There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
When the seventh day of the strange siege dawned, Joshua commanded that the ceremonial circuit of Jericho be performed seven times instead of once. As the seventh round was completed, the leader suddenly raised his voice above the silence and cried out to his people, “Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city.” At that, all Israel gave one great shout high above the noise of the priestly trumpets. And with the outcry the mighty walls of Jericho crumbled into dust; they “fell down flat;” they perished as though they had been but shadows. The hordes of the Israelites rushed forward, they “went up into the city, every man straight before him.”
Grim and terrible was the massacre that followed. The religious ecstasy of the Israelites was at its height. Joshua had declared the people of Jericho accursed, and had doomed them with all their property to utter destruction, save only for certain precious metals which were to be preserved for “the treasury of the Lord.” These stern commands the Israelites obeyed with savage literalness. The vengeance of their God was upon Jericho. They wiped out the city with fire, and put all its inhabitants to the sword.
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
Psalm 41:1
To think about the poor and let them lie on our hearts is a Christian man’s duty; for Jesus put them with us and near us when He said, “The poor ye have always with you.”
Many give their money to the poor in a hurry, without thought; and many more give nothing at all. This precious promise belongs to those who “consider” the poor, look into their case, devise plans for their benefit, and considerately carry them out. We can do more by care than by cash, and most with two together. To those who consider the poor, the Lord promises His own consideration in times of distress. He will bring us out of trouble if we help others when they are in trouble. We shall receive very singular providential help if the Lord sees that we try to provide for others. We shall have a time of trouble, however generous we may be; but if we are charitable, we may put in a claim for peculiar deliverance, and the Lord will not deny His own word and bond. Miserly curmudgeons may help themselves, but considerate and generous believers the Lord will help. As you have done unto others, so will the Lord do unto you. Empty your pockets.
Our calling in this year remains the same as in the days gone by. To be a people of faith and faithfulness involves battle. Being a Christian is not smooth sailing.
Already in this young year you have faced numerous temptations, whether you recognized them or not. We need to fight against sin – our sinful nature, the sinfulness of this world and even the devil himself. Are you fighting? What do you know about your sinful nature? Do you recognize the snares of this world for what they are? The world offers empty frivolity and hollow enticements which would have us become idol worshippers. Do you realize the enemy would always seek to accuse, to break down, to lead us astray? He is busy luring, ensnaring, goading into sin. Do you recognize the powers and principalities spoken of in Ephesians 6?
Paul, by the Holy Spirit, instructed Timothy and by extension every Christian to fight the battle against the enemies of Christ and the gospel and to do so with a good conscience. A good conscience serves as a rudder that steers the believer through the rocks and reefs of sin and error. Be careful not to make shipwreck of your faith. Plan your strategy. Know your position in the battle.
Suggestions for prayer
Ask the Lord to help you wage the good warfare. Pray for wisdom and courage.
Rev. Peter Vellenga is presently serving as itinerant preacher waiting upon Lord for continued assignment.
Are you discouraged or downhearted? Allow God to lift you with His love.
“May you receive more and more of God’s mercy, peace, and love.” Jude 1:2 (NLT)
Because of God’s mercies you can follow Him with all of your heart today, assured that there is nothing being held over your head to condemn you; you can take each step today with a quiet heart knowing that His peace keeps you steady and sure; you can move ahead today with great confidence of faith knowing His love keeps you close to His heart, mindful of His promises, and confident of His care. God’s mercies declare that you are covered in His compassion; His peace proclaims that you are renewed in His rest; His love heralds that you are bathed in His blessings of joy.
Are you tired or weary today? Allow God to renew you with His strength. Are you discouraged or downhearted? Allow God to lift you with His love. Are you carrying a burden of sin? Allow God’s mercies to restore you. Are you in need of reassurance? Allow God to hold you in His embrace. Are you in need of healing? Allow God to mend you with His touch.
If you don’t know Jesus in a personal way you can begin a relationship with him today. The first step is a prayer telling him you believe He is who He says He is and a second step is surrendering control of your will and life to him. These can be communicated in a simple prayer (prayer is talking to God):
“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”
If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, then you can pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
When I was a girl, I was fascinated with biology. I put a caterpillar in a jar and fed it daily, hoping to see it change into a butterfly.
One day, I came home from school and found the caterpillar had attached itself to the side of the jar by a tiny anchor. It was squirming and writhing, as if it was in pain. The caterpillar’s body seemed to melt while its skin was pushed down. Before my eyes, it transformed into a chrysalis. Then the old skin fell off while the new continued to change into a firm casing. Inside the protective shell, its body kept changing over the next few days before the butterfly emerged.
In the same way, our lives of sin and rebellion are cast aside when we are transformed by God’s love and mercy into a beautiful vessel recreated by the Master’s hand, for his use. It can be painful to give up the desires of the flesh and submit our will to God’s, but he lovingly protects us during our transformation. Our new creation can be a source of inspiration to others, leading them to Christ.
Heavenly Father, help us to seek to be transformed into a beautiful reflection of your love and glory. And once transformed, help us never to forget to offer thanks for making us more like Christ. Amen.
Joshua’s mighty visitant instructed him exactly how to proceed against Jericho; and Joshua obeyed. He bade the priests take up the ark and advance toward the city. Seven priests preceded the ark blowing upon trumpets of rams’ horns. Behind the sacred receptacle came all the armed men of Israel, forming a great procession. When they reached close by the city, they turned and under Joshua’s guidance made a complete circuit of its walls. Among the marching men there was utter silence, except for the blowing of the trumpets and the tread of many feet. No sound of voice was heard; and when the mysterious circle was complete, the Israelites returned in silence to their camp.
What must have been the amaze and what the awe of the watching citizens upon the walls of Jericho! No attack was made upon them whatever; but six times on six successive days was this strange ceremonial performed, this shadowy circle drawn about their bewildered and panic-stricken stronghold.
In this recent exchange, Professor Peter Millican and Professor Richard Swinburne discuss the philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God. This was a fascinating discussion. Enjoy! Courage and Godspeed,Chad
Report: China mass harvesting Americans’ Facebook, Twitter data to bolster spying, propaganda The Chinese Internet-monitoring tools, known as public opinion analysis software, were reportedly developed over the past decade to warn of sensitive information being spread online to help China find sources of criticisms against the Chinese government. The tools were originally used to monitor internal dissent, but are now being used to gain information on foreign targets.
House Republicans Turn the Jan. 6 Tables on Nancy Pelosi with a Major Accusation House Republicans this week are accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of deliberately stonewalling the release of information about her own role in the events of the day. And with the Democrats’ hold on power in the House looking shaky ahead of this year’s midterm elections, Pelosi’s partisans should be getting nervous. While the committee’s clear purpose is to smear former President Donald Trump and his supporters, the country might be getting a different view of how Pelosi and her party are actually operating. The double standard is painfully obvious.
