Open Thread – December 2023

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391 Responses to Open Thread – December 2023

  1. mh says:

    Haaretz

    Israeli soldier killed in the north from rockets from Lebanon, two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza


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  2. kaysee kaysee says:

    I prefer to think that we have not lost the battle against those wanting to impose the New World Order. Every day there are individuals and groups fighting against the tyranny and winning.

    Last month
    Catholic women’s college in Indiana to consider applicants that ‘identify as women’

    Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana recently declared it will consider allowing biological males to attend the university if they have a history of identifying as women….

    .

    This month
    Catholic women’s college in Indiana reverses policy change allowing applicants who ‘identify as women’

    “As this last month unfolded, we lost people’s trust and unintentionally created division where we had hoped for unity,” the letter read. “For this, we are deeply sorry.

    “Taking all these factors into consideration, the Board has decided that we will return to our previous admission policy,” the president and chairperson added.


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  3. kaysee kaysee says:

    Following from this story earlier this week, a number of priests and bishops have stated publicly that they will not be changing the teachings of the Church to comply with the Fiducia Supplicans from the Vatican.

    Two examples from the responses of many faithful shepherds in the Church.

    1/
    Msgr Charles Pope
    Message to his parishioners
    .

    2/
    Fr. Chris Alar
    Explains That We Bless the Sinner but Cannot Bless the Sin

    Per the new Church document on blessing same-sex couples (Fiducia Supplicans), Fr. Chris explains what you need to know to adhere to the tradition and teaching of the Catholic Church.


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  4. kaysee kaysee says:

    In the fast paced 24/7 media cycle, it is possible to get a bit of info and believe it is the complete account. We read it, we share it.

    Sometimes, it may be the full story, and at other times it may turn out to be just a part of what happened. Unless we dig deeper, we may not know the truth.

    Two “incidents” to explain the above.

    1/
    Last month in Ireland there were some stabbings that took place in Dublin. The story made out by the leftie media was about a Deliveroo driver who was passing by on his bike and saw the attacker. He rushed in to save the victim. According to the media, the driver, Caio Benicio, was a hero. The reason for that was not only because he helped to save but because he is a migrant (Brazilian) who rushed in while the Irish stood by and watched.

    It is difficult to find the real story but I came across a few twitter posts where it seems that though Caio did went to help there were others (Irishmen) before him. One lady posted that her husband was the first, but no one was talking about him.

    Someone set up a GoFundMe for this hero Caio and it raised nearly €370,000 (around US$407,900) from the public.

    Caio Benicio has gone home to Brazil, this month, to celebrate Christmas with his family. If you look at the photo of his family, would you wonder why he has left them to work as a food delivery driver in Ireland?

    a/
    On twitter, last month

    3 men stopped the attacker yesterday, Caio was the 3rd to get involved. But it doesn’t matter to the Irish left.

    But it doesn’t matter to the Irish left. Reality doesn’t matter to these people. He wants to romanticise immigrants and insult his own people for God knows what reason.

    b/
    Dublin stabbing hero Caio Benicio hugs family on emotional return to Brazil


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  5. kaysee kaysee says:

    2/
    This is an amusing tale from Twitter. Took place last month.

    A poster (Jeff Cassman) on twitter responded to someone posting about the early Christmas decorations they’ve put up.

    He was joking and those who got it, played along. But some picked out one of his responses, and reacted or carried it off onto other threads and raged about it.

    Jeff Cassman

    Stop defending evil. Premature celebration of Christmas is a mortal sin before Advent. During Advent it may be a lesser evil, but should still be avoided. If only the Church would get back to her traditions and actually excommunicate offenders.

    Scroll above the link to see the post he is responding to.
    Then read the responses below – in that thread and also the sub-threads – for the entertainment.


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  6. kaysee kaysee says:

    I have put the Digital ID Bill as a post. It is a very important bill and it needs to get as many responses from the public as possible.

    If I have any updates or info, I will add to that thread.


