State and local public health officials have gone weeks without regular updates on avian flu from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after President Donald Trump froze nearly all external communications from the agency, said a person familiar with the situation. It wasn’t until this week that some of those communications began to resume, the person said.

Widespread funding cuts across the government and new restrictions on funding for National Institutes of Health grants have also created uncertainty among infectious disease researchers and local health officials, who are unsure about what resources they will have to work with going forward. Meanwhile, cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development have limited monitoring of the virus overseas.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on its strategy for addressing avian flu and what additional steps it planned to take to address the spread of the virus.

Rollins, who was confirmed by the Senate Thursday, told reporters that she had a briefing in the Oval Office Thursday night and would be announcing more on the department’s plan to address egg prices “in the coming days.”

essentialsaltes said:

When an authorization expires, Congress can extend the program through new legislation or by providing new appropriations, according to CBO.

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Doesn't seem they specified which law that is. Could you provide that for us?.....cuz something tells me that really does not exist.

Given that 46 percent of MPs took the secular affirmation or swore on a non-Christian text, we believe that the continued use of this procedure is now out of date and needs replacing.

Is it me, or does this mean 54% are perfectly happy, because they swore in on a Bible ? Plus how many "swore in on a non-Christian text" but do not mind praying with Anglicans ?


Having prayers at the beginning of the day feels like an outdated and outmoded practice. In a modern workplace...

Oh wow, an 11th Century building, commoner access to House of Common since 1649....modern ?


2019, a similar motion on this topic attracted 15 signatories...

Out of 650 MP's! (They have 8 so far this time).

which MPs must attend if they wish to guarantee a seat.

Because 650 people do not fit into the seats...but being willing to pray enhances the chances of a good seat.

I would now type "Jesus please help the National Secular Society to get their sums right and stop grabbing headlines with dodgy statistics", but that is hopeless and disrepectful because they hate prayer. Doh.

Richard T said:

All I will add is that once I quit consuming too much salt my blood pressure went down and quit spiking. My Dr. never even mentioned that method though for most it is well known, I did not think pre-packaged or restaurant. foods had so much until I noticed my diet was was spiking my blood pressure. Losing weight and making sure your potassium is balanced will also help. Sometimes the Dr.'s office can raise your reading, so just check at home with a good cuff of your own. I read Lisinpril in the USA has 82 million prescriptions filled each year. I think it is considered the first in line for many doctors.

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The DASH diet, which includes sodium concerns -- but also has more aspects, has been shown to be as effective as 1 blood pressure pill. There is lots of information on the internet about this.


Kevin

I don’t think it will happen.

Víctor Sono Neira spent years trapped in addiction and crime as an international pickpocket. In a radical change of heart, he chose to live on the streets of Lima, Peru’s historic downtown in search of redemption. A devotee of the Lord of Miracles, he gave the broken pieces of his life to Jesus and today, at the age of 72, he is a living testimony to God’s mercy and forgiveness.

“How is it possible that a man as evil, old, and criminal as I am, who committed so many sins, even taking the lives of others, was so loved by him? Why me? Who am I?” Sono wondered aloud in a recent interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

“I have to accept God’s mercy, even if it’s hard for me to do. I’m stubborn, I fight with him like a son does with his father. But that is what pleases him: to see how, despite everything, I love him more every day. He is my life,” Víctor added.

Born on Oct. 5, 1952, at the Lima Maternity Hospital, Sono now lives in the Sembrando Esperanza (Sowing Hope) home for the elderly in the Villa María del Triunfo district of Lima, a place that provides comprehensive care to vulnerable people, most of whom are abandoned and have health problems.

Continued below.

Valletta said:

ICE Boston arrests illegal Guatemalan national charged with forcibly raping Massachusetts minor

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended an illegally present Guatemalan national charged with three counts of forcible rape of a child and three counts of aggravated rape of a child when officers arrested Jose Fernando-Perez, 49, in Framingham, Massachusetts, Feb. 2.

www.ice.gov

I don't understand the liberal mind. We need to get such people off of the streets.

