Issue 2024-16
18208 Preston Road, Ste D9-552
Dallas TX 75252
He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion
Read this newsletter in PDF format for greatest clarity.
As I write, it is 66 days until the election. There will be more chaos, as well as more good news, like prominent Democrats walking away from the soiled mess of their former party. Our “generals,” those leading the fight against the tyranny and lies of the Deep State and Deep Church, are at special risk, as are whistle-blowers, law enforcement, and bishops and priests who speak the whole Deposit of Faith. As the house of cards trembles, bad actors will either convert, or become worse. Our refuge is God. ¡Viva Cristo Rey y Santa Maria!
Opinions expressed in this newsletter, unless otherwise attributed, are my own.
Sheryl Collmer, editor
September 1, 2024
sherylc@coracusa.com
From the cockpit of the Subaru
CORAC founder Charlie Johnston travels from coast to coast in his trusty Outback to speak in person to those now weathering the Storm.
A SIGN OF HOPE
The Sword of Truth
The most unified society of the last century was Adolf Hitler’s Germany from 1933-1938... more >
CHARLIE’S BRIEF
It’s a Test
Some thoughts about the value of experience, the tests we undergo when God shows us that we’re wrong… more >
NEWS
Our Health is
Everything
In human beings, body and soul are not two separate things so we are spiritually obliged to preserve our physical health… more >
Dopamine Hits
The reason it’s hard to quit video games, social media, pornography, gambling and any other addictive behavior… more >
Hobbies
Does it seem strange to talk about hobbies when things are so critical around us? Human beings were designed for… more >
Media Blackout
What the media won’t tell you… more >
Martyrs Corner
We think of saints as moral warriors, but St. José was a gun-toting, horse-riding, bandolier-draped soldier… more >
The Braveheart Election
There is a rhythm to most election cycles, one that a practitioner can discern and use to his advantage if he is canny enough – and disciplined enough to ignore the frightened chirpings of all the nervous Nellies on his own side. This year, there is less the ebb and flow of a discernable rhythm than the throbbing of an acute ache of a tooth, ear or head. Sometimes it is so bad it makes your eyes hurt.
There is always a fundamental dynamic to any cycle. That is the thing I search for relentlessly. When I am confident I have accurately discerned it, that is what I then doggedly pound on. Others, even among my colleagues, may not realize it, but everything I do is single-mindedly built on my discernment of that fundamental dynamic. I am convinced that the fundamental dynamic this year is that the election will not lead to resolution, but to stark confrontation.
That has been the trajectory of the last eight years, though there were border skirmishes for a good 16 years before that, over election integrity. The night before the election in 2016, I told a Catholic broadcaster at dinner that I had seen more red flags of national vote fraud than I ever had in my life that year, but that the shock of the night was that it would not be enough. Trump would win.
This was a seminal moment for Democrats, a time to take stock. They could have reasoned that, even in the aftermath of their sainted salesman, Barack Obama, ordinary Americans were not sold by their policies or their competence – even with massive vote fraud to bolster them. Instead, they chose to expand their retail vote fraud operation to a wholesale operation and start perverting the legal system to harass and intimidate those who complained about it. They were not interested in the opportunity to persuade; only the power to dictate.
I’ve got news for you: suburbs across the nation did NOT suddenly flip from red to blue in 2018; Joe Biden did not win in 2020; and there WAS a red wave in 2022. Because Republicans did not meaningfully stop election fraud – intimidated both by the mendacity of the fraudsters and the unified chorus of the fraudsters’ palace guard, the gutter press. We have had to live with the consequences of both the left’s mendacity and the right’s timidity.
After the decision to mount an administrative coup against Trump with the eager participation of the FBI, CIA, and other denizens of the deep state, there were only three ways this could end: the left would have to back off and reembrace honor; the right would have to submit to be ruled; or there would have to be a definitive confrontation between these fractured factions – war, whether cold or hot.
The left has only advanced. They redefined contesting an election as “insurrection,” but only when a Republican does it. They redefined a slate of alternate electors, routine in a contested presidential election, as illegal “fake” electors. They focused indictments on groups that were likely to dissent from their ideological imperative, such as pro-lifers, concerned parents at school board meetings, and traditional Catholics. Throughout, what they have been doing is probing to see how far they can go into illegal intimidation and, yes, terror tactics before getting serious pushback. The deeper they get into this probing, the more objective serious crimes they have committed, so the more desperate they are to hold onto the power they have illegitimately seized.
Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, who has morphed into the head of the American Gestapo, recently bragged about how many J6 protestors he has jailed. He made clear that he will vigorously go after anyone who criticizes or protests the integrity of future election results.
The left constantly works to decimate election integrity procedures, claiming they limit ballot access. Let’s be blunt, when you work to destroy ballot integrity laws, it is because you are going to cheat and you want to make it harder to prove. It amazes me that their argument for this is that minorities are too stupid, incompetent, and lazy to get valid IDs. It is even more amazing that so many of the minorities they insult so contemptuously buy into this.
Now they push to allow illegal aliens to vote. Ah, but only illegal aliens from south of our border. For Russians and Eastern Europeans, they claim that even discussing American politics is illegal interference. They are utterly incoherent in their will to power.
The right has tried to make nice most of these last eight years, hoping that by showing some give it might bring the left back down to earth. The right also has a much better grasp of how stark and horrifying it will be if we have to fight to sustain the most basic of rights. So it has responded with a mixture of temperance, timidity, and stunned disbelief at how vicious the left has become – and how quickly.
Meantime, hundreds – maybe over a thousand – innocent people have been imprisoned on trumped-up charges which are really just a proxy for publicly defying the left. And our erstwhile American Gestapo head promises to crack down harder than ever.
We will not escape the existential confrontation that looms before us. If the Dems cheat effectively enough for Harris to prevail, the occupying regime will think it has secured enough power to subdue us all. It will begin stripping constitutional rights wholesale and jailing all those who complain or protest. They will do this, of course, in the name of “saving democracy.” If Trump prevails despite the fraudulent shenanigans and the open, shameless perversion of law, the left will release the hounds; they will set their paramilitary forces among Antifa, BLM, and Hamas supporters to set our cities to burn. If rioters (not protestors) are not arrested en masse with alacrity and then held, we will lose the country even after winning the election.
Over and over, the left has suffered setbacks in which it could have corrected course and come back to American principles of fair play and honor. Over and over, it has doubled down on mendacity. Each time, normal people have let it up easy, hoping it would moderate its tactics.
When people abandon God, the only hope they have for any sort of immortality is to hold power and dominance over others. Yes, it is a Dollar General form of immortality, but it becomes their whole reason for being, the only meaning (however impoverished) they know. It is their religion. It is most unlikely they will relinquish it now that they have reached a frenzy about it because an election says they must. Perhaps, finally, after 24 years of steadily ratcheting up the deceit and violence, the left will finally stand down if they can’t game the election into victory. I wouldn’t count on it, though.
In your community groups and other associations, it would be prudent to learn about military tactics, including asymmetrical warfare. I think that whatever happens in the next two months, this growing cold war we have been in for over a generation is going to turn hot. I stand on behalf of FREEDOM! (And not the freedom to get as many abortions as you like.)
If communication goes out for any length of time, meet outside your local Church at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings. Tell friends at Church now, in case you can’t then. CORAC teams will be out looking for people to gather in and work with.
Charlie’s Latest Blogs
The Sword of Truth
The most unified society of the last century was Adolf Hitler’s...
Pro-Lifers’ John Brown Moment
In Germany they are having a rising tide of violent and often deadly...
The Kennedy Initiative: Who Will Rule?
Robert Kennedy Jr.’s dramatic suspension of his campaign in order to...
Brief Updates Videos
It’s a Test
Charlie's Brief #55 - Some thoughts about the value of experience,...
Just Know Enough
Charlie's Brief #54 - Some thoughts about the paradox of 'the more...
Meantime… reality.
Charlie's Brief #53 - Some thoughts about correcting some...
NEWS
New Shots
The pharma companies have said that they are working to make all shots mRNA-based. There is only one reasonable response to any new shot coming on the market: Do Not Comply. If you’re not sure, watch this >
Our Health is Everything
In human beings, body and soul are not two separate things so we are spiritually obliged to preserve our physical health. In the US, we have the worst health outcomes in the world, despite spending the most money. And it’s no accident. The plan for Americans is to start them on pharmaceuticals at birth, feed them with foods engineered to be addictive, which then ruin their health, which keeps them on pharmaceuticals for the rest of their lives.
