December 26, 2021

To the lovelorn, and the lost, and the suffering, and the lonely during this holiday season,

(DUer Redstone passed away ten years ago, but I still remember this essay he used to post around this time each year. I am resharing it in his memory so that anyone who needs hope and inspiration can find it in his words. - FireUpChips10)

To the lovelorn, and the lost, and the suffering, and the lonely during this holiday season,

listen to me now:

Although you may feel that you have nothing, trust me that we all of us, including you, do have something if we only look to find it; and keep that thought in your heart to cheer you through these days and the days to come.

Whatever your situation, you still can have faith. Faith not perhaps in the religious sense, but rather in the confidence that the characteristics of the good that you possess, whether it be empathy for others, a commitment to better the world, or just the fact that you've made another person's life a little bit better by being there; this faith can sustain you.

And yet more important, you can find hope, and hope will never abandon you if you allow it to live in your heart. Hope will sustain you through the dark days and years, and will reward you in the end for keeping it quietly within you. Have hope, and you will persevere. Have hope, and your perseverance will be its own reward. No matter the final outcome, you will be the better for having persevered; the struggle is engendered with its own nobility and worth.

Charity, much like faith and hope, rewards and honors both the giver and the recipient. If you feel that your life is not as it should be, do please sacrifice just one day to volunteer in a soup kitchen. The gratitude expressed by those who are genuinely less fortunate than you, unless you are of granite heart, will provide an invaluable lesson in perspective.

And if you are so unfortunate that you find yourself in the necessity of being a client at a soup kitchen, note the generosity of the volunteers who do not go to work there for any profit to themselves, but rather out of a genuine desire to make some small part of your life better, for only one simple reason: Because they care. Make a vow then, if you will, that when your station in life rises above its current level, that you will pass their generosity along to others who may then be where you were today, there in that soup kitchen.

Faith and hope are nutrition for the soul, and charity is its own reward.

If you wonder why I write this tonight, it's this: Whoever you are, I have been you.

I have known poverty. I remember the taste of Government Surplus food. I have known the shame of walking to school in the morning, knowing that my patched and mended clothes would be noticed and remarked upon. I have known adult poverty as well, hoping that the fifty dollars I squirreled away for my son's Christmas presents would be enough that he'd be happy on Christmas morning.

I have worked the crappy, dead-end jobs: Driven the taxi, endured the 100-degree temperature while nailing shingles to the roof, sweated in the cardboard-box factory for small wages and less respect.

I have known pain and sickness, being at the very brink of death at the ages of fourteen, nineteen, and again at twenty-four; each time with the calm acceptance of the inevitable followed by the amazement of survival. And the shadows of those events stalk me even now, so long after. To this day, my first awareness each morning upon awakening, and my last awareness each night upon falling asleep, is of pain. And that will never change. Ever.

I have known heartache, losing loved ones far too early, surviving an inadvisable marriage to a woman afflicted with mental illnesses which she would not even acknowledge, much less seek treatment for, and bore the brunt every day of her rage and incapacity for rational thought. I took the beatings for over four years, for the sake of my son, and went through a hideous divorce that depleted every financial resource I had built, including every cent of my retirement account, to ensure that my son would not have to suffer his mother's madness further as he grew up.

I tell you this not to ask for sympathy, because I deserve none. I have a wonderful life now, and nothing to complain about. I am, truly, one of the fortunate ones, and not a single day passes that I do not remind myself of that. Rather, I tell you these true stories so you may understand that it is the truth when I say, I have been you.

I have been where you are, there on the brink of despair.

But I had faith.

I never lost hope.

And on those Thanksgiving and Christmas days when I was alone and missing my son and the rest of my family, I worked at the soup kitchen, and returned home more content than I would have been if I had spent the day in self-pity. Charity healed me, in the giving of it.

So listen to me, please, because I've been where you are: Have faith. Do not give up hope.

If depression wraps you in its malignant cloak, yell for help and do it now. Depression is not anything to be ashamed of; if your knee hurt, you'd go to the knee doctor, wouldn't you? So if your mind is in pain, visit someone who knows about helping people's minds feel better. Please.

And, in the end, no matter how lonely you may feel, remember this: Because you are a DUer, you are never alone.

You're one of us.

Your participation makes you a part of this wonderful community, and somebody will be here for you whenever you need someone to be. Trust me on this. I have not the slightest doubt that, were I in need, even the DUers with whom I have had the most bitter disagreements would rush to my aid.

I believe this. I do. Because I've seen it happen here.

If even one of you finds even a small comfort from this post, I will consider the words to have been well worth writing.

Do not lose faith. Have hope. Give charity if you can, or accept it if you need.

And above all, be at peace. With yourself most of all, and with the world as well, as much as you can.

That's my holiday wish for all.

Redstone

September 26, 2021

Angry, Vaccinated Americans May Power Democratic Surge In 2021

September 26, 2021

Guidelines on who should get Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine booster shots

September 6, 2021

Admirers still urging sainthood for chaplain killed on 9/11 (Fr. Mychal Judge)

Some of his many admirers point to Judge — a gay man who devoted himself to ministering to vulnerable populations such as the homeless or people with HIV/AIDS — as a reason for the U.S. Catholic Church to be more welcoming to LGBTQ people.

And some argue passionately that Judge should be considered for sainthood, with a new initiative to be launched in the coming days. Though Judge’s religious order has not embraced that cause, a Rome-based priest who helps the Vatican investigate possible candidates for canonization is urging Judge’s supporters not to give up the effort.

Judge died in the line of duty two decades ago after hurrying with firefighter colleagues to the burning World Trade Center. As he prayed in the north tower’s lobby for the rescuers and victims, the 68-year-old priest was crushed by debris from the falling south tower.

