“Don’t ever water down the gospel. If the truth offends. then let it offend. People have been living their whole lives in offense to God; let them be offended for a while.” — John MacArthur
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Daily Archives: May 10, 2024
“Tolerance toward people is a good and biblical virtue, but tolerance toward false teaching is a sin.” — John Macarthur
“Sin is the Trojan horse out of which comes a whole army of troubles.” — Thomas Watson
May 10 Evening Verse of the Day
2 The tables have been turned. Job, the questioner, is being questioned. Building on the evidence just given, Yahweh asks Job a penetrating question that pinpoints the implication of his complaint. That is, in advocating the rightness of his own position so tenaciously, Job has implied that God needs to be corrected. Having presented his position, Yahweh now offers Job the opportunity to articulate such a correction. Moreover, since Yahweh has spoken in response to Job’s challenge, Job may not remain silent without voiding his oath of innocence. His silence would imply his concession. But if he continues to argue, he will leave himself open to divine rebuke.[1]
40:2 Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? This question echoes Yahweh’s previous words to Job in 38:2. Yahweh refuses to be put on the defensive by replying to Job’s charges and complaints. Rather, he places the burden of proof squarely on Job, as he asks if Job is qualified to instruct him. If Job cannot answer Yahweh’s questions, then he has no standing to reprove Yahweh. Job then must either answer the questions that Yahweh poses to him, and by that means show that he has sufficient understanding to call Yahweh to account, or else he must admit that he cannot answer the divine questions. If that is the case, then Job will be obligated to concede to the superior wisdom of Yahweh, instead of finding fault with him.[2]
Ver. 2. Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him?—
The equality of God’s dealings:—
While Job is held up as the model of patience and resignation under God’s chastening hand, we are continually reminded of a certain irritability and restlessness which surprises and distresses us. But a similar difficulty is elsewhere found. David is the model of purity, while there is no saint whose memory is so stained with impurity. Moses is emphatically the type of meekness, while the salient point of his life which attracts our notice is extreme irritability. Manly straightforwardness is the leading feature in the character of Abraham, while a shuffling trick is the one fault by which his memory is marked. Examine this apparent inconsistency in Job. He is brought before our attention as a man deeply impressed with the sense of common fairness, and a dread at seeing success awarded to the wicked, and adversity to the good. His own case fell under the latter clause, and with no selfish or interested view he makes his own position the opportunity of impugning God’s providence. The leading inconsistency which we have to reconcile is the fact that God should have suspended the law of His moral kingdom in Job’s case, and awarded suffering to the righteous. But if we look a little deeper, we shall see at once that the fairness and justice of God were vindicated and asserted, not infringed, in Job’s case. A challenge had been made by Satan which impugned the justice of God’s estimate of His servant in heaping upon him so many and such abundant blessings. No test could have been more severe than that to which Job was put, and in the end the entire and humble submission of the patriarch to the will of his Maker declared beyond controversy the justice of God’s estimate of His servant, and manifested before Satan and the world the power of saving grace. The object of God is not simply the reward of the good by prosperity, and the punishment of the wicked, but it is also the vindication of His grace and power by the subjection of man to His will, and the manifestation of the sanctity of His elect. There is a seeming inconsistency between Job’s actual life and the character given him. But it must be remembered that the character of the man is generally not the upper surface which catches the eye. It is not the irritated waves and billows of the sea, but that vast belt of waters which girdles the earth below the ever-moving and heaving bosom of the deep, which constitutes the nature of the ocean. That undercurrent of a man’s will and ways is the result of many a contradiction to his natural disposition, and he does not deserve the title of a peculiar character until he has vindicated his right to it by overcoming the influences which are contradictory to it. The natural tendency of Job was that of patient trust in God; it needed the contradiction of circumstances most adverse to that disposition to test and confirm its tendency. Lessons—
1. We little know the reason and cause of God’s dealing with us; we see the handwriting on the wall, but we see not the hand. We know nothing of remote and hidden causes; we only shall know them and understand them, when, at the end of the world, the handwriting is interpreted. We are inclined to blame God’s fairness. But He is fair, He is just. But it is in the whole and complete fulfilment of His scheme that fairness is to be manifested—in the integrity of the drama, not in the isolated scenes.
2. Note the apparent inconsistency of Job’s own character. He began with implicit, unquestioning resignation; his after-conduct betrays impatience, and an inclination to argue against those who were apparently pleading the cause of God. The key is found in the last chapter. At the end, his resignation was the result of deep experience, of profound humiliation, and of personal intercourse with God. It is so with us all. A man’s character involves the whole octave—the highest note of it is played in youth, the deepest at the end of the journey of life; the whole is played together in the perfect harmony of heaven.
3. Where lay the fault of Job’s friends? They argued on false premises, and in an improper manner. Censoriousness and love of prejudging human actions are faults which interfere with God’s prerogative, and violate the spirit of true charity.
4. Learn the power of intercession.
5. Very beautiful is the end of Job. Job is a type of the resurrection. (E. Monro.)
Mystery in science and revelation:—
We may paraphrase the text as follows: Shall man, rebelling against the authority of God, assume to be wiser than the All-wise? Shall he pronounce the ways of God unequal in order to vindicate his own integrity? Is it wisdom in men, surrounded by mysteries and conscious of ill-desert, to fly in the face of heaven and lay their complaints against the God with whom they contend? In that ancient poem, the Book of Job, are embedded some of the profoundest discussions of the problems of life. Most of us are brought, at times, face to face with the question which troubled the man of Uz, “Why is this world one of sin and death?” Why is it that a loving and all-perfect God has permitted such wide-wasting woe? for the suffering is not limited to humankind, but reaches from the worm that crawls beneath our feet through all gradations of animal life, through human and angelic existences up to the right hand of the everlasting throne, where sitteth the crowned Sufferer who wept over Jerusalem, and is the exalted Lamb of Sacrifice, slain from eternity. The question, as I have said, is not new, but old as history. It has been turned over in unnumbered shapes. It has been answered by numberless sages, but reappears in the speculations of every thoughtful mind. It is the shadow that follows us toward the sun, and will disappear only when we walk into the sun, and know even as we are known. And I believe that sometimes nothing will quiet the mind, troubled by the perplexing riddles of evil and pain, so effectually as to consider why it is best for us not to know certain things, or to see how our ignorance in the department of moral evil is equalled by our ignorance in other spheres of truth. This is the lesson which the Lord taught Job. We are surrounded in this world by mysteries which baffle us, or, if we explain one, another lies back of it which defies explanation. These mysteries abound in the realm of science. Says Henry Drummond, “A science without mystery is unknown; a religion without mystery is absurd.” Modern investigation has answered many of the questions which the Lord put to Job; vast additions to human knowledge have been the spoils of hardy efforts; but the unknown is a vaster field now than even then. The circle of knowledge is surrounded by an ever-widening zone of mystery. Geology may have helped us to understand how the corner-stone of the earth was laid, but the question now is, “What is that corner-stone? Whence came it?” Every step backward leads us to mystery, where science closes her lips, and faith speaks out the name of God. Man thinks of the immensities of nature, and he is nothing. He thinks of the minuteness of atoms and molecules, and he seems almost everything. We trespass continually on the domain of the supernatural, the spiritual, the invisible, the Divine; and the Cross of Jesus may well be seen wherever His hand has wrought in the mysteries of creation. God does not think it best to give us completed knowledge, any more than He gives us complete bodily strength, or complete soul development. He demands work of us. Salvation is wrought out with fear and trembling, and we ought to thank God that we are not treated as some rich men treat their sons. God does not want spoiled and pampered children. (John H. Barrows, D.D.)[3]
40:2 God challenged Job to answer all the questions he had posed. God didn’t need to know the answer, but Job needed to admit his weakness, inferiority, and inability to even try to figure out God’s infinite mind. God’s wisdom was so superior, His sovereign control of everything so complete, that this was all Job needed to know.[4]
[1] Hartley, J. E. (1988). The Book of Job (p. 515). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[2] Estes, D. J. (2013). Job (M. L. Strauss, J. H. Walton, & R. de Rosset, Eds.; p. 243). Baker Books.
[3] Exell, J. S. (n.d.). The Biblical Illustrator: Job (pp. 623–625). Fleming H. Revell Company.
[4] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Job 40:2). Thomas Nelson Publishers.
May 12 – Obey the Lord, Serve the Lord, Keep His Law | VCY
TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
1 Samuel 12:1-13:23
John 7:1-30
Psalm 108:1-13
Proverbs 15:4
1 Samuel 12:5 — If we are going to speak for God, we must make sure that nobody can accuse us of wrong.
1 Samuel 12:14 — Thirty-eight times in the Old Testament we see emphasized the need to obey the voice of the LORD. Obedience brings blessing. Disobedience brings judgment. If you don’t know what God wants you to do, memorizing the Ten Commandments is a great way to start!
1 Samuel 12:20 — Obedience not only conveys a parent-child relationship, but it also implies a master-slave relationship. Sixty-eight times in the Old Testament it refers to serving the LORD. The name Adonai (Hebrew) or Kurios (Greek) that’s translated Lord (lower case) in our English versions actually means “Master”. While He has adopted us as sons (Galatians 4:5, Ephesians 1:5), sonship is only for those who have called upon Him as their Lord/Master (Romans 10:13, Acts 2:21). Samuel reiterates this in 1 Samuel 12:24.
1 Samuel 12:24 — Here’s a memory song to help you memorize this verse!
1 Samuel 13:14 — Just a seemingly slight disobedience (and completely rational), but it cost Saul the kingdom. How much does your sin cost you?
1 Samuel 13:16 — Interesting that Saul followed Samuel to Gibeah.
John 7:19 — Jesus uses the phrase “keep the Law.” In addition to obeying the Lord and serving the Lord, we have twenty-five references in the Old Testament about keeping the Law.
Psalm 108:2 — This is a difficult command for me – to awake early. But there is blessing to those who arise early to seek the Lord (Psalm 63:1)!
Psalm 108:5 — This is the fourth time in the Psalms we see this phrase (Psalm 21:13, Psalm 57:5, Psalm 57:11). May we sing “Be Thou Exalted, Forever and Ever”!
Proverbs 15:4 — Yet another verse about the tongue – and we’re not even to James!
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.
One Look from the Lord! | VCY
And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? (Judges 6:14)
What a look was that which the Lord gave to Gideon! He looked him out of his discouragement into a holy bravery. If our look to the Lord saves us, what will not His look at us do? Lord, look on me this day and nerve me for its duties and conflicts.
What a word was this which Jehovah spoke to Gideon! “Go.” He must not hesitate. He might have answered, “What, go in all this weakness?” But the Lord put that word out of court by saying, “Go in this thy might.” The Lord had looked might into him, and he had now nothing to do but to use it and save Israel by smiting the Midianites. It may be that the Lord has more to do by me than I ever dreamed of. If He has looked upon me, He has made me strong. Let me by faith exercise the power with which He has entrusted me. He never bids me “idle away my time in this my might.” Far from it. I must “go” because He strengthens me. What a question is that which the Lord puts to me even as He put it to Gideon! “Have not I sent thee!” Yes, Lord, Thou hast sent me, and I will go in Thy strength. At Thy command I go, and, going, I am assured that Thou wilt conquer by me.
