Le Temple de l'Amour

The Temple of Love is one of the most unforgettable places in the gardens of the Petit Trianon, on a little island directly behind the house. Queen Marie-Antoinette commissioned the architect Mique to design and build the neo-classical structure in 1778. The Temple of Love was not built to celebrate the queen's mythical love for Count Fersen, as some authors have hinted; Fersen was was a mere acquaintance at the time. Lady Antonia Fraser in Marie-Antoinette: The Journey maintains that it was built to celebrate the love of the king and the queen for each other and the consummation of their marriage, delayed for many years.

The consummation took so long because Marie-Antoinette was a mere child when she was married; she was fourteen but looked as if she were much younger, and Louis was not a pervert. He was a gentleman, and waited for her to mature. He also approached his bride in a restrained manner because his aunties had inculcated in him the dangers for France when a king became enthralled by a woman, as had happened to his grandfather Louis XV. Louis could probably see himself becoming quite easily enthralled with Marie-Antoinette, and so he held himself back. Also, as author Simone Bertière speculates in L'Insoumise, there may have been a physical problem with Marie-Antoinette which made marital relations difficult at first. In their early twenties, however, the young couple found their bonheur essentiel, their "essential happiness," as Marie-Antoinette wrote to her mother. It became a marriage which all the forces of hell could not sunder.

 From Art School Glasses.The statue of Cupid carving a bow from the club of Hercules is symbolic of the success of the Austrian alliance, sealed by the nuptials of Louis and Antoinette. Via Vive la Reine.

(Photo by Eugene Atget, Le Temple de l'Amour, Versailles, c.1923-24)

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Superman After Liberalism

 From Daniel McCarthy at Modern Age:

Superman is a product of the New Deal. His creators, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, were Jewish teenagers from immigrant families (Shuster was a Canadian immigrant himself) who became friends and creative partners in Cleveland, Ohio. The origin they would eventually craft for Superman echoes the story of Moses, with a newborn placed not in a basket but in a rocketship and set adrift not on the Nile but among the stars, his destiny to bring righteousness to a new land. Coupled with the immigrant and Jewish aspects that contributed to the creation of Superman is a Middle American sensibility. The Ohio of Siegel and Shuster becomes Superman’s Kansas, where his rocket crashes and the alien child is adopted into an all-American family. What unites Superman’s contrasting elements—foreign and native, rural and urban—is a New Deal–era confidence in liberalism as a form of patriotism, with America itself as a Moses-like lawgiver unto the world yet still a place of its own.

Superman, like America, is all-powerful. And being all-powerful, Superman and America can afford to be idealistic. Superman doesn’t kill because with power as great as his killing is never necessary, much as liberals would come to see the death penalty as abhorrent in a land where well-meaning government and enlightened social science could overcome any antisocial threat. Although liberals would not become truly “soft on crime” until after the New Deal, the idea of beneficent power that Franklin Roosevelt’s administration represented pointed the way to ever more beneficence accompanying ever more power. The “golden age” comic book characters of the New Deal and World War II years were also more violent than those of the 1960s, and Superman himself reached his final form by stages. But the template of what was to come, for liberalism and the superhero alike, was set in the 1930s.

The prehistory of Superman suggests the limitations of that template, however. Before Siegel and Shuster created their superhero, they wrote and illustrated a 1933 science-fiction tale called “The Reign of the Superman” about a very different kind of superior being. The story involves a mad scientist performing an experiment that gives a lowly man superhuman intelligence and telepathic powers, which this “superman” intends to use to subjugate the human race. Serious literature and genre fiction alike had been exploring the implications of “supermen” and master races more evolved than humanity since the late nineteenth century. These tales were often warnings or tragedies, such as the 1930 novel that prefigured Siegel and Shuster’s superhero Superman in many ways, Philip Wylie’s Gladiator.

