John Emmett

Artwork created through the use of artificial intelligence. Partially at least…

Cosmic Charlie said:

Hi Riles:

You're allowed.

My experience?

You can't get a pro-life speaker to show up to give testimony in favor of a bill to provide money for pre-natal care, post partum depression, a school funding bill, health care of any kind, a tax credit for children.

They wouldn't even show up to back free breakfast and lunch in schools.

Oh, they have their reasons, I've heard them all.

But -

They ALL show up if they get to hold signs that shame people and they get to yell about babies.

And those pregnancy centers ?

Six months of partial support. That's what a new mother gets in my state.

After that it's "you need to start figuring out how to support your children on your own. Take some personal responsibility"

That's my experience.

I gave up on the pro-life movement as a social resource and long, long time ago.

The anti-abortion movement does better without them in the way.

BTW - YOU look good in the Oktoberfest hat. I do not.

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I mean, there are hypocrites not both sides. I can’t say I’m surprised. Remember Jesus’s warning in Matthew 23?

Blessings

chevyontheriver said:

She's all about the Big A.

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Yup. Disgusts me to no end.

If my faith were a Monopoly game, the church food pantry would be the space marked “free parking.” If you need food, you can go and get free food from the church, because it is the church. Simple, easy, free and occasionally massively important.

My family is not, by the mercy of God, in need of the food pantry to feed our family, but I am so glad it exists — for the sake of the people it serves, and for my own sake, every time I can donate.

I keep my involvement simple: When I do my weekly shopping, I pick up a few duplicate items of shelf-stable food — the same foods, and the same brands, that I want for my own family, because if I can afford a few extra cents to get the good kind for myself, then I can afford it for someone who doesn’t get many choices in life.

If I have one of my kids with me, I let them pick something out, so they feel more involved. Then, when we go to Mass the next day, I drop the goods off in one of the collection boxes — or, ideally, I ask one of the kids to drop it off, so they continue having a hands-on familiarity with this basic work of charity.

And that’s it. Simple, important, undemanding and effective. Free parking for Catholics.

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Francis said:

“Never dialogue with the devil; when he comes with temptation — ‘this would be nice, that would be nice’ — stop yourself.

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You mean like, "Gee, it would be nice to be able to give blessings to same-sex couples"?

66 days: Kamala Harris has yet to do formal press conference​

The fertility of both parents at the time of conception play an integral part in the child's health. Ideally, both have been preparing to conceive through dietary and lifestyle changes one year before attempting. Western medicine doesn't get into this but adopting a fertility diet is helpful.

Look up Heng Ou's books.

~bella

Arcangl86 said:

We can argue about whether there were anti-Christian beliefs in the opening ceremony, but that doesn't really matter. This decision was not made by the Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the body who designed and ran the Games, including the Opening Ceremony. So you can't really call the IJF hypocritical when they had nothing to do with the Opening Ceremony.

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Ok sorry I thought this was in the Olympics.

Arcangl86 said:

"No public display of religions" seems to be a pretty neutral stand since it applies to all religions. And before you go there, that includes the wearing of hijabs for women judokas.

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I wasn't thinking of that. What is religion though. Is it a belief in an ideology. Can political ideologies become a religion or religious like. Such as say Marxism or Communism where people bow to a chairman or emporer or a State aparatus. It seems to me if an ideological belief is being favoured and pushed by a power that is not based in objective fact then its like a religion. It doesn't matter as it still has the hallmarks of religion.

So when say the Olympic committee or the UN or a government or corporation like in the opening ceremony push and anti Christian theme while promoting a progressive and Woke ideology thats not being neutral. Just mocking Christianity is not being neutral. If your going to mock, mock them all or none at all. Thats being neutral.

Why can't an athelete do a quick sign of the cross before they compete. Thats their inspiration and expression of belief which they have a right to do in a public place.