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The liberal mind is referencing people who are here under the legal asylum process and who are not breaking laws. I think we had this conversation before where you don't distinguish between the two, and think those people here legally shouldn't be here either.

jacks said:

Of course if Trump wants denuclearization it must be bad, right?

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Yes, you can note that as another utterance that will never happen under Trump right behind Mexico paying for the wall.

SeekFirst0 said:

Yes, I understand that. I realize the distinction. I just thought that they were a little closer to Eastern Catholics in how they do things than the Latin Rite. I talked to some Orthodox who thought that. Overall, Eastern Orthodox needs to submit to Rome and become Catholic. Catholicism is the fullness of Truth.

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I agree 100%. There are some Eastern Catholics who indeed calls themselves Orthodox in communion with Rome, but they are fully Catholic.

SeekFirst0 said:

I prayed for her. May she be admitted into the Eternal Kingdom and behold the face of God with all the Angels and Saints.

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Amen!

Thank you!

In an interview with CP earlier this month, Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said he has “received multiple assurances and clarification regarding the motivation behind [Trump's policy].” It's part of an effort, he said, to target criminal illegal immigrants and ensure that “there is no safe space for criminals to be able to hide, including churches, hospitals and schools.”

“Under no circumstance in the past 250 years of American history has there ever been a moment where federal troops have come in guns blazing into a church. And it will not happen under the Trump administration,” he added. “I do not foresee any circumstance where [Immigrations and Customs Enforcement] agents in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies go guns a-blazing on a Sunday morning service.”

However, he cautioned that “if there are innocent people, innocent with the exception of coming in here illegally, [...] but they are in the vicinity, in the same room, the same house … with a group of people that are involved in crime, when the criminals get deported, there’s a good possibility, likewise, they will get deported.”

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SeekFirst0 said:

Still not a fan. Why can’t he come out and state he is against abortion 100% once and for all? He is a baptized Catholic and needs to act like it completely. I shall still pray for him.

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Well said! Any Catholic who even remotely supports abortion should be embarrassed!

stevevw said:

That almost sounds like Woke or PC lol. Thats a form of virtue signalling while at the same time indulging in the best this world has to offer. Lecturing about equality and fairness and championing the poor while piling up riches and power on earth as gods.

I think salvation is a two sided coing. We are transformed in heart and mind by the spirit of God and therefore our nature is now to please God and not to keep the law to please God.

But at the same time faith is dead without action. Without cultivating your faith and putting your trust in God.

We have a measuring guage for this which is the fruits of the spirit. You named the bad fruits but kiving in the spirit produces good fruits and these naturally flow not because of our own efforts but because Christ is living in us.

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Let me step aside and give you the floor. Digging it.

And yes. It is where Romans starts, therefore where I started regarding fruit. I didn't plan on going past chptrs 1,2,3, in this thread, but He does like to interrupt my plans.

I'm really having a desire to make another thread on Romans, starting on chapter 1 again. I'm hoping to start it soon.

It's a summary of our journeys so think it is a good one to dive into for that.

Peace in Christ.

We….His people…believe without seeing. We HEAR His voice opening up the Scripture of Truth and believe…. but the outside world will only believe by SEEING Him. Happy (blessed) are those who believe but haven’t seen Him (yet).

Our inheritance is to be the light of life (the human "talisman" of His light) to those on the outside who are sitting in deep darkness so that they may SEE His Light shining through and us and may believe in Him.

Joh 20:27-29 KJV
(27) Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
(28) And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
(29) Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

We…those who first trust in Christ…who will HEAR the Word of Truth the good news of our salvation…are to be to the PRAISE of His GLORY as the outside people of this world shall then SEE His glory appear over us and praise God above.

We have this inheritance to gather together in one all things in Christ...both of which are in heaven...and which are on "earth"...the outside nations of this world.

Eph 1:9-13 KJV
(9) Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
(10) That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
(11) In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
(12) That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

We...His people...HEAR and BELIEVE. But the outside world will only believe by SEEING His light through us to the praise of God by them.