What made the comic-book Superman a defender of humanity rather than an outcast (like Wylie’s protagonist) or would-be conqueror (like Siegel and Shuster’s first sci-fi superman) was his assimilation into Kansas and America as the land of the free. But today’s left-liberals don’t think of Kansas or Middle America as metonyms for decency and simple goodness. Nor do they believe that assimilation is an ideal worth pursuing—identity politics instead prescribes maximum alienation from any traditional model of Americanism. An immigrant from the planet Krypton would today be told by activists in what was once the party of the New Deal that America is a place to be ashamed of and “truth, justice, and the American way” a contradiction in terms. Instead of confidence that American liberalism will overcome any foe at home or abroad, the modern left-liberal fears that fascism has already taken over this country.  (Read more.)

From Direct Line News:

Last night I did what every red-blooded American comic nerd and cinephile did: I went to see the latest Superman movie—James Gunn’s grand reboot of the Man of Steel. You know, the one he’s been hyping for months like it’s the Second Coming of Kal-El himself. And while I was prepared for lasers, capes, and Jonathan Kent’s folksy wisdom, I wasn’t prepared for this much immigration propaganda dressed in spandex.

Because, folks, we need to talk. We need to talk about Superman. We need to talk about Martian Manhunter. About Wonder Woman. About Hawkman. Hawkgirl. Starfire. The Green Lantern Corps. And how, under James Gunn’s visionary eye, they’ve all become something a little more… political. A little more symbolic. A little more like a glowing endorsement of open borders wrapped in the American flag.

Let’s get this straight: Superman is an illegal alien. So are most of his Justice League friends. And if you thought this new movie was going to treat that fact with a bit of humility, maybe even acknowledge the complicated nuances of being an outsider in a nation of laws, then you’re in for a rude awakening. Because Gunn doesn’t just double down—he celebrates it.

Superman: The Undocumented Messiah

It’s no secret that Kal-El is an alien. That’s been canon since 1938. The last son of Krypton crash-lands in Kansas, gets adopted by the Kents, grows up into America’s Boy Scout, and becomes a symbol of truth, justice, and—nowadays—whatever the politically fashionable version of “the American way” happens to be.

But here’s the thing: Superman didn’t go through immigration screening. No asylum process. No refugee vetting. Not even a space-themed green card. If he landed in 2025 instead of the 1930s, he’d be met with border patrol drones, a media circus, and probably a congressional investigation.

Yet James Gunn wants us to treat him as a role model—a cosmic DACA poster child in tights.

And don’t tell me “He’s just a metaphor.” Because that’s exactly the problem. In Gunn’s version, Kal-El doesn’t just fight for humanity—he represents all immigrants. Illegal or not. The movie all but shouts: “If you’re against Superman, you’re against immigrants.”

Which leads us to the uncomfortable question that James Gunn doesn’t want you to ask…(Read more.)

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History of Greek Loukoumia, or Turkish Delights

From The Greek Reporter:

Greek loukoumia, or Turkish delights, hold an important place in the world of Greek sweets. The delectable, soft little squares of sweet flavor coated in powdered sugar are an iconic symbol of Greece. In Greece and Cyprus, loukoumia, the plural of loukoumi, are a traditional sweet offered with coffee. In many villages across the country, visitors are welcomed into the homes of locals with an offering of the delicious gelatinous confection. Made from the simple ingredients of water, starch, and sugar, and flavored with iconic tastes of Greece like rose, bergamot, and mastiha, loukoumia are easy to make but difficult to perfect. (Read more.)

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Madame Louise of France: the Princess Who Became a Nun

 

From Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira:

Wishing to enter the convent, while attending the Countess of Rupelmonde’s reception of the habit at the Carmel, she decided to join that Order. She began to prepare herself for it by studying the rule of St. Teresa and slowly abstaining from the comfort that surrounded her. She would stay away from the heated area of the castle during periods of appalling cold.

She could not stand the smell of candles and only overcame this repugnance after years of effort. Finally, she obtained the consent of the king and on February 20, 1770, entered the Carmelites of Saint Denis. France admired her example, and Pope Clement XIV wrote the princess to express his happiness at seeing his pontificate marked by such a comforting event for religion.

Therefore, this event took place nineteen years before the French Revolution broke out.

