OCTOBER 31, 2025

“October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rain and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.”

–J. K. Rowling.

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”

–Edith Sitwell.

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”

–John Steinbeck.

“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

–Percy Bysshe Shelley.

October ends today. There are only 50 more days of Fall, before Winter begins.

The Sun came out yesterday, late morning, and the temperatures were pleasant. I plan on getting in a little play today, in advance of tomorrow’s Chatmoss Team Invitational.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMMY BAYS! You are looking younger every year! May your family and friends fete you in the style and manner you so richly deserve. And may you enjoy many, many more birthdays to come.

GOOD MORNING TOM MAHONEY!  You have the very best Halloween decorations.

GOOD MORNING FR. BARNETT!  Please make sure that Holland is behaving in Texas.  And if you pass out candy this evening, do not forget the Snickers Bars. Full sized ones, please.

Today is All Saints Eve, or as it is popularly known, Halloween.  It is the Vigil of All Saints Day, a remembrance of the departed from this Earth.  In some communities, congregants will attend Church services, and place lighted candles on the departed’s graves.  Typically, celebrants abstain from eating meat, and instead enjoy apples, potato pancakes, and other vegetable creations.

The secular celebration of Halloween involves costumes, trick or treating, and parties.  People carve Jack-o-Lanterns, bob for apples, and play pranks.  There is an entire genre of cult horror films to be watched.  And of course there is the greatest Halloween film of all time, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Whether you observe services in church, or pass out candy to trick or treating children, or some combination of all, please enjoy a safe and joyous Halloween.

“Pray as though everything depended on God.  Work as though everything depended on you.”

— St. Augustine

Tomorrow, Saturday, is All Saints Day, when  the Church celebrates all its Saints, known and unknown.  May all follow in their footsteps, and seek the Lord’s will, so that we may one day join the Saints in heaven.

“We believe that Jesus died and rose again, so we believe, that God will bring with Jesus,
those who have died, believing in him . . . .”

–1 Thessalonians 4:14

“The whole Church observes this practice which was handed down by the Fathers –that it prays for those who have died
in the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, when they are commemorated in their own place in the sacrifice itself
and the sacrifice is offered, also in memory of them, on their behalf.”

–St. Augustine

Remember, Lord, those who have died and gone before us marked with the sign of faith, especially those for whom we now pray.  May these and all who sleep in Christ find in Your presence light, happiness and peace.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Sunday is All Souls Day, the commemoration of the faithful departed.  On this day, Christians pray that their departed loved ones are blessed with God’s mercy in heaven.

President Trump met with Chinese President Xi in South Korea, and struck a deal regarding soybean purchases, tariffs, rare earth minerals, and suppressing the fentanyl trade. Uh, huh. We shall see.

President Trump ordered the resumption of nuclear weapons testing by the United States, on par with testing by Russia and China. The United States has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1992, which makes one wonder; do they still work? Naturally, Russia and China are protesting the move. As are Democrats. Same thing.

The War Department briefed some Republican Senators on the attacks on drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Senator Mark Warner (D. Va.) is up in arms over the fact that he was excluded from the briefing. Poor baby.

Perhaps if Senator Warner were more of a team player, and less a partisan grandstander, he might be included in reindeer games. But until then, there should be no party favors for him.

The Federal Reserve Bank begrudgingly dropped interest rates 1/4 of a point. Fed Chair Jerome Powell predicted annual economic growth of less than 2%, when all available data shows annual economic growth at 4%. Mr. Powell does not like robust economic growth. We do not like Mr. Powell. He needs to go.

Representative Janelle Bynum (D. Or.) appeared on C-Span to bash Congressional Republicans. She was asked if she voted for the Continuing Resolution to keep the federal government open, and she had a hard time answering that question. She finally answered “no”, and was asked why not. Representative Bynum was then asked “why not”, and she replied that the CR had a “poison pill” in it. When asked what the “poison pill” was, Representative Bynum could not answer the question.

There is no “poison pill” in the CR. Representative Bynum voted against the CR because she was told to by Democrat leadership. The Democrats are reflexively against anything proposed by Republicans. The Democrats are reflexively against the American people.

Representative Ilhan Omar (D. Mn.) donated $1,600.00 of her campaign funds to The Palestine House of Freedom, a non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. The Palestine House of Freedom is a partner of, and a conduit for money to, a Middle East university affiliated with, and controlled by, Hamas.

So many questions. How is this legal? Why is this not front page news in newspapers across the country? Why is The Palestine House of Freedom permitted to operate in the United States, much less our nation’s capital? And when will Ilhan Omar be stripped of her U.S. citizenship, and deported to Somalia?

The Washington Post editorial board criticized the Democrats for the federal government shutdown, blamed Senator Charles Schumer (D. N.Y.) for orchestrating the shutdown for political reasons, and demanded that the Democrats quit holding the country “hostage”. WOW! If you are a Democrat and have lost The Washington Post, you have lost. WINNING!

Wisconsin is one of the 23 States suing the Trump Administration demanding funding for food stamps. Governor Tony Evers (D. Wi.) denounced that Trump Administration for forcing 700,000 Wisconsinites to “starve”. Well, if money is an issue, why does not Governor Evers use the nearly $400 million in unallocated federal funds he has at his disposal. Oh, no, he won’t do that. If he spends this money, then he won’t have it. But maybe if he does spend this money, 700,000 Wisconsinites won’t “starve”.

The Observations doubts seriously that there are 700,000 Wisconsinites (who are U.S. citizens) using food stamps, and that any of them are in danger of “starv[ing]”. It is well documented that illegal aliens maintain access to food stamps. It is also well documented that there is much fraud in the food stamp programs, where benefits are exchanged for cash, and where food products are purchased with benefits, and then resold on the black market in Caribbean countries.