(13) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

He makes us the Light of the world…to the people on the outside world who are in deep spiritual darkness. We then cannot be hid. We are the "city".

Mat 5:14 KJV
(14) Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

We are that “city” on a hill (on the rising of light) that is lit up by the glory of God and the light of the Lamb.

The people on the outside world will then be attracted to us. Only the nations of them that are SAVED shall walk in the light of it though. There will be those people inside the churches of men and in the outside world who will not believe it.

Rev 21:23-24 KJV
(23) And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
(24) And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

For He gives us…to those who will HEAR with their ears and overcome…power over the nations.

Rev 2:26-29 KJV
(26) And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Those who are not believing in the outside nations shall be broken to shivers….

(27) And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

…but those who are saved among the outside world nations shall have the “morning star” arise in their dark hearts when they will SEE us.

(28) And I will give him the morning star.

We HEAR and they...the outside nations.. will SEE Him by looking at us.

(29) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

We are the human “talisman” among them….showing forth the Light to them who are in darkness. He openly SHOWS in the SIGHT of the “heathen”…the outside people of this world…His salvation and His righteousness.

Psa 98:2-4 KJV
(2) The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
(3) He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Then the saved among them (the “earth”) will make a “loud noise” and will REJOICE and sing His praise.

(4) Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

The “sea”…the outside believing people of this world…will ROAR as they will make a “loud noise” of the praise of God when they will SEE His salvation through us.

Psa 98:7-8 KJV
(7) Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
(8) Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together

But this LOUD NOISE…the “roar”…of the sea…the praising of God among the saved of the nations… will strike fear in the hearts of the unbelievers.

They will “distress” with perplexity over the “sea and the waves ROARING’…that is, the loud noise of the praising of God that they will hear from the believers of the world. They will panic and be distressed when they will see a large group in this world become believers and hear their praising of God.

Luk 21:25-27 KJV
(25) And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

That which is coming upon the “earth”….the residents of the outside world…is the SEEING and believing of the people of the outside nations who were sitting in deep spiritual darkness. They will SEE Him…the Son of man…by the light that shines in us to them. This panics the unbelievers in this world as they will also "mourn" what they see happening. The powers of the heaven...those who are in power in this earth...will be "shaken" by what they see coming upon the earth.

We manifest the life of Jesus in our mortal flesh (which is the revealing of the Son of man) to them. The “cloud” is the “cloud” of people on the outside who will gather together and come to us who shine with His light to them that will believe.

(26) Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
(27) And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

We are delivered from our people (the man-based churches who will not believe) and from the “gentiles”…that is, the outside nations who once treated us with contempt and shame. We are then to be SENT back to those nations as a LIGHT to them to OPEN THEIR EYES. They are the “blind” whose eyes are to be opened by looking at us/Him.

They will then SEE (open their eyes) and be turned from darkness to light and receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them (that is, US who hear and believe) which are sanctified by faith that is in Him.

We are the ones “sanctified by faith” that is in Him.

The seeing (of the Light of the glory of God and of the Lamb shining in us) and believing people of the outside world will have an inheritance with us. We HEAR and believe while the outside world will SEE us with His light and will believe.

Act 26:17-18 KJV
(17) Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
(18) To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Why did Jesus tell people to make offerings in the Temple? Why did Paul call himself a Pharisee? The Bible’s answer might surprise you.

Many assume that Jesus came to abolish Jewish religious practices, but the Gospels tell a different story. The New Testament is filled with references to Jesus and his family and disciples actively participating in Jewish rituals. When Jesus was young, Joseph and Mary had a sacrifice offered in the Temple:

• Luke 2:22-24 — And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’

Jesus observed Passover with his parents (2:41-43) and urged others to make such Temple sacrifices (Luke 5:14; cf. Matthew 8:4; Mark 1:44). The following passage illustrates this:

• Matthew 5:23-24 — So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

This reflects existing Jewish understanding, as seen in the Mishnah (Yoma 8:9): “If a man said, ‘I will sin and repent, and sin again and repent,’ he will be given no chance to repent. [If he said,] ‘I will sin and the Day of Atonement will effect atonement,’ then the Day of Atonement effects no atonement. For transgressions that are between man and God the Day of Atonement effects atonement, but for transgressions that are between a man and his fellow the Day of Atonement effects atonement only if he has appeased his fellow.”