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  7. mh says:

    Jewish humour

    Keith Woods
    @KeithWoodsYT
    Most moral army in the world

    https://x.com/KeithWoodsYT/status/1737972059672613196?s=20


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  8. mh says:

    Why are so many journalists being killed in Gaza? | The Listening Post

    Al Jazeera English

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgTissWFNyI


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  9. mh says:

    Good episode

    Christmas Canceled in Bethlehem as Churches Mourn 20,000+ Palestinians Killed in Gaza

    Democracy Now!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkRlMV2JVVs


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  10. mh says:

    Haaretz

    Dec 23, 2023
    RECAP: Five Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza combat, five seriously wounded; Thousands protesting in Israel to oust Netanyahu; Red Crescent says received 70 aid trucks from Egyptian Red Cross on Friday


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  11. mh says:

    Gary Varvel toon

    The Toronto Sun apologised for publishing it because … drum roll … anti-Semitic


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  12. mh says:

    Discussed already on this blog, however these guys do some good work

    “Just Factually Wrong”: Jewish Dem Speaks The Truth About GOP ‘Anti-Semitism’ Bill

    The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xCgkzGD0A8


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  13. mh says:

    Dixie Chick, brown bread

    One of the founding members of the American, all-female, country music band the Dixie Chicks has died in a car crash.

    Laura Lynch, 65, was driving from El Paso in the US state of Texas to a neighbouring city Dell City, when the tragic accident occurred on Friday local time (Saturday AEDT), the musician’s cousin told TMZ.


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  14. kaysee kaysee says:

    Good episode

    Christmas Canceled in Bethlehem as Churches Mourn 20,000+ Palestinians Killed in Gaza

    These past 10+ weeks have been overwhelming with all the news related to the conflict. I thought I’d take a break from this Gaza war for these few days around Christmas.

    I was going to post a comment, yesterday, with the LBC clip from the deputy mayor of Jerusalem. But I decided to postpone it and will get to it this coming week.

    While Christians in the Holy Land cancel Christmas celebrations for real reasons, those in the West who have been trying to cancel Christmas, for decades, don’t mind pretending that they care about Palestine.


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  15. kaysee kaysee says:

    The Holy Land and Christmas

    Yet the birth of Jesus — Emmanuel (“God Is With Us”) — heralds the greatest miracle of all: humanity’s redemption from sin, purchased for us by Jesus’ sacrifice of himself on the cross at Calvary. For the Prince of Peace, no human turmoil can ever be too great to transcend.

    Christians in the Holy Land understand this, too.

    That’s why Christmas this year will be commemorated there in a muted way, but it will not be canceled.

    As Michele Burke Bowe, ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the Palestinian Authority, eloquently explained to Fox News, “This December will be very much like that first Christmas 2,000 years ago. No gifts, no celebrations, no fireworks or festivities — just a Babe born on a deep winter night under a bright star.”


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  16. kaysee kaysee says:

    🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕

    👼 Advent: Fourth Sunday 👼

    Fourth Candle

    .

    Veni, Veni, Emmanuel

    This Advent carol is sung here in Traditional Latin.

    In this video, if the CC (Subtitles/Captions) are not ON and if you are in a meditative mood or want the English translation, then just click the CC link.


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  17. kaysee kaysee says:

    🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕

    👼

    Ūnus
    .

    Duo
    .

    Trēs
    .


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  18. mh says:

    Haaretz | Israel News

    Israel-Hamas War Day 79 | IDF Names Eight Soldiers Killed in Gaza Combat on Saturday;


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  19. mh says:

    QLD Weather News
    No power for Christmas: Residents warned as wild storms bring 15cm hail, down trees

    Homes across Logan and parts of Brisbane could be without power on Christmas Day with authorities warning residents to think of a back-up plan after wild storms brought down powerlines and trees. Giant hail and heavy rain was also reported.


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  20. mh says:

    Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸
    @jacksonhinklle
    🚨🇵🇸🇮🇱 A relative of the two Christian women killed by an ISRAELI sniper in a church in Gaza says the world needs to know the truth, it was not a mistake they were MURDERED!

    https://x.com/jacksonhinklle/status/1738728436179591254?s=20


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  21. mh says:

    Courier Mail

    ‘Anti-Christian’: MP’s Qantas rant

    Bob Katter has accused Qantas of being anti-Christian after claiming the national air carrier snubbed traditional Christmas carols inside of one of its prestigious business class lounges.