Record 4.5 million Americans quit jobs in November The number of Americans voluntarily quitting their jobs surged to a record 4.5 million in November, a show of confidence in the labor market and an indication that higher wages could prevail for a while.
New York prosecutor drops sex crime case against Andrew Cuomo A New York prosecutor will not pursue a misdemeanor sex crime charge against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, saying he could not prove the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
‘US-Israel gaps on Iran remain very large’ The US wants to safeguard a fictitious picture of progress towards a diplomatic deal at any price,” former National Security Council head Jacob Nagel says, noting that if signed, the resulting agreement would likely be “very bad.”
Rare hailstorm pounds Egypt as Jews read about that very plague in Torah On the first day of the New Year, the Egyptian Red Sea resort in Hurghada was hit by a hailstorm that left destruction in its wake. Coincidentally (or not), the hailstorm hit the Egyptian town on Shabbat while Jews around the world were in synagogues, reading the section of the Torah describing the plague of hail that hit Egypt over 3,300 years ago. Local media reported that the “quail-sized” hailstones were accompanied by lightning storms. This precisely conforms to the Biblical account of the plague of hail which mixed the elemental opposites of fire and ice.
Torches waived on hilltops throughout Israel marking the new month as was done by Sanhedrin The event seemed quite simple; waving a pair of torches on a hilltop just after sunset. But it symbolized an essential part of the Sanhedrin’s activities, announcing the calendar to the communities outside of Israel. The Sanhedrin initiated the event by receiving and interviewing two witnesses on Mount Zion.
Gay male couples, single men, transgenders can now have babies via surrogacy inside Israel Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence. Leviticus 18:22. As a gay minister who is well aware of exclusion and discrimination, I set myself the goal of making the Health Ministry the flagship of human rights and equality. The Israeli health system is becoming one of the most advanced in the world in relation to LGBT people and every person. It is a great pride.
North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile off its east coast on Wednesday (local times), authorities in Japan said, according to Reuters. Japan’s coast guard, which first reported the launch, said it could be a ballistic missile, but did not provide further details.
Magnitude 6.3 quake hits south of Tokyo, bringing strong jolt to Ogasawara Islands An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 struck near the Ogasawara Islands in the Pacific Ocean — about 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo — on Tuesday morning, but there was no fear of a tsunami and no reports of injuries or serious damage to infrastructure, authorities said.
Mayo Clinic fires unvaccinated employees amid labor shortage The world famous Mayo Clinic, headquartered in Minnesota, fired its unvaccinated employees on Monday. Mayo’s decision is so unpopular that even the mainstream media are reporting sympathetically on the workers who were fired. accusing Mayo of disregarding the science in favor of keeping up with the latest progressive politics. “It’s all PR to them.”
Data from around the world suggests that omicron favors the fully vaccinated The coronavirus has reached remote Antarctica, striking most of the 25 Belgian staffers at a research station, despite all of them being fully vaccinated, passing multiple PCR tests, and quarantining before arrival. Data continues to come in showing that the vaccines are not only powerless against the highly transmissible, but mild Omicron variant — the new strain appears to favor the fully vaccinated. Time to relinquish the illusion of control and admit that infections can not be prevented … .
Regulators request records for patients prescribed ivermectin by Dr. Jensen Jensen is a medical doctor from Chaska who served in the Minnesota Senate from 2017 to 2021 and is now running for governor. He was propelled to national fame last year for his skepticism of Minnesota’s coronavirus response and remains in the spotlight because of his hesitancy about forcing COVID vaccines on people who may not be at risk of dying from the virus. Now, he’s apparently under the state’s regulatory microscope as the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice has asked to see some of his patients’ records.
Largest children’s hospital in Minnesota swaps ICU beds for mental health beds When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Minnesota’s public health officials were abuzz discussing ways to increase the state’s 500 bed ICU capacity. Now, nearly two years later, the state’s premier pediatric facility apparently needs more mental health beds than intensive care ones. This comes as a generation of youth are left struggling to pick up the pieces amidst the “new normal.” Suicide attempts among girls ages 12-17 jumped just over 50% during the COVID lockdowns, per PEW Research.
What if the largest experiment on human beings in history is a failure? It is starting to look to me like the largest experiment on human beings in recorded history has failed. And, if this rather dry report from a senior Indiana life insurance executive holds true, then Reiner Fuellmich’s “Crimes against Humanity” push for convening new Nuremberg trials starts to look a lot less quixotic and a lot more prophetic.
Has The Mystery Been Solved? We Just Got Some New Numbers That Nobody Can Deny before the pandemic, 152 million Americans were employed, and we have never come close to returning to that level. There are literally “help wanted signs” everywhere that you look, and stores are starting to shut down all over the country due to a lack of staff. So why is this happening? Well, it appears that at least part of the answer is that working-age people are dying at an unprecedented rate… the death rate is up a stunning 40% from pre-pandemic levels among working-age people. “We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business … .
Drivers Snowed-in All Night as I-95 Shuts Down in Virginia Hundreds of motorists were stranded all night in snow and freezing temperatures along a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 95 after a crash involving six tractor-trailers in Virginia, where authorities were struggling Tuesday to reach them.
Extremely heavy rains cause deadly floods in Oman and Iran Several days of heavy rains have caused severe floods across Oman and Iran in which more than 10 people lost their lives. Heavy rains have also affected United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Immigration Tops U.S. Births for the First Time There is both bad news and good news for Planned Parenthood these days. Even while abortion made a brief stop once again at the Supreme Court, its numbers are dropping.
Biden’s Bounty on Your Life: Hospitals’ Incentive Payments for COVID-19 Upon admission to a once-trusted hospital, American patients with COVID-19 become virtual prisoners, subjected to a rigid treatment protocol with roots in Ezekiel Emanuel’s “Complete Lives System” for rationing medical care in those over age 50. They have a shockingly high mortality rate. How and why is this happening, and what can be done about it?
White House Wants To Cause Class Warfare Between Vaccinated And Unvaccinated In an exclusive interview with the media, Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) said the White House wants to create class warfare amongst vaccinated and unvaccinated Americans in order to generate turmoil and maintain power, but it’s “not going to work.”
The Evil Empire Beneath the Ice Many feel that humanity is approaching the end days…The majority of the interview focused on the important role that Antacrtica will play as we enter the end of days. The importance of this analysis cannot be overstated because it illustrates how the battle for control over this planet has developed into a struggle of Good v Evil, or more appropriately, Satan v God.