Day 11: Great is His Faithfulness | The Daily Declaration
Intention
To recognize that regardless of our failings, God is faithful to us.
Scripture
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’
The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.
And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline.”
– Lamentations 3:22–27 (NLT)
Reflection
In the book of beginnings, it is recorded that “God looked over all he had made, and He saw that it was very good!” (Genesis 1:31). This happened on the sixth day.
I think this probably happened about 5 or 6 pm on Friday afternoon during creation week (or perhaps a little later), in the cool of the evening.
Then, for an undisclosed number of weeks, God would visit the garden in the cool evening to enjoy being with Adam and Eve, and they with Him.
Can you even imagine the conversations? What an amazing time! How much I would like to have had that opportunity.
Then, maybe through familiarity or by not comprehending how great their Father was, Adam and Eve disobeyed clear directives. As a result, sin entered the world and this daily time with God ended.
Yet this didn’t change God’s desire to have daily loving communication with people. And because of His faithfulness, He made a way.
This was outworked by Jesus entering into our time and space, and making the way back to God possible through His blood.
Life is complicated. We mess up. Sometimes we even give up on God. But God never gives up on us.
That’s what faithfulness is.
This doesn’t mean we will avoid the consequences of foolish actions or escape paying the price for our many mistakes.
These are part of the natural laws that the God of wisdom knitted into the fabric of the universe, right from the beginning.
Faithfulness means that while we were still sinners and far from God, He loved us and drew us towards Himself in the cross of Christ.
How many times has the nation of Israel forgotten to live in the wisdom of God and gone their own way?
How many times did the consequences of rejecting God’s clearly communicated instructions for having an abundant life, end up in misery, sickness and death?
Yet His faithfulness was always closer than breathed air, and they were lifted out of their mess when they waited for and sought Him for salvation.
So it is for us, and our families, here, now, in 2024.
Jesus is the way, the truth and life, now and forever!
As we travel through May, GO Month, we are coming towards the 18th, GO Day. On this day we have the opportunity to join His family in the National Day of Prayer.
The overarching focus is to “Be still, and know that I am God”. As we wait for Him, remember the promise from Lamentations. “The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord” (Lamentations 3:25–26).
Video
Prayer
Father, Your ways are uncomfortable to live by in this ungodly society. We ask You for boldness to live Your way.
May we bring Your peace and presence to everyone we meet through the power of Your Word, Jesus.
May we always be ready to give a good reason for our faith, with grace and humility.
Amen.
Author Bio
Rodney Hall grew up in the mid-north of South Australia within a family of faith with a long heritage of Christian service. He loves to worship the One true God and see Him change people, communities and nations. His passion is showing people how Jesus asks us to partner with Him in prayer to release His grace.
Prayer Points and Purpose for GO Month 2024
- To worship Jesus and give extravagant praise to God. 1 Chron 16:23–31.
- To pray for revival, repentance and deliverance for Australia and for millions to find Christ. Acts 2:1–41.
- To pray for five people by name to find Christ and share the gospel with those five in May. Matt 28:18–20.
We invite you to support this prayer campaign to multiply prayer in Australia for revival and see millions come to Christ. Every donation to the Canberra Declaration helps us promote prayer and make a stand for family, faith, freedom, life, and the good news of God’s love through Jesus Christ His Son.
Join us for our nightly Zoom prayer call:
DATES: Every night in May
TIME: 8 PM (AEST); 7:30 PM (ACST); 6 PM (AWST)
ZOOM URL LINK: https://zoom.us/j/776881184
Daily devotions are brought to you by the Canberra Declaration.
View GO Month 2024 devotionals on the Daily Declaration website.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
The post Day 11: Great is His Faithfulness appeared first on The Daily Declaration.
The weight of sin is heavy, but those who are in Christ know the joy of having that weight removed. We do not face punishment but receive mercy. Even on the hardest of days, that wonderful liberation is worthy of our praise.—Helen Thorne
10 May 2024 News Briefing
Biden acting like a man who wants Israel to lose war with Hamas – has he no shame?
Joe Biden has supported Israel and truly stood with the Jewish state, I have given him credit, both here on ALL ISRAEL NEWS and on my TBN TV show, THE ROSENBERG REPORT. But what Biden is doing right now is not only wrong, it’s unconscionable. In recent days, President Biden, his Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, and his CIA director, Bill Burns, have been actively working to undermine Israel’s efforts to defeat Hamas in Gaza.
China’s Third Aircraft Carrier Completes First Sea Trial
Satellite imagery shows China’s third aircraft carrier Fujian has returned to Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard after completing an eight-day maiden sea trial. In a Planet Labs image from May 9, 2024, obtained by Radio Free Asia, the Fujian was seen moving back to its berth at Jiangnan, where it was built and fitted out over the last six years.
An FBI agent was victim of a Havana Syndrome ‘attack’ in Key West, lawyer tells Congress
An FBI agent was the victim of a Havana Syndrome “attack” in Key West, the agent’s lawyer told members of Congress in during a hearing Wednesday expanding on new information recently published by three media outlets suggesting Russia might be attacking U.S. officials at home and abroad. An active FBI special agent, identified only as Carrie, who appeared in disguise in a CBS 60 Minutes show on March 31 about Havana Syndrome, told the network she was “hit” in an undisclosed place in Florida
Seattle may close 20 public elementary schools amid mass exodus of students
The Seattle School Board is moving to close 20 out of 70 elementary schools to address a $100 million annual budget shortfall. KOMO News reported that Seattle Public Schools (SPS) presented the plan during a board meeting, suggesting that nearly one-third of the district’s schools could close starting from the 2025-26 school year. The district said elementary schools are operating at only 65 percent capacity due to a significant decrease in student numbers
West Fueling Global Conflicts, Trying To Topple Moscow, Putin Says On WW2 Victory Day
Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a defiant tone in his speech at Moscow’s Red Square for the annual events commemorating Russia’s WW2 victory. Addressing thousands of soldiers in ceremonial attire, Putin accused the “arrogant” West of stoking conflict around the world. “We know what the exorbitance of such ambitions leads to. Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash,” he said. “But at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us.
Chinese Drone Hovers Over US Nuclear-Powered Supercarrier In Japan
A major security scandal is developing at Japan’s Yokosuka Naval Base, where drone footage was recently filmed above an American nuclear-powered supercarrier without any activated anti-drone systems to intercept hostile unmanned aerial vehicles. This comes as loitering munitions, also known as kamikaze drones, are the hottest weapon on the modern battlefield in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Judge who fined Trump $454 million for ‘fraud’ now under investigation
Arthur Engoron, the New York judge who found there was “fraud” by President Trump and his companies in a case where no one lost money and the “victims” wanted to do more business with him, now reportedly is under investigation. the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is looking at whether Engoron broke the rules.
Brig. Gen. Avivi: US demand to halt Rafah operation is a call for Israel to lose the war
“What the administration is saying is basically it’s calling Israel to lose the war. Israel cannot lose the war. Israel cannot go back to a reality where Hamas can build itself back to tens of thousands of militants on our borders, threatening all the towns along the border and threatening all of Israel with rockets.” He reiterated that Israel must achieve the real goals of the war and that it is not just about Gaza, referring to its ability to stand strong against Lebanon, Hizbullah, Iran, and militias in Syria and Iraq.
Biden is betraying American interests as well as Israel
The arms cutoff shows that Washington wants to let Hamas win the war it started on Oct. 7. This will do incalculable harm to U.S. interests abroad and at home.
State Dept: Biden’s CNN interview doesn’t indicate Israel violated international law
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday distanced President Biden’s remarks on possibly withholding future arms shipments to Israel from the findings of the impending report evaluating the credibility of Israel’s assurances it’s following international law.
Netanyahu intends to replace ambassador to US, Michael Herzog
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in closed conversations in recent weeks that he does not intend to keep Israeli Ambassador to the US, Mike Herzog for another year in the post, against a background of severe differences of opinion that emerged between Netanyahu’s office and Ambassador Herzog, according to a Channel 13 report on Thursday. According to the report, Herzog’s tenure is expected to run out in four months.
Hamas fires at Kerem Shalom crossing hours after reopening
The crossing was shuttered after four soldiers were killed in a Hamas rocket attack on Sunday. Hamas fired rockets at Kerem Shalom on Wednesday afternoon, hours after Israel reopened the crossing for the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. A deadly Hamas rocket attack from Rafah on Sunday had caused the IDF to close the crossing.
‘If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone’ – ahead of Memorial and Independence Days, Netanyahu gives resilient message
“We are on the eve of Independence Day,” Netanyahu stated. “In the War of Independence 76 years ago, we were the few against the many. We did not have weapons. There was an arms embargo on Israel, but with great strength of spirit, heroism and unity among us – we were victorious.” “If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone,” Netanyahu stated. “I have said that if necessary – we will fight with our fingernails.” Netanyahu’s statements appear to also be a response to the remarks by White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby earlier today, who told reporters that Biden does not believe a Rafah operation will advance Israel’s objective of defeating Hamas.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Claims US Aid Cuts Empower Israel’s Adversaries
As Israel continues its crucial operations against Hamas in Gaza, particularly in Rafah, the Biden administration’s recent decision to withhold a critical arms shipment has stirred significant concern among Israeli leaders and the global community supporting Israel’s right to defend itself.
Securing Safety: IDF Asserts Control at Rafah Border
The 401st Armored Brigade played a crucial role in securing the crossing and severing it from Salah a-Din road, a major arterial route which was simultaneously overtaken by the Givati Brigade. This coordinated effort effectively disrupted key logistical routes for Hamas, diminishing their ability to mobilize within the region.
Satellite images reveal devastating flooding in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Heavy rainfall across southern Brazil has caused severe flooding and landslides over the past 9 days, significantly affecting the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, and Santa Catarina.
3 dead from severe weather, tornadoes in Tennessee, North Carolina
Severe weather continued to wreak havoc nationwide this week, with Wednesday marking the second most active severe weather day of the year after nearly 400 combined reports of damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes.
Doctors warn of deadly whooping cough epidemic sweeping Europe as calls for vaccine booster
European countries have reported a surge in whooping cough cases in first quarter of 2024, with 10 times as many identified as in each of the previous two years.
34,000 Accepted Christ During Winter Jam 2024: ‘Gen Z Is Hungry’ for Truth, Tour Pastor Says
More than 34,000 young people made professions of faith during this year’s Winter Jam Christian concert tour, underscoring what the tour’s pastor says is Generation Z’s deep hunger for authenticity and truth. Launched in 1995, Winter Jam is an annual multi-city tour that is known for its expansive lineup — this year featured 10 artists, including Crowder and Lecrae —
Neom: Saudi forces ‘told to kill’ to clear land for eco-city
Saudi authorities have permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city being built by dozens of Western companies, an ex-intelligence officer has told the BBC.