    In a written complaint against the airline, the independent MP said he was angered to hear no holiday music with faith-based messages while sitting in a Qantas Club during a flight delay.

    “I noticed that throughout the two hours I was there, they were playing ‘Xmas’ music,” Mr Katter said.

    “Two hours of the most un-Christmassy music I’ve ever heard.

    “Over 80 per cent of Australia’s population are generational Australians, and they were brought up on Christmas Carols.

    “It would seem then, that Qantas is anti-Christian.”


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  22. mh says:

    Pro-Palestine protesters storm stage in Carols chaos

    Protesters have stormed Melbourne’s Carols by Candlelight stage mid-performance, snatching a microphone from hosts and chanting “children are dying in Gaza”.


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  23. mh says:

    SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS – MOATS with George Galloway Ep 302

    George Galloway

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CoQgWWOGac


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  24. shatterzzz says:

    “Pro-Palestine protesters storm stage in Carols chaos”

    Given this is terror related why are these protesters never charged under terrorist crime laws? ………


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  25. kaysee kaysee says:

    Given this is terror related why are these protesters never charged under terrorist crime laws? ………

    A protester has been arrested.

    Police have arrested a Pro-Palestine protester who interrupted the annual Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne on Sunday.

    A 21-year-old Brunswick woman was arrested and has been issued an infringement notice for carrying a controlled weapon while a second person was moved on by police.

    Another two protesters were denied entry to the event according to a statement from Victoria Police.

    It is a rantable topic. I’ll leave it for another day.


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  26. kaysee kaysee says:

    This editorial was written by the late Vermont Royster in 1949 and has been published in the WSJ every Christmas Eve since then, for 74 years.

    In Hoc Anno Domini – (Latin for ‘In the year of our Lord’):

    When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.

    Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so

    But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression—for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?

    There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?

    Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s.

    And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.

    So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders.

    But it came to pass for a while in diverse places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light. The voice said, Haste ye. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

    Along the road to Damascus the light shone brightly. But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. He feared that other Caesars, other prophets, might one day persuade men that man was nothing save a servant unto them, that men might yield up their birthright from God for pottage and walk no more in freedom.

    Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter’s star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness.

    And so Paul, the apostle of the Son of Man, spoke to his brethren, the Galatians, the words he would have us remember afterward in each of the years of his Lord:

    Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage

    Link to article


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  27. kaysee kaysee says:

    DocMorris

    Christmas ad

    The power of emotional advertising (the music, the imagery, the storytelling).


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  28. kaysee kaysee says:

    Neil Oliver:
    Christmas and Religion

    ‘If we forget Christmas, we forget what it means to be human’
    Neil Oliver explains why the nativity story has strong parallels to modern life.


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  29. kaysee kaysee says:

    Scrolling through twitter. Some messages:

    1/

    Dr Jay Bhattacharya
    The world is filled with great evil. But it is also filled with love and grace that will overcome the darkness.

    Merry Christmas, everyone!

    2/

    Dr Kat Lindley
    Growing up, I never got a Christmas present because Božić (Christmas) was the day we celebrated the birth of Jesus. If I was a good girl I got a present from Santa Claus on New Year’s. My first Christmas present was when I lived in Italy when I was 18. I found it to be so strange.

    These days expectations are different from when I was a child (long ago), presents under the tree, Santa Claus and all, but the meaning remains.

    Jesus is the reason for the season!

    “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

    3/
    Another had this message

    4/
    And this

    Merry Christmas everyone (say it back!)

    One of my favorite quotes to take with you into 2024:

    “Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away the solution and you get the problem back.”

    – Donald Kingsbury


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  30. kaysee kaysee says:

    🎅

    And in keeping with correctness – political, woke-wise or otherwise.

    One
    .

    Two
    .

    Three
    .


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  31. Old bloke says:

    Merry Christmas everyone, I hope that Santa has been generous to you this year.


