had brought to pass this demonstration of sympathy for Francis and his wife, she had not accomplished much. Admiral Tinan was told that the policy of the French government had not changed. He was to station his fleet offshore only to assure the Bourbon King a dignified means of escape, and he should try to persuade him to capitulate. The outcome of the siege was never in doubt. As Gramont remarked, the French gesture had been rather like dangling a rope always out of reach in front of a drowning man.

(...) The winter saw a resumption of her futile efforts to save Francis II and the commencement of a long correspondence with Maria Sophia. The Queen initiated the exchange on January 4 in order to express her gratitude to the Empress for the “generous interest” that she had taken in her plight. “In the situation where I find myself there is nothing more consoling than the sympathy of friends as highly placed as you ; your approbation is the sweetest encouragement possible to strengthen the convictions of my heart,” wrote the wife of a Bourbon to the wife of a Bonaparte.

Despite the fact that on January 19 the Emperor suddenly withdrew his fleet and permitted Sardinian operations on both sea and land, the Empress resolved to reassure Maria Sophia��of her unaltered good will. Her letter, apparently shown to many ladies in the court, made a sensation. The Sardinian charge d’affaires reported to Cavour that everyone was quoting one sentence in particular: “I like to proclaim it, Madam; you can be assured of all my admiration, of all my sympathy, and furthermore, you have right and justice on your side.”

Brave words, but they availed nothing. Within less than a month after the withdrawal of Tinan’s squadron came the capitulation. Francis and Maria Sophia escaped on a French ship kept in readiness for this purpose in Naples and fled to Rome and to the protection of the Pope. But for years the Empress clung tenaciously to the hope of a Bourbon restoration in Naples. In October, 1861, she told the papal nuncio: “... you can not doubt all the sympathy I felt for that great and noble misfortune. Well, I hope, I ardently desire that Her Majesty [Maria Sophia] will recover the crown of Naples.” In 1863 the resurrection of an independent Bourbon kingdom was to become an integral part of her master plan for French reorganization of the map of Europe, to be accomplished with the help of Austria.

Barker, Nancy Nichols (1967). Distaff diplomacy: the Empress Eugénie and the foreign policy of the Second Empire

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SAINT OF THE DAY (May 15)

Isidore was born in 1070 in Madrid, Spain. His family was poor. He labored as a farmer on the land owned by a rich man named John de Vergas.

He was very pious and such a good worker that de Vergas allowed him to worship daily in the chapel on his property.

He was often accused by his fellow workers of neglecting his duties because he made prayer a higher priority.

Isidore eventually married a woman named Mary and they had a son. However, their son died while still very young.

Through this, they realized that it was the will of God for them not to have children, so they lived together chastely for the rest of their lives by doing good works.

Although he remained poor, he gave whatever he could spare to those in need.

One tale says that as he walked to the mill one day, he stopped and gave half of the corn in his sack to the hungry birds. By the time he got to the mill, his sack had miraculously filled up again.

He died on 15 May 1130 of natural causes.

Many miracles and cures have been reported at his grave in which his body remains incorruptible.

He was beatified in Rome on 2 May 1619 by Pope Paul V.

He was canonized nearly three years later by Pope Gregory XV, along with Saints Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Ávila, and Philip Neri on 12 March 1622.

He is the patron saint of agricultural workers and the United States National Rural Life Conference.

The story of St. Isidore is a reminder of the dignity of work and that ordinary life can lead to holiness.

[newstfionline]

Sunday, April 9, 2023

Joyous Holy Week celebrations around the world (AP) From dressing as Roman soldiers in Antigua, Guatemala, to carrying palm fronds on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, Christians around the world are celebrating Holy Week. For millions of Christians, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter, known as Holy Week, is the most sacred time of the year. It’s the week Christians commemorate the passion of Jesus Christ. The week began with Palm Sunday, where mass at the Vatican was celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square the day after he was discharged from the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, where the Vatican said he was treated for bronchitis. In Bolivia’s highland region, artists gathered for an annual event where they built sand sculptures based on Bible stories. Members of the faithful in Brazil wore tunics and hoods to take part in the Procession of Souls in Goiás state. And in Managua, Nicaragua, a child dressed as an angel during an event observing Good Friday. In recent years, Holy Week has been scaled back due to COVID-19 restrictions that require precautions such as social distancing and mask use. However, this year many of the faithful gathered in celebrations reminiscent of the era before the virus changed the nature of religious observance.