Erdan: Biden’s pause of arms encourages Israel’s enemies
Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. on Thursday morning slammed U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to withhold weapons shipments, saying the move gives hope to Jerusalem’s enemies that they may achieve their genocidal aims.
UNRWA caught stealing, selling humanitarian aid
UNRWA has been caught stealing and then selling humanitarian aid that came into Gaza that was intended to be given to Palestinian civilians, UN Watch reported on Wednesday, citing reports published by Palestinians in “an UNRWA-related chatroom.”
Pessimism About The U.S. Economy Is Going To Have An Absolutely Massive Impact On The Outcome Of The Election In November
Americans are extremely pessimistic about the state of the U.S. economy, and that is really bad news for Joe Biden. Despite the glowing economic numbers that the Biden administration has been relentlessly feeding us, there is an overwhelming consensus among the American people that the economy is rapidly heading in the wrong direction.
Greece: Hamas Supporters Hunt Down Jewish Israeli Tourists, Try To Breach Hotel
Hamas supporters in Greece attempted to breach a hotel housing Israeli tourists on Tuesday. The incident required local police to intervene and break up the violent mob of pro-Hamas/Palestine protesters.
‘Kuffār’, ‘Zionist’, ‘Jew’, ‘Allah’: Tags Discovered Once Again in French Cemetery, 82 Graves Defaced
After the majority of jihadist attacks and crimes, politicians and media often deflect, attributing motives to mental health issues or simply hiding the identities, religion, and immigration statuses of the perpetrators.
Palm payment systems linked to IDs are being rolled out in retail outlets in USA and UAE
New deployments, technologies and markets are driving the implementation of biometric payment systems for in-store and online purchases. Formula 1 racing’s Miami Grand Prix is expanding biometric payments for fans. Qualcomm is launching a new palm payment terminal with Telpo. A patented palm biometrics system, with its contactless palm recognition, developed by Astra Tech is poised to be rolled out in UAE supermarkets.
Online Witch Doctors Lure South African Christians……
Millions of Black South Africans seek guidance from sangomas, traditional healers or so-called witch doctors who use their spiritual gifts to connect with ancestors, prescribe herbs to heal illnesses, and throw dry bones to predict the future.
3 years after serious safety issues were reported, AstraZeneca withdraws its covid vaccine worldwide
The Oxford-AstraZeneca has withdrawn its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide. The decision to withdraw the vaccine was made on 5 March but came into effect on 7 May. It brings to an end the use of the injection and comes months after AstraZeneca admitted for the first time in court documents that it can cause “rare” and dangerous blood clots.
Headlines – 5/10/2024
Slovenia to Recognize Palestinian State by mid-June, Hopes Other Countries Will Follow
US law could force Biden to pull UN funding if Palestinian recognition bypass succeeds, experts say
Speaker Johnson: Biden Trying to ‘Micromanage’ Israel War
Biden’s partial weapons freeze deepens existential threat Israel has faced since Oct. 7
JFNA says withholding US arms for Israel encourages Hamas, endangers the hostages
Trump: Biden Sides With Terrorists on Rafah Weapons
After Biden threat, ADL says withholding arms from Israel ‘undermines our ally, emboldens terror’
US says it’s not abandoning Israel, asserts Rafah offensive would embolden Hamas
Breach Grows Between Biden and Israel’s Leaders Over Rafah Invasion
‘It’s Definitely an Earthquake’: A Top U.S. Expert on Biden, Bibi and the Arms Embargo Bombshell
Israeli envoy to US says weapons holdup sends ‘wrong message,’ puts Israel ‘in a corner’
As Gaza Talks Falter, Negotiators Look for a Deal or a Scapegoat
After freezing arms transfers, Biden suffers backlash from pro-Israel community in US
McConnell Warns Biden: Refusing Israeli Aid Will Prove ‘Grave’
Dem Mega Donor Rips Biden Blocking Israel Weapons
Rep. Mills Draws Up Impeachment Articles Over Biden’s Aid Threat
Articles of Impeachment Drawn over Biden’s Withholding of Israeli Aid for Political Reasons
Report: State Department set to confirm Israel not breaking international law in Gaza
UK will not follow US in withholding arms sales to Israel, says Cameron
Despite Biden’s pause, billions of dollars in US arms for Israel still in pipeline
IDF: We’ve enough munitions for Rafah; PM: ‘We’ll fight with our fingernails’ if needed
Netanyahu: Israel ‘Will Stand Alone’ If Necessary
PM hoping to overcome differences with Biden, says ‘no choice’ but to destroy Hamas
IDF troops fight gunmen in eastern Rafah as Iron Dome blocks 2 rockets on Kerem Shalom
IDF: 150,000 Palestinians have left east Rafah; raid uncovers 10 tunnel shafts
Fighting in Rafah and Closure of Gaza Crossings Threaten Aid Operation, U.N. Says
At a hospital in Rafah, American medical teams are reporting the worst
Hamas urges halt to aid airdrops after two killed in north Gaza parachute failure
Israel’s Mossad Admits for the First Time: We Were Surprised on October 7
Strange bedfellows far-right, far-left unite against Jews
Black Lives Matter sue progressives who fund anti-Israel protests over alleged fraud
Playbook for Nationwide Campus Unrest Discovered
Inside the Campus Playbook To Build a Nationwide ‘Unity Intifada’ in Support of Hamas
First Faculty-Led Anti-Israel Encampment Established at New School
Cornell University President Martha Pollack Steps Down After 7 Years Amid Campus Turmoil
‘Are you a Zionist?’ Checkpoints at UCLA encampment provoked fear, debate among Jews
U.K. PM Sunak says university leaders have moral duty to protect Jewish students from intimidation
‘If Gaza Burns, Berlin Burns’ Says Graffiti at Berlin Town Hall Arson Attack
Netanyahu says college protesters chanting ‘from the river to the sea’ are ‘supporting genocide’
Report: Miss Israel Threatened, Harassed in NYC for Identifying Herself as IDF
After ban, ministry raids Al Jazeera’s Nazareth branch, seizes equipment
UNRWA chief temporarily shuts East Jerusalem HQ after extremists set fire to perimeter
Defense minister says he envisions new city in West Bank as settler numbers grow
IDF strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon after rocket and drone attacks
IDF cancels Lag B’Omer celebrations on Mount Meron in light of Hezbollah attacks
Iran-Backed Houthis Attack Three Ships in Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean
Turkey dismisses ‘fictional’ Israeli claims it is easing trade ban
Turkey allows 3-month reprieve for traders but denies backtrack on Israel export ban
Exiled Saudi Colonel: MBS Ordered Troops to Kill Natives Resisting ‘Neom’ Megacity Project
Possible genocide committed in Sudan, report says
Children ‘piled up and shot’: new details emerge of ethnic cleansing in Darfur
Zelensky Fires Security Chief After Thwarted Assassination Plot Revealed
Putin, seeking continuity, proposes Mishustin remain Russia’s prime minister
Putin warns of global clash as Russia marks victory in World War Two
Putin says Russia ‘will not allow anyone to threaten us’ as Moscow revels in military might
A Ukrainian Sport Plane Drone Just Flew 800 Miles Into Russia To Blow Up An Oil Refinery
NATO Country Leader Endorses China’s Peace Plan for Russia-Ukraine War
U.S. Fails to Counter Threat of Chinese Land Ownership, Report Finds
Some Republicans try once again to defund Jack Smith prosecutions
Johnson Vows to Protect Jack Smith Hours After Democrats Save His Speakership
Hillary Clinton compares Trump to Hitler on MSNBC as Dems’ lawfare tactics fail
Yahoo Op-ed: Evangelicals See Trump’s Hedonism as Godly ‘Masculinity’
FBI restarts communications with social media companies over ‘disinformation’ ahead of 2024 election
Commentary: AI Could Be a Lifeline for Journalism – or a Rope to Hang Itself
Three new incidents involving Boeing planes in just two days
Boeing jet skids off runway, injuring at least 10
SEC to investigate Boeing over statements on safety practices: report
China just sent a secret mini-rover to the far side of the moon on its Chang’e 6 sample-return probe
Top senators believe the US secretly recovered UFOs
Gargantuan sunspot 15-Earths wide erupts with another colossal X-class solar flare
‘Severe’ solar storm could trigger Northern Lights as far south as Alabama Friday night
5.8 magnitude earthquake hits near Hualien City, Taiwan
5.1 magnitude earthquake hits near Hualien City, Taiwan
5.0 magnitude earthquake hits near Port-Olry, Vanuatu
Sabancaya volcano in Peru erupts to 28,000ft
Ruiz volcano in Colombia erupts to 22,000ft
Popocateptl volcano in Mexico erupts to 19,000ft
Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupts to 17,000ft
Semeru volcano in Peru erupts to 15,000ft
Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupts to 14,000ft
2024 tornado tally more than 100 higher than historical average
Hail ranging in size from quarters to baseballs falls on North Texas
Puerto Rico in Crisis: Emergency Declared Amid Flooding
Satellite images reveal devastating flooding in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Hunter Biden’s federal gun charges to go to trial after appeal dismissed
Report: Gun Stolen From Car Every 9 Minutes in US
Antifa militant arrested for alleged arson of Portland UPS distribution center
Trans Man Charged with Cyberstalking Days After Threatening Governor Bill Lee and His Wife
Franklin Graham Slams Boy Scouts for Going Fully ‘Woke,’ Offers ‘Christ-Centered Alternative’
Judge Tosses New York Abortion, Gender Identity Amendment from November Ballot
Missouri Gov. Parson Signs Bill Banning Taxpayer Funds to Abortion Providers
VP Harris Blasts SCOTUS Over Roe, Warns of Future Decisions
RFK Jr.: Women Can Opt for Abortion ‘Even if It’s Full-Term’
Medical freedom vs. public health: Should fluoride be in our drinking water?
Pfizer to Settle 10K Lawsuits Over Drug Linked to Cancer, Costing Company Millions
Mutant Covid variant ‘FLiRT’ even more resistant to human immune systems: report
Cows have human flu receptors, study shows, raising stakes on bird flu outbreak in dairy cattle
Here We Go: FDA Warns for Potential Bird Flu Pandemic That Could Kill One in Four Americans
‘Undermines Sovereignty’ – UK Rejects Signing W.H.O. Global Vaccine Treaty
Mid-Day Snapshot · May 10, 2024
“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”.
THE FOUNDATION
“Constitutions of civil government are not to be framed upon a calculation of existing exigencies, but upon a combination of these with the probable exigencies of ages, according to the natural and tried course of human affairs.” —Alexander Hamilton (1788)
| On this day in Patriot history in 1775, just three weeks after hostilities commenced at Lexington and Concord, the British Fort Ticonderoga in New York fell to Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. Later that year, Allen was captured by the British in Montreal and finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1778. He continued serving with the Continental Army and the Vermont Republic militia for the duration of the war. —Mark Alexander |
Publisher’s Note: This Sunday, May 12, is Mother’s Day. May God bless each and every mother among our Patriot readers.
