my bias toward Catholics is due to my 12 years of Catholic education, decades of regular attendance at mass, and listening to my relatives.
16 years for me, and living in my aunt's basement for two years and having Rush, Hannity & Combs and the O'Reilly Factor on in the background when I would have a conversation with her. I had a friend arguing on facebook with me this morning about the merits of masks and not grasping that you wear a mask to prevent it from spreading to other people. In the middle of the argument he said he was in church. I would think you would put your phone away at church, but I haven't gone in a year. Maybe they changed church procedures. I know they threw me for a loop with changing the responses to certain things.
strains of zika and ebola have been detected in patients months after recovery. I'm glad you're up on all of the reports and everything about this virus is known.
So, do these observations prove anything in regard to COVID?
Months later, some virus patients develop other conditions related to their prior COVID illness. Obviously, the coronavirus is still far from defeated, and still not fully understood, but spread from a cured person to others has not been considered from what I have read or heard to date.
A tiny religious organization tied to Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee, sought to erase all mentions and photos of her from its website before she meets with lawmakers and faces questions at her Senate confirmation hearings.
... an analysis by the Associated Press shows that People of Praise erased numerous records from its website during the summer of 2017 that referred to Barrett and included photos of her and her family.
At the time, Barrett was on Trump’s shortlist for the high court seat that eventually went to Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Last week, when Barrett again emerged as a frontrunner for the court, more articles, blogposts and photos disappeared.
After an AP reporter emailed the group’s spokesman on Wednesday about members of Jesse Barrett’s family, his mother’s name was deleted from the primary contact for the South Bend, Indiana, branch. All issues of the organization’s magazine, Vine and Branches, were also removed.
Democrats are afraid to bring up anything to do with Barrett's religious beliefs because in 2017 the right made a scandal of some of the questioning directed at Barrett in the Senate, particularly Dianne Feinstein's assertion to Barrett that "the dogma lives loudly within you."
They know they'll be attacked for anything they say about the peculiar way Barrett practices her faith -- which is unrecognizable to me as a person who was raised Catholic.
But AP is doing some digging. No, People of Praise isn't exactly Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale. But it does seem cult-like:
... as they become adults, members frequently live together in same-gender communal houses sometimes owned by the group, or they are invited to live with a family within the community....
The group’s magazine also offers insights into the group’s views on marriage, community and members’ finances. A 2007 issue discusses how the 17 single women who live together in a household, called the Sisterhood, had their paychecks direct deposited into a single bank account. One member said she had “no idea” what the amount of her paycheck was.
The pooled money was managed by one woman, who budgeted for everyone’s clothing and other expenses, including $36 weekly per person for food and basics like toilet paper. All women were expected to give 10% of their pay to People of Praise, another 1% to the South Bend branch and additional tithes to their churches.
Married couples and their children also often share multifamily homes or cluster in neighborhoods designated for “city building” by the group’s leaders, where they can easily socialize and walk to each other’s houses.
As part of spiritual meetings, members often relay divine prophecies and are encouraged to pray in tongues, where participants make vocal utterances thought to carry direct teachings and instructions from God. Those utterances are then “interpreted” by senior male leaders and relayed back to the wider group.
And things can get ugly:
Coral Anika Theill joined People of Praise’s branch in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1979, when she was a 24-year-old mother of 6-month-old twins.
“My husband at the time was very drawn to it because of the structure of the submission of women,” recounted Theill, who is now 65.
Theill, who converted to Catholicism after getting married, said in her People of Praise community women were expected to live in “total submission” not only to their husbands, but also the other male “heads” within the group.
In a book she wrote about her experience, Theill recounts that in People of Praise every consequential personal decision — whether to take a new job, buy a particular model car or choose where to live — went through the hierarchy of male leadership. Members of the group who worked outside the community had to turn over their paystubs to church leaders to confirm they were tithing correctly, she said.
Theill says her “handmaid,” to whom she was supposed to confide her innermost thoughts and emotions, then repeated what she said to the male heads, who would consult her husband on the proper correction.
“There’d be open meetings where you just have to stand for the group and they’d tell you all that was wrong with you,” Theill recounted to the AP last week. “And I would ask questions. I was a critical thinker.”
When she told her husband she wanted to wait to have more children, Theill said, he accompanied her to gynecological appointments to ensure she couldn’t get birth control.
“I was basically treated like a brood mare,” she said....
More:
Lisa Williams said her parents joined the Minnesota branch of People of Praise in the late 1970s, when she was a fourth-grader....
“I remember my mother saying a wife could never deny sex to her husband, because it was his right and her duty,” said Williams, 56. “Sex is not for pleasure. It’s for as many babies as God chooses to give you. ... Women had to be obedient. They had to be subservient.”