In the convent, she fought hard for her companions to stop distinguishing her from the others. She also worked to overcome her difficulty in staying a long time on her knees, a grace she obtained after a novena to St. Louis Gonzaga. She received the habit on September 10, 1770, clad in the mantle of Saint Teresa, owned by the Carmelites of Paris, and took the name of Sister Therese of Saint Augustine.

What an honor to receive the habit clad in the mantle of Saint Teresa!

Later named mistress of novices, she excelled in that difficult work, manifesting constant joy in the midst of the difficulties she encountered. Later she was unanimously elected mother superior. When the Visitor General of the Carmelites brought the news to the king, he said that Sister Therese had only had one vote against her. ‘So,’ Louis XV replied, ‘was there a vote against her?’ ‘Yes, Sire,’ answered the prelate, ‘but it was her own vote.’

(Read more.)

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Tulsi Gabbard Releases Background Information of Obama Involvement in Trump-Russia Targeting Op

 From The Last Refuge:

Staying focused on the trail of evidence held deep within the ODNI office, is why Tulsi Gabbard has been targeted for removal over the past several weeks.  Kudos to Tulsi Gabbard for staying on mission – Great job.

What the evidence shows is a focused targeting operation intended to fabricate a false premise by the United States Intelligence Community, through the Office of former DNI James Clapper.  The op was green-lighted by Barack Obama as a way to impede the agenda of incoming President Donald Trump.  All three branches of government collaborated on the scheme.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard revealed overwhelming evidence that demonstrates how, after President Trump won the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton, President Obama and his national security cabinet members manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump.

• • In the months leading up to the November 2016 election, the Intelligence Community (IC) consistently assessed that Russia is “probably not trying … to influence the election by using cyber means.”
  • On December 7, 2016, after the election, talking points were prepared for DNI James Clapper stating, “Foreign adversaries did not use cyberattacks on election infrastructure to alter the US Presidential election outcome.”
  • On December 9, 2016, President Obama’s White House gathered top National Security Council Principals for a meeting that included James Clapper, John Brennan, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, Andrew McCabe and others, to discuss Russia.
  • After the meeting, DNI Clapper’s Executive Assistant sent an email to IC leaders tasking them with creating a new IC assessment “per the President’s request” that details the “tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election.” It went on to say, “ODNI will lead this effort with participation from CIA, FBI, NSA, and DHS.”
  • Obama officials leaked false statements to media outlets, including The Washington Post, claiming, “Russia has attempted through cyber means to interfere in, if not actively influence, the outcome of an election.”
  • On January 6, 2017, a new Intelligence Community Assessment was released that directly contradicted the IC assessments that were made throughout the previous six months.
  • 
    

After months of investigation into this matter, the facts reveal this new assessment was based on information that was known by those involved to be manufactured i.e. the Steele Dossier or deemed as not credible. This was politicized intelligence that was used as the basis for countless smears seeking to delegitimize President Trump’s victory, the years-long Mueller investigation, two Congressional impeachments, high level officials being investigated, arrested, and thrown in jail, heightened US-Russia tensions, and more.

“The issue I am raising is not a partisan issue. It is one that concerns every American. The information we are releasing today clearly shows there was a treasonous conspiracy in 2016 committed by officials at the highest level of our government. Their goal was to subvert the will of the American people and enact what was essentially a years-long coup with the objective of trying to usurp the President from fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon him by the American people,” said DNI Tulsi Gabbard. 

“Their egregious abuse of power and blatant rejection of our Constitution threatens the very foundation and integrity of our democratic republic. No matter how powerful, every person involved in this conspiracy must be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, to ensure nothing like this ever happens again. The American people’s faith and trust in our democratic republic and therefore the future of our nation depends on it. As such, I am providing all documents to the Department of Justice to deliver the accountability that President Trump, his family, and the American people deserve.”  

Is there new information within the release?  Yes and No.

All of the outlined activity, the release of the emails and communication within the scheme team, is not new.  However, the new part is the evidence.  The facts now public to support all previous claims made here and by others, this time with greater detail that cannot be refuted.

If you have been reading here for a while THE DOCUMENTS tell a story that is well known.

