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Splittin’ the Atom with Jen Brien — Commentary, July 16, 2026
by Jennifer Brien, contributing writer, commentary
LESS IS MORE
THIS WEEK, I’m going to keep things simple and quick for you all. I recognize my opinion may not be popular with some, but still popular with others and I certainly receive all kinds of responses to the things I say… online and in my personal EMAIL (feel free to participate there)
One of the most amusing responses I get… one of my FAVS… is that people love reading my column on the toilet. Hell, at least you’re reading! RIF! If you happen to make it to 79, you’ll be interested to know the average person (sans a condition like IBS) spends 240 days of their life on the can which comes out to about 5,767 hours in total. Interesting… and so, seeing how the average person spends 12 minutes a day total on the porcelain throne… let’s see if you can get through this masterpiece by the time the pipes are CLEAN! Tell the “TIDY BOWL MAN” I said hello and LFG!
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YOU’RE GOING TO WIN
“There’s a person out there right now with no one to lean on, and no one checking in on them; yet you wake up every day and keep pushing forward and keep grinding. Wherever you are… you’re going to WIN”
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THE WORLD
“Getting older ISN’T the problem. Watching the world get more and more stupid, is”
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JUDAS
“Just because they’ve shown up doesn’t mean they’ve got your back. Judas attended EVERY prayer meeting”
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ALONE
“Of course I’m different from them. They walk with anyone just to avoid being ALONE. I walk ALONE so I don’t have to walk with just anyone”
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SOME PEOPLE
“Some people are mean and bitter because they had a rough childhood. Some people are kind and caring for THE SAME REASON. IT’S A CHOICE.”
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ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER
God is about to shake religion. ARE YOU for him or are you for this world?
There are only two choices.
WHO ARE YOU?
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Step out of the swarm gang because consensus is just comfortable cowardice.
Till next time!
Jen
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Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine Unit.
To read more columns and commentary by Jen, Go HERE!
Join Jen on her podcast “SPLITTIN THE ATOM”- 3pm Thursdays
Go HERE: oceanstatecurrent.com
It has been said: “The mother of stupidity is always pregnant.”
Rockwell collage still here for for you ,will be moving to Somerville Hospice at my sister’s house. Wks to mths for me. You have my contact info.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, speaks loudly to me. God Bless!!!
Haahah HI LINDA! SOME of my best ideas come from my time indisposed 😁
I too am challenged by this POPE in a number of ways and not for the good. He confuses me. I don’t like that. But hey…..what do I know!
Thanks for reading !
Jen
I am almost 80, I was baptized Catholic (I think) when I was 2 months old and received all the appropriate sacraments when I was eligible for them. I even went to a Catholic high school. (All that just to describe what I am.) Now I find myself with a slight problem: I think the College of Cardinals made a huge mistake in voting for Leo (and they are not supposed to be able to ‘make that mistake’ and I think Leo is not someone who I can listen to and accept as infallible in his decisions. I think he has an agenda and I think it is wrong. Not a huge problem in the stack of problems people have but for some reason it is bothering me. How is that for sitting on the John thoughts?
Linda, you described me to a T. I can’t find my Baltimore Catechism, but I can find Wiki.
The Pope is not infallible. Neither is the College of Cardinals. My copy/paste is the easiest to get through (1 year of Latin isn’t enough).
“For a papal statement to be considered infallible, four conditions must be met:
The pope must speak in his official capacity as the supreme pontiff.
The teaching must concern faith or morals, not secular matters.
The statement must be explicit, definitive, and intended to bind the whole Church.
The pope must speak ex cathedra, exercising his supreme apostolic authority to define doctrine for all Catholics (EWTN; UCatholic; Catholic Bible Online)
ewtnvatican.com
In summary, the pope is infallible only in narrowly defined, formal circumstances concerning faith and morals, and this protection does not extend to his personal life, opinions, or secular matters.” I’ll add, politics. He and Trump butt heads. The Pope is a man with his own opinions. He is also an American citizen. The Pope, like the rest of us, still gets a ‘say’. He holds a dual citizenship – American & Peruvian. He is the head of a foreign state (Vatican City). SCOTUS ruling in 1967, a US citizen can’t lose citizenship unless he voluntarily & intentionally renounces it. Pope Leo can vote in our elections.
I learn something every day. The body doesn’t work but the quest for knowledge continues!! The mind is a dangerous thing to waste. The nuns taught us well.
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