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
Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.
Matthew 10:34–36
“Chameleonism” is not a word. You will not find it in any dictionary. But you know what I’m referring to—the survival tactic in the wild, when an animal becomes the color of its environment to hide from its predator. It’s the perfect image for the temptation every believer faces as they live in this hostile world—the choice to either stand their ground for Christ or blend in with the unbelieving crowd.
Chameleonism is another Siren song we must close our ears to. It’s the song that urges us to hide our commitment to the Gospel, let go of our biblical convictions, and temper our calls to repentance. It carries the chorus: Adopt the world’s values, affirm the world’s practices, and approve the world’s thinking. It’s a song sung in churches where winsomeness is prized, and friendliness is deemed the silver bullet of evangelism. It’s the catchy tune: If the world likes you, they’ll like Jesus.
This Siren song flies in the face of Paul’s command, “Come out from their midst and be separate” (2 Corinthians 6:17). It rejects James’ warning, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God” (James 4:4). It denies John’s threat, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
And yet still, the song is tempting to sing along to. Isn’t it? After all, who wants to be canceled by the culture? Who wants to lose friends for their faith? Who wants to be personally insulted, publicly shamed, or in some cases, even physically harmed?
The Shocking Savior
Of all the shocking statements Jesus spoke throughout His ministry, perhaps the most jarring is: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). But wait! Isn’t Jesus the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6)? Did the angels not announce Jesus to be the Child of Peace when He was born (Luke 2:14)?
Yet Jesus is clear. He didnotcome to bring peace. He is the Prince of conflict, not comfort; the Lord of turmoil, not tranquility. He was sent by His Father “to cast fire upon the earth” (Luke 12:49) and judgment upon the world (John 9:39).
Sent with a Severing Sword
Of course, as is evident from the rest of the Gospels, Jesus did—in one sense—come to bring peace. Jesus told both the woman with the blood flow and the prostitute who anointed His feet to “go in peace” (Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50). When Jesus sent His apostles on their evangelistic journey, their first words were to be, “Peace be to this house” (Luke 10:5).
How are we to make sense of this conflicting image of a peaceful Savior wielding a severing sword?
The answer is this: Jesus spoke of two different kinds of peace. Jesus was sent to announce eternal peace between the sinner and holy God—the peace of forgiveness, justification, and adoption. The peace Jesus did not come to bring was harmony between His people and this fallen world.
Christ Issues an Ultimatum
Just before announcing His sword-wielding purpose, Jesus issued this ultimatum: “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32–33). Let those words sink in. Eternal realities are at stake. Blending in with the world in order to survive, means exposing yourself to Christ’s coming judgment.
Notice how Jesus described His followers in verse 16. He called them “sheep in the midst of wolves.” In verse 17, He warned they would stand trial in court and be scourged in the synagogues. In verses 22-25, He promised that they would be hated, hounded, maligned, and even executed because of their commitment to His Gospel. Chameleon Christianity was not an option.
Jesus expected His people to stand out, even as the predators encircled them as prey.
Jesus’ words are an either/or. The chameleon “Christian” who loves the temporal approval of this fallen world—the one who adapts to the cancel culture of our day—will experience Jesus, not as a welcoming Savior but as a sentencing Judge. Chameleon “believers” will receive no joyful welcome into Heaven. They will experience shameful rejection into Hell.
But the flip side of Jesus’ ultimatum is also true. To the one who takes his stand with Christ, who allows the severing sword to do its work, and refuses to let the world squeeze him into its mold, Jesus offers an eternal promise: “I will…confess him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).
Only those severed from the world’s approval will be welcomed into the presence of the Father.
A Costly Cut
Christ’s gospel sword not only severs our affection for worldly approval, but it has the potential to cut the closest of blood ties. Immediately following His sword-wielding purpose, Jesus said, “I came to set a man against His father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Matthew 10:35).
The translation “to set a man against” is much gentler than how Jesus said it. “Divide into two” would be more accurate. Jesus demanded loyalty to Him that superseded one’s love for his family—even if that meant excommunication from loved ones. Jesus’ next statement is even more graphic: “A man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (Matthew 10:36)—a reality Jesus experienced firsthand.2
To most American evangelicalism, these words sound too extreme—even impractical and insensitive. But around the world, Jesus’ promise is a painful reality. Think of the Christians in Morocco. They turn to Christ at risk of physical abuse, banishment, and even death at the hands of their family.3 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death” (Matthew 10:21) is not hyperbole. It is an everyday occurrence throughout the world.
Yes, devotion to one’s family is a Christian necessity (Eph. 5:23–25, 28)—yet one’s familial love must be superseded by a passion for Christ. As Jesus explained, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37).
A Gospel of Death
Jesus then warned, “He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38). Of all the images Jesus could have chosen to explain Gospel commitment, He chose the most bloody, humiliating, and excruciating method of death. To put it in sword language: The gospel severs our love for our life.
This is how deep Christ’s gospel sword cuts. Thomas à Kempis’ words are a needed reminder considering today’s chameleon Christianity:
Jesus has many who love His heavenly kingdom, but few who bear His cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who care for trial. He finds many to share His table, but few to take part in His fasting. All desire to be happy with Him; few wish to suffer anything for Him. Many follow Him to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the chalice of His passion. Many revere His miracles; few approach the shame of the Cross. Many love Him as long as they encounter no hardship; many praise and bless Him as long as they receive some comfort from Him…Those…who love Him for His own sake and not for any comfort of their own, bless Him in all trial and anguish of heart as well as in the bliss of consolation.4
Confessors, Not Chameleons
Do you see why Jesus called His gospel a sword? Do you see how dangerous the Siren’s song of chameleonism is?
Jesus promised eternal life to confessors, not chameleons who change their colors to match the world in order to survive.
LIVING THE UNDISTRACTED LIFE
Jesus’ Gospel still cuts today. His warnings of worldly hate are still in force. Though organized persecution has not yet crossed American borders—it is coming. American Christians have been dismissed in the media, become the butt of late-night jokes, and find themselves in the crosshairs of growing anti-righteousness movements. The silly slaps of today’s comedians will soon become the fists of future legislated oppression.
Thus, the undistracted Christian must hold the sword of Christ’s gospel in one hand and the security, joys, and tenderness of Christ in the other.
Cling to the Sovereign Safety of Christ
Before Jesus issued His Gospel demands, He made this promise: “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). In other words: This evil world system can only take your earthly life; it cannot touch your eternal soul.
Death carries no sting for Christ’s people, for the Father holds our future in His omnipotent and faithful hand.
The believer has “passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).
Christian, live within the sovereign safety of Christ. Come out from the world, unafraid of the consequences. Be noticed for your righteous living, undaunted by the threats. Though others may condemn you, “there is…no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Yes, hostility is certain, but you need not fear. You are “more valuable than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31).
Rejoice, For Your Reward in Heaven is Great
Jesus knew how sharp His sword was and how deep His Gospel cut. He knew the temporal joys His people would be called to sacrifice. This was why He promised eternal bliss to all who come after Him in faith, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me…Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:11-12).5
As the world’s hatred for the Christian deepens and its rejection of the Gospel turns ever more vengeful, you must think often of your heavenly home. Fix your mind on the greatness of your coming reward. Remind yourself that “momentary, light affliction is producing for [you] an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Believe that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
Do not miss the connection between your gospel struggle today and your future blessing tomorrow.
Randy Alcorn is right, “Eternity will hold for us what we’ve poured into it during our lives…When you see today in light of the long tomorrow, even the little choices become tremendously important.”6
Let Psalm 16:11 remove any fear from your heart—“In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:11). Pray Ephesians 1:18 for yourself— “that you will know…what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”
Rest assured. God will not permit His saints to go unrewarded.
Confess Your Cowardice and Receive Forgiveness
You may not always take a stand for Christ as you should. You will shrink in fear in the workplace. You will cave in embarrassment with your neighbors. Your Christian colors will change so that you look and sound like your surroundings. But there is forgiveness for all who confess their gospel cowardice.
Peter is the classic example of one who changed his colors to survive. There are only two passages in Matthew’s Gospel where the word “deny” (arneomai) is used. The first is Jesus’ warning in Matthew 10:33: “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” The second is Matthew 26:70-72: “[Peter] denied it before them all, saying, ‘I do not know what you are talking about’…and again he denied it with an oath, ‘I do not know the man.’”
Was Peter’s soul now lost? Would Christ deny him before the Father? The answer is, No! There is forgiveness for the chameleon.
As Peter issued his third denial, “The Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61). Jesus knew what Peter had done. And so, He locked eyes with him. Though fallen, Peter still belonged to Christ.