Stabbing of Cash App Creator Raises Alarm, and Claims of ‘Lawless’ San Francisco (NYT) The fury erupted within hours, as word spread that the 43-year-old man who had been stabbed to death this week in an enclave of high-rise condominiums near the Bay Bridge was Bob Lee, a well-known tech executive. The leaders of “lawless” San Francisco had Mr. Lee’s “literal blood on their hands,” Matt Ocko, a tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist in Palo Alto, Calif., tweeted. “I hate what San Francisco has become,” added Michael Arrington, the founder of the industry blog TechCrunch. “Violent crime in SF is horrific,” Elon Musk, the chief executive of Twitter and Tesla, chimed in. The drumbeat has built since then in the liberal city that only last year recalled its progressive district attorney amid calls for law and order and deepening frustration over the city’s homelessness crisis. While city officials agree that the murder is a terrifying tragedy and a signal that San Francisco has work to do on public safety, they’re also clashing with powerful figures in the tech sector over the nature and severity of the city’s problems with crime. The tension comes at a precarious time, as the tech industry implodes with layoffs and San Francisco itself struggles to bring visitors, conventions and legions of remote workers back to the too-quiet area in and around its downtown.

Resurgent remittances in Mexico (Foreign Policy) Flows of money sent to Mexico from abroad are at historic highs. This February, total remittances to the country accounted for 11 percent more than they did in February 2022, according to Mexico’s central bank. In 2021, Mexico surpassed China to become the country that receives the second-largest amount of remittances in the world. (India is no. 1.) The high tallies may reflect the post-pandemic economic recovery in the United States, where the bulk of the Mexican diaspora lives, the Economist reported.

Deadly Attack Exposes Growing Threat in Mexico: the Military (NYT) Gustavo Ángel Suárez Castillo, an American citizen from San Antonio, piled six friends, including two brothers, into his white pickup truck with Texas plates just before dawn, having spent the night celebrating the news that he was going to be a father. Suddenly, four vehicles filled with armed men began chasing and firing at them. The pickup truck crashed and as the passengers tumbled out, the armed men threw some to the ground, shooting one in the back, survivors told The New York Times. One recounted how he watched his brother slowly stop breathing while the assailants blocked medics from arriving. When it ended, five of the men, including Mr. Suárez, were dead and the other two severely injured. The attackers? Uniformed Mexican soldiers. The shooting in the city of Nuevo Laredo in the early hours of Feb. 26 has been called a coldblooded execution by the survivors and a top government official. So far, four of the 21 soldiers involved in the encounter have been arrested and the case is under investigation by civilian prosecutors and the military. The episode has deepened concerns about the growing footprint of Mexico’s armed forces, which has not only been put in charge of domestic security, but has also been given a rapidly expanding portfolio of businesses, like a new international airport and a major rail line.

Sweden Says State Actor Blew up Nord Stream Pipeline (AP) According to a new statement by Swedish investigators, it’s most likely that a state actor was behind the explosions that took out the Nord Stream gas pipelines late last year. “Our hope is to be able to confirm who has committed this crime,” said the public prosecutor leading the investigation, though he warned that “it should be noted that it likely will be difficult given the circumstances.” While Ukraine and some in the U.S. have blamed Russia for the attacks, investigations have returned a mixed bag of suspects: the New York Times has suggested that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the attacks, while German media pinned them on a yacht operated by a pro-Ukraine Polish company. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh also released a report blaming the U.S. for the explosions, though Washington and the U.S. media have dismissed him.

