Propaganda press shrugs at yet another apparent assassination plot against Trump; Scott Presler promises to endorse a certain Democrat senator IF … ; GALLUP reports US economic confidence improves in July; Daily Signal exposes US senator [male] who spends more on makeup than all other candidates this campaign season; Washington Examiner says Mamdani Marts will offer real-time Econ 101 lessons; German bishops put kabosh on rich donor’s effort to help mitigate parental cost of baptizing children — amid declining baptism rates; Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue emphasizes similar Christian and Confucian traditions; An American Catholic author explains how the peacock comes to symbolize the Transfiguration (today’s Feast) — and the very ‘eyes of the Church’; and more —
Propaganda Press Shrugs At Yet Another Apparent Assassination Plot Against Trump by Brianna Lyman
Just because Trump keeps surviving attempted assassinations doesn’t mean they are less newsworthy.
Authorities arrested 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele on Sunday after he was found allegedly scoping out the location of President Trump’s impending arrival with ammunition in his pocket and a loaded firearm in his car.
Taele was allegedly seen with an earpiece, photographing agents and taking videos of the grounds as agents performed security assessments. Taele reportedly left and returned, later telling federal agents he was a State Department employee and doing a security detail.
Authorities found that Taele was carrying ammunition in his pocket, and also had a loaded pistol with a round chambered and additional loaded magazines in his car. Law enforcement also discovered he had binoculars and a badge that said “security protection agent,” along with notebooks that had “concerning statements,” though no other details are available yet.
Read more at The Federalist
Presidential assassination attempts – a comparison
Watch @EricLDaugh
Scott Presler to endorse a Democrat senator?
Watch @bennyjohnson
U.S. Economic Confidence Improves in July
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index has risen to -31 in July, marking a modest improvement from its recent low of -45 in May. Still, Americans remain broadly pessimistic about the economy.
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index has a theoretical range of +100 (if all Americans rate current conditions as excellent or good and say the economy is getting better) to -100 (if all Americans rate the economy as poor and say it is getting worse). In Gallup’s trend of these measures, the highest ECI score is +56, in January 2000, and the lowest is -72, in October 2008.
After worsening between February and May amid rising energy prices and inflation tied to the Iran war, Americans’ views of current economic conditions grew slightly less negative in June and again in the latest July 1-19 poll. The July poll was conducted mostly after a brief ceasefire in the war, but mostly before hostilities escalated and sent gas prices rising again.
The percentage of Americans rating economic conditions as excellent or good has risen from 16% in May to 22% in July, while those calling it poor dipped from 49% to 44%. Approximately one-third of U.S. adults have consistently rated conditions as only fair over the same period.
Read more at GALLUP
Mamdani Marts will offer real-time Econ 101 lessons
One of the upsides of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s $70 million state-run supermarket project is that it allows rational Americans to watch socialism fail in real time.
Mamdani Marts promise to provide 30% discounts on core grocery items, which means they’ll be heavily subsidized by taxpayers. Most grocery chains already operate with a slim 2%-3% profit margin, and that’s with the benefit of highly efficient global supply chains and bulk orders.
It’s highly probable that Mamdani Marts will run out of the artificially discounted items very quickly. People like cheap stuff. To stop the most aggressive customers from hoarding or reselling groceries, the stores will either have to implement a form of rationing or quotas, limit supply and have empty shelves, or carry subpar inventory that fewer people desire.
Read more at the Washington Examiner (behind partial paywall)
RFK Jr. Decertifies Kentucky Organ Donation Group
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health Secretary, announced the decertification of the Network for Hope, a Kentucky-based organ procurement organization, during a visit to the University of Kentucky on Wednesday (August 5). The decision follows a federal investigation that revealed significant patient safety issues within the organization. Kennedy stated that the investigation, conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), found “persistent patient safety failures” despite previous warnings and corrective action plans.
The investigation uncovered serious deficiencies in nearly 30% of reviewed cases, including instances where patients were placed on the organ donation pathway inappropriately. Kennedy emphasized that the federal government has a duty to act when patient safety is compromised, and he described the organization as a “bad apple.”
The Network for Hope, which serves Kentucky and parts of Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia, strongly disagrees with the decertification and plans to appeal. CNN reported that the organization has been under scrutiny since a whistleblower revealed that organs were nearly harvested from a patient, TJ Hoover, who was still alive. Hoover’s experience was a catalyst for the investigation.
Despite the decertification, HRSA Administrator Tom Engels assured that patient care will continue, with CMS closely monitoring the organization. The decision is part of a broader initiative to overhaul the U.S. organ transplant system, aiming to enhance patient safety and accountability among organ procurement organizations.
Read more KFBK News Radio
Clip of Sec. Kennedy decertifying organ procurement organization
Watch @RapidResponse47
Sister of organ donor speaks out after ‘nightmare’ attempted organ retrieval surgery
At a HHS press conference (August 5, 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky), Donna Rhorer describes how her brother resisted organ retrieval after being treated as dead
Watch @HHSResponse
Harvesting organs from babies with beating hearts
See @LifeNewsHQ
Leak reveals Todd Blanche’s pro-life stance
See @dcexaminer
Assistance for Germany’s declining Catholic baptism rates
Peter Löw, a Starnberg-based Catholic investor and father of eight, launched the “Starnberger Schutzengelchen” initiative with €20,000 to give €500 cash directly to parents for each child baptized in local parishes, targeting up to 40 families in 2026 for kids age 3 and under.
Though Catholic baptisms are free, the program aims to ease costs of post-ceremony celebrations in the expensive Bavarian area and boost parish engagement, with Löw personally attending early events and providing extras like a children’s Gospel book.