“To restore … harmony … to render us again one people acting as one nation should be the object of every man really a patriot.” —Thomas Jefferson (1801)
That unfortunate event provided Pelosi’s “insurrection inquisition,” her theater of the absurd, plenty of fodder for the Biden regime’s effort to paint all conservatives as “insurrectionists.” The Demos are hoping their Leftmedia propagandists’ coverage of the J6 anniversary will be a booster shot for Biden, who commemorated the occasion as the “darkest day in our democracy [sic].” Reality check: Based on the events this past year, it was much less dark than his inauguration two weeks later.
Ironically, there was an actual and infinitely more insidious and dangerous insurrectionist coup attempt preceding J6 — the Democrat deep-state conspiracies collaboration to take down the presidency of Donald Trump using a fictitious “Russian collusion” narrative created by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Given the civil and lawful tenor of ALL previous Trump rallies during his tenure, there was no reason to expect that some of those in attendance that day would resort to the riotous thuggery previously associated with “peaceful protests” by key Demo constituencies — their Black Lives Matter gangsters and antifa goons. Accordingly, we have condemned the J6 rioters from the moment a split fraction of those attending Trump’s “stolen election” rally staged their destructive, self-aggrandizing riot.
We have also chastised Trump for not immediately condemning their actions — despite urgent calls from key advisers, including Don Trump Jr.‘s text to his dad’s then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows: “He’s got to condemn this s—t ASAP. … We need an Oval Office address. He has to lead now. It has gone too far and gotten out of hand.” It was hours after the Capitol building occupation commenced that Trump finally issued a 90-second statement, mentioning again the “stolen election” and telling the rioters to go home.
Fortunately, Trump wisely took the advice of key advisers today and canceled a speech he was scheduled to make from his Florida estate.
Of course, the J6 riot was far less deadly and destructive than any of the nearly 600 riots by violent Democrat mobs that besieged our nation for six months prior to the “Capitol insurrection.” It is estimated that there were more than 50 deaths directly associated with that violence, 19 in just the first two weeks of the riots based on the Demos’ “systemic racism” lie. Those murdered included several police officers. There were billions of dollars in damages, all while Democrats remained mostly silent if not actively fomenting those riots.
But on January 6, 2021, Democrats finally found a riot they could condemn. If not for double standards, Democrats would have NO standards.
Back in DC, there have been 725 arrests associated with the J6 riot, and 165 of those defendants have pleaded guilty on federal charges of varying seriousness — not one arrest for insurrection or sedition. But Biden has fully weaponized the Department of Justice to continue the hunt for those insurrectionists.
It will be interesting to see by the end of today how Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer will again desecrate the death of Trump-supporting Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died of natural causes a day after the riot. Pelosi and her cadre insisted for months after his death that Officer Sicknick was murdered by protesters — that was a lie and they knew it.
The only person who was actually killed that day was Ashli Babbitt, a protester who was arguably unjustifiably shot by an incompetent USCP officer. But there was no public investigation or inquiry into that shooting and the records have been sealed by Pelosi.
Next up, Democrats and their Leftmedia platforms will be attempting to spin the anniversary of Biden’s inauguration with his Statue of Disunion speech to follow. That will prove to be an interesting exhibition of alternate reality creations — maybe Hunter Biden will whip out his laptop and use his artistic abilities to help!
And the next notable Biden anniversary after that? Democrats will be avoiding that one like the ChiCom Virus! Just before the midterm election falls the anniversary of Biden’s disastrous and deadly surrender and retreat from Afghanistan…
Our nation’s attorney general seems determined not to let the January 6 riot go to waste.
Douglas Andrews
Attorney General Merrick Garland, perhaps thinking that not enough attention was being paid to the one-year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riot and sightseeing tour, decided to weigh in with a 30-minute speech of his own at the Department of Justice.
To no one’s surprise, it was a partisan speech, one befitting a partisan attorney general who’s no doubt still bitter toward Republicans for having denied him his rightful place on the Supreme Court in 2016. And those who’d hoped to hear a full, fair, and honest accounting of the events of January 6 from our chief law enforcement officer were certainly disappointed. And they were no doubt even more disappointed when the AG weaponized the DOJ by using his platform to shill for congressional Democrats who are once again trying frantically to fundamentally remake the nation’s election laws. As National Review reports:
Attorney General Merrick Garland used his Wednesday speech marking the anniversary of January 6 to rally support for a pair of bills that would federalize election law and are nearly unanimously opposed by congressional Republicans.
“The Department of Justice will continue to do all it can to protect voting rights with the enforcement powers we have. It is essential for Congress to act to give the Department the powers we need to ensure that every eligible voter can cast a vote that counts,” Garland said after recounting events of January 6.
Of course, Garland’s party, the Democrat Party, is increasingly becoming the Party of Voter Fraud. Why else would its members be so resistant toward the commonsense voter ID laws that Republicans are trying to enact in various states? Why else would they be so averse to measures that will help ensure that only eligible voters are able to cast votes in this country?
As National Review continues: “One of the bills under consideration, the Freedom to Vote Act, would set national standards for voter ID laws to include a range of documentation, set a national minimum 15-day early voting period, declare election day a federal holiday, and make it easier for residents to sue state legislatures over redistricting claims.”
As our Nate Jackson put it earlier this week: “Democrats and their accomplices in the Leftmedia are doing everything they can to hype the anniversary of January 6, making faux-somber pronouncements about ‘democracy’ and issuing dire warnings about the ‘right-wing extremists’ who supposedly threaten it. And then Democrats will turn right around and attempt to make permanent the very election fraud and chaos that brought a mob to Washington last January with legislation that constitutes the real ultimate threat to voting rights and our Republic.”
There’s plenty of other material to unpack from Garland’s speech, but if we had to pull out one howler, one knee-slapper that stood out above all others, it’d probably be this quote: “We do not investigate or prosecute people because of their views.”
Yeah, right.
The laughter you hear belongs to artist, addict, influence peddler, tax evader, and gun-law violator Hunter Biden. And it belongs to all the Black Lives Matter thugs and antifa goons who carried out nearly 600 other riots nationwide during the summer of 2020 and cost dozens of Americans their lives and did an estimated $2 billion in damage. And to J6 agent provocateurRay Epps and the other earpiece-wearing, gun-toting J6 inciters who’ve somehow managed to avoid arrest and have their photos mysteriously disappear from the FBI’s Most Wanted list. And to the mysterious pipe bomber who’s somehow managed to avoid being ID’d and arrested after having placed explosives outside the Democrat and Republican national headquarters in one of the most thoroughly surveilled cities in the world. And, of course, to the hundreds of rioters who burned cars and smashed storefronts in the nation’s capital during President Donald Trump’s inauguration and somehow managed to have all charges against them dropped by the Department of Justice.
We could go on.
