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
I remember the excitement I felt when I began my new job as an assistant director of women’s ministry in a local church after graduating from seminary. I had the privilege of serving under two women who were far more seasoned in ministry than I was. Little did I know that I would assume the director role one year later. It was intimidating, to say the least. The previous director was well loved and had been faithfully serving for many years, the women loved her Bible teaching, they sought her counsel, and many considered her a spiritual mother and dear friend. In contrast, I was young and inexperienced, the women didn’t know me well, they had only heard me teach the Bible a few times, and not many had sought my counsel. Yet the Lord had providentially placed me in the director position. Even so, I felt fearful and insecure.
In light of God’s exhortations, this is also how Joshua felt (see Josh. 1:6-7, 9). His predecessor, Moses, had served the Lord faithfully for many years, he had received the Ten Commandments from the Lord, he had met with the Lord on multiple occasions, he had erected the tabernacle, and he had led Israel through the wilderness. However, he wasn’t a perfect servant. In fact, the Lord did not allow him to lead His people into Canaan because of his sin (Deut. 32:51; see Num. 20:10-13). Although the Lord showed him the land from the top of a mountain, and promised him that his prosperity would receive it, Moses died in the land of Moab (Deut. 34:1-8).
The church of Jesus Christ is a pillar and buttress of the truth. And that truth is under assault. What we need are Christians, and especially church leaders, who are willing to follow our Lord in resisting these satanic attacks and storming the very gates of hell in the fulfillment of our commission to make disciples. What we need—what we desperately need—is a renewed sense of the church militant and triumphant.
This presentation was given by Dr. Voddie Baucham on January 20, 2022 at the Founders “Militant and Triumphant: The Doctrine of the Church” national conference in Southwest Florida.
But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. (Isaiah 33:21)
The Lord will be to us the greatest good without any of the drawbacks which seem necessarily to attend the best earthly things. If a city is favored with broad rivers, it is liable to be attacked by galleys with oars and other ships of war. But when the Lord represents the abundance of His bounty under this figure, He takes care expressly to shut out the fear which the metaphor might suggest. Blessed be His perfect love!
Lord, if Thou send me wealth like broad rivers, do not let the galley with oars come up in the shape of worldliness or pride. If Thou grant me abundant health and happy spirits, do not let “the gallant ship” of carnal ease come sailing up the flowing flood. If I have success in holy service, broad as the German Rhine, yet let me never find the galley of self-conceit and self-confidence floating on the waves of my usefulness. Should I be so supremely happy as to enjoy the light of Thy countenance year after year, yet let me never despise Thy feeble saints, nor allow the vain notion of my own perfection to sail up the broad rivers of my full assurance. Lord, give me that blessing which maketh rich and neither addeth sorrow nor Aideth sin.
“The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem … “I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael … I will break the gate-bar of Damascus.””
The God of the Bible is the God of justice. He sees all, He knows all, and He promises to settle all accounts. This is wonderfully good news for God’s people, who can rest knowing that no injustice we endure escapes His eye. As the psalmist writes, “God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne” (Psalm 47:8). All will give account to Him for their conduct. These are truths made powerfully clear through the prophet Amos, through whom the Lord pronounced judgment on six nations.
In Amos 1:3 – 2:3, God begins His pronouncement with Syria and its capital, Damascus, which He says will face judgment for being ruthlessly cruel to the people they conquered. Then comes Gaza, who are involved in trafficking and slavery. Next is Tyre, who are also guilty of human trafficking. He turns then to the people of Edom, whose hatred and wrath condemn them. Next comes Ammon, whose lust for land has led them to barbaric violence. Last is Moab, guilty of cruel vengeance.
From these verses, we not only learn what God thinks of these specific ancient nations and their particular wicked actions; we can also draw conclusions about what He loves and hates more generally. We can be certain that God hates people made in His image being treated as things or property. We can be sure that God will not tolerate unmitigated hatred and violence, especially at the expense of the helpless. We can know that God will call to account those who value profit over people or who do not keep a pledged word.
God has not changed His mind on these matters since Amos declared them. The Lord still hates these sins and will call every nation and every person who proves guilty of them to account. So, when these deeds are committed against God’s people, we can be certain that justice will be done. Justice will come in the course of history for some nations and individuals; it will come in eternity for all of them.
This is comforting news when we suffer; but it is also sobering news because we sin. We should ask ourselves whether any trace of these behaviors exists in our own hearts. We may not be guilty of acts of cruel violence or of land lust, but the hatred, anger, greed, selfishness, and pride that lead to such deeds may well find a place within us. It is always wise to ask the Lord to search us and mercifully reveal to us areas where sin remains. As God’s people, we can do this not fearing judgment but knowing that our judgment has been endured for us at Calvary by the Lord Jesus Christ. God rules the nations, and God rules eternity. May He reign in your life as well, in how you confront the injustice in this world and repent of the injustice in your heart.