The Diocese of Augsburg distanced itself, stating the sacrament is an obligation without financial barriers and that linking it to cash creates an uncomfortable precedent amid Germany’s ongoing decline in Catholic baptisms and membership. (from Grok)
See @CatholicArena; read ‘Diocese of Augsburg criticizes 500 euro premium for baptisms’ at katholisch.de (translation available)
Catholic AG sends letter to Florida’s bishops demanding state’s Catholic schools accept parental requests for religious exemptions to vaccine requirements
Read @AGJamesUthmeier; read more at America (behind a paywall)
Georgia Democrat Sen. John Ossoff spends almost $3,000 on ‘makeup services‘ — Daily Signal
Watch @DailySignal
Migrant ‘invasion’ in Ceuta divides Spanish bishops
The Spanish bishops are sharply divided in their responses to the recent influx of undocumented migrants from Morocco into the autonomous Spanish city of Ceuta.
The president of the Spanish bishops’ conference called last week’s migrant surge “an invasion,” a striking contrast to the local diocese’s emphasis on a humanitarian response to the migrants.
More than 80,000 people flooded across the border from Morocco to Ceuta in a matter of hours last week, according to Spanish authorities, overwhelming the city of just 83,000 inhabitants.
News reports suggested that the migrant rush was due in part to false news on social media suggesting that the border had been opened. It is not clear who was behind the social media posts.
The vast majority of the undocumented migrants returned to Morocco after Spanish authorities said they would not be permitted to stay. But around 7,000 have remained in Ceuta, including an estimated 1,000 minors.
Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, president of the Spanish bishops’ conference, said Aug. 2 on twitter.com that the influx of migrants was part of a broader political strategy.
Read more at The Pillar; read also ‘Ceuto: the failure of liberal immigration rhetoric’ by Phil Lawler at Catholic Culture
NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force investigating after a fourth incident of vandalism at NYC parish
Watch @Tr00peRR
Confucian-Christian dialogue’s final statement focuses on common convictions
Despite their differences, the Christian and Confucian traditions share the conviction that “personal transformation, ethical living, and care for others are the foundations of healthy families, communities, and societies,” according to the final statement of a Confucian-Christian colloquium in South Korea, at which the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue spoke.
Participants in the colloquium, whose theme was “Dialogue on the Contribution of Christianity and Confucianism to an Ideal Society: The New Heaven, the New Earth, and Datong (Great Unity),” agreed that “a just and peaceful society depends on leadership rooted in integrity, humility, service, and concern for the common good.”
“Care for the vulnerable, future generations, and our common home is both a moral and spiritual responsibility,” the statement continued. “Hope for a better world calls us to work together through the trials and imperfections of the present.”
Read Editor’s Note at Catholic Culture; see ‘Confucian-Christian Colloquium Final Statement: Building a harmonious world’ at Vatican News
What Church leaders are saying about Pope Leo and the Latin Mass
A Vatican prefect recently said he doesn’t understand concerns about access to the traditional liturgy and claimed that Pope Leo XIV will not change restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM). Meanwhile, other prominent clergy members continue to advocate for more generous allowance of the celebration of the TLM, especially in the wake of the SSPX schism.
A number of high-profile Church leaders have commented in recent days about the current tensions and circumstances regarding the liturgy, specifically the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), as many faithful continue to wonder what Pope Leo XIV may or may not change regarding access to the TLM.
Various perspectives offer insight and speculation on the topic, especially as some have commented on Pope Leo’s long-term plan although the Holy Father himself has not spoken directly about the TLM for several months. A Catholic Rome-based journalist this week criticized as “dubious claims” the reporting of a Spanish media outlet indicating Pope Leo is not concerned with expanding access to the TLM. The Spanish outlet drew from comments and an internal document regarding the TLM made by the Vatican prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Arthur Roche.
The prefect commented in a July 29 interview with British publication The Tablet that Pope Leo XIV is not going to change the 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which heavily restricted the celebration of the TLM.
Read more at Zeale
Novena to St. Clare: Day 4
Pray @MarieAngelaGrow
Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration commemorates the victory over Islam in Belgrade (1457)
See @FishEaters; read more @father_rmv
The Path of the Peacock
‘[The peacock] stands in medieval symbology for the Church — the eyes are the eyes of the Church’ – Flannery O’Connor
In the book The King of the Birds Flannery O’Connor wrote long passages describing what she found best in the peacock, namely his “green bronze arch around him a galaxy of gazing, haloed suns.” For O’Connor, the tail of the peacock is a “map of the universe,” a thing which should bring forth feelings befitting such glory. In The King of the Birds, she expresses disdain towards those unaffected by the sight of the peacock’s raised tail. To O’Connor, the peacock’s tail must elicit appreciation for its own sake. She states “Once or twice I have been asked what the peacock is ‘good for’— a question which gets no answer from me because it deserves none.” David Mayer avers that the vision of a peacock’s tail raised high, with its darkened orbs above all else, looked like “the Eucharist placed in the monstrance” to O’Connor. Thus, the peacock’s tail is of divine import. In Roman Catholicism, the monstrance is the elaborate vessel in which the consecrated host — for Catholics, the physical body of Christ— is displayed during processions. To O’Connor, a devout Catholic, this image is loaded. Secondly, the peacock has been connected to Catholic symbolism since the Middle Ages. As Mayer points out, in Catholic thought, “the peacock sheds its colorful feathers in late fall and then regains them in spring as if brought back to life, like a resurrection.” O’Connor mentions in a letter to A. that “It… stands in medieval symbology for the Church — the eyes are the eyes of the Church.”
Read more at Christo et Doctrinae
The Peacock’s Transfiguration
Watch @buitengebieden; watch also @sciencegirl
