Category Archives: Culture

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Mustn’t ‘peace’ mean more than just the absence of war?

People have been crying for peace, peace, more loudly in the civilized West since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas. We good Westerners have tended to ignore conflicts in other parts of the world.

In our religion studies after Mass on Sunday, we were going over the meaning of the word “peace.” The Gospel reading for next Sunday is Luke 10:1-12, which includes:

3 Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

The commentary in the study guides brought up the definition of shalom as it is used in Hebrew.

The ancient Hebrew meaning of shalam was “to make something whole”. Not just regarding practical restoration of things that were lost or stolen. But with an overall sense of fulness and completeness in mind, body and estate.

Too often in English, we see the word ‘peace’ as meaning the absence of direct violence or war. Thus, when people call for peace between Russia and Ukraine, or between Israel and the Arabs, they too often mean just a ceasefire. A ceasefire in itself is a very basic good, but mustn’t peace actually mean more than that? Mustn’t peace mean more than “I am not trying to kill anyone, and no one is trying to kill me”, but also mean “I don’t want to kill anyone, and no one wants to kill me”? Continue reading →

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What did they think would happen?

Let’s tell the truth here: Western liberals are, collectively, as dumb as a box of rocks. Images of the border wall between Gaza and Egypt are all over the internet, and anyone who can use Teh Google could have looked up the fact that the Egyptian government see Hamas as just another facet of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group outlawed in Egypt. Egypt has been ‘helping’ with negotiations between Hamas and Israel, because Egypt still dislikes Western civilization — other than Western nations’ money that is! — but sees political Islam as a real threat. That border wall, built by Egypt, not Israel, certainly more of an impediment than the big, beautiful wall President Trump has been building between the United States and Mexico, was meant to keep ‘Palestinians’ from getting into Egypt, because Egypt sees them for what they are: nothing but radical malcontents who have caused trouble everywhere the’ve gone.

Knowing all of that, why would the #GlobalMarchToGaza think that the Egyptian government would go along with their plans? Continue reading →

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You in a heap o’ trouble, boy! Gangland killing over an Instagram post

Kaleem Naseer Roland, mugshot via Pottsville Mercury.

Our good friends at The Philadelphia Inquirer have been doing a series on criminal justice where juveniles are concerned. Part 1 was An outlier on juvenile incarceration, noting that Philly locks up juvies at a rate much higher than other cities, Part 2 is Reforms promised, then abandoned, Part 3 is Womb-to-prison pipeline, noting the not-surprising-at-all fact that kids who bounce around in foster care are far more likely to wind up in jail, and today’s Tracking Teens: Philly is monitoring more kids by GPS than ever.

Well, perhaps, just perhaps, kids in the Philly region really are more likely to be bad kids.

Teen charged with murder in death of Norristown man allegedly linked to a gang feud

Kaleem Naseer Roland is accused of gunning down Tahaj Andru “Pooh” Harrison on May 23. Two other suspects are being sought.

Continue reading →

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The Trump effect is doing some good things

We do not allow those under 18 to vote. We do not allow those under 18 to drink alcohol. We do not allow those under 18 to enlist in the military. In most states, those under 18 cannot legally consent to sexual intercourse. But, to our friends on the left, those under 18 ought to be able to consent to physical castration, plastic surgery, and life altering, physically irreversible surgical procedures. President Trump is trying to put a stop to that.

Penn ceases gender-affirming surgery for patients under age 19

The move comes after an executive order from President Donald Trump that directed agencies to cease grants and other funding that could be used for gender-affirming care.

Continue reading →

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Killadelphia: While you can try to educate the ignorant, you just can’t fix stupid.

By the numbers, homicides are significantly down in the City of Brotherly Love, but as much as the total number of crimes reported are down, we have to remember: the only acceptable amount of crime is zero.

With reports like this, it’s hard to believe the number of homicides is down:

Ballistics tests show five guns were fired in Lemon Hill shooting that struck 11 people, police say

Philly police now believe five guns were fired in the shooting in Fairmount Park on Memorial Day.

Continue reading →

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Do you need the government to manage you? Apparently Wrongthink™ is a serious problem, and conservatives need to be watched

We reported, last Friday, on Catherine Herridge’s report of the Biden Administration’s efforts to label those who disagreed with COVID-19 vaccine mandates as “Domestic Violent Extremists”:

The Biden Administration labeled Americans who opposed the COVID-19 vaccination and mask mandates as “Domestic Violent Extremists,” or DVEs, according to newly declassified intelligence records obtained by Public @shellenberger @galexybrane and Catherine Herridge Reports. The designation created an “articulable purpose” for FBI or other government agents to open an “assessment” of individuals, which is often the first step toward a formal investigation, said a former FBI agent. Continue reading →

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This is why Hillary Clinton got to remain a private citizen

There were many characterizations of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign, but my favorite one was that she reminded every man of the first wife he divorced. She’s just a humorless, nasty scold, the Karen of the HOA, and the Gladys Kravitz of every neighborhood.

As the son of two United States Army veterans, and the father of two more, I understand the meaning of Memorial Day, a holiday to honor not every veteran, but those who fell in combat to defend our country, and defend the world from tyranny. This holiday weekend, the traditional — if not actual — beginning of summer for Americans, is one for family gatherings, and while most us have not lost a loved one or family member in war — my family have not — it should also be a day of unity for Americans.

Some of those who made the ultimate sacrifice were Democrats, and some were Republicans, some were Catholics and some were Protestants, some were Jewish and some were Muslim, and even some were atheists, though in writing that I am reminded of the old saw, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”

But the woman who thankfully failed to become our 45th President wants to make your Memorial Day cookout about politics, about division.

We see the same bovine feces every year around Thanksgiving, usually from the left, telling people how to survive a family dinner with their rabid, MAGA-supporting uncle. Conservatives mostly just smile and not start fights over dinner like that.

Mrs Clinton wants you to start a fight.

Half of the voters in this country chose to vote for President Trump, and Mrs Clinton wants you to pick a fight with them. On a day when we hope the sun will be shining and it will be pleasantly warm, Mrs Clinton wants those who listen to her to be a cold wind and a dark rain cloud.

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So many who want to “Free Palestine” are willing to shoot unarmed Jews

I have said it before: if we had social media back in 1944, the Usual Suspects wopuld have been decrying the violence and whining that Germany was defeated, that there was no need to continue the march into Germany proper, and think of all of the poor, innocent civilians who would be killed! Had such people been around then, they wouldn’t have cared that their calls for a “Ceasefire Now!” would have left der Führer and his henchmen alive and in power, and a couple of the concentration camps in place, but still . . . .

This morning’s story is what piqued The Philadelphia Inquirer’s far-left columnist’s ire: Continue reading →