Jesus and his disciples and later followers observed Temple sacrifices and other worship practices. The Passover involved a sacrificed lamb, and they observed it (the Last Supper being one such instance: see Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7-8). Acts 2:46 refers to the early Christians “day by day, attending the Temple together.” And Acts 3:1 informs us that “Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.” This time (3 p.m.) was when sacrifice was offered with prayer (see Exodus 29.39; Leviticus 6:20).

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A book I need to pick up.

BOOK PICK: New EWTN Publishing release focuses on relationships, replete with the signature insights (and humor) of the Catholic psychologist.

‘Why Is He Like This?’​

A video features a young man who, early one morning, comes across what looks to be an ordinary pair of sunglasses.

Donning them, he soon finds they are anything but ordinary, as they reveal to him others’ inner struggles. His restaurant server at breakfast botches his order. The glasses tell him: Earlier she was forced to leave her ill child with a neighbor. Upon the man’s seeing a densely tattooed, disheveled teenager, the glasses reveal that she had to choose premature self-reliance over a chaotic home life. On appearances alone, the man’s blind judgment would have been hasty and hard. Without the glasses, he wouldn’t have been aware that the driver cutting him off was in a panicked rush to get his son to the emergency room. Instead, he would have bristled with “What’s his problem?”

One doesn’t need soul-searching sunglasses to know that most everyone walks through life with hidden hurts and struggles. It’s often the explanation, though not always obvious, to “Why is he like this?”

A Difficult Person​

Continued below.

Thank you

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and prosper for us the work of our hands —
O prosper the work of our hands!” (Ps 90:17)

There is a moment in the Mass when the priest quietly acknowledges one of the stranger aspects of the miracle that is about to take place. During the preparation of the gifts, the priest prays, “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.” He then makes a similar blessing with the wine: ” … fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink.” For many of us, these prayers are very familiar, but that shouldn’t distract us from how peculiar they are. Although we rarely give it much thought, there is something deeply counterintuitive — startling, even — in Our Lord’s decision to use the human artifacts of bread and wine rather than the divine inventions of grain and grapes to give us his body and blood. In a profound way, it is the work of human hands which the God of the universe uses to make himself sacramentally present in the world.

Image and likeness​

Continued below.

Technology is robbing us of our humanity, turning humans in some respects into “disembodied” minds, Paolo Carozza, professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, warned Saturday during a panel discussion at this year’s New York Encounter.

Such a notion might have sounded like science fiction not so long ago. But this “disembodiment” — or “forgetting the centrality of the human body,” as Carozza put it — defines who we are as a culture today, thanks to technological advances that have made things increasingly and enticingly convenient, he said.

Carozza, serving as moderator, was joined on the panel by Christine Rosen, author of “The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World,” and Notre Dame law professor and bioethicist O. Carter Snead, author of “What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics.”

Held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, New York Encounter is an annual, wide-ranging cultural conference organized by members of the Catholic movement Communion and Liberation. The three-day event, which is free and livestreamed online, concludes Sunday.

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How many ? Not many.

tonychanyt said:

all who trust in Him.

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because they have not wholly followed me, 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’

Today, we as a nation are monstrously in debt and borrowing more and more off the backs of our children and grandchildren. Yet Alexander Hamilton, our country’s first Secretary of the Treasury, said in Federalist35 that our economy will work best when we have less needless regulations.

He notes: “It might be demonstrated that the most productive system of finance will always be the least burdensome.” He says what we need is “a judicious exercise of the power of taxation.”

Fast forward to today. President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and his whiz kids at DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency), are uncovering outrageous misuse of our hard-earned tax dollars by previous administrations.

Continued below.

