Category: Life

A Critical Review of The Thursday Murder Club: Moral Ambiguity and Propaganda

After enjoying a sushi dinner with my cousin, I found myself wide awake and browsing Netflix for something to watch. At the top of the list was The Thursday Murder Club, a made-for-TV murder mystery featuring a stellar cast: Helen Mirren as Elizabeth Best, Pierce Brosnanas Ron Ritchie, Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim Arif, and Celia Imrie as Joyce Meadowcroft. With such talent, I expected an entertaining whodunit. The premise—a group of senior citizens in a retirement home investigating unsolved murders—seemed promising, so I gave it a try. While the film was engaging and the acting lighthearted, its underlying messages and false premises left me deeply troubled.

A Flawed Premise: Misrepresenting Justice

The story begins with a cold case from 50 years ago: the murder of a young woman, with the prime suspect—her boyfriend—allegedly let off by police because he was a “good old boy.” This setup immediately struck me as implausible. Historically, murder was treated with utmost seriousness, and it’s unlikely that authorities would dismiss such a case so casually. The film’s narrative suggests that systemic corruption, particularly among white Western males, allowed the suspect to evade justice. This feels like a heavy-handed attempt to portray traditional societal structures as inherently flawed, a trope that oversimplifies complex issues and paints an unfair picture.

Elizabeth Best, the club’s leader and a retired MI6 agent, learns about this case from a dying friend in hospice, a former policewoman named Penny Grey, who witnessed the boyfriend’s escape from justice. This subplot sets the stage for the film’s troubling moral ambiguity, which I’ll address later.

A Series of Murders and Questionable Motives

The second murder involves a gangster-like figure, Bobby Tanner, who supposedly protects the Coopers Chase retirement home from being sold. After a public argument with his business partner, Ian Ventham, becomes the obvious suspect in Bobby’s eventual death. Ian, a real estate developer, plans to sell the property, including a cemetery, displacing the seniors. In a bizarre scene, Ian sends an employee—a Polish immigrant gravedigger named Bogdan Jankowski—to begin excavating graves alone, while he confronts a crowd of protesting seniors, including Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce. Elizabeth engages Bogdan in a sympathetic conversation, portraying him as a decent person trapped by his illegal status and inability to visit his mother in Poland. This moment feels like a deliberate attempt to contrast the “virtuous” outsider with the supposedly corrupt locals.

The third murder is Ian Ventham himself, who dies under mysterious circumstances. The plot thickens as Elizabeth’s husband, Stephen Best, who suffers from memory issues, pieces together clues and accuses Bogdan of Bobby Tanner’s death. Additionally, a subplot involves Ron Ritchie’s son, Jason Ritchie, who is jailed as a suspect in Ian’s murder. When Ron presses Jason to reveal his whereabouts during the crime, Jason admits to an extramarital affair with Ian’s wife, Gemma Ventham. Shockingly, Ron accepts this revelation without judgment, as if infidelity is a norm to be overlooked. This scene further underscores the film’s failure to hold characters accountable for morally questionable actions, instead normalizing behavior that disregards personal responsibility.

A Disturbing Moral Framework

The film resolves the murders in reverse order, unveiling a narrative that justifies wrongdoing under the guise of moral necessity. Bogdan, we learn, killed Bobby Tanner accidentally during a confrontation over his withheld passport. The film presents this act as understandable, implying that Bobby’s criminal behavior excuses the killing. However, this ignores the fact that Bogdan could have sought legal recourse to resolve his situation. By framing the manslaughter as a tragic necessity, the writers push the idea that illegal actions are justified if committed by a “good” person.

The earlier murders are even more troubling. The cold-case killer, buried in the cemetery, was murdered years ago by Penny Grey, the hospice-bound policewoman, who took justice into her own hands. To protect her legacy, her husband, John Grey, poisons Ian Ventham. Elizabeth, aware of these crimes, chooses not to report them. Instead, she allows John to euthanize Penny and take his own life, presenting these acts as compassionate. This resolution glorifies vigilantism, euthanasia, and suicide, suggesting that such actions are acceptable if motivated by personal loyalty or perceived justice.