No one wants people to starve, wherever they are located. But no one in the United States is starving, or in danger of starving. The food stamp wailing is just more performative political posturing by the Democrats to get their way. They want to fund overseas programs. They want to fund public broadcasting. They want to subsidize insurance companies to keep Obamacare afloat. They want to provide healthcare to illegal aliens. Nothing has changed.

Colorado is suing President Trump over his decision to move Space Command from Boulder Springs, to Huntsville, Alabama. Colorado claims that the move is unconstitutional. How? How is the President’s movement of the armed forces “unconstitutional”? Because . . . Orange Man Bad.

In New York City, Sahara Dula screamed “F**k these cops!” and intentionally mowed down a policeman with her automobile, after intentionally turning onto a crowded street, driving into oncoming traffic. For her crime, a New York Supreme Court judge sentenced Sahara Dula was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Two (2) years?!?! For intentionally ramming and trying to kill a policeman with her automobile? Gracious.

LaMar Cook, aide to Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy (D.), was arrested and criminally charged with cocaine distribution, illegally owning a firearm, and illegal possession of ammunition. Authorities caught Mr. Cook after he had sent to him more than 46 pounds of cocaine to the State office building where he worked for the Governor. Sigh. Crooks are stupid.

Maryland State Senator Dalya Attar (D.), her brother, and a Baltimore policeman, have been criminally charged with extortion against a political consultant critic, whom they arranged to be filmed having sex with a married man. Oh, my!

During the Virginia General Assembly’s special session, called by Democrats to trash our Constitution, Republican Delegate Delores Oates was silenced after she called for a resolution to condemn political violence. Because the Democrats do not care about political violence. Democrats are purveyors of political violence.

Virginia General Assembly Democrats are a disgrace. They would sell their own mothers into sexual slavery if it would cause them to pick up an additional legislative seat.

The Shenandoah County, Virginia School Board spent an entire meeting discussing students coming to school dressed as animals, including wearing animal ears and tails. That this needs to be discussed at the School Board level is strange. That students are going to school dressed like animals is beyond strange. And where are these students’ parents in the morning when they leave for school?

Former Shenandoah County, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney Amanda Wiseley was indicted on 2 criminal felony charges related to her alleged misuse of public monies. This is not good.

Southwest Airlines will begin serving pistachio nuts as a snack on its flights. The usual suspects are outraged, demanding that only snacks that are allergen free be allowed on flights. Oh, where to begin? First, you do not get to dictate what others may enjoy, or that Southwest might serve. Second, you are not required to eat pistachios. Third, if you are so fragile that the mere presence of a pistachio nut causes you to react, you really should never leave your house. Stay inside, with the blinds closed, and cower in the back of your clothes closet with the lights off.

General Motors is laying off thousands of UAW employees who worked at plants manufacturing electric vehicles. Now that the government subsidies are gone, customers are no longer buying EVs, and the market is disappearing rapidly. This is the perfect illustration of permitting the government to interfere in the marketplace. Billions were invested in EV technology, and now billions will be lost due to the lack of demand for EV technology. The government giveth, and the government taketh away.

Glamour magazine has named its “Women of the Year”. Nine (9) of them are men.

I am really sad and sorry to have written that last observation. But it is true.

In London, England, police arrested a Jewish lawyer for wearing a Star of David necklace while out in public. The government announced that the wearing of a Star of David was likely to cause “offence” to Muslims, and perhaps incite violence against the peace. What in the world . . . ?

Every Jew residing in Great Britain should immediately move to the United States, seeking asylum. Just do not relocate to New York City.

“We have to stop allowing the Left to paint our resistance to Islam as bigotry.  This is a tactic that silences much-needed dissent.  Rest assured, if Islam has its way, what you know as the United States will disappear, little by little.  Pushing back against Islam is no different than pushing back against communism, and the moment the American people can classify it as ideological and not racial comfortably is the moment Islam will truly start to lose its grip.”

–Brandon Morse.

Does no one remember that Spain had to expel the Moors in 1492?  Muslims had conquered Spain, and ruled it for 800 years, before King Ferdinand expelled them.  And it took until 1609 before King Phillip could expel their descendants. It is happening all over again in Europe, particularly Great Britain, France, and Germany. 

You don’t think it could happen here?  Look no further than Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dearborn, Michigan, or Brooklyn, New York.  Or even parts of Northern Virginia.  We are being invaded.  By an enemy bent on conquest.

But, but, but . . . what about freedom of religion?!? What about it? Let us assume that Islam is a religion (I do not concede that point). How many Catholic masses are celebrated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia? What about Tehran, Iran’s annual Christmas parade? Are Baptists, Methodists, and Lutherans enjoying their coffee hours after Sunday Services in Indonesia? None. Never happened. And, no.

Consider this carefully. A Jewish lawyer in Great Britain was criminally charged for wearing a Star of David because it offends Muslims. And that is in a country where the official State religion is protestant Christianity, not Islam. Where is the freedom of religion for this man?

“The choice is not between order and liberty.  It is between liberty with order and anarchy without either.  There is danger that, if the court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.”

–Associate United States Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, dissenting in Terminiello v. City of Chicago (1949).

Get back to me on this question of tolerance for Islam, and the presence of Muslims in Western Countries, when Islam truly becomes a “religion of peace”. Until then, I stand by my warning, above.

Prince Andrew is no longer a “prince”. He is merely Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. And he is being evicted from Royal housing. Sigh. I hope his “fun” was worth it.

“Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select him before I let him do it.”

–Governor Jeff Landry (R. La.), announcing that the LSU Athletic Director would not be allowed to choose the Tigers’ next head football coach, after the firing of Brian Kelly.

Pierre Robert, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania disc jockey for 50 years, has died at age 70. R. I. P.

GFK