Is looking to the sky now disallowed. Many atheletes look to the sky and say a quick pray. Sometimes you see their lips moving a bit like they are saying something. Is the moving of lips now outlawed. Where is the line in all this.

Arcangl86 said:

Except it's not being pushed on to everyone. In this case, the sporting federation has behavioral rules, and this candidate violated multiple of them over a period of years. He knew what they were when he signed up, and chose not to obey them.

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I guess if there are rules people have to abide by them even if they are stupid rules. We see this creeping into sports. Players being stood down for their faith and being made to feel unwelcome for their beliefs.

Yet at the same time being forced to take on an ideology like having to wear pride jerseys when its against their faith. I reckon most who are coming down on Christians will be quick to support Woke ideology without question. Thats not being neutral.

christian-surfer said:

How’s that going to be legal at this point ? I am not sure how the person would get the money

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Doesn't stop them from trying to collect the reward sadly.

In January 1948, a plane crashed in central California's Los Gatos Canyon, killing 28 migrant farm workers and four flight crew members. Newspaper accounts provided the names of the crew members, but referred to the 28 migrant workers, who had been ordered deported to Mexico, simply as "Mexicans" or "deportees." The migrant workers -- the deportees -- were buried anonymously in a mass grave, nameless and forgotten. They were not treated as human beings, but as "illegal aliens." They weren't persons, but statistics.

This plane crash motivated folk singer/songwriter Woody Guthrie to write perhaps his second-most famous song (after "This Land is Your Land"), "Deportee: Plane Wreck at Los Gatos." The song has been recorded by many artists over the years, including, Judy Collins, The Kingston Trio, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Nanci Griffith and The Byrds. Guthrie protested the dehumanizing way that the migrant workers were treated, including failure even to acknowledge their names:

"Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won't have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be 'deportees.'"

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Michie said:

Sure it does Riles.

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I don’t think either one told take roasting well

I don’t really support conversion therapy, but talk therapy with those with unwanted same sex attractions.

Desk trauma said:

Like I said, enforcing their sexual morality is more important than reducing abortions.

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I’m not saying you’re wrong.

I will leave it at that.

Honest discussion question:

A Catholic employer doesn't have to offer a full health care benefits program, gets to ask why I want time off and not give it to me if they don't want to, and gets to make medical decisions for me.

Why would anyone want to work for a Catholic employer?

The headline is a bit clickbaity - they don't actually talk about Vance a ton, or even the debate prep. More of the discussion was about trust in institutions, wherein I thought Mayor Pete did a good job articulating some of the successes and failures of both parties, and where the Dems have opportunities.

The transcript is just an excerpt. You have to listen to the interview to get the entire thing.

KevinT said:

Not late, just right on time.

So are you involved in the Dr. Meek directly? Or just following along a program he put together? Thanks for the reply.

KT

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I do not know Dr. Meek personally. He is in charge of daily devotionals for the month of September. Next month a different professor will present the monthly daily devotional. Last month was my favorite. It was on the book of Job by Dr. Eric Moore.

tranquil said:

The Isaiah 7 & 8 sign of Immanuel is for the end. It is the same context as this from Isaiah 17:

1This is the burden against Damascus: “Behold, Damascus is no longer a city; it has become a heap of ruins. 2The cities of Aroer are forsaken; they will be left to the flocks, which will lie down with no one to fear.​

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3The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the sovereignty from Damascus. The remnant of Aram will be like the splendor of the Israelites,”​

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This happened during the time of Ahaz, prior to the reign of Hezekiah. It was significant because the dominant threat against Judah at that time was the alliance of the northern kingdom (now occupied by Hezbollah in Lebanon) and the kingdom of Aram (current day Syria with its capital in Damascus). The sign of Immanuel was an assurance that God was with Judah and would end both countries before the child could know right and wrong. That occurred when Assyria conquered both nations.

