Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Let's Pray That Some Good Comes Out Of This!
Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be. They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good - maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 22, 2019
Before The Internet: Secrets Of A Digital Pioneer!
ISN. Megahertz. X.25. WAN.
What do all these terms mean?
How did they come to be?
And what did they evolve into?
Dan Cirucci throws back the curtain on the digital world and talks to one of the original computer wizards -- a pioneering engineer who set up a groundbreaking digital communications system long before the Internet.
Watch this revealing interview with Jim Gray and learn how he made history then and what he's doing right now!
Fight Fake News; Help Catholic Students NOW!
 |
Following is a special message
from Catholic Vote www.catholicvote.org
This is wild! Did you hear about the Catholic kids from Covington, KY? Last Friday, they proudly attended the March for Life. Later in the day, as they prepared to depart Washington D.C., they were cursed and shouted at by protesters. Finally, they were confronted by a known Native American provocateur who beat his drum in their faces, while another Native American told the students to “go back to Europe where you came from.” Then get this... ...a highly-edited video was circulated making it appear as if the kids instigated the confrontation! And so an online mob piled on, accusing these pro-life teens of being Trump-loving racist bigots. SHAME: CNN and the NY Times, along with an avalanche of left-wing activists, pounced. Author Reza Aslan told his 287,000 followers: “Have you ever seen a more punchable face than this kid’s?" Death threats ensued. The kids’ families have now been threatened. Famous musicians were encouraging their followers to track down the students and punch them. One of the people who issued a threat to the children lives in their neighborhood. Left-wing activists are now publishing the home addresses and phone numbers of the kids' families and urging people to destroy their lives, rescind their college acceptance letters... and ruin their future careers. But there’s more... Some of the loudest voices condemning these kids were Catholics! Including a famous Jesuit priest who regularly condemns others for their lack of compassion and mercy. Regrettably, even the Covington Catholic school and their local bishop issued statements critical of the kids -- though we hope and expect some of these statements may soon be revised or retracted.
Here’s the REAL story: It all started when four Black Hebrew Israelites, a radical religious group centered on black identity, approached the Covington Catholic students and began heckling them with anti-gay slurs -- for almost an hour. In response, the students tried to be positive, and began singing school spirit songs. That’s when activist Nathan Phillips approached the Covington Catholic students.
That’s right-- it was Phillips who approached the students, not the other way around. The full 9-minute video of the confrontation confirms this fact. The longer video also debunks the phony lie that the kids were chanting anything about building a wall. At the center of this controversy is a young Catholic kid named Nick Sandmann. Nick was singled out by Nathan Phillips, who beat his drum inches from Nick's face for several minutes. In a courageous statement released to the media, Nick said:
“I was not intentionally making faces at the protestor. I did smile at one point because I wanted him to know that I was not going to become angry … I am a faithful Christian and practicing Catholic, and I always try to live up to the ideals my faith teaches me — to remain respectful of others, and to take no action that would lead to conflict or violence.
“I am being called every name in the book, including a racist… “I have received physical and death threats via social media, as well as hateful insults…”
From all indications, Nick Sandmann acted about as well as anyone could have, given the harassment and verbal assault he endured. He and his friends were heckled and provoked. They refused to back down and stood their ground.
In fact, I’m proud to stand with Nick Sandmann. This morning in our weekly staff meeting, we discussed ways CV could help. We have decided that this is a moment when Catholics have to step up. Left wing mobs are on the attack. They want to censor, silence, and shame us until we give up. We refuse to surrender. For the next 24 hours, all contributions made to the Catholic Vote Education Fund will be bundled and sent as a grant to Nick Sandmann and his family! We’ve decided it’s not enough to simply complain... Or push back with the truth (which we have). Catholics need to send a clear message: courage in the face of left-wing mobs should be rewarded! I want the Sandmann family to know CV has their back. No teenager or family should be forced to deal with this on their own. You can also add your note of support to the Sandmann family. We’ll send your comments along with our grant this week. Click HERE to send your support. Brian Birch, President, www.catholic vote.org P.S. Please feel free to forward and share this message with anyone you know that might want to help. Nick Sandmann and his family are owed more than an apology. That’s why we are proud to do our small part to thank him for his courage, and to deal with the despicable mob that is out to destroy him.  |
Monday, January 21, 2019
Visiting Washington? Don't Miss THIS Attraction!
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington DC is a stunning tribute to a great man.
Having marched in Dr. King's Poor People's Campaign in 1968 we were particularly interested in seeing this memorial and we were not disappointed.
