What Happens When the True Gospel is Believed – Pastor Patrick Hines Reformed Christian Podcast▶️
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
2 Kings 15:1-16:20
Acts 19:13-41
Psalm 147:1-20
Proverbs 18:4-5
2 Kings 15:5 — Why was Azariah struck with leprosy? We’ll find out in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21!
2 Kings 15:12 — ”And so it came to pass.” The word of the LORD always comes to pass!
2 Kings 15:19-20 — From the University of Southern California:
In 1993 a team of UCLA archaeologists led by Professor Elizabeth Carter were undertaking a survey of the Karamanmarash Valley in present-day Turkey (right). Digging near a village called Incirli, a funny thing happened. One of the local residents informed them that a man had found a strange artifact in a mound behind his house, which he had been leveling for agricultural reasons. The mound was now sitting in his garden. Upon going to the garden and inspecting the object, Prof. Carter was amazed to discover that it was actually an ancient basalt stele (rounded stone slab) dating back to the days of the Assyrian Empire.
The Incirli stela is one of the few inscriptions that solidifies the existence of the biblical figure Pul/Tiglath Pileser. This alone brings a great deal of importance to the history and the words encompassing the Incirli stela.
2 Kings 16:3 — This was a clear violation of Leviticus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 18:10. Unfortunately, he would not be the last king to so do (2 Kings 17:17 and 2 Kings 21:6).
Acts 19:15 — It’s not enough to have a friend who knows someone. You need to know Jesus directly!
Acts 19:19 — Obedience can be expensive – in this case 50,000 pieces of silver!
Acts 19:30 — I’m thankful for friends who can tell the difference between a God-given opportunity to preach and a riot that will be dealt with administratively (Acts 19:35).
Psalm 147:1 — From Earl Martin:
Psalm 147:5 — A great and simple verse to memorize and meditate upon!
Psalm 147:19 — Israel guarded the Law and the Old Testament, and by doing so, they have been a key part in the preservation of the Bible for us today!
Proverbs 18:4 — What kind of man is this? The second phrase enlightens us – the wise man!
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.
And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. (2 Kings 6:16)
Horses and chariots and a great host shut up the prophet in Dothan. His young servant was alarmed. How could they escape from such a body of armed men? But the prophet had eyes which his servant had not, and he could see a greater host with far superior weapons guarding him from all harm. Horses of fire are mightier than horses of flesh, and chariots of fire are far preferable to chariots of iron.
Even so is it at this hour. The adversaries of truth are many, influential, learned, and crafty; and truth fares ill at their hands; and yet the man of God has no cause for trepidation. Agencies, seen and unseen, of the most potent kind, are on the side of righteousness. God has armies in ambush which will reveal themselves in the hour of need. The forces which are on the side of the good and the true far outweigh the powers of evil. Therefore, let us keep our spirits up, and walk with the gait of men who possess a cheering secret, which has lifted them above all fear. We are on the winning side. The battle may be sharp, but we know how it will end. Faith, having God with her, is in a clear majority: “They that be with us are more than they that be with them.”
By Pastor Benjamin Glaser – Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms:Praying for godly Civil Rulers in the Millennial Age
Good Morning!
The second petition of the Lord’s Prayer is an interesting part of Jesus’ message to His covenant people in regard to their responsibility to the world in which they live. We often hear people say or write that it is wrong to wish for Christ to reign as king over the nations during the time between His first and second advent. That it is trying to “build the kingdom of heaven on earth” to ask for our rulers and presidents to be godly men and our nations to reflect the wisdom and beauty of God’s truth. However, what we read today in the catechism is in fact the Prince of Peace imploring us to pray for this very thing, that the Kingdom Might Come.
For today’s catechism lesson we are going to be looking at some of the things we see as part and parcel of the role of prayer in enabling these blessings to come to pass, even in our own lifetime as the gospel goes forth and does its mighty work in the Great Commission. Here’s the Q/A:
Q. 191. What do we pray for in the second petition?
A. In the second petition, (which is, Thy kingdom come) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel-officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate: that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.
https://rchstudies.christian-heritage-news.com/2024/06/the-gospel-kingdom-of-jesus-christ.html
Have you ever felt like the world is a chaotic kaleidoscope of good and evil? One minute you see an act of incredible kindness, the next, a senseless tragedy. It can be enough to make you throw your hands up in frustration. But Ecclesiastes offers a verse that might just resonate with you:
“I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness,” (Ecclesiastes 7:15).
Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve seen a kind soul struggling financially while someone you know who cuts corners seems to be living large. It’s a confusing reality, and even before I embraced faith, it left me scratching my head.
Here’s the thing: life isn’t a black and white movie. Righteousness and wickedness do coexist, and the good guys don’t always get the happy ending.
That’s where Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, appears to throw us a lifeline: “Do not be excessively righteous, and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you die before your time?” (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17).
Sometimes, good people die young…so don’t be too good. It’s a harsh reality. The wicked can die before their time too. So, what’s the answer? Solomon suggests finding balance. Don’t overdo it in either direction.
“It is good that you grasp one thing while not letting go of the other; for one who fears God comes out with both of them,” (Ecclesiastes 7:18).
Then the reason behind these verses are revealed. He pleas with us not to give up until we grasp this one truth. That before a person knows God-they said don’t go to extremes. Solomon says to not listen to that type of talk!
Give yourself, without reserve, wholly to the fear of God.
“Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city,” (Ecclesiastes 7:19).
The fear of God gives you a lasting advantage. He is the one who emerges the best of all! Wisdom makes a person strong. Wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes means walking with God.
The wisdom on one man is ten times stronger than the person who does not.
Here’s the kicker: even with faith, we’re not perfect.
“Indeed, there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin,” (Ecclesiastes 7:20).
Then, Solomon also warns us not to get too caught up in what others say.
“Also, do not take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant cursing you,” (Ecclesiastes 7:21).
Many people are discouraged by the criticism of others, more so than by logical arguments. The Bible teaches us to prioritize our relationship with God. However, it’s also important not to be overly concerned with what others say. Criticism is inevitable, but we shouldn’t let it discourage us.
We’ve all had moments where a careless comment stings. The truth is, most of the time, our words have little impact on those who truly don’t care about growth.
“for you know that even you have cursed others many times as well,” (Ecclesiastes 7:22).
The key takeaway? Life is messy, and sometimes the good guys lose. But fearing God and focusing on living a righteous life are the guiding lights that help us navigate the chaos. In the end, isn’t that a path worth pursuing since Godliness is better than everything else?
‘Let’s All Be Tennesseans’: Trusted Pastor Calls American Churches To Join Tennessee In Month-Long Call To Prayer
Earlier this year, the Tennessee Governor signed a stunning and historic bill into law calling for a month of prayer for the United States and recognition of God starting July 1st. The stated purpose of the bill, which overwhelmingly passed the state legislature, is “to seek God’s hand of mercy healing on Tennessee.” The impact of Governor Bill Lee’s proclamation, however, has stretched far beyond its State’s border, prompting California Pastor Jack Hibbs to call on American Pastors and Churches from every State to “be Tennesseans” for the month of July.
How Climate Racketeers Aim To Force Us Into Smart Gulags
Shocking evidence is emerging from Australia and New Zealand of how the climate scam is being used to impose a techno-totalitarian smart-city future. The criminocratic global imperialists often use their Commonwealth colonies to try out the most insidious escalations of their tyranny – think of Canada, New Zealand and Australia during Covid.
Threats Of War, Rogue Alliances, And Nuclear Weapons: Are We Approaching The Gog-Magog War?
Our world today is witnessing mounting threats on numerous fronts. The alignment of nations coming together and the threat of war escalating daily, especially in Israel, point toward a prophecy in the Bible spoken of in Ezekiel 38 and 39: the Gog-Magog war.
Chief of Staff joins reservist exercise on northern border
During the multi-branch exercise, the brigade combat team trained for extreme scenarios, combat in complex and mountainous terrain, activating fire, and urban warfare, as part of increasing readiness in the northern arena.
Progressives Lash Out at AIPAC After Anti-Israel ‘Squad’ Loses First Member in US House Race
Prominent left-wing commentators are lashing out in the aftermath of US Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s landslide loss in Tuesday’s Democratic Party primary in New York, blaming the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for the result. Westchester County executive George Latimer cruised to a commanding victory over Bowman, winning by a margin of 58 percent to 41 percent. With the win, Latimer has ousted one of the most vociferous opponents of Israel in the US Congress.
