The Face of Tragedy

Marie-Antoinette with Her Children

Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Dauphin, Madame Royale, and Princess Elisabeth are insulted by the mob on their road back to Paris after their interception at Varennes by the postmaster Drouet. Via Le Boudoir de Marie-Antoinette.

The Return from Varennes by Edward Matthew Ward

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Trump Supporters in Harlem

 

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Time and Christianity

 From Catholic Exchange:

In Confessions, Augustine provided a model of personal time that provides each person with a model of the individual experience of the life and significance of Christ that has little to do with formal chronologies, history, and public events. It depends upon the old Greek idea of the Logos as developed by Philo Judaeus of Alexandria and the Apostle John. Philo wrote of the Logos: God creates “at once, not merely by uttering a command, but by even thinking of it” (Philo, n.d., III.13). And John wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1).

Logos simply exists at all times but by taking on flesh enters into time, interacts with time, bringing light into time, whereas before there was only darkness. Darkness, time, yields to lightness, eternity. Ignorance yields to knowledge. Time is darkness because we cannot see what lies ahead. The future is unknown, and the past a memory. The present is a brief momentary anticipation of what might be. But if light enters darkness, if timeless enters time, then the path forward is brightened, made aware to us, lighting the way in the darkness. The future, always dark, is opened to light, and complete ignorance gives way to some knowledge of what will be. Not what might be. Because the night implies ignorance, implies that we are still guessing based on experience. No, now we know what will be thanks to the light.

All cultures have struggled to know the Logos. Polytheistic peoples conceived of a divinity that was inherent in nature, controlling all things, encompassing past, present, and future. The Hebrews identified it as Yahweh. The Greeks as the mind, the infinite, the good—the Logos. Asian philosophy called it the Way, the source, the Brahma. Christianity offers a unique perspective, that of a Transcendent Being that acts in time without being confined by it, acting subtly upon the self, connecting the self to the transcendent—a direct physical and spiritual connection. (Read more.)

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"Those Who Love" by Sara Teasdale

Those who love the most,
Do not talk of their love,
Francesca, Guinevere,
Deirdre, Iseult, Heloise,
In the fragrant gardens of heaven
Are silent, or speak if at all
Of fragile inconsequent things.

And a woman I used to know
Who loved one man from her youth,
Against the strength of the fates
Fighting in somber pride
Never spoke of this thing,
But hearing his name by chance,
A light would pass over her face.

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Former Philadelphia Judge of Elections Convicted of Conspiring to Violate Civil Rights and Bribery

 From the DOJ:

A former Judge of Elections has been convicted for his role in accepting bribes to cast fraudulent ballots and certifying false voting results during the 2014, 2015, and 2016 primary elections in Philadelphia. Domenick J. Demuro, 73, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty during a sealed proceeding on March 16, 2020, before U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond to conspiring to deprive persons of civil rights, and using interstate facilities in aid of bribery. The court unsealed the matter today. Sentencing is scheduled for June 30, 2020.

During his guilty plea hearing, Demuro admitted that while serving as an elected municipal Judge of Elections, he accepted bribes in the form of money and other things of value in exchange for adding ballots to increase the vote totals for certain candidates on the voting machines in his jurisdiction and for certifying tallies of all the ballots, including the fraudulent ballots. Demuro further admitted that a local political consultant gave him directions and paid him money to add votes for candidates supported by the consultant, including candidates for judicial office whose campaigns actually hired the consultant, and other candidates for various federal, state and local elective offices preferred by that consultant for a variety of reasons. Demuro also admitted that the votes he added in exchange for payments by the political consultant increased the number of votes fraudulently recorded and tallied for the consultant’s clients and preferred candidates, thereby diluting the ballots cast by actual voters.

“This defendant abused his office by engaging in election fraud for profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s conviction makes it clear that the Department of Justice will do all in its power to protect the integrity of elections and maintain public confidence in all levels of elected government.” (Read more.)

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Queen Victoria's Memorial to Princess Elizabeth Stuart

"To the memory of The Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Charles I, who died at Carisbrooke Castle on 8 September 1650, and is interred beneath the chancel of this church, this monument is erected as a token of respect for her virtues and of sympathy for her misfortunes, by Victoria R., 1856."