Corporal punishment of children was common, Williams told the AP. When she was insufficiently obedient to her father, she was beaten with a belt and then required to kneel and ask forgiveness from both him and God, she said.
She recalled People of Praise meetings held in her parents’ living room where members prayed in tongues to cast out demons from a person writhing on the floor, rituals she described as exorcisms.
When her parents, from whom she is now estranged, decided to leave People of Praise when she was a junior in high school, she remembers the leaders said her family would be doomed to hell and they were shunned. “Nobody would talk to you,” she recalled.
I think we might see a lot of unpleasant things if we turn over this rock. But Democrats won't be allowed to do that. Other journalists need to follow up on what AP is reporting. The group may not be a stereotypical cult of patriarchy -- Barrett, obviously, is a highly successful judge -- but if you want to be approved for a lifetime position in government and you've agreed that an ideological organization can rules on many of your life choices, we deserve to know more about what that organization believes. It's not anti-Catholic to pursue this question. The vast majority of Catholics would never consider joining an organization like this.
Democrats are afraid to bring up anything to do with Barrett's religious beliefs because in 2017 the right made a scandal of some of the questioning directed at Barrett in the Senate, particularly Dianne Feinstein's assertion to Barrett that "the dogma lives loudly within you."
Feinstein's statement was stupid and ignorant. But we're stuck with it because the right-wing always grabs random comments and ignores the big picture. And the news media let them.
Meanwhile, Trump says things all the time which are MORE stupid and MORE ignorant, about people's religious beliefs. Like this tweet this morning, about "religious liberty" being on the ballot.
What an empty phrase "pro-life" has become. Trump's actions -- both in his official capacity as president, where he's caused thousands upon thousands of preventable deaths -- and in his personal behavior, where he's placed himself and many high officials in mortal danger and so placed the nation in a dangerous, vulnerable position -- are the anithesis of "pro-life" in any meaningful sense. Whenever I hear about how the WH hasn't even bothered to contact people who could were exposed it makes me so angry. He's literally killing people and he doesn't care.
What an empty phrase "pro-life" has become. Trump's actions -- both in his official capacity as president, where he's caused thousands upon thousands of preventable deaths -- and in his personal behavior, where he's placed himself and many high officials in mortal danger and so placed the nation in a dangerous, vulnerable position -- are the anithesis of "pro-life" in any meaningful sense. Whenever I hear about how the WH hasn't even bothered to contact people who could were exposed it makes me so angry. He's literally killing people and he doesn't care.
it is no longer an exaggeration to call Trumpism a death cult. It quite literally is one. He's got hundreds of GOP bigwigs willing to catch COVID-19 and die to please Dear Leader, and hundreds of thousands of regular folks willing to do the same. And he himself is willing to get sick and die to preserve the illusions of strength and vigor that are foundational to his personal myth.
What an empty phrase "pro-life" has become. Trump's actions -- both in his official capacity as president, where he's caused thousands upon thousands of preventable deaths -- and in his personal behavior, where he's placed himself and many high officials in mortal danger and so placed the nation in a dangerous, vulnerable position -- are the anithesis of "pro-life" in any meaningful sense. Whenever I hear about how the WH hasn't even bothered to contact people who could were exposed it makes me so angry. He's literally killing people and he doesn't care.
it is no longer an exaggeration to call Trumpism a death cult. It quite literally is one. He's got hundreds of GOP bigwigs willing to catch COVID-19 and die to please Dear Leader, and hundreds of thousands of regular folks willing to do the same. And he himself is willing to get sick and die to preserve the illusions of strength and vigor that are foundational to his personal myth.
No progress on the stimulus bill because Democrats insist in bailing out poorly run cities.But the vote on Scotus looks likely...
Yeah, right. South Orange public employees had to agree to forego an annual 2% wage increase for the next two years because Trump and the Republicans wouldn't give any money to the states or local governments to help with police, firefighters, public works employees, etc. We were able to retain all employees but had to make severe other cuts in capital projects, etc.
The choice was to either agree to the freeze or there would have had to be layoffs.
No progress on the stimulus bill because Democrats insist in bailing out poorly run cities.But the vote on Scotus looks likely...
********. All of these cities were doing fine financially before they were hit with the #Trumpvirus.
"South Orange is facing a $1.5M-plus shortfall in municipal revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, and is asking municipal workers to forgo pay increases — plus making across the board cuts to capital projects and township programs."
Does anyone know when Barrett's family was last tested? There was a lot of family members in attendance, and there's no clear science as to how long asymptomatic people are contagious.
No progress on the stimulus bill because Democrats insist in bailing out poorly run cities.But the vote on Scotus looks likely...
********. All of these cities were doing fine financially before they were hit with the #Trumpvirus.
Before the pandemic, NYC bonds were rated one-notch below AAA, the best in class.