O there is inexpressible power in the look of the Lord! With a look of majesty He beholds the earth, and it trembles. With a judicial look He overtakes the sinner, who explains, ‘I perish at His presence.’ His dying look on the cross melts the stony hearts, and transforms lions into lambs…and by means of a grieved and loving look, He restores lambs to His fold, which had long gone astray in the wilderness.7
It was a look that brought tears to Peter’s eyes. And it was there that he “remembered the word which Jesus had said, ‘Before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). The Greek used in this section is strong and intense. Peter was throwing himself down in violent sobs, dissolved in grief and humiliation over his sin.
In contrast to Judas’ denial of Christ, which was permanent and damning, Peter’s heart had been broken to the point of contrition. And thus, Jesus would not deny him before His Father. He would cleanse Peter from his sin and then send him back into the world to proclaim His glorious Gospel (John 21:15–20).
Where there is godly sorrow, there is always complete restoration.
Though not an actual word, chameleonism is a real temptation we all face, sometimes daily. Jesus’ words are still true: “Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32–33).
Do not be deceived by this Siren song. It is sung to kill the only hope for this dying world. It aims to bury the Gospel message and silence its messengers. Maintain your boldness. And find courage in your Savior. Because the Gospel will be victorious, and one day every knee will bow before our Sovereign King.
[1] This is part 5 in a series entitled “Undistracted.” Click here for parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
[2] See: Matthew 13:54-57; Mark 3:21; John 7:3-5
[3] Stories such as Sherzod Odilov are not uncommon. “When Sherzod, who recently graduated from Jacksonville (Ark.) High School, telephoned his Muslim parents in Uzbekistan to tell them of his newfound faith, his father disowned him, making it clear he was no longer welcome in his home and was never again to speak to his mother or his siblings. He withdrew all funds from Sherzod’s U.S. bank account, arranged to cancel his son’s U.S. sponsorship and college scholarship and even drew up legal papers declaring Sherzod is no longer his son.” Charlie Warren, “Exchange Student Accepts Christ, Disowned by Family,” Baptist Press, July 2007, http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=26048 (accessed 23 Nov. 2011); Compass Direct News, “Christian Girl Has Muslim Man Forced on Her,” http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/nigeria/2006/newsarticle_4283.html (accessed November 23, 2011); The Voice of the Martyrs, http://www.persecution.com (accessed November 23, 2011).
[4] Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1996), 85.
[5] This was also the message the glorified Christ sent to His suffering church in Smyrna. Though under immense pressure, ostracized from the world, and living in abject poverty because of their commitment to Christ, He reminded them, “I know your tribulation and your poverty” and then added these words, “but you are rich….Do not fear….Be faithful” (Revelation 2:9–10). What undergirded the Smyrnian Christians’ faithfulness was the eternal riches that awaited them in glory—their future “crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
[6] Randy Alcorn, The Law of Rewards (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003), 99–100.
[7] F. W. Krumacher, The Suffering Savior (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2002), 192.
The fourth chapter of this letter tells us how we are to live as God’s beloved children in this rebellious world. As adopted brothers and sisters of Jesus, we should now think like Jesus did in respect to suffering. That is, we have to be willing to suffer in the flesh. Jesus is our great example in this.
Peter was writing to Christians who lost their homes, their freedom, and even at times their physical lives because they no longer lived as they used to, but lived for the Lord. This caused those around them to become angry, saying and doing much evil to them.
Although Christians today might not have the same struggles, we also need to be ready to suffer as children of God. We have to say no to things that the world says are good. We have to give up some comforts in our service to the Lord. We have to be willing to be seen as “strange” by people of the world for having Sunday as a special day to worship, for serving God above worldly success and pleasure, for saying no to drinking parties, for not doing whatever feels good and for putting God and His commandments first in our lives. This can mean being left out or ignored at times by others and not enjoying things they do. It can mean seeing others having it all while we fight against being jealous. We can only suffer in this way when we see how Jesus suffered for us.
Suggestion for prayer
That we would trust in the great blessings we have as believers in Jesus Christ and so be willing to suffer as beloved children of God.
Pastor Richard Bultje is a missionary and pastor of the River of Life church plant in Niagara Falls Ontario. It is a church plant under the oversight of the Wellandport United Reformed Church. Pastor Richard and his wife, Yukyung moved to Niagara Falls in November 2012 with their three children, Calvin, Isaiah and Gloria. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
“Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” – 1 Peter 3:18
Yesterday’s passage emphasized that if we suffer in the faith, we will endure. Today, we read why. Jesus suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God. Just as Jesus died in the flesh but was made alive by the Spirit, we are called to trust that when we believe in Christ, our old self has died and we are made alive by the Spirit.
Peter goes on to state that Jesus did not rise from the dead just to give us hope. He also proclaimed to the spirits in prison waiting for their eternal punishment how foolish they were in rebelling against God. Their efforts to stop the coming of God’s Son to bring salvation, failed. Jesus rose to show that He won victory for all who put their faith in God’s promises. Just as Noah and his family were saved through water, we are saved through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Peter points out that our baptism by water points us to this fact. Baptism does not wash dirt from our bodies, but assures us that just as water washes dirt away, Christ washes our sins away through faith in Him. The result of trusting that Jesus rose from the dead and is able to wash our sins away gives us a clean conscience before God. Since Jesus has gone into heaven with angels, authorities and powers now subject to Him, we can have great assurance that our salvation is secure.
Suggestion for prayer
That we would have confidence that Jesus not only died for us, but rose again and ascended into heaven as our all-powerful Lord and Saviour.
Pastor Richard Bultje is a missionary and pastor of the River of Life church plant in Niagara Falls Ontario. It is a church plant under the oversight of the Wellandport United Reformed Church. Pastor Richard and his wife, Yukyung moved to Niagara Falls in November 2012 with their three children, Calvin, Isaiah and Gloria. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
In calling us to brotherly love, Peter encourages us to be witnesses in this dark and often confusing world. When we suffer any kind of opposition from a hostile world while seeking to follow God’s Word, Peter tells us that no real harm will come to us.
As we seek to serve the Lord in the joy of salvation, we are called to trust that God will turn all things for our eternal good. Even death will be turned to our good, for then we will see our Saviour face to face. Peter tells us to have no fear of those who oppose us as children of God. Instead, we are all the more to set apart Christ in our hearts. That is, we are to get to know Christ. He truly is the joy and treasure that satisfies our hearts.
As we grow in this, Peter tells us to be ready to give the reason for the hope we have in this broken world. We must live in such a way that our joy and hope are noticed by those around us, to such an extent that they would ask why we have hope in this broken and rebellious world. We are to talk of Jesus with humility and not as if we deserve this hope and joy because we are better than others. We are to talk of our hope and joy in such a way that they would think this can be theirs through faith in Jesus Christ.
Suggestion for prayer
That we set apart Christ in our hearts and that we would be able to speak of our hope to others with tact and love.
Pastor Richard Bultje is a missionary and pastor of the River of Life church plant in Niagara Falls Ontario. It is a church plant under the oversight of the Wellandport United Reformed Church. Pastor Richard and his wife, Yukyung moved to Niagara Falls in November 2012 with their three children, Calvin, Isaiah and Gloria. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” – 1 Peter 3:9
Peter finishes this section on how to interact with others by calling us to live a certain way with everyone. If we are honest, we have to admit that these godly virtues are not easy to follow. They can only come from a heart that knows how deeply we are loved by God.
Many times within church communities we allow pet peeves and little arguments to divide us. When we have differences with fellow Christians, may we see that, our Saviour and our desire to serve and worship Him is what must unite us. This should cause us to have sympathy for each other when we see brothers and sisters going through struggles, even when these are caused by their own foolishness. Brotherly love is all about loving our fellow Christians because we are one in the Lord, even though we have differing opinions on certain matters. We need to have a tender heart toward each other and be humble as we deal with each other, not seeking to repay evil for evil, reviling for reviling or gossiping with gossiping. We are called to bless each other; that is to approve of each other as beloved children of God. When we do this we will receive a blessing from God.
We need to remember that God sees all. If we speak badly towards or about others, we need to remember that God is displeased with us when we do this. But when we speak lovingly and faithfully towards our brothers and sisters, God sees this with delight.
Suggestion for prayer
That we would refrain from speaking badly toward or about each other, but encourage and bless each other.
Pastor Richard Bultje is a missionary and pastor of the River of Life church plant in Niagara Falls Ontario. It is a church plant under the oversight of the Wellandport United Reformed Church. Pastor Richard and his wife, Yukyung moved to Niagara Falls in November 2012 with their three children, Calvin, Isaiah and Gloria. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. It is also available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
Time and again God brings me to my knees over my heart attitude expressed out of my mouth. More than once, God has led me to fast of negative, critical, judgmental, and complaining words. Why a fast of words? Is that a legitimate application of fasting? The Hebrew word fast means to cover the mouth. For me, it is harder to fast from words than from food. Abstaining from negative words may be as powerful as fasting from food, because it is a particular battlefield for most of us.
A fast of words is one of the fasts in Isaiah 58. Isaiah 58:9b lists not pointing fingers in judgment and no wicked words as conditions of great blessings listed in verses 10b-12.