“Come unto me all who are weary and burdened, I shall give you rest.” Matthew: 11:28
Remember when you got your first, big, bulky and slow desk side personal computer? I do, and I remember thinking how neat it would be if were to be portable so I could take it home, on trips and wherever I might go. Then came the laptop, which did exactly that. But, even though it is portable, a laptop is still bulky to carry and almost an inconvenience when going through airport security.
But now, I just got something even better than a laptop. It is an ‘ignition key’ that I can plug into any computer anywhere that has access to the Internet. It can hang on my key ring and I can plug it in at a hotel business center, in-room computer or in someone’s office. Instantly, it takes me directly to my desk side computer. No matter where I may be in the world, once I plug in, instantly I am taken to the master computer in my office. It is secure in that is encrypted and can only be understood by my master computer.
Prayer is like that. As a follower of Jesus, I have a spiritual ignition key that I can access the Throne of Grace from anywhere and anytime. And, like my computer ignition key, the message is direct and personal. In Romans 8:26 Paul writes, “In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.”
Paul assures us that while we don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. That connects us to the Master in words only He can understand. That is both access and security. Though the heavens may seem distant, as Christians we have that spiritual ignition key that gives us direct, instant and personal access to the Master of the Universe, anywhere, any place, anytime. All we have to go is plug in.
I am glad that my God is all powerful and Master of the universe, but also my personal God, who hears my personal pleas and answers me personally and individually. Aren’t you? Remember to use your personal spiritual ignition key daily. Just plug in and He will give you rest.
By John Grant Used by Permission John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
CSU Hurricane Experts Increase Number of Expected Named Storms for 2023 Meteorologists at Colorado State University (CSU) announced on Thursday that they have increased the number of named storms they predict will occur during this year’s hurricane season. This is the second time this summer the researchers have upped their predictions, from 13 in their original April forecast to 15 in June to now 18.
Gen Z is swapping traditional faiths for magic spells. Netty has been practising magic for 16 years. She cast a spell to get her current job in banking. She credits other spells with securing subsequent salary raises. She once used a spell to make her boss like her more. Another bagged her the love of her life, seven years ago. She still has the honey jar she used for it – into which she put herbs, a petition and a Corona bottle cap he’d discarded. (She assures me he knows about it.) Raised a Catholic, Netty has not completely reneged on the faith, nor does she see any conflict in casting spells and praying to saints. You might call her a Christian witch. You might be surprised to know there are thousands of them.
How many Texas UFO sightings have been reported this year? In 2023 alone, hundreds upon hundreds of UFO sightings have been reported in the U.S., according to an analysis of NUFORC’s data. Sightings have also been reported in every state, but some see much more of the alleged activity than others.
Israel rules out Jerusalem base for Saudi envoy to Palestinians Israel ruled out on Sunday a diplomatic base in Jerusalem for the new Saudi envoy to the Palestinians, whose appointment comes as Washington tries to forge formal Israeli relations with Riyadh. Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Nayef Al-Sudairi on Saturday expanded his credentials to include non-resident envoy to the Palestinians.
Russian warship fires warning shots on cargo ship in Black Sea A Russian warship on Sunday fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea as it made its way northwards, the first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark UN-brokered grain deal last month.
Wells Fargo accused of new fake-accounts scam in lawsuit alleging racketeering, identity-fraud A lawsuit Patterson filed Tuesday in California accuses Wells Fargo of creating fraudulent accounts for thousands of people, including many non-customers. Regulators fined the bank $3 billion in 2020 for creating millions of fake accounts to generate millions of dollars in fees and interest. “Just as one Wells Fargo fake account scandal concludes, another emerges,” the lawsuit alleges.
US-sanctioned Russian millionaire found dead in his office Millionaire Russian businessman Anton Cherepennikov, 40, founder of the ICS Holding technology conglomerate and who was subject to U.S. sanctions, was found dead in his Moscow office, Russian media reported on July 22, in the latest mysterious death of a prominent individual. The preliminary cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest.
In Europe’s big cities, migrants are already the majority Such are the findings in a study by Professor Maurice Crul (VU University Amsterdam). He examined six major cities in five countries: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Malmö, Hamburg, Vienna and Antwerp.
Former Algerian minister claims: Tunisia planning to normalize ties with Israel Former Algerian minister Abdelkader Bengrina claimed on Sunday that Tunisia is planning to normalize ties with Israel. Algeria should “keep a watchful eye” on Tunisia after several visits were made to the country by representatives of Israel that come in line with normalization efforts, said Bengrina during a press conference, according to Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen.
Wagner Group downsizing after mutiny against Russia “The Wagner Group is likely moving towards a down-sizing and reconfiguration process, largely to save on staff salary expenses at a time of financial pressure,” said the UK Defense Ministry.
The ‘demon particle’: Have scientists discovered the impossible? Massless, invisible demon quasiparticles may help scientists better understand how superconductivity works. The study, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, focused on the search for a particle first theorized by physicist David Pines in 1956.
IDF kills Al-Aqsa Brigades commander who shot at them near Nablus Israeli forces shot and killed a commander of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who fired on them during operational activities overnight near Shechem (Nablus), Israeli media reported last Thursday. The reports said that the terrorist was Amir Khalifa, 27, from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a generic term for armed terror squads active in Judea and Samaria.
“Wherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression.” —James Madison (1788)
On this day in 1945, Japan unconditionally surrendered following two atomic bomb blasts, officially ending World War II. In today’s news, combatting despair is becoming harder under Democrat malaise. —Mark Alexander
Those who thought they’d seen the worst of Attorney General Merrick Garland were badly mistaken.
Douglas Andrews
Another Friday, another steaming pile of outrage from Team Biden.
In what’s become an increasingly irritating and necessary pattern, Team Biden put forth the latest of its Friday afternoon bad-news dumps — this one coming from corrupt Attorney General Merrick Garland, who announced his appointment of deeply compromised Delaware-based U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel in his never-ending kid-glove probe of Hunter Biden.
“I’m here today,” said Garland at a Friday press conference, “to announce the appointment of David Weiss as a special counsel consistent with the Department of Justice regulations governing such matters. In keeping with those regulations, I have today notified the designated members of each House of Congress of the appointment.”
When we say Weiss is deeply compromised, we mean it. The Bidens must have pictures of this guy on a laptop somewhere. He is, after all, the federal prosecutor who tried to finagle that ridiculous sweetheart plea deal for Hunter and his legal team — the one that ultimately blew up in their faces thanks to an honest judge.
It’s consequential, too. As the editors of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board note: “Special-counsel status is also politically convenient for Messrs. Weiss and Garland because it means both men can use the excuse of an ‘ongoing investigation’ to refuse to answer questions from Congress. Justice is also likely to wall off FBI agents and others who have worked on the case. And forget about members of the Biden family. Congress’s probe may have hit a dead end.”
This is pretty much why we warned Republicans on July 26 to be careful what they wish for: “At this stage, such an appointment would likely do more harm than good. Which is why Kentucky’s James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, is sounding the alarm on the Republican push for a special counsel. Why? Because he doesn’t trust Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint an impartial prosecutor, and because he thinks doing so will also short-circuit all the investigative work being done by Republican-led House committees to expose the Biden Crime Family.”
Truth be told, we were among those calling for Garland to appoint a special counsel, but that was way back in April 2022, before Republicans had taken the House and snatched up the Oversight Committee gavel. The work that James Comer, Jim Jordan, and others have done since then, especially in collaboration with FBI and IRS whistleblowers, has been both damning and increasingly difficult for the mainstream media to ignore and for elected Democrats to keep dismissing. How ridiculous it now sounds, to cite just one example, when New York Democrat Congressman Dan Goldman says, “It’s kind of a preposterous premise to think that a father should not say ‘hello’ to people that the son is at dinner with, and that is literally all the evidence is.” Or when he says, “There is not a shred of evidence of a single conflict of interest of President Biden ever doing anything in connection or in relation to Hunter Biden’s business ventures other than advocating for the removal of a prosecutor general who was advantageous to Burisma.”
Preposterous except for all those bank records and those shell corporations and those massive money transfers to (most of) the Biden grandchildren and those repeated references to “the Big Guy.” And as for Biden’s much-publicized demand that the Ukrainian government fire special prosecutor Viktor Shokin, he did so because Shokin was getting too close to Burisma’s corruption and too close to his son Hunter’s money-for-nothing board gig. As such, it’s a quid pro quo in plain sight, as Adam Schiff might say.
As for the appointment of Weiss, what should Republicans do? Fight tooth and nail against it. And they can start by citing former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy, who notes that Weiss isn’t even eligible for the job:
Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of the Biden Justice Department’s Delaware U.S. attorney, David Weiss, as a special counsel is a joke.
To begin with, Weiss is not eligible to be a special counsel under the special-counsel regulations. To be clear, the attorney general has all the authority he needs to assign Weiss to the case (and, indeed, Weiss has been assigned to it throughout Garland’s tenure). But under the regulations that Garland purports to be applying, what makes a special counsel special is that he or she is a lawyer brought in from outside the government, not just outside the Justice Department.
Regarding Garland’s egregiousness, McCarthy further notes that the regulations concerning the appointment of a special counsel also say that Garland can’t be sued for not following the regulations. So, as McCarthy says, “He is pretending to follow regulations while not following them, hoping you don’t notice but aware that even if you do notice there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Still, this can’t stand. At some point, someone needs to thwart this farcical expression of two-tiered justice and this ridiculous protection of a woefully corrupt American president.
“This action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption,” said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. “If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel? House Republicans will continue to pursue the facts for the American people.”
There are a number of cultural and economic factors often driven by the decisions of policymakers.
Nate Jackson
More Americans seem to be losing their struggle with life itself. “About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever,” reports the Associated Press.“ The yet-to-be calculated suicide rate may also be a record.
The good news is that the suicide rate fell for those in the age 10-24 cohort, which is rather miraculous given the rise in attempts and the spread of the “transgender” contagion in part via the weaponized use of the suicide card to bully parents into abusing their kids. The bad news is the suicide rate surged for people 45 and older, especially white men. And the nearly 50,000 suicides don’t include accidental overdoses, which were roughly double the suicide number.
