“He foresaw my every fall, my every sin, my every backsliding; yet, nevertheless, fixed His heart upon me.” — Arthur W. Pink
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Monthly Archives: April 2024
Fake Repentance
The Gospel of Satan
May 2 – Samson’s Sad Story | VCY
TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
Judges 15:1-16:31
John 2:1-25
Psalm 103:1-22
Proverbs 14:17-19
Judges 15:6 — What type of society says that property damage is worthy of the death penalty? Mosaic Law provides for the death penalty in only one type of sin – kidnapping (Theopolis Institute has a great analysis – however, I’m not endorsing their Federal Vision Theology).
Judges 15:11 — Not only do the Philistines have their values flipped (property over people), but three thousand men of Judah don’t know who their ruler is. The Torah records in Exodus 15:18 that the LORD shall reign for ever and ever! The Philistines are not to reign over the Israelites per Deuteronomy 15:6.
Judges 15:15 — God provides in spite of Samson breaking his Nazarite vows.
Judges 16:1 — Dave Benoit preached a great message on parenting from Samson:
- Seeking the wrong type of wife (Judges 14:2)
- Parents counsel was disregarded (Judges 14:3)
- While a judge, goes to a harlot (Judges 16:1)
- Doesn’t learn from Judges 14:17 (Judges 16:16)
- Ends up buried by his parents (Judges 16:31)
John 2:1 — Jesus began His ministry quickly – after the temptation in the wilderness, He comes back to John the Baptist and takes Simon, Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael to Galilee, avoiding the hub of Jerusalem and settling into the Galilee.
John 2:8 — Jesus takes over the job of the ruler (King), in a few verses He cleanses the temple as priest (John 2:17), and then prophesies of His death (John 2:19).
Psalm 103:1 — This verse is set to music in a familiar tune followed by a verse from 1 Samuel 12:24 and other passages. SoundForth’s song “From Everlasting to Everlasting” is based on Psalm 103.
Proverbs 14:17 — Interesting word study on anger – God has a right (or perhaps a responsibility) to be angry.
Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.
God Himself Shall Work | VCY
Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. (Isaiah 33:10)
When the spoilers had made the land as waste as if devoured by locusts, and the warriors who had defended the country sat down and wept like women, then the Lord came to the rescue. When travelers ceased from the roads to Zion, and Bashan and Carmel were as vineyards from which the fruit has failed, then the Lord arose. God is exalted in the midst of an afflicted people, for they seek His face and trust Him. He is still more exalted when in answer to their cries He lifts up Himself to deliver them and overthrow their enemies.
Is it a day of sorrow with us? Let us expect to see the Lord glorified in our deliverance. Are we drawn out in fervent prayer? Do we cry day and night unto Him? Then the set time for His grace is near. God will lift up Himself at the right season. He will arise when it will be most for the display of His glory. We wish for His glory more than we long for our own deliverance. Let the Lord be exalted, and our chief desire is obtained.
Lord, help us in such a way that we may see that Thou Thyself art working. May we magnify Thee in our inmost souls. Make all around us to see how good and great a God Thou art.
30 Apr 2024 News Briefing
If You Want People To Have Babies You’re Now “Far Right”
A report published by Politico claims that wanting the human race to reproduce is now a “far right” position to take. Yes, really. Leftists are so obsessed with identity politics, they’re arguing that human reproduction, and being in favour of people having babies is now right wing.
Biden Looks To Prevent Future President From Ending Ukraine War With 10-Year Agreement
Zelensky said in his nightly video address. “Our goal is to make this agreement the strongest of all.” “We are discussing the specific foundations of our security and cooperation. We are also working on fixing specific levels of support for this year and the next 10 years.”
“We Live In An Age Of Full-Spectrum Deception”
You realize, don’t you, that what’s going on in our country is the collapse not just of an empire, or an economy, but a comprehensive paradigm of human progress. The hallmark of post-war life in Western Civ was supposed to be a return to sanity after the mid-twentieth century fugue of mass psychotic violence. The wish for just and rational order was not entirely pretense. But that was then. Now that we are going medieval on ourselves, the not-so-ironic result will be our literally going medieval, sinking back into a pre-modern existence of darkness, What’s most appalling is that our governing apparatus is visibly willing that to happen.
As new Haiti leadership takes power, gangs demand a seat at the table
Haiti’s new transition council is set to choose the country’s next president on Tuesday, but leaders of the gangs who have exerted increasing control are clamoring for political influence and amnesties and threatening violence if their demands are not met.
Blinken, Saudi crown prince discuss achieving peace, security in Gaza, US says
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday in Riyadh, where they discussed the urgent need to reduce tensions in the region, Blinken is in Saudi Arabia as part of a broader trip to the Middle East aimed at discussing with Arab partners post-war Gaza
FCC fines US wireless carriers over illegal location data sharing
The Federal Communications Commission on Monday fined the largest U.S. wireless carriers nearly $200 million for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information. The FCC is finalizing fines first proposed in February 2020, including $80 million for T-Mobile (TMUS.O) $12 million for Sprint, which T-Mobile has since acquired; $57 million for AT&T (T.N), and nearly $47 million for Verizon Communications (VZ.N) The carriers sold “real-time location information to data aggregators, allowing this highly sensitive data to wind up in the hands of bail-bond companies, bounty hunters,
With Only Weeks Away, Experts Urgently Warn WHO Pandemic Treaty Will Usurp US Sovereignty
Americans stand just weeks away from handing over massive amounts of taxpayer funding, protective equipment intended for U.S. citizens, and an incalculable amount of influence over U.S. policy to the World Health Organization (WHO), critics warn. The most recently updated version of the “Proposal for the WHO Pandemic Agreement,” amended on April 22, would redistribute wealth and protective equipment away from the U.S., establish a global governing board with little accountability to U.S. citizens and, critics say, water down U.S. sovereignty over how it responds to future pandemics.
“Netanyahu needs no urging to invade Rafah’
“Hamas has been demanding one thing that Israel cannot give – the end of the war. That is why I am pessimistic about the negotiations – they understand that they will be finished if the war continues for just six more weeks.”
US presidential candidate arrested at anti-Israel protest
The Green Party’s Jill Stein was detained alongside two staffers during an illegal protest at Washington University in St. Louis.
Israel reduces number of hostages to be released in Hamas deal to 33
Israel initially sought to release 40 hostages, including women, children, the seriously ill, and female soldiers. However, a revision occurred partly due to Israel’s belief, as indicated by one official, that some of the 40 captives may have died while in captivity.
Hamas official: We will move to Jordan if forced to leave Qatar
Mousa Abu Marzook, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, denies reports regarding the Hamas leadership leaving Qatar, calling them ‘media propaganda with no basis in reality’. In an interview with the Iranian channel ‘Al-Alam’, Abu Marzook said that the reports were intended to pressure Hamas in the context of indirect negotiations on a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange
US, Britain urge Hamas to accept Israeli truce proposal
Antony Blinken on Monday urged Hamas to swiftly accept an Israeli proposal for a truce in the Gaza war and the release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian terrorist group. Hamas negotiators were expected to meet Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Monday to deliver a response to the phased truce proposal which Israel presented at the weekend. “The only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas.”
Israel kills IRGC terror commander in Iran who planned German synagogue attacks
Two years ago, Germany reported that it suspected the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp was behind three attempted terror attacks against synagogues. The news of the killing of the IRGC commander is the latest in an ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, which is characterized by unprecedented direct attacks between the two countries rather than through Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis.
Why are there two Golgotha sites?
The first site of Golgotha is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Originally built in the 4th century, it’s situated within the current walls of the Old City, and at the heart of the Christian Quarter. It’s the end station of the Via Dolorosa pilgrimage road and has been venerated as the original Golgotha and Tomb of Jesus for many centuries.
Netanyahu and Biden speak ahead of Hamas’ response to hostage proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and … Joe Biden on Sunday evening spoke about the ongoing joint efforts to secure the return of the remaining 133 hostages being held captive in Gaza by Hamas terrorists.
Catastrophic damage, at least 4 fatalities after severe tornado outbreak hits Oklahoma
A severe tornado outbreak on Saturday, April 27, 2024, has resulted in the deaths of at least four individuals and inflicted significant destruction across several cities in Oklahoma, marking one of the most destructive days in the state’s recent history.
Bright green fireball over Long Island, New York
A bright fireball was seen and recorded streaking through the night sky over the northern tip of Long Island, New York at 02:08 UTC on April 27, 2024 (22:08 LT, April 26).
Storm threat continues after over 83 tornadoes reported across states in Great Plains; 4 injured, hundreds of homes damaged
Severe weather left a trail of destruction in the Heartland on Friday with 83 reports of tornadoes across five states. A multi-day tornado outbreak continued Saturday with powerful storms expected from Texas to the Great Lakes. There have also been 33 damaging wind reports and 60 large hail reports.
Blinken Urges Hamas To Take ‘Extraordinarily Generous’ Ceasefire Deal
Israeli officials have reportedly given Hamas an ultimatum, saying the group has “one last chance” to reach a deal, according to Axios. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday, “If there is a deal, we will suspend the operation” – in reference to the planned Rafah ground offensive.
‘Anti-White’ Scottish First Minister Quits After Disastrous ‘Hate Crime Law’
Scotland’s leader Humza Yousaf resigned on Monday, quitting as head of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) after scrapping a coalition agreement with Scotland’s Greens. He then failed to secure enough support to survive votes of no confidence against him expected later this week.
Global Outrage: Iran’s Death Sentence of Famous Rapper Toomaj Salehi Sparks Massive Uprising Against the Islamic Republic
“Basic human rights do not exist in Iran. We are tired. We are the new generation, we understand human rights, and the freedom we deserve, and we are fighting to claim them,” declared a spokeswoman for the Persian protest against the Islamic Republic…
VIDEO: Chicken Sacrificed As ‘Offering to Rain God’ at Mexico’s Senate
A Mexican Senator from the Morena Party drew widespread condemnation after he organized the ritualistic killing of a chicken as an “offering to a rain god.” The incident took place in one of the courtyards of Mexico’s federal senate building.