Propaganda and the Culture of Death

The film’s climax, marked by a soliloquy from Ibrahim Arif, reinforces its troubling message: killing is justifiable if the end goal feels righteous. This aligns disturbingly with the notion that “the ends justify the means,” a philosophy that undermines the sanctity of human life. The portrayal of euthanasia and suicide as noble acts is particularly egregious. Penny Grey, though unresponsive, may still have had moments of consciousness or the potential to awaken. John’s decision to end her life robs her of that possibility and any chance to reckon with her past actions. His subsequent suicide is framed as a tragic but acceptable escape from accountability, further eroding moral boundaries. Similarly, the casual acceptance of Jason’s affair as a mere alibi, rather than a breach of trust, reflects the film’s broader tendency to excuse actions devoid of responsibility.

The Thursday Murder Club uses its charming cast and lighthearted tone to mask a narrative that normalizes morally reprehensible actions. By presenting murder, vigilantism, euthanasia, suicide, and infidelity as justified or inconsequential, it subtly promotes a “culture of death” that devalues human life. This is not an isolated issue; many modern films casually depict violence and moral ambiguity without regard for the consequences. While the acting and pacing made the movie watchable, its underlying propaganda left me questioning whether our society has become too desensitized to such messages.

Conclusion

The Thursday Murder Club could have been a fun murder mystery, but its flawed premises and moral justifications overshadow its entertainment value. The film’s attempt to glorify illegal and immoral acts under the guise of compassion is deeply concerning. As viewers, we must question narratives that erode the value of human life and promote a worldview where the ends justify any means. This movie, sadly, is a missed opportunity to tell a story that respects both justice and humanity.

Pornography is Mainstream

How the movie “Poor Things” spells out the end of the current civilization.

Recently I read someone write the claim that the movie Poor Things does not fall into the category of pornography. I was shocked, and I had to look up the definition:

pornography

noun

por·​nog·​ra·​phy pȯr-ˈnä-grə-fē 

1: the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement.

2: material (such as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement.

3: the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction.

My wife and I went to see this movie when it first came out believing it was a science fiction movie. At first, it followed a bizarre dystopian story much like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Unfortunately for us, it would not be too long into the film that it became nothing more than an excuse to legitimatize pornography.

As a human being growing up in the USA and having unfortunately been subject to many oversexualized movie scenes throughout my lifetime, I never expected to be insulted at this level. But even worse than the fact, basis Merriam-Webster’s definition, that this movie is just a high budget Pornography. Are its sick and twisted themes.

It’s interesting to note that much of the movie was filmed in black and white. This is for theatrical effect I am sure, but it gets at what it is about. It is simply a movie lacking light. It is one of the darkest, most evil sinister movies I have ever seen.

A woman, who kills herself is revived and given a baby’s brain. She is a child in an adult body and then becomes obsessed with pleasuring herself and then later with intercourse. She sees her body as a pleasure center and then as a utility for making money after she disposes all her and her lover’s assets on the poor. The only higher human function she has the whole movie. She is supposed to be the protagonist.

Incidentally, the actress who played the woman Emma Stone, did do a fantastic job of it, but she also sold her soul and respectability. I, for one, will never go to see another film in which she may appear because of her lack of judgement in accepting this role. I cannot imagine the shame her parents must have knowing that their daughter is now known for a role in the first mainstream pornography movie studio film. The first of many, is at least this is what the dark forces within Hollywood I am sure are hoping for.

Then the rest of the characters are all shallow with no depth and all the lowest comprehensible level of human life that can exist. Her initial lover, if you want to call it that, is obsessed with the woman for her beauty, her future boyfriend an assistant of her creator, care’s her for the same reason but in a servile position to her, almost in a form of worship. Then comes the husband of the woman who killed herself, he claims her and is obviously a horrible evil person. The cause of the original woman’s suicide.

She needs to get her freedom, so she kills the man and transfer his brain to that of a fowl. This is supposed to be justice in this dark film. But in truth, it is Par for the course. It is the perversion and the twisting of the natural order of human life to all evil. There is no birth, no joy in nature, only darkness. There are absolutely no redeeming qualities to the story of this movie.

