“I’ve finished my 3 book Spider Series. If you’re into hot sex and heart pounding adventure please check it out. Available on Amazon. Thank you for your interest and support. D. S. Mitchell aka “Calamity” at Calamity News and Politics.
“There is nothing more inspiring than taking action against injustice.” D.S. Mitchell 2025
“If stupidity got us into this mess, why can’t it get us out of it.” Will Rogers
“If you can’t be a poet, be a poem.” David Carradine
“No god would want a child killed in his name.” D.S. Mitchell 2023
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.” ― George Burns
“A politician thinks of the next election – a statesman of the next generation.” – James Freeman Clarke
“I want to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.” Arthur Ashe
“Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it’s beauty.” ― Albert Einstein
“So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.” ― Kurt Vonnegut
“Let’s just remember that social security is not the government’s money, it belongs to the people who had it taken out of the checks involuntarily their entire working lives.” Mike Huckabee
“I have insecurities of course, but I don’t hang out with anyone who points them out to me.” ADELE
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” Christian Grey
“My favorite old car had no reverse gear. It taught me I could only go forward.” Flavia
“Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela
“Those who think they can control the mob are fools and are often the victims of their own incitement.” D.S. Mitchell 2021
“A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
“If now isn’t a good time for the truth I don’t see when we’ll get to it.” Nikki Giovanni
“Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that you are stupid and make bad decisions.” Your mother
“Studying American politics has taught me several disgusting lessons, the first being, money buys friends in Congress. That alone should terrify the American public.” D. S. Mitchell 2021
“My art is my heart.” D. S. Mitchell 2015
“Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.” Arthur Rubenstein
“Every lie is like stepping in a quicksand pit. Every lie as dangerous, as telling the truth.” D. S. Mitchell 2020
“Sometimes when challenged we find out we are capable of the unthinkable.” D. S. Mitchell 2022
“Surround yourself with those on the same mission as you.” Anonymous
“Dimming the lights will not hide the social injustice in America.” D. S. Mitchell 2017
“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. So I elect for neither label.” – James Branch Cabell
Smile
"If puppies and kittens don't make you smile, you might consider therapy." D. S. Mitchell 2015.
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
“Every moment is a fresh beginning.” T. S. Eliot
“Voting is like a prayer.” Raphael Warnock 2021
“We are all valuable. The problem is not everyone is smart enough to realize it.” D. S. Mitchell 2021
“I wonder, if you were blind, lost and confused, would you care what color the offered hand?” D. S. Mitchell 2015
“Silence in front of savagery is savagery itself.” Abhijit Naskar
“To be happy and contented, count your blessings, not your cash.” Chinese Proverb
“We can never be too busy to be kind.” D. S. Mitchell 2017
RIP RBG
“The rain falls because the cloud can no longer handle the weight. The tears fall because the heart can no longer handle the pain.” The Wise You
“Let my old days be my best days,” Cousin Lucille
“In no instance have… the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people.” James Madison
“Happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it, but to delight in it when it comes.” Charles Dickens
“Thoughtful people are slow to anger, not necessarily less efficient in their killing.” D. S. Mitchell 2019
“Endings are not always bad. Most times they’re just beginnings in disguise.” Kim Harrison
“The United States like so many countries around the world has chosen to give to the few and deny the many.” D.S. Mitchell 2020
“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. This is true, its called life.” Terry Pratchett
“Trickle down economics is like having three dogs and giving one of them a hot dog, and thinking he’ll share.” Bill Maher
“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” John Kenneth Galbraith
“When people start acting as though the past is the same as the present and context doesn’t matter, things start to get dangerous.” Trevor K. McNeil 2020
“Pardoning the Bad, is injuring the Good.” – Benjamin Franklin
“I don’t need to attend every argument I’m invited to.” Unknown
“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret between the shadow and soul.” Pablo Neruda
“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” ― Bruce Lee
“I have been far oftener discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black.” Shirley Chisholm 5/21/1969
“The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they pass unobserved.” ― George Washington
“We only fail when we fail to try.” Rosa Parks
“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” Thomas Jefferson
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” Albert Einstein
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The 7 Social Sins are: Wealth without Work; Pleasure without Conscience; Knowledge without Character; Commerce without Morality; Science without Humanity; Worship without Sacrifice; Politics without Principle.” Frederick Lewis Donaldson
“All evils are equal when they are extreme.”-Pierre Corneille
“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” John F. Kennedy
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov
“People without vaginas shouldn’t be able to regulate them.” Unknown
“What this country needs is more unemployed politicians.” Edward Langley, artist
