A Christian brother and sister from Syria say they have been ‘let down’ by the Pope after he left them behind in a Lesbos refugee camp despite promises they would be given a new life in Italy. MORE
Category Archives: Current Events
A Practical Solution to the Israeli Palestine Conflict
I believe that, after 40 years or so of stalemates by both sides, with no end in sight, both sides would be ready to look at a refreshing practical solution that would benefit everyone involved.
All this would take is a willingness to cooperate. As is often the case, the obvious solutions seem to get ignored. The proposal I’m making is to make a NEW COUNTRY out of the three different States of Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. It would be fashioned like the United States of America. This United Israel Palestinian States, would draw up a new constitution, a federal flag, with each state adopting their own flag and the religion they chose to follow and go from there. The only way I can think of, to solve the Jerusalem problem, would be to make it an international city controlled by the New Federal Country.
As for the Golan Heights, This could be returned back over to Syria over an agreed upon period of time. Hopefully we could get the United Nations to occupy the area during this negotiated allocated time. I see this as a win, win situation with really very little cost or hardship on all the party’s involved. Consider the FACT that, as it stands right now, no end to the fighting until one side or the other is totally eliminated or both sides are eliminated. Not impossible in this day and age.
With respect, Joseph B. D. Saraceno
22 Roman Catholic churches to close across north Wales
More than 20 Roman Catholic churches across north Wales are set to close as part of a major reorganisation.
Bishop Peter Brignall, of the Wrexham Diocese, plans to shut 22 out of the current 62 Catholic churches by 2020.
The measures, outlined in a letter, are due to a fall in under-retirement-age priests, he said. Some churches would close “within weeks”. Continue reading
Jewish Passover would put their Pentecost, (Pasch) in early June
Pentecost Sunday falls on June 4 this year. Though various Christian denominations commemorate Pentecost, many forget that it was a Jewish holiday before the Church was established. The name Pentecost comes from the Greek word for 50, but the Jewish name is Shavuot (meaning weeks or sevens).
Traditional Jews of Jesus’ time celebrated Pentecost (or Shavuot) on the fiftieth day after the waving of the firstfruits. (Firstfruits coincided with the Feast of Unleavened Bread.) The firstfruits wave offering consisted of a sheaf of barley, the first crop of the spring growing season. This early growing season ended seven weeks later with the cutting of the wheat harvest, and for that crop, a different kind of offering was decreed. We find the Old Testament commandment for Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, and its required offering in Leviticus 23:15-17: MORE
Virgin Mary Statue, Intact Among Ecuador’s Quake Ruins, Becomes a Beacon of Hope
MONTECRISTI, Ecuador — The earth shook and the steeple fell, taking most of the bell tower with it. A white facade gave way, leaving the pews open to the street.
But amid the wreckage at the basilica, one object remained untouched: Our Mother of Monserrate, the statue of the Virgin Mary for which the church was named.
Dressed in gold robes and wearing a tiny crown, she is only about three feet tall. But the statue, which landed on these shores from Spain in the 16th century, has long played an outsize role in the history of Montecristi. MORE
VIDEO: China deploying thousands of troops along North Korea border
SEOUL, April 20 (UPI) — China is deploying troops along its border with North Korea, as Pyongyang could be preparing a fifth nuclear test ahead of its Seventh Party Congress in May. MORE
VIDEO: One of the nation’s largest pension funds could soon cut benefits for retirees
I lucked out, those 80 and over will not be effected. They can just die off, ha.
More than a quarter of a million active and retired truckers and their families could soon see their pension benefits severely cut — even though their pension fund is still years away from running out of money. MORE
VIDEO: How the book that sold women the myth of ‘having it all’ was dreamt up by a MAN
When Helen Gurley Brown published her book Sex And The Single Girl in 1962, it sold two million copies in the first three weeks and shot straight to the top of the bestseller lists. MORE
Santiaguito, Mexico volcano eruptions
We’re half way to the end of the world week of Pentecost Sunday and the Angels are putting on a show. Earthquakes, Flooding, Fires, Tornadoes and Hurricanes.
A violent explosion associated with a partial dome collapse occurred Monday morning at the Caliente dome. The eruption generated an ash column that rose several kilometers and a pyroclastic flow that traveled through the canyon draining from the dome complex to the SE.
Since this event, the dome has returned to normal activity with only occasional smaller explosions. Weak effusive activity continues to generate rock falls on the dome’s eastern flank. SOURCE
Shining Light on ‘Settled’ Science: There Is No ‘Climate Crisis’ – increases in political control over the public.
The science of global warming is settled. At least, this is what politicians keep insisting. Why should they care? Well, it turns out that global warming has provided a pretext for massive increases in political control over the public. The science of global warming has been used to justify the banning of lightbulbs, shutting down coal-fired power plants, and even a possible sighting of the holy grail: increased taxation without end (to save the planet). MORE
Putin endorses Donald Trump – ‘Let’s get rid of ISIS’
Putin: Russia hopes to see Donald Trump in the White House as he fully understands the impending threat of terrorism emanating from Saudi Arabia, Clinton is a termagant wife who bears the disgrace of supporting terrorists in Syria
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 (Vladivostok, Russia) — Speaking to annual international forum in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, President Vladimir Putin lashed out at Obama’s foreign policy , saying Russia won’t tolerate Washington’s belligerent expansion in the Baltic Sea and shall defend its sovereignty. MORE
Putin: Russia Warns It Will Restore Istanbul Back To Christianity
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a stark warning to the government of Turkey, saying that if they do not leave Syria alone he will restore Istanbul to Christendom.
Addressing a delegation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Putin began by reiterating that nothing can severe the alliance Russia has with Ukraine, despite efforts by the ruling junta in Kiev.
“Rising neo-Fascism in Ukraine is like the infectious Gangrene which can spread across the European continent , and we, the people of the Russian Federation and descendents of the Soviet Union , we are determined to stop this plague,” Putin told the crowd. MORE
VIDEO: College Kids Say the Darndest Things: On Identity (INSANITY BEGINS HERE)
FPIW visited the campus of the University of Washington to see if students would affirm or reject Joseph Backholm’s new chosen identity: a 6’5″ Chinese woman.
Pope’s exhortation adopts the approach to same-sex unions that Synod fathers rejected
The approach to homosexual unions in the synod documents
1. The Extraordinary Synod’s interim Relatio post disceptationem affirmed “that unions between people of the same sex cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman”. This implies that there is some footing on which same-sex unions can be considered legitimate. MORE
Ted Cruz backs NC law: ‘Men should not be going to the bathroom with little girls’
BUFFALO, New York, April 15, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Senator Ted Cruz came out in favor of a North Carolina law prohibiting biological males from using the restrooms, showers, and changing facilities of the opposite biological sex during a town hall meeting in Buffalo last night.
Cruz was asked to comment on a law signed by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory that restricts intimate settings based on biology, rather than “gender identity.” The law has come under intense fire from entertainers, filmmakers, and a powerful coalition of corporate interests threatening to boycott the state until it is reversed. MORE