The grounds of the memorial overlook the Tidal Basin and just beyond one can see the Jefferson Memorial on the other side of the Basin.
A huge statue of Dr. King gazes across the memorial plaza and out toward the water. Dr. King stands here as we remember him: solid, resolute, determinedly serious and bigger than life. Behind the stature are two more stone structures (as Dr. King himself is carved out of a huge piece of stone) and on either side of these three pieces, curved walls envelop the visitor in quotes from Dr. King's speeches and writings.
Drawing on its location at the edge of the Tidal Basin, water is used as an essential element that builds on King's words and recalls most powerfully the theme of justice. The water appears only on either side of the main entry, not even visible until one has entered the memorial plaza. It is the sound of water “rolling down” that draws visitors' attention. From this life-giving source, Dr. King’s message begins stretching away from the entrance, at once welcoming and yet daring the visitor to follow.
Put this near the top of you "must see" list when you visit our nation's capital!
Dr. King's Message For YOU, Right Now!
Well you may go on and live until you are 90, but you're just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90!
And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.
You died when you refused to stand up for right, you died when you refused to stand up for truth, you died when you refused to stand up for justice..."
--Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967
Dr. King was right.
If you are not involved in the great issues of your time and passionately committed to some cause, you may as well be dead.
When you don't care any more, when you lose your capacity for outrage, when nothing alarms you or disturbs you or provokes you, then how the hell do you even know that you're alive? In that case, if you pinch yourself you may not feel a damned thing. Not really feel it. Not in your heart and soul.
We are living during a time when everything seems to be conspiring to deaden the spirit -- to leave us overwhelmed with a feeling of helplessness; to leave us shell-shocked and numb.
We doubt that Dr. King would be pleased with the hopelessly temporal, morally relative and relentlessly secular America that surrounds us today.
And he certainly rejected -- and would continue to reject -- the culture of death.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a deeply spiritual man. Yes, he was the first to admit he was flawed (indeed, he was a sinner as we all are). But Dr. King was a man of prayer and reflection -- someone who worked every day to live the message of Jesus Christ here on earth. Sometimes he succeeded. Sometimes he didn't. But his life had deep purpose and meaning.
And it was all embodied in a man of action -- a leader, a vigorous advocate who was not afraid to challenge conventional views but who also listened; a man of significant thought and contemplation; a man who sought out those who might not agree with him; a unifier and a bridge-builder.
The vapid worship of form over substance that envelopes us today and the cult of personality, style, image and flash that permeates the popular culture of 21st century America would not cheer Dr. King's soul. He was a man who was more at home in the realm of trials, not trends; in the world of fortitude, not fads; amidst duty, not disdain and dishonor.
Arrogance was not his meme. Indeed, ardor was his calling card.
We are proud to say that we lived through the all-too-brief time of Dr. King; that we proudly, openly supported his cause; that we walked with those who walked with him; that we fought for what he fought for.
We continue to be inspired by his words, his deeds and his remarkable life.
--Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967
If you are not involved in the great issues of your time and passionately committed to some cause, you may as well be dead.
When you don't care any more, when you lose your capacity for outrage, when nothing alarms you or disturbs you or provokes you, then how the hell do you even know that you're alive? In that case, if you pinch yourself you may not feel a damned thing. Not really feel it. Not in your heart and soul.
We are living during a time when everything seems to be conspiring to deaden the spirit -- to leave us overwhelmed with a feeling of helplessness; to leave us shell-shocked and numb.
We doubt that Dr. King would be pleased with the hopelessly temporal, morally relative and relentlessly secular America that surrounds us today.
And he certainly rejected -- and would continue to reject -- the culture of death.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a deeply spiritual man. Yes, he was the first to admit he was flawed (indeed, he was a sinner as we all are). But Dr. King was a man of prayer and reflection -- someone who worked every day to live the message of Jesus Christ here on earth. Sometimes he succeeded. Sometimes he didn't. But his life had deep purpose and meaning.
And it was all embodied in a man of action -- a leader, a vigorous advocate who was not afraid to challenge conventional views but who also listened; a man of significant thought and contemplation; a man who sought out those who might not agree with him; a unifier and a bridge-builder.
The vapid worship of form over substance that envelopes us today and the cult of personality, style, image and flash that permeates the popular culture of 21st century America would not cheer Dr. King's soul. He was a man who was more at home in the realm of trials, not trends; in the world of fortitude, not fads; amidst duty, not disdain and dishonor.
Arrogance was not his meme. Indeed, ardor was his calling card.