Anyone reading this awful news surely must be wondering what’s going on.
Unfortunately but predictably, the AP wastes little time before blaming the most common tool: guns. “A main driver is the growing availability of guns,” the AP says, citing an expert. “Suicide attempts involving guns end in death far more often than those with other means, and gun sales have boomed — placing firearms in more and more homes.”
It’s true that there are a hugely increasing number of gun owners in America. That’s generally a good thing driven by a desire to protect from criminals and also a Liberty-loving response to the tyrannical efforts of Democrats to control and ban guns. Inevitably, though, as with any tool, someone is going to use it for the wrong purpose. There are unstable people out there who shouldn’t own or have access to guns.
If the AP is so concerned with methods, though, perhaps its team of journalists ought to take a look at Canada, where all you need to do is let authorities know you’re depressed and you’ll receive suicide assistance post haste.
Clearly, of course, the AP’s gun blaming is an effort to deflect from the cultural rot underlying this grim reality. Indeed, as Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw astutely observes, “If we are to make any progress in getting these numbers down, we need to stop fretting over how people are taking their lives and focus on why they would choose to do that.”
There are an awful lot of things in our country today that are increasingly awful.
Suicide was rising before the pandemic shutdowns exacerbated the epidemic of loneliness. That suicide rose after the pandemic is no surprise. That it rose before COVID reveals more of the root causes.
Life itself has been devalued. In a world where abortion is commonplace and angrily demanded, it’s not a stretch to conclude during a particularly rough patch that one shouldn’t have been born in the first place.
Marriage is also on the decline. Decades of no-fault divorce coupled with redefining the word into meaninglessness leaves many young people choosing to not even bother with an institution bereft of purpose and meaning. A corollary of that decline is that the birth rate has dropped, which can then increase the feeling of loneliness.
Faith also is declining. Fewer Americans are going to church or even expressing belief in God. Culture-wide disconnection and sometimes angry rejection of our Creator are bound to cause mental health problems.
Meanwhile, social media use is rising, and, unchecked, that too can cause despair and depression. Watching other people post epic pictures that don’t match your own experience can bring you down. Endless scrolling leaves less time for actual human contact.
Crime is also on the uptick, making even routine daily errands feel more dangerous than they once were. Watching mobs loot stores at random can make it feel like society is collapsing.
An economy that increasingly feels designed to leave regular folks behind causes untold frustration. Rampant inflation means wages aren’t keeping up and our standard of living becomes either lower or much more stressful. Rising prices make going anywhere prohibitively expensive. But staying isn’t any more affordable, as spiking home values cause insurance and property tax levels to soar. It can feel like there’s no hope for this month’s groceries, much less retirement.
If you’ve heard that viral “Rich Men North of Richmond” song, you can begin to appreciate where a good bit of the blame for all this lies: Washington, DC. Both elected representatives and unelected bureaucrats have set about remaking America in ways that have deeply detrimental effects on millions of people.
It seems that no matter how much damage Washington’s policies cause — and make no mistake, government caused nearly all the aforementioned struggles — no one in Washington seems to suffer the same consequences the rest of us do.
Even so, at the risk of sounding trite after all that, none of our nation’s myriad problems are unfixable with a change in leadership and a groundswell of Americans helping and encouraging each other.
If you or someone you love is having suicidal thoughts, call a friend, a pastor, or the national hotline at 988. Speak to someone who will listen. Life is worth it. Don’t give up.
Biden has “no comment” on Maui, Illinois’s assault on 2A upheld, SBF jailed, and more.
Thomas Gallatin & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
Biden has “no comment” on Maui: The death toll sits at 96 and is expected to rise as cadaver dogs have been brought in to work the burned-out rubble of the oceanside town of Lahaina, Maui, in Hawaii. It’s being described as a firestorm — a wildfire broke out on the Hawaiian island and was whipped into a fury by high winds, trapping residents and sending people literally running into the sea. This fire is already the deadliest in the U.S. in over a century. Given the devastation and loss of life, Joe Biden was asked about it after returning from his beach vacation. He offered only a two-word response: “No comment.”
The Trump team went down to Georgia: Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to present her case before a grand jury soon regarding the claim that Donald Trump sought to illegally get the state’s 2020 election results overturned over unproven assertions of voter fraud. Should the grand jury green-light Willis’s case, Trump will be facing a fourth indictment. At the center of the case is Trump’s “perfect phone call” to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the president told him to “find 11,780 votes” necessary to flip the state in his favor. Obviously, nothing came of that call, and if that is the only evidence Willis has, then hers is a weak case. That leaves a big question: If Trump is indicted and found guilty, these are state charges and not federal, so, should he win the election, he would not have the authority to pardon himself. Would he go to jail?