IN TODAY’S DIGEST
- Trump Was Impeached for What Biden Just Did … Again
- Biden’s Big Freudian Slip
- Executive News Summary
- Disney Stock Continues to Plummet
- Jewish Sanders Blocks Anti-Semitism Resolution
- Try a Little Honesty About Israel
- DAILY FEATURES: Videos, Best of Right Opinion, Short Cuts, Memes, and Cartoons.
ON THE WEB
- Ron Helle: The Secret Place
- In Brief: Remember Tara Reade?
FEATURED ANALYSIS
Trump Was Impeached for What Biden Just Did … Again
The president is withholding military aid from Israel in exchange for personal political benefit.
Nate Jackson
President Trump withheld Congressionally appropriated aid to Ukraine unless they granted him a political favor. It’s the definition of quid pro quo.
This is no joke — Trump continues to put his own personal, political interests ahead of the national interest. He must be impeached.“
That was Candidate Joe Biden in October 2019.
Replace “Trump” with “Biden” and “Ukraine” with “Israel,” and Joe Biden just incriminated himself, at least according to new Democrat standards for impeachment.
Two weeks after Congress approved and Biden signed a bill allocating $26 billion in aid for Israel, Biden announced that the U.S. would withhold weapons to protest Israel’s military action in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah,” Biden said, “I’m not supplying the weapons.”
In other words, Biden wants to micromanage how Israel conducts its totally legitimate war against Hamas, and he wants to do so with a quid pro quo because he needs a political favor. Pro-Hamas hooligans in America are upset with Biden, and he needs to show them he’s reining in Israel so they’ll still vote for him in November.
Unlike notoriously corrupt Ukraine, however, Israel effectively told Biden where he could stick those weapons. “If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I have said that, if necessary, we will fight with our fingernails.”
In any case, the impeachment comparison is clear.
As former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy sarcastically writes, “I’m old enough to remember when House Democrats impeached and Senate Democrats voted unanimously (though unsuccessfully) to convict and remove a president for withholding congressionally approved, taxpayer-funded aid from an allied country — one that desperately needed the aid while fighting a defensive war against a barbaric enemy — in order to pressure that desperate ally to help the president get reelected.”
Republicans see the comparison, too. “The House has no choice but to impeach Biden,” said Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, “based on the Trump-Ukraine precedent of withholding foreign aid to help with reelection. Only with Biden, it’s true.”
Florida Republican Representative Cory Mills is drawing up articles of impeachment against “President ‘Quid pro Joe’ Biden,” brilliantly using language straight from New York Democrat Jerrold Nadler’s articles against Trump in 2019.
Not only is Biden a hypocrite now, but he’s done this before — in Ukraine. It was way back when he was just Barack Obama’s sidekick in 2015 and his drug-addicted son Hunter was peddling influence for Burisma in Ukraine. A Ukrainian state prosecutor was investigating Burisma, which might have proved awfully inconvenient for the Bidens. So, three years later, the elder Biden boasted that he had told Ukrainian officials, “If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money.” The money was a billion-dollar loan guarantee. “Well,” he said, “son of a b***h. He got fired.”
Another quid pro quo for political as well as personal reasons.
Biden isn’t the only one working quid pro quos. The United Nations, which has become notoriously anti-Israel in recent decades, is at it again. In April, the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution paving the way for full UN membership for “Palestine.” Today, the General Assembly is going to circumvent the Security Council by passing a resolution elevating the Palestinian Authority from observer status to functional membership as if it’s a separate state. A draft says the “State of Palestine” shall have the “right to be seated among Member States.”
So, what’s the quid pro quo? Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis, as well as kidnapped, raped, and mutilated hundreds of others, so, says the UN, here’s official recognition of a virtual two-state “solution.” Hamas doesn’t even have to release any hostages — including five Americans — if there are any still alive.
That’s rewarding terrorism with legitimacy. To say it’s reprehensible is woefully inadequate. Yet that is also effectively what Joe Biden and his hordes of protesting Marxists have done. Team Biden could invoke legal provisions that require the U.S. to cease UN funding (over $700 million this year) if the Palestinian Authority is recognized in this way. But we all know Biden’s not going to do that.
Back to the quid pro quo and impeachment. It was preposterous to impeach Trump for his call to his Ukrainian counterpart, and impeachment shouldn’t be on the table for Biden now. Presidents deserve the latitude to conduct foreign policy as they see fit, even if it’s outrageously wrong, as it is in this case. Yes, he’s betraying a key ally while sucking up to Islamofascist terrorists and grown-toddler protesters on American college campuses. Yet it should be up to voters to take his totally disgraceful behavior into account come November.
If Biden is to be impeached, it should be for gross dereliction at the southern border, but that’s another story.
In any case, the lesson here is clear. As is always the case with Democrats, if it weren’t for double standards, they wouldn’t have any.
Follow Nate Jackson on X/Twitter.
Biden’s Big Freudian Slip
By referring to the wave of illegals as “Hispanic voters,” he inadvertently tipped the Democrats’ hand for rigging this year’s race.
Douglas Andrews
It’s only May, and The Washington Post is already working the electoral refs.
“Top Republicans, led by former president Donald Trump,” writes The Post’s Patrick Svitek, “are refusing to commit to accept November’s election results with six months until voters head to the polls, raising concerns that the country could see a repeat of the violent aftermath of Trump’s loss four years ago.”
“He may not accept the outcome of the election? I promise you he won’t,” said Joe Biden in a CNN interview on Wednesday.
Gosh, why might Republicans already be suspicious of the 2024 election? Could it be that they still remember the myriad ways in which the Democrats rigged the 2020 contest?
And could it be that the Democrats are already scheming up creative new ways to get out the “Democrat” vote in order to rig this year’s contest — such as flooding the zone with voter registration forms and requiring that state health and human services agencies hand out voter registration forms to illegal immigrants when they apply for their free government healthcare?
But that’s just the tip of the election-rigging iceberg. Interviewing with a Spanish-language radio station, Biden didn’t have the benefit — if you can even call it that anymore — of a teleprompter. So, he said the quiet part out loud. Referring to the catastrophic wave of illegals who have poured across our southern border under Biden’s watch, he said the migration is “a little bit like back in the 1840s and the great exodus of Ireland.” And then he said: “It’s even a bigger influx now in terms of Hispanic voters! Err, Hispanic citizens.”
With a Freudian slip like that, is it any wonder that Republicans are again wondering about election integrity?
And then there are all those fliers at the Soros-funded illegal-immigration NGOs in Mexico — the ones that say: “Reminder to vote for President Biden when you are in the United States. We need another four years of his term to stay open.”
House Republicans seem to be aware of all this — or at least a few of them. Our Emmy Griffin noted this a few weeks ago: “What better way to start unifying the GOP than by addressing the various issues surrounding voter integrity? A lot of hanky-panky was allowed to occur in the 2020 presidential election because of the COVID black-swan event and subsequent lockdowns.”
Earlier this week, Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy introduced a bill meant to at least make it harder for the Democrats to get out the illegal vote. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will never bring it to a vote in the Senate, but at least the GOP can raise awareness. The legislation, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, would require proof of citizenship to vote. Yes, it’s already illegal for illegals to vote, but, as Speaker Mike Johnson says, “Election officials have no mechanism to deter them from registering to vote.”
The SAVE legislation “would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, better known as the ‘motor voter law,’ to require that states obtain documentary proof of citizenship from someone before he or she may register to vote,” reports The Daily Signal. “It also would require states to remove noncitizens from existing voter rolls.”
Steven Levitsky, a government professor at Harvard University who studies democracy around the world, says that the Republicans’ refusal to commit to accepting election results is “deeply concerning.” Uh-huh. “Accepting the results of elections is, in effect, the cardinal rule of democracy,” he adds. “It is the first rule of democratic politics. If a major party is not willing to accept defeat in elections, democracy cannot be stable.”
It’s a republic, but whatever. And he’s right about accepting the results of elections being crucial to the health of a nation. But again, Republicans wouldn’t be so reluctant to rubber-stamp the legitimacy of future elections if the Democrats hadn’t already proven their willingness to rig past elections.
Executive News Summary
RFK’s odd and monstrous abortion position, Hillary’s lack of self-awareness, Hunter’s June trial, and more.
Douglas Andrews & Jordan Candler
Cross-Examination
- Robert F(ull Term Abortion) Kennedy: We thought the worst news to hit the RFK Jr. campaign this week would be the candidate’s own admission, right out of Pink Floyd’s “Hey You,” that a worm ate into his brain. But no. As RFK Jr. continues to gain traction among blank-slate voters who ascribe to him only noble qualities while ignoring his very real and, frankly, very awful policy positions — from carbon taxes to reparations — we also learned this week, again through his own admission, that Kennedy supports abortion right up to the moment of birth, “even if it’s full term.” Kennedy said so during an interview with podcaster and former ESPN host Sage Steele in response to the question, “Should there be a limit or are you saying all the way up to full term, a woman has a right to have an abortion?” Kennedy thinks that “we need to leave it to the woman, her pastor, and to, um, you know, her spiritual advisors or if, I, her physician, whatever, to make those decisions.” When Steele pressed him, “Even if it’s full term?” he responded after a lengthy pause, “Even if it’s full term.” Weirdly, Kennedy added: “I don’t think it’s ever OK. … I think we should do everything in our power to make sure that never happens.” Which just makes his position even more odd and more monstrous. But like Bill Maher, at least he’s honest.
- Hillary’s lack of self-awareness: “Propaganda is not education,” said Hillary Clinton during an interview this week with the friendlies at MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Propaganda, on, whether it’s TikTok or in the classroom, is actually the opposite of education. Anybody who is teaching in a university or anyone who is putting content on social media should be held responsible for what they include and what they exclude.” That’s quite a tone-deaf, utterly self-unaware observation — especially coming from the failed presidential candidate whose campaign funded the infamous Steele dossier. Recall that the dossier was Clinton’s deep state attempt to smear Donald Trump as a Russian stooge. It was an opposition research document bought and paid for by Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, vouched for by the FBI, and used with devastating effect to secure FISA warrants for spying on Trump. And it was pure garbage. How effective was this Clintonian propaganda? It ultimately launched an equally infamous FBI investigation called Crossfire Hurricane, whose sole purpose was to destroy the Trump presidency. So spare us the lectures on propaganda, Hillary. Wethinks you doth protest too much.