I remember the first time God led me to fast for 40 days of all negative, complaining, critical, and judgmental words. At first, it was one of the hardest experiences of my Christian life. The problem is not my mouth but my heart. Proverbs 4:23 says
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
About two weeks into my fast, I was treated haughtily at a store. As I left the store, I said to myself, “I’ll just take my business elsewhere. That is the second time she has had an attitude with me.” Immediately I heard in my spirit, “No, you are the one with the attitude.” I wanted to fall to my knees on the sidewalk, crying out, “I am so sick of me!” I know how Isaiah felt when he told God, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). O God, take a coal from the altar and purge this wicked heart of mine. God showed me that He was dealing with a root of pride (Isaiah 57:15, 1 Peter 5:5-6). I was puffed up, with no sense of my own spiritual need.
I struggled for a while in this fast of words in what felt like hand-to-hand warfare, but God softened and sweetened my heart. After that season, I felt like a dog in a yard with an invisible electric fence. Every time I opened my mouth to say anything critical, I would get a zap from my loving Father. I reviewed my prayer notebook and was amazed at how many Scriptural insights God gave me during that time. God was being faithful to reveal more of Himself.
For several months I have been keenly aware of living with a grateful heart, thankfully noting God touches great and small. Recently I read a devotional on a thankful heart. The author set up a contrast between thankfulness and negativity. He quoted Paul, when he said
“And do not grumble, as some of them did and were killed by the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:10).
That puts the choice all of us have in very stark contrast: choose thankfulness in all things or choose sides with destruction.
Ask God if He is leading you to do a forty-day fast of critical, judgmental, negative, complaining, gossiping words. You may be amazed what God will do through it. At the very least, your family and friends may be amazed at the change in you, from destruction to blessing.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:9-10
Thoughts on today’s verse
Jesus told us that what is in our heart ultimately works its way out into our activities. The great wise man told us to guard our heart because it is the spring well of our life. Jeremiah wants us to know that God knows our heart. We want to stress the importance of what goes into our hearts because it really makes a difference in what goes on inside our heart. Invite the Lord in to what you do, think, read, watch, and hear and ask him to remove those things that are not worthy of your time and interest.
Prayer:
Righteous Father, please help me guard my heart and be wise enough not to place things into it that would rob it of its devotion to you. I want to be pure through and through. Please search me and help me remove everything that would steal my devotion from you and ruin my influence with others. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
Iran ‘instilling fear, intimidation’ amid signs of revived unrest According to Reuters, journalists, lawyers, activists, human rights advocates, and students have been arrested or summoned in a campaign that has been described as “instilling fear and intimidation.” On Sunday, police announced that the morality enforcers has intensified its crackdown on women flouting the compulsory dress code, a crackdown that senior officials have defended as necessary to maintain stability.
Pentagon Says “Significant Escalation” In Russian Jets Endangering Lives Of US Pilots Over Syria The US-based news outlet quoted US officials as saying that the latest incident, which occurred on Sunday was “a significant escalation in a series of confrontations between US and Russian aircraft in Syria in recent weeks,” adding that “the interception of the Russian Su-35 aircraft impeded the ability of the American crew to safely operate their MC-12 aircraft.” US officials described the incident as “a new level of unsafe behavior that could lead to an accident or loss of life.”
Rand Paul Is Engaged In An All-Out-War Against Fauci Senator Rand Paul is determined to take down Anthony Fauci, with his latest salvo against the former NIH head coming in the form of confirming that Fauci has a government funded security detail including the use of limousines, despite the fact that he is supposedly retired with vast personal wealth.
RFK Jr. And The Tantalizing Echoes Of 1968 Kennedy comes from a beloved political family, yet at the same time is a fierce outsider. That is a combination rarely seen in a candidate and gives him at least the potential to achieve enough success to demonstrate to Democrat donors and primary voters that Biden is the emperor with no clothes.
Montana State Library Exits National Group Over ‘Marxist Lesbian’ President The Montana State Library Commission has abandoned the American Library Association because the group’s newly-installed president described herself as a “Marxist Lesbian” in a since-deleted Twitter post. “Our oath of office and resulting duty to the Constitution forbids association with an organization led by a Marxist,”
Hollywood Actors Do Us All a Favor and Refuse to Work: ‘Nothing of Value Will Be Lost’ While an actor’s strike may have been devastating in the 60s or even in the 80s, things have changed considerably in the entertainment industry, and Hollywood may be surprised at how little it is missed. Hollywood actors are about to join Hollywood writers on strike. And nothing of value will be lost.
Israelis Come to See Red Heifer and Discuss the Temple The three red heifers will be housed at the Ancient Shiloh heritage site and a center will open there dedicated to researching the phenomenon. The heifers will be kept in a fenced-off area, and visitors will not be able to touch the animals. The mysterious red heifer, or Parah Adumah, is first mentioned in the Book of Numbers,
North Korea fires two ballistic missiles, Japan says North Korea launched two ballistic missiles eastward early on Wednesday, and both of them appeared to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the Japanese Defense Ministry said. The US military said it was aware of the missile launches and was consulting closely with its allies and partners.
Two Syrian soldiers injured in alleged Israeli strikes near Damascus Two Syrian soldiers were injured after alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted sites in the Damascus area on Tuesday night, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA. opposition-affiliated news sites indicated that the sites targeted were located west of Damascus near Qudssaya or As’Saboura. Photos reportedly from the area showed multiple fires blazing after the strikes.
Biden team tipped off on Hunter Biden probe, more corrupt details emerge The House Oversight Committee tweeted that the committee’s staff held a “transcribed interview” with a former FBI supervisory special agent who worked with the FBI’s Wilmington office on the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden. “The agent CONFIRMED key portions of the IRS whistleblowers’ testimony, including that both Secret Service headquarters and the Biden transition team were TIPPED OFF about the planned Hunter Biden interview,” the committee tweeted.
Super-close supernova captivates record number of citizen scientists “It is really incredible what this citizen science network can do. This was the closest supernova of the last decade, and observers took full advantage of the special occasion.” The effort involved 123 dedicated amateur astronomers making 252 observations with 115 telescopes following how light from the supernova changed over time, first seeing its escalating brightness and then tracking its gradual fading.
American Media Silent As World Leaders Plan New Global Pacts At that meeting an agreement was reached to create a fund to compensate developing countries who suffer the effects of climate change. One of the goals of the June summit was to establish tools to finance such a fund. One of the other stated goals of this summit was to transform the entire international financial system by adapting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to modern challenges.
RED ALERT: 370 Wildfires Burning in BC – 225 OUT of CONTROL – Situation now Critical British Columbia is in the midst of one of its worst wildfire seasons ever. Currently, there are 374 fires burning across the province, including 22 wildfires of note. A wildfire of note means it is highly visible or poses a threat to communities and residents. It has been very dry and the winds are expected to pick up late this week. Eastern Canada and the US could soon be blanketed in smoke again.
US rapper Travis Scott to release Utopia at Egypt’s Pyramids amid controversy Some commentators joined in a boycott campaign against the controversial artist, linking him with involvements in “anti-Egyptian Afrocentrism agendas,” “satanic rituals,” or at least “violating society’s values.” “This concert must be cancelled,” said lawyer Amr Abdel-Samie on several local TV channels and newspapers after officially requesting different authorities to stand against hosting an artist he described as a “masonic, satanic, and devil worshipper who has a dark history.”
House Oversight Committee to hold UFO hearing next week The hearing comes after Republican lawmakers have promised to look deeper into UAPs following unconfirmed claims from a former intelligence official that the U.S. military had allegedly found crashed alien spacecraft. The Pentagon has said it hasn’t discovered any information to substantiate this claim.
Pentagon typo leaked millions of sensitive items to Russia-ally nation in Africa Joe Biden’s Defense Department accidentally sent millions of emails and messages with sensitive information to the Russian-ally nation of Mali, the Pentagon confirmed. Officials said the communications were misdirected due to a common typo.
The Chinese Communist Party is rewriting the Bible …A possible sneak preview of what a Bible with socialist characteristics might look like appeared in a Chinese university textbook in 2020. The rewritten Gospel of John excerpt ends, not with mercy, but with Jesus himself stoning the adulterous woman to death.
Typhoon “Talim” makes landfall in China, weakens to tropical storm before hitting Vietnam On Monday, July 17, 2023, Typhoon “Talim” — the fourth named storm of the 2023 Pacific typhoon season and the first to make landfall in China — prompted the evacuation of 39 236 fishing vessels and over 36 600 fishermen in Hainan, South China. The typhoon, which initially made landfall in Guangdong Province on the same day, led to a renewed Orange alert by China’s national observatory due to anticipated gales and heavy rainfall.