In this film not one male character has any depth or moral compass, including that of the woman’s creator. Neither do any of the women though they are portrayed as heroines in a brutally male world.

The cinematography was excellent, and the production was of the highest quality. The dystopian world where this story is created is strange and interesting. I wish that the money spent was used to create a film of beauty that would uplift this world and not the highest quality pornography ever produced in Hollywood.

This film’s acceptance is a very sad commentary on our society. I fear the end of the western civilization which has seen the greatest prosperity and peace ever, particularly in the United States of America is nearing its end. As selfishness and perversity pervade a society it only spells out impending destruction from the same hands.

I saw this movie in December 2023 and was hoping I would not have to spend any time thinking about this offensive film again. After it won several Academy Awards, I felt I had to get the truth out, at least to my small audience.

All Creation is Shouting for Joy!

Revelations from Nature

I went for a nice long walk in Echo Lake Park in Mountainside, NJ. It was an atypical Sunday in February. It was not below freezing and with the sun it actually was quite comfortable. I had my binoculars with me, as any avid birder would on any walk. The day was bountiful with birds. I spotted over twenty species, which is a huge accomplishment in the winter.

Then I strolled over to the connecting Lenape Park. On the path that leads to the pond there used to be a garden nursery. Sadly, as the community progressed things changed and the property was sold. Now there is what appears to be a massive luxury apartment building complex under construction. To be fair, they are close enough to the park where they will surely be required to plant trees and shrubbery to keep with the setting and this will create homes for the wildlife that as of this time have been displaced.  Hence, it was not as lovely as usual but will be once again.

As I reached the pond, there were two county police officers in their cruiser, I assume taking a break. Reaching the edge of the pond itself another birder came up and greeted me. He had all the gear including an expensive camera with a telephoto lens. I had done the photography thing for a few years but tired of it interfering with my appreciation of nature. Anyway, he told me he had been watching a Pileated Woodpecker over at yonder tree. He also told me of teenagers dumping the picknick tables into the pond. He decided to go to speak with the police about the issue while I went to explore the trees and hopefully see the same woodpecker.

Looking up at two trees, not sure which was the one he had been directing me to. I noticed the birds had gotten eerily quiet; I could only hear bird song in the distance. To my amazement, I spotted a Red-Tailed Hawk up on the top of a tree eating its prey. I couldn’t make out whether it was eating a small bird or a mouse. Either way it was having its fill, and I had now had an exceptionally wonderful experience on this walk.

I was due home to bring my wife, breakfast and then get ready to get to church in time. I quickly left the pond and informed the birder-photographer who was more excited about my find than he had appeared to be of the woodpecker and went running to try to get a picture, he was very grateful.

Some people do not understand this hobby and I guess people may have different reasons for doing it. But my reason is quite simple and after leaving Lenape Park while headed back to my car that was parked at Echo Lake it just jumped out of my mouth as if all the years of birding culminated to this point. I began to sing at the top of my lungs, if my wife was with me, she would have turned all different colors, but when I am alone and at my age, I share my joy. I don’t get embarrassed easily. So, this is what I sang:

The heavens are telling the glory of God,
And all creation is shouting for joy!
Come, dance in the forest, come, play in the field,
And sing, sing to the glory of the Lord!

Having known these words for much of my life. I have sung it; I have read it from the original prayer, and I have studied its inspiration. Canticle of the Sun was written in Italian by St. Francis of Assisi in 1225. Incidentally, I took his name for my confirmation at the age of 14, and I wear a medal of St. Francis always. He has been an inspiration for me all my life. His humility and love have always drawn me close to him. I always thought I understood him but until recently it truly did not click in my simple mind.

Yes, I understood his love for the Lord and all His creation. I know as most people do and some don’t want to admit that there is a Creator. I personally am not surprised that He would want to look in on us and that He loves us. But I didn’t understand though simple, it didn’t hit me until that day and then it would be several weeks later that I have been given the true understanding to express it.

