Weather Underground Category 6

Thousands of people across the far-flung northern Leeward Islands battened down for the worst on Tuesday evening as Hurricane Irma approached. Irma surged in strength on Tuesday to become the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded north of the Caribbean and east of the Gulf of Mexico. As of 2 pm EDT Tuesday, Irma’s top sustained winds were an incredible 185 mph. The only hurricane anywhere in the Atlantic ever known to have stronger winds was Allen (1980), at 190 mph. Allen weakened to Category 3 before striking the Texas/Mexico border. MORE

Canadians are richer than they’ve ever been, a new report says, and thanks to rising real estate and stock markets, the country now boasts four cities where the average household net worth is over $1-million: Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Victoria. MORE

There’s no trouble telling these 11-year-old twins apart, as one is white and one is black. VIDEO

Here’s another pair of twins with different complexions.

UPDATE Monday 9/4, 2:32pm CT:
Volunteers are clearing out the school, offices, and bookstore in preparation for deep cleaning on Tuesday.  All this as the relief center at Queen of Angels remains open for faithful and the broader community. The financial toll is still unknown and is likely to rise. Your support is still vital. God Bless you! MORE

Updates And A Plea For Donations For SSPX In Texas From Hurricane …

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is urging world leaders to “listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” and take measures to protect the environment. MORE

Even before his historic (and controversial) meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Havana, Cuba on February 12, 2015, Pope Francis has shown an interest in currying favor with the Orthodox, even going so far as to praise the Orthodox Church’s synodal style of governance in his first official document, Evangelii Gaudium. MORE

The Decree Against Communism was a 1949 Catholic Church document issued by the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, and approved by Pope Pius XII, which declared Catholics who professed Communist doctrine to be excommunicated as apostates from the Christian faith.

VATICAN CITY, September 1, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — In a newly published book-length interview, Pope Francis reveals that a Communist woman had a marked impact on his political thinking. “She taught me to think about political reality,” says Pope Francis of Esther Ballestrino De Careaga. “I owe so much to this woman.”

Francis brought up Bellastrino when author Dominique Wolton asked him about women who were a major influence in his life. “She was communist,” Francis readily admits, adding “she gave me books, all Communist.” MORE

“At a certain point, I felt the need to consult an analyst. For six months, I went to her house once a week to clarify a few things,” he revealed in the book, Pope Francis: Politics and Society.

He did not specify exactly what “things” he wanted to clarify or why he felt the need to seek psychiatric help but he did say the treatment was successful.

“In those six months, she really helped me,” he said. “She was a wonderful person,” the 81-year-old pontiff said. MORE

RUSSIA has dramatically relocated 1,500 people from its border with North Korea after Kim Jong-un’s latest missile launch, it was reported today.

Russian civil defense officials were reportedly ordered to shift residents in the country’s far east to “safe areas” in a extraordinary move amid fears of a major coming conflict. MORE

Well, Antifa beat up more people they didn’t like in Berkeley last weekend and now its mayor is saying that it could be time to classify the far left group as a gang. The progressive bastion was supposed to hold a rally called Patriot Prayer, which was cancelled on Sunday. MORE