I remember when working at the grocery store there was a customer who made tourtière and he brought us one. It was something like four inches deep. The bits of potato were scarce. The spicing was minimal. And it was one of the best things I can remember eating. Very fond memory of eating that meat pie out back of the store by the wood pallets.
There are certain dishes in which the austerity and sincerity is richness.
Conspiracy theory, or conspiracism, is the anti-journalism in which the narrative decides the facts.
It's a paradoxical thing: the conspiracist maintaining an overarching narrative to which he subordinates malformed and isolated facts, doesn't actually build a grand narrative, but he ends up making a narrative that does nothing but continually subordinates and malforms facts as they happen to come along. Which means that all narrative is squandered in the abuse of facts. Because the narrative refuses to change or develop in light of facts, the narrative is always changing (in order to abuse and neglect them).
The conspiracist actually makes the construction of a real narrative and thus clarity impossible. Because he disrespects facts, he also disrespects any sense of narrative (which in journalism is what reconciles seemingly contradictory facts).
Half-truths don't just exist, like they were waiting around to be made into full truths. Half-truths are half-truths precisely because they are truths that are truncated in order to fit a prepared narrative. The worst form of conspiracism is the Qhristian/Qatholic one. It is worst because it abuses the "narrative" of the Gospel. Conspiracism is anti-Gospel, and those that engage in it will be answerable to God.
Conspiracism is both anti-Gospel and anti-journalism. Christians have been made vulnerable to this through sectarianism: they believe that truth is only what they perceive the "mainstream" as suppressing.
People speak of "going down the rabbit hole", and "Deep" this and that, referring to conspiracy theory. The gist is of this elaborate crazy network of people, symbols, things and events making this grand arc, and that normal people just can't deal with such strong truth. It's the same deal with radtrads who think that their going to Mass in the Extraordinary Form is just too much meat and potatoes for the "Novus Ordo" mewlings.
The conspiracist is just too much for the sheeple to handle: that's what the conspiracist loves to imagine about himself. But the actual reality is that the conspiracist doesn't even get on the diving board. The conspiracist doesn't even put on the diving suit, let alone get on the boat.
The boat and the suit and the diving board are all in on it. And everyone swimming in the pool telling those on the deck to come on in, the water's fine, are all sheeple.
Take Vigano for example. He went into hiding and never made himself available to the scrutiny of the McCarrick investigation. After the report was released, he then whined to Raymond Arroyo in a pre-scripted interview that he - who went into hiding - was never contacted by the Vatican investigation.
It is the isolated conscience. Effectually, all roads of conspiracy theory lead to the Lizard People.
Real journalism is when facts decide the narrative. Or as they say, "Let's see where the story leads."
One could say that Jesus gave his blessing to journalists - real journalists - when he said, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much"
The balanced voluminous masses are pleasing and spiritual, interesting, almost a kind of megalithic yet gentle positivity, a new perspective and presence, just the right note for 2020.
Also love the Space Explorer as one of the Wise Men - who were astrologers. Quite frankly that's genius. Love the sense of caveman-art in the light of the new.
Also totally love the incensed reactions of the bourgeoisie aesthetes: BUT NOOOOOOOO WHERE'S THE BOUGHS OF HOLLYARGGHHHHHH IT HURTS MY EYES!!!! LOL.
Which is fine. Just please don't pretend you're being anything but delicate aesthetes revolving around your own orbit of aesthetics. Don't pretend that you're appealing to some profound beauty. No, these same people who love to tell us that Catholic art isn't mere aesthetics and that we need to be open to the sacramental dimension of art are nothing but 100% pure aesthetes - bourgeoisie aesthetes - mocking what offends their narrow gullet of acceptable aesthetics.
Covid denier: More people die from the flu and the recovery rate is like 99.9% and people are recorded as having died from the virus when it was something else that killed them and it's better if you get the virus then we'll develop herd immunity.
Also Covid denier: YOU SHOULDN'T TAKE THE VACCINE IT'LL GIVE YOU CORONAVIRUS!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Love that phrase. Has a ring to it. Pope Francis used it. It's an opportunity to bring the Gospel to people.
Some people think it's a cryptic Luciferian Freemasonic byword. LOL. You can't say it, like you can't say black lives matter. You really can't win with these nutbars.
With some of these whackjobs you can't get out of bed in the morning without upsetting the order of cosmological symbols. You can't drink a glass of water or receive a vaccine without invoking a pagan deity.
No wonder these guys don't convert anyone (except for those they make twice the children of hell that they themselves are). Their Jesus is so desiccated and fragile and bottled away by their own forceful manipulation that anyone with a nose in front of their face knows they're peddling something, and it ain't Jesus.
Came across this twitter thread (via Sean P. Dailey) that divulges what transpired in that moment during Trump's inauguration when he turned around and Melania's face changed instantly from a big smile to stone cold opposite:
It may not have been their first face to face that day, but it still holds.
The timeline in the GIF that I always saw is way too clipped, and I knew there was something more going on. But I knew that Melania's change in expression was due to something that Trump did when he turned around.
The change in expression wasn't the relaxing of a public posture; it wasn't a rictus smile giving way to regular disgust. I figured he gave her a hard cold look or something, like some kind of sick dominance thing going on. But if you watch the longer
sequences you will see that Trump communicates something to her. He mouths something to her that is the cause in her change of expression.
It is the shocked and humiliated expression of one having received unexpected verbal abuse, out in public, under the circumstances of such an important national ceremony.
It's because Trump mouthed the words "Fuck you".