Kremlin says its strategic aim in Ukraine is to create a ‘new world order’ (Guardian) Moscow wants any Ukraine peace talks to focus on creating a “new world order”, the French press agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) quotes Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov as saying. “Any negotiation needs to be based on taking into account Russian interests, Russian concerns. It should be about the principles on which the new world order will be based.” According to the agency, he added that Russia rejects a “unipolar world order led by ‘one hegemon’.” Russia has long said it was leading a struggle against US dominance over the international stage, and argues the Ukraine offensive is part of that fight. The Kremlin said this week it had no choice but to continue its offensive, seeing no diplomatic solution.

Facing critical ammunition shortage, Ukrainian troops ration shells (Washington Post) The artillery shells were stored in a shallow mud dugout, covered with a black plastic tarp to keep them safe. Just 14 rounds remained—evidence of a critical ammunition shortage that has the Ukrainians scrambling for ways to conserve supply until their Western allies can produce or procure more. The artillery platoon, with the 59th Motorized Brigade in eastern Ukraine, used to fire more than 20 or 30 shells per day with their Soviet-era howitzer. Now, they typically shoot one or two, or none at all. The ammunition that has pounded parts of Ukraine daily for more than a year has become a precious resource in the artillery war with Russia—and which side conserves shells and rearms faster could turn the tide on the battlefield. Even amid a shortage, Ukraine is firing some 7,700 shells per day, or roughly one every six seconds. Russia, which may also be running low, is firing more—by some estimates triple that amount.

China flies fighter jets near Taiwan after leader’s US trip (AP) China sent warships and dozens of fighter jets toward Taiwan on Saturday, the Taiwanese government said, in retaliation for a meeting between the U.S. House of Representatives speaker and the president of the self-ruled island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory. The Chinese military announced the start of three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to Taiwanese who want to make the island’s de facto independence permanent. The People’s Liberation Army gave no indication whether they might include a repeat of previous exercises with missiles fired into the sea, which disrupted shipping and airline flights. On Saturday, eight warships and 42 planes were detected near Taiwan, 29 of which crossed the middle line of the strait that separates the island from the mainland, the island’s Ministry of Defense said.

A Historic Handshake (1440) Saudi Arabia and Iran formally reestablished diplomatic relations On Thursday, a significant milestone in the relationship between two of the largest powers in the Middle East. The pair cut off ties seven years ago after Saudi embassies in Iran were attacked following the Saudi execution of a popular Shia cleric. Saudi Arabia and Iran have been engaged in a regional power struggle for decades, exacerbated by the differing sectarian religious views—Saudi is roughly 90% Sunni Muslim, while Iran is about 90% Shia Muslim. The regional conflict has also become a proxy for greater world powers, with Saudi Arabia generally working with the West and Iran forging close ties with Russia and China. Notably, the deal was brokered by China, marking one of the country’s biggest diplomatic moves in modern geopolitics.

Tesla workers shared sensitive images recorded by customer cars (Reuters) Tesla assures its millions of electric car owners that their privacy “is and will always be enormously important to us.” The cameras it builds into vehicles to assist driving, it notes on its website, are “designed from the ground up to protect your privacy.” But a Reuters Special Report shows that between 2019 and 2022, groups of Tesla employees privately shared via an internal messaging system sometimes highly invasive videos and images recorded by customers’ car cameras, according to interviews with nine former employees. One ex-employee described a video of a man approaching a vehicle completely naked. Also shared: crashes and road-rage incidents. One crash video in 2021 showed a Tesla driving at high speed in a residential area hitting a child riding a bike, according to another ex-employee. Two ex-employees said they weren’t bothered by the sharing of images, saying that customers had given their consent or that people long ago had given up any reasonable expectation of keeping personal data private. Three others, however, said they were troubled by it. “I’m bothered by it because the people who buy the car, I don’t think they know that their privacy is, like, not respected … We could see them doing laundry and really intimate things. We could see their kids.”