As Ash Wednesday came and the Lenten season was once again upon us, I decided to reread the ever-perennial Book of Job. A book from the Old Testament that in a certain way delves into trying to understand human suffering, sacrifice and our relationship with our Lord. This time I concurrently read the book “On Job” by Gene Fendt that was released this year. I found it incredibly helpful to meditate and pray with.

This is a immensely deep topic. Volumes of books have been written by theologians, philosophers and thinkers. People with greater skill and study than I will ever have. Yet, we have all been given the same gift and this is what is most important.

Job in his infinite wisdom never denies the Lord. He does not understand why he suffers and groans at the suffering, but Satan could not break him. Because he knew with deep understanding and acceptance that all he is and all we have is given to us by the Lord our God. How can we, which are only part of His creation, think or believe that we can understand all things. It is a farce for us to act as we do. “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!”

Even the greatest scientists in the world have found that intelligent design can be the only thing that can explain creation. This is why all life is precious. We create, but we are limited. Only our Lord God has created all things, and He is always calling us home. As Gene Fendt states in his book “The world is groaning and cries out for its recreation. Only that will answer: all things must be made new again.” This making new again can only done with and through the creator.

So many fall for the lies of the evil one. Anyone who denies creation and nature in an attempt to bend it to their will only make a mockery of themselves and ultimately destroy themselves. We should always work in concert with nature not against it. Then we truly participate in the natural order. I pray for those that deny nature and its order to come back to the reality that their true longing is to be with the Creator God. Sadly, they fall for lies when all around them is beauty and the truth is in our face, if only, we should all open our eyes. As a Christian and from my own natural observance I know that my redeemer lives that I may rise again.

It is God calling us, everything in nature is shouting to us; “Hear me and follow me for I AM the LORD your God.” With humility and this understanding, I know I must accept all burdens that come my way and I must face them always realizing that everything belongs to the Lord for the rain falls on the Good and the Bad and I must always do all things with Love for others.

Thank you, St. Francis and St. Job, for giving me the words I need to express the revelation given to me that day in the park and most importantly thank you my Lord and God Jesus Christ for your love always. I am but nothing in this world and humbly I beg you to have mercy on my sins and those of the whole world.

With that said, I will continue to sing! Sing to the glory of the Lord!

The World Full of Lost Souls

Finding the True Shepherd

It is truly perplexing how mankind is always lost. It seems you can give a person a map and he will turn it upside. You can show him joy and he will turn it to sadness. You can give him peace and he will ruin it with violence and greed. One interesting thing is people comment on it like it is a sport.

Ultimately, you can always tell the fruits of one’s work or action by the results it brings forth. But for some reason mankind sees the results of certain actions and continues to persist with the actions that they know will perpetuate negative results.

Somehow people are still falling for the same tired lies. Marxism and all its forms will bring nothing but destruction. It has been tried and tested, has failed miserably. It’s evangelist falls back over and over again on its most popular myth, “It hasn’t really been tried”. The list goes on and on of where it has been tried, and how it always converts into the same gutter trap, a form of dictatorship and enslavement of the masses in all its many forms. The constant propaganda being fed to the populace that a government will solve their problems is a lie that destroys all hope, joy, and purpose in life.

Now they want to destroy the United States of America. Sadly, these people with their complete lack of morality will likely succeed. They have taken a bite of the apple and though the fruit is bitter they will engage believing that mankind can create heaven on earth or nirvana, whichever you prefer. They believe anarchy and violence towards our system of government will somehow liberate them. When studying history, it is easily revealed that their socialist end goal will bring injustice, poverty, and misery.

The USA was not perfect by any means. But in the last ten years it has become a much more imperfect place and has fallen to become a world full of lies in which the new order is attempting to control the people. The push is for more legalized drugs and the acceptance of all forms of sexual perversions as a right above all things decent. I believe the main reason for this is the lack of respect for human life.

When a people do not believe life has any value and it is cheap, it will act that way. This is why our leaders are leading us into wars and creating scenarios for more. That is why our government wants us, the taxpayers, to fund the destruction of human beings in the womb. That is why our government is pushing for the destruction of children’s bodies for the Frankenstein like experimentation on our young, knowing full well, that unlike God, humans can no more change the natural born sex of a person than we can create new worlds.