Do you think this is too evil to be true? Listen to Callie and Casey Means, both with impeccable credentials, lay it out to Tucker Carlson. This is a long interview (2 hours), but worth it and necessary for us to regain our own health, and especially the health of the kids: watch video >
THIS IS A LIFE-ALTERING INTERVIEW. Put in your earbuds and go for a long walk and listen to it.
The standard American diet prominently features added sugars, highly processed grains, and seed oils, all of which contribute to diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses. The American food system is rigged to make us sick and keep us taking medications.
The entry of RFK Jr to the movement to Make America Great Again means that we will be hearing a lot more about our health. We are accustomed to feeling hopeless about it, but that is because we have been fed a trainload of lies alongside foods deliberately designed to addict us. The Make America Healthy Again movement is giving people hope and tools to get better, starting with the recognition of the system we’re stuck in.
Listen to the interview of Callie and Casey Means, and see if it doesn’t change your perspective on health.
MAHA health expert.
MAHA health expert.
Climate
A CORAC member in Kansas sent these resources to understand and be prepared to engage on “climate” matters. The CO2 Coalition has produced a series of videos featuring prominent scientists and Nobel laureates. They present the “other side of the story.”
Titles include:
- The Necessity of Fossil Fuels >
- We Need MORE Carbon Emissions >
- Climate Models are Nonsense >
- The Majority is Wrong About Climate Change >
You can subscribe to their channel here: subscribe >
Dopamine Hits
The reason it’s hard to quit video games, social media, pornography, gambling and any other addictive behavior: dopamine, the feel-good hormone. Spiking dopamine is often followed by a painful crash, and then cravings for more.
When dopamine spikes constantly, the brain reduces the number of dopamine receptors as it seeks balance. That is why the pleasure of any compulsive or addictive behavior declines over time, and requires more volume, frequency, or intensity to satisfy. We’ve all seen this dynamic in ourselves or others.
While easy dopamine hits result in crashes and cravings, some initially difficult experiences can drive upswings in mood and motivation. Here are some things that reward your system with dopamine, but without the negative after-effects:
- Painfully cold showers
- Camping out, which involves sleeping rough and working for one’s meals
- Learning something new, like a foreign language or a musical instrument
- Exercise. It seems that the answer to nearly every physical ailment is exercise. We were made to move.
So if you’re trying to quit sugar or any other addictive substance or activity, try these “hard” things that reward you without damaging effects. We all gravitate toward “the easy way,” but we are actually hardwired for “the hard way.” The “easy” dopamine of screen use or other compulsive behavior has ill effects on the body, while the more “difficult” dopamine of learning or exercise produces good for the body.
Hobbies
Does it seem strange to talk about hobbies when things are so critical around us? Human beings were designed for joy, and something in us goes sour when we stay too long in a state of stress. Start, or re-start. a hobby. I’ve often mused that if everyone had a hobby they loved, there would be a lot less mischief in the world. Many CORAC’ers already have hobbies like gardening, radio and tincture-making, but we all could use something that is pure fun and absorbs us so much that it brings a smile to our faces, a hobby that causes us to enter fully into the activity, what they call “flow.”
Have you thought about:
- Homebrewing beer or making liquers
- Stargazing
- Birdwatching
- Sightseeing all the obscure, interesting sites near your home
- Journaling
- Calligraphy
- Family tree and genealogy
- Rube Goldberg machines
- Geocaching
- Bikeriding
- Chess
- Designing puzzles or escape rooms
- Music, playing an instrument, studying history of music, improving singing voice
- Sketching, painting, or making collages; you don’t have to be Michelangelo. Just please yourself.
- Furniture restoration; visit your local Salvation Army for junk furniture you can paint or restore
- Writing out your favorite books of the Bible by hand
USE CASH
Martyrs Corner: St. José Sánchez del Río, the boy soldier
We think of saints as moral warriors, but St. José was a gun-toting, horse-riding, bandolier-draped soldier. He desperately wanted to fight for Christ, and the freedom to worship Him.
