Pope Leo

From PBS ...



Jesuit Thomas Reese is part of the discussion. I've posted about him often in the past.

The war crimes president

Trump Again Threatens to Bomb Iran's Power Plants if Strait of Hormuz Isn't Reopened

President Donald Trump issued an expletive-laden threat to bomb Iran’s civilian power plants and bridges if it did not meet a new deadline of Tuesday to open the Strait of Hormuz.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F--kin’ Strait, you crazy b-stards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. He signed off the message: “Praise be to Allah.” ...

Under international humanitarian law, attacks on objects “indispensable to the survival of the civilian population” are prohibited and may constitute war crimes. The law also stipulates that collateral civilian harm from strikes not be "excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated."

The destruction of power plants could lead to widespread blackouts and impact hospitals, water treatment facilities and food supply chains.

So this is what Republicans signed up for? The US being another version of Russia? Attacking sovereign countries, committing war crimes on their citizens, and stealing their natural resources?

We are the bad guys now.

Happy Easter

Me when I spot another egg during the egg hunt..🐰✨

📸: Michael J. Cohen#easter #HappyEaster #bunnies pic.twitter.com/eAaIotNyAN

— Animal Planet (@AnimalPlanet) April 5, 2026

Good Friday

Supernatural Love

- Gjertrud Schnackenberg

My father at the dictionary stand
Touches the page to fully understand
The lamplit answer, tilting in his hand

His slowly scanning magnifying lens,
A blurry, glistening circle he suspends
Above the word 'Carnation'. Then he bends

So near his eyes are magnified and blurred,
One finger on the miniature word,
As if he touched a single key and heard

A distant, plucked, infinitesimal string,
"The obligation due to every thing
That's smaller than the universe." I bring

My sewing needle close enough that I
Can watch my father through the needle's eye,
As through a lens ground for a butterfly

Who peers down flower-hallways toward a room
Shadowed and fathomed as this study's gloom
Where, as a scholar bends above a tomb

To read what's buried there, he bends to pore
Over the Latin blossom. I am four,
I spill my pins and needles on the floor

Trying to stitch "Beloved" X by X.
My dangerous, bright needle's point connects
Myself illiterate to this perfect text

I cannot read. My father puzzles why
It is my habit to identify
Carnations as "Christ's flowers", knowing I

Can give no explanation but "Because."
Word-roots blossom in speechless messages
The way the thread behind my sampler does

Where following each X, I awkward move
My needle through the word whose root is love.
He reads, "A pink variety of Clove,

Carnatio, the Latin, meaning flesh."
As if the bud's essential oils brush
Christ's fragrance through the room, the iron-fresh

Odor carnations have floats up to me,
A drifted, secret, bitter ecstasy,
The stems squeak in my scissors, Child, it's me,

He turns the page to "Clove" and reads aloud:
"The clove, a spice, dried from a flower-bud."
Then twice, as if he hasn't understood,

He reads, "From French, for clou, meaning a nail."
He gazes, motionless,"Meaning a nail."
The incarnation blossoms, flesh and nail,

I twist my threads like stems into a knot
And smooth "Beloved", but my needle caught
Within the threads, Thy blood so dearly bought,

The needle strikes my finger to the bone.
I lift my hand, it is myself I've sewn,
The flesh laid bare, the threads of blood my own,

I lift my hand in startled agony
And call upon his name, "Daddy Daddy" -
My father's hand touches the injury

As lightly as he touched the page before,
Where incarnation bloomed from roots that bore
The flowers I called Christ's when I was four.

Is Iran winning the war?

Really interesting talk between Ezra Klein and Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution about the war with Iran. It looks like things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

The bunker

The bunker? As in Hitler? Nope. As in Trump.

In The New York Times today ...

What to Know About the 'Massive' Military Bunker Beneath Trump's Ballroom

[...] Speaking on Sunday to reporters on Air Force One, Mr. Trump said that he envisioned his 90,000-square-foot ballroom as a "shed" for the underground project.

"The military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, and that's under construction, and we're doing very well," Mr. Trump said.

In Mr. Trump's telling, the bunker will have bomb shelters and "very major medical facilities," including a hospital. It will have the latest secure communication methods and defenses against bioweapons.

