alum

As a young lad growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Pittsburg, my school uniform consisted of corduroys the color of Ash Wednesday, a white dress shirt and a maroon V-neck sweater. I walked west from my family’s apartment on 10th Street, turned left on Montezuma, and arrived about 15 minutes later at the campus of St. Peter Martyr.

My teachers were nuns, the parish priests were Dominicans, and Sunday mass was a celebration of faith, humility and grace.

I am not without sin. I’m an imperfect man and the church is an imperfect institution.

But I’ve been wondering lately what my favorite St. Peter Martyr teachers — Sisters Roberta, Eileen and Estelle — would make of today’s political discourse, in which claims of piety and Christian faith are not always backed by words and deeds, particularly from a certain world leader.

I think if they were teaching today, the nuns would tell everyone in class to get out their pencils and notebooks and write a letter to the president.

So here goes.

Dear President Trump:

Ever hear of St. Peter Martyr School?

Probably not, but I’m an alum. The school was named after St. Peter of Verona, who campaigned against heresy and paid the price when one of the Cathars sunk an ax into his skull (what a way to go). So I guess politics haven’t really changed much over the centuries.

By the way, nice job recently on your presentation at the National Bible Museum, where you launched the “America Prays” initiative to celebrate spirituality and restore “our identity as one nation under God.” And congratulations on your missionary work. I see that you raked in $1.3 million on your “God Bless the USA Bible.”

Love that you said: “To have a great nation, you have to have religion. I believe that so strongly. There has to be something after we go through all of this — and that something is God.”

Well put, Mr. President, and unsurprising, given that you once called the Bible your favorite book. But I know that in my own life, I need to flip back through the pages on occasion to ground myself in the teachings.

So here’s an idea:

I’ll share a Bible verse, and then I’ll follow it with a recent quote from you. Not that I’m judging, or anything. But we might all benefit spiritually by asking whether, in our own lives, God would approve of how we conduct ourselves.

Are you ready?

Corinthians 12: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.”

Trump: “You know, Biden was always a mean guy, but he was never a smart guy. … You go back 30 years ago, 40 years ago, he was a stupid guy, but he was always a mean son of a bitch.”

Essay Topic: An obsessive need to demean and diminish others is explained by some behavioral therapists as a sign of insecurity, weakness, or an unhappy childhood. Write 500 words, in cursive, on how any of this might apply to you.

Genesis 2:15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Trump: “This climate change, it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world in my opinion … all of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong, they were made by stupid people. … If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country’s going to fail.”

Essay Topic: Despite the growing horror of melting icecaps, deadly storms, disappearing coasts and widespread famine, if the Garden of Eden were a national forest, would you lay off Adam or Eve, or both of them, and would anything prevent you from opening the property to drilling?

John 3:17: “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

Trump: “It’s time to end the failed experiment of open borders. You have to end it now. It’s — I can tell you. I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell.”

Essay Topic: Given that we probably shouldn’t, as mere mortals, assume divine powers, is condemning someone to hell — or entire countries, in this case — an act of blasphemy?

Leviticus 19: “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”

Trump: “They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

Essay Topic: You once said immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” and yet your late mother and two of your three wives were immigrants. Were you ever tempted to have any, or all three of them deported, and if so, in which order?

Psalm 103: “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”

Trump: “Happy Memorial Day to all, including the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country.”

Essay Topic: Given that Jesus would not likely have called half the population of the United States scum, and that he probably would have protested ICE raids at Home Depots, would you say the son of God was a member of the extreme radical left?

Matthew 5: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

Trump: “I hate my opponent and I don’t want what’s best for them. … I can’t stand my opponent.”

Essay Topic: Which saying do you find the most offensive and probably created by the radical left — turn the other cheek, or treat others as you would have them treat you?

Bonus points: At what age did you begin pulling the wings off of butterflies, and which, if any, of the 10 Commandments have you not broken?

Matthew 23: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Trump: “I was saved by God to make America great again.”

Mr. President, you recently said, “I want to try and get to heaven, if possible.”

Hallellujah and amen to that. And yes, it is possible.