Beginning in 1924, the Mexican government under President Calles attempted to stamp out the Catholic Church and all her adherents throughout the country. The Federales seized Catholic properties, closed schools and convents, and executed Catholic priests in cold blood.
- Some of the provisions of the Calles Law
- All priests must register with the government.
- Religious education is prohibited.
- No priest or religious can direct schools.
- Taking religious vows is prohibited.
- All religious communities are dissolved.
- Freedom of the religious press is suppressed.
- All churches, convents, seminaries are the property of the state.
- Priests are prohibited from criticizing laws.
(Historical note: beware the government when they require certain people to register. The German Socialists began their reign of terror by requiring all Jews to register. Indirectly, vaccine cards and apps are the same thing: assisting the government in identifying and targeting one class of people.)
Resistance to the Calles Laws begain peacefully, with petitions and protests, but went “hot” as the government became more brutal. In central Mexico, where the rebellion was active, José Sanchez del Rio, a great lover of the Eucharist, begged his mother to be allowed to join the Cristeros, those fighting for Christ. “Mama, do not let me lose the opportunity to gain Heaven so easily and so soon.” At the age of 14, José was too young to fight, but was allowed to ride with General Mendoza, as his bugler and flag-bearer. José was armed with a rifle for self-defense.
In one battle, his general was unseated from his horse, and José offered him his own. Unmounted, José was easily captured by the Federales. The corrupt mayor of the town in which he was imprisoned was actually José’s godfather. He gave him a chance to renounce Christ, but José stood firm and loyal. He could not be persuaded to join those who had closed down the churches, shot priests, and desecrated the Holy Eucharist.
All he had to do was to say, “Death to Christ the King,” and he would have been released to go home to his mother. Instead he said, “I will never give in. ¡Viva Cristo Rey y Santa Maria de Guadalupe!”
In a letter to his mother days before his execution, he wrote: “My dear mother, I was taken prisoner in combat today. I believe that I am going to die very shortly, but it does not matter, Mamá. I die happy because I die in the ranks of Our Lord. Do not be distressed about my death, which is my only worry. Have courage and send me your blessing and my father’s. Give my greetings to all for the last time, and receive the heart of your son who loves you and wanted to see you before dying.”
The Mayor, José’s godfather, was so infuriated by the immovability of a mere boy that he allowed the soldiers to be especially brutal. The soles of José’s feet were cut off and he was made to walk through the village over gravel and sand, to the site of his execution. He left red footprints on the path.
The postulator of José’s cause for sainthood said: “St. José’ teaches that the Catholic faith is not for sale. He is not only a martyr of the Christian faith, but is a martyr of the fundamental rights of the person.”
St. José was canonized in 2016. His feast day is February 10.
The movie For Greater Glory features the story of St. José >
Saint José: Boy Cristero is a book written for young adults but is true to the facts
The Knights of Columbus figured prominently in the rebellion. Read more about the Cristero Knights here >
VIVA CRISTO REY
CORAC WEBSITE
Our greatest asset is our website. If you haven’t yet explored it, start on the home page and go perusing from there.
PRAYER
September Prayer Intentions
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That in an atmosphere of confusion and lies, CORAC members be calm and grace-filled seekers and speakers of truth and encouragement
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For God’s provision and wisdom for all CORAC members who are beginning new initiatives in their fields of work; that they receive the gifts of patience and fortitude in discerning next right steps
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For safe travels for Charlie in his trusty Outback and all who will attend his gatherings as he sets forth to spread the message: Acknowledge God, Take the Next Right Step, and Be A Sign of Hope for Those Around You
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For all CORAC members as we study, disseminate, and implement the principles and ideas presented in Revival: A Handbook and Manual for Building Functional Communities
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That many people be healed in body, mind, and spirit through the online Physical Healing Prayer Session via Zoom, on the last Wednesday of each month; and through many other healing prayer ministries in which CORAC members are engaged
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That CORAC members may strongly desire and find the means to participate in financial support for our vital ministries
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For all intentions carried in the hearts of CORAC members and those posted on the CORAC Prayer Hotline, with gratitude for prayers answered in our daily lives
St. Gabriel, enlighten us.
St. Michael, defend us.
St. Raphael, protect us.
Ave Maria, Stella Maris!
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