We were able to piece this together even without knowing how the corrupt actors were talking to each other about their specific roles, responsibilities and motives.

The documents provided by Tulsi Gabbard are the evidence of a serious coup against incoming President Trump by actors within government.   The end of their IC effort culminated in the Robert Mueller investigation.  Tulsi is providing the path to the avatar Mueller represented and all of the actors who participated with him. (Read more.)

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The Cave of Elijah

 "Elias the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch....Blessed are they that saw thee, and were honored with thy friendship." (Ecclesiasticus 48: 1, 11)

"Elias indeed shall come, and restore all things." (Matthew 17:11)

From A Pilgrim's Journey:

The caves on Mount Carmel were well known to the prophet Elijah. They provided him shelter and also protection from the wrath of Jezebel, whose prophets of Baal Elijah had defeated. It is also thought that Elijah established a “school of prophets” here on his return from exile at Mount Sinai. If so, this would be where his successor Elisha, among others, studied. (Read more.)

The greatest of the Old Testament prophets is Elias (Elijah.) The life of St. Elias can best be described by two phases which he often used: "As the Lord liveth, in Whose sight I stand" (3 Kings 17:1), and "With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts." (3 Kings 19:10) Whatever his exterior activities, the prophet remained aware of the constant presence of God. He possessed an unflagging desire to serve his Lord, even in moments of darkness and discouragement. (3 Kings 19: 4, 14)

Elias, called "the Thesbite," first manifested himself during the three year drought and famine by which the God of Israel punished His erring people, who had been led into idolatry by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. (3 Kings 17:1) Described as "a hairy man" (4 Kings 1:8), he usually could be found praying in remote desert and mountain retreats. It was in the solitude of Mt. Horeb that he experienced the majesty of God, not in fire or earthquake, but in the serenity of a "whistling of gentle air." (3 Kings 19:12) His usual haunt seems to have been Mt. Carmel, where he had the famous contest with the 450 prophets of Baal. (3 Kings 18:19) He defeated them by calling down fire from Heaven (3 Kings 18:38), setting the precedent for those who wish to follow in his footsteps as "Carmelites," whose role is to pray for the fire of graces, especially in times of crisis for the Church.

It was also on Mt. Carmel that Elias, deep in prayer, sent his servant to scan the horizon for rain. Finally, after looking seven times, the servant reported "a little cloud...like a man's foot arising out of the sea." (3 Kings 18: 43-44) Tradition holds that Elias knew the cloud to be a sign of the coming of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redeemer. "Henceforward, Carmel was sacred in the eyes of all who looked beyond this world." (Dom Gueranger's The Liturgical Year, Vol. XIII)

St Elias came to have many disciples called the "sons of the prophets." (4 Kings 2:5) This group was seen as being the origin of the Carmelite order, since for generations to come, holy men and hermits would seek to live a life of solitude and prayer in imitation of Elias and the "sons of the prophets." Elias chose Eliseus (Elisha) to be his successor. (3 Kings 19:19) In a remarkable and moving scene, Elias is mysteriously assumed into heaven, riding in a fiery chariot. Before the dramatic departure, Eliseus begged Elias for a double portion of his spirit (4 Kings 2:9)

As Elias is carried away in the whirlwind, he bequeathes to Eliseus his mantle, along with his "double spirit." (4 Kings 2:13) Eliseus continued the work of fighting idolatry, working many miracles which surpassed those of his master. Can the mantle of Elias be seen as prefiguring the brown scapular, which symbolizes the spirit of prayer and penance, the spirit not only of Elias, but of Mary?

