The Sign Of The Lord

Opinion

Tiberiu Dianu


The Divine Sign

One of the most popular festival events in Puerto Rico takes place every year
on August 15 in the municipality of Cayey, about 30 miles south of the capital
city of San Juan: the Matron Festivities of Nuestra Señora de Asunción. The
festivities are celebrated during 10 consecutive days, bringing singers and ba-
nds from around the island. Cayey is relatively close to the southern shores of
Puerto Rico, the southernmost part of the United States.

This year, on the same day, in one of the northernmost largest cities of the Uni-
ted States, the popular Christian feast was observed being accompanied by a
special event. Almighty God has chosen the skies of Chicago to cast his vote for
President.

A “yuge” heavenly Donald Trump - displayed on the Lord’s ceiling - has dem-
onstrated to us that neither the place, nor the day have been chosen randomly.

The Place

Thus, for the Chicago place: God is reminding us of his displeasure for the un-
healthy policies of the former Illinois senator, now president of the United Sta-
tes, Barack Hussein Obama. These policies have targeted constantly the most
blessed country on earth, which the Almighty – still – loves and protects. It is
also a reminder to the (lefty) Chicagoans of their ugly manners and despicable
reception they had prepared in their Windy City for the Republican presidential
candidate. On March 11, they brutally infringed Trump’s constitutional right to
free speech by blocking his rally in the city.

This did not prevent Trump from easily winning the Illinois primary on the fo-
llowing Tuesday, March 15, exactly five months before the Divine Sign. Indeed,
God sees and takes care.

The Time

As for the date, rare are the days of the year loaded with so much religious sig-
nificance and variety of human events as August 15. Let us review some of them.
A few are related to the acute problems that concern the American society of to-
day...

-  the Assumption of Mary,  one of the most important Christian feast days and
holidays; according to some sources,  Mary’s death occurred 11 years after the
death – in 30 A.D. - of her son, Jesus (in 41 A.D.);

- the beginning of the Arab-Byzantine wars (in 636);

- the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople (in 718);

- the foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of the
Three Wise Men, is laid (in 1248);

- the end of the Byzantine Empire, as a result of the Ottoman victory in Tre-
bizond (in 1461);

- the Sistine Chapel is consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV (in 1480);

- Paraguay's capital city of Asunción (the Assumption) is founded (in 1537);

- The Battle of Fort Dearborn (now Chicago) is fought between the U.S. troops
and Potawatomi, during the Anglo-American War (in 1812);

- the oldest Roman Catholic cathedral (Our Lady of Peace) in continuous use
in the United States is dedicated in Honolulu, Hawaii (in 1843);

- the Panama Canal opens to traffic (in 1914);

- coincidentally or not, my maternal grandmother, called Maria, is born on the
Assumption Day, also known (in her native Romania) as the Falling Asleep of
the Blessed Virgin Mary (in 1915);

- The Wizard of Oz premieres in Los Angeles (in 1939);

- effective surrender of Japan in World War II (in 1945);

- the birth of stadium rock, with The Beatles playing to 60,000 fans at Shea
Stadium in New York City (in 1965);

- The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in upstate New York (in 1969);

- a radio telescope operated by Ohio University, The Big Ear, receives a radio
signal from deep space, named “Wow! Signal” from the notations made on the
project (in 1977).

The Identity

In case anybody still doubts the significance of the Divine Sign, take another
look at the profiles of Earthly Donald and Heavenly Donald. They are…
I-DEN-TI-CAL!



TIBERIU DIANU is a scholar and author of several books and articles in law and post-
communist societies. He studied law, human rights, and criminal justice at the univer-
sities of Bucharest (Romania), Strasbourg (France), Oxford and Manchester (U.K.), Am-
erican University (Washington, DC),  and University of Maryland at College Park (Ma-
ryland). He currently lives in Washington, DC, where he works for various government 
and private agencies.

The opinions expressed in the preceding article are those of those of the author alone and do not 

necessarily represent the views of The Puerto Rico Monitor, its contributors, editors or advertisers.

