Video: Joke of the day: Obama draws the line on Obamacare

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/11/video-joke-of-day-obama-draws-line-on.html



Obama draws the line on Obamacare.  One needs to be in a position of strength to draw lines.  He may still be blocking what happened during election day.  Let's give him time to be comfortable with the new reality that he is governing a conservative nation.

It was about the dude, bro.

Not him personally, his philosophy, his politics, his praxis.


by Eric Allie

Video: And thank you dear Lord for the tea.

On this day after the elections of 2010, I thank God
that the will of the people prevailed without bloodshed,
that those in power did not cheat to keep their positions,
that the godless agenda of the current administration will be checked,
that there is hope to reverse the damaging policies that were made,
and that freedom still live in these United States.

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-this-day-after-elections-of-2010-i.html

And thank you Lord God for the tea.

by Nate Beeler

Quotes from the video:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Declaration of Independence

"If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. ... Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. ... Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade ... where I choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law, or submit to the penalty." ... Chief Joseph * Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt
(Nez Perces' Tribe); (1840-1904)

"Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ' all men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics.' When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy hypocrisy." President Lincoln (1861-65)

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." (1787)

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. " Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-68)

"The glory of this land has been its capacity for transcending the moral evils of our past. For example, the long struggle of minority citizens for equal rights, once a source of disunity and civil war, is now a point of pride for all Americans. We must never go back. There is no room for racism, anti-Semitism, or other forms of ethnic and racial hatred in this country." President Reagan (1981-89)

*****

God Bless America is generally accepted as our unofficial National Anthem.

Written by Irving Berlin, a first generation European immigrant of Jewish heritage, Berlin's simple and eloquent song was first introduced by Kate Smith during an Armistice Day radio broadcast in 1938.

Berlin gave the royalties of the song to the God Bless America Fund for redistribution to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of the USA.

On September 21, 2001, Celine Dion, a Canadian, performed the song on the TV special America: A Tribute to Heroes; a memorial show to those lost on 9/11. I have rarely heard a more heart-felt or beautiful rendition than hers.

The mix of first generation immigrant, and respectful foreigner, give tribute to our land of the brave and home of the free.

Included are memorable quotes from our country's leaders demonstrating how far we have come as a great nation ... in my humble opinion, the greatest nation! The nation that many around the world continue to dream of immigrating to - because of the very ideology we strive towards.

Not usually included is the spoken introduction to the song:
While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.

God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains To the prairies,
To the ocean white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

There are many who would destroy this place we have fought so hard to safe-guard. I have friends who live in countries where they cannot even draw a cartoon, or speak in humor or protest against their sovereigns, which has given me an even deeper appreciation for the rights and liberties we hold self evident.

Being a patriot does not mean we can't question those in authority ... in fact ... we'd be less than patriotic if we didn't. Thank God, I live in a country I can do just that.
We have traversed the bigotries and rhetoric of generations past ... and the past need be learned from as not to be repeated. It (the pain and moral evils) also need be put to rest in order that a great nation can continue to move forward with it's manifest destiny.
My heritage in America includes Cherokee, as well as British, Irish, German, Dutch and others, who immigrated here searching for liberty and the prosperity they could not find in their homelands. I am proud to be an American!

Revealing stats about blog posts

I finally got the blogger stats function to work and it was revealing. It showed what people wanted and made me think of what my blogging is about.

Top of the list is sex http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/05/theology-of-body-in-action-or-chastity.html It’s the strongest drive in humans so it is leveraged by businesses or by anyone who wants to get anything. Sex is not bad. In fact, it can be enjoyed without guilt.

Second is violence http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/06/video-muslim-justice-women-kicked.html I actually have a snuff post right here where you see a woman whacked literally with a hollowed block. It shows how a cult of so-called peace punishes the fairer sex for forgetting to feed a goat – at least that’s what was noted. I showed it to expose the lies about Islam; because, the father of lies is the devil. And in spiritual warfare, truth is the first casualty. I am not about to become a silent conspirator.

Third is abortion ads that made it through the media because of a technicality i.e. being part of a campaign http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/10/videos-dc-candidate-missy-smiths-ads-is.html I guess it is because the person is a public figure who had an abortion and regretted it. Perhaps, the viewers identified with her and saw what monstrosity this choice was all about – specially after seeing the babies. (Warning – the ad is graphic.)

Fourth is a social Venn diagram based on emotional dysfunction, intelligence, social ineptitude & possessiveness http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/01/social-venn-diagram-based-on-emotiional.html I guess people are interested about themselves naturally. Dale Carnegie wrote, “Talk to a man about himself and he will listen forever.”

The rest are tied: http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/07/revealing-patterns-of-behavior-by.html and most importantly http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/04/leave-islam-safely.html It is again about Islam – how it systematically enslaves and how to leave it.

Video: During election day, more fraud reported in NV, MN, KS & MO. Need 0 tolerance.