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  32. mh says:

    Excellent geopolitical analysis from Nick Fuentes

    https://cozy.tv/nick/replays/2023-12-23


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  33. mh says:

    Welcome to Country speaker has just called the Australia v Pakistan Test “another Ashes Test”.


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  34. mh says:

    Courier Paywall

    Nightmare at Xmas: Apocalyptic storms turn deadly, destroy homes, leave 110k without power

    Severe thunderstorms that pounded South East Queensland with Category 2 cyclone-strength winds on Christmas night have turned deadly, as 110,000 homes remain without power in the Gold Coast region, and three major theme parks have been forced to close.

    ***

    The ABC as usual goes missing.


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  35. mh says:

    Scott Ritter & Larry Johnson: Yemen Exposes US, NATO Military WEAKNESS in Red Sea

    Danny Haiphong

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQKkD9eBOCI


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  36. mh says:

    Why does the Christian West ignore Palestinian Christians’ plight?

    Israel may well wipe out Christian presence in Gaza as part of its genocide, and Western leaders would not care less.

    Daoud Kuttab
    Daoud Kuttab is an award-winning Palestinian journalist.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/12/25/why-does-the-christian-west-ignore-palestinian-christians-plight


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  37. mh says:

    Haaretz

    Israel-Hamas War Day 81

    Three Soldiers Killed in Gaza, Nine Wounded in Northern Israel on Tuesday;


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  38. kaysee kaysee says:

    Christmas, the Conflict, and Palestinian Christians

    1/

    I wanted to take a break, for a few days, from posting about the Gaza conflict. So some of the links are from the last week.

    We have posted here several comments, links, clips related to Christians in Gaza and Israel. I have also commented on how many so-called Conservative blogs/sites that are also Christian are in full support of Israel and its actions.

    The only democracy in the Middle East.
    Israel has the right to defend itself.
    Israel should be supported.
    Hamas is a terrorist group.

    Anyone who is calling for a cease-fire is morally bankrupt**.

    I wonder whether all these Christians/conservatives/others are supporting Israel because their knowledge of the facts is limited?
    OR
    knowing most of the facts, they choose to blink and still support Israel?
    Maybe they follow the crowds, assuming that the crowd is right?

    (** Link to comment posted this month. See also comment above it.)


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  39. kaysee kaysee says:

    2/

    17 December
    Sniper attack-1

    This morning Israeli snipers shot and killed my two family friends in an attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza……

    .

    17 December
    Sniper attack-2

    My mother texting with my sister, describing a horrific situation at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza. israeli tanks have surrounded the church, and snipers have taken position around it, shooting at the oldest Christian community in the world

    .

    18 December
    Sniper attack-3

    Israel now say Cardinal Nichols, the Archbishop of Jerusalem and Pope Francis are lying.

    The cold blooded murder of worshipers at a Catholic Church is terrorism.

    The testimony of Mark Regev should be tested in The Hague. Put him up against the Pope.


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  40. kaysee kaysee says:

    3/

    This clip was included in the Democracy Now video that mh posted some days ago.

    Living here, on the other side of the world, I have learnt that there are Christians and churches in Gaza. But the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem says that there are no Christians or churches in Gaza.

    19 December
    LBC

    ‘There are no churches in Gaza…’

    Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum responds to reports the IDF have targeted a Catholic Church in Gaza.


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  41. kaysee kaysee says:

    4/

    22 December
    Khalil Sayegh (living in the US)

    Today, I received the devastating news of the death of my father, who was among the besieged Palestinian Christians at the Holy Family Catholic Church. He died due to medical neglection and lack of access to medicine or hospitals in Gaza.

    There is nothing I wanted more than to be next to my family in Gaza, who have to grieve my father’s loss while also fighting for their survival against an enemy that normalized the usage of starvation and prevention of medical care as a weapon against civilians

    My father, Jeries Sayegh, always taught me to love everyone, forgive, and never give desire for revenge space in my life. He always looked up to Christ as his model and told me I should too. As hard and painful as it is, I promise you, Dad, to stay true to these principles.


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