World’s biggest nickel producer to transfer some production to China
Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel will move some copper smelting production to China in the wake of Western sanctions pressure, the company’s chief executive Vladimir Potanin said in an interview with Interfax on Monday.
Federal Appeals Court Rules West Virginia and North Carolina Must Pay for Transgender Healthcare
…The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-6 “in the case involving coverage of gender-affirming care by North Carolina’s state employee health plan and the coverage of gender-affirming surgery by West Virginia Medicaid.” The case is likely headed to the US Supreme Court.
Report: U.S. marshal, 2 police officers killed in shooting in Charlotte neighborhood
Three law enforcement officers have died after “numerous” officers were shot in a neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina, reports indicate. CBS News reports two police officers and a U.S. marshal have died in the shooting. Other officers were also injured.
EUROPE could be gearing up to forge a bubble of nuclear protection from Russia made up of 300 French ballistic missiles. French President Macron has suggested that submarine-launched warheads are fanned across the continent to shore up the collective defense.
Pro-Palestinian protesters in Vancouver praise Hamas, October 7
Anti-Israel protesters praised the October 7 massacre and several terrorist organizations at a Vancouver rally on Friday, according to a video published by Free Palestine Tri-cities British Columbia, demanding that the groups be removed from Canada’s list of terrorist entities.
Student reportedly forced into Hindu rituals at Chicago school granted class action status
A petition for class action status by a former Chicago Public School student, Kaya Hudgins, who alleged that her school coerced her to participate in Transcendental Meditation (TM) and Hindu practices has been granted by a federal judge in a lawsuit against the Board of Education of the City of Chicago and the David Lynch Foundation. Attorneys at Mauck & Baker, representing Kaya Hudgins, received an order from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois awarding class certification to Hudgins and her peers.
Arizona Republicans Officially Declare Covid Shots ‘Biological Weapons’
The Arizona Republican Party has passed a “Ban the Jab” resolution and officially declared Covid mRNA shots “biological and technological bioweapons.” The “Ban the Jab” resolution was submitted to Arizona Republicans by Dan Schultz of Precinct Strategy. On Sunday, the state’s GOP almost unanimously voted to pass the resolution.
Who is the head of the snake behind the Great Reset, Covid and Global Warming hoaxes?
Reporter and author Elizabeth Nickson delves into the groups and aims of those behind the agenda being implemented in the West. Having grown up in a privileged home in Canada, she is able to give some personal insight into how these people think.
REPORT: Canadian Town to Require QR Code to Leave?
Circulating reports indicate a remote Canadian town will require a QR code to enter or leave. Unsurprisingly, the reports have sparked severe criticism.
Headlines – 4/30/2024
Blinken arrives in Saudi Arabia to discuss normalization with Israel, post-war Gaza
Blinken, Saudi crown prince discuss achieving peace, security in Gaza, US says
IDF Approves Rafah Attack Plan as Blinken Visit Looms
‘My whole family has perished:’ 22 killed in Israeli airstrike on Rafah, hospital staff say
Daughter of prominent Palestinian poet killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza
Attorneys inside and outside the administration urge Biden to cut off arms to Israel
Hamas fires more than 20 rockets from Lebanon at northern Israel
Israeli strikes kill at least 40 Palestinians in Gaza, as ceasefire talks begin
Parties see hope for a Gaza cease-fire: ‘Maybe this time it will work’
Israel reduces number of hostages to be released in Hamas deal to 33 – report
Blinken urges Hamas to accept ‘extraordinarily generous’ Israeli peace proposal, releasing hostages
Hope for new Israel-Hamas cease-fire piles pressure on Netanyahu as Gaza war nears 7-month mark
Netanyahu tells Biden he’s worried about possible ICC arrest warrants
Speaker Johnson slams ICC for reportedly considering arrest warrant for Netanyahu: ‘Disgraceful’
US determines 5 Israeli security units committed human rights violations before outbreak of Gaza war
GOP senator slams ‘exploding’ cost to US of building Gaza aid pier
After Harrowing Escape, Survivor of Oct. 7 Hamas Attacks Faces Death Threats and Doxxing in U.S.
Israeli researchers see major drop in international cooperation since October 7
Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestinian Protesters Clash at UCLA ‘Encampment’
Columbia suspends pro-Palestinian protesters after encampment talks stall
Columbia University anti-Israel protests: Students facing suspension say ‘we won’t back down’
Anti-Israel Protesters Defy Order to Clear Encampment: ‘Columbia Will Burn’
Authorities Dismantle Protestor Encampment at the University of Texas in Chaotic Scene
Protesters Remove American Flag, Raise Palestinian Flag in Harvard Yard
Georgia Trooper Tackles Protester During Anti-Israel Demonstration at Emory University
Un-Informed Anti-Israel Protestors Have No Idea Gays are Routinely Killed in Palestine
New York City’s Jewish Population Under ‘Dark Cloud’ as Tensions Rise
Houthis attack four ships in Indian Ocean, Red Sea
Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked two vessels, two US destroyers
Houthis fire three missiles at vessel operated by shipper that trades with Israel
Israel threatened to topple Assad regime if Syria gets involved in Gaza war
Islamic State Resurgence: Four Assad Troops Killed in Syria Ambush
UN experts say North Korea missile landed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv
Rep. Andy Biggs says that Democrats are trying to annex Ukraine as the next 51st state
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy calls for faster arms supplies as NATO chief visits
NATO chief, on unannounced Kyiv visit, says arms flows to Ukraine will increase
Russian strikes overwhelm Ukraine’s overstretched air defense amid Western aid delays
Ukraine forced to withdraw from more villages as Russia intensifies pressure
Russia says it has captured another Donetsk village after Ukraine pulls back forces in the east
Russia to show off captured Western vehicles during Victory Day celebrations
Russia arrests more journalists on ‘extremism’ charges
China’s Xi to visit France, Serbia, Hungary as Beijing appears to seek a larger role in Ukraine
‘Winning with bullets’ Mexico enduring deadliest election ever as 30 politicians murdered
‘Created uncertainty’: Spanish PM says he will not resign after corruption allegations against wife
Spain’s PM averts crisis but political schism could deepen
Hunter Biden threatens to sue Fox News for airing ‘revenge porn’
Hunter Biden lawyers plan to sue Fox News over alleged efforts to defame the first son
Norm Eisen: Trump Likely Headed for Conviction, Possible Jail Time
Donald Trump ‘has 70% chance’ of being convicted’ and ‘faces house arrest with ankle tag’
Democrats plan to have Donald Trump ‘murdered in jail,’ claims congresswoman
EU to probe Meta over handling of Russian disinformation, FT reports
Catholic Answers shelves AI priest ‘Father Justin’ following backlash
China set to launch high-stakes mission to moon’s ‘hidden’ side
5.2 magnitude earthquake hits the Vanuatu region
5.1 magnitude earthquake hits near Villa Corzo, Mexico
Ruang volcano in Indonesia erupts to 63,000ft
Sabancaya volcano in Peru erupts to 26,000ft
Sangay volcano in Ecuador erupts to 23,000ft
Popocateptl volcano in Mexico erupts to 20,000ft
Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupts to 14,000ft
Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupts to 14,000ft
Semeru volcano in Indonesia erupts to 14,000ft
Marapi volcano in Indonesia erupts to 14,000ft
Ibu volcano in Indonesia erupts to 10,000ft
Large avalanche strikes Sonmarg, Jammu and Kashmir
Destructive tornadoes in America’s heartland kill 5 across 2 states during worst outbreak of 2024
Tornado kills at least 5, injures 33, in Chinese metropolis as region battles deadly floods
Aerial photos show devastation left by a deadly tornado in China
At least 45 people die in western Kenya as floodwaters sweep away houses and cars
Dam collapse in western Kenya claims at least 48 lives, leaves 49 missing
Karnataka: Bengaluru reels under scorching heat, records second hottest day in 50 years
Report: Global wine production worst in 62 years due to ‘extreme climate events’
Commentary: Mounting Evidence Is Pointing to a Nightmare Scenario for the U.S. Economy
Guatemalan Poppy Farmers Suffer as Fentanyl Overtakes Heroin in the US
New leaders take on Haiti’s chaos as those living in fear demand swift solutions to gang violence
Haiti’s oldest newspaper forced to stop printing after armed gangs attack premises
Ex BBC employee found with nearly 60,000 child sex abuse images of children
UN ‘Alarmed’ By Iraq Law Criminalising Same-sex Acts
Republican-led states sue to block Biden protections for transgender students
Texas AG Ken Paxton Sues Biden Administration over Title IX Rewrite Pushing Transgender Ideology
Texas governor says state will ignore ‘illegal’ Biden Title IX revisions
Revealed: Growing Number of Young People Now Identify as ‘Gender Season’
Ex-lawmaker George Santos offering Cameo videos with his drag queen alter ego
United Methodists Prepare for Votes on Lifting LGBTQ Bans
Federal Court Rules State Health Plans Must Pay for Trans Care
Pelosi: After Election Dems Will Ditch Filibuster to Legalize Abortion Nationally
Warning as First American Dolphin Diagnosed With Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu
French footballer to Sue Pfizer over COVID-19 vaccine
MP Andrew Bridgen: I’m Afraid COVID Vaccine Deaths Are ‘Going to Be Bigger Than the Holocaust’
AstraZeneca Finally Admits in Court Documents Its COVID-19 Vaccine Can Cause Rare Side Effects
AstraZeneca cops to rare, deadly side effect of COVID jab as lawsuits mount
Mid-Day Snapshot · April 30, 2024
“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”.
THE FOUNDATION
“No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than United America. Wondrously strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly.” —George Washington (1788)
| On this day in Patriot history in 1789, George Washington took office as the first and still greatest American president. He began with a prayer of thanks, offering “fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe” and “who presides in the councils of nations.” He remains the model for presidential character. —Mark Alexander |
IN TODAY’S DIGEST
- Democrats Feast on Noem’s Dog Story
- Executive News Summary
- ‘Screams Before Silence’
- Biden’s Coming ‘Climate Emergency’
- The Slow-Charging Market for EVs
- James Biden Sold ‘The Brand’ in Qatar
- DAILY FEATURES: Reader Comments, Videos, Best of Right Opinion, Short Cuts, Memes, and Cartoons.