Store Food While You Still Can, Because 2.4 Billion People Already Do Not Have Enough Food As This New Global Famine Accelerates Global food supplies just keep getting even tighter, and global hunger has risen to extremely alarming levels. People on the other side of the world are literally starving to death as I write this article, but most of us in the western world simply do not care about the millions that are deeply suffering because the mainstream media hardly ever talks about what is happening. But the truth is that we are feeling the impact of this global food crisis too.
LGBT activists urge Toronto school board to force children to attend drag queen story hour For years LGBT activists brazenly lied to the public, claiming that all they were asking for was tolerance, acceptance, and a live-and-let-live attitude. A few may even have believed it—most did not. We are now seeing this everywhere. This fact is highlighted by recent clashes in Canada between parents who do not want their children inculcated with LGBT ideology and activists who insist having their values taught to other people’s children is their human right.
Climate and the state of the World In his latest passing observations, Dr. Vernon Coleman enlightens us about climate and the state-of-the-World today. His observations on climate include: “Any teacher who tells children that global warming is real is not just deluded and dangerously ignorant, they are also guilty of a crime of unimaginable proportions and unimaginable consequences.”
Covid lies are needed to sustain the medical gold rush We are still being told the covid injections are safe. This narrative runs against the accumulating evidence of excess deaths and adverse reactions. For example, the Western Australian government has just issued a report documenting a rate of adverse reactions to covid vaccines 24 times larger than any previous vaccine.
Climategate: BBC’s propaganda falls apart under scrutiny In a rare moment of honesty, in 2009 the BBC published an article that admitted that no increase in global temperatures had been observed for 11 years even though carbon dioxide continued to rise. The BBC soon returned to its global warming propaganda and Climategate emails may indicate the reason why.
“In all very numerous assemblies, of whatever character composed, passion never fails to wrest the sceptre from reason.” —James Madison (1788)
Fellow Patriots, Marilyn Monroe took her first screen test for Twentieth Century Fox on this day in 1949. She then rose to prominence by having an extramarital affair with the first good Catholic president, John F. Kennedy. In today’s news, we discuss the race-bait and cultural appropriation of Disney’s new live-action reboot of Snow White. —Mark Alexander
Jew-hating congressional Democrats found yet another way to express humanity’s first hatred.
Douglas Andrews
In case you hadn’t noticed, the Democrats have a Jew problem.
The problem? They hate ‘em. Not all Democrats, of course. Indeed, we’re sure that plenty of Democrats there on Capitol Hill will swear up and down that some of their best friends are Jews. Honest.
Still, elections have consequences, and one of the consequences of the Republicans’ capture of the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterms is the GOP’s ability to put forth bills and resolutions and to call votes. And one recent vote has proved inconvenient for their Democrat colleagues.
We’re speaking about HR 57, a resolution “Expressing the sense of Congress supporting the State of Israel,” which was voted upon yesterday and which condemns Jew hatred while noting that Israel isn’t “a racist or apartheid state.”
The resolution passed overwhelmingly, with 217 Republican votes and 195 Democrat votes.
Of course, the vote wasn’t unanimous — like, say, a vote reaffirming the chamber’s love of dogs or ice cream. Instead, some very high-profile Democrats voted against it. And, yes, they’re the usual Jew-hating suspects: Jamaal Bowman of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Andre Carson of Indiana, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
Tlaib even took Israeli quotes grossly out of context as evidence to “prove” her hysterical shrieking about Israel being an “apartheid state.”
Notably absent from the above list was Washington Democrat Pramila Jayapal, who came under fire recently for an errant bit of Jew hatred, which she tried to clean up by saying: “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist. I do, however, believe that [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.”
Uh, thanks for clearing that up, Pramila.
“Anti-Semitism,” as Republican Senator Marco Rubio notes, “is an ancient poison,” and he’s right. It is, perhaps, humanity’s first form of hatred, and it clearly infects today’s Democrat Party, even if only in these small numbers.
Does it infect Joe Biden? It’s hard to say, but a fish rots from the head. And an intolerant tone has clearly been set by the Democrat Left, as witnessed by the Muslim mobs that, as columnist Daniel Greenfield reports, seem to be getting a pass for viciously assaulting Jews in the leftist enclaves of New York City and Los Angeles.
Biden hasn’t been as blatantly and disgracefully disrespectful of Bibi Netanyahu as Barack Obama was, but it’s notable that he refused to invite Netanyahu to Washington to celebrate the 75-year anniversary of Israel’s statehood, instead inviting Israel’s non-politically affiliated president, Isaac Herzog, whose office doesn’t hold nearly the stature of the nation’s prime minister, but whose politics are more palatable to the American Left.
The Herzog-for-Netanyahu snub wasn’t good enough for Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, though, who a week ago said, “There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied Rashida Tlaib.”
Hmm … why might Israel have banned her? Might it have something to do with her naked Jew hatred?
In fairness to Biden, his handlers now say he’s invited Netanyahu to visit in September. Still, for Bibi to have been stiffed on this grand occasion while his less oratorically gifted underling is invited to address a joint session of Congress speaks volumes and no doubt gives comfort to the Jew haters in the Democrat caucus.
All this points to the odd makeup of the Democrat Party, which is a veritable bouillabaisse of distinct interest groups. While Republicans are mostly folks who love their country and its constitutional principles, Democrats are a mix of academics, elitists, young people, career students, trust-fund babies, trial lawyers, environmentalists, Hollywood types, Big Tech censors, social media addicts, comment-board crazies, criminals and ex-cons, public-sector union members, gays and lesbians, transgenders, unmarried women, blacks, and other minorities. Perhaps the only common thread among these groups — aside from their perceived victimhood and their fealty to the Democrat Party — is that they tend to be low-information voters. Not all of them, of course. Trust-funders, for example, tend to have a lot of time on their hands with which to immerse themselves in politics.
Jews are another heretofore reliable part of the Democrat caucus, but this loyalty is becoming more curious with each passing year. What must American Jews think about the likes of an unrepentant Jew hater like Ilhan Omar or her Muslim sidekick and fellow congresswoman Rashida Tlaib?
In any case, the general ignorance among many Democrats about the dissonance and the seemingly irreconcilable differences within the party’s ranks no doubt benefits the whole, especially when it comes time to vote.
Ignorance, after all, is bliss. And so, it seems, is the Jew hatred on the Left.
Third Trump indictment, half-trillion for second student loan heist, U.S. soldier detained by NoKo, and more.
Thomas Gallatin & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
Another Trump indictment: On Tuesday, Donald Trump revealed that a third indictment is coming his way. Trump explained that he was alerted to the coming indictment by special prosecutor Jack Smith, who “sent a letter … stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.” Speaking of January 6, Michigan Democrat Attorney General Dana Nessel charged 16 Republicans with felony crimes for signing paperwork making themselves “false electors” in the 2020 election.
Nearly $500B for Biden’s second student loan heist: A new report from the Penn Wharton School of Business calculated that the cost of the regulatory changes to the Income Driven Payment program, Joe Biden’s latest scheme to see his student loan debt cancellation program realized, would cost taxpayers some $475 billion in the first decade alone. The lower payment program, wherein some borrowers could see payments reduced to as low as $0, is just the latest gambit by Biden to force the responsible into paying for the irresponsibility of others. As Republican Senator Bill Cassidy (LA) observed, “Biden’s newest student loan scheme only transfers the burden from those who willingly took out loans to Americans who never attended college or who already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans.”
SHOCKER: Catch-and-release aliens don’t show up for hearings: Over 80% of illegal immigrants released into the U.S. under Joe Biden’s catch-and-release “parole” program have failed to receive a court summons from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over 40% of released illegals never bother to check in with ICE to receive their court summons. Just 18% of those illegals released under Biden’s “parole” program have successfully appeared before a court. “These statistics are troubling to say the least,” observed District Judge T. Kent Wetherell. “But even more troubling is the fact that DHS apparently does not have a plan in place to track down the aliens who are in violation of the conditions of their ‘parole’ — and, thus, unlawfully in the country.” Well, has this not been the Biden administration’s plan the entire time?
To Russia, with love: An email typo may be compromising national security. Dutch internet entrepreneur Johannes Zuurbier once again warned the Defense Department of a decade-long problem related to the sending of emails from the DOD that has yet to be fixed. It has resulted in misdirecting millions of U.S. military emails. The issue has to do with a common typo related to the military’s domain, which is “.MIL” — sometimes the “i” is mistakenly left out and emails are sent to the “.ML” domain, which is the country of Mali. And Mali just happens to have close ties to Russia. While no classified material has been sent this way, former NSA Director Mike Rogers warns, “If you have this kind of sustained access, you can generate intelligence even just from unclassified information.”
“The wrong puberty”?! Once a clown, always a clown. The Biden administration’s most prominent cross-dresser, er, “transgender” health official, Richard Rachel Levine, downplayed concern over administering puberty blockers to children. When asked why parents and doctors shouldn’t wait until children become adults before engaging in permanent and life-altering actions, Levine argued: “Adolescence is hard and puberty is hard. What if you’re going through the wrong puberty?” This ironically is not the position that Levine applied to himself back in 2019 when he said: “If I transitioned when I was young, then I wouldn’t have my children. I can’t imagine a life without my children.” But he’s perfectly willing to consign other children to such a fate.
U.S. soldier detained by NoKo after crossing DMZ: Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. At least that’s what appears to be the case with a U.S. soldier who was recently detained in North Korea after he ran across the demilitarized zone. Private 2nd Class Travis King was in plain clothes and part of a tour group when the incident occurred. According to a spokesman from U.S. Forces Korea, King “willfully and without authorization crossed the Military Demarcation Line into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).” Evidently, King had just been released from a South Korean detention facility where he had been after getting into a physical alteration with locals. During his time in detention, he allegedly said that he did’t want to go back to America. If that indeed was his wish, he may have just ensured its fulfillment.
Headlines
IRS agent “Whistleblower X” opening statement revealed: “The American people deserve to know the truth” (Fox News)
U.S. suspends Wuhan Institute funds over COVID stonewalling (Bloomberg)
Joe Manchin dismissed concerns about natural gas bans. Now he wants credit for stopping them. (Free Beacon)
Lab-grown meat could be terrible for the environment (Townhall)
Navy deploys submarine with nuclear capabilities to South Korea amid escalating tensions (National Review)
CNBC declares Florida, Texas among “worst” in nation to live and work, despite huge migration numbers (Fox News)
One-quarter of adult children estranged from a parent (The Hill)
Louisiana overrides Dem governor’s veto to protect minors from transgender surgeries (Washington Stand)
Covenant School paid for killer’s funeral (Christian Post)
Humor: Secret Service says it may never know who assassinated Abraham Lincoln (Genesius Times)
Disney’s tired marketing strategy is on full display with the live-action reboot of “Snow White.”
Emmy Griffin
Someone leaked new set photos from Disney’s live-action remake of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Since it is Disney’s new goal to retcon every original animated story and suck the life and spirit out of it and replace it with a woke joke of a film that on one will see, “Snow White” will be no different. Make no mistake: There’s a strategy here, and it involves a good bit of bait.
Rachel Zegler, who is playing the iconic princess Snow White, is an American actress of Colombian heritage. She considers herself Latina. She has an amazing singing voice, which was first showcased in her role as Maria in the 2021 film adaptation of “West Side Story.” Honestly, we can’t wait to hear her sing Snow White’s songs.
However, Snow White is a descriptive title for the character, and Zegler is not exactly the palest white. It’s a little different than race-swapping “The Little Mermaid.” In the original fairytale, the princess Snow White is described as having “skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, hair as black as ebony.” We could give Disney the benefit of the doubt and assume it is going to attribute the descriptors “snow” and “white” (i.e., purity, innocence, and indelible beauty) to her character. Perhaps it’ll keep it simple and say her name is Snow White because she was born in the winter. It’ll be interesting to see how Disney refits the name to the character.
That’s not the only unusual casting choice based on the photos. Snow White’s seven friends, the dwarves, who are the heroes of the film in the original fairytale, are not what you’d expect. If the photos are anything to go by, the dwarves are no longer dwarves in this remake but “magical creatures” played by actors of typical height, one actress, and one lone little person.
So it’s “Latina Snow White and the Seven Magical Creatures of Various Heights, Races, and Genders.”
Outrage has ensued, and that was Disney’s plan all along. To fall for it is a trap.
Disney marketers are delighted to create this kind of controversy. It’s free publicity, but it also gives them an opportunity to expose the “undesirables” in their fan base and quickly label them racists. That in turn discourages others from thinking critically, opting instead to follow the “enlightened” crowd.
Disney sees itself as righteous for adding diversity to the popular Disney Princess franchise. Frankly, it’s not the color of the princess’s skin that is really distressing to audiences — though Disney is happy to call its critics racist. It’s the sanctimonious attitude of shoveling leftist cultural values on the rest of us. Disney is saying that diversity for diversity’s sake is the highest virtue. Diversity of thought is the real value, and that is precisely the opposite of what Disney wants to portray. Executives and creators want a uni-culture, and they will force you to like it.
It’s also a direct attack on our parents’ and grandparents’ generations.
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” is particularly important in the Disney library of films. It was the first full-length animated film. Released in 1937, this classic retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairytale was, according to the History Channel, the “No. 1 animated film of all time.” It was a film our grandparents and parents grew up on. Like all things of those generations, woke-infested companies like Disney are obsessed with taking something beloved and historic and retrofitting it to modern sensibilities. It shows a contempt for generations whose values they deem backwards, racist, and bad.
In the pursuit of all things woke, leftists who are the dominant “culture”-makers are incapable of writing their own stories. Woke leftists are moral relativists. Because of that, morality is loose and only based on individual truth. They have no solid foundation to base their stories on, so their tales get lost in the metaverse of woke maxims and “morality.” As our Thomas Gallatin has said: “That’s why they’re terrible story tellers. You can’t tell a good story if you have no consistent ability to tell a narrative.”
Wokesters are also great at destroying culture and not creating new culture. They go in and take classic stories of all sorts and gut them. They take out religion and cultural norms and anything else they find slightly offensive (recall Roald Dahl and taking out the word “fat” or the whole controversy over Dr. Seuss). Then they insert their own values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The irony of this is that the diversity is only skin deep, the equity is unrealistic (man cannot be women and vise versa), and the inclusion is not really adding to the story. The story becomes inane and hollow.
Also ironically, the original Disney film also sanitized the original Brothers Grimm fairytale. In the original story, the Wicked Queen doesn’t only try to have Snow White murdered by the huntsman — and later eats the heart the huntsman gave her. The Wicked Queen also disguises herself as various peddlers and tries to kill Snow White two more times — with the dwarves saving the princess each time on the brink of death — before eventually succeeding (Snow White does come back to life because of the prince). Disney also leaves out the portion where the Wicked Queen is invited to Snow White’s wedding at the end and is forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes until she dies. Good riddance to a murderous queen, but it’s rather violent and vengeful.
The difference between this rewrite from fairytale-to-animated-film versus animated-film-to-live-action is that the first one is done for children’s good. It takes out most of the violence while keeping the essence of the story. The new rewrite is not done for children at all, but merely to satisfy political correctness and to virtue signal.
This is the real reason that Disney is going down the drain. It has lost its original purpose for being. Creating entertainment for children is a distant backseat to forcing its cultural and political views on its audience, even though the results have been flop after flop.
Disney will blame its lack of success on everything under the sun except what the real issue is. It no longer makes content for children that parents trust. Each new film reinforces that sad fact.
House Republicans target those infamous regulations on gas stoves, dishwashers, and water heaters.
Nate Jackson
Government regulations affect a long list of products we buy and use, some more than others. How much water can your toilet flush? The government will tell you. What kind of lightbulbs are permitted in your home? The government will tell you. It’s no surprise that gas appliances are next on the docket.
Back in January, Joe Biden’s administration engaged in a bit of gaslighting on gas stoves. Based on what turned out to be fake science, Consumer Product Safety Commission Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. called gas stoves a “hidden hazard,” even floating the idea of a ban. “Any option is on the table,” he said. “Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.”
Administration personnel quickly rushed to put out the fire, promising they are “not looking to ban gas stoves.”
Fast-forward about a month, however, and the administration admitted that it’s working on new efficiency regulations that wouldn’t technically ban gas stoves but would raise the bar so high that most of today’s stoves would be effectively banned. New York just did literally ban gas stoves in new buildings by 2026.
Moreover, federal rules don’t just put bureaucrats in your kitchen but also in your utility closet and bathroom.
The House Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs held hearings on the subject this week, and Republican Chairman Pat Fallon warned that many appliances are in danger. “The Department of Energy’s proposed rulemakings on home appliances,” he said, are “a tidal wave of regulatory burdens affecting Americans’ daily lives.” It doesn’t stop with stoves. Fallon explained, “There are other rulemakings under consideration for dishwashers, refrigerators, water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners, and other household appliances under the guise of improving energy efficiency as proscribed by the Environmental Policy and Conservation Act, or ‘EPCA.’”
Democrat Representative Shontel Brown, on the other hand, continues to insist that we should believe Democrats and their media propagandists, not our lyin’ eyes. “I regret that this committee continues to hold hearings on things that do not exist,” she complained, “like a bogus ban on gas stoves, while ignoring the real economic and energy issues affecting people across this country.”
For its part, the administration is still playing a game of semantics and high-minded intent.
“The Department of Energy is not proposing any ban on gas stoves,” DOE Under Secretary for Science and Innovation Geraldine Richmond testified to that House subcommittee. “DOE is committed to consumer choice. The department does not have the authority to ban gas stoves. DOE cannot require, and is not proposing, that consumers replace those already installed in their homes.”
Again, it’s the difference between literal and effective bans, for one thing. For another, “consumer choice” means buyers get to pick from the best products companies have to offer, not a centrally planned shortlist of heavily regulated and inferior items. No, DOE agents may not come to your house to remove your stove or water heater, but maintaining your current appliances will become more expensive, and you’ll have fewer and pricier choices for replacement.
Finally, and far more worrisome, Joe Biden claimed he didn’t have authority to forgive student loans. And then he did it anyway — twice. Barack Obama repeatedly assured us that he didn’t have authority to legalize “Dreamers” in that whole DACA fiasco. And then he did it anyway. Forgive us if we’re highly skeptical of Democrat promises about restrained power.
Maybe your home uses all-electric appliances and you’re tempted to greet this regulatory bonanza with a shrug. But 40% of American homes use gas stoves, and millions of Americans vastly prefer cooking with gas. The chef at your local restaurant sure isn’t using an electric range.
Regardless, the administrative state is totally out of control. We recently celebrated Independence Day, which marked the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Among that document’s numerous complaints against the British crown are some that hit really close to home in today’s America. “He has erected a multitude of New Offices,” the Declaration says, “and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.”
We can’t even cook food in our own kitchens without Biden Bureaucrats harassing us.
We’re excited to announce the launch of our new podcast: “The Pop Culture Contrarian” — an invaluable tool especially for the next generation to make sense of the ever-evolving world of popular media, internet trends, and entertainment culture.
To sample the latest episodes of “The Pop Culture Contrarian,” you can find it on our website, or access it on Spotify and Amazon. Other platforms to come. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review to stay updated with our latest discoveries and insightful discussions. If you leave a review, it helps us grow the podcast on all listening platforms and reach new listeners!
The number one cable news channel saw a slight recovery in June, while Tucker Carlson inked a new lucrative ad deal for his Twitter show.
Thomas Gallatin
It has now been almost three months since Tucker Carlson’s sudden and surprising firing from Fox News, a decision for which there remains no clear explanation. Since then, the trajectory of the two parties has been, well, a bit different.
Just last week in an interview with English comedian and podcaster Russel Brand, Carlson reiterated that he still has no idea “why I was fired.” But “I’m not angry about it,” he added. “You can believe me or not, but I think you can feel that I’m not. You know, I wish Fox well.”
Which raises the question: How well is Fox News doing sans Carlson? Inquiring minds want to know.
On Monday, Fox launched its new prime-time lineup, with Jesse Watters tapped to fill the coveted 8 p.m. time slot previously filled by Carlson.
After firing Carlson, FNC took an immediate ratings hit, as viewership numbers tumbled by 20%. That was no surprise given that Carlson had the highest-rated show in cable news, regularly bringing in over three million viewers nightly. Without Carlson, FNC filled its 8 p.m. time slot with rotating guests averaging a million fewer viewers.
In May, Fox News saw its numbers constrict, though not enough to knock it from its decades-long perch as the most-watched cable news channel. June’s numbers showed a small recovery — up by roughly 5% in overall prime-time viewers and a 10% boost in the coveted 25- to 54-year-old demographic.
So, it looks like Fox News may have weathered the Carlson-ousting storm, but future headwinds may be on the horizon.
Recently, Fox Corporation, FNC’s parent company, saw its stock downgraded from “equal weight” to “underweight” by Wells Fargo. The reason, according to analyst Steve Cahall, has mostly to do with the downturn in FNC viewership numbers. “Fox’s earnings are mostly Fox News earnings, and Fox News is facing viewership and share pressures,” he explained. “With ecosystem risks also elevated we find our estimate outlook more negative and below the Street.”
Cahall continued: “Fox News was 52% of cable news primetime viewership for 2020-22, 51% in Jan ‘23 and that has slid to a low of 38% in June ’23 post-Tucker Carlson. Fox News’ share of conservative news viewers has fallen from 94% to 84%. While the new primetime lineup could drive a rebound, we think Fox News is a Show Me viewership story.”
Meanwhile, FNC is also facing an industry-wide challenge: the increasing number of people cutting cable. Last month’s Nielsen rating numbers show that streaming hit an all-time high — 37.7% of viewership, higher than cable at 30.6% and broadcast TV at 20.8%. The simple reality is that people are changing the way they consume media by increasingly moving toward streaming.
On the digital front, Fox News Digital still holds the number one spot over CNN and The New York Times. Fox News also enjoys the number one spot for news views on YouTube.
Finally, despite a cease and desist warning from Fox News, Carlson has continued his Twitter show, and this week he inked a new lucrative ad deal with the conservative marketplace app PublicSq. This signals that Carlson’s presence in the new media sphere has staying power and is only going to grow. All in all, we’d say his firing worked out better for him than for Fox.
Today, the SPLC smears good people, not just “haters.”
John Stossel
The Southern Poverty Law Center just released a report claiming there are 1,225 hate and anti-government groups in America. These groups cause “fear and pain (in) Black, brown, and LGBTQ communities.”
The SPLC lists such groups on its “hate map.”
I once believed the center. Well-meaning people still do. Apple once gave them $1 million.
But what donors don’t know is that today, the SPLC smears good people, not just “haters.”
Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up Muslim in Somalia, but now she criticizes radical Islam and sometimes (maybe this is what really bothers the SPLC) fraternizes with American conservatives. The center put Hirsi Ali on its list.
The center also smears the Family Research Council. I sometimes disagree with the council. But they don’t belong on a “hate map.”
“When they don’t agree with you politically, they’re going to list you as a ‘hater,’” says council Executive Vice President Jerry Boykin in my new video.
“You are a hater!” I tell him. “You hate gays.”
“No, I don’t hate gay people!” he responds. “I know gay people, and I’ve worked with gay people.” The council merely opposed gay marriage, an opinion they shared with Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton …
One man became so enraged by what the SPLC wrote, he went to the council’s headquarters to kill people. He shot a security guard. Fortunately, that wounded guard stopped him before he could shoot anyone else.
“He told the judge that he was there to kill as many of us as possible because we were a ‘hate group,’” says Boykin.
The center also smears the Ruth Institute, a Christian group that believes adoption agencies should first try to place children with straight couples.
I told Ruth Institute President Jennifer Morse that she must be “a hater.”
“I like gay people!” she laughs. “I have no problem with gay people! That’s not the issue. … There could be cases where the best person for a particular child would be their Uncle Harry and his boyfriend. … But we owe it to the children to give them the best we can, which generally is a married mother and father.”
When the SPLC put the institute on its hate map, its bank cut them off.
“You’re an organization that promotes hate, violence …,” wrote the bank. “Therefore we’re not doing business with you.”
The Ruth Institute and Family Research Council are still on the hate list.
“There’s no appeal. I sure don’t know how you get off,” Morse complains.
I suspect the center keeps its hate list long to bring in lots of money.
The center pays some of its people more than $400,000 a year.
“More than my entire annual budget,” Morse says. “So yeah, whatever they’re doing — it pays.”
It sure does. Harper’s Magazine once reported that the center was the richest civil rights group in America, one that spends most of its time and energy trying to raise more money.
They promised they’d stop fundraising once their endowment reached $55 million. But when they reached $55 million, they raised their goal to $100 million, saying $100 million would allow them to “cease costly fundraising.”
But when they reached $100 million — they didn’t cease. They collected $200 million. Then $400 million. Now they have $730 million.
Yet they still raise money.
“Much of which is in offshore accounts in the Caymans,” says Boykin.
It’s true. You can see it on their tax forms.
Today the SPLC even smears groups like Moms for Liberty and Moms for America, calling them anti-government extremists because they oppose sexually explicit content in schools, and seek school board seats to try to “stop … school districts (from) disregarding the opinions of parents.”
Give me a break. The center puts Moms for America on its “hate map,” but not Antifa, the hate group that beats up people on the right.
Today the Southern Poverty Law Center is a hate group itself.
Biden’s Senior Moment of the Week (Vol. 51) — Joe Biden went to Europe last week, where he pretended to be in charge of the world’s most powerful country. It did not go according to plan.
U.S. Soldier Detained in North Korea — A soldier from the U.S. Army has been detained in North Korea after voluntarily breaking away from a tour group to cross the Demilitarized Zone.
Dem Denies Gas Stove Ban Push — Representative Shontel Brown (D-OH) falsely claimed in a hearing Tuesday that the Biden administration’s bid to ban gas stoves does “not exist.”
“The president has demonstrated leadership on how to … put forward a plan that’s humane, right? That’s humane and actually is also effective.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre regarding illegal immigration
Hot Air
“We’re doing everything that we can to tackle the root causes of climate change. This is why the Inflation Reduction Act is so important.” —Karine Jean-Pierre
“I regret that this committee continues to hold hearings on things that do not exist, like a bogus ban on gas stoves, while ignoring the real economic and energy issues affecting people across this country. Could it be that this is part of an effort by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to distract from the numerous wins of the Biden administration?” —Congresswoman Shontel Brown (D-OH)
Dumb & Dumber
“Chairman [Jim] Jordan complained that in the 2020 election, he believed that the FBI prevented the public from seeing more of Hunter Biden’s laptop — if you can believe that.” —Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
“[Republicans] are weaponizing Hunter Biden against his dad as an effective tool to get his dad to lose his cool and to get his dad to, you know, feel the heartache. They’re going to weaponize Hunter Biden.” —”The View” co-host Ana Navarro
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
“U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry says the Chinese Communist Party is doing an ‘incredible’ job with increasing its green energy sources. Does Kerry forget that the CCP uses child labor and allegedly Uyghur slave labor to produce green energy technologies?” —Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Re: The Left
“Conservatives didn’t start the culture wars. ‘Progressives’ did, and they are the ones jeopardizing national security by treating the military as a petri dish for their social experiments.” —Nate Jackson
“America’s leaders used to worry that we wouldn’t have enough stopping power to defend against Soviet tanks potentially pouring through the Fulda Gap or a survivable nuclear force in the event of a nuclear first strike; now they worry servicemembers might not be learning enough about microaggressions.” —Rich Lowry
“Sixty years ago this summer, Alabama Gov. George Wallace stood before the doors of schools to prevent black children from attending the schools with white children. He was trying to preserve the stain of segregation. Today, Democrats are employing the same tactic to keep minority kids from attending excellent schools.” —Stephen Moore
“Had it not been for Trump’s razor-thin victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett would instead be three fiftyish leftists with lifetime appointments, and the Supreme Court would be 6-2-1 left-wing instead of a 5-3-1 conservative majority — and probably so for at least a generation. Imagine every landmark case on abortion, religious liberty, free speech, racial discrimination, and the limits of government power going the wrong way for the rest of your life. Now you can imagine the anguish of the Democrats.” —Douglas Andrews
“If Democrats themselves aren’t enthusiastic about Biden, how optimistic can they be about getting independents to turn out for him? Their hope is that ‘negative partisanship’ will do their work for them. Voters don’t have to like Biden as long as they dislike the Republican enough.” —Daniel McCarthy
Insight
“It used to be the boast of free men that, so long as they kept within the bounds of the known law, there was no need to ask anybody’s permission or to obey anybody’s orders. It is doubtful whether any of us can make this claim today.” —Friedrich August von Hayek (1899-1992)
CMT has pulled the recently released music video for Jason Aldean’s new single ‘Try That In a Small Town’, which aggressively attacks recent riots and rising lawlessness in the United States.
However you may feel about the events that took place on January 6th, a single day, consider the events that happened over a 6-month period back in 2020. Between the two of them, Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA, 24 weeks of deadly riots on the streets in cities all across America resulted in the murder of over 20 people, the rape of two women, and $2 billion in insurance payouts making it the single-most costly protests and riots in the history of America. Jason Aldean found out the hard way there are things you’re not allowed to talk about.
“Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.” Ecclesiastes 10:20 (KJB)
His new country music single ‘Try That In A Small Town’ is a response to the crazy-high level of violence that goes on, fomented by the Left and approved by the media, in urban centers and cities throughout the United States. The riots of 2020 were a direct attack on the sovereignty of America on a level one hundred times more violent than January 6th. One of these things is approved for discussion, and the other is not. One of these things are ‘bad’, and one of them are ‘good’. Jason Aldean now knows which one is which, and so do you.
CMT Pulls Jason Aldean ‘Try That in a Small Town’ Music Video
FROM BREITBART NEWS: The video has since received 346,000 views on YouTube and features Aldean performing in front of a courthouse amid interspersed footage of “a flag burning, protesters screaming and attacking police in various scenarios, and robbing a convenience store,” according to Billboard.
Later in the video, a Fox News chyron appears with the words “state of emergency declared in Georgia.” Aldean’s video juxtaposes these violent images with more harmonious scenes like a girl playing hopscotch and a raised American flag. Critics of the song took issue with several lyrics wherein Aldean calls out criminals and rioters directly. Per Billboard:
Written by Kelly Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Tully Kennedy and Kurt Michael Allison, the song is an often confrontational take, with lyrics challenging those who “carjack an old lady at a red light” or “pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store” or “cuss out a cop” to try that in a small town and “see how far ya make it down the road/ around here, we take care of our own.”
In a later verse, Aldean, who was on stage when the worst gun massacre in U.S. history took place at the Route 91 Festival in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017, sings, “Got a gun that my granddad gave me/ They say one day they’re gonna round up/ Well, that sh-t might fly in the city/ Good luck.”
Last week we blogged about Luther’s view of earthly rulers, saying that they are mostly knaves and fools whom God uses as His jailers and hangmen, dressing up these lowly functionaries in fine robes and high social status as a kind of joke. Then he got into the duties of this vocation, saying that the highest lords must indeed be servants, exercising their authority in love and service to their people.
Luther says some other things about earthly rulers that deserve our attention, as well as the attention of modern-day officials and politicians. This year is the 500th anniversary of his quite brilliant treatise Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed (also known as “On Secular Authority” or “On Worldly Authority”).
What he says directly contradicts the wide-spread notion that Luther taught total submission to earthly rulers and that the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms contributed to German authoritarianism by insisting that whatever the rulers dictate is to be accepted as God’s will. But this is what Luther actually says about rulers:
They actually think they have the power to do and command their subjects to do, whatever they please. And the subjects are led astray and believe they are bound to obey them in everything. It has gone so far that the rulers have ordered the people to put away books, and to believe and keep what they prescribe. In this way they presumptuously set themselves in God’s place, lord it over men’s conscience and faith, and put the Holy Spirit to school according to their mad brains. (p. 230)
But when a prince is in the wrong, are his people bound to follow him then too? I answer, No, for it is no one’s duty to do wrong; we ought to obey God Who desires the right, rather than men. (270)
Luther is alluding to the practice of some of the princes who outlawed possession of Reformation writings, including his translation of the New Testament, requiring their subjects to turn them over to be burned. They also required their subjects to confess their belief in the teachings of the pope.
If then your prince or temporal lord commands you to hold with the pope, to believe this or that, or commands you to give up certain books, you should say, . . .
Dear Lord, I owe you obedience with life and goods; command me within the limits of your power on earth, and I will obey. But if you command me to believe, and to put away books, I will not obey; for in this case you are a tyrant and overreach yourself, and command where you have neither right nor power, etc.
To be sure, Luther did not counsel rebellion in these cases. Like his namesake in the American civil rights movement, he counseled non-violent resistance, including accepting your punishment for doing the right thing.
Should he take your property for this, and punish such disobedience blessed are you. Thank God that you are worthy to suffer for the sake of the Word, and let him rave, fool that he is. He will meet his judge.
This may be where Luther got his reputation for quietism in the face of unjust rulers, but that is far from Luther’s point. He believed that God would judge the evil rulers and vindicate those who suffered for standing up against them.
There is a great power in being willing to undergo suffering for what is right. Sometimes, it even wins over one’s persecutors. Martin Luther may well have agreed with Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, paraphrasing Gandhi,
“We will match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. We will not hate you, but we cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws. Do to us what you will and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children; send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities and drag us out on some wayside road, beating us and leaving us half dead, and we will still love you. But we will soon wear you down by our capacity to suffer. And in winning our freedom we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process.”
Not that Luther was a pacifist as King was. The charge that Luther and Lutherans were political quietists is absurd, given that Luther defied the major temporal authorities of his day, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, as did his followers in the Smalcald War and in the Thirty Years War. Under the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, earthly kings are subject to the laws of God, who reigns over them as their King.
Illustration: Emperor Charles V (1533) by Lucas Cranach, via Picryl, Public Domain
In what can only be described as an epic pratfall, Fox News’ reshuffle primetime lineup has apparently belly-flopped hard, swan-diving straight into the ratings abyss.
The television network’s decision to fire Tucker Carlson and revamp its primetime lineup has backfired drastically, causing its ratings to plummet to record lows, putting it behind MSNBC.
Chadwick Moore, author of ‘Tucker,’ shared inside information on the mounting panic within the walls of Fox News.
“Sources at Fox are telling me that last night’s much-hyped primetime reboot was a ratings disaster. Executives are panicked. Hannity lost to MSNBC’s Maddow, and the 8:00 show only pulled in 149,000 from the key demographic. (Tucker routinely got at least 400k),” Moore revealed.
Sources at Fox are telling me that last night’s much-hyped primetime reboot was a ratings disaster. Executives are panicked. Hannity lost to MSNBC’s Maddow and the 8:00 show only pulled in 149,000 from the key demographic. (Tucker routinely got at least 400k). More to come…
Moore further added in a tweet: “Fox brass is “not happy” about last night’s numbers, one source says. And Fox News sock puppet accounts are very upset that the ratings are getting out. This sock puppet must know it’s an internal document because she works at Fox.”