Think that's a stretch? Like, really, a guy would do that to the First Lady during his inauguration? Isn't that something like Gene Hackman in Absolute Power? If you think it's a stretch, you have no idea of what kind of man Trump is.
Trump is a predator. He knows that how to hurt depends on the when. He doesn't need to think about it; it's all part of his "flow". Abusive words spoken in the context of a private exchange are indeed harmful, but those words or similar will land with far more hurt, far more stunning humiliation, when they are spoken (or mouthed) in a context (such as a presidential inauguration) where they are least expected, even least expected by one who may be used to said verbal abuse, and may even engage in speaking such words herself.
The moment is actually not at all ambiguous. You can see it clearly.
You have to pay attention. The stacked planes make it look like Trump is communicating with Melania right away. But you can see when Trump turns around, he is first exchanging facial communication with Ivanka. Trump is raising his eyebrows in a "wow, look at us" kind of moment, or something like it. You can see this also by the fact that Ivanka responds by also raising her eyebrows in the same fashion.
Trump then turns his face farther back towards Melania and mouths the words, "Fuck you". And then turns his face back forward with the most incredible look of smugness.
One thing that people miss is the look on Ivanka's face at that same moment. Even though half her face is cut off by the screen, you can tell that she sees what Trump mouths to Melania, and her expression too also instantly changes in a similar way. It almost looks like she might cry.
I'll always love Godfrey Reggio, but every now and again when watching his films I wonder if I'm getting a misanthropic tendency. Maybe it's just me. For instance, maybe in the sequence "Beginning" from his 1992 film Anima Mundi,
what I took to be misanthropic is simply an expression of the primordial. It is titled Beginning after all. It could be. I know his films are notorious for audiences chiming in about (and frequently objecting to) what they believe his films are "saying".
The reason I ask is because St. Jacinta and St. Francisco both died from the 1918 influenza pandemic.
I ask this because Mark Mallett, who regularly and indiscriminately carpet-bombs his readers with alleged apparitions and anonymous locutions the world over, cited especially one locutionist who put words into Our Lady's mouth about how one should take certain essential oils to immunize oneself against the virus - the virus that, according to yet another anonymous locutionist, comes from The Enemy.
No words did Our Lady speak to Jacinta and Francisco about essential oils, who both died from the 1918 pandemic. Yet Our Lady took the time to guide them in such temporal matters as to tell them to remove the penitential ropes from around their waists at bedtime, so that they could get their proper sleep at night.
So Our Lady of Fatima did not say anything to Jacinta and Francisco about essential oils and they both died from the pandemic. She told them to remove the ropes from around their waists so they could sleep properly at night. And yet, today allegedly Our Lady is telling one to take essential oils to immunize one against the pandemic.
Why do I say this? I am not anti-Fatima, and I am not anti-essential oils. It's just by way of simple contrast, because you have some locutionist/seer saying Our Lady is telling us to take essential oils to immunize against the coronavirus. It's just one of those things where you go, "Now isn't that odd", and, "Huh, imagine that."
Obviously, the conspiracy theorist answer-for-everything sectarians, subjectively and forcefully wishing their dubious anonymous apparition/locution to be real, would say something like, "Our Lady was wanting them in Heaven immediately - that's why she didn't tell them about essential oils!" LOL. So she effectively remotely man-slaughtered them by mental reservation you say, eh? Okeeydokeey then.
To repeat: I think the apparitions of Fatima are legit and I also take essential oils, typically oregano oil, every so often. But that gets me on another thing. You see, these essential oil fanatics are very irresponsible. They say take this and that without any sort of instruction or detail. For example, you are not supposed to take 100% pure oregano oil, not unless you want to damage your kidneys and liver. You're supposed to take it mixed with another oil, such as the olive oil 3:1 mix.
But these fanatics don't go into such things with their readers. Not only are they spiritually dangerous, they are physically dangerous as well. They are physically dangerous - now isn't that something? Who would have thought, what with their anti-masking anti-safety restrictions anti-vaccine propaganda. And here they are trying to force Our Lady into their death-dealing ways, into their ideology.
--COVID-19 is real. It is a real pandemic, in line with past historic pandemics. It is not like the flu. It is highly contagious and is symptomatically worse, and it gets worse the heavier the viral load. If you survive contracting it, it is not like getting over the flu. You can have lifelong chronic ailments.
--Donald Trump lost the US election. It was a democratic election and there was no voter fraud. He lost in a historic landslide. The people rose up and threw him down. Trump got crushed.
--Pope Francis is the Pope. There is only one Pope, and it is Francis. He has not set his office aside because he signed his name using this title or that title. He has not nullified his office by any action or word.
--The Holy Mass has not been suppressed. It is said everyday in every parish.
--Masks work against the spread of COVID-19, and they work effectively. Social distancing works. Cancelling gatherings works. Economic problems arising thus stem not from the cancelling and shutting down, but stem entirely from the extreme flaws latent in the economic system.
--Vaccines against the virus are the will of God. Science is not opposed to faith.
--Conspiracism is totally anti-Gospel. Conspiracy-minded Christians bear false witness to the Gospel, and they drive people away from Christ. They will be answerable to God.
--Systemic racism is real. Racism is a mortal sin. We have still to reckon with racism.
--Archbishop Vigano is not a whistle-blower. From his 2018 "testimony" to the present, Vigano has been nothing but a fraud. When he heard of McCarrick being stripped of his red hat and being defrocked, his conscience did an overview of his performance as nuncio, and he became afraid.