Does any of that sound to you like people we want running our government? Do you feel the desire to raise the flag in your house when you hear of these horrors and for some reason feel an inability to stop it? I know I don’t. If I raise the flag, it is in remembering the USA of the past, not the present with all its globalist, socialist anarchistic schemes.

All is not lost because there is but one truth and how I pray that people would search in their hearts and know it.  How do you know as a people, that you leadership cares or has love for you? Iti is simple, by their actions.

Below is Excerpt from Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI;

“In the same way, the “sheep”, who after all are people created by God, images of God, do not belong to the shepherd as if they were things-though that is what the thief, and robber thinks when he takes possession of them. Herein lies the distinction between, the owner, the true shepherd, and the robber, for ideologues and the dictators, human beings are merely a thing that they possess. For the true Shepherd, however, they are free in relation to truth and love; the Shepherd proves that they belong to him, precisely by knowing and loving them, by wishing them to be in the freedom of truth. They belong to him through oneness of “knowing,” through the communion in the truth that the Shepherd himself is. This is why he does not use them, but gives his life for them. Just as Logos and Incarnation, Logos and passion belong together, so too knowing and self-giving are ultimately one.”

The lies we are now seeing constantly propagated through the mainstream media, by our politicians who believe themselves above us when they are beholden to us, and other nefarious global entities such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and the World Health Organization do nothing more than bring despair to our society.

Human life is the highest and most sacred creature on the planet. We need to know that each individual has value, and we need to protect the individual as a special autonomous person and not a vassal of any government. Once people are affirmed in their value to society, then they will have an open heart to embrace the truth.

The truth can be found in Jesus Christ and when people can put aside all prejudices and open their hearts, they will find it irresistible to follow for he is the true Shepherd who cares for us. Not Karl Marx.

John 8:31-32

Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

The Question of Violence and its Causes

War – A Sad State of Affairs

It confounds me how academics can take a simple topic and make it almost imperceptible with questions and not enough answers. Yet, at the same time the study of certain topics and the propaganda that revolves around such areas of understanding, or lack thereof, are essential to clearing up the misconceptions and misunderstandings that lie behind much of the world’s conflicts.

I would like to address on the simple front, the most heinous of all is propaganda. It doesn’t matter from whose mouth the words come from that incite people to violence or a war state. But there is no doubt that without the manipulation of the perception of the people any human population would be against a defense or offensive posture of any kind that would put their families at risk for a cause. Hence, every action taken by any group of people against another group must originate from a threat perceived or realized.

This is where the war machine comes to life. First to get the engines warmed up, there needs to be a perceived threat. Second, after convincing the populus of the perceived threat, then the next step in the process is to devalue the opponent. This means, dehumanizing them in one way or another. Typically, this is done through a wave of name calling, so childish, I know but this is the way it goes. Take Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin called the Ukraine a country of Nazis who were committing genocide on the Russian population within the country. If you are Russian, you feel like you should be proud and engaged to liberate those being persecuted in the Ukraine. From the other side of the fence, we hear comments thrown about of the Russian leader Putin being a madman, murderous dictator and a thug.  Hence, we should all fall in line and support the defense of the Ukraine at all costs.

Now that dehumanizing of each side is accomplished, the continued massive violent initiative on both sides may continue. How exactly are both sides able to continue to fund these wars? It is done through the false transfer of value or money which is accomplished through the Central Banks that finance wars and the support of the industry which provides military grade weaponry at significant profit. With the profits humming along and the money constantly rolling in the value of human life continues to be discounted while there are people becoming wealthy on all sides by the death of our children.

It is apparent that some wars may have been legitimately entered into as an act of self-defense. However, the more common reason is that leaders with narcissist tendencies are in every level of most governments. They see people as cannon fodder and are only remotely concerned with bringing peace. As long as their own safety is not at risk, the end of the war will be nowhere in sight. Even if a war is entered into in self-defense the securing of peace with an end to violence should be the primary goal and not the subjugation of the foe.

The dehumanization is the essential part of the process to enable either party to feel no guilt at killing innocent people. This feeds the narcissist who has no empathy to begin with, and without the human order of things to set boundaries around them, where can this end?