We are proud to say that we lived through the all-too-brief time of Dr. King; that we proudly, openly supported his cause; that we walked with those who walked with him; that we fought for what he fought for.
We continue to be inspired by his words, his deeds and his remarkable life.
KABOOM! Brady Drops F Bomb After Big Win!
What does it mean to go back to the Super Bowl?— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) January 21, 2019
Tom Brady: "Unf***ingbelievable, bro."pic.twitter.com/9iwJRtQSTk
Sunday, January 20, 2019
The Man Who [Literally] Put Cherry Hill On The Map
This is the story of how a gentle, bespectacled, uncharacteristically unassuming public servant made a world of difference for his hometown.
After Delaware Township (NJ) changed its name to Cherry Hill in 1961, a sort of magic came over the town and it entered an unprecedented growth spirt that continued well into the 1980s.
Part of the transformation involved Cherry Hill getting its own post office. Before that, there was no Cherry Hill address. Instead, if you lived in Cherry Hill your mail was usually addressed to the nearest community or neighborhood, such as Haddonfield or Merchantville or Ashland or Erlton.
But the new Cherry Hill address was still not enough to put Cherry Hill, literally, on the map. Nor was it enough to change roadside directional signs.
So, if you looked at a map (and there was no digital mapping in those days, only paper maps) you saw Haddonfield and Camden and Merchantville and other older, more established towns but no Cherry Hill. Some more detailed maps showed older sections of Cherry Hill such as Ellisburg and Ashland but no Cherry Hill. And state highway signs directed you to these same locations but not to Cherry Hill.
It was almost as if there was a Cherry Hill Inn and a Cherry Hill Mall (and everybody knew about those attractions) but no real Cherry Hill.
As Cherry Hill grew and began to be built out from Pennsauken to Vorhees and from Camden to Evesham this became more and more of a problem. Yes, it helped that eventually there was a big water tower with the words “Cherry Hill” emblazoned on it that you could see from interstate 295 or the New Jersey Turnpike, but there was no exit that said “Cherry Hill” — only exits that directed you to places like Camden or Collingswood or Philadelphia.
In fact, in the 1970s, it was not uncommon for motorists to stop at a gas station for directions to Cherry Hill (remember, there were no travel apps) only to be told that they were already in Cherry Hill or, conversely that they had overshot Cherry Hill by five or ten miles.
The situation was nothing short of exasperating.
So, in response to numerous complaints, then Cherry Hill Mayor John T. Holden set out to do something about the situation. He was warned this would not be easy. But Holden was a very determined man.
Still, the more he tried to identify the source of Cherry Hill’s geographic anonymity, the harder it became to pinpoint the culprit. The post office, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, mapmakers, the US Census Bureau — all of these departments and agencies pointed the finger at one another. Nobody seemed to want to take responsibility for the conundrum.
Finally, Holden called an unprecedented summit on Cherry Hill’s lack of official recognition. And, he invited representatives from all of these agencies and well as local, county, state and federal elected officials. In addition, he opened the whole thing to the public and the news media to highlight the problem.
At this unprecedented open forum, they thrashed it all out and it soon became apparent that the crux of the problem seemed to be that townships weren’t recognized geographically in the same manner as towns, boroughs and cities. Though they were official government entities, townships were viewed as mere collections of subdivisions and little more. In short, they were not deemed map-worthy.
Well, this revelation not only distressed Cherry Hill but it threw every other township in New Jersey into a state of apoplexy.
What? Townships were not places? Since when?!
If there’s one thing that politicians and government agencies understand it’s that there’s strength in numbers. And, all of a sudden Cherry Hill had lots of allies all over the state.
Suddenly, the logjam was broken. because it wasn’t just about Cherry Hill anymore but now it was about Evesham and Pennsauken and Mount Laurel and Hamilton and Washington and Woolwich and all 241 townships all over the state.
Of course, government policies and practices never change easily or quickly but things really did begin to change. And, over time, Cherry Hill began appearing on road maps and on road signs. Where official state directional signs once said “Camden Philadelphia” they now said “Cherry Hill Camden Philadelphia.” Where they once said “Haddonfield Collingswood” they now said “Cherry Hill Haddonfield Collingswood.” Where they once said Erlton or Ashland they now simply said Cherry Hill.
The change was dramatic, impactful, even stunning.
And it all happened because of one man: John T. Holden.
He’s the guy who literally put Cherry Hill on the map!Click here to see more from the Dan Cirucci blog!
Saturday, January 19, 2019
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