- Hunter Biden’s June trial will proceed as scheduled: Hunter Biden — remember him? — got some bad news yesterday, as the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed his bid to have a three-count felony firearm case thrown out. “This appeal is DISMISSED because the defendant has not shown the District Court’s orders are appealable before final judgment,” stated Judges Patty Shwartz, Cindy Chung, and D. Brooks Smith. But, hey, we can’t blame a drug-addled, hooker-addicted, influence-peddling “artist” for trying. After all, if he’s convicted (we’ll believe it when we see it), the felonies carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. As the New York Post reports, Biden “has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which include two counts of making false statements and one count of firearm possession by an unlawful substance abuser.” The president’s wastrel son has enjoyed a measure of anonymity lately as the mainstream media focuses its limited attention span elsewhere, but he’s running out of time to avoid accountability. His original sweetheart deal went kaboom last year, and his subsequent publicity stunts haven’t won him any converts. When it finally comes around, this will be a great test case for our two-tiered justice system.
- Trump courts Big Oil: The Democrats are inarguably the party of Big Business, but there’s one industry that might still be holding out hope for Donald Trump’s return to the White House: Big Oil. And why not? Joe Biden’s all-out war on fossil fuels has left them no choice. Trump appears to be aware of this, and his outreach to the petroleum industry has the Left all up in arms. As the Washington Examiner reports, “Several prominent Democrats slammed former President Donald Trump for reportedly asking top oil executives for $1 billion for his campaign in exchange for a rollback of environmental standards that he said hurt the industry.” Hey, they seem to be saying, we’re the shakedown artists here! Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, the coauthor (with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) of the original Green New Deal, is beside himself. “Trump’s backroom dealmaking with Big Oil is a pledge to fan the flames of the climate crisis,” he caterwauled. “It’s unacceptable. We can’t let Trump bargain away our planet and our future.” But if Markey is miffed, then California Governor Gavin Newsom is about to blow his oily-haired stack: “Big Oil is literally writing up Executive Orders for Trump to sign on Day 1,” he says, “with the promise of $1 billion in return. He’s giving away our planet in return for cash. Have we just accepted this as the new norm??” Abundant and inexpensive energy is essential to American well-being. And windmills and solar panels won’t cut it. If Trump can attract fossil-fuel funding to wage war against the Democrats, more power to him.
- Biden floats a tougher asylum policy: If the American people fall for this, then we definitely deserve Democrat governance in perpetuity. Joe Biden, having been sufficiently buffeted by voter backlash against his open border, is finally planning to get tough at our southern border. Translation: He’s planning to shut the border door now that 10 million illegals have made their way across. As ABC News reports: “The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday a proposed change to the process for those seeking asylum in the United States that would streamline security assessments. The new proposal would allow asylum officers to determine earlier in the process whether an asylum-seeker is a national security risk and therefore ineligible to stay in the United States, the agency said.” But as Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw sees it, “These are cosmetic changes at best, designed to drive a couple of headlines and hopefully salvage a few points in his approval ratings.” To be fair, one policy change could allow immigration officials to make on-the-spot asylum assessments and thereby send illegals back to Mexico to wait for a ruling. However, this would only apply to those illegals “with known or knowable criminal backgrounds.” On top of this, officials say it’ll take months for these policies to be implemented. They must think we’re chumps.
Headlines
- Netanyahu vows to defeat Hamas in Rafah despite U.S. arms threat (BBC)
- Police dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT and move to clear Penn and Arizona protests (AP)
- Another one bites the dust: Cornell University president resigns in surprise email (RedState)
- Taxpayer-funded ID program for illegal immigrants expected to begin this summer (Fox News)
- Trans activists sabotage hotline for girls to report creepy men in their bathrooms (The Federalist)
- Teens kicked out of elite Catholic school for “blackface” are awarded $1 million by jury after proving it was just acne mask (NY Post)
- Missouri governor signs bill banning abortion providers from Medicaid reimbursements (FOX 2 News)
- Virginia school board votes to restore names of Confederate leaders to schools (NBC News)
- Policy: Biden’s climate policies playing into hands of China’s energy schemes (Daily Signal)
- Humor: Stormy Daniels offers hush money to courtroom sketch artist to please stop drawing her (Babylon Bee)
For the Executive Summary archive, click here.
Disney Stock Continues to Plummet
The ship keeps sinking as Disney continues to double down on bad content.
Emmy Griffin
Disney CEO Bob Iger predicts poor earnings in the third quarter of 2024. Almost immediately after that comment, Disney stocks plunged 8%.
Disney stocks haven’t been doing well in years at this point. As I wrote in January 2023, Disney very quickly went from creating box-office hits to box-office bombs. Starting in March 2022, Disney stocks began flagging. That was when Disney went full bore against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and all in for the LGBTQ agenda in films and shows.
Iger also made a crucial admission during this week’s quarterly earnings announcement — namely, that the films and shows being produced by Disney just aren’t quality content. Finally. Disney, which isn’t listening to its customer base and is leaning hard into the gender-bender agenda in an attempt to mainstream it, has long been blaming everything and everyone except itself for the decline.
In a national Rasmussen poll earlier this week, 71% of respondents stated that they wanted Disney to “return to wholesome programming and allow parents to decide when their children are taught about sexuality.”
Yet Disney is still pumping out a plethora of LGBTQ-tinged content, which is truly disheartening for parents who just want to find something wholesome and clean for their kids to watch. “Renegade Nell,” a 2024 original series on Disney+ that had an interesting plot and was set in a unique time period, was ruined in Episode 6 by a lesbian kiss that made no sense and added nothing to the overall plot. “The Secret Score,” also a 2024 contribution, makes reference to a unisex bathroom in the first 10 minutes. “It Was Always Me” has a gay love story side plot starting in Episode 3 that continues into the 2024 second season.
The “Star Wars” franchise has been another particularly bad offender in this regard. The latest animated offering on Disney+, called “Tales of the Empire,” has a non-binary Jedi with “they/them” pronouns. Absurdly, the Jedi is killed by inquisitors who proceed to respect his pronouns. As Yoda might say (in a rare grammatically correct sentence) regarding the Rainbow Mafia, “The Dark Side clouds everything.”
Bob Iger, who has several stints as the CEO of Disney, has been promising a return to entertainment-focused content since he retook the helm of the sinking entertainment giant. So far, we’re not seeing any indication that this is anything more than words.
It truly is a shame because Disney used to be beloved and a brand that families could trust.
Jewish Sanders Blocks Anti-Semitism Resolution
The socialist senator from Vermont can’t seem to contain his contempt for the Jewish state.
Brian Mark Weber
With the rise in anti-Semitism across the nation, one would think that one of the leading Jewish voices in the country would feel compelled to speak out against it.
And one would be wrong.
Vermont socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, the son of working-class Polish Jewish immigrants, blocked a resolution by Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott condemning “the rise of antisemitism on campuses of institutions of higher education across the United States” and “administrators of institutions of higher education who have enabled ongoing antisemitism on their campuses.”
The resolution, as National Review reports, “also would urge the U.S. Department of Education to ensure those institutions of higher education have complied with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that ‘students, including Jewish students, are not experiencing discrimination in violation of such Title VI.’”
In recent weeks, we’ve seen firsthand just how far some groups are willing to go with their hatred of Jews and just how little colleges and universities have done to protect the subjects of hate. These are the same institutions of higher learning that pride themselves on inclusivity and creating safe spaces.
Nevertheless, Bernie couldn’t help but equivocate, posting on X: “Today I offer a simple resolution: NO to antisemitism. NO to Islamophobia. NO to racism and bigotry in all its forms. YES to free speech and protest under the 1st Amendment, whether on a college campus or across our nation.”
Why is it that whenever anti-Semitism comes up, Democrats reflexively start complaining about “Islamophobia”?
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Sanders has likewise refused to hold hearings with university leaders. The counterpart House committee has done so, and it didn’t go well for administrators.
The aforementioned resolution is not the same as the Antisemitism Awareness Act recently passed by the House of Representatives, which was criticized by some Democrats and Republicans for infringing upon free speech rights and broadening the definition of anti-Semitism so much that it might punish reasonable criticisms of Israel or Judaism.
That’s why Sanders’s opposition to the Scott resolution is so odd. Why wouldn’t one of our nation’s highest-profile Jewish lawmakers simply want to condemn anti-Semitism?
It seems strange that so many powerful Jewish American political leaders often side with the enemies of the Jews. And while it’s something that most people in the Jewish community don’t want to talk about, occasionally, a voice of reason emerges from an unexpected place.
One of those voices belongs to Jon Lovitz, one of “Saturday Night Live’s” most popular comedians from the 1980s. Lovitz has been critical of Sanders and another Jewish senator, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for consistently voting against Jewish interests.
Lovitz now laments that 70 Democrats recently voted against a bill condemning anti-Semitism. By contrast, he praises Donald Trump for doing more for Israel than any American president in history.
Sanders, for his part, has long been at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and recently responded to Netanyahu’s concern over anti-Semitic protests on the campuses of American universities by posting: “Antisemitism is a disgusting ideology that has resulted in the deaths of many millions. That does not negate the unprecedented actions of Netanyahu’s right-wing and racist government. It is not antisemitic to demand an end to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.”
That’s the thing, though. The protesters aren’t merely demanding an end to the humanitarian situation or expressing their views. They are harassing Israeli students and preventing them from attending classes. They’re destroying property, disrupting public order, causing graduations to be canceled, and calling for violence.
Senator Scott’s resolution merely called for unity in condemning anti-Semitism, but the socialist Sanders couldn’t bring himself to rise above politics and take a stand against the vile actions of the protesters he seems to support. Like Schumer and many others in power, Sanders is Jewish when it suits his purposes, but first and foremost, he’s loyal to the Marxist wing of the Democrat Party that’s vehemently anti-Israel. Thus, at a time when he could use his influence to stand against this sickness, Sanders is doing just the opposite.
This raises a question: Why do so many Jewish Democrats favor policies that directly oppose the interests of Israel and the broader Jewish population?
Two possible explanations come from author and commentator Dennis Prager, who himself is a Jew. Prager says that Jews may vote against their Jewish homeland for either of two reasons. “Psychopathology and left-wing ideology,” he writes, “are the two primary explanations for why Jews such as those in groups like ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ and ‘IfNotNow’ willingly serve as useful idiots for those who wish to exterminate the Jewish state and the Jewish people.”
Prager adds, “To those who seek to annihilate Israel and its Jews, there is no one as valuable as a Jew who sides with them.”
If only Bernie Sanders understood this.
Try a Little Honesty About Israel
Here are 10 of their most common untruths about October 7 and the war that followed.
Victor Davis Hanson
Scan news accounts of anti-Israel campus and street protestors. Read their demands and manifestos. Collate the confusion after October 7 from the Biden administration.
Here are 10 of their most common untruths about October 7 and the war that followed.
“Progressive Hamas”
Gay and transgender student protestors in America would be in mortal danger in Gaza under a fascistic Hamas that has banned homosexual acts and lifestyles. Anyone protesting publicly against Hamas or its allies would be arrested and severely punished.
Women are segregated in most Hamas-run educational institutions. Under the Hamas charter, women are valued mostly as child-bearers. By design, there are almost no women in high positions in business or in government under Hamas.