Evil is committed by people for some personal gain of some sort.  Whether it be pride, greed or power. It is committed by persons with no care for their fellow human being and are ready to get what they want at their expense. It is not a case separate from society. Society itself is to blame for continually accepting and playing the game by the rules set forth by the person in power.

Additionally, once having accepted the perceived threat and the dehumanizing of the enemy we continue to support the posture of violence. We need to say no, we are not giving you money for that! No, we are not sending our children to die for that! No, we are not giving you the power to continue to hurt other people for an unknown gain or outcome.

However, what has happened is that we the people have relinquished our powers as individuals to a large government entity in the false belief that they will take care of us. This falsehood constantly perpetrated on the masses is what keeps us in this continued global turmoil. They have power over us and often will turn our own people against us if we descent from the political will of the time.

I don’t have the solution for the world’s problems. For the USA I believe in that more power should be given to the states which would return the voice to the people. In fact, I wish that the USA could be broken up into 50 independent states with a much looser cooperation with the Federal government. However, it is too late, and this won’t happen. The politicians in the USA much like Putin in Russia, put themselves first above the people, because we are all simply just numbers. As long as their propaganda machine is working, they can influence the tide of public opinion and get the support.

War in Syria

It is strange that our human conditions make it so easy for us to see war as something that is happening over there, and not internalize the horrors that are being committed against other human beings just like us, that bleed when they are cut and cry when they are hurt.  If only we can harness the compassion of the people worldwide to force an end to war. This should be our prayer.

The excerpt from the 1759 classic “Death: A Poetical Essay” by Beilby Porteous put it best. For a clearer understanding in our current age replace the word “Princes” with “Senators” and “Kings” with “Presidents”.

To sate the lust of power; more horrid still,

The foulest stain and scandal of our nature

Became its boast — One Murder made a Villain,

Millions a Hero. — Princes were privileg’d

To kill, and numbers sanctified the crime.

Ah! why will Kings forget that they are Men?

Without Truth There in No Life, With Lies Comes Violence and Destruction

In a society that does not seek truth above all else we will have corruption and destruction. With the seemingly endless senseless unprovoked murders of innocent victims in the United States the primary question should be, what is driving these people to such violence?

However, the media ignores this question and looks at each case as if they are independent. However, in the majority of cases, where the perpetrators are not Sociopaths, they are disturbed individuals who have been created by society.

The current mode, of those that have the most control over our children’s self-worth are in education, the balance outside the parents are in media whether passive or direct, meaning the range between TV entertainment and online platforms.

These modes of influencing our children are anarchistic and dark. Their world is hyper-sexualized with a twisted focus on worth through physical appearance and popularity. It is strange that health and safety are the lowest on their priority, with a focus on feelings as the driver for all a person’s needs.

Hence we have the recent death of a 37-year-old woman who was an advocate for respect of obesity, which of course is an unhealthy lifestyle. No one cared to correct her and denounce her propagation of such a lifestyle. Worse is the promotion of transgender operations on minors as a solution to their so-called “confusion” at an early age. Let’s face it, this is just a moneymaker for a greedy pharmaceutical industry, and they care not who they hurt. This is proven by the high risk of suicide for the individuals who suffer this fate. This is being promoted in our schools, and we still don’t understand how we are raising sick children?

The natural order is being ignored and preferred for the Frankenstein style solutions to life’s problems. If you are confused about one thing, take this pill, change your body medically or embrace your unhealthy lifestyle as good. Unhealthy lifestyle includes the hyper-sexualization promoted by our society.

Promiscuity embraces a lack of respect for the purpose of one’s nature for which the body serves and a degradation of one’s own worth by giving away yourself freely for instant gratification with no strings attached. The sexual revolution as it has been called is not a revolution but a perversion of the natural world. We are part of nature, not outside of nature. We are called to be who we are, not to change our stripes every time we “feel” different or think we don’t fit into some mold that our society claims is being “imposed” on us. It is a lie that boys and girls are the same and that only social constructs determine those differences. It is the natural order of things that fathers, and mothers pass down that natural order of things as has been done for thousands upon thousands of years. Additionally, studying the rest of the animal kingdom you understand that this is the way of the world.