Illinois’s assault on 2A upheld: In January, Illinois Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law a so-called “assault weapons” ban. Known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA), it bans the sale and distribution of certain semiautomatic rifles and “high-capacity” magazines, grants local authorities the power to ban other firearms in the future, and requires current owners of restricted firearms to register them with state authorities. The law was immediately challenged as infringing Illinoisans’ Second Amendment rights. On Friday, in a 4-3 ruling, Illinois’s Supreme Court upheld the law, arguing, “The Act attempts to balance public safety against the expertise of the trained professionals and the expectation interests of the grandfathered individuals.” We expect this case will be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Top law schools blackball conservatives: Students and members of The Federalist Society, a prestigious conservative legal organization, say they’re being discriminated against by three of the nation’s top law schools. In doing research on bias against conservatives, University of Chicago law student Benjamin Ogilvie concluded that Columbia, Northwestern, and Stanford law schools are engaging in “underhanded discrimination” against students with conservative political views. Ogilvie points out anti-conservative bias in these schools’ law reviews by noting the conspicuous absence of any conservative law students. He observes, “Students on law reviews select and edit legal scholarship, determining which law professors get tenure and which legal and policy ideas enter circulation.” This is significant. As criminal defense lawyer Michael Cicchini explains, “A lot of employers view the law review experience — especially the publication of a note or comment — as evidence of the student’s ability to research, think critically, edit, and write.” Effectively, these top schools are blackballing law students who hold right-leaning views.
SBF jail time: On Friday, a judge ordered big-time Democrat donor Sam Bankman-Fried sent to jail, revoking his bail for alleged “witness tampering.” The founder of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange and hedge fund company FTX faces numerous fraud and money laundering charges. Maybe the only thing keeping him from being tagged as the Bernie Madoff of the Millennial generation is his massive Democrat donation play. Bankman-Fried during the 2022 election cycle alone donated nearly $40 million to Democrats, second only to George Soros. His trial is scheduled to begin October 2. The judge found credible the prosecution’s claim, rejecting any request for delay from his defense, and had him immediately remanded into custody. Here’s hoping the security cameras at the Metropolitan Detention Center remain in full operating order for the duration of Bankman-Fried’s stay.
Scuttling skittles: Will the popular rainbow-colored candy Skittles get the Bud Light treatment? It certainly appears to be deserving, as the candy’s website and packaging are guilty of pushing hard-leftist pro-gender-bending ideology. This past June, for the fourth year in a row, Mars, Skittles’ parent company, partnered with the LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD to featured “Pride” messaging such as “Joy Is Resistance” and “Black Trans Lives Matter” on select Skittles packaging. Conservatives have sought to highlight the campaign, with several calling for a boycott of the candy.
Headlines
FBI agent says Biden transition team, Secret Service were tipped off on 2020 plans to interview Hunter Biden (Fox News)
Inflation forcing Americans to spend $709 more per month than two years ago (Fox Business)
U.S. oil and gas rigs down by 14% from last year despite high oil prices (Washington Examiner)
Seattle tops U.S. cities where residents are considering moving over safety worries (Fox News)
Hit song “Rich Men North of Richmond” gives a glimpse into the lives of Americans left behind (The Federalist)
Iran close to testing nuclear weapons for first time (Jerusalem Post)
Policy: Obesity epidemic threatens not just public health, but also national security (Heritage Foundation)
“Satire”: Garland appoints special counsel to cover up Biden’s crimes (Babylon Bee)
State, public, and private colleges alike are spending more than they should, and students are paying the price, like always.
Emmy Griffin
Since 2002, most colleges and universities across the U.S. have had an exponential increase in tuition prices. According to a Wall Street Journal report of 50 flagship schools — the oldest public university in each state — the median price increase over the course of 20 years for students is 64%. Only the cost of healthcare and gas have risen more than tuition rates. Forbes points out that between 1980 and 2020, there was a 169% increase in tuition costs.
The question is: Why are most higher-education institutions putting the onus on students to foot the ever-growing bill? Aren’t most of them getting funding from the federal government?
The answer is yes … and no. According to the Journal: “Three-fourths of states did cut their support, undermining a longstanding principle that schools educated the populace with government backing. But universities generally didn’t tighten their belts as a result. Rather, they raised prices far beyond what was needed to fill the hole.”
Apparently, the people who are supposed to be the best and the brightest running our universities are clueless as to how budgeting and money work. It’s either that, or they — like the federal government — are practitioners of modern monetary theory. The average school over the course of the past 20 years increased its spending by 34%.
The majority of schools are investing their money into illustrious sports programs, additional (and arguably unnecessary) admin and staff, and offering state-of-the-art facilities to attract the wealthiest students. It is the rare school that has been savvy and caring enough to try to keep prices low for its students. Idaho is one of the exceptions. Purdue is another.
Parents, and eventually students (because few low- to middle-income students can afford not to take student loans), continue to take on years and years of debt, all to pay for the feckless spending of their alma maters.
Many are still beholden to companies that won’t hire people who don’t have a college degree. For others, it’s a matter of family legacy or the pride of being the first college graduate that drives them into this debt. Still for others, it’s just the next expected step in the plan they have for their lives. Very few students at 18 years of age go to college with a specific vocational purpose like lawyer, doctor, or scientist. These young adults end up wasting precious dollars and years trying to “figure out what they want to do.”
