All we need now is some rain

After taking a significant recession-era hit, California’s economy has bounced back up to the seventh largest in the world as the state’s gross domestic product reached $2.3 trillion in 2014, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

That was enough for California to edge past Brazil’s 2014 GDP of $2.2 trillion, but still below the sixth-place United Kingdom. MORE

What took them so long?

Rome (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of Italians gathered in Rome Saturday to demonstrate against gay unions and the teaching of gender theories in schools, as Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tries to push a civil union bill through parliament.

Holding aloft banners reading “The family will save the world” and “Let’s defend our children”, a sea of people crammed into the San Giovanni square near the Italian capital’s historic centre to support family values. MORE

Saint Paul writes to the Hebrews

Vol 8 Issue 25 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
June 20, 2015 ~ Our Lady on Saturday

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (21)
2. Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
3. St Aloysius Gonzaga
4. Marriage and Parenthood (25)
5. Articles and notices Continue reading →

One new case of H5N2 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in the US, ending an eight-day hiatus of new detections.
The newly confirmed outbreak brings the total number of detections in the US to 223, affecting 48,091,293 birds. Iowa has now reached 75 detections in total, with 31,723,300 birds affected.MORE

Russia is pouring troops and weapons — including missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads — into its western exclave of Kaliningrad at such a rate that the region is now one of Europe’s most militarized places.

A NATO official, writing to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity, said that Moscow is stationing “thousands of troops, including mechanized and naval infantry brigades, military aircraft, modern long-range air defense units and hundreds of armored vehicles in the territory.” MORE

The Galilee church where Jesus was believed to have performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000 has been set alight in a suspected arson attack. MORE

According to a release from a California environmentalist group, residents of Los Angeles are asking the Catholic archdiocese to cease the drilling for oil on land owned by the Church.  MORE

ORLANDO, Fla. –It can take a year or two for people to have a trial in Central Florida, but those who want to skip the line can hire a private judge to handle their case.

“My marketing motto is: ‘How would you like your trial tomorrow?'” said Robert Evans, who worked as a judge in Orange County for more than 20 years before leaving public office. Now, he conducts private trials — for paying customers — at his Florida Private Trials practice. MORE

The robot, which has no legs and moves on wheels, was shown to reporters and guests at a Tokyo area theater Thursday. It has a hairless head and moving arms and went through a year of software development after first being announced. MORE

What the head of an anti-science body like the Catholic Church says about climate change is about as relevant as Kim Kardashian on the eurozone.

It’s a funny old world. Environmentalists are dancing with glee after Pope Francis issued a statement calling on every man, woman and child to stand together to tackle the issue of climate change. MORE

“God always forgives … our misdemeanors, our abuse, God always forgives; men forgive at times; but the Earth never forgives. We must care for our sister the Earth, our Mother Earth, so that she does not respond with destruction.” Francis, L’ Osservatore Romano, November 28, 2014, p. 16.

Tomorrow is the scheduled release date for Francis’ newest encyclical.  The often delayed encyclical had a draft copy leaked to the press.  Since it is a ‘Jubilee Year of Mercy’, Francis the humble decided to demonstrate his Chesed of Gevurah and relieved Sandro Magister, the journalist who leaked the encyclical, of his 41 year old press credentials to the Holy See.  Imagine what he would have done if he hadn’t been in so ‘merciful’ a mood! MORE

NEW YORK (AP) — A major review suggests a 7-year decline in the number of babies born in the U.S. may be over. MORE

Water shut-offs have now begun in California, where government-ordered restrictions are starting to leave large communities high and dry. As CBS News is now reporting, the Mountain Housecommunity of 15,000 residents will run out of water in just a matter of days.

“The community’s sole source of water, the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District, was one of 114 senior water rights holders cut off by a curtailment notice from the state on Friday,” reports CBS. MORE

Italian hedge fund star Davide Serra told a married female New York Times reporter that the advice he gives to his friends is to “never, ever marry an American woman.”

“Never, ever marry an American woman. That’s the advice I give my friends.”

It may seem an odd way to start an interview, especially one with a female American reporter who is married, but Davide Serra, an Italian hedge fund manager based here in London, is not one to opine gently, or particularly carefully.

According to The Times, Serra finds that American women are too demanding. MORE