And yet, hundreds of J6 rioters, protesters, and sightseers are still languishing in prison, still being denied their Sixth Amendment right to a “speedy trial” and their Eighth Amendment guarantee against “cruel and unusual punishments.”
But, no, Joe Biden’s Department of (Two-Tiered) Justice doesn’t “investigate or prosecute people because of their views.”
We wish you a peaceful January 6. And we say “good riddance” to the Democrats’ weird and obsessive efforts to celebrate this day.
New York is acting on a growing movement of using CRT in healthcare.
Nate Jackson
First, leftists told us that minorities were hardest hit by COVID. (There’s a reason “world ends, minorities hardest hit” became a running joke with The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto years ago.) But it soon became evident that the real racism was in the Left’s response to the coronavirus. For example, due to the initial hesitancy of blacks to be vaccinated, any kind of leftist-required vaccine “passport” would be arguably racist. The Left’s “solution” was racial preferences for vaccine distribution. Now, it’s New York’s leftist COVID policy — favoring minorities over whites for treatment in violation of the state’s own constitution — that has been unmasked as racist.
“Non-white race or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity should be considered a risk factor as longstanding systemic health and social inequities have contributed to an increased risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19,” read the recent directive from the state Health Department, approved by Governor and “Branch Covidian” Kathy Hochul. It’s not just age, weight, and other health factors that doctors must consider when treating patients, but also skin color — which, by the way, racist leftists claim is a “risk factor.”
The result is that treatments like monoclonal antibody treatments or Pfizer’s COVID pill will now be subject to counting by race. National Review’s editorial board explains: “To be clear, white people in New York can still be prescribed these treatments if they are available. However, non-white patients are presumed, because of their non-whiteness, to suffer from social inequalities that exacerbate their likelihood of illness and death, and are therefore instantly eligible for them.”
A Health Department spokesperson explained that this policy is because minorities have “borne the brunt of this pandemic due to structural racism.” The Department’s answer to this dubious assertion is to institute structural racism in the other direction. It’s Critical Race Theory applied to medicine. It’s reparations paid with healthcare.
New York might be merely the testing laboratory for this pseudoscience. Former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey warns: “Prominent medical organizations and the Biden administration are pushing for rules that will move ‘disadvantaged’ populations to the front of the line for scarce medical resources — think vaccines, ventilators, monoclonal antibody treatments. That means everyone else waits longer, in some cases too long.”
The prevalence of this new racism is a hallmark of the modern Left. And it’s a growing movement in the medical community, too. White Coats for Black Lives (WC4BL) is an organization of medical students that has a chapter at more than 70 medical schools. It’s mission statement: “To dismantle racism and accompanying systems of oppression in health, while simultaneously cultivating means for collective liberation that center the needs, priorities, and self-determination of Black people and other people of color, particularly those most marginalized in our communities.”
Evidently, medical students can get involved in “dismantling anti-Black racism, white supremacy, capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, and cisheteropatriarchy” by showing up under the WC4BL banner at George Floyd protests/riots.
“White Coats for Black Lives has already had much success in its mission to transform medical education,” writes John Sailer at City Journal. “The next stop will be the medical field itself.” New York has already reached that next stop, and the Biden administration isn’t far behind.
A new report confirms what was obvious to some of us all along.
Lewis Morris
American workers quit their jobs at record levels in 2021. In November, 4.5 million workers left their jobs, the highest in eight straight months of record exits. It’s called the Great Resignation, and it’s yet another consequence of the federal government’s incompetent meddling in the labor market during the pandemic.
Workers are leaving low-wage jobs in large numbers. The hospitality and retail trade sectors suffered the biggest hit, losing 6.9% and 4.4% of their workforces, respectively. Data from the Labor Department and private firms suggest that this is not a wave of job-quitting so much as it is a wave of job-switching. In our current inflationary spiral, the only way for many people to get a pay raise is to switch jobs.
With nearly 11 million job openings and four million fewer workers competing for them, prospective employees have the upper hand in negotiating wages and benefits for new jobs. At first glance, this might seem like an unmitigated good thing. Workers exploit an opportunity in the labor market for better pay, and employers hire motivated workers.
But all is not what it seems with the current economic picture. And if the leftist Center for American Progress says that all this job-quitting is a good thing, then you must know there’s a problem. CAP suggests that employers can cure the labor shortage by simply making workers a better offer. It’s a rather glib suggestion, and it demonstrates the tremendous blind spot leftists have when it comes to economics.
Smaller companies and independent businesses, the so-called mom-and-pops, do not have the resources to compete with larger firms over new hires. There comes a point when wages rise too high for some businesses to support. That is part of what’s fueling inflation right now. Yes, some workers may gain an advantage, but if the new company that hires them has to close its doors or lay them off a few months down the road, then what has been achieved? Very little when all this job-switching puts undue upward pressure on wages, which of course stirs the inflationary pot.
Unlike what CAP and other leftists would have us believe, it is not the private sector that has created this situation. By extending unemployment benefits and essentially adding unemployment bonuses, the federal government disincentivized millions of workers from returning to their jobs when businesses opened back up. Job positions that survived the pandemic shutdown, anyway. Sharply rising inflation, a broken supply chain, and nearly 11 million job openings are what happens when the government pays millions of people not to work.
A recent paper from National Bureau of Economic Research reveals the harm done by these disincentives. States that cut extra unemployment benefits sooner fared better economically than those that did not, and the overall unemployment rate would have been 0.3% lower than it was. That doesn’t seem like much, but that small number has a big effect in real terms.
By the way, Democrats masterfully engineered the economy toward producing their desired $15 minimum wage. Can’t pass legislation? Exploit a pandemic to fundamentally transform the labor market.
The federal government created a terrible economic situation by meddling in the labor market. It will be a difficult fix, but one step toward better days would be to vote out of office the leftists who came up with these policies. Their only solution to any problem is more government intrusion. And the government has done enough already, thank you.
Bad COVID policy has crippled Houston’s ability to respond to emergencies.
Emmy Griffin
At a Houston, Texas, apartment at 3 a.m., bullets shattered the night hurting four adults and two children. One of those children, Arianna, was the four-year-old niece of Black Lives Matter’s undeserving martyr, George Floyd. What a terrible way to ring in New Year’s Day.
Arianna was asleep in her bed when this attack occurred. She was hit in the torso, the bullet breaking her ribs. Emergency services were slow to dispatch, according to this sweet baby’s mom. Arianna’s dad had to drive her to the hospital.
She was rushed in to surgery and is currently in stable condition. Thank God. But what a horrible ordeal to have to face at such a young age.
Police do not have any suspects at this time. Sadly, they have almost nothing to go on to bring justice for these victims.
This particularly cowardly act is a tragedy, but it is only one of quite a few preventable tragedies in this story.