And because they are only 18, they have very little understanding of what that amount of debt does to future credit scores and budgeting. Many are so ill-equipped to face the loan payments that they end up continuing to get higher and higher degrees, all to forestall their eventual massive bill payments. CNBC points out that while tuition costs have gone up 169% since the 1980s, income for young workers has increased only 19%.
It is truly a scandal how much these universities are asking students to pay to attend.
There have been some positives, however. Many universities are starting to cull their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) dead-weight hires from the payroll. Others are attempting to keep their enrollment about the same as pre-COVID pandemic. And people like Dr. Jordan Peterson are developing affordable online schools.
Most, however, are spending more than they earn — and doing so with little public accountability and with little regard for the plight of the students they are wantonly impoverishing.
The question of whether Donald Trump will make a showing may create more drama than the debate itself.
Thomas Gallatin
Will he or won’t he? That’s the question currently dominating the headlines a little over a week out from the first Republican presidential primary debate to be held August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Donald Trump continues to enjoy a sizable lead in the polls over the rest of the Republican field, a lead he has continuously touted as insurmountable. History suggests he’s right. That explains his coyness over confirming one way or the other whether he’ll show up on the debate stage. Trump recently teased that he had made a decision but said he would wait to make it known.
At issue for Trump is a support pledge the Republican National Committee is requiring in an effort to ensure party unity. The apparent fear is a splintering of the party between the Never-Trumpers and the Only-Trumpers. That rift seems almost inevitable yet again.
“Why would I sign a pledge?” Trump asked. “There are people on there that I wouldn’t have. … They want you to sign a pledge, but I can name three or four people that I wouldn’t support for president. … So right there, there’s a problem.”
One of the candidates Trump is likely referencing is former New Jersey Governor and one-time Trump supporter Chris Christie. He has been the most vocal critic of Trump, and regarding the pledge Christie himself hedged, “I’ll take the pledge in 2024 just as seriously as Donald Trump took the pledge in 2016.” Trump refused to sign a party candidate support pledge back in 2016.
Back to the debate, the question of value versus harm for Trump appears to be his only concern. He swatted away any suggestion that avoiding the debate was a sign of cowardice, suggesting that Christie and his former vice president Mike Pence would accuse him of it.
“I did [a] CNN town hall — that was about as hostile as you can do,” Trump boasted. “I hear I did very well because, you know, I did so well that they fired the head of CNN over that. But no, it’s not a question of guts; it’s a question of intelligence. … But we’ll let people know next week.”
If Trump is a no-show, the other candidates will have to navigate the difficult balance of criticizing Trump while also attacking Joe Biden and making a case for themselves. In a Trump-less debate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will likely become the top target. Can he further distance himself from the crowd and make up ground on Trump?
If Trump does take the debate stage, it immediately makes him the big target, perhaps giving more of an opportunity to other candidates to make up ground than it does to further his own campaign.
Maybe it’s time for all the GOP candidates to dust off Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” After all, we want to know who will be the best candidate to undo what will be four years of tremendous damage by Joe Biden, not who can throw the most rhetorical bombs at fellow Republicans.
The Biden administration is unlocking $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
Gary Bauer
The news was stark. After years of inching up to cozier relations with Iran, the Biden administration has announced it is unlocking $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for the release of five Americans held in Iranian prisons.
Understandably, early media reports are focusing on the prisoner release. Every human life is precious, and a billion dollars for each life saved squares with that. We rejoice with the families who received the news that their son or daughter or brother will soon be home.
Moreover, the Iranians have stated that the $6 billion unfrozen in South Korean banks and now transferred to Qatar will be spent solely on humanitarian projects the regime selects.
But is that the end of the story here? Without a doubt, as bad as the Biden policies have been at home, overseas they have been an unmitigated disaster. One of the clearest lessons of recent decades is that ruthless regimes use prisoners as hostages, and American presidents risk the nation’s present and future security if they incentivize bad actors.
But wait, there’s much more downside to this deal. Consider:
To begin with, the Iranian regime is a feast of lies. Does anyone believe we have any real control over Tehran’s budget allocations? It is clear economics is not Joe Biden’s long suit, but obviously every penny the mullahs receive and spend on their version of the Red Cross frees up funds to underwrite their military projects. Is there any doubt how the mullahs will respond? C’mon, man!
Second, every month during this administration Iranian behavior has worsened. Just recently the U.S. deployed several thousand of our Marines to serve on merchant ships in the Middle East to deter Iranian harassment of those ships. The Iranians apparently have no fear of the consequences of providing Putin and his regime with drone weapons, being used with deadly effect against Ukraine (also seeking billions more in U.S. funds).
Nothing has changed as Iran continues its relentless campaign to acquire nuclear weapons. Viewing us as feckless, they are pursuing a course that threatens every American interest in the Middle East, including energy sources Biden policies have made us reliant on. Add to this the existential threat to our ally Israel from an emboldened Iran.
Lastly, the Iranians have made clear their intentions to kill American leaders who have challenged their bloodthirsty policies, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, and former President Trump himself. About this consequence, frankly, Joe Biden likely is not losing any sleep. His administration is doing everything in its power to ensure Donald Trump dies in prison. The Iranians likely agree, but being assassinated by terrorists is fine by them as well.
Presidents are supposed to do what is in our nation’s best interest. Joe Biden has once again done the opposite, with incalculable risks for millions of Americans and our closest allies.
Biden’s Senior Moment of the Week (Vol. 55) — Joe Biden, 80, made a rare cross-country trip last week to the Grand Canyon, where he provided definitive proof that senior citizens are more vulnerable to jet lag.
Cover-Up? — Conservative pundits and politicians are calling foul after David Weiss becomes special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation.
Judge Sentences Cop to Five Years for ‘Crowd Control’ — After being found guilty of aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd, former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao was given the near-maximum sentence.
How Climate ‘Science’ Got Hijacked by Alarmists — Climate alarmists insist there’s a “scientific consensus” that says climate change is a crisis and man causes it. Researcher Judith Curry says “it’s a manufactured consensus.”
“I don’t think the president is corrupt. I think the investigation will show that.” —Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN)
“There’s been no evidence to show that [Joe Biden has] been involved in anything. And so Hunter Biden will be treated by the Department of Justice as he should be, but Congress needs to stop investigating a private citizen and stop this fishing expedition to try to link President Biden to Hunter Biden’s conduct when there is no evidence to support that.” —Congressman Dan Goldman (D-NY)
Dumb & Dumber
“[Joe Biden] clearly is doing his job. Look at what he’s done to the economy. Look at what he’s done for legislation.” —Al Sharpton
“Don’t underestimate that when [Republicans are] using this President Harris thing, they’re not only talking about the president’s health, they’re talking about her gender and her race. They’re playing the race card. ‘You can’t let this black woman in as president.’” —Al Sharpton
Veep Thoughts
“There are many things that I am proud of that we have done that have been, I think, in many ways — and I say this humbly — that have been transformational for our country.” —Kamala Harris
“One of the things I wake up thinking about is not only what an erosion of democracy will mean for the American people, [but] what it will mean invariably for people around the world.” —Kamala Harris
Hot Air
“There are whole states … where you can’t even use the words ‘climate change’ because they still have a head-in-the-sand attitude.” —Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
“Does it seem somewhat strange that Garland appointed the guy who approved the sweetheart deal with Hunter Biden to now be the special counsel for Hunter Biden?” —Byron York
“This action by Biden’s DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption. If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn’t get approved, how can he be trusted as a Special Counsel?” —House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Fox News contributor Charles Hurt discusses Rep. Greg Steube filing articles of impeachment against Joe Biden and the mainstream media catching on to the ‘uncontainable’ probe into the Biden family.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing the Trump J6 trial being prosecuted by the Biden Justice Department, previously worked at a law firm that represented Fusion GPS, the company that helped orchestrate the Russia collusion hoax targeting former President Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan oversees a courtroom. / IMAGE: WION via YouTube
During Chutkan’s stint with Boies Schiller Flexner, the Democrat-friendly law firm also reportedly represented Clinton Cabal foot soldier Huma Abedin, the former wife of disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner.
🔥 Breaking! Trump Judge, Tanya Chutkan’s, past law firm, where she was a partner, represented Huma Abedin in the Hillary Clinton private email server case!
“Partner Karen Dunn said her client Huma Abedin is willing to work with intelligence agencies regarding the investigation… pic.twitter.com/22R17FMB5r
The stunning revelations came in the wake of reports that the Obama-appointed judge worked at the same Boies Schiller Flexner law firm with President Joe Biden’s embattled son, Hunter. The same law firm that employed Chutkan also reportedly represented Burisma.
Trump blasted the apparently gross conflicts of interest and bias saddling Chutkan, writing on Truth Social that, “The Obama appointed Judge in the FREE SPEECH Indictment of me by my political opponent, Crooked Joe Biden’s Department of InJustice, shared professional ties at the law firm that worked for Energy Company Burisma, based in Ukraine, of which Hunter Biden and his associate were “proud” MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, and were paid Millions of Dollars, even though Hunter knew almost NOTHING about Energy. How much was the law firm paid? So Horrible. This is a CLASSIC Conflict of Interest!”
The J6 free speech trial won’t be the first time Chutkan has been entangled by court conflicts stemming from her legal workings with outfits targeting Trump.
Chutkan was forced to recuse herself from the bench when she was overseeing Fusion GPS’s attempt to block former congressman Devin Nunes and Kash Patel from outing the source of payments that funded the infamous Steele dossier.
“Fusion GPS, the DNC, and the Hillary Clinton campaign paid Christopher Steele millions of dollars and they laundered it through the FBI and the FISA court to unlawfully surveil Donald Trump. That’s big-time stuff,” Patel, who served in the Trump administration, noted during an interview with America First’s Sebastian Gorka.