“Colonists and settlers”
Students scream that Israelis are “settlers” and “colonists” and sometimes yell at Jewish students to “go back to Poland.”
But the Jewish presence in present-day Israel is deeply rooted in ancient tradition. Dating back at least three millennia, the concept of “Israel” as a distinct Jewish state, situated roughly in its current location, is ingrained in history.
By contrast, the much later Arab invasions of the Byzantine-controlled Levant and their arrival in Palestine occurred about 1,800 years after the establishment of a Jewish Israel.
“Two-state solution”
When student protestors scream “From the river to the sea,” that is not advocacy for a two-state solution.
It is a call to eliminate the state of Israel — lying in between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea — and its 10 million Jewish and Arab citizens. The Hamas charter is a one-state/no-Israel agenda, which we saw attempted on October 7.
“Occupied Gaza”
Gaza was autonomous. The Israeli border is closed, but so is the Egyptian border. There have not been any Jews in Gaza for nearly two decades.
So on October 7, Gaza was not occupied by Israel. It was under the control of Hamas, designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
After being elected to power in 2006, Hamas canceled all subsequent elections and ruled as a dictatorship. Gaza forbids Jews from entering Gaza and has driven out most Christians. Israel hosts two million Arabs, both as Israeli citizens and residents.
“Netanyahu is the problem”
The U.S. and Europe claim that the conservative government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is alone behind the Israeli tough response in Gaza. Thus, both the E.U. and the U.S. are doing their best to undermine or even overthrow the elected Netanyahu administration.
Yet, most Israelis support Netanyahu’s coalition government’s agenda of destroying Hamas in Gaza. There is no evidence that any other alternative Israeli government would do anything differently from the present policies toward Hamas.
“Targeting civilians”
After murdering nearly 1,200 Israelis on October 7, Hamas scurried back to Gaza and hid in tunnels and bases beneath hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Its pre-planned strategy was to survive by ensuring Gaza civilians would be killed. Hamas has indiscriminately launched more than 7,000 rockets at Israel, all designed to kill Jewish civilians.
Outside assessors have concluded that Israel has not inadvertently killed a greater ratio of civilians to terrorists compared to most other urban fighting conflicts elsewhere, and perhaps even fewer than American engagements in Mosul and Fallujah.
“Protestors are pro-Palestine”
Increasingly, protestors make no distinction between supporting “Palestine” and Hamas. Their chants often echo the original Hamas eliminationist charter and recent genocidal ravings of its leadership. Some protestors wear Hamas logos and wave its flag. Many cheered the Hamas massacre of October 7.
“Anti-Israel is not antisemitic”
When protestors scream to Jewish students to “go back to Poland” or call for the “Final Solution,” or assault them or bar them from campus facilities, they do not ask whether they are pro-Israeli.
For protestors, anyone identifiable as Jewish becomes a target of their antisemitic invective and violence.
“Genocide”
Israel has not tried to wipe out the Palestinian people in the fashion of Hamas’s one-state solution plan for Jews.
Before October 7, some 20,000 Gazans a day requested to work in Israel — on the correct expectation of much higher wages and humane treatment.
If Hamas had come out of its tunnels, separated from its impressed civilian shields, released its surviving Israeli hostages, and either openly fought the Israeli Defense Forces or surrendered the organizers of the October 7 massacre, no Gaza civilians would have died.
According to Hamas’s questionable “genocide” figures, roughly 4 percent of the Gazan population died during the Israeli response to October 7. At least a third to almost half of those deaths, according to various international observers, were Hamas terrorists.
“Disproportionate response”
Iran tried to send 320 missiles and rockets into Israel. Israel replied with three.
Hamas launched 7,000 rockets into Israel and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis before the IDF responded in Gaza, often dropping leaflets and sending texts to forewarn citizens.
Israel has been disproportionate only in the effectiveness of its response. Hamas and its Iranian benefactor intended disproportionately to hurt Israel but utterly failed.
So Israel proved to be competent, and Hamas incompetent in their similar efforts to use disproportionate force.
©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
VIDEOS
- United Methodist Church Changes Its Pronouns to ‘Was/Were’ — The UMC recently decided to allow the ordination of self-proclaimed homosexuals as well as same-sex “marriage.”
- Kristi Noem’s Political Career Goes Down in Flames — The governor of South Dakota may have been in the running for potential Trump VP pick. Not anymore.
- Disney Parks Ban FOR LIFE — Lifetime bans for people who lie about disabilities?
- You Absolutely Cannot Miss This DEI Survival Show — A new reality show out of Australia is unintentionally the funniest thing on TV right now.
- Humor: When You Check Facebook After a While — “You poopin? Perfect! You’re right in our target audience!”
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
- ERICK ERICKSONBiden’s Impeachable Moment
- TIM GRAHAMCNN Deploys a ‘Fact-Checker’ for Trump, Not Biden
- DAVID HARSANYIJoe Biden Is Selling Out Israel to the Antisemitic Mob
- MICHAEL BARONEMoving Away From the Template of ‘Oppressor vs. Oppressed’
- JOSH HAMMERThe Making of a Banana Republic
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.
SHORT CUTS
Jordan Candler
Non Compos Mentis
“I believe we should leave [abortion] to the woman. … Even if it’s full term.” —RFK Jr.
The BIG Lies
“[Trump] has never succeeded in creating jobs, and I’ve never failed. I’ve created over 15 million jobs.” —Joe Biden
“If you take a look at what the people have, they have the money to spend. … We’ve got to deal with [corporate greed].” —Joe Biden
Moving the Goalposts
“I’m not proposing that we’re going to be able to bring these prices down. That’s impossible.” —Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)
Braying Jenny
“We have two old candidates. One is, yes, old and effective. … The other is old and dangerous. I mean, why is that a hard choice for people?” —Hillary Clinton
Lack of Self-Awareness Award
“Propaganda is not education. … Anybody who is teaching in a university or anyone who is putting content on social media should be held responsible for what they include and what they exclude.” —Hillary Clinton (“Anyone who is producing a bogus dossier should be held responsible for what they include and what they exclude.” There, I fixed it.)
Spin Doctor
“It made sense to go get [Osama] bin Laden.” —Joe Biden, who told Barack Obama it didn’t make sense to go get bin Laden
Shot/Chaser
“If [the Israelis] go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah.” —Joe Biden
“The House has no choice but to impeach Biden based on the Trump-Ukraine precedent of withholding foreign aid to help with reelection. Only with Biden, it’s true.” —Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
“U.S. policy on the Israel-Hamas war is woefully ambiguous and internally inconsistent. President Joe Biden expresses full support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resolve to destroy Hamas but simultaneously objects to Israeli military actions necessary to get the job done. Biden endorses efforts to achieve a negotiated ceasefire to enable the return of hostages (any who may still be alive), but that noble objective effectively rewards Hamas’s actions in abducting them. How is that going to work out?” —Jack DeVine
Re: The Left
“Without a doubt, college professors are the most dangerous people in America. They’re not dangerous because they challenge the status quo or encourage their students to think critically. On the contrary, they are dangerous because they encourage impressionable young college students to adhere to the doctrines of the professors they choose without giving them the chance to meaningfully challenge those doctrines.” —Armstrong Williams
“Well-educated people are often the least intelligent. They are so confident in their ability to think critically that they have successfully convinced themselves that they can do no wrong. It is only when students have an honest professor who understands their fallibility that they can truly learn.” —Armstrong Williams
“It is a searing indictment of American higher education that our students and graduates are so ignorant of the death and destruction wrought by both communism and socialism that they can advocate for Marxism with a straight face.” —Laura Hollis
“What happens when all products and services are provided by one entity, or by the government? What happens when the government owns all the land? Controls every industry? Makes all agricultural and industrial decisions? When there is only one producer, and anything happens that they do not anticipate, the failure is systemic, catastrophic.” —Laura Hollis
“History tells us what leftists and deep state actors view as ‘disinformation.’ It’s frequently known by another word: truth.” —Nate Jackson
And Last…
“I’d like to say that I wouldn’t be surprised to find parasitic worms coursing through the brains of most Democrats. It would explain a lot.” —Stephen Kruiser
Follow Jordan Candler on X/Twitter.
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)”.
Israeli tanks encircle Rafah cutting city in HALF after Netanyahu vows to ‘fight with fingernails’ if US blocks weapons | The US Sun
ISRAELI tanks have advanced to the road that divides the Gaza Strip, effectively encircling the entire eastern half of refugee-filled Rafah.
The offensive comes despite international opposition, and as IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is ready to “fight with our fingernails”.
Israeli army soldiers atop one of their main battle tanks near the Gaza Strip border[/caption]
Israeli army battle tanks are positioned in southern Israel, effectively encircling the entire eastern half of refugee-filled Rafah[/caption]
The main battle tanks have been joined by other military vehicles[/caption]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is ready to ‘fight with our fingernails’[/caption]
Some 1.5 million civilians who fled other war-torn parts of Gaza were estimated to have sought refuge in Rafah, living in makeshift shelters with limited access to food, water, and blankets.
As of Friday – and following orders by Israel’s military – about 110,000 have fled the city, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
US President Joe Biden this week warned he would halt shipments of weapons to Israel if Netanyahu ordered a major invasion of Rafah.
But Netanyahu was apparently undeterred by the threat and vowed to have Israel enter the city, where he has said the “last bastion” of Hamas militants – including terror chief Yahya Sinwar – are hiding.
The prime minister said late on Thursday: “If we must stand alone, we shall stand alone.
“If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails.
“But we have much more than our fingernails, and with that strength of spirit, with God’s help, together we shall be victorious.”
Constant explosions and gunfire were on Friday heard to the east and northeast of Rafah as fighting escalated between Israeli armed forces and Hamas militants.
Hamas claimed to have ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of Rafah, indicating Netanyahu’s troops had already entered the city from the east and progressed several kilometres within it.
Israeli tanks have reportedly sealed off eastern Rafah from the south, capturing and blocking the only crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
The armoured fighting vehicles have reached the Salahuddin road, which bisects the Strip, and completely encircled eastern Rafah – the “red zone” Israel earlier ordered residents to leave.
A British doctor volunteering at a hospital just north of Rafah, James Smith, told Reuters: “Over the course of the last three days or so the situation has really deteriorated incredibly dramatically in Rafah.
“The number of airstrikes has increased. The number of artillery strikes has increased, and we’ve heard that heavy military equipment, tanks and so on, have been on the streets of eastern Rafah and also been to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
“All humanitarian aid convoys have been unable to pass into Gaza from the south for the last couple of days. No fuel has entered and already the UN is planning for the worst case scenarios, rationing fuel for essential activities only.”
Israel’s military claimed it had already located several tunnel shafts in eastern Rafah and killed several Hamas fighters.
Speaking in an interview aired on US television after Biden vowed to halt weapons supplies to Israel, Netanyahu said he hoped he and the US
president would be able to overcome their “disagreements”.
He said: “We often had our agreements but we’ve had our disagreements. We’ve been able to overcome them.