Although the thread that I started, was on the basis of formal logic,
its abilities, and the need for its rigorous methodology to demonstrate
the difference between a proposition merely being a personal opinion, and
establishing it (through that methodology) as TRUE, some Christians
continue to bypass the life of the mind, in their denominational theology.

While all Christians have free will (I am NOT a hard Calvinist), and may
believe this, it is not the position of historic Christianity, NOR is it a
balanced view of all that the Scriptures teach about the mind, and
knowledge, and understanding.

I assert that historical, orthodox Christians, accept the life of the mind as a
great gift from God, which is to be used as God meant us to use it. This
involves a process of learning and understanding, that involves BOTH the
guidance of God, but also, firm rules of inference that have been discussed
and debated and (for the most part) embraced by the different Christian groups.
I assert, that the Rules of Inference of formal logic, are part of "our shared reality",
in that they accurately describe deductive logic as it describes relationships
of LOGICAL CAUSALITY. Although this sort of causality is not the only type,
it is very basic as a building block in sound reasoning about all sorts of topics
(including hermeneutics, theology, moral theory, and epistemology). What I
am saying to the Christians who wish to bypass formal logic and the rules of
Inference, is that they have made a decision that the principles of formal logic
ARE NOT PART OF OUR SHARED REALITY, AND SO WE HAVE NO MORAL-ETHICAL
OUGHT TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS PART OF OUR SHARED REALITY.
---------- ----------

24 It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.
New American Bible, Revised Edition. (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Jn 21:24–25.

Christians who claim that ALL KNOWLEDGE and TRUTH is contained in
the pages of the Christian Bible, are contradicted by the Apostle John.

I will not try to do a synthesis of biblical teaching about knowledge and
understanding, as this is not a thread on that subject.
---------- ----------

The American Library of Congress is filled with books, holding knowledge
and understanding about all sorts of topics. A reasonable Christian
theology MUST accept that the Bible does not hold all truth.

Historic Christians have carefully moderated their claims about the
divine inspiration of Scripture, to assert that "the Bible is infallible,
in what it addresses", or that the Bible is a "sufficient guide" to
salvation, and living a holy life.

I accept these historic Christian understandings of what the purpose
of the Bible, is.

Although Christians who disagree with my beliefs are free to start threads
promoting their own theologies about what the Bible is, this thread is
dealing with the foundation of formal logic, and its place in our shared
reality, and so, the necessity of Christians to "bear true witness" about
everything that is in this shared reality.

It is from this formal logic foundation, that I have posted about 50
"Challenge Questions" for both the AI tools, and for AP level Christian
high school students.

Christians who come from anti-intellectual theological groups, are
welcome to try to come up with answers to these Challenge Questions.
But, I expect that the answers would not be able to engage with the
philosophical primitives that the Questions point to, or the logical
fallacies and unsoundness that the Questions point to.

On the other hand, Christian theologies that embrace the human
intellectual gifts, as a gift from God, SHOULD BE ABLE TO COHERENTLY
ANALYZE OR ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

Akita Suggagaki said:

I was never much of a wine drinker. Mass was one of the few times and places. So now whenever I drink wine, feel the warmth, smell the bouquet, taste the fruitiness, it reminds me of the Blood of Christ.

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You became a connoisseur thanks to Holy Communion.

Can you imagine? *Swishing around* "Full bodied...hint of oak... Napa Valley... town of Calistoga... circa... 2019!"
Priest:

d taylor said:

-​

Well like i wrote, i believe it could be possible that the sun and moon's light was brighter from creation in Genesis 1 to the flood.

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We will just have to wait and see. When we are with the Lord we will know all about it.

Rubio says Iran is the 'single greatest source of instability' in the Middle East​

Secretary of State Marco Rubio advanced President Donald Trump's "bold" plan for Gaza during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

Rubio and Netanyahu both highlighted that Iran is the single largest obstacle to peace in the region during a Sunday joint statement. While Netanyahu did not comment on Trump's specific plans for Gaza, Rubio emphasized that the U.S. and Israel cannot return to "tired" strategies that have failed to produce peace in the past.

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