Ilhan Omar failed to report assets stemming from husband’s shady wine and weed ventures, ethics complaint charges
Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) failed to report tens of thousands of dollars in assets that stemmed from her husband’s shady wine and marijuana business ventures, a federal ethics complaint obtained by the Washington Free Beacon charges. citing discrepancies in Omar’s personal financial disclosures. Those discrepancies “deserve to be fully investigated,” Kamenar said.
Why are we shocked by Dems’ cruelty to Joe Biden?
The Left’s amoral precept ‘by any means necessary’ now permeates Democrat policies and electoral practices. to any outsider it looks downright cruel to keep trotting Biden around under the pretense that he can possibly serve four more years in the world’s most grueling job. . . . How much longer must we bear this grim charade?”
Netanyahu: No compromise on total victory over Hamas
You, O lord God of hosts, God of Yisrael, bestir Yourself to bring all nations to account; have no mercy on any treacherous villain. Selah. Psalms 59:6 “We are not willing to compromise on less than a total victory over the murderers of Hamas. We have struck down thousands of them. We are hounding their leaders. We will continue to do so until we eliminate Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
Iran imprisons Christian converts, violates international human rights
The five arrests are the most recent in a string of human rights abuses against Christians in Iran, despite the theoretical recognition of religious minorities, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Hengaw reported that there was no information relating to any specific charges against the five converts.
IDF kills ‘central figure’ in PIJ’s rocket array, Doctor’s Without Borders condemns ‘killing of our colleague’
Complicity of doctors in terror activities has been a focus throughout the war. An Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft on Tuesday struck and eliminated Fadi Al-Wadiya, who the IDF says “served as a significant operative in the [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.” According to the IDF, Al-Wadiya’s role in PIJ was to develop and advance the terror group’s rocket array and was reportedly a central figure due to his extensive knowledge of electronics and chemistry. {Doctors Without Borders] posted a statement to 𝕏 announcing Al-Wadiya’s death, stating: “We are outraged and strongly condemn the killing of our colleague.”
Israel reportedly could use Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites for internet back-up during all-out war with Hezbollah
Israeli government ministries are examining the possibility of using the satellites of Elon Musk’s Starlink company as backup for critical operations rooms during a potential broader war with the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah,
As IDF degrades Hamas’ military capabilities, signs emerge of Gazans joining fight against the terror group
Videos on social media appear to show Palestinian clans fighting against Hamas. “We are definitely approaching the point where we can say we dismantled the Rafah Brigade,” stated IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on Monday evening. “It is defeated not in the sense that it has no more terrorists, but in the sense that it does not know how to function as a combat system.”
Iranian cyber-attacks have become a global threat, warns top Israeli cyber chief
INCD chief Gaby Portnoy emphasized that, while Israel is a central target for Iranian cyberterrorism, Tehran’s cyber-attacks have become a global threat. “We have identified that Iran is attacking its allies and other countries for information extortion and damaging digital services,”
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community must finally enlist in the IDF and shoulder an equal part of the burden
The issue threatens to derail Netanyahu’s government as the ultra-Orthodox parties continue to hold the position which can be summarized by the famous slogan often seen at Haredi demonstrations: “We would rather die than enlist.”
Meteotsunami strikes Holland, Michigan, during severe storms Tuesday
A meteotsunami struck two Michigan beaches while severe weather blasted Lake Michigan on Tuesday. A meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Grand Rapids, Michigan, confirmed to FOX Weather that a “minor” meteotsunami occurred at beaches in Ludington and Holland.
Massive Saharan dust plume making its way over the Atlantic
The largest outbreak of Saharan dust this summer is currently making its way across the Atlantic Ocean, potentially impacting air quality and weather patterns throughout the Caribbean and parts of the United States. This marks a significant shift in the season’s weather patterns, influenced by the Saharan Air Layer (SAL), which is known for its ability to suppress tropical cyclone formation.
New York City Preparing for Possible Bird Flu Outbreak
“New York City officials are working to prepare for a potential outbreak of the bird flu virus, H5N1, which has been detected in the city’s birds, according to The New York Times.”
Watch: Nickelodeon Produces Drag Queen ‘Pride’ Promo Video For Children
Children’s entertainment network Nickelodeon has received backlash after sharing a promotional video of a drag queen singing a song exposing kids to ‘Pride’.
