EUROPE—As refugees begin to flood from #Afghanistan, reporting reemerges on a disturbing pattern: rape, sexual assault and other serious crimes, alleged majority perpetrated by Afghanis since mass migrations into European nations during the “Arab Spring”. apnews.com/article/europe…
The author, here, leaves an open-ended question on why young Afghan men are allegedly abusing women within the nation they sought refuge in.
Statistics are difficult to cite. @InfoMigrants, for example, state:
“Official crime statistics in Germany confirm an increase of nearly 13 percent in sexual assault and rape cases in 2016 compared to the previous year – with 8.6 percent reported (assailants) Afghan nationals.”
With the evacuations out of #Afghanistan, reports the Taliban have already seized control, focus is shifting on how European leaders will address a new influx of military-aged male refugees—based on lessons learned in the last decade.
Watching the videos out of the airport in Kabul, it seems the majority of women and children were pushed away, or made to fend for themselves under live gunfire, as men jumped the barricades.
VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis condemns surrogacy, “gender theory” and transgender sex change in new document, “Dignitas infinita”.
SURROGACY CONDEMNED:
48. The Church also takes a stand against the practice of surrogacy, through which the immensely
worthy child becomes a mere object. On this point, Pope Francis’s words have a singular clarity: “The path to peace calls for respect for life, for every human life, starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking. In this
regard, I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the
mother’s material needs. A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.
GENDER THEORY CONDEMNED:
55. The Church wishes, first of all, “to reaffirm that every person, regardless of sexual orientation,
ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust
discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided, particularly any form of aggression and violence.”[101] For
this reason, it should be denounced as contrary to human dignity the fact that, in some places, not a
few people are imprisoned, tortured, and even deprived of the good of life solely because of their sexual orientation.
56. At the same time, the Church highlights the definite critical issues present in gender theory. On
this point, Pope Francis has reminded us that “the path to peace calls for respect for human rights, in accordance with the simple yet clear formulation contained in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, whose seventy-fifth anniversary we recently celebrated. These principles are self-evident and
commonly accepted. Regrettably, in recent decades, attempts have been made to introduce new rights
that are neither fully consistent with those originally defined nor always acceptable. They have led to
instances of ideological colonization, in which gender theory plays a central role; the latter is extremely dangerous since it cancels differences in its claim to make everyone equal.”
57. Regarding gender theory, whose scientific coherence is the subject of considerable debate among
experts, the Church recalls that human life in all its dimensions, both physical and spiritual, is a gift
from God. This gift is to be accepted with gratitude and placed at the service of the good. Desiring a
personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, apart from this fundamental truth that human
life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into
competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel.
58. Another prominent aspect of gender theory is that it intends to deny the greatest possible difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference. This foundational difference is not
only the greatest imaginable difference but is also the most beautiful and most powerful of them.
In the male-female couple, this difference achieves the most marvelous of reciprocities. It thus becomes
the source of that miracle that never ceases to surprise us: the arrival of new human beings in the
world.
59. In this sense, respect for both one’s own body and that of others is crucial in light of the proliferation of claims to new rights advanced by gender theory. This ideology “envisages a society
without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family.”
It thus becomes unacceptable that “some ideologies of this sort, which seek to respond to what are at times
understandable aspirations, manage to assert themselves as absolute and unquestionable, even dictating how children should be raised. It needs to be emphasized that ‘biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated.’”
Therefore, all attempts to obscure reference to the ineliminable sexual difference between man and woman are to be rejected:
“We cannot separate the masculine and the feminine from God’s work of creation, which is prior to
all our decisions and experiences, and where biological elements exist which are impossible to
ignore.” Only by acknowledging and accepting this difference in reciprocity can each person fully
discover themselves, their dignity, and their identity.”
SEX CHANGE CONDEMNED:
60. The dignity of the body cannot be considered inferior to that of the person as such. The Catechism
of the Catholic Church expressly invites us to recognize that “the human body shares in the dignity
of ‘the image of God.’”
Such a truth deserves to be remembered, especially when it comes to sex change, for humans are inseparably composed of both body and soul. In this, the body serves as the living context in which the interiority of the soul unfolds and manifests itself, as it does also through the network of human relationships. Constituting the person’s being, the soul and the body both
participate in the dignity that characterizes every human.[107] Moreover, the body participates in that dignity as it is endowed with personal meanings, particularly in its sexed condition.