For all the talk of  “Save the Planet”, these same people forget we are not outside the planet. We humans are part of the ecosystem. Please stop the resurgence of the sacrificial nature worship. One that has led to the willing sacrifice of our children to abortion for the selfish mores of an immature generation that cares not for its children, born or not yet born. This is what I call the underlying sickness of our society which has created children who are selfish and are not taught to love.

Additionally, another one of our society’s sickness is the objectification of human beings through pornography. Pornography, is just bad as heroine is for our society or even worse because it often destroys families and in numerous instances leads to violence upon women and children. This objectification, of course, will lead to oneself questioning their own self-worth. If you believe yourself to have no value, then you can’t believe anyone else has value.  Once one believes that humans are just objects, then they can do anything to them, including murder.

I am not totally against tattoos but the excessive use of what could be a nice decorative body art ascribes to the same self-loathing that is permeating our society today. This one of the many symptoms we can see clearly on our everyday walk of life. This points to illness.

In summary, the lack of love for ourselves and the humans around us is what is driving the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against society. Teaching our children to hate themselves and human beings in general are what is currently undermining the respect for the social norms that have for thousands of years helped our world grow and keep our future bright. If we do not teach our children to love human life above all things then we will continue to suffer the consequences.

*A Little Change of Heart

It was about one year ago I made a difficult change in my life. It didn’t affect many people. It was simply that I had decided to befriend and get to know a homeless person. I felt like St. Francis, I had an aversion to the destitute of society and I needed to break that association and come to know them as children of God.

It so happened that there was a colored woman who every morning would sit in front of the St. Patrick’s Cathedral gift shop on 51st street (right over a grate where heat would come up). I remember before the first day I approached her I used to look down at her. I remember there was always crumbled food next to her and I thought it was disgusting. I always averted contact with people like her believing that many are drug addicts, alcoholic etc. and that I should not give them money because I may be supporting their habit. So though I knew in my mind they actually have the same gift of life from God that I have, I treated them like lesser people.

Then I made the effort. It started at first I would just give her a few dollars a day, which made me feel better. However I truly did not change until she asked me my name. Her name was Ann. She had a beautiful smile when you spoke to her. The crumbs she placed on the ground where there to feed the birds. She was an avid reader and enjoyed science fiction. She smoked cigarettes, but only two or three a day. Every day I saw her brought me great joy. She would ask me about my family, my children, my weekend, and my business trips. I would ask her about her health and if she needed anything. She always said she was fine.

Then one week she was not in her spot for a few days. I was concerned and hoped she would come back soon. On Thursday morning she was back. She told me she has a heart condition and had been in the hospital. I told her I would pray for her recovery and I asked her to quit smoking. That was a few months ago.

Recently, I went to mass with a coworker who I had gotten a Mass said for his departed grandmother. I saw my friend enjoy the mass and feel close to his grandmother a year after her death. We came out of the cathedral and went across the street; I was sharing with him my morning routine and so I introduced him to Ann. Ann said to me, “You’re really happy this morning.”  I said I was because my friend Gerry was with me. Gerry said hello and I gave her some money and we said goodbye. It was a special morning.

The week before Ann told me one of her favorite book collections is “The Lord of the Rings”. I was planning on bringing her the full collection in paperback as a gift. Then sadly the day after I spoke to her with Gerry she was not at her normal spot. It has now been almost three weeks since I have seen her. I looked for her at lunch time in different buildings with public parks where she told me she is often found. I did not find her. I have been praying for her everyday hoping that she is well and that I may see her gain.

Sadly I fear that she may not be coming back. I know she would have good and bad days with her heart condition and she often talked it down. Now I am thinking that I may not have done enough to help her. I should have tried harder. I know that I did not give to her as much as she gave to me. She opened my eyes and my heart to the love of God. Her concern for me, a person in a much better state in life, made a significant impression on me. She truly cared for me as a true friend. She had love, the kind of love that we should share and have for all people. She had a truly Christian heart and I will strive to be like her.