AZ Republican Ken Bennett Voted for Transgenderism and Satanism
This year, Arizona State Senator Ken Bennett (R-1) voted against legislation to protect children from transgenderism in their public schools, as well as against legislation that would bar satanic displays from public property.
Jew-hatred reportedly rose 80% in Germany in 2023
The 4,782 documented instances of Jew-hatred in Germany in 2023—2,787 of which happened after Oct. 7—represent an 80% increase over 2022, according to a report from the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information Centers on Antisemitism.
11 Signs That The U.S. Economy Is In Far Worse Shape Than Most People Think
….even though a large portion of the population is not happy about how things have been going, the truth is that the situation is far more dire than most people realize. Just this week we have received quite a bit of very troubling news, and the outlook for the months ahead is very bleak. The following are 11 signs that the U.S. economy is in far worse shape than most people think…
The Sign Of The Devil Has Appeared In New York City
…From June 16th through June 19th, a 270 foot dragon was wrapped around the Empire State Building. In addition, giant banners that featured dragons with the ominous message “all must choose” were draped over iconic landmarks all over the Big Apple…All of this was being done to promote the second season of “House of the Dragon”, and those behind this campaign probably did not intend to deliver any sort of a spiritual message. But…there are times when people do things that are highly symbolic without even understanding the true significance of their actions.
Conquered From Within: The Unstoppable Islamization of the West
The West is on the brink of conquest. The relentless march of Islamization across our countries is unstoppable. Forget the sheer numbers of Jihadis that have already infiltrated our nations and are reproducing at rates we are not matching… Forget that every level of our government is penetrated… Non-Muslims are fractured, while jihadis stand shoulder to shoulder, united and determined.
Biden’s trans HHS assistant sec Dr Rachel Levine pressured WPATH to eliminate age guidelines for child sex changes
An exhibit filed in the case of Boe v. Marshall has revealed that Biden’s trans diversity hire Dr. Rachel Levine, who serves as the assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, pressured the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to remove guidelines on age limits for sex change drugs and surgeries.
The climate fear-mongering enterprise behind the Planetary Boundaries to stabilise population growth
There is nothing new about fear-mongering propaganda being disseminated by politicians and corporate media, but they are now joined by “scientists.” A fair amount of catastrophic climate change propaganda has made its way into the scientific method and perhaps in no venue more clearly than the Planetary Boundaries framework, Dr. Jessica Weinkle writes and explains where it comes from and what is driving the narrative.
While still relatively rare, broken heart syndrome is real and on the rise; here are some tips on how to prevent it
Negative emotions such as heartbreak, profound sadness and anger can lead to broken heart syndrome. The symptoms mimic a heart attack but without broken blood vessels. During broken heart syndrome, your heart muscles are stunned and weakened, leading to your heart taking the shape of a balloon. The release of adrenaline during shocking and acutely stressful events, increasing blood pressure and pulse adds further strain to a weakened heart.
The BBC caters for the feeble-minded, and they’re not the only ones
The BBC specialises in parlour games and soap operas for the feeble-minded. They fill in the gaps with snippets of propaganda which they falsely describe as “news.” It’s not only the BBC catering to the feeble-minded. It’s also the weatherologists, people on TV who guess what’s going to happen with the weather. In England, the weather in June has been miserable – wet and windy. But they keep insisting we’re enduring a heat wave caused by cars and farting cows.
US Army admits that the Moderna mRNA injection caused soldier’s heart condition
US Army National Guard Specialist Karoline Stancik, 24, has reportedly racked up over $70,000 in medical debt after being hospitalised for heart complications due to Moderna covid injections. After her first dose, she developed a headache, sinus problems, cough and chest pain. After her second dose a month later, she developed intense adverse reactions, including high heart rate, dizziness, neuropathic pain and difficulty breathing. She suffered her first heart attack after receiving the second dose of Moderna’s covid “vaccine.” Stancik has now had three heart attacks and a stroke and, at the age of 24, is having a pacemaker fitted.