Prior to Hezbollah, there were internal conflicts in both Lebanon and Syria, causing the Jews to flee to the nation of Israel. By the time Hezbollah came, there were virtually no Jews left in those areas. Hezbollah, like Assyria, has created so many problems for both Syria and Lebanon, even overthrowing control of the countries from their governments. This, I believe, is how we should be interpreting this

tranquil said:

When Damascus is no longer a city, then the flocks lie down with no one to fear (the same as the Isaiah 7 &8 child gets to eat curds and honey because the cows and bees get increased land for pasture) and in the same context of being in alliance with Ephraim.

The Rev 12:1 child and the sign of Immanuel 'child' that is being born symbolizes the kingdom of heaven (at the 7th Trumpet) which is here in Isaiah 66

7“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy. 8Who has heard of such as this? Who has seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be delivered in an instant? Yet as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. ​

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9Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?” says the LORD. “Or will I who deliver close the womb?” says your God.​

10Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her,​

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The child is Zion (Genesis 37:9-10) waiting for her Messiah to come (Micah 4:9-11). I think we'll see it all fit together well very soon.

Hazelelponi said:

I'm coming from the Calvinist perspective that says anyone who is saved is indeed in the assembly of the elect.

That's what your missing. It doesn't matter what we experience or see, all who are saved are the elect.

Do you think you chose to accept Christ? Boom, one more of God's elect is home.

God is sovereign.

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If all saved are elect chosen before the foundation of the world, that means their names were written in the book of life "since the foundation of the world" and can never be blotted out.

So how is it there are names in the book of life that can be blotted out?

"He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Rev. 3:5 NKJ)

Logically, as the Elect's names cannot be blotted out, these names that can be blotted do not belong to the Elect. Another class of people, who aren't elect, are also among the saved.

Again, Paul says the "elect" obtained salvation, but the rest (=non elect) were blinded but later saved. Therefore, The Elect+The saved Blinded+The saved Gentiles=The Fullness:

7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
8 Just as it is written: "God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day."
9 And David says: "Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always."
11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (Rom. 11:7-12 NKJ)

26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,
31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.
32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. (Rom. 11:26-32 NKJ)

The Elect+The saved Blinded+The Gentiles= The Fullness, "All Israel...saved".

Among these "blinded" were those who died "enemies of the gospel", but at Christ's second coming they are delivered. God has mercy on all who believe, whether in this life or the afterlife.

So everyone saved was not "of the Elect", some of the "non-Elect" were also saved because they repented and believed.

rambot said:

Sorry. You say this as if the 3$ minimum wage MAGICALLY Started this kind of shopping sprees and also, as if they were the cause.

The issue with that kind of theft cannot be simplified to say "not tough enough on crime". It's too expensive to live there so people choose that way to supplement their income. No it's not right.

But maybe the artificially inflated house market prices due to massive housing corporations buying up disproportionately huge swaths of the market has something to do with it. There are a litany of reasons and the "hard on crime' folk beat to one drum. But sadly, it's not always gonna work.

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No, I'm not saying the wage increase was the cause, I'm saying that the wage increase doesn't offset the other stuff in the minds of some folks.

It's two separate sets of policy lanes.


It'd be like if a particular party
A) Pushed for firemen to get 15% raises
but also
B) Pushed to relax fire codes and restrictions that ended up making the firemen's jobs much more hectic and stressful than it already was.


Some would probably prefer to forego A, in order to not have to deal with the negative effects of B.

rambot said:

Recidivism with youth in "tough on crime" approach:
This data really shouldn't be a surprise.

This is a very interesting read that gives the "Broken windows" theory some merit but limited. It also provided several other possible reasons for New York's success through the 90s; including its' economic success.

Some people seem to think that "some people are just gonna steal"...and that's true. But a LOT of people really would rather not. I'd actually argue most people would rather not steal if they had access to jobs and salaries that supported them (though yes, I can accept that can also be a complicating factor).