Let’s start with Houston. This Democrat-run city was one of the rare voices of sanity in the 2020 calls to defund the police. Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, decided to increase the funds spent on police in the belief that more police and better-trained police are an investment in Houston’s communities. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the U.S. It has fewer police than comparable-sized cities and has been working hard to increase that number, but convincing people to become police officers is a tall order these days when murdering cops is met with indifference from politicians.
In spite of all this supposed investment, it is very telling that emergency services were slow to respond. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner responded: “I am aware and have concerns regarding the delayed response time in this incident and have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation. I ask for the city continue to pray for the child’s full recovery and assist in providing information that would lead to the arrest of the suspect or suspects responsible.”
What was taking the ambulance so long to get to these hurting people? Well, that weekend, there was a significant staffing shortage thanks to COVID. EMTs have long had an issue with staffing that was made worse by the pandemic. To quote one news source, “The loss of staff to pandemic-related burnout and low wages has created a vicious cycle, requiring greater dependence on those workers who have stayed on.” This sounds all too familiar, but it points a finger at the pandemic when it needs to be pointing to the policies that have made difficult jobs even harder.
Houston may have more sense than its Democrat-run city cousins, but evidently not enough to staunch the flow of crime that is plaguing cities across the nation.
The pandemic has seen a surge in the number of Americans, especially black Americans, purchasing firearms.
Thomas Gallatin
The COVID pandemic — or, more accurately, the governmental response and authoritarian overreach in the name of “protecting lives” — as well as the Black Lives Matter-inspired violence and murder sweeping the country have awakened many Americans to the wisdom behind the Founders’ inclusion of the Second Amendment in our Constitution.
The past two years have seen more records set in firearms purchases, with 2020 setting an all-time high of 22.8 million guns sold, and 2021 coming in just behind.
The people driving the surge in firearms sales may come as a bit of a surprise to some. Black ownership of firearms has increased by 58.2% since the pandemic began, followed by 51.9% for whites, 49.4% for Hispanics, and 42.9% for Asians.
However, despite the surge in gun ownership among black Americans, the percentage of black gun owners remains low, with only 9.3% of black men and 5.4% of black women owning guns, compared to 55.8% of white men and 16.6% of white women who own firearms.
That said, attitudes clearly appear to be changing within the black community. “The Second Amendment and gun rights have been the Black community’s right, and a lot of Black people are starting to realize it,” says Kourtney Redmond, a member of the 761st Gun Club, a black firearms education group. “The police department and government isn’t going to save the Black community, and a lot of Black people are realizing the first line of defense is yourself.”
Indeed, self-protection is exactly what’s driving this embrace of the Second Amendment. “You see a rise in carjackings,” Redmond asserts. “You see a rise in violent crime in Chicago. You see this revolving door where [criminals] come in and come out. This area is not particularly strict on crime, but they are strict on gun laws. The gun laws are not working, and the Black community realized that they have to protect themselves.”
Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds welcomes the news. “The data is clear that more Americans, especially Black Americans and Black women, are choosing to purchase a gun and immerse in our nation’s long-standing gun culture,” he said. “Whether it’s for safety amongst the rise in violent crime, basic security of your loved ones or property, or as a hobby, owning a gun is a right granted by the U.S. Constitution, and it’s great to see more Americans take part in this right.”
We’d only argue with one point: Self-defense is a God-given right affirmed, not granted, by the Constitution.
There may also be significant political ramifications from this growth in black gun ownership. Republicans have long been the party defending and advocating for Americans’ Second Amendment rights, whereas Democrats have increasingly embraced an anti-firearm agenda. It will be harder for Democrats to stand against gun rights if one of their biggest constituencies is increasingly embracing them. It certainly creates a great opportunity for Republicans to make further inroads.
Douglas Andrews: Did Dems Steal Georgia’s Senate Seats? — An investigation into massive and systematic ballot harvesting is underway, according to Georgia’s secretary of state.
Biden gaslights America in J6 speech: Joe Biden addressed the nation today marking the one-year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riot. President Unity™ attempted to hammer home the Democrats’ dubious “democracy under threat” narrative about the so-called “insurrection.” Of course, the vilification of Donald Trump was the feature of the speech, as Biden laid blame for the riot on what he called the “big lie,” erroneously claiming, “They were looking to subvert the Constitution.” The rest of today’s hyper-partisan production will include Democrat lawmakers on Capitol Hill engaging in several acts of “somber” remembrance, a theatrical scene that most Republicans have wisely chosen to avoid.
Leftmedia sowed J6 distrust: The Washington Post’s headline reads, “How Republicans became the party of Trump’s election lie after Jan. 6,” and the article contends that Republicans are guilty of undermining Americans’ trust in elections. And yet, following the 2016 election, the Post ran this story: “The 2016 election was stolen. Got a nicer way to say that?” Then for the next three years, WaPo and other Leftmedia outlets proceeded to pump out fake news of Russian collusion as if it were gospel truth. Who was sowing distrust? When Republicans point out voting irregularities and shenanigans that took place during the 2020 election, that’s not sowing distrust; that’s speaking truth to power.
Quitting on Kamala the bully: A third top-level staffer has exited Kamala Harris’s office as rumors of a dysfunctional work environment continue to mount. Harris’s deputy director of public engagement and intergovernmental affairs, Vincent Evans, has left to take a job on Capitol Hill with the Congressional Black Caucus. Evidently, Harris has been described as a “bully” who deploys a “constant amount of soul-destroying criticism and also her own lack of confidence.” With a third staffer fleeing Harris’s toxic presence, it would seem to confirm that Americans’ low opinion of her is not off-base. That may be why Democrats appear desperate to dump her before 2024.
Twenty-seven percent of U.S. GDP spent on stimulus: The federal government spent more of GDP on COVID-related stimulus than did any other developed nation except for Singapore. That shocking number goes a long way toward explaining why inflation has hit a 40-year high. It also may explain why it has been so hard getting people back to work, as paying people not to work is a poor employment incentive. America is only beginning to feel the economic consequences of such a massive and irresponsible spending binge — which, by the way, did nothing to stop COVID.