Puerto Rico News Digest For July 11, 2016

ATHEISTS SUE EDUCATION DEPT OVER RELIGION

From Patheos:

"Ateístas de Puerto Rico has just filed a federal lawsuit against the island’s
Department of Education and several government individuals, claiming that
several schools held Christian religious ceremonies this past March in which
converting students was part of the goal...In one case, non-religious students
were “required to assist [at] the basketball court where the religious service
was being held.” When they didn’t want to participate, their teacher told them
they had to..."

PUERTO RICAN COP INJURED IN DALLAS ATTACK

From AP:

"Ivan Saldana was among the Dallas police officers directing traffic down-
town during the protest when the shots rang out. By Saturday, Saldana was
up walking around his home, recovering from a shrapnel wound to his right
leg. "Everything happened so quickly, but at the same time, everything was
so slow," Saldana, 44, told The Dallas Morning News...Saldana began his po-
lice career with the Guaynabo Police Department in Puerto Rico, where he is
from..."

UPR FIRES WALKER AS PRESIDENT

From The San Juan Daily Star:

"The University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Board of Governors fired President
Uroyoán Walker on Thursday, naming Dr. Celeste Freytes as interim presi-
dent of the institution. Walker was fi red after the board accepted the reco-
mmendations of an investigative subcommittee, which issued a vote of no-
confidence for Walker’s alleged favoritism in the irregular awarding of pre-
sidential scholarships last academic year..."

BERNABE CALLS FOR UNITY TO COMBAT CRISIS

From Caribbean Business:

"The gubernatorial candidate for the Working People’s Party (PPT by its Spa-
nish initials), Rafael Bernabe, on Sunday called for unity between workers and
community pharmacies in order to fight the crisis Puerto Rico is facing. Berna-
be said privatization policies “not only affect workers, but also small-business
people, including community pharmacies"...“Workers’ struggle  for better em-
ployment conditions in [both] the public and private sectors is the  same fight
and has the same enemy as small-business people do,” the candidate said dur-
ing his participation in a forum at the convention of the Puerto Rico Communi-
ty Pharmacies Association at the Ritz-Carlton, San Juan..."

Puerto Rico News Digest For July 6, 2015

NO RELIEF FROM DROUGHT THIS WEEK

A tropical wave that is likely to pass over the south of the island on Tuesday is
not expected to leave significant rainfall behind, according to the island's water
utility and the National Weather Service. Water rationing was expanded last
Thursday to cover Guaynabo, parts of Bayamón and Montehiedra in Río Piedras.

RESIDENT ASSOCIATIONS EXEMPT FROM NEW TAX

From Caribbean Business:

A House bill that calls for exempting condominiums, cooperatives and resident
associations from the 4% professional services tax set to kick in October 1 was
signed into law by La Fortaleza, avoiding a potential hike to maintenance fees
for hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rico residents. Although H.B. 2534, led by
New Progressive Party (NPP) House Minority Leader Jenniffer González, was
part of a list of key bills the Senate didn’t vote on during the last day of the past
legislative session, the lower chamber decided the same day to concur with the
upper chamber’s original amendments to the bill, allowing the House to send
the measure to the governor’s desk for immediate enactment.

GOV'T MAKES PAYROLL WITH TRANS

From The San Juan Daily Star:

Government workers should not worry about their paychecks because the govern-
ment will keep paying them, at a cost of $250 million every 15 days, House Spea-
ker Jaime Perelló says. A key bill that has secured legislative passage and that is
expected  to be signed into law this week will boost cash flow for government
operations by allowing it to raise $400 million in tax and revenue anticipation no-
tes (TRANs). The government will raise the cash for the notes from three public
nsurance corporations, according to various media outlets.

PASTAFARIAN CHURCH COMES TO PR

As reported by Metro PR, the satirical and liberal leaning Church of the Flying
Spaghetti Monster has been officially registered as a non-profit organization with
the Puerto Rico Department of State. The religion's adherents, known as  Pastafa-
rians, claim to promote a culture of peace and diversity. The Church has stated that
it will conduct same-sex weddings in Puerto Rico.