‘I’ve Lost a Lot of Flesh and Bone,’ Jeremy Renner Says, Recalling Snow Plow Accident (NYT) The actor Jeremy Renner, who was severely injured on Jan. 1 when a heavy snow plow ran over him, said in a TV interview on Thursday night that the truck had hit him as he was trying to save his nephew, an accident that broke more than 30 of his bones and upended his life. Mr. Renner, an Oscar-nominated actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Hawkeye in the Marvel Avengers movie and TV franchise, spoke publicly at length about his frightening experience and arduous recovery for the first time in an interview with ABC News. “I’ve lost a lot of flesh and bone in this experience,” Mr. Renner told the journalist Diane Sawyer. “But I’ve been refueled and refilled with love and titanium.” Doctors interviewed by ABC News said that Mr. Renner’s good physical shape and health had probably helped him survive. About 10 weeks after the accident, Mr. Renner is beginning to regain enough strength to walk with a cane. When asked in the interview if he sees the same face when looking in the mirror, Mr. Renner replied, “I see a lucky man.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Kate Connolly at The Guardian:

A German aristocrat who hosted Samuel Alito at her castle in 2023 has revealed new details about her friendship with the rightwing supreme court justice, including that they share a mutual friend who played a key role in JD Vance’s conversion to Catholicism. Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, a onetime party girl turned traditionalist Catholic activist who has faced criticism for her defense of far-right politicians in Germany, told the Guardian that she first met Alito in Rome – she could not remember what year – and that both were friends of Dominic Legge, a priest and Yale Law graduate in Washington who Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, has often cited in discussions about his adult conversion to Catholicism.

The relationship between the 64-year-old noblewoman and Alito sparked media interest after the supreme court justice revealed last week in a financial disclosure form that he had accepted concert tickets worth $900 from the billionaire, who refers to herself as a princess even though Germany’s aristocracy was officially disbanded after the first world war. She later told the German press that Alito had overestimated the cost of the tickets, but did not elaborate. The supreme court justice has previously faced scrutiny for failing to report free travel on a private jet from a wealthy conservative billionaire who had business before the court, a story first reported by ProPublica that is a part of a broader ethics scandal that has engulfed the high court in recent years. Alito faced a separate controversy earlier this year after it was discovered that his household had flown an upside-down flag, a symbol of Stop the Steal campaigners who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, as well as a second flag at a beach property that was associated with the Christian nationalist movement. Alito’s disclosure about the free tickets are significant for another reason: they reveal new insights into Alito and his wife Martha-Ann’s apparent personal ties to a European aristocrat who is deeply entrenched in an international rightwing movement that is seeking to advance conservative Catholic policies.

Allies in her fight include the rightwing nationalist Steve Bannon and the ultra conservative German cardinal Gerhard Müller, who she once called the “Donald Trump of the Catholic Church”. Her circle is known to be fiercely critical of Pope Francis – who is seen as too liberal by orthodox and traditionalist sects of the Catholic church. Legge, who leads the Thomistic Institute in Washington, is a prominent member of an elite circle of traditionalist Catholics in the US capital, and sits on the board of an organization – the Napa Legal Institute – alongside Leonard Leo, the powerbroker who is widely seen as having used his influence to install Republicans’ conservative supermajority on the supreme court and reportedly recently called for conservative activists to “crush liberal dominance at the choke points of influence and power in our society”.

[...] Von Thurn und Taxis compared herself to the late British Queen Elizabeth – whose family she noted was of German descent – and said the role of the aristocracy in Germany was to unite people and “keep politics out of the salon”. She also claimed in an email not to know that the decision that overturned abortion rights is called the “Dobbs decision”. But an examination of von Thurn und Taxis’s own activities shows that the woman who was known during a punk phase – before her turn to conservative Catholicism – as Princess TNT, for her explosive personality – has deep political ties that have given her access not only to supreme court justices, but inside the Trump White House.