ON THE WEB
- Mark Alexander: Profiles of Valor: Farewell, Ralph Puckett
- Gary Bauer: A Failure to Plan
- Caleb Nunes: The Pseudo Intelligence of the Left
- William A. Woodruff: Immunity for Me but Not for Thee
FEATURED ANALYSIS
Democrats Feast on Noem’s Dog Story
It seems that a political party beset by bad news has to find solace anywhere it can.
Douglas Andrews
Every dog, like every human, has its day.
Democrats are high-fiving these days, thinking they’ve knocked one of Donald Trump’s potential VP picks off the ticket. And perhaps they have. But Trump will have no problem finding a good, smart, tough, complementary veep to remind the American people that a cackling fool and a quota hire is now just a heartbeat away from the American presidency.
As for the outrage surrounding South Dakota’s highly successful governor, Kristi Noem, who in her soon-to-be-released memoir recounts having made the difficult decision to put down a full-grown 14-month-old family dog — a dog that was chomping chickens to death, biting the state’s governor, and lunging with bared teeth at its master — the Democrats can spare us their crocodile tears. Where were they, after all, when we learned that Barack Obama had actually eaten a dog and that St. Anthony Fauci and his crew had been torturing and murdering beagle pups by the bushel?
All of a sudden, Mitt Romney’s rooftop dog carrier doesn’t seem quite so offensive to them.
That Noem voluntarily shared this sad story is proof that Democrats have become utterly removed from the life-and-death realities of life on a farm. But how do they suppose that $52 petite filet wound up on their plate at Ruth’s Chris?
Cows have feelings, too. And so do babies in the womb, but Democrats don’t seem to be conflicted about ending their lives on demand and under the most barbaric of conditions.
Noem took to X on Sunday to defend herself, as the story blew up out of all proportion:
I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons learned.
What I learned from my years of public service, especially leading South Dakota through COVID, is people are looking for leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past, and don’t shy away from tough challenges. My hope is anyone reading this book will have an understanding that I always work to make the best decisions I can for the people in my life. … Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it’s hard and painful. I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor. As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy. But often the easy way isn’t the right way.
To which one representative leftist replied: “The dog frustrated you. You killed it. That wasn’t a tough decision by an empathetic person. That was a weak and lazy decision by a sociopathic person. Leading in government is making the right choices. You are insensitive and impatient. Your choices suck.”
Putting to death a full-of-life young family dog may be many things, but it isn’t “weak,” and it isn’t “lazy.” And we’ll say this about Kristi Noem: She’d never have tolerated a German Shepherd repeatedly sinking its teeth into the Secret Service agents sworn to protect her. That doesn’t mean she’d have taken Commander to the nearest gravel pit. But it does mean she understands the hierarchy of God’s creatures.
“I’ll give her this, though,” writes Matt Margolis at PJ Media. “She was honest about it, unlike Joe Biden. Joe Biden has had his share of problematic dogs. Upon coming to the White House, his German Shepherd, Major, became aggressive, biting several Secret Service agents before being given to a ‘family friend’ so they could start over with a new German Shepherd puppy, Commander. In other words, their dogs were purely props for the media, completely expendable.”
Yep, Joe Biden is still the worst dog owner short of Michael Vick. And, perhaps not coincidentally, as Gallup tells us, the least popular president in history.
Executive News Summary
Four LEOs murdered, Trump and DeSantis meet, The Mob forces Columbia’s hand, and more.
Douglas Andrews, Thomas Gallatin, & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
- Four LEOs murdered in NC: It’s a strong sign of the sickness that infects American society when, on a news day that should be dominated by the loss of four law enforcement officers, we’re instead “treated” to footage of the filthy and destructive Soros-funded rabble who have overtaken our institutions of lower learning. The four officers were among eight LEOs who were shot Monday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina. As Fox News reports: “The shootout began around 1:30 p.m. Monday while members of a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force were serving a warrant for firearm possession by a convicted felon. Hours and dozens of gunshots later, authorities confirmed that three task force members and one CMPD officer were fatally shot while four other officers were injured.” Said one shaken resident of the ordinarily quiet neighborhood: “There were just an enormous amount of gunshots and people in our yard and people hiding behind vehicles. Firemen hiding behind fire trucks. … I was in a state of shock. It’s really tragic. Those folks go to work every day to protect us.” Local authorities confirmed that the 39-year-old suspect, whom police had attempted to serve, was shot and killed in the front yard after having fired on the officers. But that suspect was reportedly not the only would-be cop killer on the property. Gunfire continued to come from the home even after the suspect had been taken down, and two other “persons of interest” were taken into custody. “Our hearts are heavy tonight for the lives shattered by today’s horrific shooting,” said the U.S. Marshals Service in a statement. “We are grateful for all the support, and we keep the families and colleagues of all officers involved, in our thoughts.”
- Good news: Police hiring is up: Despite the previous story, there is a silver lining. For the first time since 2020 — marked by the infamous Summer of Rage thanks in large part to the anti-police narrative pushed by Black Lives Matter and Democrat politicians following the death of George Floyd — police departments are seeing a rise in the number of officers hired and a higher retention rate. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) reports: “For the first time since the start of the pandemic, agencies reported a year-over-year increase in total sworn staffing. Responding agencies reported hiring more sworn officers in 2023 than in any of the previous four years. Agencies saw fewer resignations in 2023 than they did in 2021 or 2022, though they still had more officers resign last year than in 2019 or 2020. And retirements dropped back down to roughly where they were in 2019 after being elevated for the previous three years.” As of January 1, 2024, police departments across the country total 151,335 officers, representing a 0.4% increase over the prior year’s total of 150,714 officers. Furthermore, the number of officers resigning and retiring has decreased by 21.6% and 24%, respectively, from the year prior.
- Trump and DeSantis meet amidst speculation about ticket: Donald Trump took time out of his jam-packed leftist lawfare schedule over the weekend to meet privately with America’s Best Governor, Florida’s Ron DeSantis. Much like Trump’s rebuilt relationships with 2016 Republican presidential primary rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, this meeting likely signals a mending of the fence between DeSantis, who challenged Trump for the Republican nomination, and Trump, who responded by belittling the governor as “DeSanctimonious.” As the Associated Press reports: “The meeting, which lasted three hours, was organized to help the men bury the hatchet and discuss potential joint fundraising efforts,” according to an anonymous source. “The governor, during the conversation, committed to helping Trump as he faces President Joe Biden in the general election.” Trump called it “a great meeting,” adding that he was “very happy to have [DeSantis’s] full and enthusiastic support.” Trump continued: “The conversation mostly concerned how we would work closely together to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. … I greatly appreciate Ron’s support in taking back our Country from the Worst President in the History of the United States.” At this point, one can only wonder whether anything else was discussed at the meeting — such as DeSantis joining the Trump ticket. If he did so, the two would have to manage the constitutional proscription against both candidates hailing from the same state.
- Gallup: Biden’s approval rating is the lowest in 70 years: Go figure. The guy who got more votes for president, ahem, than any candidate in American history is now, according to Gallup, the least popular chief executive since the renowned polling organization began measuring these things back when Ike was president. “President Joe Biden,” as Gallup reports, “averaged 38.7% job approval during his recently completed 13th quarter in office, which began on Jan. 20 and ended April 19. None of the other nine presidents elected to their first term since Dwight Eisenhower had a lower 13th-quarter average than Biden.” These grim tidings, taken in combination with a new CNN poll that shows Donald Trump leading Biden by six points in a head-to-head matchup and by nine points when third-party candidates RFK Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein are added to the mix, will no doubt have Scranton Joe’s handlers reaching for the Maalox. As the Gallup pollsters conclude, “With about six months remaining before Election Day, Biden stands in a weaker position than any prior incumbent, and thus faces a taller task than they did in getting reelected.”
- TX sues over Title IX revisions: On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its recent Title IX rewrite that effectively erases protections for girls and women by redefining the female sex to include males who identify as female. Paxton noted that the Biden administration’s motive was to push the Left’s “radical gender ideology.” Therefore, “Texas will not allow Joe Biden to rewrite Title IX at whim, destroying legal protections for women in furtherance of his radical obsession with gender ideology,” Paxton asserted. “This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality. Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk.” Joining Texas in its lawsuit is America First Legal, which contends that the Education Department’s changes to Title IX “would fundamentally transform the educational atmosphere of publicly funded educational institutions, forcing communities to capitulate to unscientific gender ideology and putting girls and women at risk in K-12 schools and on college campuses.” According to the Biden administration’s Title IX rewrite, any schools that receive federal funding may not exclude males who identify as females from girls’ and women’s spaces based upon a purely biological sex-based reality. Eight other states have also launched lawsuits over the Title IX rewrite, including Montana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Idaho, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina.
- The Mob forces Columbia’s hand: “The president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach. That is not an example of peaceful protest. … A small percentage of students shouldn’t be able to disrupt the academic experience [blah, blah, blah] … that does not comport with the idea of peaceful protest.” So said John Kirby, one of Joe Biden’s increasingly hapless mouthpieces, as the filthy, cowardly, mask-wearing, Jew-hating, Hamas-supporting, Soros-funded, latter-day Occupy Wall Street rabble turned violent at the Ivy League’s Columbia University in Manhattan. Indeed, to its eternal disgrace, Columbia was forced to close its doors indefinitely (“until circumstances allow otherwise”) after a Jew-hating mob broke into the university’s iconic Hamilton Hall early this morning. As Fox News reports: “Once inside Hamilton Hall, the mob began ‘moving metal gates to barricade the doors, blocking entrances with wooden tables and chairs, and zip-tying doors shut,’ according to the student newspaper Columbia Spectator. Footage of the insurrection showed the protesters in New York smashing windows, unfurling a Palestinian flag over a window and chanting: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ and ‘Palestine will live forever.’” We imagine all the folks who sent their children to Columbia must be brimming with pride. “Effective immediately,” began a statement from the university, “access to the Morningside campus has been limited to students residing in residential buildings on campus … and employees who provide essential services to campus buildings, labs and residential student life.”
- Anti-Semitic encampment delayed: In Seattle, an anti-Israel student group at the University of Washington has delayed a planned encampment protest on the campus. The reason for the University of Washington Progressive Student Union (UWPSU) hitting pause on its anti-Semitic protest was not due to any warning from school officials, as the administration reportedly told local Jewish leaders that they would not intervene in the protest unless “the event escalates and threatens life safety.” Ironically, the reason the protest has been delayed has everything to do with DEI. That’s right: These radical leftist students are concerned that those who are planning to show up for the protest are too white. In a social media post, the UWPSU explained: “After a long meeting we decided to postpone the encampment. We want to make sure this encampment is a better reflection of the UW community, and having even greater unity with Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab students.” The post added: “We want to be part of a much larger coalition of groups and make no mistake, WE WILL HAVE A UW ENCAMPMENT! We want to make sure everyone’s voice is included and this action is as safe, secure, and strong as possible.” Evidently, the UWPSU wants a variety of racial groups present to help spread its anti-Semitic hate.
- IOC’s useful idiots: In a decision that amounts to little other than a leftist virtue signal, the International Olympic Committee recently announced that it will recognize Palestine as its own country at the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in France. This is largely an empty gesture, given the fact that there will likely be no athletes from the war-torn region participating in the games. There is apparently one Palestinian individual who has qualified in the sport of taekwondo. Regardless of whether he can or will attend, the IOC makes clear that its decision is all about making a political statement. “We have made the clear commitment that even if no (Palestinian) athlete would qualify on the field of play … then the National Olympic Committee of Palestine would benefit from invitations, like other national Olympic Committees who do not have a qualified athlete,” stated IOC chief Thomas Bach. Meanwhile, the IOC bars athletes representing Russia from competing due to Russia’s invasion and war with Ukraine. The question is, why has the IOC not given the Palestinians the same treatment as it gave the Russians? Like Russia, it was Hamas that started this war with Israel by launching an unprovoked terror attack against innocent Israeli civilians on October 7.
Headlines
- Chaos at Princeton: 13 arrested after students, faculty occupy campus building (National Review)
- Pro-Hamas protesters at Columbia University call for destroying state of Israel (Daily Wire) | Columbia begins suspending anti-Israel protesters who defied deadline to disperse (National Review)
- Pelosi accuses MSNBC host of being a Trump “apologist” for adding context to job numbers (Fox News)
- White House officially claims Biden has made 148 mistakes during 2024 public remarks (Daily Caller)
- Tennessee governor signs law allowing teachers to be armed on campus (Daily Wire)
- Federal court blocks West Virginia, North Carolina laws barring state health insurance coverage for gender transition (National Review)
- Arizona rancher accused of murdering illegal immigrant trespassing on his property won’t be retried (Daily Wire)
- Scotland’s leader resigns after conflicts over climate change, gender identity weakened government (AP)
- Humor: Israel withdraws from Gaza after learning of protest by 19-year-old Fine Arts major Roxy Barnett (Babylon Bee)
For the Executive Summary archive, click here.
‘Screams Before Silence’
A documentary on the October 7 brutal rapes that many still refuse to acknowledge.
Emmy Griffin
On October 7, more than 1,200 Israeli citizens were brutally murdered, and 250 were taken hostage. The carnage of the attack was apocalyptic. The videos — many taken by the Hamas terrorists themselves — are horrific and terrible to watch. There were countless rapes. Children were burned alive in ovens. Bodies were mutilated and torn apart.
And yet, fairly quickly, Hamas and an ever-growing radical contingent in the West were quick to change the narrative. Hamas jihadis positioned themselves not only as the victims but as the resistance fighters. What they did on October 7 — an ethnic cleansing — is the real outrage and the actual violation of human rights, not the so-called “war crimes” Israel is ostensibly committing against Gaza.
Sheryl Sandberg, former Facebook COO, has been fighting to bring justice and witness to the suffering and atrocities committed against the Israelis, particularly the mass rape of women. She has created and recently released a documentary called “Screams Before Silence,” in which she interviews victims, witnesses, and released hostages. The documentary includes footage of captured Hamas operatives admitting to their crimes.
In an interview with Fox News, Sandberg got right to the point, saying, “If you believe that October 7 was resistance — and I do not believe that; I don’t believe terror is resistance — but if you believe that, sexual violence doesn’t fit into that narrative because rape is never resistance.”
It’s also not politically correct to point out that rape is a common weapon used by men against women of that culture. In an interview with Jordan Peterson, Mosab Hassan Yousef, whose father was a Hamas leader, describes his own experiences living in Gaza, where rape is a way to insult your enemies and killing the victim is a way to hide your shame.
Sandberg also declared that this should be a nonpartisan issue. We all should be able to agree that rape is a human rights violation. Sandberg laments what is occurring on college campuses: “University is a time where you go to college. You can talk about any issue, open dialogue. The truth is, the disorder on campus — having places where people don’t feel safe — that doesn’t lend itself to real dialogue about hard issues. That stops the honest conversations we need to have.”
Aside from the fact that colleges enforce diktats against certain types of speech all the time, it’s worth pointing out that a former Facebook COO saying she is a free speech advocate is interesting because of how guilty the social media platform is of censorship and stifling free speech.
What is happening on college campuses is about so much more than misguided college idiots and zealots causing chaos. Many who are instigating these “protests” are bused-in professional activists bought and paid for by interests such as George Soros who benefit from this sort of social turmoil.
By dismissing the rapes and the brutal murders and by flippantly claiming that Gaza’s damages go all the way back to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 trivializes a complex conflict that is far older than that. These atrocities should horrify and sober any sane person. Sandberg is doing her part to wake up the complacent, propagandized West in the hopes of bearing witness to the tragedy and calling attention to the severe blind spot in the discourse regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
Biden’s Coming ‘Climate Emergency’
With his poll numbers flagging, Joe Biden is considering a “national climate emergency” to fire up the youth vote.
Thomas Gallatin
Energy is power.
Those nations that can produce the most abundant and affordable energy will be able to dominate the future. Thus, Joe Biden’s war against fossil fuels is a fool’s errand that will only hamstring America’s future and its global leadership. Indeed, it appears intended to do precisely that: make the U.S. subservient to a government of global elitists.
On the heels of the latest draconian emissions regulations from Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency — which mandate the near impossible, that coal-fired and natural gas power plants capture upwards of 90% of all their carbon emissions — the White House is also reportedly mulling the declaration of a “national climate emergency.”
Evidently, it’s not enough that Biden has targeted America’s fossil fuel industry with myriad industry-squelching regulations all under the guise of “saving the planet.” Or tried to force Americans into buying electric vehicles, an action that has clearly not paid off for the nation’s automakers, as sales of the expensive and impractical EVs are far from meeting the desired target of an all-electric near future.
No, Biden’s goal has been to end our nation’s fossil fuel industry. He promised as much back in 2019 when he told a young climate activist: “I want you to look at my eyes. I guarantee you. I guarantee you. We’re going to end fossil fuel.”
The trouble is, as any person with a modicum of common sense who looks at the real data can surmise, there’s no getting to Biden’s pie-in-the-sky all-electric future powered only by renewable energy. The nation’s need for energy is growing exponentially, largely thanks to Big Tech and the development of Artificial Intelligence. We can’t simply replace our existing fossil fuel-based energy production with renewables. Instead, we need to increase our energy production.
In Texas alone, it is estimated that the demand for power will grow by 40,000 megawatts by 2030. That’s seven times what New York City uses. The Wall Street Journal observes, “Texas power demand will nearly double over the next six years owing to data centers, manufacturing plants, crypto mining, and the electrification of oil and gas equipment.”
And yet Biden’s EPA is making it harder and costlier for the nation’s energy industry to produce electricity. Indeed, thanks to the EPA’s latest carbon capture rules for fossil fuel energy plants, many existing ones will have to shut down because it is simply too cost-prohibitive and energy-taxing to meet the new regulations. But that is apparently what Biden wants.
Furthermore, the supposed concern over limiting carbon emissions to “save the planet” is nonsense, given that China has, over the last five years, added 200 gigawatts of electricity to its grid via new coal-fired power plants. That, of course, eliminates any of the supposed benefits of the EPA’s latest carbon emissions regulations. It’s hard to empty a swimming pool with a bucket when someone else is filling it with a firehose.
But irrespective of the science, the math, and the economic reality, Biden is bound and determined to end fossil fuels. Ergo, the disastrous notion of declaring a “climate emergency” à la the COVID pandemic. While Biden has long flirted with the notion of declaring a climate emergency, the dubious legal rationale of doing so has likely stayed his hand.
However, given Biden’s alarming poll numbers, the White House is considering whether this move would excite the youth vote. As White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez recently argued, “President Biden has treated the climate crisis as an emergency since day one and will continue to build a clean energy future that lowers utility bills, creates good-paying union jobs, makes our economy the envy of the world and prioritizes communities that for too long have been left behind.”
The irony is that what has proven to be the biggest drag against Biden is the state of the economy under his leadership. With Americans suffering from sustained high inflation, the economy is the number one election issue for voters. However, it was Donald Trump’s lackluster response to the pandemic that most likely cost him the election in 2020, so Biden and company may be looking at a means of creating a similar scenario to maintain power.
Shutting down the economy in response to a once-in-a-century pandemic is one thing, but shutting down the economy in response to the leftist climate cult’s apocalyptic pronouncements is another. It’s so blatantly political that it could backfire spectacularly, as has subjecting Trump to lawfare.
Hopefully, for the good of the country, Biden refrains from attempting such an economy-destroying action. But don’t hold the CO2 in your lungs.
The Slow-Charging Market for EVs
Ominous signs point to a serious slowdown in the electric vehicle market.
Michael Swartz
Last week, we told you about the UAW finally winning a union organizing election in the South, succeeding in its third attempt at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee. One observation by our Thomas Gallatin rings true for this story, too:
The Chattanooga VW plant happens to manufacture the company’s electric SUV, known as the ID.4. VW will get big bucks from the government for pumping out these EVs, which of course means job security for workers at the plant. The vote to unionize was, in many ways, a vote to keep their jobs. Indeed, unlike the previous two organization votes, VW did not seek to initiate any real campaign against unionization. VW likely wanted this outcome because of its own bottom line.
Remember that Biden administration incentives for the purchase of EVs apply most lucratively to unionized plants, a membership VW will now join.
Ford is also part of that club, and recent financial guidance from the company suggests it is losing an astonishing $130,000 for each EV sold. But Ford will make it up on volume! In fairness, the company says some of the losses come from the money being spent on research and development of future models. But isn’t the auto industry already planning and designing its fleet for 2025 and beyond, regardless?
While GM has crowed about its profitability so far this year, the internal combustion engine is subsidizing the EV portion of the business. GM CFO Paul Jacobson echoed a forecast that Ford made, claiming the EV portion of its business will start making a profit in the second half of the year. Don’t hold your breath on that one.
The issue is just how long automakers can hemorrhage EV money. Even with plentiful government support and incentives to consumers, the EV industry has seen its workforce decline over the last several months. Tesla was the latest to take a hit, announcing in a federally required notice that 6,000 workers in California and Texas will be furloughed in the next few months. While its EVs were once considered unique and cutting-edge, the influx of new competition is forcing Tesla into new markets, including light trucks and a lower-cost model that could debut later this year.
In its quarterly earnings call, Tesla also announced its vision beyond the EV: The company is confident that autonomous operation is still in its future, including a fleet of robo-taxis and a ride-hailing network. “If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy, I think they should not be an investor in the company,” said CEO Elon Musk. On that front, it’s worth adding that Musk made a “surprise” visit to China, which Bloomberg frames as him “seeking approval for driver-assistance software that could help arrest the carmaker’s revenue decline.”
Speaking of China, our domestic EV industry will soon be forced to make room for a new competitor approaching these shores. With Mexico being more open to Chinese investment thanks to its leftist leadership, nearly a dozen Chinese-made brands have already conquered almost 20% of Mexico’s new car market, and plans are afoot for these Chinese companies — including BYD, which markets an EV called the Dolphin Mini that sells for less than half the price of the least expensive Tesla — to build plants there. Building a plant in Mexico would allow China to take advantage of the UMSCA trade deal and sell EVs here.
And China, which is now an EV exporter, is also trying to incentivize domestic demand through its own version of cash for clunkers. “The sweeping program aims to upgrade China’s stock of industrial and household equipment — taking older machines that use more energy or emit more pollution out of service, and giving a lift to consumer spending and business investment along the way,” according to Bloomberg. “It covers everything from heavy industries like petrochemicals and steel, to installing new elevators in apartment buildings, to incentives for consumers to scrap their old washing machines and buy new ones that use less water.” Even though we tried and failed to get out of a recession with this approach 15 years ago, let’s not give the Biden regime any more ideas.
EVs are already less than popular here, but Uncle Sam is trying to ram-rod a market for them nonetheless. Meanwhile, a portion of that extra production of durable goods from China will likely be coming this way to undercut those already in those industries. It’s good to have free trade for a freer market, but trade has to be fair first — hence Donald Trump’s tariffs on China. Then, if we can get the government’s thumb off the scale, scrapping the federal incentives, we’ll see just what level of interest is actually there for EVs. Chances are, they’ll be a virtue signal and nothing more.
James Biden Sold ‘The Brand’ in Qatar
“The closest known financial links between a relative of President Joe Biden and a foreign government.”
Nate Jackson
“I have never discussed with my son, or my brother, or anyone else, anything having to do with their businesses, period,” a testy Joe Biden protested in August 2019. That was a BIG lie, and more evidence has surfaced to prove a connection.
According to Politico, a part of the Leftmedia vanguard, James Biden used his ties to his brother Joe Biden for lucrative business dealings in Qatar. That country doesn’t have the eye-catching status of China or Ukraine, but it does have connections to Iran-backed terrorism. Plus, Politico says, “The alleged arrangements would constitute some of the closest known financial links between a relative of President Joe Biden and a foreign government.”
Those ties include Jim Biden pitching a $30 million investment deal with a presentation listing his qualifications as “Brother and Campaign Finance Chair of former Vice President Joe Biden.” Politico adds:
POLITICO previously reported that in August 2017, Jim Biden and Rustom workshopped a draft letter to an official at the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The draft letter from Jim Biden read in part, “My family could provide a wealth of introductions and business opportunities at the highest levels that I believe would be worthy of the interest of His Excellency,” and, “On behalf of the Biden family, I welcome your interest here.”
By the way, that draft letter was found on Hunter’s laptop.
Jim Biden worked with a hospital chain called Americore, and he worked to secure investment money from Qatar for it. Not long after receiving $600,000 from Americore for arranging finances and what his attorney called “many other services,” Jim transferred $200,000 to his brother in what he and the White House called repayment of an unrelated loan. Unfortunately for Jim, the larger deal fell through, and Americore eventually filed for bankruptcy.
“Did James Biden register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act?” wonders Ed Morrissey rhetorically because no, Jim did not register. “Until a few years ago, this was more or less a technicality, at least until Robert Mueller and the Department of Justice began putting people in prison for violations.”
Not only did Joe Biden lie about his family’s business dealings while campaigning for president as the guy who’d bring back “decency” to DC, but Jim Biden may have lied about it to Congress.
“I have had a 50-year career in a variety of business ventures,” he told House lawmakers in February. “Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities. None. I never asked my brother to take any official action on behalf of me, my business associates, or anyone else.”
There’s enough room to drive a tractor-trailer through the semantics holes in that statement, and House investigators are looking into whether action against the younger Biden may be merited. That’s true of Hunter Biden after his congressional testimony, too.
The bigger truth is that, as Devon Archer and Tony Bobulinski have testified to Congress, Joe Biden was the “brand” Hunter and Jim were selling. Jim and Hunter were only worth anything to anyone because of their close connections to Joe.
House Oversight Chairman James Comer has been beating that same drum. He responded to Politico’s report by saying: “The Bidens don’t sell a product, service, or a set of skills. It’s simple: the Biden family is selling access for millions of dollars to those around the world willing to pay for it. And Joe Biden continues to lie about the role he played in the influence peddling schemes.”
READER COMMENTS
Editor’s Note: Each week we receive hundreds of comments and correspondences — and we read every one of them. Click here for a few thought-provoking comments about specific articles. The views expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect those of The Patriot Post.
VIDEOS
- Scott Newgent Exposes ‘Trans’ Industry — The trans “hero” in Matt Walsh’s documentary “What Is a Woman?” silences an entire room of reporters in a live press conference about “medically transitioning children.”
- Hollywood’s Culture of Violence — It’s the wokest place on earth in every other area of social responsibility, but when it comes to the unbridled romanticization of gun violence … crickets.
- Hollywood Hypocrites — Celebrity hypocrites spew gun control propaganda while engaging in violence using guns on screen.
- AI Hoax Hate — The athletic director at a Baltimore high school has been arrested for framing the principal for racism with a fake, AI-generated recording.
- Satire: The Truth About AI — Until recently, Andrew Klavan thought Artificial Intelligence was just a way of describing someone with an Ivy League education.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
- CHRISTINE FLOWERSTwo Lawmakers Who Never Agree on Anything Are Taking a Stand
- VICTOR JOECKSWhy the Right Must Reject Libertarian Passivity
- RICH LOWRYNo, Don’t Rush the Trump J6 Case
- DAVID HARSANYIJoe Biden Says There Are Very Fine People on Both Sides of the Oct. 7 Debate
- SALENA ZITOThe Media Ignored the Anti-Biden Protest Votes Among Pennsylvania Democrats
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.
SHORT CUTS
Yellow Journalism
“The far right is so obsessed with making babies, they just held a whole conference about it.” —Politico
Missing Context
“Joe Biden … created nine million jobs in his term in office. Donald Trump has the worst record of job loss of any president.” —Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), glossing over and whitewashing the COVID shutdown and recovery
Lack of Self-Awareness Award
“The right to protest is really important. [Y]our freedom to disagree with the government is something we perhaps take for granted here in Canada. … It’s really important for people to be able to express themselves.” —Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Spin Doctor
“I think it’s very distressing that we are framing these as pro-Palestinian protests or pro-Israeli protests. These are anti-war protests.” —”The View” co-host Sunny Hostin
Credit Where It’s Due
“Of course it’s a great American value to protest, but I don’t believe living in a pup tent for Hamas is really helpful.” —Senator John Fetterman (D-PA)
For the Record
“These college students say they are fighting genocide, but they subscribe to the same belief system that led to the Holocaust.” —Lisa Boothe
“A key difference between 1968 and today is that protestors then were revolting against an institution dominated by traditional liberals, whereas the radicals have steadily taken over the universities since. Today’s protestors are only crudely expressing the attitudes and tropes that they hear in many of their classrooms.” —Rich Lowry
Re: The Left
“[People] need [comedy] so badly and they don’t get it. … Where is it? This is the result of the extreme Left and PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people.” —comedian Jerry Seinfeld
“The left in the last 30 years absorbed America’s main institutions and hallmarks. And now from Disney and Anheuser-Busch to the Ivy League to CNN and blue-state big cities, it has more or less destroyed their brands and reputations. The progressive touch eventually turns everything to dross.” —Victor Davis Hanson
“Imagine being such a strong feminist that you cheer for men to physically dominate women in sports.” —Tim Young
Political Futures
“It was more than Cricket that [Kristi] Noem put down that day 20 years ago; it was very probably her vice-presidential hopes. Social media was made for such moments, and Noem has been memed, GIFed, and pilloried as if she had started a proxy war with Russia or voiced her support for irreversible adolescent transgender surgeries. OK, scratch that. But you get the point.” —Larry Taunton
TODAY’S MEME
For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union.
TODAY’S CARTOON
For more of today’s cartoons, visit the Cartoons archive.
“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”.
Tomi Lahren: This concerns me – YouTube
‘Hannity’ panelists Tomi Lahren, Ari Fleischer and Mark Penn discuss the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on President Biden’s poll numbers. #foxnews #fox #han…
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
With Only Weeks Away, Experts Urgently Warn WHO Pandemic Treaty Will Usurp US Sovereignty – Harbingers Daily
Americans stand just weeks away from handing over massive amounts of taxpayer funding, protective equipment intended for U.S. citizens, and an incalculable amount of influence over U.S. policy to the World Health Organization (WHO), critics warn.
The global governance body will resume meetings to revise the WHO Pandemic Agreement on Monday. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), established to draw up the text of the agreement in December 2021, will hold its ninth meeting from April 29 to May 10. That provides just over two weeks before the 77th World Health Assembly meets from May 27 to June 1 in Geneva, Switzerland, to ratify the final document.
The most recently updated version of the “Proposal for the WHO Pandemic Agreement,” amended on April 22, would redistribute wealth and protective equipment away from the U.S., establish a global governing board with little accountability to U.S. citizens and, critics say, water down U.S. sovereignty over how it responds to future pandemics.
The latest version of the agreement calls on nations to adopt “whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches” to pandemics, “including the private sector and civil society.” Governments should carry out so-called education programs that will suppress competing narratives about the pandemic, as the U.S. government did during COVID-19. Nations must also conduct research to determine what forces “hinder or strengthen adherence to public health and social measures in a pandemic,” such as mask and vaccine mandates.
WHO makes clear it intends to involve itself far beyond the physical aspects of the outbreak. The latest agreement invokes the “public health impact of growing threats such as climate change, poverty and hunger.” Fighting pandemics, it states, requires nations to “achieve greater health equity” by taking “resolute action on the social, environmental, cultural, political and economic determinants of health.”
This includes adopting a controversial “OneHealth” approach, which attempts to “balance” the “health of people, animals and ecosystems” as though all were equally valuable.
Nations have the right to “adopt legislation” only “in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the WHO Constitution and the principles of international law, and their sovereign rights over their biological resources.” They also may not make reservations that are “incompatible with the object and purpose of the WHO Pandemic Agreement,” as determined by the WHO.
Aside from incursions onto national prerogatives spelled out in the WHO Pandemic Agreement, the document establishes a “Conference of the Parties,” a group of unelected officials empowered to adopt new resolutions that will be legally binding upon signatories.
The text makes the WHO pandemic arrangement easy to get into but hard to leave. Once a nation signs onto the accord, it “shall not be discharged” from any “obligations which accrued while it was a Party to the WHO Pandemic Agreement,” even after it withdraws.
The controversial document mandates that all nations assure “real-time access by WHO to 20%” of all “products that are needed for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response”: “10% as a donation” and 10% at “affordable prices.: WHO, in turn, will create “a mechanism to ensure the fair and equitable allocation and distribution of the pandemic-related health products” globally. Nations will agree to “prioritize sharing through” the WHO’s newly-established “Global Supply Chain and Logistics Network … over bilateral donation agreements” adopted with allied nations.
Every nation “shall” also create a “global health emergency workforce deployable to support [other signatories] upon request” of WHO.
State-to-state foreign aid amounts to wealth transfers to “up-and-coming young oligarchs in smaller nations,” journalist Jim Roguski told “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” on Wednesday. As a result, wealthy nations will “put a lot of money into building out the pharmaceutical hospital emergency industrial complex in poor nations — not to give that money or support to poor people in poor nations, but to give it to wealthy people in poor nations so that they can jab them the next time around.”
Family Research Council has concluded that the WHO Pandemic Agreement puts in place the beginnings of “a turnkey totalitarian state.” FRC’s official comment filed with the U.S. government warns the WHO Pandemic Agreement, as written, “could authorize funding and support for abortion.” The agreement obligates nations to assure the provision of “essential health care services during pandemics,” and critics say, abortion can be held up as an essential service.
Observers warned readers against viewing the newest text as a modestly less intrusive document than some previous versions. “In desperation, watered-down versions of the proposed international health regulations and pandemic treaty were floated over the past few days. Don’t be fooled! The WHO still wants experimental vaccines rolled out, still wants liability shields, still wants to impose censorship, and still plans to use ‘One Health’ to control humans, plants, animals, and ecosystems, all in the name of health,” said independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday.
The undemocratic mechanisms written into the agreement did not surprise Roguski. “Back in 2022, they pretended to adopt amendments to five articles, but they never bothered to vote” on them. Yet, despite the lack of a vote, those amendments will take force on May 31, he said.
“The good news is that they are having a difficult time,” Roguski told Perkins, breaking out high-pressure sales tactics for nations to sign onto the accord.
“Pressure to act swiftly or risk missing out on the treaty’s promise effectively warns LMICs [Low- and Middle-Income Countries] that this is their sole opportunity, insisting they must conform to the timeline,” wrote Sarah Hodges, professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London. “However, this rapid pace raises concerns about what we refer to as ‘time equity’ –– the fair allocation of time and resources for deliberation and decision-making among all stakeholders.”
WHO officials are also pumping up fear about deadly, but hypothetical, future outbreaks. Kate Bingham and Tim Hames of the WHO warn in a new book, “The Long Shot,” that a theoretical “Disease X” could become the next pandemic and wipe out 50 million people worldwide.
WHO has smeared its opponents as purveyors of misinformation and disinformation. In March, former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown — who is now WHO ambassador for global health finance — insisted, “It is time for countries to expose fake news disinformation campaigns by conspiracy theorists to torpedo a much-needed accord.” Brown warned that “governments must work to disavow them with clear facts,” and doing so “will be a test of our ability as a global community to resist the fragmentation of our world and instead cooperate on global problems that need global solutions.”
The potential toll to privacy from a global pandemic order could be real and stigmatizing, Roguski contended. “They want paperwork that says you’ve been injected with some substance, and if you don’t meet those requirements, you are suddenly dangerous to your fellow man or woman,” Roguski said. Others around the world feared the impact of the WHO once emboldened to act with greater authority. “Once approved, the WHO will have total powers and control over matters to do with health [and] climate change,” said Kenyan politician Steve Mbogo. “The depopulation [a]genda is wide and clear.”
Despite the WHO’s claim to act as the global authority, newly published data prove that lockdowns worsened other health outcomes. WHO recently revealed the number of children vaccinated against other diseases, such as diphtheria, plummeted by six million between 2018 and 2021 and remained 2% lower than prepandemic levels in 2022.
“You’re in the battle of your life to crush this attempt” to erode “our sacred right to be in control of our own body, make our own health decisions,” said Roguski.
Because of the short time line, conservatives feel “a sense of urgency to bring awareness to the issue before the WHO meets,” Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots told American Family News.
Advocates of U.S. sovereignty have introduced numerous avenues for Americans to oppose WHO’s usurpation of their unalienable rights.
Legislatively, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) has introduced the WHO Withdrawal Act (H.R. 79), and Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) has introduced the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act.
The Biden administration allows Americans to send written comments to with the subject line, “Written Comment Re: Stakeholder Listening Session for WHA77.” The comment deadline is Friday, May 3, 2024. FRC has drawn up a model comment for those seeking additional guidance.
Roguski said Christians should not overlook one additional resource available to them: “Pray for the outcome that you desire, which is for these negotiations to fall apart and for a vote never to even happen.” Similarly, Senator Johnso told Perkins last week, “Pray for a Tower of Babel within the World Health Organization.”
Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.
Israel Will Invade Rafah ‘With or Without a Deal’ | CBN NewsWatch – April 30, 2024 – YouTube
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises to Israel will go into the last Hamas stronghold in Rafah “with or without a deal” as talks continue with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls Israel’s offer “extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous;” why Rafah is so important for Hamas operations, and why Israel wants to take it out; and the concerns over the International Criminal Court possibly indicting Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders for war crimes; Chris Mitchell talks about what it would mean if Hamas survives in Gaza, concerns about charges against Israeli leaders, who’s behind the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel protests on college campuses, and more; Israelis traveled to the Western Wall in Jerusalem during Passover for a special priestly blessing, and the focus was on the hostages and their families; four law enforcement officers killed in shootout in the Charlotte, North Carolina area; and how the church is providing support for parents whose children who unexpectedly decide to switch genders.
CBN News. Because Truth Matters™
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
More than one in four voters would commit election fraud | Christian Research Network
(The Sentinel) More than one in four Americans expressed willingness to commit at least one type of illegal voting practice in the 2024 election to assist their favored candidate or stop a candidate they do not favor, according to a new survey from the Heartland Institute.
The survey, conducted by Rasmussen, indicated that some 28% of respondents would engage in election fraud to “help their preferred candidate.” Even as 32% of Democrats said they would pursue illegal activity, 28% of Republicans and 24% of independents said the same. View article →
— Read on christianresearchnetwork.org/2024/04/30/more-than-one-in-four-voters-would-commit-election-fraud/
Massive 78 Percent Majority of Americans Believe Social Media Companies Have Too Much Political Power | The Gateway Pundit
A massive 78 percent majority of Americans believe social media companies have too much political power.
The Pew Research Center survey released on Monday revealed that the issue concerns both sides of the aisle, with 84 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of Democrats concerned about these companies’ influence.
The pollsters found that “Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party (84%) are more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners (74%) to think these companies have too much political power.”
The report adds, “While Republicans’ opinions have changed little since 2020, this view has grown more common among Democrats over the past four years: 74% of Democrats believe social media companies have too much power and influence in politics, up from 63% in 2020.”
Just 16 percent of Americans believe social media companies have the right amount of influence, and four percent said they have too little.
Additionally, “Americans are far more likely to say social media has a negative rather than positive impact on the country. Roughly two-thirds (64%) think social media has a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the country today.”
Only 10 percent of respondents said that social media has a mostly positive impact on society.
“Majorities in both political parties see social media’s impact on the country negatively, though Republicans remain more wary than Democrats (71% vs. 59%). That said, a growing number of Democrats believe these platforms have a mostly bad impact on the country, rising to 59% in our current survey, up from 53% in 2020.”
Most surveyed said they believe social media platforms censor people based on political bias.
“Roughly eight-in-ten U.S. adults (83%) say it’s very or somewhat likely that these platforms intentionally censor political viewpoints they find objectionable, up from 77% in 2022. Just 17% in the current survey think this is not likely the case.”
The poll found that over ninety percent of Republicans believe social media platforms censor people based on politics.
Majorities in both parties believe political censorship is likely occurring on social media, but more Republicans hold this view. Fully 93% of Republicans say it’s likely that social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints that they find objectionable, including 66% who say that this is very likely happening.
By comparison, 74% of Democrats think this is likely occurring, with 25% saying there’s a strong possibility this is occurring.
The pollsters surveyed 10,133 U.S. adults from February 7-11, 2024.
The post Massive 78 Percent Majority of Americans Believe Social Media Companies Have Too Much Political Power appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Rafah Invasion Will Happen With Or Without Hostage Deal: Netanyahu | ZeroHedge
Despite immense pressure coming from the Biden administration for Israel to secure the hostage deal that’s on the table with Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that an invasion of Rafah will go on with or without a deal.
He issued the words Tuesday while speaking to an audience sympathetic to his hardline coalition. “The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all its aims is not an option,” Netanyahu said. “We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there — whether or not there is a deal — in order to achieve total victory.”
In reference to the hawkish Gvura and Tikva forums a statement from by the Prime Minister’s Office indicated that “the groups urged Netanyahu and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi to continue the war and to resist international pressure.”
According to an AP description, “Netanyahu on Tuesday was addressing the Tikva Forum, a small group of families of hostages that’s distinct from the main group representing the families of captive Israelis that has indicated it prefers to see Hamas crushed over the freedom of their loved ones.”
The timing of the strong statement is interesting given it came as he met with ultra hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has vowed to quit the government if Israel doesn’t proceed with the Rafah ground offensive. Netanyahu said the words also hours ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arriving in the country.
The AFP on Tuesday has reported that Israel to wait until Wednesday night for a Hamas response to the Gaza truce proposal, according to unnamed Israeli officials.
The Biden administration is desperate to see a deal through, also given it would ease the ratcheting pressure on Biden related to the ongoing revolt of Progressive Democrats ahead of the election over the plight of Palestinians.
This certainly isn’t the first time that Netanyahu government officials have issued such declarations. For example in March, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer was quoted in Bloomberg as saying the military is going to invade Rafah and defeat Hamas “even if the entire world turns on Israel, including the United States.”
And at the start of this week, in statements to NBC, US officials expressed confidence that they do not believe Israel is ready to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah.
Blinken has called Israel’s current ceasefire deal on the table “extraordinarily generous” and that Hamas must take it. A Hamas official was quoted as saying, “The new proposal is a positive development, but it is too early to be optimistic.”
From the Israeli side, there have been contradictory statements issued, which is sometimes typical as a negotiating tactic. Over the weekend Israeli officials reportedly gave Hamas an ultimatum, saying the group has “one last chance” to reach a deal, according to Axios. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday, “If there is a deal, we will suspend the operation” – in reference to the planned Rafah ground offensive.
But Netanyahu appears to have just thrown cold water on that, in his fresh statements perhaps meant by design to collapse the fragile talks just before they reach the finish line.
— Read on www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rafah-invasion-will-happen-or-without-hostage-deal-netanyahu-says
We have lost our ability to be silly: ‘Seinfeld’ actor John O’Hurley – YouTube
‘Seinfeld’ actor John O’Hurley discusses the damage the extreme left has done to comedy on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime.’
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
Now It’s the United States That Gets Caught Persecuting Christians | The Gateway Pundit
This article originally appeared on WND.com
Guest by post by Bob Unruh
‘Sadly, American culture is increasingly hostile’ to faith
Long have reports of the persecution of Christians highlighted China and Pakistan, multiple Islamic nations in Africa, those hotbeds of hate for Christians in the Middle East.
But now it’s the “West” that is being called out.
A report at the Washington Stand explains that now international religious freedom organizations “are monitoring religious freedom conditions in the United States … and it’s easy to see why.”
Arielle Del Turco, of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, added, to the publication, “Sadly, American culture is increasingly hostile to traditional Christian beliefs.”
Two recent situations both have developed in the leftist state of Colorado, run now by Democrats in the governor’s office, state House and state Senate. There bureaucrats first accused Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips of discrimination because he wouldn’t promote same-sex marriages with his cake artistry, and then they demanded a web designer promote same-sex weddings if she provided any wedding services.
In both cases the principals are Christians who refused state demands they violate their faith, and in both cases the state was summarily slapped down by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the state still maintains the so-called “anti-discrimination” agenda under which the two were charged.
Del Turco told the Stand, “To a large extent, we can all intuit that by browsing through a streaming service or scrolling on social media. But these cultural shifts are also having real-work impacts for Christians in America who simply want to go about their lives while staying true to their faith.”
She pointed out, “When Christian couples are denied a foster care license because their faith is at odds with gender ideology or fifth graders are prevented from starting an interfaith prayer club at school, these are critical reminders that religious freedom isn’t something we can take for granted — it must be defended. Thankfully, the U.S. still has strong legal protections in most cases and religious freedom is the victor in court more often than not. However, cultural support for religious freedom is in peril and we must be intentional about fostering that.”
A report from the FRC’s Center for Religious Liberty just months ago, called “Free to Believe? The Intensifying Intolerance Toward Christians in the West,” documented 168 incidents of anti-Christian hate or discrimination in recent years – including 33 in 2023.
Many happened during the wildly out-of-synch government lockdowns during COVID.
That report found, “As the mainstream culture moves further and further away from a Christian worldview, Christian beliefs that contradict progressive secular values are increasingly denounced by the culture and wrongly portrayed as being hateful or bigoted.”
Tony Perkins, chief of the FRC, said in the Stand report, “It is shocking to see Western countries — the same ones we think of as free and open societies — take authoritarian measures against Christians simply trying to live out their faith.”
He warned “hostility” to Christians – which was what the Supreme Court found Colorado had exhibited – “is clearly and steadily rising in the West.”
Also, there have been a flood of reports in recent years of vandalism, fire-bombing or more at Christian churches whose congregations are unwilling to endorse Joe Biden’s radical abortion and transgender ideologies.
The report noted even the FBI, through a field office, “compiled and circulated a memo detailing plans to spy on Catholics who attend the Tridentine Mass, the form of the Mass most common prior to 1969.”
The report explained there also are increasing attacks on Christians across Europe.
Copyright 2024 WND News Center
The post Now It’s the United States That Gets Caught Persecuting Christians appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Oh No! Indoctrinated Woke Extremists Destroy Woke Extremist Indoctrination Center | Babylon Bee
NEW YORK, NY — The world watched in horror last night as a large group of indoctrinated woke extremists destroyed a woke extremist indoctrination center.
Experts expressed serious concern that woke extremist indoctrination may slow to a crawl after an unexpected turn of events resulted in woke indoctrinated extremists launching a violent, destructive assault on a renowned woke extremist indoctrination center.
“We didn’t see this coming,” said one official. “After spending decades brainwashing young, impressionable people into volatile, savage revolutionaries, we were shocked to see them unleash such volatility and savagery while trying to launch a revolution. We wish there had been warning signs along the way.”
Students who engaged in the violent attack were thankful for the years of intense training they received from the institution they were now actively working to destroy. “I owe everything I am to this place,” shouted one protester as he threw an improvised Molotov cocktail through the window of the administrative building. “I could never have grown into the angry, destructive, violent person I am without the education I received here. While you’re here, can you help me set the place on fire?”
Authorities watched the vicious display, unsure how to proceed. “What are we supposed to do in this situation?” asked one officer. “Do we save the institution that taught these people to think and behave this way? Wouldn’t that just allow them to create more woke extremists? This is a real pickle.”
At publishing time, the school’s leadership was confident that the government would do nothing to impede their ongoing efforts to make the country worse and more dangerous.
World, meet Travis. Travis, meet the world. In this first episode of our new show Travis Interviews the World, we interview some guy named Jordan Peterson.
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‘Expectations’ Plunge To 11-Year-Lows As Conference Board Confidence Craters | ZeroHedge
For the third straight month, The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell in April, tumbling to 97.0 from a downwardly revised 103.1 (dramatically below the 104.0 median expectation and in fact below the lowest of all 56 analysts’ estimates). Both current conditions and expectations plunged, with the latter at its weakest since
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Present situation confidence fell to 142.9 vs. 146.8 last month
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Consumer confidence expectations fell to 66.4 vs. 74.0 last month
Expectations are back to Summer 2022 lows, which are equal to April 2013 lows…
Source: Bloomberg
Most notably, this is the sixth straight month of downward revisions…
Source: Bloomberg
That is 14.6pts of confidence erased in six months… to which we ask – in all honesty – WTF is a ‘revised’ sentiment measure? How do you feel now about how you felt a month ago?
The Board’s labor market indicator trended notably weaker…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, fewer of those surveyed believe stock prices will be higher and interests lower…
Source: Bloomberg
All things considered, that survey was a shitshow for Bidenomics… but remember, you’ve never had it so good…
https://x.com/kylenabecker/status/1785044208736240002?s=61&t=B1JGvOIyeWzVwduVenKncg
— Read on www.zerohedge.com/markets/expectations-plunge-11-year-lows-conference-board-confidence-craters
College Students Are Lonely and Anxious. Blame Coddling Parents.
The Wall Street Journal reports that today’s college students are so lonely, sad, and socially anxious that they grab their dining hall food to go—preferring to eat in their rooms.
Time spent in dining halls is down 40 percent, according to Degree Analytics, a college data company. Attendance at sporting events, clubs, and even dorm meetings is down too. The Journal quotes one residential adviser who said several students asked to attend her meeting by Zoom, even though they were down the hall.
The story documents classroom changes too—and not just at the fancy colleges. The changes include less class participation and more students handing in half-finished assignments. These same students are then shocked when they get Fs. They tell their professors: Look, I tried.
Where’s my participation trophy?
Props to reporter Douglas Belkin and assistant Harry Carr for gleaning so many granular examples of a generation that seems to have arrived on campus undercooked. The authors found that at Wesleyan University, student government meetings used to begin with a walk around campus. Today, they still take a walk, but they hold onto a shared rope, preschool style.
It’s no surprise that mental health on campus is reportedly decreasing. One in seven students has considered suicide this past year, according to a Healthy Minds study cited by the Journal. In fact, so many students are demanding therapy that hundreds of colleges have contracted with a telehealth company that promises to find students a therapist within five minutes of their call.
Experts are debating the cause of all this misery, and there are plenty of potential culprits: COVID-19 closures, political extremism, and even the advent of the “like” button. But could one unnoticed factor be the fact that this generation spent so little time unsupervised as kids?
— Read on reason.com/2024/04/29/coddled-kids-become-depressed-anti-social-college-students/
Is peace between Israel and Hamas imminent? | Denison Forum
“In this moment the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas.” This is how US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described a ceasefire proposal that he called “extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel.”
In its first phase, Hamas would release as many as thirty-three hostages in exchange for a pause in hostilities in Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners. A second phase, described as the “restoration of sustainable calm,” would include the exchange of the remaining hostages, captive Israeli soldiers, and the bodies of hostages for more Palestinian prisoners.
If Hamas accepts the proposal, will this bring peace to the Middle East?
Tragically not, so long as Hamas remains pledged to Israel’s complete destruction. If your neighbor publicly vowed to murder your family and burn down your house, I doubt you’d invite him to dinner.
If the protesters went to Gaza
While no one would blame you for defending your family, activists across our country continue to blame Israel for doing the same.
Student protesters at Columbia University declared this morning that they had taken over a building on the campus after defying a deadline to disperse. Protesters and police clashed yesterday at the University of Texas in a confrontation that resulted in dozens of arrests. The number of arrests at campuses nationwide is now approaching a thousand.
Imagine, however, what would happen if these activists actually went to Gaza: women would be subjugated, while gay and transgender individuals would likely be imprisoned or executed.
Ironically, the protesters would be far safer in the hands of the IDF in Gaza than with Hamas.
The Israeli soldiers whose work in Gaza is being so roundly condemned actually have a strong claim to being the most moral army in the world. In strong contrast with Hamas, the IDF operates by a clear code stating that “every individual is of inherent value, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, or status.” Women and LGBTQ individuals are not their victims—they actually fight in their army.
But what about Palestinian civilian casualties?
According to one analysis, for every Hamas combatant eliminated, approximately 1.5 civilians have been tragically killed. Since the United Nations estimates that civilians typically make up 90 percent of the casualties in a war, this is an impressive ratio.
Given that Hamas hides its soldiers behind the Palestinian civilians it was elected to serve, it is even more so.
What students at Columbia are reading
You may be wondering why you don’t hear these facts from university protesters and the mainstream media. There’s a reason for that.
Many of the professors and journalists supporting the current activists were students in an era forged by Vietnam War anti-government protests, the rise of the sexual revolution, and the postmodern rejection of absolute truth and objective morality. Now, as George Packer notes in the Atlantic, their revisionist ideas are “so pervasive and unquestioned that they’ve become the instincts of students who are occupying their campuses today.”
To illustrate: New York Times columnist Ross Douthat explored the syllabus at Columbia for a course titled “Contemporary Civilization.” He reports that its focus for the twentieth century “narrows to progressive preoccupations and only those preoccupations: anticolonialism, sex and gender, antiracism, climate.” Unsurprisingly, the now-popular “colonialist occupier” caricature of Israel makes it an easy target for opposition and Hamas an exemplar of revolution.
If students who represent our cultural future are this militant in imposing their ideology on their campuses, what will they do when they graduate into places of corporate, cultural, and political leadership? Will their identity politics that divides humanity into oppressors and oppressed and views Christians as bigoted and dangerous become even more pervasive?
When non-Christians believe the gospel
By contrast, one reason the Christian gospel is such “good news” is that its news is good for everyone. Whether you are Arab or Jew, Palestinian or Israeli, Black or White or Latino, Democrat or Republican or Independent, whatever your sexual orientation and gender identity, you are the creation of the Father and loved unconditionally by the Savior.
Here’s the catch:
Non-Christians typically believe the gospel to the degree that Christians live the gospel.
This week we’re responding to our perilous times by remembering that Jesus is “the light of men” (John 1:4) and the corresponding fact that his “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (v. 5).
Today, the transforming light of Christ shines through you and me when we demonstrate his inclusive love by our inclusive compassion and walk so closely with Jesus that others will know we walk with Jesus (cf. Acts 4:13).
St. Irenaeus (AD c. 120–c. 203) said of the Christians of his day:
Just as God’s creature, the sun, is one and the same the world over, so also does the Church’s preaching shine everywhere to enlighten all men who want to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Now it’s our turn.
Tuesday news to know:
- US to test ground beef in states with bird-flu outbreaks in dairy cows
- 4 law officers serving warrant are killed, 4 wounded in shootout at North Carolina home, police say
- Less is more: The case for “slow productivity” at work
- Deadly tornadoes rip through Oklahoma leaving thousands without power
- On this day in 1993: World Wide Web (WWW) launches in the public domain
Quote for the day:
“A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.” —John Calvin
The post Is peace between Israel and Hamas imminent? appeared first on Denison Forum.
What is the TikTok “ban”? | Denison Forum
TikTok is a cornerstone American pastime. Over half of all Americans get on TikTok at least monthly, and users may spend an average of 1.5 hours daily scrolling through the app. The majority of Gen Z are on TikTok, with around one in five saying they’re on it “almost constantly.”
Given its popularity, it’s perhaps surprising that Congress seems to (mostly) agree on banning the app. The stalled, partisan Senate hasn’t passed any legislation in months, but last week, Tuesday, April 23rd, it passed a bill to fund the war efforts in Ukraine and Israel and the likely ban on TikTok. President Biden signed it into law the next day. What is TikTok, and why do US authorities want to ban it?
TikTok is a social media app that allows you to endlessly scroll through short videos uploaded by other users. A wide variety of content is posted on TikTok. From exceedingly helpful cooking videos to the quintessential internet virality of entertaining cats (which garnered my wife’s and my cat a couple of million views), TikTok’s secret to success is its proprietary algorithm. TikTok capitalizes on the addictive nature of short-form video content, tailoring each video in the queue to the user’s preferences to keep users scrolling.
Why does Congress want to ban TikTok?
While TikTok, alongside other social media companies, arguably contributes to the mental health crisis, it’s for a far different reason that Congress wants to restrict it. Nathan Allen explains why the US wants to ban TikTok in his informative piece, “Will the US ban TikTok? Listening for God amidst the noise of the world.” I’ll cover it in brief. The US authorities’ argument is simple:
The company that owns TikTok, ByteDance, is Chinese. The Chinese authorities could, in theory, exercise control on ByeDance to (a) get the personal data of US TikTok users and (b) use the platform to spread propaganda or suppress information. This could be particularly worrying as one-third of young adults say they get their news from TikTok. As tensions rise between the US and China, US authorities worry that Beijing will use TikTok to manipulate US politics and fray the US’s already taught social fabric. In short, TikTok poses a national security risk.
Without getting too much into the weeds, although TikTok claims that it’s set up safeguards against privacy breaches and won’t give user’s information to the Chinese Communist Party, there are reasons to doubt this defense.
What is the TikTok “ban?”
Technically, the bill passed last Wednesday won’t ban TikTok outright. Rather, it gives ByteDance until Jan 19th, 2025, to sell TikTok to a US-based company or face being removed from Google and Apple’s app stores. They would get a three-month extension if a deal is in the works. However, TikTok has said it won’t sell but will fight the law in the courts instead. They will argue that this “divest or be banned” ultimatum is unconstitutional and infringes on their free speech. Anupam Chander, a professor at Georgetown University, told Fortune the ban is a “clear intrusion upon free expression” and “has not been justified on national-security grounds.”
This represents a new direction from Congress, which has been reluctant to censor or regulate social media giants before this point. Why did Congress unite around this bill to pass it? Senator Marco Rubio summarizes Congress’ case, “For years, we’ve allowed the Chinese Communist party to control one of the most popular apps in America that was dangerously shortsighted.” This sentiment aligns closely with the US Government’s clear, established purpose, laid out in the Preamble to the Constitution: “provide for the common defense.”
The majority of Senators passed the bill. This agreement around common causes leads us to another point of reflection–where do most Americans find common causes?
Most US citizens can still find common ground
I don’t need to tell you the US is ideologically and politically more divided than it has been in decades. As such, it always feels miraculous when Congress passes anything. With this bill, which funds Israel and Ukraine’s armed conflict and bans TikTok, I wanted to take this chance to accentuate the common ground shared by most Americans.
The “Similarity Hub” project by AllSides Media (a service that helps people navigate media bias) highlights survey results that show where Americans agree. For example,
- Ninety-five percent of Americans “think it is at least somewhat important that the rule of law is applied fairly and equally.”
- Ninety-five percent of Americans “think it is at least somewhat important to protect the individual liberties and freedoms defined by the Constitution.”
- Eighty-nine percent of Americans “favor providing tax credits to Americans who install clean energy systems like solar power in their homes.”
- Eighty-six percent of Americans “say Republicans and Democrats are more focused on fighting each other than solving problems.”
Although the TikTok ban will likely drag on in courts for years to come, the bill shows that politicians at least agree that they ought to protect national security and aid our allies in need.
The most important common ground
While your friends, family, and neighbors may disagree on fundamental issues, you might have more common ground than you realize. However, the most important common ground is in our identity as images of God.
While many ancient cultures wrote creation myths that elevated their leaders as gods and made other people groups inferior, Genesis says that all people are descended from Adam and Eve. All are beloved and created by God, and all are in need of a savior. This common ground should lead Christians to lead in reason, care, truth, love, and compassion, regardless of other people’s beliefs. Even if they don’t know it or believe it, everyone is made in God’s image.
If you’re interested in how you can bridge divides with compassion, empathy, reason, and truth, consider reading Dr. Jim Denison’s second edition of Between Compromise and Courage.
The post What is the TikTok “ban”? appeared first on Denison Forum.
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