Security
Conservatives wonder how the FBI has made zero progress on investigation of J6 pipe bombs plants (Townhall)
Federal authorities won’t say why armed Capitol rioters disappeared from FBI’s most wanted list (Washington Examiner)
New DHS data reveals border jumpers no longer predominantly Mexicans; migrants arrested in fiscal year 2021 hailed from 106 different countries (Washington Times)
Bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria come under attack (AP)
North Korea announces second hypersonic missile test was successful (Fox News)
Government & Politics
Democrat buzzkill: Once again, Kyrsten Sinema joins Joe Manchin in rejecting abolition of the filibuster (National Review)
Cash for a killer: Boston bomber received federal COVID relief check (Fox News)
Democrat Congressman Eric Swalwell follows AOC’s lead by going maskless in mandate-free Florida, days after blaming Republicans for “canceled vacations” and having to go back to wearing “masks everywhere” (Daily Mail)
Health
COVID hospitalizations down 50% compared to 2021 peak (Daily Wire)
Unvaccinated tennis player Novak Djokovic denied entry into Australia, visa canceled (Daily Wire)
Heartland
Friendly fire: Chicago mayor accuses teachers union of holding students “hostage” (National Review)
GOP officials in Arizona’s largest county affirm 2020 election was secure (Washington Post)
Odds & Ends
Well that’s disappointing: Tesla opens showroom in China’s slave labor region (Daily Wire)
CNN’s fourth-quarter primetime viewership collapses 73% to just 642,000 (Breitbart)
Russia sends troops to Kazakhstan to put down deadly uprising (Reuters)
Closing Arguments
Policy: Don’t blame omicron for flight delays. Blame policy. (AEI)
Satire: AOC lays wreath at her grave on January 6 (Babylon Bee)
For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit Headline Report.
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Editor’s Note: Each week we receive hundreds of comments and correspondences — and we read every one of them. Click here for a few thought-provoking comments about specific articles. The views expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect those of The Patriot Post.
Insight: “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
“Children are at extremely low risk for Covid. In 2020–21, 678 people aged 0–17 died from Covid. To put that in perspective, 1,161 people in that age cohort died from influenza in 2012–13, and 803 died in 2014–15. Covid is more severe than the flu for adults, but it is not significantly different from the flu for children. The adults have multiple safe and effective vaccines, and now antiviral pills as well to treat Covid. We don’t close schools for influenza, and we shouldn’t close schools for Covid.” —National Review
“Teachers are not at any more risk than grocery-store workers, restaurant workers, or any of the other ‘essential workers’ who have been working in person throughout the entire pandemic. If fast-food employees can show up to work, so can teachers. In fact, they have a higher obligation to do so because schools are more important than Taco Bell.” —National Review
“$4.5 trillion dollars in covid relief and people can’t get their hands on tests.” —David Harsanyi
Vive la révolution: “I am not about pissing off the French people. But as for the non-vaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And we will continue to do this, to the end. This is the strategy. … We are putting pressure on the unvaccinated by limiting, as much as possible, their access to activities in social life. … When my freedoms threaten those of others, I become someone irresponsible. Someone irresponsible is not a citizen.” —French President Emmanuel Macron
Fake news: “Biden and Congress mark a year since violent insurrection.” —Associated Press
Banana republic: “The Department of Justice will continue to do all it can to protect voting rights with the enforcement powers we have. It is essential for Congress to act to give the Department the powers we need to ensure that every eligible voter can cast a vote that counts.” —Attorney General Merrick Garland
D’oh! “There’s a lot of reason to be hopeful in 2020.” —Joe Biden addressing the nation in January 2022
Déjà vu: “They don’t know exactly what’s in Build Back Better and what it means. And it’s always easier to sell a package to the public once it’s passed, so we’re hoping we’re going to get to that point.” —White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki (“We have to pass [ObamaCare] so that you can find out what is in it.” —Nancy Pelosi, 2020)
The BIG Lie: “We never give [Biden] any free time or any time to think.” —Jen Psaki (“Joe Biden has spent 95 of his 348 days President on vacation, mostly in Delaware. That equates to a quarter of the Biden regime’s first year in office.” —The National Pulse)
Non compos mentis: “If I was Glenn Youngkin I’d be flooding the zone to get this I-95 crap fixed. DC suburbs are vengeful about this kind of thing.” —Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the “conservative” Dispatch, blaming the newly elected (but not yet sworn in) Republican governor of Virginia for all the snow-bound pileups on I-95
And last… “America was founded on the rule of law, and law and order is how American democracy is sustained.” —Mike Pompeo
Happy Anniversary of the day we protested the Crime of the Century.
One year ago today a million patriotic Americans traveled to Washington DC to protest the greatest crime in American history — The stolen 2020 election.
Don’t listen to what the media trolls tell you. The people who showed up to DC one year ago were there to support the rightful President in peaceful protest.
remember that today as you watch the lies of the fake news.
** Where are the moments of silence for Rosanne Boyland or Ashli Babbitt or the other two Trump supporters who were killed or died that day? ** Where is the outrage over the 40 men locked up and tortured in Washington DC for a year now with no set court dates? ** Where are the representatives for the 75 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump? Where are they today?
This video was posted by The Storm has Arrived today to remind America of the million men and women who came out to support democracy last year. To support their president.
Disparate reactions to left-wing protesters at the DOI versus the ones at the US Capitol show how biased the mainstream media truly is.
One year after the US Capitol riot, Washington seems worried about domestic terrorism only when conservatives are perpetrators, but polling suggests no one outside the establishment echo chamber is swayed by the skewed narrative.
As a GOP congressman held up nearly identical photos of federal buildings being breached – one of the US Capitol last January and another of the Department of the Interior in October – Attorney General Merrick Garland sat stone-faced.
Try as he might to provoke the nation’s top law enforcement official to characterize leftist protesters who fought their way into the Department of the Interior (DOI), Representative Greg Steube (R-Florida) couldn’t goad Garland into offering an opinion. While Garland has called the Capitol riot “the most dangerous threat to democracy” seen in his 44-year legal career, the attorney general said he couldn’t make any determinations about what happened at the DOI.
What Garland said next at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on October 21 stunned Steube. When asked if he believed the DOI rioters, like the Capitol rioters, were domestic terrorists, Garland replied, “I’m not going to be able to reference that specific incident since this is the first I know about it.”
The riot in question involved the storming of a restricted federal government building just about a 30-minute walk from Garland’s office and just one week before the committee hearing. Environmental extremists injured multiple security officers, including at least one who was hospitalized, and 55 were arrested.
If Garland seemed suddenly unconcerned about attacks on federal buildings in Washington, he wasn’t alone. The Washington Post referred to the violent breaching at the DOI as “clashes” between protesters and officers. Other media outlets referred to the rioters as “occupying” the building and being arrested after a “sit-in.”
There was no hyping of the incident like that done over the Capitol riot, which media and political pundits have likened to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Some, such as political strategist Matthew Dowd, have called it “worse” than 9/11. Huffington Post White House correspondent S.V. Date said it was “1,000 times worse,” at least partly because it was led by then-President Donald Trump. Family members of 9/11 victims were outraged by such rhetoric.
President Joe Biden – whose victory over Trump was challenged by the election-fraud protestors who breached the Capitol – went so far as to call the riot the “worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” Apparently fond of such hyperbole, he later called laws passed by several Republican-controlled states to deter election fraud “the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.” He went on to weave the riot and the new state legislation together, suggesting they were rooted in the same ideology.