If video fails, go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2010/11/video-during-election-day-more-fraud.html

After this elections, if the rightful winners make it, those who engaged in fraud need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law i.e. $10,000 fine & 3 years in jail.  We need to ensure that the American electoral process become a model for the world so there should be zero tolerance for fraud.  Also, we need to set the tone for 2012 otherwise the unions will just be encouraged to carry on.



HT to GatewayPundit

The sweetness of pain

St. Gianna Molla

I don't know any culture that relishes pain in any way, shape or form other than a subculture of S&M. But that is ill. Normal folks avoid pain and relieves it ASAP; just watch the TV ads and tally how many are pills for tummy aches or head aches or muscles aches are being promoted. I would suspect that the epidemic of obesity and sexual addictions is tied to this. People are not as gluttonous or promiscuous as much they are hurting. And food becomes an acceptable source of comfort - hence the term "comfort foods". It is certainly more virtuous and socially acceptable than booze, dope or sexual abuse.

There is another way to deal to accept pain that is not in a form of sexual deviance. It can be seen as part of the strain and rigor to achieve physical stamina. "Feel the pain" the trainers say like it's a good thing. Well it is because it is the price to pay for muscle tone and a sexier bod. In social circles, pain can be used as initiation. Remember boot camp or a training program. Pain for the sake of pain gains a Stoic value - a virtue of the ancient Greco-Roman culture of conquest and supremacy where people don't flinch even when their arm is burned because they're just as tough as nails. That same thinking goes into gang, frat or military initiations.

But if your not out there earning your wings, shield or stripes, then how does pain make sense - specially in these days of unemployment or underemployment, of infidelities and ingratitude, of illness and old age. Christian spirituality looks at it as a source of purification and penance. Penance is like punishment for sins and purification is like cleaning from imperfections. One needs to be perfect to be united with God. So, these hard times can be ways and means to prepare for heaven. Otherwise, one will have to do it in Purgatory where one has really no choice but to wait it out until it over.

This is what St. John of the Cross talks about in his classic "The Dark Night of the Soul". Here there are no consolations or good feelings from loving God. It is just raw and rancid, bitter and vile as shown in the lives of almost all the saints when they were at their lowest point. Some had happy endings like St. John Bosco who found the Pinardi shed to become the oratory or playground for his homeless youth. Others lingered in this yucky state for the rest of their lives but remaining faithful to God all the time e.g. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta - quite possibly.

Most if not everyone goes through crappy times. It feels like God has left us such that we cry with the Lord hanging on the cross, "My God, my God why have you left me?" The difference is in the love. Saints feel like hell but they accept the pain with love as an expiation for their sins and for the sins of others. Those who are not yet saints resent the pain saying, "Why me? What have I done to deserve this?"  Then they go to the 5 stages as mapped by Kubler-Ross - if they don't get stuck.

In the old school of virtues there are the advanced forms of humility namely: effacement and abnegation. Effacement means erasing your face. You don't care about the credit. You are not offended when others forget or ignore you. You have no face i.e. you no longer live, but Jesus lives in you. (Galatians 2:20) Then there is the humility of abnegation or deprecation where you see yourself for who you really are - a sinner, an imperfect selfish man, someone who spent his life for his own pleasure, greed, envy, avarice, power, praise, honors and the like. Someone who is not as loving as the incarnate Son of God. When one sees this and acknowledges it, then one accepts the bad things as just punishments and does so with love.

That is why saints are always cheerful. They feel joy in the midst of tribulations and sufferings because of this mindset. This is why the Lord taught that when we fast, we should not look glum. The same is when we're going through excruciating times. We need to embrace those times as moments of growth in holiness. Growth in holiness doesn't mean we're flying a little higher in the next level but it means loving truly i.e. loving even when it hurts. For the measure of love is love without measure and the limit of love is love without limits.  Only when we have learned to love that way are we ready to join the family of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in their perfect communion of love.

So, feel and relish the pain as the best act of love that you can give. If you need a model, just glance at the nearest crucifix - if you don't carry one around.

Bl. Teresa of Culcatta

The soul you help out of Purgatory can be someone you love

From the Handbook of Indulgences


Visiting a Church or an Oratory on All Souls Day

A plenary (“full”) indulgence, which is applicable only to the souls in Purgatory is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly visit a church or an oratory on (November 2nd,) All Souls Day.

Will you not, for love, try today to gain this indulgence?

Requirements for Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence on All Souls Day (Nov. 2nd)

Visit a church and pray for souls in Purgatory

Say one “Our Father” and the “Creed” in the visit to the church

Say one “Our Father” and one “Hail Mary” for the Holy Father’s intentions

Worthily receive Holy Communion (ideally on the same day if you can get to Mass)

Make a sacramental confession within a week of All Souls Day

For a plenary indulgence be free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin (otherwise, the indulgence is partial, not plenary, “full”).

copied from WDTPRS