Herzog, Netanyahu tour north as UN warns of ‘apocalyptic’ war with Hezbollah
Gallant: Israel can return Lebanon to ‘Stone Age’ but doesn’t seek war with Hezbollah
Germany, Netherlands urge citizens to leave Lebanon for fear of war
Hassan Nasrallah: the man who has led Hezbollah to the brink of war with Israel
Hezbollah’s ‘axis of resistance’ allies waiting in reserve to fight Israel
Biden Administration Scrambles to Head Off Wider War Between Israel and Hezbollah
Israel faces mounting challenges as 2-front war looms
Egypt, UAE prepared to participate in post-war Gaza security force – officials
Israel rejects UN war crimes claim: Hamas turned ‘large parts of Gaza into combat sites’
IDF: Slain Gazan named as Doctors Without Borders staffer was Islamic Jihad rocket maker
Netanyahu picks fight with Biden over arms transfers as US election heats up
US Keeps Pause on One Bomb Shipment to Israel
U.S. and Israel resolve weapons supply problems, but 2000-lbs bombs still on hold
Gallant, US declare progress on expediting arms transfers, but bomb shipment still held
House Speaker Johnson says Biden’s Israel policies are to blame for prolonged hostage talks
US: Hamas formally rejected hostage deal
Netanyahu’s lawyer tells court PM can only testify in corruption trial in March 2025
Netanyahu meets US Senator Fetterman, praises his ‘moral clarity’ on Israel-Hamas war
US envoy to the UN blasts Israel in Security Council speech
Explosion of hate: State Department report details global rise in antisemitism post October 7
Episcopal Church bishops reject resolution declaring Israel an ‘apartheid’ state
79 University of Texas Pro-Palestinian Protest Arrests Dropped
In Chile, a pro-Palestinian campus occupation turns witch hunt for ‘Zionist’ faculty
Israel’s Parliament Advances Bill to Make Law Banning Al Jazeera Permanent
Netanyahu Aides Fear Top Likud Lawmaker Will Sabotage Haredi Draft Exemption Bill
Senior Shas rabbi spurns draft compromise, says even those not studying must not enlist
‘A sword over the study hall’: Ultra-Orthodox media rages at court ruling on draft
French court confirms Bashar al-Assad arrest warrant over Syria chemical attack
Sudan’s warring factions using starvation as weapon, experts say
US, Israel to Hold ‘Strategic Dialogue’ on Iran
Iran’s Presidential Candidates Agree on One Thing: Trump Is Coming
Iran’s Presidential Candidates Argue Over Who Is Best to Confront Trump
US Diplomat Found Dead in Kyiv Hotel – Report
State Department says no foul play is suspected in death of US embassy staffer in Kyiv
I.C.C. Issues Arrest Warrants for 2 Senior Russian Security Officials
Kremlin says ICC arrest warrant for ex-defence minister is ‘absurd’
Ukraine war briefing: US charges Russian with conspiring to destroy Kyiv computer systems
Moscow says to block access to 81 EU media outlets, including AFP website
NATO Will Offer Ukraine a ‘Bridge’ to Membership, Hoping That’s Enough
NATO appoints Dutch PM as next chief as global challenges mount for alliance
Endless Escalation: Biden Regime To Allow American Private Military Contractors To Deploy to Ukraine
World on the brink as North Korea sends ‘cannon fodder’ troops to Ukraine
Pentagon threatens North Korean soldiers will be ‘cannon fodder’ if sent to aid Russia in Ukraine
North Korea says it tested a new multiwarhead missile. South Korea says it’s covering up a failure
South Korea says apparent North Korean hypersonic missile test ends in mid-air explosion
America’s drinking water is facing attack, with links back to China, Russia and Iran
China intercepts submarine probe dropped from U.S. aircraft in South China Sea, state media says
Saudi Arabia Seeks Greater Military Cooperation with China After Biden Snub
China quietly uses cartel drug trade to upend American harmony at home
The world needs more babies: The fertility crisis is here and it will permanently alter the economy
Even wealthy Americans are struggling to make ends meet
‘Difficult Decision’: Hooters Shutters Dozens of Locations as Inflation Plagues Consumers
Trump would make America’s inflation crisis worse, 16 Nobel economists warn
Bolivian Soldiers Storm Presidential Palace in Failed Coup Attempt
Attempted coup in Bolivia fails after president calls on country to mobilize in defense of democracy
Bolivian general arrested after apparent failed coup attempt as government faces new crisis
Bolivia’s President Arce Swears in New Army Chief After Coup Bid