It is in the body that each person recognizes himself or herself as generated by others, and it is through their bodies that men and women can establish a loving relationship capable of generating other persons.
Teaching about the need to respect the natural order of the human person, Pope Francis affirmed that
“creation is prior to us and must be received as a gift. At the same time, we are called to protect our
humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created.”
It follows that any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception. This is not to exclude the possibility that a person with genital abnormalities that are already evident at birth or that develop later may choose to receive the assistance of healthcare professionals to resolve these abnormalities. However, in this case, such a medical procedure would not constitute a sex change in the sense intended here.
MARYLAND—A @Maersk cargo vessel struck the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore.
As a veteran Naval Officer who has spent thousands of hours as Officer of the Deck, I’m not sure how this happened?
Any mariners out there witness this or monitoring B2B or—even better—@PilotHarbour @FLHarborPilots, want to jump in on navigating this port?
BACKGROUND—
According to @BTBoyle’s video tour (cited) of a Maersk cargo vessel bridge, they have detailed charts, ECDIS, Radar, two GPS for Nav…and their EYES…for navigation. It’s pretty hard to collide with a stationary target or landmass, but it happens.
I’m to locate the lights/buoys that marked that specific bridge pile on the video, not seeing it? Was there one ever present?
Finally, yes—cargo vessels often run on auto pilot, but someone is always on the bridge. They also don’t tent to run autopilot during transit near ports and busy costal waterways.
They aren’t showing lights signifying engine, shaft or rudder failures/not under command (red over red).
@SynergyMarine statement:
“Owners and managers of the Singapore-flagged container ship “DALI” (IMO 9697428) report that the vessel collided with one of the pillars of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Baltimore whilst under pilotage with two pilots onboard, at approximately 01 30 local time on 26th March.
All crew members, including the two pilots have been accounted for and there are no reports of any injuries. There has also been no pollution.
Whilst the exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined, the ‘DALI’ has now mobilised its Qualified Individual Incident response service. The US Coast Guard and local officials have been notified, and the owners and managers are fully cooperating with Federal and State government agencies under an approved plan
Vessel Information:
Name: Dali
•Capacity: 10,000 TEU
•Onboard Units: 4,679 TEU
•DWT:116,851.
•Crew: All Indian, 22 in total
•Owner: Grace Ocean Private Ltd
•Movement: Outbound from Baltimore to Colombo
VATICAN CITY—The new Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith states people in “irregular” unions, such as same sex unions, may NOT receive anything resembling liturgical blessings, or blessings of their unions.
They may, however, receive spontaneous blessing, limited to “the invocation of a blessing that descends from God upon those who recognizing themselves to be destitute and in need of his help do not claim a legitimation of their own status, but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit. These forms of blessing express a supplication that God may grant those aids that come from the impulses of his Spirit what classical theology calls "actual grace" —so that human relationships may mature and grow in fidelity to the Gospel, that they may be freed from their imperfections and frailties, and that they may express themselves in the ever-increasing dimension of the divine love.”
Translation: Nothing has changed.
Sorry, no gay weddings, but sure, you can ask a priest to bless you.
DUBLIN— Three children are among five injured in a “mass stabbing” today.
Eyewitnesses claim a ‘man of foreign descent’ was tackled by a witness after assaulting the victims.
Irish citizens have been protesting their government’s “open borders” policies in recent months, after reports of increases in violent crimes and housing shortages wracked the island country.
HAWAII—With @JoeBiden still deciding whether to visit fire-ravaged Maui, information is now surfacing on the state of overgrowth that, like California, may be the critical factor on how quickly this spread.
Interesting information to consider, found by @Cancelcloco, here. He provides supporting documentation for his arguments.
Interestingly, an individual pushing “climate change”, under what seems to be a pseudonym (as no public records found, so far) “Dr Miles Stones” has published a 44-page “book”, exploring the “urgent need to address global climate change”. Interestingly, the “book” was published on August 10,as the fires still raged.
What are your thoughts?
Here’s an article on what Californians still face: