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
In this episode J. Warner talks with Joel Settecase from the Think Institute about making the case for Christianity. Joel is a winsome presuppositional apologist and they talk about the role each approach might take in building a case. Be sure to subscribe to the Worldview Legacy Podcast to hear more from Joel’s team.
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It’s hard to imagine being joyful in the midst of prolonged suffering, but that’s what the Bible says we should do. Find out why—and how—we can rejoice in troubled times. Study along with Truth For Life as Alistair Begg concludes a study in Habakkuk.
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He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:14)
It ought not to be difficult for us to humble ourselves, for what have we to be proud of? We ought to take the lowest place without being told to do so. If we are sensible and honest, we shall be little in our own eyes. Especially before the Lord in prayer we shall shrink to nothing. There we cannot speak of merit, for we have none; our one and only appeal must be to mercy: “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Here is a cheering word from the throne. We shall be exalted by the Lord if we humble ourselves. For us the way upward is downhill. When we are stripped of self we are clothed with humility, and this is the best of wear. The Lord will exalt us in peace and happiness of mind; He will exalt us into knowledge of His Word and fellowship with Himself; He will exalt us in the enjoyment of sure pardon and justification. The Lord puts His honors upon those who can wear them to the honor of the Giver. He gives usefulness, acceptance, and influence to those who will not be puffed up by them but will be abased by a sense of greater responsibility. Neither God nor man will care to lift up a man who lifts up himself; but both God and good men unite to honor modest worth.
“…at once the Spirit sent Him (Jesus) out into the wilderness…” Mark 1:12
“(Herod)locked John up in prison.” Luke 3:20
“I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13
I recently wrote an article describing how when Christians experience the loss of our dreams, it might be good to sit quietly in the presence of God waiting in trust for what God has prepared for the future.
What has been amazing is the tone of the responses I’ve received. Almost all sound like the popular song, “Don’t worry, be happy.” A kind of “don’t-worry-it’s-not-really-that-bad-everything-will-get-better.” Could this be denial of the pain and reality of life, the stuffing down of emotions?
It was with these responses in mind that my mind wandered to the verses above. John had just experienced the earth-shattering, heaven-opening baptism of Jesus. Now surely the glorious beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the fulfillment of all John the Baptizer’s dreams of the coming Messiah will occur. But then we read that immediately after hearing His Father’s affirmation, Jesus is sent by the very Spirit entwined with His own being into the wilderness of temptation and suffering. And then this cousin of Jesus, blessed to be the herald of the coming Kingdom, is thrown into prison.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus were faithful and learned Jews who knew the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. Was it in prison and in the wilderness—real places of real suffering—that both men recalled, “Do not fear; I will help you”? God did not rescue Jesus from the temptations of the Evil One. He gave Him power to resist. God did not open Herod’s prison doors so John could escape and continue ministry. Instead the Tetrarch Herod ordered John’s head to be presented on a platter for the cruel enjoyment of his guests.
It is in all places, in all times—in the Jordan Rivers, in the wildernesses, in the prisons—that we hear the “Do not fear; I will help you.” As the Apostle Paul described it, it is “in every circumstance and in everything, we are to “make your wants known to God.” Then “God’s peace shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 Amplified Bible)
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?…..”
Fear obviously produces anxiety, but it also creates chaos in our lives and even affects those around us.
Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins.
Fear hinders us from becoming the people God wants us to be. When we are dominated by negative emotions, we cannot achieve the goals He has in mind for us. A lack of self-confidence stymies our belief in what the Lord can do with our lives.
Fear can drive people to destructive habits. To numb the pain of overbearing distress and foreboding, some turn to things like drugs and alcohol for artificial relief.
Fear steals peace and contentment. When we’re always afraid, our life becomes centered on pessimism and gloom.
Fear creates doubt. God promises us an abundant life, but if we surrender instead to the chains of fear, our prayers won’t be worth very much.
What are you afraid of–loss, rejection, poverty, or death? Everybody will face such realities at some point. All you need to know is, God will never reject you. Whether you accept Him is your decision.
The Bible tells us that God will meet all our needs. He feeds the birds of the air and clothes the grass with the splendor of lilies. How much more, then, will He care for us, who are made in His image? Our only concern is to obey the heavenly Father and leave the consequences to Him.
El Naranjo River bursts, destroying homes and causing evacuations in Guatemala City Heavy rain caused the El Naranjo River to break its banks in the early hours of September 25, 2023, near Guatemala City. The flash floods destroyed six homes in the shantytown of Dios Es Fiel, claiming at least six lives and leaving 12 others missing.
Mexico’s Jalisco hit by deadly flash floods On September 25, 2023, flash floods ravaged the small community in the municipality of Autlán de Navarro in Jalisco, Mexico. The sudden surge in the El Jalocote stream led to eight confirmed deaths, three missing persons, and significant property damage.
The Convergence Of Signs Cry Out That Jesus Is Coming Soon, But So Few Are Paying Attention We most assuredly live in biblical times. The convergence of signs is like that of the grand finale of a fireworks show that noisily illuminates the sky with its bright display of colors. Yet sadly, many believers and pastors turn their heads and walk away from the spectacle telling themselves and others, “There’s nothing to see here.”
What is Disease X? UK scientists begin work on vaccine for new pandemic Scientists have warned a disease is on its way that is “as infectious as measles with the fatality rate of Ebola” and that preparations are at hand. Medics are reportedly anxious that a new pandemic could be caused by an unknown virus, dubbed Disease X, and are developing vaccines already.
Multiple Remote Viewers Warn of World Changing Event at Year’s End The counterculture is now aware of False Flags. Operations that are executed by the powers that be and blamed on someone else are now being called out in real-time on social media platforms despite the censorship. It’s becoming popular. And if the powers that be can no longer trick us, then they will try and hurt us.
The Destruction of the United States Is Intentional. Here’s What Will Happen Next. For just over two and a half years, Joe Biden and/or his puppet masters (see Barack Obama, Susan Rice, Klaus Schwab, etc.) have been successfully driving the United States to destruction. The plan took a four-year detour when President Trump was at the helm. Now, thanks to what many believe was a stolen election, the plan to enslave our comfy pants-clad bottoms is back on.
DTP vaccines may kill more children than they save Earlier this month, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a conversation with Leah Wilson from Stand for Health Freedom. He told Wilson that the World Health Organisation (“WHO”) has lost its way and it has now become an instrument of China, the Davos billionaires club, the pharmaceutical industry and Big Ag, the big agriculture industry.
Rumble Could Be Banned In UK Under New Online Safety Laws Rumble, the free-speech video hosting website could be banned in the UK under new online safety laws. As reported herea couple of days ago, the Online Safety Bill was approved by the House of Lords on the 19th of September but still needs official approval from the King before it can become law. This has not deterred the government from trying to coax such as YouTube, to ban Russell Brand due to allegations of historical abuse.
“The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.” —Alexander Hamilton (1787)
Fellow Patriots, in the course of our nation’s history, more than 600,000 Americans have been killed in battle, and another 500,000 have died from non-combat related causes. The first Gold Star Mothers Day was recognized on this day in 1936. The service and sacrifice of these Patriots and their families is a crucial part of the mission to preserve Liberty each and every day. —Mark Alexander
The president made a quick stop in the Motor City yesterday, but he can’t undo the damage his party’s policies have already done.
Douglas Andrews
We’ll say this about Joe Biden’s presidency: It’s been marked by numerous historic firsts.
He became the first president to raid a former president’s home. The first president to have his son indicted. The first president to brag on videotape about having been bribed by a foreign country. The first president to enact an open-borders policy. The first president to declare war on American energy. The first president to celebrate his 80th birthday in the White House. The first president to poop his pants while meeting with the pope. The first president to implement a comprehensive anti-trip strategy as part of his reelection campaign. The list goes on.
And yesterday, another first, as Scranton Joey Baggadonuts Biden became the first U.S. president to walk a picket line.
Yeah, yeah, we know. Union Joe only rubbed elbows with those unkempt autoworkers for 12 minutes — just long enough to don a UAW ball cap, shake a few hands, grab a megaphone, and get away with a nice photo op before jetting off to California to hob-nob with billionaire cop-defunding Demo donors. See for yourself how he carefully climbs up the short stairs before getting the heck out of Dodge.
As The Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross reports: “It took ‘the most pro-union president in history’ two weeks to join protesters for one of the largest strikes in a generation. After his brief stop in [the] Motor City, Biden headed to Atherton, California, for a fundraiser at the home of hedge fund heiress Liz Simons. Simons and her husband, Mark Heising, run the Heising-Simons Foundation, which backs a variety of left-wing causes.”
Anyone else see an optics problem here? Anyone else wonder why the Democrat Party has lost its once-iron grip on blue-collar America? Anyone else wonder why the UAW endorsed Biden in 2020 but hasn’t yet supported him for reelection in 2024? Anyone else wonder why Donald Trump and the Republican Party are making serious inroads with the working class?
“For months,” as the Washington Examiner reports, “Trump has sought to capitalize on [the] UAW withholding its endorsement of Biden. The former president will deliver remarks at a rally in Detroit on Wednesday evening. Trump’s speech was scheduled before Biden’s trip was announced, though the White House claimed it did not affect Biden’s decision to join the picket line on Tuesday.”
Uh-huh.
“Wall Street didn’t build the country,” Biden told the crowd. “The middle class built the country. And unions built the middle class. That’s a fact.”
It was a patronizing and utterly predictable comment from this president, who’s trotted it out many times before. But it was also a deceitful comment, as his own party, the Democrat Party, became the Party of Wall Street back in 2008, when Barack Obama became the darling of the bankers and the monied elite. The Democrats haven’t looked back at blue-collar workers ever since, except when they need their votes.
“You guys, the UAW, you saved the auto industry back in 2008 and before,” said Biden. “You made a lot of sacrifices, gave up a lot when the companies were in trouble. Now they’re doing incredibly well and guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too.”
Asked by a pool reporter whether these workers deserved a 40% pay raise — which is what union president Shawn Fain is demanding — Biden agreed that they do. We suppose that given his desperate electoral situation, Biden had no choice but to agree, but that comment doesn’t do anyone any good. A 40% pay raise, even over four years, sounds laughable to most Americans, especially those living paycheck-to-paycheck. And it makes the entire suite of UAW demands — some of which are rooted in solid ground — seem utterly unreasonable.
Biden is right that the unions gave up plenty to keep their employers from going under some 15 years ago. But his party’s green-energy policies haven’t done these workers any favors. In fact, they’ve done them great harm.
Indeed, Joe Biden’s quick swoop into Detroit — or, rather, into the nearby Willow Run Redistribution Center, which is closer to Metro Airport, and thus closer to California — was no doubt seen by many of those union workers as a slap in the face. After all, Biden’s continued kowtowing to the Green New Dealers has lent fuel to the fire burning between management and labor. As we wrote at the start of the strike:
The push for EVs by Joe Biden brings another consideration for autoworkers: If the Green New Dealers get their way, not as many UAW employees will be needed. It’s long been known that EVs require fewer parts and thus fewer assembly workers and parts manufacturers. And when we consider the environmental impact of EVs — whether to the lands in Africa that are being despoiled by mining, or to the health of the workers doing that mining, or to American roadways that undergo additional wear and tear due to the added weight of non-gas-tax-paying EVs compared to internal-combustion vehicles — the EV revolution doesn’t seem nearly as promising as it’s been cracked up to be.
As the Beacon’s Ross adds: “Biden has pushed the auto industry to embrace an all-electric fleet. He has repeatedly hosted General Motors CEO Mary Barra at the White House and credited her for pushing GM to embrace an all-electric fleet within the next decade.”
Apparently, Joe Biden hasn’t figured it out. There’s a serious tension between traditional manufacturing and environmental obsessiveness, between blue-collar workers and green-energy elitists — and the Democrats can’t have it both ways.
We wonder what these rank-and-file workers are saying to each other over a couple of beers and away from the cameras and the bright lights. And we imagine the message that many of them might deliver to this president and his party if only they had a chance: Thanks for nothing.
The heirs apparent to both political parties will duke it out in November.
Emmy Griffin
The promised debate between successful Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and failing California Governor Gavin Newsom is due to happen on November 30 at 9 p.m. on Fox News. Sean Hannity will be the moderator, with Dana Perino and Stuart Varney acting as co-moderators. It should make for some worthwhile television.
The announcement of an actual date being set is very telling about the state of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s unpopularity. In August, our Thomas Gallatin wrote about Team Biden’s distaste for Newsom’s debate challenge to DeSantis. Harris was particularly miffed at this brazen maneuvering that could only reflect badly on her.
But a month later, Biden is facing ever-more insistent calls from his party not to run in 2024. Harris has also consistently been lumped in with those calls. They’re politically weak and ripe rotten for the dumping.
The latest Washington Post poll showing former President Donald Trump with a 10-point lead over Biden is just the latest hint that the left-wing propaganda machine (i.e., the corporate media) has cooled on the president. Considering the source of the poll, it’s pretty clear that the Democrats intend to shove Biden/Harris out of the way.
This affects GOP nominee hopeful Ron DeSantis’s campaign calculous as well. If President Biden is no longer a factor in the 2024 election, it could potentially make Trump a less palatable nominee to the GOP. It might prompt voters to ask: Wouldn’t a younger, more eloquent, more culturally conservative candidate seem like a more viable choice? Particularly if the opponent were a younger someone like Gavin Newsom? Either way, it’s fair to say that DeSantis and Newsom are the likely heirs apparent should “Trump vs. Biden: The Sequel” not happen.
For his part, Newsom is seizing the moment. In a surprise veto last week, the Golden State governor nixed AB 957, a bill that would have allowed the state government to take children away from their parents if the parents refused to affirm their child’s gender confusion. His choosing to veto the bill when all indications previously were that he was willing to sign it was a signal to all that he is making moves toward challenging Biden. Newsom also seems to be angling to campaign as the moderate Democrat. He can’t do that if he signs such an authoritarian bill.
Agreeing to finally set a date with DeSantis is just one more indication that Newsom is gearing up for his own 2024 run.
This debate can only potentially help both men. As Gallatin pointed out, if DeSantis shines, it’ll hurt former President Trump; and if Newsom shines, it could put a nail in the Biden/Harris coffin.
It’s also likely to be a great debate because both young governors have proven themselves as canny debaters. Newsom, by his recent actions and statements, is gearing himself up to portray himself as a moderate Democrat (and is also banking on the average voter being completely unaware of the hellhole California has become under his leadership). He is quick on his feet and very politically savvy in his answers.
DeSantis, on the other hand, is excellent at being able to dismantle leftist lies in real time. His ability to remember facts and details that debunk their talking points has devastated many a leftist hack reporter. One might also recall that when Harris was taking swipes at DeSantis over Florida’s school curriculum, DeSantis offered to have a debate with her. She promptly fled. This is not only because of his formidable ability to articulate facts and his positions but also because of Harris’s legendarily poor rhetorical skills.
Are we about to witness a debate with similar significance to the direction of the country as the Lincoln/Douglas debates? In terms of left vs. right governance, the similarities are striking.
In the Lincoln/Douglas debates, Abraham Lincoln, the young Republican lawyer seeking to unseat the senator of Illinois, was arguing against the institution of slavery and specifically against the expansion of slave states in the new territories. Stephen A. Douglas, the incumbent Democrat senator of Illinois, was arguing for the continuation of popular sovereignty — which declared that the new territories could decide to have slaves based on their residents’ inclinations. However, this “popular sovereignty” led to horrid and bloody pre-war skirmishes in states like Kansas, where Missouri pro-slavery “bushwhackers” would slip over the border and intimidate or eliminate anti-slavery Kansas settlers.
Yet again our country is faced with two divergent views for the country. One has produced a flourishing and growing state; the other has turned all its streets into skid row trash and refuse dumps. DeSantis has already won that debate.
As our Douglas Andrews aptly put it, “The difference between the two states can be boiled down to a simple question — one that reveals the key to human flourishing: Are your people free, or aren’t they?” DeSantis’s victory on that front is indisputable. California has been losing population, and the state’s loss has been Florida’s gain.
Our country is once again a house getting ever more deeply divided. Unlike the Lincoln/Douglas debates, let’s hope and pray that the DeSantis/Newsom discussions lead to a renewed fervor for American values and rejection of leftist policies.
Ending the strike may be good news for Hollywood, but it’s probably bad news for the rest of us.
Nate Jackson
Every American knows that Hollywood has its problems, to put it mildly. Heck, we’ve spent a great deal of time over the last 27 years analyzing those issues. But like rubbernecking to view a traffic accident, most of us can’t help but look.
Many Americans certainly notice when their usual entertainment is not available, or when there are reruns or alternate programming. Such was the case after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike in early May. Early this morning, the union and Hollywood studios agreed to a three-year “minimum basic agreement,” which now goes to the guild for a vote before the strike officially ends.
What changed? The usual stuff unions fight for, from better base pay and bigger increases to more ancillary benefits like bonuses, healthcare, and pensions. The New York Times summarized it, “Agreement Gives Writers Guild Most of What It Wanted.” The WGA crowed, “This deal is exceptional.”
Great, we’ll all pay for that as prices rise even higher for movie tickets and streaming services.
Most significantly, however, the agreement includes rules about using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate content at the expense of writers’ jobs. AI content “can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights,” the agreement says. Though writers can use AI, they cannot be forced to do so, and they must be informed if any source material is AI-generated.
Any and all content creators have become increasingly concerned about losing jobs to AI in recent months, as the technology has made leaps and bounds in a remarkably short time. We’re concerned about the content and how it could be politicized; Hollywood writers worry about their jobs. Frankly, given the poor work Hollywood writers tend to do, they’re not wrong to fret.
For a more in-depth conversation about how AI impacts Hollywood, our Pop Culture Contrarian podcast team recently delved into the topic. Don’t miss a single episode!
As for the Screen Actors Guild, which joined the WGA on strike over the summer, no agreement has been reached.
As we implied at the outset, we have a hard time sympathizing with either party in these negotiations. Hollywood is responsible for a great deal of cultural rot over the last half-century, and no new deal setting pay or even rules for AI is going to change that. From set designers to writers to actors to C-suite executives, Hollywood is overrun by woke leftists who not only don’t follow but actually despise traditional American values, never mind Judeo-Christian ones.
Movies and shows are chock-full of bad language and bad behavior, setting bad examples for all of us, not just children. Objectifying women is the real art of Hollywood, which makes it darkly humorous when they’re somehow stunned to discover that Hollywood is full of men sexually harassing and assaulting women.
The hypocrisy on violence is remarkable as well. Hollywood churns out endless content glorifying violence, often with guns, and then actors run around weeping about certain high-profile real-life violence that can be manipulated to advance the leftist goal of gun control.
There’s an old saying that usually comes to mind with Hollywood: Garbage in, garbage out.
If the writers and actors guilds and the studios that pay them could learn a real lesson here, we’d prefer that it involved reforming the kind of content they put out, not just agreeing on how much money they can divide among themselves. And if conservatives can learn a lesson here, it would be for policymakers to quit subsidizing their own political adversaries and purveyors of cultural rot.
If you ever hear an administration official say that President Biden is trying to get the border situation under control — don’t believe it.
Byron York
The continuing incursion of illegal border crossers into the United States is the most astonishing story in American politics. There have been days recently in which 10,000 people crossed illegally into the country — and remember, in a long-ago era, when Barack Obama was president, a tenth of that was considered a crisis.
The current emergency can be attributed entirely to President Joe Biden. In word and deed, from the 2020 campaign on, Biden sent a message to would-be illegal border crossers around the world: If you come to the United States, you will be allowed to stay. And millions have.
Lately, though, Biden’s welcome-to-illegal-crossers policy has become a burden on some important Democrats. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is screaming about the arrival of an estimated 110,000 new asylum seekers in his city. The cost of caring for the new residents will “destroy New York City,” Adams said. And even though Adams tried to blame Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for sending illegal border crossers to New York, the fact is that Abbott has sent just 13,000. In any event, the presence of all 110,000 in New York is the result of Biden policies.
Now that some Democrats are complaining, news reports say Biden is beginning to feel some pressure. Can he do something to lower the heat? In response, Biden has come up with a way to address the problem: Rush more inadmissible migrants into the United States.
It seems crazy, and it is. But it is more than that. It is also perhaps the best indicator we have of Biden’s intentions in the border crisis. Look at the 10,000-a-day flow of illegal crossers over the border. The president of the United States has the authority and means to protect the U.S. border. The only way a president would allow this to go on for years is if the president wanted this to happen. And it appears that Biden does, in fact, want this to happen.
Early in the border crisis, I wrote, “The president is not trying to stop the flow of illegal crossers. Instead, he is trying to accommodate the flow, scrambling to find housing and living arrangements for those coming in. The message has gotten out to the world, and the world is coming.”
And now Biden is going one step further. With the flow at historic levels, he will use U.S. government resources to speed it up, not to slow it down. This is an entirely intentional crisis.
The New York Times reports that nearly half a million migrants from Venezuela will “be allowed to immediately apply for work authorization.” The purpose of the move, the Times said, is this: “By allowing them to legally earn income, the change could alleviate the costly burden of housing the refugees in major cities across the country. The migrants also will be protected from deportation for at least the next 18 months.”
Maybe that will mollify Mayor Adams for a while. It will certainly increase the incentive for Venezuelans to come to the U.S. as soon as possible. But how, one might ask, did the migrants arrive in the United States from Venezuela in the first place? The answer lies with a Biden administration program known as CBP One. It is what is called a “parole” program, that is, it is designed to release migrants into the United States quickly and without public scrutiny. This is from the Center for Immigration Studies: “A little-known part of the Biden administration’s CBP One parole program permits inadmissible aliens to make an appointment to fly directly to airports in the interior of the United States, bypassing the border altogether.”
The Biden program “allows migrants to take commercial passenger flights from foreign countries straight to their American cities of choice.” The program applies to migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti. The migrants, according to the Center, “request ‘advance travel authorizations’ through the CBP One mobile app and take commercial flights (‘at their own expense’) directly into U.S. airports, where U.S. Customs officers parole them into the nation, sight unseen, and in numbers publicly unknown.”
The numbers are big. Through the Freedom of Information Act, the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports stricter immigration laws, got information on the flights so far in 2023. The administration has allowed in 221,456 migrants through the program this year. There were 29,120 in May, 29,506 in June, 28,669 in August, and so on. The flow continues.
Where are they going? The administration would not disclose which airports have received the migrants. If any local leaders want to know how thousands of new people are arriving in their towns virtually overnight, courtesy of the U.S. government — well, if they want to know that, they can’t find out.
Now the White House is offering immediate work authorization, not just to migrants who crossed the land border illegally but to those who took part in the administration’s secretive flight program. That will surely lure more to come, whether by foot over the border or to an undisclosed airport. If you ever hear an administration official say that President Biden is trying to get the border situation under control — don’t believe it.
This content originally appeared on the Washington Examiner at washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/joe-bidens-intentional-crisis.
Trump intends to be the GOP standard-bearer in the 2024 election, but he continues to show zero respect for the party he wants to lead.
Jack DeVine
What happened to Donald Trump, the raging bull, the only guy with the moxie to wade into the swamp and kill all the filthy, slimy creatures lurking there? Surely, he’s not afraid to confront a few competitors from his own party in friendly debate?
In any case, Trump has decided to take a pass on this week’s second Republican primary debate, as he did on the first one. He explains that with his insurmountable lead in the polls, there’s no need to debate; and once again, he’s arranged an alternative event, presumably so his supporters will not have to waste their time watching his irrelevant competitors.
Over the years, Trump has shown strokes of political genius — but I’d offer that at this juncture, his decision to blow off the GOP debates reflects a serious miscalculation of the challenges his own candidacy still faces. More importantly, it reveals the fundamental dilemma he poses to the Republican Party and, in a very real sense, to the nation.
Donald Trump wants to be (and assumes he already is) the GOP standard-bearer for the 2024 presidential election. Yet his decision shows utter disrespect for the party and for his Republican competitors. Rather than participate constructively in the party’s process for selecting a candidate, he’s chosen to hijack it. Evidently, he assumes that rank-and-file Republicans who remain uneasy with his candidacy (there are many), along with the legion of independents whom he must win over to his leadership, will admire the hijacking and fall in line.
His decision reeks of arrogance — the Trump personality trait that just happens to rankle so many of his prospective voters.
Just what message is Trump trying to send? And to whom? In effect, he’s telling fence-sitting Republican voters that he already has all the support he needs; the nomination is in the bag. To the general electorate, he’s saying that he’s already proven himself as president; no more information is needed. He’s wrong on both counts. To have any chance of re-winning the presidency, he must change some minds.
Moreover, his decision is remarkably shortsighted. The 2024 election may yet turn out to be the long-anticipated Trump/Biden rematch that both want — but maybe not. Neither candidate is showing any inclination to withdraw; each knows that his best shot at success would be to face the other guy and all his baggage. But the election is still a year away, and every day the lineup looks less certain.
Joe Biden’s prospects are fading fast. A full six years before the completion of a second term, Biden’s physical and mental decline are obvious to anyone willing to take an honest look. His track record as president is somewhere between unimpressive and calamitous. And looming above all is the congressional investigation with emerging, ugly details of potentially impeachment-worthy corruption. At this point, reputable members of Biden’s own party, along with many in the ever-favorable Leftmedia, openly view his candidacy as a liability.
Meanwhile, Trump is still enjoying a sizable bump in popularity thanks to the absurd dog-piling of legal actions, taken against him and obviously politically motivated — everyone loves a victim. But the legal wars ahead for Trump are very real, they will be watched by all, and they will be far less kind to his image and popularity.
Through it all, it remains clear that Trump’s entire focus is Election Day 2024, not the four years thereafter. He wants desperately to confront the man he believes stole the 2020 election and to pull off a resounding reversal, a chest-thumping, in-your-face win for the whole world to see.
But his obsession is creating a wholly unnecessary rift among prospective supporters, a rift that can profoundly affect the political direction of our nation and that — ironically — will doom his primary objective.
The stark reality is this: If a substantial number of potential conservative voters fissions into two mutually exclusive groups — one that will only vote for Trump and another that will never vote for Trump — there will be two inescapable consequences: (1) Trump will not be elected president, and (2) Democrats will retain the White House and probably the Senate, and quite possibly retake the House — an extraordinary, undeserved gift to the Democrats and a disaster for the country.
Surely Trump knows that, and he knows as well that his current take-no-prisoners vendetta is having exactly that effect. Does he care? We don’t know, although post-2020 events suggest breathtaking insensitivity to the consequences of his own actions.
I believe that most Americans care far more about the direction of the nation than about the political legacy of any one man.
Biden’s big spending coming home to roost, goods stuck at border checkpoints, Canadian idiot resigns, and more.
Thomas Gallatin & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
Deficit rising by a trillion: Joe Biden’s big spending is coming home to roost, belying his administration’s boastful claims back in March that “because of the strength of the recovery and responsible winding down of emergency programs, the deficit fell by $1.7 trillion in the first two years of the Biden-Harris Administration.” Well, now that all the data is in, the inevitable result of Biden’s massive spending crusade has been revealed. According to a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office, “The deficit is on track to double from $1.0 trillion in 2022 to $2.0 trillion in 2023.” To put things in perspective, the Biden administration in 2022 spent 41% more than did the Trump administration in 2019, though the government also pulled in 41.4% more revenue in 2022 than it did in 2019. Fiscal irresponsibility is the only term that accurately captures government spending under Biden.
Just don’t let Biden fall: Due to Joe Biden’s geriatric state, members of Biden’s staff have the increasingly daunting task of ensuring that he doesn’t trip and fall. In fact, according to a recent report from Axios, the White House has created a program focused on this one issue as he heads into the 2024 campaign. This includes him working with a physical therapist on better balance, wearing tennis shoes more often to avoid slips, and using the short stairs when entering Air Force One. Biden’s advanced age has been a major factor in the growing sentiment among voters from both political parties that he is too old — a recent AP-NORC poll found that three-quarters of Americans believe he’s too old for office.
Migrants flow, goods clog: An estimated $1 billion in goods bound for the U.S. and Canada have been stuck in Mexico at border checkpoints, as the U.S. has shut down several crossing points in an effort to confront the massive migrant surge. According to Canadian snowmobile manufacture BRP, “Due to the waiting times on the international bridges in Ciudad Juarez, we have had a significant reduction in the volume of units that we can export daily.” In El Paso, due to the massive number of migrants, U.S. border authorities have shut down international bridges over which 500 northbound trucks normally pass each day. Joe Biden’s border crisis is now negatively impacting trade, costing the American economy hundreds of millions in lost revenue.
Canadian idiot resigns: As pressure mounted from a growing number of public calls for him to step down, Canadian House Speaker Anthony Rota, who had honored a Nazi as a war “hero” on the floor of Parliament last week, finally tendered his resignation on Tuesday. Rota invited 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, a naturalized Canadian originally from Ukraine, and called him a war hero who fought for Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union during World War II. What Rota failed to mention was the fact that Hunka had not only fought for the Nazis but was a member of the infamous Waffen-SS. The episode was especially embarrassing for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as Rota is a member of his Liberal Party.
JPMorgan attacks Second Amendment: The financial software company Intuit, which produces the popular products QuickBooks and TurboTax, had until recently adopted an acceptable use policy that prohibited “guns and firearm manufacturing” businesses from using its payroll services. This prohibition included businesses that engaged in “firearms and weapons sales.” When this policy was brought to the attention of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) by Texas-based firearms manufacturer Dawson Precision, he went digging into why Intuit enacted this anti-Second Amendment policy. What he discovered was that Intuit was effectively bullied into adopting it by Big Banking — specifically JPMorgan Chase. “Woke big banks are increasingly weaponizing their power to cut off law-abiding businesses from accessing banking services,” Cruz warned Monday. “The American people and small businesses must be protected from this discriminatory overreach. We cannot allow giant corporations to get away with punishing customers who do not fall in line with the Left’s political whims and leanings.” Intuit has since dropped its anti-gun policy.
LEGO ditches using recycled plastic: In 2020, the Danish toymaker LEGO pledged to do its part to “save the planet” by reducing its carbon emissions by 37% by 2032. To do so, LEGO would make its famous toy building blocks using only sustainable materials. Currently, LEGO uses the oil-based plastic acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) for its toys, but it had been researching using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) instead. PET is the plastic most commonly used for water and soft drink bottles. What LEGO discovered after three years of testing is that not only is PET not a durable enough material to meet quality control standards, but also using recycled PET “didn’t reduce carbon emissions.” Despite this “setback,” LEGO said that it was “not abandoning [its] effort to make oil-free bricks.” Then everything will be awesome.
Headlines
House and Senate take different paths to avoid shutdown, but neither path is clear (Washington Examiner)
Hunter Biden received $250K wires originating in Beijing with beneficiary address listed as Joe Biden’s home (Fox News)
From secretaries to secretary of state, Biden documents probe casts wide net (ABC News)
New York judge rules Trump committed fraud and lied about his net worth for years (NBC News)
“Taxpayer-funded publicity stunt”: House Oversight opens probe into energy secretary’s EV road trip (National Review)
Travis King, American soldier who crossed into North Korea, in U.S. custody (Politico)
San Francisco prepares to clear homeless camps after court clarifies definition of “involuntarily homeless” (National Review)
Looters ransack Philadelphia stores after police officer’s charges dismissed in fatal shooting (Daily Wire)
Target says it will close nine stores in major cities, citing violence and theft (CNBC)
Tennessee to consider cutting off federal government funding for education (Daily Wire)
Biden’s dog Commander bites Secret Service member — again (Daily Wire)
Humor: Trudeau attempts to distract from Nazi controversy by growing cool new mustache (Babylon Bee)
Humor: Taylor Swift releases new song “I Knew You Were Trouble When You Hauled in 7 Receptions for 69 Yards and a TD Against the Bears” (Babylon Bee)
Community Notes Own the Liars of the Internet — A lot has changed since Elon Musk bought Twitter, including the name of the social media platform to X. One new feature that stands out, however, is community notes.
Hero Mom Confronts School Board — There are a lot of videos in recent years of parents confronting school boards after finding out what’s going on in the classroom — but this may be the best of all.
“You go into 2024 with the voting process already having been corroded by people who believe it didn’t work properly last time.” —Biden senior advisor Anita Dunn
Pot Calling the Kettle Black
“And then you do have a political party … that has shown that it will really stop almost at nothing when it comes to attacking basic American institutions and institutional behavior that they don’t agree with.” —Anita Dunn
Grand Delusions
“What I can say is that we have been able to secure some … record pieces of legislation that is [sic] going to change the lives of Americans.” —White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
Lack of Self-Awareness Award
“Our economy is in a special kind of crisis. Our whole economy is in a special kind of crisis.” —Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (Because we have a special kind of president and lots of special House and Senate members.)
Seems Legit…
“For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies, and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba. Now, this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings account based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years. I look forward to addressing other issues at trial.” —Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) regarding his $480,000 in cash (“Actually, Menendez was born in the U.S., and his folks left Cuba around five years before the commie Castro regime came to power and began confiscating stuff, but those are just details. He’s Cuban, he’ll have you know.” —Douglas Andrews)
For the Record
“The crisis at our southern border is only becoming more dire by the day — evidenced by the record-breaking number of illegal border crossings. President [Joe] Biden and his administration have completely abandoned our Border Patrol agents and the security of the American people.” —Congressman August Pfluger (R-TX)
Political Futures
“Four years ago, Democrats harnessed a backlash against Donald Trump, in the midst of COVID and the George Floyd ordeal, to elect Biden. But now that voters can make a direct comparison between the Trump and Biden eras, the juxtaposition doesn’t favor Biden. … Yet a scenario in which the Democrats dump Biden is hard to envision. First there’s the president himself, who won’t go gently into that good night. His life is politics, and like his contemporaries Sen. Mitch McConnell (81) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (90), Biden (80) has nothing but the grave to look forward to once he leaves office.” —Daniel McCarthy
“As Democrats begin to realize Biden’s political weakness, with Donald Trump barreling down the pike, Harris is one of the factors — although not the main one — keeping them from doing anything about it. What if someone did convince Biden to step aside for the good of the party? Well, that might open the way for Harris herself to become the nominee. In other words, out of the pan and into the fire.” —Rich Lowry
And Last…
“Civilization is a choice. We get up every morning and decide to follow certain rules of decorum and behavior because that’s how you keep a society together. We have seen a total breakdown of those norms year after year. It affects music, arts, public discourse, behavior in our schools, you name it. While some standards may change and relax over time, the wholesale abandonment of standards is rarely, if ever, a good thing.” —Gary Bauer
Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer testified in July to the House Oversight Committee that Joe Biden spoke with his son’s business associates more than 20 times, including a spring 2014 dinner with Russian oligarch Elena Baturina and a spring 2015 dinner with Vadim Pozharskyi, an executive with Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability led by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., holds its first hearing on an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. #foxnews
According to a survey released on Tuesday by the National Retail Federation, retail crime, violence, and theft caused $112 billion in losses for retailers last year.
The annual survey is conducted by retail loss prevention professionals who analyze data about industry risks, threats, and vulnerabilities.
The NRF reports, “This year’s study found that the average shrink rate in FY 2022 increased to 1.6%, up from 1.4% in FY 2021. When taken as a percentage of total retail sales in 2022, that shrink represents $112.1 billion in losses.”
This number represents a significant increase from $93.9 billion in losses the year before.
“Retailers are seeing unprecedented levels of theft coupled with rampant crime in their stores, and the situation is only becoming more dire,” David Johnston, NRF’s vice president for asset protection and retail operations, said in a statement.
Retail crime has been skyrocketing, particularly in liberal-run cities, where the theft penalties have been reduced to almost nothing.
The Seattle Times reports, “the trade group collected insights from 177 retail brands across 28 different retail sectors — including apparel, jewelry, grocery, and department stores — and accounted for more than 97,000 retail locations and $1.6 trillion in annual retail sales.”
“Many retailers who participated in the survey said they had increased spending on loss prevention in 2022. Forty-six percent said they increased the use of third-party security personnel in their stores, and 34% said they ‘increased payroll to support their risk efforts,’” the report continued.
Additionally, 53 percent of retailers said that they have increased, or are increasing, workplace violence training to lower the risk for employees during theft or crime.
An 88 percent majority of retailers said shoplifters were “somewhat more or much more aggressive and violent compared with one year ago.”
“Far beyond the financial impact of these crimes, the violence and concerns over safety continue to be the priority for all retailers, regardless of size or category,” Johnston said.
The survey also found that 45 percent of retailers reduced their operating hours, 30 percent reduced or altered their in-store product selection, and 28 percent said they were forced to close a store location.
Elon Musk on Tuesday posted a video on X, trolling deniers of vaccine injuries and ineffectiveness and the groups involved in forcing the jab on people around the world.
This is not the first time Must has been critical of the experimental COVID-19 vaccines or the state-run media, including Twitter, that colluded with government officials to censor the truth about them.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Musk previously admitted on Twitter that he felt like he was dying after taking the second experimental mRNA vaccine. More recently, he suggested Lebron James’ son, Bronny James, may have had a heart attack linked to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Musk posted the following video, exposing the gradual decline of vaccine efficacy, calls for boosters, later reports of vaccine-related injuries and serious health issues, and finally, the billions of dollars in profits reported by big pharma companies, in media reports on his X platform, asking, “Have you heard dis information?”
Desperate believers in “the science” attempted to fact check Musk in the community notes, which are not currently shown on X. Some tried to claim that mutations in the virus diminish the efficacy of the jab, but it still provides “protection against serious illness or death.”
Border Patrol agents confiscated enough fentanyl in the 2023 fiscal year to kill every American, the latest data from the southern border demonstrating the magnitude of the crisis.
“But when you wind up in an election where the two top ballot initiatives, are one, encouraging people to kill their own kids, and two, encouraging their kids to do drugs — who’s benefiting here?”
(Katherine Hamilton – Breitbart) Tucker Carlson called out the Left’s relentless push to end the lives of the unborn in a recent address to Christians, contending that the issue of abortion is not a “political debate” but a “spiritual battle.”
The Center for Christian Virtue hosted Tucker Carlson for its gala in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 21….
During his speech, Carlson pointed to two ballot initiatives Ohioans will be voting on in November, including a radical abortion measure that could allow the procedure through all nine months of pregnancy, and a measure allowing anyone 21 years old and above to buy and possess marijuana. View article →
For more information about the reliability of the New Testament gospels and the case for Christianity, please read Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels. This book teaches readers ten principles of cold-case investigations and applies these strategies to investigate the claims of the gospel authors. The book is accompanied by an eight-session Cold-Case Christianity DVD Set (and Participant’s Guide) to help individuals or small groups examine the evidence and make the case.
“But when you wind up in an election where the two top ballot initiatives, are one, encouraging people to kill their own kids, and two, encouraging their kids to do drugs — who’s benefiting here?”
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