“Be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” Abraham Lincoln
“When sleeping women wake, mountains move.” Chinese proverb
“If people stopped searching for things that offended them and started looking for things that inspired them; what a wonderful world this would be.” Night Owl
A Poem For Don and Vlad
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” Booker T. Washington
“To argue with a person who has given up reason is like administering medicine to the dead.” Thomas Paine
“Imagination is the bridge between the things we know for sure, and the things we need to believe, when our world becomes unbearable.” Staceyann Chin
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” Steve Jobs
“Inspiration descends only in flashes to clothe circumstances; it is not stored up in a barrel, like salt herrings to be doled out.”Patrick White
“I will not allow my life’s light to be determined by the darkness that surrounds me.” Sojourner Truth
“Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.” Doug Larson
“Law without humanity is injustice.” D. S. Mitchell 2020
“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear, is the beginning of wisdom.” Bertrand Russell
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Plato
valuable article
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynihan
www.chasingthespider.com
“It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.” Queen Elizabeth II
“Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.” Coretta Scott King
“Outer beauty attracts but inner beauty captivates.” Kate Angell
“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.” ― Andre Gide, Autumn Leaves
“Worry is a waste of valuable time.” D. S. Mitchell 2015
“The man who has millions will want everything he can get his hands on and then raise his voice against the poor devil who wants ten cents more a day.” Samuel Gompers
“Pretty comes in all sizes. My size is cute.” Honey Boo Boo, reality TV star
“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” ― Nelson Mandela
“All I can say for the United States is that it opens with a prayer and closes with an investigation.” Will Rogers
“We have, at the heart of our government, a perilous disease, and it is called greed.” D. S. Mitchell 2017
“Anger helps straighten out a problem like a fan helps straighten out a pile of papers.” Susan Marcotte
“If you’re going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use two feet.” ― Keith Richards
“You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.” MLK
“I would like to see a time when man loves his fellow man, and forgets his color or his creed. We will never be civilized until that time comes”. Clarence Darrow
“Do more things that make you forget to check your phone.” Unknown
“Social Conventions are like Santa Claus. They only exist for those who believe in them.” T. K. McNeil 2021
“Politics have no relation to morals.” Niccolo Machiavelli
“The problem is that American women are kept from growing to their full human capacities–that fact, is taking a far greater toll on the physical and mental health of our country than any known disease.” Betty Friedan
“May we think of freedom, not as a right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” Peter Marshall
“I weep a lot. Thankfully, I laugh a lot, too. The main thing in one’s own private world is to try to laugh as much as you cry.” Maya Angelou
“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent.” John F. Kennedy
“People see God everyday, they just don’t recognize him.” Pearl Bailey
“No matter how great your accomplishments, the memory of man is short.” D.S. Mitchell 2021
“No matter how stupid or inane your cause, you can depend on getting at least 30% support from the fucking internet.” David Shadrick 2021
Self-isolating has forced us to turn even more to telecommunication and social media.
“Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn’t commit.” Eli Khamarov
The Major Cause Of Sex Trafficking Is Poverty
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
“Pain and sadness are often the fruits of intense commitment to a belief or cause. That does not mean you should halt your activity or reject your commitment.” D. S. Mitchell 2017
“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.” J. Pierpont Morgan
“It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.” ― Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
“Information is the currency of democracy.” Thomas Jefferson
“Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.” ― Robert Orben
“Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” James Dean
DEADPOOL QUOTES: 1.) “Never underestimate the stupidity of idiots.” 2.) “Today was about as much fun as a sandpaper dildo.” 3.) “My common sense is tingling.” 4.) “You can’t buy love, but you can rent it for three minutes.” 5.) “I’m gonna eat until I’m tired. Then I’m going to sleep until I’m hungry.” 6.) “I can say chimichanga in seven languages.” 7.) “Do you have an off switch?” 8.) “That’s a face I can sit on.” 9.) “Daddy needs to express some rage.” 10.) “I seriously need a speed bump between my brain and my mouth.” 11.) “I’m a bad guy who is paid to fuck up worse guys.” 12.) “Life is an endless series of train wrecks with only brief commercial like breaks of happiness.” Marvel Comics. Deadpool created by Fabian Nicieza & Rob Liefield
“What we think, we become.” Buddha
“Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.” Lord Byron
“Certainly in the next fifty years we shall see a woman president, perhaps sooner than you think. A woman can and should be able to do any political job that a man can do.” Richard M. Nixon
“Secrecy and a free, democratic government don’t mix.” Harry S. Truman
“Just because nobody complains, doesn’t mean all parachutes are perfect.” Benny Hill
“Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.” Mark Twain
“Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire
“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Louis Brandeis
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” Voltaire
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Ronald Reagan
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” ― Mother Theresa
“A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims..but accomplices.” George Orwell
“When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening, foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us.” Barack Obama
“It was June, and I saw a bumble bee hovering over a flowering shrub. It’s November now, and I have yet to see a second bumbler hover close to me.” D. S. Mitchell 2021
“If you are planning on revenge, dig two graves.” Confucius
“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.” George Orwell
“Identify your passion and then pursue it recklessly.” D. S. Mitchell 2018
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
“It goes without saying that Fox News is not news at all-but pure propaganda geared to an audience of ignorant fools.” Richard Dawkins
“A fierce rage is not always followed by quiet exhaustion. In fact, it sometimes ignites an unstoppable fury.” D. S. Mitchell 2020
“Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours.” Unknown
“The deep political divisions in America do not run between big and small states, but rather, between the North and the South and the coasts and the interior.” D. S. Mitchell 2018
“Some men see things as they are, and ask, ‘Why?” I dream things that never were, and ask, ‘Why not?” Robert F. Kennedy
“Judicial abuse occurs when judges substitute their own political views for the law”. Lamar S. Smith
“Facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored.”-Aldous Huxley
“Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.” Aubrey De Graf
“Love is like the wind, you can’t see it, but you can feel it.” Nicholas Sparks
“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?” ― Mahatma Gandhi
“A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.” Harry S Truman
“If you see bigotry, oppose it. If you see violence, condemn it. And if you see a bully, stand up to him.” Hillary Rodham Clinton 3/12/16
“The harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph.” Thomas Paine
“What befalls earth, befalls all the sons and daughters of the earth. We did not weave the web of life. We are merely a strand in it.” Chief Seattle
“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.” Coretta Scott King
“People will dismiss facts, ignore science, and argue the unarguable; if it’s in the interest of their pocketbook.” Yogi Berra
“If you really think the economy is more important than the environment, try holding your breath whilst you count your money.” Dr. Guy McPherson
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” Laura Claudette
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” Helen Keller
Tools To Quit Smoking Now
Work + Passion + Money = Success
Many great charities, here are a couple that I support: Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, ACLU, and Planned Parenthood.
Our New Pope, Pontiff of Peace
Our New Pope, Pontiff of Peace
“You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you. And many are failing.”
Our New Pope, Pontiff of Peace
By Cate Rees-Hessel
“Da” Pope
Just like our dearly departed Pope Francis, our brand new first ever Pope from the U.S. speaks the truth regarding the Trump administration and “The Donald” himself. Pope Leo XIV, or “Da” Pope as Chicago area residents are referring to him, I am very proud to say is from right here in the Windy City. As a quote attributed to His Holiness says, “You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you. And many are failing.”
Only One King
We all know that Donald Trump wants to be the first American king, but unlike the first American Pope, that is not going to happen – there is no king of the United States. There is, however, finally a Pontiff from our country. I am hopeful this new leader of the Catholic Church can an will continue the work of Pope Francis to bring about peace in our troubled homeland and world from his position of power at the Vatican. Whether you are a Catholic, Christian or not, this man offers hope. Here are some interesting facts about Pope Leo: XIV:
Supporting the Immigrant
It appears that our new Pope is no fan of the Trump administration or JD Vance, especially in regards to immigration. Just like his predecessor, Pope Francis. An article in Newsweek quotes, “In some matters, Leo XIV has aligned ideologically with his predecessor, Pope Francis, especially on the treatment of immigrants and the environment. Earlier this year, Francis criticized Trump over his immigration agenda, which embraces mass deportations.”
In one of his very first speeches as the pontiff, Pope Leo showed he was not afraid of the truth or standing up to Donald Trump. American-born Cardinal Robert Prevost echoed the words of the late Pope Francis, a regular critic of Trump‘s, when he advocated for migrant rights: “We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, dialogue, [and is] always open to receive—like this square, with open arms—everyone, all those who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love.”
Spread the Seed Equally
His first General Assembly mediated on the parable of the sower: “Let us continue today to meditate on the parables of Jesus, which help us to regain hope, because they show us how God works in history. Today I would like to dwell on a parable which is somewhat peculiar, because it is a sort of introduction to all the parables. I refer to that of the sower (cf. Mt. 13:1-17). In a certain sense, in this account we can recognize Jesus’ way of communicating, which has a great deal to teach us for proclaiming the Gospel today.