“I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country.”
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country would “stand strong” and “achieve our goals”.
He said: “We will hit Hamas, we will hit (Lebanon’s) Hezbollah, and we will achieve security.”
Israel and Hamas have long been engaged in talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, that might see Israeli hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Negotiators left the last meetings for a potential truce in Cairo on Thursday without a breakthrough, and with an indication from Israel that it would proceed with its planned invasion of Rafah.
Some 110,000 people have fled Rafah ahead of Israel’s assault, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said early on Friday.
UNICEF’s senior emergency coordinator in the Strip, Hamish Young, said he had witnessed “many hundreds of trucks, buses, cars and donkey carts loaded with people and possessions” leave the city.
He told journalists: “People I speak with tell me they are exhausted, terrified and know life in al-Mawasi will, again, impossibly, be harder.
“It’s just a tragic situation, and there’s just nowhere safe in Gaza for children.”
Israeli armored vehicles have also been deployed near Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel[/caption]
Israel’s offence comes amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Hamas movement[/caption]
Israeli army soldiers walk before a main battle tank positioned near the border with the Gaza Strip[/caption]
— Read on www.the-sun.com/news/11334704/israeli-tanks-encircle-rafah-netanyahu-assault/
Missouri AG Demands DOJ Release Communications with Soros Funded DA’s Alvin Bragg, Letitia James, and Fani Willis Over ‘Witch Hunt’ Against President Trump | The Gateway Pundit
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has formally requested that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) release all communications involving Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in relation to the “witch hunt” against former President Donald Trump.
For context:
- Alvin Bragg (Manhattan DA): The focus has largely been on alleged financial crimes, including possible fraud and falsification of business records related to hush money payments and other financial discrepancies within the Trump Organization.
- Letitia James (New York AG): James has pursued civil charges against Trump and his business practices, alleging persistent fraud involving banks, tax authorities, and insurance companies. This includes misrepresenting the value of assets for financial gain.
- Fani Willis (Fulton County DA): Willis is investigating alleged criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election.
In a series of tweets, Bailey cited evidence suggesting that the DOJ, under Biden’s regime, orchestrated or coordinated the prosecutions of Trump.
He pointed to the appointment of Matthew Colangelo, the third-highest ranking official in the DOJ, to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in December 2022 as a critical sign of coordination. Colangelo was brought on specifically to prosecute Trump.
Attorney Mike Davis also said this during an interview with Steve Bannon that Matt Colangelo is the link between the Biden DOJ and DA Bragg in their corrupt acts of targeting and putting together a bogus indictment against President Trump. This guy was in the Obama White House and the Biden DOJ and appears to have been brought in to indict President Trump on whatever he could come up with.
Attorney General Bailey also emphasized that Bragg had previously worked alongside Letitia James in civil litigation against Trump and campaigned on a promise to prosecute the former president if elected.
After securing his role as District Attorney, Bragg pledged to prioritize investigations into Trump’s business practices.
“During that campaign, Bragg promised “if elected, [he] would go after Trump.” Once he won election, he pledged “to personally focus on the high-profile probe into former President Donald Trump’s business practices,” Bailey wrote.
Bailey argues that the timing of Bragg’s charges, which came only after Trump announced his candidacy for president, suggests a politically motivated effort to weaken Trump’s campaign.
“Given the timing, the weakness of the charges, and their impact on Trump’s ability to campaign effectively, there is substantial reason to suspect that President Biden has coordinated with Bragg and others to prosecute Trump,” Bailey wrote.
The Attorney General insists that Missourians have the right to know whether the prosecutions of Trump are being coordinated by the federal government, particularly by Biden’s administration, which has a vested political interest in weakening Trump’s candidacy.
Bailey’s office filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request at the DOJ to obtain any communications that could shed light on the extent of federal involvement in these prosecutions. The demand specifically targets interactions between DOJ officials and local prosecutors like Bragg, James, and Willis.
“The people of Missouri deserve transparency, and we’re demanding the DOJ turn over documents that we believe will expose these political prosecutions for what they are: a witch hunt,” Bailey added.
The Attorney General’s office has yet to receive a response from the DOJ regarding the FOIA request. However, Bailey remains adamant that the prosecution efforts against Trump are a calculated attempt to hinder his campaign trail activities and damage his chances of reclaiming the presidency.
The post Missouri AG Demands DOJ Release Communications with Soros Funded DA’s Alvin Bragg, Letitia James, and Fani Willis Over ‘Witch Hunt’ Against President Trump appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
If Trump didn’t run, these cases wouldn’t have happened: Victor Davis Hanson | Newsline – YouTube
On Friday’s “Newsline,” Hoover Institute Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson calls out the political motivations behind the Trump trials.
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
Jeff Wagner: Smoke Rising from the US Constitution | David Fiorazo
David and Jeff discuss attacks on the Constitution, J6, lawfare, political prisoners, president Trump, tactics of the Marxist Left, and more.
Israeli war cabinet votes to expand Rafah operation area, amid growing U.S. concerns | Axios
Amid growing U.S. concerns about the humanitarian situation in Rafah, the Israeli security cabinet approved last night the “expansion of the area of operation” of the Israel Defense Forces in the southern Gaza city, according to three sources with knowledge of the details.The big picture: President Biden said this week said if Israel invades Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, the U.S. will stop supplying it with artillery shells, bombs for fighter jets and other offensive weapons.
The latest: Two sources said this is a “measured expansion” that does not cross Biden’s “red line.“
- The third source said the approved expansion includes actions that could be interpreted by the U.S. as crossing Biden’s red line. Israel claims Rafah is a last holdout for Hamas militants.
- The three sources said the cabinet also instructed the Israeli team negotiating indirect talks for a hostage and ceasefire deal to continue efforts to reach a deal and try to formulate a new initiative that would lead to a breakthrough.
- The sources said ultranationalist ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich voted against the decision. The two have pushed for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to suspend negotiations and invade Rafah.
State of play: The Israeli cabinet decision comes as concern grows in the Biden administration about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Rafah area since Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing earlier this week, two U.S. officials said.
- The officials said Israel didn’t coordinate the capturing of the crossing well enough with the Egyptians who got “extremely upset.”
- As a result, the Egyptians refused to send aid trucks, including fuel trucks, through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, the officials said.
- The Biden administration is now pressing the Israelis to reopen the Rafah crossing and urging the Egyptians to send trucks through Kerem Shalom in the meantime, the officials said.
But the security situation around Kerem Shalom is unstable and the United Nations is having difficulties sending its trucks to pick up aid at the crossing.
- One of the main shortages in Gaza is fuel — almost none has entered Gaza since May 7, according to one U.S. official.
- The UN tried buying fuel from Israel and getting it to Gaza through Kerem Shalom after the Rafah crossing was shut down, but the Israelis rejected the request because the only UN entity that had money for the fuel was UNRWA, a U.S. official said. Israeli leaders have accused UNRWA staff of having ties to Hamas, but a report issued last month found Israel hadn’t yet provided supporting evidence to its claim.
- It took the UN time to find another agency to buy the fuel.
What they’re saying: “We are in a week with a significant decrease in the aid that is going in,” one U.S. official said.
- “This is precisely the kind of thing we warned the Israelis against. It’s a microcosm of everything the Israelis have done for the past seven months, which is why we don’t trust them at all to do Rafah right.”
- — Read on www.axios.com/2024/05/10/israel-gaza-rafah-operation-expansion
Greg Kelly’s Day in Court | The NEWSMAX Daily (05/10/24) – YouTube
Today’s 20-min top headline news brief includes:
[2:16] -Newsmax’s Greg Kelly spends the day in the court room and breaks down the Trump trial. [Greg Kelly Reports]
[10:36] -Rob Finnerty: “The White House’s involvement in Trump cases is “undeniable.” [Wake Up America]
[13:14] -Trump Senior Advisor Jason Miller: “Biden’s poor economy has his numbers in the toilet.” [Newsline]
[16:32] -Judge Arthur Engoron, who found Trump guilty of fraud, is now under investigation by the New York State Commission for judicial misconduct.
[17:50] -Seinfeld co-star John O’Hurley: “The wokesters are killing comedy with political correctness.” [National Report
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
Jonathan Turley: This could end up as a reversible error – YouTube
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley discusses Stormy Daniels’ testimony concluding in NY v. Trump on ‘Hannity.’ #foxnews #fox #hannity
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
Alina Habba Rips Hush Money Trial Process After Salacious Daniels Testimony | Conservative Brief
Former President Donald Trump’s chief spokeswoman, Alina Habba, railed against the direct examination of adult film star Stormy Daniels regarding her alleged sexual encounter with the real estate mogul following highly salacious testimony earlier this week.
Habba, in an interview with Fox News, noted that Daniels gave hours of testimony revealing highly sensitive details about the alleged encounter that most news outlets did not cover due to their highly “salacious” nature. Judge Juan Merchan upheld several defense objections but rejected Todd Blanche’s request for a mistrial on behalf of Trump.
In an appearance on “America’s Newsroom,” Habba, herself an attorney, was critical of the questioning.
“I ask you about yesterday’s testimony,” co-anchor Dana Perino began. “Okay, so I know you can’t talk about Stormy Daniels testimony, but maybe you could comment on this. Judge Merchan talked about the defense, complaining about the testimony. He said, ‘I agree it would have been better if some of these things had been left unsaid,’ but they were already said in front of the jury.”
“Yeah, this is the problem here. And the judge did try and put guardrails with the prosecution and say that these are the guardrails,” Habba began.
“Let’s just go back to basics here. This is about books and records keeping. This is about somebody in Trump Tower who registered a legal fee as a legal fee payment. Okay. That’s it. A payment to Michael Cohen, who was an attorney. To reimburse him– was a legal fee. That’s what this case is about. Where was President Trump? In the White House,” she added. “And they’re trying to now make this a very salacious, you know–. It’s a, it’s a complete extortion situation.
“And they’re using their hand for the Biden administration to, number one, slow him down so that he can’t go on the campaign trail. Number two, get headlines that they think will damage him. And it’s just very clear. And the judge was trying to prevent that. But I can tell you, I just thought the prosecution completely disregarded the guardrails, didn’t care. And that’s why we moved for a mistrial yesterday,” she added.
WATCH:
Former President Donald Trump appeared to make it clear on Wednesday that Judge Juan Merchan’s Monday threat to jail him for future violations of his restrictive gag order would be met with defiance.
“Give me liberty or give me death,” Trump wrote Wednesday in an all-caps message on Truth Social, quoting the American Founding Father Patrick Henry.
“It is a really bad feeling to have your Constitutional Right to Free Speech, such a big part of life in our Country, so unfairly taken from you, especially when all of the sleazebags, lowlifes, and grifters that you oppose are allowed to say absolutely anything that they want,” Trump’s post added. “It is hard to sit back and listen to lies and false statements be made against you knowing that if you respond, even in the most modest fashion, you are told by a Corrupt and Highly Conflicted Judge that you will be put in prison, maybe for a long period.”