Such statements might seem outlandish, but the narrative fed a theme: branding opposition to the ruling party as domestic terrorism – in fact, the only real domestic terrorism – and portraying the threats posed by American right-wingers as even worse than overseas terrorists. And a threat that big obviously required a harsh crackdown.
Despite the fact that no one was killed by the Capitol rioters, contrary to false media reports, they’ve been portrayed as racist and bloodthirsty insurrectionists. US Representative Hank Johnson, the Georgia Democrat who once theorized that an expansion of US military operations in Guam might cause the island to capsize, argued that lawmakers would have been murdered if a Capitol police officer hadn’t fatally shot one of the rioters (the only person who was killed that day). “I have no doubt that some of us who look like me would have been hanging from the railings . . . swinging like fruit, strange fruit,”said Johnson, who is black.
Reporters reacted similarly. In fact, six months after the riot, Vice News reported that some of the correspondents who “survived” the incident were still afraid to go back into the Capitol to do their jobs. Erik Wasson of Bloomberg News told Vice that he’s suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and has researched survival techniques, such as how to use a metal pen as a weapon. Another reporter opted to take early retirement rather than face the trauma of going back into the Capitol.
Garland’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has prosecuted more than 700 alleged rioters, dozens of whom were held without bail pending trial. Many were locked in solitary confinement. Republican lawmakers have accused jailers of beating and verbally abusing the January 6 suspects, in some cases with racist attacks. Some have allegedly been denied visits with their lawyers and family members.
US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) last month contrasted the treatment of alleged pro-Trump defendants to that of race rioters who torched American cities, causing more than $2 billion in damage, and killed dozens of people in the summer of 2020. US District Court Judge Trevor McFadden said prosecutors were undermining the DOJ’s credibility by failing to be “even-handed” about riots arising from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Other judges have enthusiastically gone along with the January 6 crackdown. For instance, Jacob Chansley, the costumed rioter famously known as “QAnon Shaman,” was sentenced in November to 41 months in prison, despite not even being accused of any acts of violence. Prosecutors called for a tough sentence against Chansley to “set an example” and deter any future “assault on our democracy.”
No such example was needed, apparently, in the prosecution of Joshua Warner, a transgender Antifa activist also known as Eva Warner. The DOJ last month dropped charges against Warner after the defendant completed 30 hours of community service. Warner, who was arrested for allegedly assaulting officers at a Portland riot in August 2020, also was busted for alleged offenses at multiple other riots and let go without being charged.
Portland was plagued by rioting for more than 100 straight days in 2020, when Antifa activists laid siege to the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse. Officers were assaulted with hammers, slingshots and other weapons. Warner’s alleged tool of choice was a powerful laser that can cause permanent damage when shined into someone’s eyes.
But politicians and media outlets reacted to the violence in Portland by expressing outrage over the tactics of federal law enforcement under the Trump administration. Mayor Ted Wheeler demanded that federal officers “stay inside their building or leave Portland altogether.” The city of Portland fined the Trump administration $11 million for blocking a bike lane when it erected a fence around the embattled courthouse.
The New Republic characterized efforts to quell the riots as “a historic federal crackdown on dissent.” Ironically, CNN opined that by calling protesters who disagree with him “terrorists, ”Trump had put himself “in the company of the world’s autocrats.” Never mind that the protesters were committing assault, arson and other acts of violence in pursuit of their political cause. Under Trump’s watch, calling violent rioters domestic terrorists was autocratic.
Just as the political violence in Portland was downplayed and largely forgiven, an Antifa activist who bashed the office entrance of US Senator John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) with an axe in December 2020 was spared incarceration. Alexander Starks was sentenced to probation, rather than the 10-16 months imprisonment that he could have gotten, and reportedly gushed on Facebook that the DOJ was kind enough to return his axe. Law professor Jonathan Turley decried the move, saying the axe was returned “as if it was a form of political expression.”
While the DOJ is cracking down on the Capitol trespassers, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has formed a committee to undertake a “9/11-style” probe of the riot’s origins. The apparent idea is to show how Trump and his allies incited the “insurrection,” just as Democrats claimed when the House voted to impeach the former president last January.
The panel has tried to play hardball with Trump allies who have declined to testify in the investigation. Last month, it voted to hold former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress, calling for him to be prosecuted by the DOJ for refusing to cooperate. Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was indicted by the DOJ in November on the same grounds.
The House committee’s chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), suggested last month that Trump allies who decline to answer his questions by exercising their constitutional right against self-incrimination are essentially admitting to illegal activity. In some instances, he added, invoking the 5th Amendment right “says you are part and parcel guilty of what occurred.”
And just as in the case of the QAnon Shaman, Democrats are seeking to make examples of the Republicans who they believe promote domestic terrorism. Representative Cori Bush (D-Missouri) said last week that Congress should commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot by expelling those members who helped incite the “violent insurrection.” Presumably, Bush and her colleagues would get to decide which democratically elected representatives are guilty of incitement – and therefore fair game to be thrown out of office.
While vilifying the Trump supporters who breached the Capitol, legacy media outlets have sought to paint other political opposition with the same brush. For example, the media reaction was intense when an Oregon man, Jared Schmeck, trolled Biden by saying “Let’s Go Brandon” during a “Santa tracker” livestream on Christmas Eve. Ron Brownstein, editor of the Atlantic, told CNN that the stunt was “fundamentally about insurrection.”
Media coverage of the insolent jokester’s use of an anti-Biden slogan was so overheated that some online commentators mocked the press for giving Schmeck more critical and extensive coverage than Darrell Brooks, the Black Lives Matter supporter who allegedly killed six people and injured 62 by ramming his car into a Wisconsin Christmas parade in November.
Conservative author Dinesh D’Souza said Schmeck struck a nerve because he used a slogan that mocks both Biden and the media, and he exposed the president’s lack of mental acuity. “Let’s Go Brandon, I agree,” Biden replied on the livestream, apparently missing the fact that he was the butt of Schmeck’s joke.
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace was among those who blasted Schmeck’s insult against Biden, calling it “slow-motion insurrection.” Her guest, author Jason Johnson, called for a DOJ or CIA investigation and said the “Let’s Go Brandon” phrase is “the cry of people who want to violently take over this country and oppress anyone who is not like them.”
The statement was one of many examples of mainstream outlets trying to paint anti-Biden Americans as dangerous. When supporters of the riot defendants organized a September rally in Washington, media outlets predicted a possible sequel to January 6. CNN said Capitol Hill was gripped by renewed fears of political violence. NBC News said that as “Trump fans” gathered again in Washington, “the specter of white privilege looms large.”
