All eyes on today’s elections – bomb threats at NJ polling stations; Trump administration issuing reduced SNAP benefits with emergency funds; NPO says Nigerian government making moves against terrorist forces after Trump’s warning; Cdl. Cupich again defends attempt to bestow Catholic award on pro-abort politician; Cdl. Burke: ‘Exorcism prayer is our way to combat, with the force of Christ himself, the forces of evil’; Pope Leo bucks UN: ‘Family is primarily responsible for educating children’; and more —
Bessent says he’ll have ‘ringside seat’ at Supreme Court tariff hearing
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed on Monday he plans to attend opening arguments debating the legality of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs at the Supreme Court this week.
Bessent said he “doesn’t think” the country’s highest court will issue a ruling striking down Trump’s ability to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to issue the global “Liberation Day” tariffs, during an interview on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime show. …
“I am there [at the Supreme Court] to emphasize that this is an economic emergency. National security is economic security. Economic Security is national security. As a treasury secretary of the United States, I’m in charge of maintaining both,” he told Watters.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
Watch Sec. Bessent on upcoming attendance at SCOTUS tariff hearings
Watch @JesseBWatters
Trump administration says it will issue reduced SNAP benefits with emergency funds during shutdown
The Trump administration told a federal judge on Monday that it will deplete the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program contingency fund to provide food stamp recipients with part of their monthly benefits.
Late last week, U.S. District Judge John McConnell ordered the administration to use contingency funds and either fully or partially fund November payments, demanding an update on the administration’s compliance by noon on Monday. The Trump administration told McConnell it would use all $4.65 billion of the remaining contingency funds to pay for partial benefits for November …
“The above will leave a total of $4.65 billion in the contingency fund for November SNAP benefits that will all be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments,” Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services at the Agriculture Department, said in a declaration to the court.
“This means that no funds will remain for new SNAP applicants certified in November, disaster assistance, or as a cushion against the potential catastrophic consequences of shutting down SNAP entirely,” Penn said, warning about the effects of tapping into the fund, as the court ordered.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
Scott Presler rouses GOP voters today
Watch @shawnpistySC
Mamdani leans into Sarsour support, Muslim faith & ‘Islamophobia’ claims in campaign finale
One of Zohran Mamdani’s final rallies in New York City centered on his Islamic identity as he rallied Muslim voters and condemned the alleged “Islamophobia” against him, while his campaign thanked a group closely linked both to the NYC mayoral hopeful and to controversial Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour.
Mamdani’s campaign swing on the final weekend before Tuesday’s election featured a host of speakers and guests from both inside and outside NYC, and his campaign thanked at least one group — the Muslim Democratic Club of New York (MDCNY) — which had been led by Sarsour and also previously featured Mamdani as part of the executive board.
A Just the News review previously found that Mamdani embraced a nearly decade-long association with high-profile anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour as he rose from an activist to New York State assemblyman and now the Democratic Party’s nominee to run America’s largest city.
Read more at Just the News
Social media questioning NYC election ballot/procedures
See @ConservativBrief; see also TheRicanMemes; see also @elonmusk
Bomb threats at New Jersey polling stations
Read more @ThePatriotOasis
Trump officials move onto military bases as political violence hits ‘fever pitch’
Watch @Fox News
24% of Americans Defend Political Violence Like Assassinating Charlie Kirk
A growing number of young Americans believe political violence can be justified, Politico reported Monday on its latest survey through Public First.
The poll found that 24% of Americans say there are circumstances in which political violence can be justified, compared to 64% who say it is never acceptable, according to Politico’s report on the survey. Among younger adults, that number rises sharply, with more than one in three under the age of 45 agreeing there are circumstances where political violence is warranted. There was “little partisan divide” on the issue, according to Politico, though neither the precise breakdown on the numbers nor the phrasing of the questions were included in the report.
The findings come amid a surge of politically motivated attacks and threats in recent months, including the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in September, the attacks on several Democratic lawmakers, assassination attempts on President Donald Trump, and recent assaults on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
Read more at LifeNews.com
Director of Christian NPO reports Nigerian government ‘taking action against terrorist forces’ after Trump’s warning
Watch @WillCainShow
2 Michigan men charged in alleged Halloween terror plot
Two suspects are facing federal charges Monday of planning a terror attack over Halloween weekend in Michigan after federal investigators say they found over 1,600 rounds of ammunition, multiple firearms, and tactical vests in raids on their homes and a storage unit.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced in a post on X last week that five people had been arrested, but only two were charged in a 73-page criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Mohmed Ali and Majed Mahmoud are charged with receiving and transferring, and attempting and conspiring to transfer, firearms and ammunition, knowing and having reasonable cause to believe that the firearms and ammunition would be used to commit a federal crime of terrorism.
Read more at NBC News
The U.S. Conference Of Catholic Bishops Needs To Stop Apologizing For Islam
Earlier this month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published “Islamophobia: A Guide for U.S. Catholics on Anti-Muslim Bigotry.” Showcased on the USCCB website with a lovely Islamic design cover, this 15-page booklet exhorts Catholics to “address the disturbing phenomenon of anti-Muslim sentiment in our times.”