But first you must write and recite, 1,000 times, the Act of Contrition. (It’s the prayer that ends with: “I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.”)

Sisters Roberta, Eileen and Estelle will be waiting for you at the Pearly Gates. And trust me — they will know if you’ve done your homework.

[email protected]

Apparently, love is blind to a healthy work environment. That’s what’s alleged in a new class-action lawsuit filed this week.

Stephen Richardson, a contestant on Season 7 of the Netflix dating show “Love Is Blind,” is suing the streaming service and the production companies behind the series, alleging they failed to pay overtime and minimum wages and didn’t provide accurate and itemized wage statements and uninterrupted meal periods. The class action was filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Richardson alleges in the lawsuit that producers wrongly classified him and the rest of the cast, who he says regularly worked 20-hour shifts, in order to pay them less. The lawsuit lists Kinetic Content, Delirium TV and Netflix as defendants.

Producers exerted “complete domination over [participants’] time, schedule, and their ability to eat, drink, and sleep, and communicate with the outside world during the period of employment” and further restricted participants’ actions after the show wrapped, the complaint says. The conditions were “unsafe and inhumane,” the lawsuit says.

“Love Is Blind” follows a group of single men and women searching for love the old-fashioned way, by communicating blindly through a wall. Couples are kept from each other until they establish an engagement, which pays off with unexpected facial reactions that express emotions including great dissatisfaction, confusion or a sigh of relief.

In recent years, the show has been hit with similar lawsuits from other former cast members. Last year, Season 5 participant Renee Poche and Season 2 veteran Nick Thompson filed a lawsuit against the production companies after she was penalized for breaching her contract by publicly discussing her experience on the show.

“I am now being sued for $4 million despite earning $8,000 for my participation on the show,” Poche told USA Today.

Poche alleged the production companies were retaliating against her for speaking about the working conditions she endured. After feeling “like a prisoner” while working on the show, she says, she was cut from the final version of the series.

Season 2 cast member Jeremy Hartwell sued Kinetic Content and Netflix in 2022 for allegedly violating labor laws and creating an “unsafe and inhumane” work environment. Then a number of unnamed former cast members spoke to Insider in April 2023, alleging producers subjected them to 20-hour production days, rarely allowed them to go outside, failed to provide adequate food and mental-health services and ignored their pleas for help.

Throughout the years, reality TV has tried to protect itself from real-life lawyers with nondisclosure agreements and provisions requiring disputes be taken to arbitration. The new complaint has Richardson as the named defendant along with “all others similarly situated.”

The accuser is looking for unspecified damages. Richardson, Netflix, Kinetic Content and Delirium TV did not immediately respond Wednesday to The Times’ request for comment.

Angel City winger Alyssa Thompson left for London on Wednesday afternoon as negotiations continued on a transfer that would send her from the NWSL to Chelsea of the Women’s Super League. But she might be running out of time since the WSL transfer window closes at 3 p.m. PDT Thursday, less than 24 hours after she boarded her flight.

“She wants to go to Chelsea and made it very clear she wants to leave,” said a person close to Thompson, who would speak only on condition of anonymity for fear of disrupting the delicate negotiations. “The rest is out of our hands.”

Thompson’s agent, Takumi Jeannin, declined to speak about the negotiations on the record while Angel City did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The speedy Thompson, 20, has already said goodbye to her Angel City teammates and did not suit up for the team’s win over Bay FC on Monday. She reportedly spent two days waiting to fly to London, where the transfer would be announced, only to repeatedly be told the deal had hit a snag.

If the transfer is agreed to, the fee for the U.S. international and World Cup veteran is expected to top $1 million and could smash the record $1.5 million the Orlando Pride paid Mexico’s Tigres for Lizbeth Ovalle last month.

USWNT defender Naomi Girma was the first $1-million transfer in women’s soccer history when she went from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea last January. Canadian Olivia Smith broke that record in July, going from Liverpool to Arsenal for $1.3 million.

Thompson was still an 18-year-old senior at Harvard-Westlake High when she became the youngest player taken in the NWSL draft, going to Angel City with the No. 1 pick in January 2023. That summer she became the second-youngest player to appear in a World Cup game for the U.S.