“Mychal Judge shows us that you can be gay and holy,” said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who advocates for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the church.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/national/admirers-still-urging-sainthood-for-chaplain-killed-on-9-11/

July 30, 2021

"How much of that shitty deal did you sell to your clients?" - Sen. Carl Levin (1934-2021)

July 6, 2021

Inuk leader Mary Simon named first Indigenous Governor-General of Canada

Mary Simon, an Inuk woman and experienced leader, has been appointed the new Governor-General of Canada – the first Indigenous person to serve as the Queen’s representative.

Ms. Simon is assuming the role at a time when the country is particularly focused on the issue of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, after multiple recent discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential schools. For more than 120 years the institutions housed Indigenous children who had been being forcibly removed from their homes, subjecting them to religious instruction and harsh treatment in order to eradicate their languages and cultures, as documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

At the announcement of her appointment in Gatineau, Que., Tuesday, Ms. Simon said that, as an Indigenous person, she understands “that there is pain and suffering across our nation.

“We need to stop to fully recognize and memorialize and come to terms with the atrocities of our collective past that we are learning more about each day,” she said. “But when I was asked whether I would take on this important role, I was very excited and I felt that this was a position that would help Canadians together with Indigenous peoples.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-inuit-leader-mary-simon-named-first-indigenous-governor-general-of/?fbclid=IwAR0_av-mCQb2Jyjb9v4BxzG-gcISQliNBwd4dPymNcjzMtBAjRnk_mDdXyo

June 29, 2021

Voicing 'affection' for Americans, Francis meets US Secretary of State Blinken

The pontiff accorded U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken a substantial chunk of time, especially in view of a government official who isn't a national leader.

The audience in the Apostolic Palace "played out in a cordial atmosphere," a Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said. "It lasted about 40 minutes, and it was for the pope, the occasion to recall his 2015 visit and to express his affection and his attention to the people of the United States of America."

...

Earlier at the Vatican, Blinken on Monday received VIP treatment, getting a private tour of the Sistine Chapel before he sat down for closed-door talks with Francis.

Blinken was the first high-level official of Biden's administration to have a private audience with the pontiff.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/voicing-affection-americans-francis-meets-us-secretary-state-blinken?fbclid=IwAR19uJ5E7alhOkeWAwqhi5mSyAD0fQET-WYoWwOXmREgg8ELOWKw6sBRz0k

June 19, 2021

FLOTUS: Champ has died

https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1406273372309397511

April 14, 2021

Reminder: Estimated taxes are still due tomorrow. The May 17 deadline only applies to 2020 returns.

While the IRS and many states recently postponed the tax filing deadline to May 17, that only applies to 2020 tax returns.

Your 2021 first-quarter tax payment is still due tomorrow, April 15.

There's a lot more detailed info on the IRS website, but you can avoid estimated tax penalties in one of two ways:

1. Figure out your total tax for 2021, divide it by four, and give the IRS at least 90% of that amount. The caveat is that if you only pay 90% of your estimated taxes, you'll probably still owe something when you file next year.

2. Figure out your total tax for 2020 (line 24 of your 1040) and give the IRS 1/4 of that amount. The caveat here is that your 2021 and 2020 taxes might be quite a bit different; if this year's tax is higher, then you could still be in for a big bill when you file your 2021 return next spring (on top of your estimated payment for Q1 2022).

You might find form 1040-ES helpful, but it's not required.

If your employer, pension administrator, broker, etc. withheld federal income taxes between January 1 and March 31, then that counts toward your Q1 payment (only your federal withholding - not your Social Security or Medicare withholdings).

State estimated taxes are another story altogether.

February 6, 2021

Pope Francis appoints a woman with the right to vote as undersecretary of the synod of bishops

Breaking with tradition and opening a new door in the synodal process, Pope Francis has appointed a woman, Nathalie Becquart, a member of the Xavière Sisters, Missionaries of Jesus Christ, in France, as one of two new undersecretaries of the synod of bishops. As such, she will have the right to vote in the synod. It is the first time this right has been given to a woman in the synod and raises the prospect that the right could be extended to other women participants at future synods.

Some have questioned whether Sister Nathalie will have the right to vote in the synod, but sources contacted by America point to two reasons for confirming this. First, the apostolic constitution “Episcopalis Communio,” promulgated by Pope Francis on Sept. 15, 2018, states, “The General Secretary and the Undersecretary are appointed by the Roman Pontiff and are members of the Synod Assembly” (Art. 22, No. 3). The members have the right to vote. Second, in an interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the synod, speaks in Italian of her “possibilità di partecipare con diritto di voto,” which properly translated to English means “she can participate with the right to vote.”
As the other undersecretary of the synod, Pope Francis appointed a Spanish priest, Luis Marín de San Martín, O.S.A., the assistant general of the Augustinian order, and nominated him bishop.

Pope Francis’ nomination of Sister Nathalie to this position is another affirmation of his determination to appoint women to senior positions in the Vatican that do not require priestly ordination. Commenting on this appointment, Cardinal Grech recalled that “during the last synods numerous synodal fathers emphasized the need that the entire Church reflect on the place and role of women within the Church.” He said Pope Francis has frequently “highlighted the importance that women be more involved in the processes of discernment and decision making in the Church” and has increased the number of women participating as experts or auditors in the synods.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/02/06/pope-francis-women-synod-voting-nathalie-becquart-239941?fbclid=IwAR0z9sF1gWEF-hJf6s11SLmUOk74d7tLDLmeCuJSanl_UuaBUejN7f9bieQ