I still hold hope that she may come back. But if the good Lord took her I am certain that she is in the bosom of his love. I will continue praying for her everyday not knowing for sure what has happened to her. And if she is in Heaven I know that she prays for me to our Lord.

With love in my heart I say God bless you Ann wherever you may be.

*Written in 2006

Croquetas!! -UPDATED LIST

It has been a few years since I had this idea about finding the best Cuban style “croquetas” (pronounced crow-keah-taas). What are croquetas? Well technically, they are originally from Spain, they are simply, put fritters. Typically, they are prepared with a béchamel base and with added meat that is then chilled and formed into cylindrical patties, which are coated in egg wash, breadcrumbs, and fried until crispy and golden on the outside.

In my Cuban household growing up in Mountainside, NJ, USA, these were only prepared for special occasions because they are time-consuming to make. My immediate family which consisted of my grandparents, my parents, myself and my five siblings would devour them so quickly that I often felt sorry for my Abuela Concha and my mom. They would spend the entire evening before any special occasion preparing them, knowing that as the most popular item on the menu, they would have to fight off the children who would try to swipe them before they made it to the dinner table.

Somehow, in the small Cape Cod home we lived in, they still managed to hide them from the kids. There were times my parents would have company, then like magic, croquetas would appear on a silver platter. At these events, we were not allowed near the festivities. For two simple reasons. One, so that the adults could have real conversations instead of always having us about. But we were still allowed nearby as long as we kept silent. Once we began interfering, we would be sent off to bed. The second, of course, that we may swipe the appetizers that were prepared for the guests, mainly the croquetas.

As the years progressed, there would be times we would just buy them in Elizabeth, NJ at Mara Bakery, a Cuban bake shop. I recall those visits like it was yesterday. That is where we would get “pasteles de guayaba” (guava pastry) and drink a malta (a sweet malt beverage) while we waited for our order to be boxed up. Sometimes, my dad would want to go early, so we could hang out and eat Cuban sandwiches and desert and then go home with the order.

The smells of the food and listening to all the Cubans chattering away are some of my fondest memories of my childhood.

Now in my later years, I happen to be married to a beautiful woman who grew up in Cuba. I never realized how Cuban I was until now. Growing up here, in the USA, you can say I am as American as apple pie, but my soul is distinctly Cuban as I have found out and have embraced in these recent years. The humor, the camaraderie and the sadness of a paradise lost are what unite us all outside of the island, and it is what has us praying and helping those still living under the dictatorship in current times.

Getting back to the point, Croquetas! This is one thing that is important to me and should be at every Cuban restaurant. Sadly, many Cuban restaurants don’t even know how to make them, and buy them made offsite. I have compiled a list of 12 random Cuban eateries that serve croquetas on or near Bergenline Avenue in Hudson County that I have tasted. I ordered only ham croquetas, first because they are my favorite and second so that they can be compared on the same scale.

Below is my list with a rating system from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. Sadly, I can not give any a 10.

  1. Las Chicas, Union City (9)
  2. Como en Tu Casa (9) (was Cuban now owned by Venezuelans, still caribeños)
  3. Las Americas, Union City (8.5)
  4. Rumba Cubana, Guttenberg (9)
  5. Las Palmas, West New York (8.5)
  6. Centro Latino, West New York (8)
  7. Gilberto’s, North Bergen (7.5)
  8. La Tinajita, West New York (7)
  9. Pio Pio, West New York (4) (possibly a recipe from the “Período especial”)
  10. Havana on the Hudson Cafe, West New York (1)**
  11. Cortaditos, Union City (1)**
  12. Artemisa Bakery (0)***

Please take note, I am only rating the Ham Croquetas. I am not rating the restaurant overall. For instance, toward the bottom of the list is Cortaditos, meanwhile I love the Café which is great, except for their croquetas which I pray someday soon they will discover another provider or recipe.

**by the way, the two starred I believe order the mix or croquetas from the same vendor as they have the same distinctly odd flavor, and it is not ham.

*** How Artemisa Bakery has the gall to sell that garbage they served me as croquetas is shocking. It was some kind of hollow breading, very odd.