He said the ballroom would protect the underground facility from drones, bullets and other attacks. "It's high-grade bulletproof glass. So all of the windows are bulletproof," Mr. Trump said ...

The story goes on to mention the judge's ruling that construction must stop until Congress weighs in on it, but Trump is appealing, and has said construction must continue for reasons of safety - the Secret Service has filed documents with the court pushing for this. Unclear what the judge will decide.

When asked about the military's role in the construction and who's going to pay for all this, the White House has refused to give more information.

So, from whom is this bunker meant to protect Trump and his henchpeople?

Andy Gibb

Look, Andy Gibb, youngest brother of the Bee Gees, who died at age 30. This song was co-written by his brother Barry, as many of his songs were ... Barry is one of the most prolific songwriters of his time (1,000 +). I never paid attention to Andy back in the day, but coming upon this video tonight, I can see why he appealed to people.

Andy Gibb - Shadow Dancing - 1978pic.twitter.com/GeDUr9uI2J

— Vinyl Records🎱✝️🇧🇷👪🗽 (@j_c_domingues) February 26, 2026

But this is the song of his I like the best, also written by his brother Barry ...

America

Sister Golden Hair - America pic.twitter.com/hjhe5nOn2u

— Vintage Rock 🎸 (@VintageRockN_85) March 24, 2026

The speech

Watched the speech Trump gave on the war.

He threatened to bomb Iran's civilian infrastructure - war crime.

And he said we had "decimated" them, an ancient Roman term that means killing one of every 10 people - have we done that? Apparently, we're also going to "bomb them back to the stone age" and "eviscerate" them. Geez.

Trump aslo said that high gas prices in the US have nothing to do with the war (untrue).

There was more, but you get the idea. If this speech was meant to change public perception of the war, I don't think it will be sucessful.

More on the Library

More on the proposed Trump Library, from The Bulwark ...

Delusions of grandeur

Trump shares renderings of a towering presidential library



This is just wrong.

Holy Week

So what was Jesus up to in the week between Palm Sunday and Easter? According to the gospels he did a lot, including cleansing the temple, speaking to the disciples on the Mount of Olives, visiting Simon the Leper, and helping a woman who had committed adultery.



From the film Jesus, 1999, which starred Jeremy Sisto.

What about North Korea?

North Korean ballistic missile

In the news today ...

North Korea tests missile that it claims can target U.S. mainland

So, a country, a communist country run by a brutal dictator, a country with nuclear weapons, a country that is constantly threatening our allies of South Korea and Japan - that country now has made a point of letting the world know they have missiles that can reach the US.

So, doesn't that scenario check pretty much all the boxes that caused the US to attack Iran? Why are the Republicans not going on about freeing the North Koreanss, saving the world from this terrible nuclear threat? When do we go to war?

Or is it not likely because they have no oil to take, unlike in Venezuela and in Iran? Because our leader and their leader are "in love"? Because it wouldn't be an easy win?

Palm Sunday

Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday rejected claims that God justifies war and prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square ...

This comes after Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth called for ...

"overwhelming violence of action" against those who "deserve no mercy" during a monthly Christian service held at the Pentagon on March 25, a day after he announced major changes to the military's chaplaincy corps.

Speaking to military and civilian employees at the livestreamed service, Hegseth quoted Scripture and read a prayer he said was first offered by a military chaplain during a past U.S. operation. The prayer asked God to "let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation." ...

The Right - have they ever actually read the NT?



Movie clip from the film The Gospel of John, 2003, starring Henry Ian Cusick. The film gives a word for word account of John's gospel.

A great achievement?

Eight (or ten) tankers safely through the Starit.

Even given that Iran already said it would let non-combatants of the war through the Strait without problem?

Before the war, everyone could use the Strait of Hormuz safely.

Jason Bordoff

Ezra Klein talks to Jason Bordoff, an American energy policy expert, and a researcher specializing in the intersection of economics, energy, environment, and national security, about the war between Iran and the US/Israel and the remifications.

Negotiations?

More detailed information from The Times of Israel's daily briefing on what's going on with the supposed negotiations between Iran and the US that Trump announced the other day.

