






~E
This is an unusual editorial from Spirit Daily, a religious (Catholic) website, so it should be heeded.

From “Prepping For Civil War?,” Spirit Daily, October 5, 2021:
We have warned about it for years, but now the signs — the tocsins — grow louder.
The United States is cleft, split at the seems, with hardcore “liberal” factions hardening (and aggressive, for they are currently in power) and hardcore “conservative” factions hardening, vowing as never before to resist the progressive agenda.
If you don’t think there can be an armed rebellion, consider the transpiring of January 6 and the fact that there are nearly four hundred million guns in the U.S. in private hands.
Consider also the proclivity for riots and looting, as occurred after George Floyd.
Religious freedom. Gun rights. Racism. Big Tech. Income inequality. Homosexual “rights.”
Once more, however, there is a central, sharply defined, and seemingly irreconcilable issue.
Just as slavery was the cleave during the First Civil War, abortion is the cutting edge, the Mason-Dickson line, of a second one.
A recent poll conducted by the Center for Politics found that “significant numbers of both Trump and Biden voters show a willingness to consider violating democratic tendencies and norms if needed to serve their priorities. Roughly two in ten Trump and Biden voters strongly agree it would be better if a ‘President could take needed actions without being constrained by Congress or courts,’ and roughly four in ten (41%) of Biden and half (52%) of Trump voters at least somewhat agree that it’s time to split the country, favoring blue/red states seceding from the union.”
There are other issues. There is the border. There’s education. There is alleged police brutality. There is euthanasia — which is every bit as evil as abortion (as is genetic manipulation and cloning). There are pandemic mandates and the vaccine issue. There is the widening gap between rich and poor (in New York there are about 8,300 people “worth” more than $30 million, and a million “worth” more than $1,000,000). (Watch for an uprising against the rich.)
Every single turn in national events has two opposing — and sometimes alternate — realities. We don’t even live in the same news cycle any longer….
But the single most defining issue remains abortion, and here, like slavery, there is no middle ground: one is either okay with its legality or morally repulsed by it.
A shame this is: that abortion has been so fervently embraced as a human “right,” when it has nothing to do with rights or freedom in any way whatsoever.
So it is that the killing of unborn is the new “slavery,” bringing to mind President Abraham Lincoln, who, signing a declaration on —- in 18 proclaiming a national day and repentance and fasting, used the word “chastisement” (now verboten) in describing the cause of the North-South war.
According to data from two national surveys, two years ago, “15% of self-identifying Republicans and 20% of self-identifying Democrats think the country would be better if members of the opposing party ‘just died.’” How Christian.
“We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God,” this proclamation said.
Lincoln discussed slavery throughout his second inaugural address, depicting it not only as the cause of the Civil War, but that slavery considered as an offence to God, drew God’s righteous judgement against the entire country.
The same is now true of America and abortion.
And once again, there can be roughly drawn a line between north and south (though in our time are those in both camps in all parts of the nation).
So how would a divide happen? How would secession play out? Will it be more various encampments in all parts of the nation that are on one side or another, with cyber-geography: each of the two sides coalescing over the internet (and God-forbid, social media)?
An interesting question, with as yet no ready answer.
See also Emma Green, “The Conservatives Dreading — and Preparing for — Civil War,” The Atlantic, October 1, 2021.
~E

Last night the International Space Station (ISS) was visible to the naked eye in certain parts of the US. Here in Texoma we got a glimpse of it around 8:25 PM CT. It looked like a fast-moving bright light across the sky and it traveled much faster than a commercial jet.

The ISS circles Earth every 90 minutes. It travels at about 17,500 miles per hour, which gives the crew 16 sunrises and sunsets every day! Learn more about the ISS, its crew and research activities here.
If you missed seeing it last night, you’ll may still have a chance to see it over the next couple days, depending upon where you live. Here in Texoma we’ll be able to view it again on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
To see if the ISS will be traveling through your state, check out the Live Space Station Tracking Map here.
DCG
Nothing more invokes a smile than the sweet, sweet sound of a baby’s laugh.
Happy Tuesday!
DCG

After over two weeks of being in the hospital recovering from COVID, a bacterial infection and vascular issue, my father is finally in a skilled nursing facility to receive rehabilitation.
He recovered quite well from the Wuhan virus. It was the bacterial infection (which developed into sepsis) and the vascular issue that almost knocked him out. The vascular issue was so urgent the surgery was performed while he still had a bacterial infection.
Yet my father is now on the road to recovery! He’s in a skilled nursing facility and is already eating much better and receiving the physical and occupational therapy he’ll need to recover. They’ve already got him walking on a treadmill several times a day to help him regain his strength in his legs (where his vascular issue was a concern).
Thank you all so much for your prayers and kind words during this difficult time. I truly appreciate all your support!
DCG
This video made me weep.
And that’s why St. Bonaventure called them “creatures without sin”.
~E
Posted in animal altruism, cats, dogs, God's creation
The LORD God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him.”
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep,
he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib
that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:
“This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called ‘woman, ‘
for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.

But Jesus told them,
“Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate.”

Our Lord said, “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.”
Not “male and male,” or “female and female,” or “she-male and he-male” trangenders.
And yet, as reported by LifeSiteNews, in an airplane interview on September 15, 2021, while ruling out same-sex marriage, Pope Francis expressed his support for civil unions of homosexuals because “we are all equal.” He said: “There are laws that try to help the situations of many people who have a different sexual orientation. If they want to support a homosexual couple in life together, states have the possibility of civilly supporting them.”
Br. Martin Navarro Ob. S.A. warned that the Pope’s support for same-sex unions “is tacitly equating a same-sex union with a family.”
That is why some call Francis the anti-Pope.
May the peace and love of Jesus Christ our Lord be with you,
~E
Halloween is coming up soon which means many will be carving Jack-O-Lanterns. Save the guts from your creation as pumpkin seeds are very nutritious and tasty!
Pumpkin seeds are rich in proteins and unsaturated fats like omega-6 fatty acids. They also contain other essential vitamins and minerals, such as calcium, folate, iron, vitamin B2, and beta-carotene.
Toasting pumpkin seeds is very, very easy and there are so many ways to spice ’em up. Wash the seeds, dry them, coat in oil or butter, add spice and bake. It’s that easy!
Here’s some helpful videos to inspire you to put those seeds to good use in your diet:
DCG
This is such a sweet story.
A couple in Slovenia, Ales and Janja, rescued a baby sparrow.
They fed the sparrow wet cat food mixed with banana, and named her Chibi.
After Chibi grew strong enough to fly on her own, the couple released her in a garden. But Chibi knew better — she flew back to the couple.
Now, Ales and Janja take the sparrow to the beach, with Chibi perched on their shoulder.
~E