Thompson signed a three-year contract worth an estimated $1 million after the draft in 2023, then agreed to a three-year extension in January. She is the club’s all-time scoring leader with 21 goals in all competitions and she ranks sixth in appearances with 74. Her six goals in 16 games this season ranks second behind Riley Tiernan’s eight and she also has three goals and three assists in 22 games with the national team.

Thompson leaving Angel City would also mean leaving her sister and roommate Gisele, 19, a national team defender who was signed by Angel City in December 2023.

For Angel City, meanwhile, losing Thompson would strike a significant blow to the team’s playoff hopes. The club, which has won two straight and is unbeaten in its last four, is a point out of the league’s eighth and final postseason berth with eight games to play. But Angel City already lost two players — midfielders Alanna Kennedy and Katie Zelem — on transfers to London City of the WSL for undisclosed fees last month. And the week before that it traded forward Julie Dufour to the Portland Thorns for $40,000 in intra-league transfer funds and an international roster spot.

In addition, the club is without Scottish international Claire Emslie, who is on maternity leave, defender Savy King, who is on medical leave, and U.S. World Cup champion Sydney Leroux, who has stepped away from soccer to deal with her mental health.

After Monday’s win over Bay FC, Angel City coach Alexander Straus said the uncertainty over Thompson’s future with the team has been distracting.

“If I’m being honest, the last couple of days, it’s been difficult,” he said.

Straus said he learned Thompson would not be available just a day before the game.

“It’s been hard for me in my position when things change,” he said. “It changes our plans and changes the plans for the players.”

“But none of us is bigger than the club,” he added. “We focus on that, what is our value together. And if somebody leaves at some point — or somebody has left a couple of weeks ago — I think it does something to a group. It’s not easy, but it’s how you manage it.”

While the loss of a player like Thompson would hurt Angel City on the field, the likely seven-figure transfer fee would help ameliorate that. The same might not be true for NWSL, whose success and its marketing has long been built around the personalities playing in the league.

Yet in recent years it has lost Alex Morgan to retirement while national team stars including Girma, Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox, Lindsey Heaps (nee Horan), Catarina Macario and Korbin Shrader (nee Albert) have left to play in Europe.

Losing Thompson would be another blow.

As for Chelsea, it is the most successful club in the WSL, having won a domestic treble last season in Sonia Bompastor’s first season as coach. Bompastor replaced Emma Hayes, who left to take over the U.S. national team.

Chelsea will open its WSL season on Friday against Manchester City.

Pete Davidson is going to be a father.

The “Saturday Night Live” alum’s girlfriend, British model and actor Elsie Hewitt, confirmed the news Wednesday with a cheeky Instagram post.

“Welp now everyone knows we had sex,” the model captioned a carousel of pregnancy photos, images of the pair and memes (including the viral “Love Island” “mamacita” moment).

Davidson, who famously avoids social media and does not have a public Instagram account, has not yet commented on the news.

Hewitt, 29, and Davidson, 31, first sparked dating rumors in March when they were spotted kissing in Palm Beach, Fla., and they’ve reportedly been living together in Brooklyn and Upstate New York. They made their red carpet debut in May at the Blossom Ball in New York City.

Hewitt, who previously dated Jason Sudeikis and Benny Blanco, has modeled for Guess and was a Playboy Playmate. She landed her first television role in 2018 on the series “Turnt” and has since made appearances on rapper Lil Dicky’s sitcom “Dave.”

Since Davidson left “SNL” in 2022, he has pivoted to focus more on stand-up and movies. The comedian — whose high-profile exes include Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian, Madelyn Cline, Kate Beckinsale, Margaret Qualley, Kaia Gerber and Phoebe Dynevor — has a few projects lined up this year, including a starring role in the horror movie “The Home,” out July 25.

Davidson spent eight seasons on “SNL,” where he served as the show’s “resident young person,” developed his popular recurring character “Chad” and even bought a boat (the Staten Island Ferry) with co-star Colin Jost. He returned to host in 2023 and participated in the 50th anniversary special in February.