Thoughts for the Day, December 17, 2024: 16,000 and counting

16,000 and counting

From the NY Times, a teenage student opened fire at a Christian school in Madison, Wis. on Monday, killing another student and a teacher, the authorities said. At least six other people were injured in the shooting at the school, Abundant Life, where the youngest students fled from the building into the cold without coats, holding each others’ hands for safety.

Madison police identified the shooter on Monday night as Natalie Rupnow, 15, who went by Samantha. She was a student at the school, said the police chief, Shon F. Barnes, at an evening news conference. She was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital, and the evidence suggested she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Chief Barnes said.

According to the Gun Violence Archive there have been 16,041 deaths as in the U.S. as of December 16. Based on the current rate, we will be above 16,700 by December 31.

Shameful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Disgusting

From the Detroit News, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel released the fourth of seven reports Monday related to a years-long investigation into clergy sexual abuse within Michigan's Catholic dioceses.

The report indicated that the investigation into the Diocese of Lansing, which began in September 2018, found that 48 priests, three religious brothers, one apparent former religious brother and four deacons may have engaged in sexual misconduct since 1950. Of the 56 total, 42 were ordained or incardinated by the Diocese of Lansing.

Diocese of Lansing Bishop Earl Boyea said he is deeply sorry that anyone was sexually abused or sexually assaulted by any clergy members.

"Having read this long and detailed report, my heart breaks for all those who have suffered due to the evil of clerical sexual abuse which is a great betrayal of Jesus Christ, His Holy Church, the priesthood, and, most gravely, those victims — and their families — who were harmed physically, emotionally, but above all spiritually when they were so young,” Boyea said in a statement. “To all those injured by such criminal and immoral actions I say clearly and without hesitation: these terrible things should never have happened to you."

It has been over two decades since the Boston Globe opened the country’s eyes to this nationwide scandal. Last week I chose not to post a similar article about the New Orleans’ diocese that was published in The Guardian. I am reconsidering my decision. The shame of this nation-wide scandal is the coverup by the Catholic Church and the Vatican in protecting the abusers. It makes me sick to my stomach.

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Trump is cleaning out the swamp in Canada

Trump’s threat of tariffs on Canadian goods is causing a major disruption in the Canadian government.

Per the Globe and Mail, Ottawa has pledged $1.3 billion to boost border security.

Per the Edmonton Journal and other publications throughout Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is reeling after suddenly losing its top cabinet minister, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, reigniting calls for Trudeau to step down and call an election.

For the past number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds about the best path forward for Canada,” Freeland said in her resignation letter to Trudeau, which she posted to social media on Monday morning.

She said the country faces a “grave challenge” with the incoming Donald Trump administration and its threat of 25 percent tariffs.

“We need to take that threat extremely seriously. That means keeping our fiscal powder dry, so we have the reserves we may need for a coming tariff war. That means eschewing costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford, and which make Canadians doubt that we recognize the gravity of the moment.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trudeau has lost control of the government and repeated calls for an election.

“The government of Canada itself is spiraling out of control, right before our eyes, and at the very worst time,” he told reporters on Parliament Hill.

Thank you to my good friend Dan, for keeping me up to date with our neighbors east of Detroit and north of the rest of our country,

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He is still a convicted felon, for now.

Per the NY Times today, a judge on Monday rejected Donald J. Trump’s argument that a recent Supreme Court ruling had nullified his criminal case in New York, upholding the former and future president’s felony conviction for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal.

In the first significant interpretation of that polarizing opinion, the New York judge who oversaw the trial sided with prosecutors, concluding that the testimony centered on Mr. Trump’s unofficial conduct.

“The People’s use of these acts as evidence of the decidedly personal acts of falsifying business records poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the executive branch,” the judge, Juan M. Merchan, wrote in a 41-page decision

Duh!!!!!!!!!!

From the NY Times: Public confidence in the American legal system has plunged over the past four years, a new Gallup poll found, putting it in the company of nations like Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela.

“These data on the U.S. courts are stunning,” said Tom Ginsburg, an authority on comparative and international law at the University of Chicago.

After the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the several prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, Professor Ginsburg said, “there is a perception that the judiciary has become inexorably politicized.”

Between 2020 and 2024, confidence in the judicial system in the United States dropped 24 percentage points, to 35 percent from 59 percent.

“This was a striking decline in the context of global attitudes,” said Lydia Saad, the director of U.S. social research at Gallup. “These drops are typically associated with pretty significant political upheavals.”

Only nine nations of the more than 160 surveyed in the past two decades have had sharper drops over any four-year period. They include a 46-point decline in Myanmar as it returned to military rule, a 35-point drop in Venezuela as it faced economic and political turmoil and a 28-point decline in Syria in the early phases of its civil war.

Public confidence in the judiciaries of other developed nations has remained stable. Among the 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, median confidence in national judiciaries stood at 55 percent, a number that has been essentially constant over the past decade.

The 20-point gap between the United States and its peers is the largest since Gallup started its global poll in 2006. The 35 percent confidence rate for U.S. courts is the lowest in the history of the survey.

No surprise here. However, it still hurts that our opinion of the courts has sunk to such low levels.

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Quote of the Day: “We acknowledge the fact that, man, we’ve lost players, we’ve lost really good players, but nobody cares. I mean, nobody cares and nobody’s going to give us a pass or put an asterisk next to your record. So, what it means is, some guys are going to have an unbelievable opportunity. Because of what has happened, that means, now, man, you’re a guy who’s on the vet squad or you’re a young player or you’re somebody that’s been dying to get an opportunity, you’re about to get it. And so, that’s a pretty cool thing, that’s a pretty inspiring thing, what are you going to do with it? And it’s up to us to give them a plan to where they can succeed." Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell

Orchid of the Day: Mason Graham, UofM football team’s 300 lb. defensive lineman for being named first team All-American on all four of the teams that have been released so far this season.

Onion of the Day: 16,000 and counting.

Questions of the Day: Will we reach 17,000 next year? How many will it take for us to realize that what we are doing is not working?

Video of the Day: Enjoy.

for KING & COUNTRY Little Drummer Boy Live from CMA Country Christmas

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