After months of litigation before Chutkan, when it became apparent that Nunes and Patel would be successful, “she recused -on her own- from that case. Why?” Patel asked rhetorically.
“We found out her law firm, Boies Schiller, represented Fusion GPS,” Patel answered. “The very client that was in front of her in federal court was one of her former clients. That is rule #1 for disqualification.”
It also sets a sterling precedent for Chutkan’s removal from the Trump J6 trial, Patel said.
“She set the precedent. She cannot neutrally and arbitrarily preside over Donald Trump’s criminal trial when she recused herself from the very representation of the Democratic entrenchment: the DNC, the Hillary Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS, because she was so biased because of her prior representation from Boies Schiller,” he argued.
During his “My Take” Monday, ” Varney & Co. host Stuart Varney ” discussed Biden’s silence during a weekend of “monumental events,” arguing Democrats are intentionally leaving the president “out of the picture” because he’s not physically or mentally robust enough to lead the nation.
On Monday’s “John Bachman Now,” former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker calls out the appointment of David Weiss as special counsel for the Hunter Biden probe. Watch NEWSMAX, an independent news network with a conservative perspective, available in 100M+ U.S. homes.
It is reported that Russian military destroyed roughly 150 Ukrainian troops and two tanks and repulsed six enemy attacks in the Donetsk area over the past day
NASHVILLE, TN — Sources at the major country music record labels confirmed Monday that they were “baffled” and “nonplussed” by a new country music artist who is “get this – from the actual country and making actual music.”
Record executives said the “bizarre” style of country music, in which someone writes, performs, and records songs of actual quality about topics germane to people living in the actual country, “doesn’t really speak to them” and is “pretty confusing.”
“We just don’t get it,” said Bud “Dwayne” Dingles of Capitol Records Nashville. “Is it like, some sort of joke? I don’t understand the punchline. Is it the beard? Because it’s a nice beard, but it doesn’t really make me laugh.” Dingles went on to point out that the viral single “Rich Men North of Richmond” by the artist in question, Oliver Anthony, doesn’t mention drinking beer while driving a truck on the backroads with a “girl all up in it” a single time, doesn’t have a guest hip-hop artist, and doesn’t appear to just be a pop track with a quiet banjo track added in post.
“This will never catch on, and it’s antithetical to our values as the gatekeepers of country music,” Dingles added. “Maybe if this Anthony fellow goes out and gets himself a college education and learns to write a catchy radio tune that’s barely indistinguishable from what you hear on the pop stations, then he’ll be going somewhere.”
But Dingles isn’t optimistic about Anthony’s chances of making it in the country music industry.
“I want something peppy, something happy, something up-tempo. I want something snappy. None of this tragic lamentation crap being all sad about the actual plights of people from the actual country – that’s not what country music is all about.”
Is your wife being hysterical again? Do you need a sandwich ASAP, but the Mrs. is unreasonably upset? Watch this video for all the best techniques for calming her down.
The Biden administration urged hundreds of government employees in San Francisco to stop coming to work at the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building due to safety concerns.
President Joe Biden last year condemned so-called dark money as a “serious problem facing our democracy.” Now, the unpopular Democrat is embracing a super PAC that experts say used an illegal scheme to conceal its donors.
Alexei Navalny is President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent, and Putin isn’t taking that lightly.
Navalny was sentenced to an additional 19 years behind bars on extremism charges — which stem from Navalny’s pro-democracy campaigns against the Putin regime.
Mark Levin believes Navalny’s treatment is eerily similar to the Biden crime syndicate’s treatment of Donald Trump.
“Oh my God,” Levin says in shock, “in many ways they’re talking about what they’re doing to Trump.”
“Except what they’re doing to Trump is worse,” he continues. “Donald Trump faces, with the Manhattan district attorney, the Democrat left-wing Soros prosecutor, up to 136 years in prison.”
These charges, Levin says, are “completely bogus.”
“I want you to think about this. Putin puts this guy away for 30 years. 30 years and our State Department objects. What about due process?” Levin says.
Levin notes that in spite of all that, the chief judge for the district court in Washington, D.C., up until a few months ago is a lifelong Democrat who was appointed by Barack Obama. She also worked under a radical Democrat before that for 10 years in the U.S. Senate.
“She ruled in favor of the Biden administration and against Trump 100% of the time. She denied Trump attorney-client privilege in a secret proceeding, and her opinion has yet to be released,” Levin says. “You need attorney-client privilege if you’re going to have due process.”
Judge Beryl Howe also authorized the secret search of Trump’s Twitter account because she said she “believed he would flee if he knew about it.”
“This judge is no different than the Putin judge. No different. I don’t care how she got to the bench. No different,” Levin says.
Lidia Curanaj comments on the Hunter Biden investigation, AG Garland’s choice of David Weiss, the Biden family corruption scandal and more on NWSMAX’s Sunday Agenda. Watch NEWSMAX, an independent news network with a conservative perspective, available in 100M+ U.S. homes.
‘Hannity’ host Sean Hannity discusses the Hunter Biden investigation and why he believes there is a two-tiered justice system for the Biden family compared to Trump
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