Princess Elizabeth was the daughter of Charles I and Henrietta Maria who died in prison with her head cushioned on her father's Bible. From The Victorian Web:

The daughter of Charles I of England, Princess Elizabeth (1635-1650) was imprisoned, together with her young brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester, after the execution of their father. From Penshurst Place, the children were sent in August 1650 to Carisbrooke Castle, where Elizabeth immediately fell ill and died on the 8 September. She was buried in the old St Thomas Church, Newport. A plain stone engraved with her initials, E. S., was the only indication of her burial place beneath the chancel. In 1793, workers, who were digging a grave, discovered her vault with her coffin bearing the following inscription: "ELIZABETH, 2nd daughter of the late King CHARLES, deceased September 8th, MDCL." A brass plaque was then placed on the stone covering the vault below the main altar. On the rebuilding of the church, Queen Victoria signified to the Mayor that she would erect a monument to the memory of the Princess Elizabeth "if an appropriate place could be found in the new Church" (Isle of Wight Observer, 5 August 1854: 4). (Read more.)

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, saying farewell to their father Charles I

 More HERE.

Death of  Princess Elizabeth

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Lilacs

Lilacs by Pierre-Joseph Redouté

 

Lilacs by Mary Cassatt

 

Our lilacs are blooming in Maryland. Here is an article on the history of lilacs. Lilacs were much loved by Marie-Antoinette. And here is an excerpt from the poem "Lilacs" by Amy Lowell:

Lilacs in dooryards

Holding quiet conversations with an early moon;

Lilacs watching a deserted house

Settling sideways into the grass of an old road;

Lilacs, wind-beaten, staggering under a lopsided shock of bloom

Above a cellar dug into a hill.

You are everywhere.

You were everywhere.

You tapped the window when the preacher preached his sermon,

And ran along the road beside the boy going to school.

You stood by the pasture-bars to give the cows good milking,

You persuaded the housewife that her dishpan was of silver.

And her husband an image of pure gold.

You flaunted the fragrance of your blossoms

Through the wide doors of Custom Houses—

You, and sandal-wood, and tea,

Charging the noses of quill-driving clerks

When a ship was in from China.

 (Read more.)

 

More lilacs at East of the Sun, West of the Moon. 

Lilacs by Dora Koch-Stetter

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What Does Maryland Legislation Mean To YOUR Child?

 From Jan Greenhawk at The Easton Gazette:

As the Maryland General Assembly ended Monday, many of the bills passed dealt with education. Most people don't know which bills were passed, much less how these bills will impact them and their children.

House Bill 945/SB 771-Initial Teacher Certification: Almost everyone knows that Maryland is suffering a teacher shortage. In many jurisdictions, classes are crowded, teachers are teaching out of area, or classes are simply not offered or covered. This bill attempts to alleviate that problem by allowing more people to get certified. It will allow more people to move from another career into teaching. One of the problems of the bill is that it will also allow the State of Maryland to make certain changes to the skills needed to be a teacher. This might mean that your child's teacher will be trained in counseling but may not have basic academic skills.

2024 Regular Session - House Bill 945 Third Reader (maryland.gov)

House Bill 1493-Public and Nonpublic Schools – Child Sex Offenders – Prohibition on In–Person Attendance: This bill, passed last minute by the Maryland Legislature, will be a plus for any child in a public or private school. The text of the bill prohibits a child from in–person attendance at a public school or a nonpublic school that receives State funds if the child has been convicted or adjudicated delinquent of certain offenses; requiring each local school system to provide alternative educational options for children prohibited from in–person attendance in a certain manner; and generally relating to the prohibition of in–school attendance by children convicted or adjudicated delinquent of certain offenses. (Read more.)

 

And at the end of the Session:

Maryland House Bill 558 is dead. Again.

For people in education in Maryland, it may seem like deja vu. Last year at this time, education organizations were celebrating the block they put in front of a house bill that was the precursor to the above bill. It was a bill that would force local school systems to teach ALL sections of the State's Health and Sex Education Framework or be faced with a fine from the Maryland State Superintendent.

The effort is part of what got the State Superintendent at the time, Mohammed Choudhury, released from his duties.

Many school boards, the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, and even MSDE itself protested the bill, as the drastic overreach it was. So, the bill went down in flames.

Not one to be deterred, Vanessa Atterbeary of Howard County, who was the sponsor of last year's bill, brought an almost identical bill back this year. The only difference was this year, she wanted systems to disallow parental opt outs for the units on "Gender Identity and Sexual Preferences." These opt outs would keep a child from participating in these units. We reported on her effort here:

Maryland Once Again Votes Against Parental Rights; Arikan's Bill Provides Glimmer Of Hope - Easton Gazette

Atterbeary was denied once again Monday when the legislature voted HB 558 into oblivion. Maybe SHE should be told, like Republican Kathy Szeliga was regarding her "Save Girls Sports," bill, to "not bring that bill back again next year. "

Yes, that was mean girl Atterbeary who said that to Szeliga.

Karma exists. At least in this case. (Read more.)

 

 

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