As it turned out, the approximately 400 attendees were outnumbered by police and reporters. An armed man at the rally was arrested, only to be released after it was revealed that he was a federal officer.
The media’s messaging appears to have done little to change public opinion. A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll released last week showed that 71% of Republicans still believe that Biden stole the 2020 presidential election from Trump. Only 58% of Americans overall said Biden is the rightful president, while 22% of Republicans said the election result was “definitely not legitimate” – results that were almost identical to the responses when the same survey was carried out last April.
The poll showed predictable polarization on the Capitol breach, with 62% of Republicans seeing the participants as “protesters,” rather than rioters, and 68% of Democrat respondents considering them “insurrectionists” and “white nationalists.” A whopping 86% of Democrats support continuing efforts to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of the riot, compared with just 29% of Republicans.
UMass Amherst professors lamented the survey results, saying the poll showed “Republicans and Democrats living in diametrically opposed realities.” They also knew who to blame, citing “persistent and baseless claims by the former president and his sycophants.” Perhaps just like their survey respondents, the pollsters saw reality through the lens of their political ideology. UMass Amherst ranks as one of the most liberal colleges in Massachusetts.
Another poll suggested that Americans are about equally divided on the seriousness of the Capitol riot. A November survey by Iowa’s Des Moines Register revealed that half of respondents believe the breach was an insurrection and a threat to democracy. Republicans and Democrats were polar opposites on the question, while 50% of independents agreed that the riot was a threat to democracy.
Still another poll found that more Americans are worried about US-based extremist groups than overseas terrorist organizations. The August survey, which was done by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that 65% of Americans are highly concerned about domestic terrorism, compared to 50% who are troubled by extremist groups based outside the US.
As for the perceived political bent of the domestic extremists who merit concern — whether the chief bogeymen come from the far left or right — likely depends on the eye of the beholder. Increasingly, political views shape opinions of the alleged perpetrators.
Consider the case of Thomas Sibick, a New York man who was charged as a Capitol rioter but later renounced Trump, saying he loathed the former president. After receiving a letter from the defendant about his change of heart, US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that Sibick be released into the custody of his family, saying he had earned “the benefit of the doubt.”
On November 30, 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 Interagency Group (SIG) classified the new SARS-CoV-2 variant (B.1.1.529, also called Omicron) as a Variant of Concern, which matches the designation used by the World Health Organization (WHO). South Africa was the first to report this variant to the WHO. By December 1, the Omicron variant had been detected in at least 20 countries in addition to those in Southern Africa, including the United States, Israel, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several European countries.
CDC has issued a Health Alert Notification (HAN) to inform physicians about this situation and provide recommendations for public health departments, testing laboratories, healthcare providers, and the general public.
What Laboratories Should Know:
-There are no authorized, cleared, or approved diagnostic tests to specifically detect SARS-CoV-2 variants (Omicron or other variants). Currently, COVID-19 tests are designed and authorized to check broadly for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, not for specific variants.
-The Omicron variant has a deletion in the spike (S) gene (Δ69-70). Some molecular tests with multiple genetic targets include a target covering the portion of the S gene where the deletion occurs. The presence of this mutation can result in an S-gene target failure (SGTF, also referred to as an S-gene drop out). The S-gene target will fail (return as negative) while other targets are expected to remain positive in the presence of this virus. SGTF can signal the need for sequencing to characterize the variant in a specimen.
-SGTF has been observed in other variants and thus is not specific to the Omicron variant. SGTF has also been observed without the presence of a mutation in the S gene, due to the sensitivity of the S-gene target. Therefore, these tests cannot be used as a diagnostic tool or specific identifier of the Omicron variant.
-SGTF is not typically observed in the Delta variant. Since Delta is the primary variant circulating in the United States, specimens with an SGTF profile may be potentially Omicron variants and should be prioritized for sequencing confirmation.
-The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the SARS-CoV-2 Viral Mutations: Impact on COVID-19 Tests web page to identify currently authorized tests that may be affected by the Omicron variant, including those with SGTF. These tests are identified based on initial bioinformatics analyses and may have not yet been evaluated against the Omicron variant in the laboratory.
-If you are using a test that may have SGTF, it can potentially be used for public health surveillance efforts for identifying a case with a potential Omicron variant. Laboratories should reach out to their state health departments (SHDs) or local public health laboratory for information about their notification protocols and to potentially provide specimens for sequencing.
-Results regarding the presence of the Omicron variant, or any other variant, should not be reported back to patients or providers and cannot be used for diagnostic purposes.
CBS Florida journalist Ja O’Brien shared this video of Gov. Ron DeSantis responding to a question about the January 6 Anniversary Commemoration going on in Washington. “Christopher Wray was asked under oath what FBI was involved in that and he would not answer the question,” DeSantis said.
Fox News anchor Bret Baier believes the vice president and Biden administration may see backlash over some remarks made one year after the Capitol riot. #FoxNews
Sen. Marco Rubio R-Fla., ripped into liberals’ “ridiculous and shameless hypocrisy” for their outrage over the riot at the Capitol a year ago while they “downplayed” riots across the U.S. in 2020.
Tucker Carlson’s opening commentary on the January 5, 2022, edition of ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight:’ TUCKER CARLSON: Today is Jan. 5th – or as it will henceforth be known to all civilized peoples around the world, Jan. 6th Eve. Tonight at midnight, just hours from now, we will begin the first of many annual remembrances of the horrifying atrocities that took place exactly one year ago at the United States Capitol.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says the left is gunning for a socialist takeover in Washington and is using the Capitol riot to push their narrative on ‘Hannity:’ “Tomorrow is going to be spent on January 6th. The focus there because the January 6th commission is more about a political operation than it is about securing the Capitol.
‘America Uncovered’ host Chris Chappell highlights the dueling narratives of what happened on January 6th and the debates over how armed protesters were, and what the event signified for our democracy.
CBS Florida journalist Ja O’Brien shared this video of Gov. Ron DeSantis responding to a question about the January 6 Anniversary Commemoration going on in Washington. “Christopher Wray was asked under oath what FBI was involved in that and he would not answer the question,” DeSantis said.
Tucker Carlson’s opening commentary on the January 5, 2022, edition of ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight:’ TUCKER CARLSON: Today is Jan. 5th – or as it will henceforth be known to all civilized peoples around the world, Jan. 6th Eve. Tonight at midnight, just hours from now, we will begin the first of many annual remembrances of the horrifying atrocities that took place exactly one year ago at the United States Capitol.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says the left is gunning for a socialist takeover in Washington and is using the Capitol riot to push their narrative on ‘Hannity:’ “Tomorrow is going to be spent on January 6th. The focus there because the January 6th commission is more about a political operation than it is about securing the Capitol.
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