[...] “This is not just about the arrogance of a powerful man already embroiled in controversial ties to billionaires. It is also about the company he keeps: choosing to accept very expensive concert tickets from a woman who embraces far-right politicians who are aligned with her outspoken hostility toward abortion access and marriage equality,” said Lisa Graves, the managing director of Court Accountability and a former deputy assistant attorney general at the US Department of Justice. Graves added: “Their alliance is unsurprising though very troubling since Alito has been using his position on the supreme court to advance a parallel regressive agenda into law.” In October 2019, at a speech in Washington in which she effusively praised the Trump administration, von Thurn und Taxis personally thanked Leonard Leo for setting up meetings for Cardinal Müller, who she was traveling with, to visit the White House and meet with people who were directly advising Trump on religious liberty and free speech.

She warned that, if Trump was not re-elected, “they will come after us” and that “nothing less” was at stake than the right to worship. Democrat Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, later won the 2020 election, but neither he nor Nancy Pelosi, another prominent Democratic Catholic politician, are seen as authentic Catholics by traditionalists. During that trip, von Thurn und Taxis also met and was photographed with Alito, Cardinal Müller, the supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Brian Brown, who was then the head of the anti-LGBTQ+ group National Organization for Marriage (NOM). According to reporting by the New Yorker, NOM was actively lobbying the court on cases involving gay rights at the time of the meeting.

This year, in a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels in April called Threats to Faith and Family, von Thurn und Taxis served up a series of grievances about the state of the family in Europe, complained that “only homosexuals want to get married”, while unmarried heterosexual couples were opting for pets instead of children. She also criticized – in an apparent reference to the availability of reproductive rights in Europe – how leaders continued to “finance the killing of our offspring”, which she said would exacerbate future labor shortages on the continent. “Does this make any sense? Is there some kind of racism? Are we not supposed to reproduce?” she asked rhetorically, before launching into praise of Hungary, which she said was an outlier in supporting families with children. Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian autocratic leader, has been a guest at the noblewoman’s festival.

The Guardian has a explosive report that SCOTUS Justice Samuel Alito has ties to far-right German aristocrat Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.

[chaotic-history]

No it's definitely true lmao

was anyone going to tell me that the pope's dressmaker posts dick and cock on instagram or was i supposed to find out for myself

[scotianostra]

On July 13th 1807 Henry Benedict Stuart died, Henry was the fourth and final Jacobite to publicly lay claim to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Born on 6th March, 1725, at the Palazzo Muti, Rome. The same day he was christened Henry Benedict Maria Clement Thomas Francis Xavier by Pope Benedict XII at the Pallazo Balestra.

Styled Duke of York from birth, Henry was an intelligent child and was reported to have written and spelled better than his brother "Bonnie" Prince Charlie. Henry Stuart was a good-looking young man, with the same dark eyes as his brother Charles, but lacked Charles' height. In common with his father, he was more introverted, cautious and certainly less high spirited than his exuberant older brother.

During the '45 he travelled to France to petition Louis XV for funds to support the uprising, historians have said he was humiliated in doing so. Henry was present to greet Charles in France on his return from Scotland, the brothers embraced each other warmly and at first seemed to continue in the close and affectionate relationship which had previously existed between them. They were soon to find that they no longer had much in common and Charles' supporters aggravated matters by complaining they felt that Henry not done enough to ensure that the French fleet sailed for England to support the rebellion. The sensitive Henry himself considered such criticism unfair as he had been appointed nominal commander of the French fleet but possessed no real authority.

After Charles's death in January 1788 the Papacy did not recognise Henry as the lawful ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland, but referred to him as the Cardinal Duke of York.

He spent his life in the Papal States and had a long career in the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, rising to become the Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri. At the time of his death he was (and still is) one of the longest serving Cardinals in the Church's history.

Henry became known by Jacobites, and within his personal entourage, as Henry IX of England, although publicly he referred to himself as Cardinal-Duke of York nuncupatus, he did however sign his will Henry R. In the will he wrote he was to be succeeded in all his claimed rights by his friend and nearest blood-relative, Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia. But Charles never asserted nor renounced his Jacobite claims, nor have any of his successors to this day.

Henry Benedict, his brother, his father and his mother are buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. There is a monument to the Royal Stuarts designed by Antonio Canova in the basilica to their memory on one of the columns in the basilica