Amos Hochstein

Amos Hochstein was on Lawrence O'Donnell's show tonight. He's a former diplomat and energy advisor to President Biden who I noticed when the war between Israel and Hamas started after the October 7 2023 attack. He was chosen by Biden to negotiate between Hezbollah, who had joined the war on Oct 8, and Israel. I was struck back then by how competent he seemed. From Wikipedia ...

During the Israel–Hezbollah conflict, Hochstein made multiple trips to Lebanon as a special U.S. envoy in order to negotiate a resolution to the conflict. His strategy was to push Hezbollah to pressure Hamas into accepting a ceasefire agreement to end the Gaza war. In the case Israel and Hamas were to reach such a deal, Hezbollah had promised to in turn end its attacks on Israel.

- Hochstein with Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Brett McGurk and Jonathan Finer on July 25, 2024

America

"Ventura Highway" = the sound of freedom on endless summer highwayspic.twitter.com/8pDDVELvdn

— Music and Lyrics! 🎙️🎵🎸🎼🎹🤘 (@somethingrand77) March 23, 2026

Cuba

Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.

Of course he can. First Venezuela, then Iran, next Cuba, and perhaps Greehland - it's only the beginning. God help us :(

RIP: Robert Mueller

Something more ...

- A young Robert Mueller, who joined the Marine Corps in 1968, during the Vietnam war ...

In the summer of 1968, he was sent to South Vietnam, where he served as a rifle platoon leader as a second lieutenant with Second Platoon, H Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. On December 11, 1968, during an engagement in Operation Scotland II, he earned the Bronze Star with "V" device for combat valor for rescuing a wounded Marine under enemy fire during an ambush in which he saw half of his platoon become casualties. In April 1969, he received an enemy gunshot wound in the thigh, recovered, and returned to lead his platoon until June 1969. For his service in and during the Vietnam War, his military decorations and awards included additionally, the Purple Heart, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals with Combat "V", Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with four service stars, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and Parachutist Badge ...

There is so much more of Mueller's service to the US after he was in the military, but I just wanted to mention this contribution at the beginning of his career. He was a brave and selfless person.

Here's what the president, who managed to evade military service during the Vietnam war, had to say upon hearing of Mueller's death ... ‘Good, I’m glad he’s dead’

Bernie and Claude

Senator Bernie Sanders talks to Anthropic’s AI agent, Claude. Why did it choose that particular voice, I wonder? Think how different the conversation would be if Claude sounded like Darth Vader, or even worse, like HAL 9000.

RIP: Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris, martial arts master and actor whose toughness became internet lore, dies at 86

So sad to read today that Chuck Norris has passed away. I know that in recent years he has become quite a political conservative, but when I first came to know of him, he was not about politics, just martial arts and films.

My sister and I were fans of martial arts movies back in the 70s and 80s, and we first saw Chuck in one of Bruce Lee's films - The Way of the Dragon. It was his second movie role, and he was the bad guy, but he made an impression, perhaps because he really was a martial artist who had won championships in karate. Here's a clip from the movie, where they are fighting in the Colosseum in Rome (which has a lot of stray cats) ...



He went on to do a lot of other movies in which he showed off his fighting skills, like Good Guys Wear Black (1978), but the one I especially remember was The Octagon in 1980 ...



Not saying the storyline and acting were exceptional but I did like the fight scenes ...



It was around this time that I joined a martial arts school (I got my mom to join with me), where I ended up meeting my future ex-husband, one of the school's best students. Here's me at the dojo ...

At that time I read a book by Chuck that had some good visualization techniques ... Winning Tournament Karate.

After I got divorced and left the martial arts school where I'd spent 5 years of my life, I lost track of Chuck's films and his later political interests. But I always will like him and remember the happiness his films and martial arts skills added to my life.

Godspeed, Chuck.

Yoda

Here's Yoda. She's not very happy. The fleas are starting to bite and she's been over-grooming. It's very hard to sneak up on her and sqeeze the little tube of flea-killer slime onto the back of her neck before she notices me. Maybe today.

Today is ...

Bam-boo yah, it’s #NationalPandaDay pic.twitter.com/xHc9c7116R

— San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (@sandiegozoo) March 16, 2026

And also Saint Patrick's Day :)