Fox brass is “not happy” about last night’s numbers, one source says. And Fox News sock puppet accounts are very upset that the ratings are getting out. This sock puppet must know it’s an internal document because she works at Fox. https://t.co/T5J5lywiwv
The final ratings numbers, as revealed by former head writer at Tucker Carlson Tonight, Gregg Re, paint an alarming picture of the once-dominant cable network.
“”The final ratings numbers are in from Fox’s big primetime ‘relaunch/reshuffle.’ These numbers include DVR viewings. Jesse Watters managed just 161,000 viewers in the key 25-54 y/o demographic (Tucker often had > 400k). Jesse somehow lost demo viewers after Laura Ingraham, who scored 162,000. Hannity cratered at 150,000 demo viewers — roughly 50,000 lower than Maddow. Disastrous. The Wrong Hosts at the Wrong Times?” Re wrote.
“The final ratings numbers are in from Fox’s big primetime ‘relaunch/reshuffle.’ These numbers include DVR viewings. Jesse Watters managed just 161,000 viewers in the key 25-54 y/o demographic (Tucker often had > 400k). Jesse somehow lost demo viewers after Laura Ingraham, who scored 162,000. Hannity cratered at 150,000 demo viewers — roughly 50,000 lower than Maddow. Disastrous. The Wrong Hosts at the Wrong Times?”
Re further provided insight into the comparison of current and past ratings.
“On many nights in the past few months, Jesse Watters was actually doing much better in his old timeslot. This is from last week for example. Note that Jesse is barely beating the demo numbers of the defunct filler show ‘Fox News Tonight,’” Re added.
Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson, who had been a pivotal player at Fox, seems to have landed on his feet after leaving the network. According to NBC, Carlson has secured a seven-figure advertising deal with Public Square, a conservative-friendly shopping app, for his show on Twitter.
As the tides turn, the contrast is striking. Tucker Carlson’s ratings are soaring, while Fox News’ ratings continue to free-fall. The industry will be watching closely to see how Fox attempts to reverse this downward trend in the coming months.
Federal prosecutors had agreed to bring felony tax charges against Hunter Biden but higher-ups at some point reduced those to two misdemeanors, an IRS special agent told Congress on Wednesday.
LOS ANGELES, CA — As writers and actors continue to strike against the insatiable greed of the studio executives who have oppressed them for years, The world is now in its third month of realizing they’re just fine without Hollywood.
“At first I was worried, but then I remembered that Hollywood doesn’t really contribute anything of meaningful value to the world whatsoever,” said one local woman. “Without Hollywood, I can still go outside, spend time with my kids, and catch up on decades worth of classic films that are much better than anything they make today!”
“Thanks for helping me see the light, WGA!”
Experts believe that with writers and actors on strike, many people will spend less time watching remakes, reboots, and Marvel sequels and instead be involved in activities that enrich the mind and give life to the soul. “This is an absolute catastrophe,” said Disney President Bob Iger. “Without the ability to turn the minds of your children into quivering blobs of inert pudding, we’re finished.”
At publishing time, the world breathed another sigh of relief upon realizing the strike would prevent any sequels to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
General Florg of the planet Graxon V has visited Earth – but he’s having trouble understanding humans as he’s never encountered a species with so many genders.
LAS VEGAS — The infamous unsolved murder of rapper Tupac Shakur on the streets of Las Vegas, once thought to be a hit by the Southside Crips, is now believed to be the work of none other than former President Donald J. Trump, who authorities believe acted alone. Trump has been indicted for the murder.
A charge of murder in the first degree was brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. “Tupac was murdered on Flamingo Road, less than two miles from where Trump Hotel later opened in 2017,” he said. “Coincidence? I think not!”
Authorities now believe Trump fired a Glock .40-caliber pistol from the backseat of a white Cadilac while also somehow driving it. The rapper was struck four times in the chest and rushed to a hospital where he later succumbed to his wounds.
This marks the 3rd time Trump has been indicted in the last few months, clearly marking him as a public menace who should not be on the streets.
“Trump is a monster,” Special Counsel Smith said. “I’ll feel much safer when he’s off the streets. “What if he comes after Post Malone, next? Not on my watch!”
At publishing time, Trump’s pull numbers had grown another 12% in response to the news.
General Florg of the planet Graxon V has visited Earth – but he’s having trouble understanding humans as he’s never encountered a species with so many genders.
You don’t have to imagine a world where calling someone by the wrong gender pronoun could land you in legal hot water; you only have to imagine how soon it will affect you. According to a recent Newsweeksurvey, a startling number of millennials, those aged 25-34, think this should be the case. A whopping 44 percent of this group believe that misgendering should be punishable by law, easily overshadowing the 31 percent who disagree.
Even the slightly older age group, those aged 35-44, aren’t far behind, with 38 percent in favor of criminalizing misgendering, while 35 percent oppose it. The flames of this debate are fueled by the ongoing political tug-of-war over transgender rights, where Republican-led states are righteously introducing laws to save confused children from a sick culture that wants to pump them full of puberty blockers and cut off healthy body parts.
According to the Pew Research Center, millennials are born between 1981 and 1996. Generation Z, on the other hand, encompasses those born between 1997 and 2012. With the under-40 crowd, there’s a clear tilt toward making misgendering illegal.
These eye-opening insights are courtesy of a survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on July 6.
Interestingly, the overall American perspective is quite different. Only 19 percent support the criminalization of misgendering, while a decisive 65 percent are against it. The divide among Generation Z voters aged 18-24 is less pronounced, with 33 percent advocating for legal penalties for misgendering and 48 percent opposing. The survey also unveiled that 37 percent of Americans would respect and use requested pronouns.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comers gives an opening statement at an IRS whistleblower hearing on the Biden influence peddling scheme – Via Wednesday’s “John Bachman Now.” Watch NEWSMAX, an independent news network with a conservative perspective, available in 100M+ U.S. homes.
Last week Rep. Spartz tore into FBI Director Chris Wray over his KGB tactics he employs on the American people.
Victoria ought to know.
She was not shy about calling Wray out!
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN): Okay, so we had a couple years ago, it was a hearing and I actually looking on all of the concerns that I’ve seen with really warrantless surveillance and abuses of Section 702 of FISA. I compare your agency to KGB and spending two years in this community reading a lot of reports now, doing a lot of hearings. I am really shocked that your agency is involved not just unlawful surveillance of American citizens, intimidation of American citizens, censorship of American citizens, potential cover ups of convenient political figures, and potential setups of inconvenient political figures.
And a lot of my colleagues asked a lot of questions. But I think when we look at that and unfortunately we haven’t been doing our job authorizing spending which was not authorized by our committee already probably for over a decade, we’re going to have this serious conversation and including reauthorization of Section 702.
Bravo to Rep. Spartz for not holding back against the police state!
Kiev’s troops blame foreign sponsors for not providing fighter jets and other arms to fight Russia, the newspaper has reported
Ukraine’s inability to breach Russian defensive lines in the first weeks of its much-lauded counteroffensive has forced a change of approach, according to the Wall Street Journal. Kiev’s troops are adapting to a new reality after Western-supplied armor failed to be the game changer they had hoped, the newspaper added.
The US and its allies supplied dozens of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine and trained thousands of its troops ahead of the push, which began last month. However, the “swift loss” of armor during the initial weeks of the campaign “jolted Ukraine and its Western backers,” the WSJ reported on Tuesday.
Ukrainian troops are now training “how to advance methodically on foot, moving from one line of trees to another,” and hope they will eventually find an opportunity for a major breakthrough, the newspaper wrote.
Russian minefields and air superiority and a shortage of Ukrainian supplies are among the factors playing against Kiev, according to the article. At the same time, the WSJ claimed that Russian troops are “vulnerable” and “generally less well prepared and supplied” than Ukrainian forces.
Some Ukrainian soldiers echoed their country’s leadership in blaming the West for not arming them fast enough with everything they believe they need. Western nations “blundered” by providing armor but not fighter jets and sufficient air-defense systems, a 49-year-old Ukrainian commander told the WSJ.
Frontline troops have been forced to adapt, including by constructing improvised weapons to use against the enemy. One unit’s “latest innovation” described by the newspaper was “a remote-controlled machine gun attached to the base of an electric wheelchair.” The invention had not been tested in battle at the time of writing, the WSJ noted.
Despite the setbacks, the morale of Ukrainian troops appeared high if somewhat fatalistic, judging by the report. One officer claimed that victory was the only option for his soldiers because “we’ve got nothing to lose” and would “all be dead” otherwise.
Moscow has accused the US of derailing last year’s peace talks with Kiev and forcing it into fighting “to the last Ukrainian.” It perceives the conflict as part of Washington’s proxy war against Russia, waged in an attempt to preserve its waning global power.
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