Introduced by the co-chairs of the National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue (NCMD) — Bishop Elias Lorenzo of Newark and Imam Kareem Irfan — the USCCB declares dire need to counter “the rising tide of anti-Muslim sentiment that has been present for decades.”
The guide uses the term “Islamophobia” as a blunt tool for erasing the Islam from Islamic terrorism. It runs interference for a bellicose religious culture that began its intended conquest of the world in the seventh century. …
Discomfort with Islam deemed a moral defect, [writes the author]. …
Read more at The Federalist
Cupich: Honoring Senator Durbin would have recognized ‘migrants as a pro-life issue’
Cardinal Blase Cupich again defended the Archdiocese of Chicago’s attempt to grant a lifetime achievement award to Senator Dick Durbin, saying that doing so was an attempt to show migrants facing deportation as a pro-life issue.
Speaking at a fundraiser for immigration ministry Monday night, the cardinal said the intended award was to acknowledge “the unique efforts of Senator Dick Durbin, who has consistently and uniquely worked for the rights of immigrants over his long career as an elected official.”
“While he has declined to accept our award, I want to make clear that the decision to honor him was about just as much recognizing his work on behalf of migrants as it is about giving equal attention to the plight of migrants as a pro-life issue,” the cardinal said.
Read more at The Pillar
Mexican Bishops Say Root Causes of Crime Must Be Addressed After Another Mayor Is Murdered
After Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan, a city in the Mexican state of Michoacán, was assassinated Nov. 1, the Mexican Bishops’ Conference strongly condemned the act, calling for the government to address the root of the violence plaguing the country. …
Manzo, who died minutes later, had repeatedly denounced the presence of criminal groups in the area and requested support from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch to curb organized crime.
In a September interview, Manzo had denounced the fact that the violence is caused not only by gangs but also primarily by “criminal groups, very powerful cartels.”
Read more at the National Catholic Register
Continuing desecration of Catholic Churches in France
See @Catholic Arena
Hungary reporting record number of Church renovations
See @HungaryBased
Catholics honor All Saints’ Day with family gatherings and cemetery visits across Poland
Poles met up with families and visited their beloved dead on All Saints’ Day, which was celebrated Saturday across the Catholic world.
All Saints’ Day, annually celebrated Nov. 1, is one of the most important days in the Polish calendar. Supermarket shelves are stacked with candles weeks in advance. As the day approaches, street vendors compete for spots near cemetery entrances, selling chrysanthemums and traditional snacks like pretzels, called “obwazanki” in Polish.
In cities across the country, special bus lines were introduced, with their final stops at the largest cemeteries. Inhabitants of big cities headed to the suburbs or villages where parents or grandparents live, so they can visit the graves of deceased family members together. …
Read more at Crux
Chinese ‘underground’ bishop dies at 91 after decades of oppression
Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, a prominent leader of China’s underground Catholic Church who spent years in prison for his loyalty to the Vatican, died on Oct. 29 of age-related illness. He was 91. …
“Bishop Jia was a faithful servant of God, unafraid of authority for the sake of faith, and persevered until his end,” said a Chinese priest who knew him closely.
Born in Wuqiu Village, Jinzhou, Bishop Jia was first imprisoned in 1963 and spent around 15 years behind bars for refusing to renounce his allegiance to the Pope.
He was ordained a priest in 1980 and clandestinely consecrated as bishop of Zhengding a year later by Bishop Joseph Fan Xueyan of Baoding.
Read more at UCA News
Bucking UN, Pope Leo Reaffirms Family’s Primary Duty on Education
In sharp contrast with the United Nations, Pope Leo XIV just reiterated traditional Catholic teaching on education, arguing that the family is primarily responsible for educating children — not the state or even the church. Other institutions such as Catholic schools can and should help, the pontiff said, but parents can never be replaced.
The pope’s views on education, released on October 28, came in the form of an “Apostolic Letter” titled “Disegnare Nuove Mappe di Speranza,” or “Drawing New Maps of Hope” in English. The document features papal commentary on a wide range of issues connected to education broadly and Catholic schools in particular.
On the issue of who is in charge, the pope left no room for debate. “The family continues to be the first place of education,” he wrote. “Catholic schools collaborate with parents, not replace them, because ‘the duty of education, especially religious education, is incumbent upon them before any other person’.”
Read more at The Liberty Sentinel
Cardinal Burke to Newsmax: Exorcism Prayer at St. Peter’s a Sign of Spiritual Battle
Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who presided over a traditional Latin Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica last week where 97-year-old Cardinal Ernest Simoni delivered a prayer of exorcism, told Newsmax on Sunday that the action was a powerful reminder that “the forces of evil are on a rampage in the world, even within the Church itself.”
The decision to include the rite came after recent desecrations at the Vatican City basilica, Burke told Newsmax’s “Sunday Agenda.”
Cardinal Simoni is known as the “living martyr of Albania” for surviving decades of persecution under communist rule. He requested permission to recite Pope Leo XIII’s 1884 “Exorcism Against Satan and the Apostate Angels.”
“The prayer of exorcism, especially this very powerful prayer written by Pope Leo XIII, is our way to combat with the force of Christ himself, the forces of evil,” Burke said.
Read more at Newsmax
Today is the Feast of St. Charles Borromeo
Read more @father_rmv