Everyday Life
Every parable tells a story that is taken from everyday life, yet wants to tell us something more, to refer us to a deeper meaning. The parable raises questions in us; it invites us not to stop at appearances. Before the story that is told or the image that is presented to me, I can ask myself: where am I in this story? What does this image say to my life? In fact, the term “parable” comes from the Greek verb paraballein, which means to throw in front of. The parable throws before me a word that provokes me and prompts me to question myself.
Every Word
The parable of the sower talks precisely about the dynamic of the word of God and the effects it produces. Indeed, every word of the Gospel is like a seed that is thrown on the ground of our life. Jesus uses the image of the seed many times, with different meanings. In chapter 13 of the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the sower introduces a series of other short parables, some of which talk precisely about what is happening on the terrain: the wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, the treasure hidden in the field. What, then, is this soil? It is our heart, but it is also the world, the community, the Church. The word of God, in fact, makes fruitful and provokes every reality.
Fascinates and Intrigues
At the beginning, we see Jesus who leaves the house and gathers a great crowd around him (cf. Mt. 13:1). His word fascinates and intrigues. Among the people there are obviously many different situations. The word of Jesus is for everyone, but it works in each person in a different way. This context allows us to understand better the meaning of the parable.
How Come ?
A rather unusual sower goes out to sow, but does not care where the seed falls. He throws the seeds even where it is unlikely they will bear fruit: on the path, on the rocks, among the thorns. This attitude surprises the listener and induces him to ask: how come?
We are used to calculating things – and at times it is necessary – but this does not apply in love! The way in which this “wasteful” sower throws the seed is an image of the way God loves us. Indeed, it is true that the destiny of the seed depends also on the way in which the earth welcomes it and the situation in which it finds itself, but first and foremost in this parable Jesus tells us that God throws the seed of his Word on all kinds of soil, that is, in any situation of ours: at times we are more superficial and distracted, at times we let ourselves get carried away by enthusiasm, sometimes we are burdened by life’s worries, but there are also times when we are willing and welcoming. God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is how he loves us: he does not wait for us to become the best soil, but he always generously gives us his word. Perhaps by seeing that he trusts us, the desire to be better soil will be kindled in us. This is hope, founded on the rock of God’s generosity and mercy.
In telling the way in which the seed bears fruit, Jesus is also talking about his life. Jesus is the Word, he is the Seed. And the seed, to bear fruit, must die. Thus, this parable tells us that God is ready to “waste away” for us and that Jesus is willing to die in order to transform our life.
I have in mind that beautiful painting by Van Gogh, The sower at sunset. That image of the sower in the blazing sun also speaks to me of the farmer’s toil. And it strikes me that, behind the sower, Van Gogh depicted the grain already ripe. It seems to me an image of hope: one way or another, the seed has borne fruit. We are not sure how, but it has. At the center of the scene, however, is not the sower, who stands to the side; instead, the whole painting is dominated by the image of the sun, perhaps to remind us that it is God who moves history, even if he sometimes seems absent or distant. It is the sun that warms the clods of earth and makes the seed ripen.
Dear brothers and sisters, in what situation of life today is the Word of God reaching us? Let us ask the Lord for the grace always to welcome this seed that is his Word. And if we realize we are not a fruitful soil, let us not be discouraged, but let us ask him to work on us more to make us become a better terrain.”
“Peace be with you all…”
One of his first speeches demonstrates his will for peace:
“Peace be with you all! Dearest brothers and sisters, this was the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for the flock of God. I, too, would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are; and all the peoples, and all the earth: Peace be with you.
This is the peace of the risen Christ, a disarming and humble and preserving peace. It comes from God. God, who loves all of us, without any limits or conditions. Let us keep in our ears the weak but always brave voice of Pope Francis, who blessed Rome — the Pope who blessed Rome and the world that day on the morning of Easter.
Allow me to continue that same blessing. God loves us, all of us, evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God. Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward. We are disciples of Christ, Christ goes before us, and the world needs his light. Humanity needs him like a bridge to reach God and his love. You help us to build bridges with dialogue and encounter so we can all be one people always in peace.”
A Man of Peace
Pope Leo is the man of peace we need in these turbulent times; just like beloved Pope Francis, his courageous attitude and faith in both God and mankind is a breath of fresh air in an unsettled world. May Pope Francis rest in eternal peace as our newest servant of Christ continues his faithful work for all people. Our new American born Pope speaks openly. God bless Pope Leo for his honesty, integrity, courage and faith in the God that loves all people and all nations equally…
Related