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I've been away from California since before Christmas. I moved to our house in Idaho, which we bought two years ago, to work on improvement projects and got back to California a week and a half ago. I got up early today (Sunday) and decided to go have breakfast at my favorite coffee shop in Los Altos, CA (San Francisco Peninsula area not far from San Jose). I got there just before 8 and was the only customer for a while. Julie, the owner, was telling me how her business is really taking a hit. I finished breakfast about 8:40...

Posted on March 14, 2020March 14, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope Just A Little Talk With Jesus Makes it Right – A homily for the Third Sunday of Lent As we examine the Gospel for this weekend’s Mass we do well to understand that is about human desires and how the Lord reaches us through them. Prior to examining the text in detail, let’s consider a few things: What it is that really makes you happy? We desire so many things: food, water, shelter, clothing, and creature comforts. We long for affection, peace, and a sense of belonging. Sometimes...

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London’s leafy streets and gardens have long been prized for their beauty — and more recently their ability to counteract carbon emissions and improve air quality. But the value of urban trees can also be measured with money. A new report from Britain’s Office of National Statistics estimates tree cover saved the capital more than 5 billion pounds ($6.56 billion) from 2014 to 2018 through air cooling alone. Additionally, by keeping summer temperatures bearable for workers, trees prevented productivity losses of almost 11 billion pounds. The estimates underline just how vital the role trees play is in making cities comfortable...

co-anchor Dan Harris turned to ABC’s Dr. Jennifer Ashton and asked: “Let’s start with the COVID-19 test that the President took. It's negative. Is he out of the woods?” According to Ashton, the testing might not have been enough. “Well, here’s the difficult thing about testing, right now we don't totally know how this virus behaves in terms of the asymptomatic period, in terms of can people develop symptoms after a certain time,” she said.

California Rep. Devin Nunes said the media and liberals are “putting the country into a panic” by hyping the coronavirus outbreak. “What the media and the Left are doing here is they’re putting the country into a panic, and look, it’s for no reason,” the Republican congressman told Fox News host Jesse Watters on his Saturday evening program. “I’m not saying that this isn’t a serious health concern. We need to take it serious.” Nunes said the elderly, especially those with preexisting health conditions, need to take extra precautions with the outbreak, but the “main issue is for us in...

For a pandemic that seems particularly fatal for the elderly, Joe Biden has tapped a so-called "expert" to advise him about the Wuhan coronavirus. The only problem with the "expert" is that he believes people should die before they get too old, saying he himself wishes to die at the age of 75. Biden is 77. The former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate has decided to create a "Public Health Advisory Committee" to inform him about the coronavirus while the candidate campaigns for the White House. Biden is trying to paint a picture of himself as an informed, capable...

The nation's leading infectious diseases expert shut down a line of questioning by a CNN anchor who asked why he touched the same podium and microphone as President Trump. . . . "The picture you showed about the microphone, let’s get real here. There are certain things that you have to do. If I left the microphone like that, you would see nothing but the microphone," Fauci said. "My putting my two fingers to get the microphone down isn’t that bad, so I don’t think we should make something of that."

Today's Quotefall Puzzle features a quote by Robert Heinlein. Click puzzle (or click here) for full size rendition, then use your browser's print command to print puzzle. Robert Heinlein was a libertarian-principled writer, specializing in socio-economic science fiction championing a society based on principles of the US Constitution. All hints, along with the answer, are provided in the first reply comment below, using filtered font to prevent accidental spoilers. Please refrain from disclosing the full answer in comments to prevent spoilers.To solve the puzzle: Enter the letters in the top half (letter columns) of the puzzle into the white squares on the...

I don't believe the Coronavirus will get in America out of hand like it did in China. I also believe the danger will pass in a fee weeks if we can just push through and not panic. There are a few reasons I say this. The most important reason is that we were forewarned. Lets hear it for the the power of free speech. It's something the Chinese people lack and allowing better communication could have saved more of them. The Chinese people were not warned about the virus. Indeed, the Chicoms did their best not to warn their people....

Desperate times call for desperate measures — even for Islamic terrorists. According to the British newspaper Express, “al-Naba,” a newsletter published by ISIS, contains a “sharia directive” to its members, instructing them to “stay away from the land of the epidemic” to avoid becoming infected. Terrorists are also advised to cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing and to wash their hands often. The irony of all this is hard to miss. Here is this group of hardened, bloodthirsty executioners, each of whom takes a vow “to lay down his life, and to sacrifice all his interests and desires in...

On Friday, President Donald Trump officially called a national emergency to deal with the ongoing threat of the coronavirus. This is the latest in a series of escalating steps that have been taken to deal with the ongoing crisis. At his extensive news conference on Friday, the president made a serious of announcements, including the expansion of test kits by 50,000 by the early part of the week. He included presentations by major business leaders and his coronavirus task force. All the positive action spurred the largest point gain in history for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, surging 9.4%...

“Every residential college and university in America relies on that auxiliary revenue stream. It is baked into the budget” Colleges and universities with massive endowments will be fine, but schools which are already experiencing financial problems could be in serious trouble.

  Tomorrow I have called for a National Day of Prayer. I will be tuning in to Pastor @Jentezen at  FreeChapel.orgChurch in Gainesville, Georgia at 11:00 AM EDT. God Bless the USA! freechapel.org— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020 

Is it time to panic? NO. This document is trying to help you to understand the situation at hand and not to terrify you. We want to make sure you understand the facts and understand what is at stake. This is a Pearl Harbor moment for our country. We are facing a real threat and we need to face it with all of our resources. When people decry the seriousness of this moment they are steering our country off a cliff, we need everyone to understand that this is important and if we work together to slow the spread we...

Nic Talbott keeps himself busy, working as a substitute teacher, studying for a master’s degree, helping with chores at his grandmother’s farm. He also finds time, almost daily, for rigorous workouts — to ensure he is in shape in case his dream job, serving in the U.S. military, becomes available. For now, that door is closed to him by the Trump administration for one reason: He’s transgender. Talbott, 26, was elated in 2016 when the Pentagon — with a green light from then-President Barack Obama — announced that transgender people already serving in the military would be allowed to do...

COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the U.S. economy. Airline travel has slowed to a crawl and every major music concert like Coachella and South by Southwest have been canceled. Athletic events have been brutalized. All NHL games, the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball finals will be held, but in empty arenas, save for the families of team players. NASCAR races have been rescheduled or canceled. There is a hidden benefit to the COVID-19 disruption unknown to most. This is an amelioration of the progressive brainwashing in most colleges and universities that may offer students and their parents a reprieve from...

VIDEO The Andrew Gillum hotel incident in Miami Beach is the comedy gift that keeps on giving. And one of the ways that this gift continues to give is in the many HILARIOUS reactions to Gillum being found in a hotel room naked with a couple of other guys, including a male escort, and three bags of meth. The DUmmie FUnnies has used its humor filter to present to you the funniest of the reactions (so far). Even the reactions that aren't meant to be funny, such as the guy willing to give Gillum the benefit of the doubt...

The Divine Liturgy (Mass) for the 2nd Sunday of Lent Commemorating St. Gregory Palamas. (English appx 2.5 hrs)

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis’ liturgies for Holy Week and Easter, which usually include the presence of thousands of people, will be held without public attendance this year. According to an online notice from the Prefecture of the Papal Household, “because of the current global public health emergency, all the Liturgical Celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful.” The Prefecture of the Papal Household is the office responsible for distributing the free of charge tickets which grant pilgrims access to Pope Francis’ general audiences and other public liturgies. Pope Francis’ schedule...