In the Wednesday post, Trump added: “This Fascist mindset is all coming from D.C. It is a sophisticated hit job on Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME!”
The post also aimed Judges Arthur Engoron and Lewis Kaplan, both from New York, labeling them “equally corrupt, only in different ways.”
“What these thugs are doing is an attack on the Republican Party, and our once great nation itself. Our First Amendment must stand, free and strong,” the former president concluded.
The post Alina Habba Rips Hush Money Trial Process After Salacious Daniels Testimony appeared first on Conservative Brief.
The Ways the Left Exploits Illegal Immigration for Electoral Gain: The BorderLine | The Daily Signal
Why does the Biden administration want open borders so badly? For three very big reasons. One is ideology, which I covered in last week’s BorderLine column. Another is extortion, which I will cover in next week’s column. But this week, I look at how the Left uses illegal immigration to give itself an unfair electoral advantage.
First, illegal immigration affects congressional representation because the apportionment of members of Congress by state is based on U.S. census data. As Heritage Foundation Border Security and Immigration Center Director Lora Ries writes, the census currently counts all noncitizens—from green card holders to illegal aliens—in addition to U.S. citizens for the purposes of apportioning congressional districts among the states. The more citizens in a state, the more congressional districts—i.e., seats in Congress—a state gets. In turn, the number of congressional districts in a state determines how many Electoral College votes that state receives. (Heritage founded The Daily Signal in 2014.)
While president, Donald Trump tried to restore the U.S. citizenship question on the 2020 census and exclude all noncitizens from apportionment calculations. Yet court challenges prevented him from doing so prior to the deadline for getting a new census form printed and distributed. Joe Biden then immediately terminated the effort when he took office. That should tell you which states and party benefit most from the population overcount.
The second way mass illegal immigration undermines U.S. elections is through negligence and fraud. Only American citizens can legally vote; it is a crime for a noncitizen to vote. Yet, in many states, noncitizens can easily register and vote with little chance of detection.
The 1993 National Voter Registration Act, known as “Motor Voter,” was intended to make it easier for U.S. citizens to register to vote when they applied for or renewed a driver’s license. However, Motor Voter also made it easier for noncitizens to accidentally or purposefully get on voter rolls.
In December 2022, the Reno Gazette Journal reported that if applicants applying for a Nevada driver’s license check the online box saying they are eligible to vote, their information is sent to Nevada’s secretary of state for registration. The Washoe County Registrar’s Office told the Gazette Journal that it is possible for a noncitizen to register by falsely claiming citizenship (though this is a felony). Moreover, Nevada accepts alien work authorization cards as proof of identity. Millions of aliens the Biden administration has released into the country are eligible for such cards and could register to vote in Nevada and other states with similar registration processes with little risk of detection.
It would seem to be common sense for all states to want to close loopholes and maintain confidence in their electoral systems. Yet, one of the biggest canards in American politics today is to equate election integrity efforts—like ensuring proper identification or limiting mail-in and early voting—with voter suppression.
There was real and shameful voter suppression in our nation’s past. Efforts in the post-Civil War South to deter blacks from registering included discriminatory literacy tests and poll taxes; police intimidation at polling places; and at the extreme, cross-burnings, bombings, and even killings. But the civil rights movement, strong new laws, and voter-registration drives ended the “Jim Crow” era by the 1960s. Poll taxes and literacy tests were banned.
In 2022, 98.9% of voters in Georgia “felt safe in their polling location” and “98.9% reported no issues casting a ballot,” according to a University of Georgia postelection poll. Nonetheless, legitimate efforts to ensure that voters are legally entitled to vote, that they do so in accordance with the law, and that their votes are properly counted are falsely labeled as voter suppression.
“Americans need and deserve a system in which it is easy to vote and hard to cheat,” says The Heritage Foundation, which publishes a state-by-state Election Integrity Scorecard to encourage best practices from electoral officials and vigilance by voters.
As Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger recently wrote in The Wall Street Journal, “Ensuring that only American citizens vote in American elections is a straightforward requirement for maintaining election security and public trust.”
And yet, progressive groups seem intent on fighting efforts to ensure that voter rolls contain only eligible voters. The logical inference is that they believe ineligible noncitizens would be more likely to vote for their candidates. As Raffensperger writes, these activists want states “to rely on a person’s word” when registering to vote and oppose all efforts to verify citizenship. Unfortunately, in the real world, people sometimes lie—especially when there are no consequences.
A Heritage database currently records 1,500 cases of proven election fraud nationwide—and that is merely a sampling. When it comes to abusing absentee ballots, most of the perpetrators in the database are Americans. But on just the first page (of five) for one state (North Carolina) are cases of noncitizens from the Congo, Guatemala, Mexico, and Nigeria convicted of falsely claiming American citizenship to register to vote. They committed a fundamental offense against our democracy, and yet most of them got a one-year pretrial “diversion program,” after completion of which, charges were dropped.
Some states are better than others regarding voter integrity. Virginia cross-references Motor Voter data with the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, and “since 2014, has removed 11,000 ‘declared non-citizen[s]’” from the voter rolls, according to the Public Interest Legal Foundation. Meanwhile, the foundation is suing Wisconsin and Minnesota for lack of transparency with their voter rolls.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, recently introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to require states to obtain proof of citizenship—in person—when registering an individual to vote. Further, the bill requires states to remove noncitizens from existing voter rolls.
Meanwhile, this week, the House passed the Equal Representation Act, a bill that would restore the U.S. citizenship question to the census and exclude noncitizens from congressional apportionment. The bill passed 206-202 by a completely party-line vote. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., forced a vote on a similar bill in the Senate in March, but it failed 51-45. All of the Democrats and one Republican voted against it.
Election integrity shouldn’t be a liberal versus conservative issue, and maintaining accurate voter rolls is a national, not a political, goal. Impartial legislation to ensure both integrity and accuracy ahead of our next election and census should receive bipartisan support.
The BorderLine is a weekly Daily Signal feature examining everything from the unprecedented illegal immigration crisis at the border to immigration’s impact on cities and states throughout the land. We will also shed light on other critical border-related issues like human trafficking, drug smuggling, terrorism, and more.
Read Other BorderLine Columns:
The Ideological Roots of the Open Borders Push
US Should Adopt UK’s ‘Rwanda Plan’ to Address Illegal Immigration
Biden’s Precarious Parole Programs for Illegal Immigrants
My Look Inside Biden’s Illegal Immigrant Catch-and-Release Craziness
What I Saw on My Latest Visit to the Border
The post The Ways the Left Exploits Illegal Immigration for Electoral Gain: The BorderLine appeared first on The Daily Signal.
Will the Biden administration and Big Tech interfere with the federal election? | WINTERY KNIGHT
Read this article from The Federalist. The opening quotation from Democrat senator Mark Warner says that federal agencies in the Biden administration have “restarted discussions” with Big Tech platforms, in order to remove postings “as the November presidential election nears”. What postings does the Biden administration want to remove, ahead of the election?
Excerpt:
On Monday, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters that federal agencies such as the FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) restarted discussions with Big Tech platforms. According to NextGov/FCW, this coordination will focus on “removing disinformation on their sites as the November presidential election nears.” Warner claimed these talks resumed in March, around the same time oral arguments in Murthy v. Missouri — which centers on the feds’ censorship efforts — were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court.
When pressed on the validity of Warner’s remarks, an FBI representative confirmed to The Federalist that the agency has resumed communications with social media companies ahead of the 2024 election.
The Biden administration is already on trial in another case where they are alleged to have pressured social media companies to censor free speech online:
The issue of government-compelled censorship is front and center in Murthy v. Missouri, a case before SCOTUS focused on allegations from Missouri and Louisiana that the federal government’s pressuring of social media companies to censor free speech online constitutes a violation of the First Amendment. U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty issued a preliminary injunction in July 2023 barring federal agencies from colluding with Big Tech to censor posts they don’t like. In his ruling, Doughty wrote, “If the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.”
The preliminary injunction was later upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, but then lifted by the Supreme Court. So, there’s nothing stopping the government from censoring posts critical of the Biden administration, as the election nears. However, the Federalist says that the ruling on this case is expected in the summer, and so that might stop the federal agencies from censoring posts ahead of the federal election.
The article talks about the kinds of posts that were previously censored by the federal government working with Big Tech:
Largely ignored by legacy media, the collusion between the federal government and Big Tech to silence online speech the feds do not approve of is extensive and unprecedented. For example, the Biden administration pressured social media companies to censor Covid-related posts they deemed to be “misinformation” shortly after coming into power, even if such posts contained information that is factually true.
Emails unearthed in Murthy v. Missouri indicate health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held regular “misinfo/debunking meeting[s]” with Facebook to discuss the latter’s censorship efforts.
But these efforts are just one facet of the government’s censorship operations. CISA regularly facilitated meetings “between Big Tech companies, and national security and law enforcement agencies to address ‘mis-, dis-, and mal-information’ on social media platforms.”
Leading up to the 2020 election, for instance, the agency upped its censorship efforts by flagging posts for Big Tech companies it claimed were worthy of being censored, some of which called into question the security of voting practices such as mass, unsupervised mail-in voting. This was done despite CISA privately acknowledging the risks associated with such practices.
What kinds of posts will the Biden administration agencies tell Big Tech companies to censor, ahead of the election? Well, look at their previous actions, e.g. – the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, or the 50 intelligence officials who claimed that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. We can look at the past and make judgments about the integrity and professionalism of people in these Biden administration agencies.
There was a very interesting article about one of those people in Daily Signal:
Before becoming one of the Justice Department’s top leaders, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke was allegedly involved in a violent domestic dispute, according to court documents, records, and text messages—an incident that ended in her arrest and was ultimately expunged. During her Senate confirmation, Clarke specifically denied ever having been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime.
You might remember that this is the woman who has been persecuting pro-life demonstrators:
The Daily Signal previously reported that Clarke, who oversees investigations into violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, has used FACE to charge dozens of pro-life individuals since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. This includes Mark Houck, a Catholic father of seven arrested at gunpoint by the FBI and charged with violating FACE in September 2022 (a jury found Houck was not guilty in January 2023, and the DOJ has not commented on this verdict publicly).
Maybe the people in these Biden administration agencies are not the best and brightest people. Many of them are just incompetent, immoral people who were chosen for these jobs like the ex-president of Harvard University was chosen for that job. They were pushed through college (non-STEM degrees) without being able to actually do the work, because their politics were what the university professors wanted. And now they are working in federal agencies, even as their personal lives are a disaster (think of Peter Strozk and Lisa Page). Do you want to be ruled by secular leftists like this? Then you’d better try to have an influence with other voters now. While you still can. Share articles that let other voters know why you support Republican policies. At the very least, you should be sharing articles about Ron DeSantis and what he’s doing in Florida, so that all the voters understand what real conservatives stand for. And what results real conservatives produce.
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