The history of Elias the prophet does not end with his assumption, for he makes an appearance in the New Testament as well. He and Moses converse with Jesus at His Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor (Matthew 17:3), as witnesses of the divinity of the Son of God. Afterwards, the Apostles question Our Lord about Elias. "Why then do the scribes say that Elias must come first?" (Matthew 17:10) They refer to the prophecy of Malachias: "Behold, I will send you Elias the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." (Malachias 4:5) Jesus assures them that Elias has preceded him in person of the John the Baptist (Matthew 17:12), who had the "spirit and power of Elias." (Luke 1:17)

However, Our Lord makes it clear that "Elias indeed shall come and restore all things." (Matthew 17:11) According to the scripture scholar Fr. Herman Kramer: "'John the Baptist did not usher in the great and dreadful day of the Lord,' as was foretold of Elias. That day will be the destruction of Antichrist...." (Fr Herman Kramer, The Book of Destiny, 1975)

Most of the early fathers of the Church identify Elias as one of the "two witnesses" in Chapter 11 of the Apocalypse, who do battle with the Antichrist. The two witnesses are martyred by the son of perdition, but their resurrection and ascension into Heaven ushers in the final defeat of "the beast." (see Apocalypse 11) The exact manner in which such cryptic prophecies will be fulfilled remains to be seen. It is interesting, however, that Carmelites have always used red vestments on July 20 in honor of the martyrdom of Elias that is to come.

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Highlights of St James's Palace

 

 From the Royal Trust Collection:

Originally known as the ‘Consort’s Presence Chamber’, the Tapestry Room features a spectacular original fireplace that survives from the reign of Henry VIII. In one of the carved quatrefoils (a design made of four intersecting lobes) you can see the initials ‘H’ and ‘A’ for Henry and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, which are intertwined with a true lover’s knot.  

This room is best-known for its display of tapestries that tell the story of Vulcan and Venus from Homer’s Odyssey. Charles I, when Prince of Wales, commissioned a suite of nine tapestries from the Mortlake tapestry workshop, the designs for which may have been adapted from an earlier series owned by Henry VIII on the same subject. Following Charles's execution in 1649, most of his collection of art (including the tapestries) was sold, and the suite was dispersed across Europe along with countless other works. (Read more.)

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Conspiracy Theory Comes True

 From The Vigilant Fox:

California just proved the “conspiracy theorists” right. Lawmakers passed a bill to seize fire-ravaged Palisades land and turn it into taxpayer-funded low-income housing.

This isn’t theory anymore—it’s reality, and it follows a disturbing national trend. For years, people claimed that disasters like the Maui fires were being used to clear land for Smart Cities. Now it’s happening in plain sight.

Across America, neighborhoods destroyed by fires and floods are being “reimagined” as dense, government-controlled housing zones. California’s SB 549 lets cities buy burned lots for mere pennies, rebuild using your tax dollars, and cram in numerous low-income units. Officials call it “resilient,” but it’s really about controlling where and how you live.

And it’s not just Democrats. The Global Covenant of Mayors unites cities from both parties under a Smart City agenda built on surveillance, permanent renting, and the end of single-family homes. Is this really about safety and sustainability—or is it about control? Watch Maria Zeee’s shocking report to see just how deep this agenda goes. (Read more.)

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The Downton Abbey Auction

 From Elle Decor:

The Julian Fellowes-created show first aired in the UK in 2010. Following the lives of the Crawley family, headed by the Earl of Grantham, the drama unfolds the day after the RMS Titanic went down in 1912. The show ran for six seasons, with 52 episodes, ending in the year 1925. But it has since had the kind of long-tail interest that few other TV dramas get with two feature-length films, the first of which was released in 2019. Now, 15 years after the first episode aired, the final installment—and third film—is on the horizon, and titled, fittingly, The Grand Finale, premiering in September.

As if to confirm that it will, actually, be the end, 120 prop pieces are to be auctioned off at Bonhams, in London, starting on August 18th and running through September 16th. The pieces on the block comprise a spectrum of fan-enticing fodder. For example, the Grantham family car, a 1925 Sunbeam: "The 20/60 was considered by many to be far superior to the Rolls Royce,” reads the auction footnotes. “First seen in Season 2, the Sunbeam was used throughout Seasons 3, 4 and 5, and in all three films.” The estimated price is between £25,000 (roughly $33,000) and £35,000 (or $47,000).

The auction will also include wardrobe pieces like Jim Carter as Carson’s “three-piece morning suit” (£600 - £800) and Dame Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley’s blue dress (£1,000 - £1,500). (Read more.)

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