"Negative outlooks by Moody's Investors Service against New York City and New York State — reeling from the COVID-19 crisis and stretched to their limits — have also put the two in the crosshairs of the capital markets as well.
Similar rating actions against beleaguered states and cities nationwide could follow.
Moody's late Wednesday revised its outlooks on both the state and the city to negative from stable, citing the severe strain from the pandemic. Moody's outlook is also negative on state enhanced ratings and most state intercept programs.
“The combined credit effects of these developments are unprecedented," Moody's said in a statement."
On a side note, I am having trouble understanding those who allege anti-Catholicism of Barrett critics, when the same critics are strong supporters of Biden & Pelosi.
On a side note, I am having trouble understanding those who allege anti-Catholicism of Barrett critics, when the same critics are strong supporters of Biden & Pelosi.
Two thoughts:
1. As the article, and other sources of information show, "People of Praise" is not a "Catholic" group. It is a group which apparently consists of mostly Catholics.
2. If "People of Praise" was called "Submissive Believers" and consisted mostly of Muslims, Judge Barrett probably wouldn't even be Judge Barrett.
She served from 2015 to 2017 on the board of Trinity School, the private school of 250 students in South Bend that some of her children attend and that was started by and remains closely linked to the People of Praise.
In 2014, the board of trustees of Trinity Schools Incorporated, which also runs two other schools, adopted a policy not to accept children of unmarried couples. Indiana was then in the middle of an intense legal battle to overturn its ban on same-sex marriage.
Jon Balsbaugh, the organization’s president, said the school’s position then and now was that marriage should be between a man and woman, and ex-Trinity staff members said the admissions policy effectively excluded students of gay parents. Mr. Balsbaugh said the policy was not mentioned in minutes of board meetings that Ms. Barrett had attended, but ex-staff members said it was enforced during her tenure. A person involved in the confirmation process said she did not participate in creating the policy.
She was on the Board of Trustees. She was just as responsible for the policy as any other Trustee, no matter when it was first adopted. She should be asked about this.
1. As the article, and other sources of information show, "People of Praise" is not a "Catholic" group. It is a group which apparently consists of mostly Catholics.
2. If "People of Praise" was called "Submissive Believers" and consisted mostly of Muslims, Judge Barrett probably wouldn't even be Judge Barrett.
If she were an "ordinary" Muslim there are plenty of Republicans, probably including Trump, who would see that as a bar to her appointment.
Judge Barrett will be seated, and the conservatives will think they pulled one off. But I think this may come back to hurt them, because they pretty much made the SCOTUS a clear partisan arm of government, and it was never supposed to be that way. So since they won't back down, why should we? I think the american people will understand why changes will have to be made (court packing or other), because the stakes are so high. Conservatives will scream bloody murder, but I don't think we"ll get real electoral blowback over it. I really don't. So if luck would have it that we win the WH and the Senate: let's pack that court as quickly as we can, and finish the work conservatives have started. Another US government body flushed down the drain, compliments of your conservative minority.
So if luck would have it that we win the WH and the Senate: let's pack that court as quickly as we can, and finish the work conservatives have started.
To expand the court, a Democratic-led Senate would first need to change its rules to end the filibuster for legislation. What do you think is the strongest argument against ending the filibuster, and then what’s your counterargument?
So if luck would have it that we win the WH and the Senate: let's pack that court as quickly as we can, and finish the work conservatives have started.
To expand the court, a Democratic-led Senate would first need to change its rules to end the filibuster for legislation. What do you think is the strongest argument against ending the filibuster, and then what’s your counterargument?
Not addressed to me, but I think the strongest argument for ending the filibuster is that the party that wins political control ought to have the power to enact what they ran on, and be rewarded or punished accordingly. IOW, democratic accountability.
The argument against is that the Senate does not guarantee that the party with the most votes actually wins the most seats, which undermines the concept of democratic accountability. Given the persistent Republican tilt of the Senate, and their status for the foreseeable future as an anti-majoritarian political party, removing the filibuster could mean making the lack of democratic accountability worse rather than better.
But over time that's felt like a weaker argument to me -- it seems then that what's really needed is not to preserve the filibuster, but to fix the problem of malapportionment in the Senate. Adding PR and DC as states wouldn't completely fix this, but would narrow the gap. Beyond that, I'm not sure what other options short of constitutional amendment exist.
Also, American citizens deserve full representation, senate power politics aside.
Then there’s an argument that democratic accountability to a plus-one majority in the Senate every two years could create instability in our laws, and that it’s a rather blunt accountability, calibrated more to voters’ party allegiance than to their support for or oppostion to any particular bill or policy. Worth another counter?
There is no "liberal bias against Catholics", and that article definitely doesn't prove that case.
No more fake news, especially in election season.