Tough on crime fulfills the human need to seek justice. But it doesn't necessarily improve a society. Now, I also say that with having been to Singapore; the place where it's 1000$ fine to stick gum onto something or whatever. And my goodness, the place is orderly, clean...immaculate.

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Firstly, from the footage I've seen of some of these mass lootings other things that are happening, it's not juveniles responsible for most of it, its opportunistic adults.

And while I can accept the fact that there are some down on their luck folks who probably feel like they have no choice, that sympathy is limited to people stealing necessities. If you look at some of the footage that local news outlets release of some of the "looting flash mob" occurrences that were happening, they weren't stealing bread and food staples, they were stealing non-essentials. There's no sympathetic tone warranted for a group of 6 people sprinting into a Sephora or Bath & Body words to steal body spray and lotions...or like the Best Buy incident in Cali where a group of a dozen people sprinted in, busted open the PS5 game case, and ran back out holding as many video games as they could carry.



There's a difference between what's pejoratively referred to as the "tough on crime" vs. being too soft on crime. While I would agree that someone shouldn't be getting 15 years in prison for stealing a blu ray player... at that same time, reducing it to a slap on the wrist "catch & release" misdemeanor with the rationale of "it's not that big a deal, the store owners have insurance, they can just file a claim". There was that story out of Philly where a Footlocker was looted twice in the same day, and there were some of the same people involved in both incidents. Which means they were caught, arrested, processed, and released back out into the wild and literally went back and hit the same store again that same day.

That indicates the pendulum swinging too far in the other direction.


To use an analogy. If a person gets caught drunk driving but didn't hurt anyone, a life sentence is obviously way too harsh...however, a slap on the wrist $50 fine and no further consequences beyond that would be way too soft.

Tempura said:

Will do. How are you now sister?

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Thank you. I'm doing okay, but not great. I've gone through a divorce since I last posted, and I have no income of my own since I still don't have my SSI. Thankfully, I am getting child support so that does help, but my Mom is also having to help me with a lot of stuff. I had to move to a new city, which I didn't want to do because I only had a short time to find a new place to live. Thankfully, I'm living in a subsidized apartment where I don't currently pay any rent, so I have no income. I just got approved for Medicaid again, so that's a blessing. I'm trying to get approved for food stamps as well, but I've been having a bit of difficulty getting the papers they need. I also lost my wallet which had my ID in it and my social security card. It also had my Medicaid cards and Colton's stuff in it too. Thankfully, I still have my passport which I can use for identification. Please continue to keep me in your prayers.

KCfromNC said:

I guess it opens up the discussion to what other candidate's daughters think about them, for one thing.

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Or nieces...

Thank you all for the insights. I appreciate it.

Luis Armando Albino was 6 when a woman abducted him in 1951 while he was playing at a park in California with his older brother, only reuniting with his family seven decades later thanks to the determination of his 63-year-old niece.

Albino, now a retired firefighter, grandfather and Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam, was missing for over 70 years but his family never forgot him. The man's relatives kept photos of him, and while his mother passed away in 2005 before she could see him again, she never lost hope that her son was still alive.

As The Mercury News reported Friday, Alida Alequin is the retired firefighter's 63-year-old niece. Alequin started to suspect that her uncle was alive in 2020 after she took an online DNA test "just for fun." The test showed that she had a 22% match with the man who turned out to be her uncle.

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In an address to the United Nations’ “Summit of the Future” in New York, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state, emphasized the need for promoting the dignity of the human person and voiced the Vatican’s disapproval of the assembly’s promotion of abortion and gender ideology.

Parolin addressed U.N. members gathered for the summit on Monday. Though praising summit attendees for engaging in dialogue, Parolin commented that there is a “need to rethink actions in a number of areas.”

The cardinal voiced the Vatican’s concerns with a document titled “Pact for the Future,” which was passed by summit attendees on Sunday. He said that “in conformity with its nature and particular mission, [the Holy See] wishes to express its reservations” regarding the assembly’s promotion of abortion and gender ideology.

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