House Republicans vote to defund Mayorkas salary in Homeland Security appropriations bill
Biden’s Ghostwriter Facing Contempt Vote by House Committee
New evidence turned over to Congress disputes Hunter Biden testimony about controversial firm
Hunter Biden testified he wasn’t part of controversial firm, his employment contract says otherwise
Most Americans plan to watch the Biden-Trump debate, and many see high stakes, an AP-NORC poll finds
‘This is desperation’: Joe blasts Republicans for wondering if Biden will be jacked up at debate
MSNBC’s Reid: ‘Deeply Offensive’ that ‘Felon’ Trump Gets to Stand Next to the Actual President
Georgia Court of Appeals orders another halt in Fulton County election interference case
Trump demands Fani Willis’ disqualification over ‘misconduct’ in opening brief to appeals court
House Moves to Invalidate Pelosi’s J6 Committee in Attempt to Aid Steve Bannon’s Legal Fight
Key House chairman intervenes in Bannon case, tells Supreme Court Democrat J6 contempt was ‘invalid’
Supreme Court sides with Biden admin over Covid-era social media censorship
Supreme Court Sides with Biden Admin in Landmark Censorship Case
Supreme Court sides with Biden administration on flagging disinformation for social-media platforms
US Supreme Court will not curb Biden administration social media contacts
Supreme Court allows White House to press social media companies to remove disinformation
Alito rails against White House in social media case dissent
Attorneys: High Court Upheld ‘Censorship Industrial Complex’
‘Free speech is dead’: SCOTUS pass on federal pressure to censor spurs political, legal scrambling
DiGenova and Toensing: Court Made ‘Perplexing’ Decision on Speech
Commentary: Judges Rebel Against the Supreme Court
WikiLeaks founder Assange welcomed home in Australia a free man after US deal
WikiLeaks cache of 45,000 DNC emails deleted after founder Julian Assange reaches plea deal with US
Commentary: A new measure of Americans’ deep distrust of the media
New Boeing (BA) Whistleblower: Mechanic Claims of Lapses on Some 787 Jets
Boeing Subcontractor Mechanic: Fired After Noting Shoddiness
Two NASA Astronauts Stuck in Space Indefinitely as Boeing Flounders
Two US astronauts stuck in space as Boeing analyzes Starliner problems
Family sues NASA after ISS space junk crashed through their home
Comet will be visible in night sky for first time in nearly 70 years
Not quite Armageddon: 2 asteroids set to pass by Earth on June 30
5.1 magnitude earthquake hits near Sola, Vanuatu
Sabancaya volcano in Peru erupts to 24,000ft
Ruiz volcano in Colombia erupts to 21,000ft
Karymsky volcano on Kamchatka, Russia erupts to 20,000ft
Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupts to 16,000ft
Ibu volcano in Indonesia erupts to 16,000ft
Semeru volcano in Indonesia erupts to 15,000ft
Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupts to 14,000ft
Marapi volcano in Indonesia erupts to 13,000ft
Lewotobi volcano in Indonesia erupts to 11,000ft
Dozens stranded after avalanches hit Chile’s Maipo Province
Meteotsunami strikes Lake Michigan during severe storms, causing unusual 2-foot water rise on beach
Man killed by lightning strike on beach while warning others of incoming storm, police say
At least 2 are dead from catastrophic Midwest flooding and a Minnesota dam is at risk of failing
Swollen river claims house next to Minnesota dam as flooding and extreme weather grip the Midwest
National Weather Service suffers major data outage as Midwest floods
Extreme weather patterns, with heat and flooding, are stuck across the U.S.
Alarmists: Climate Change Causing ‘Grim Extremes’ in Summer Weather
Massive Saharan dust plume making its way over the Atlantic
World’s first carbon tax on livestock will cost farmers $100 per cow
Speaker Johnson backs Ten Commandments mandate in Louisiana
Louisiana’s ten commandments mandate: Culture war or constitutional crisis? – opinion
UN drug agency warns of opium shortage amid Taliban ban
Honduras ex-president sentenced to 45 years for helping drug traffickers
Over 400 migrants with ISIS ties released at border because they weren’t on terror watchlist: Report
NBC: Biden’s Deputies Hunt for 50+ Migrants Delivered by Islamic State-Tied Smugglers
Illegal Crossings at Northern Border Spikes over 1,000 Percent Under Biden
Multiple injured, 1 killed in bizarre vehicle shooting, stabbing on Washington state highway
The highs and lows of chemsex’s drug-driven orgy scene
Kanakuk Kamps sex abuse accuser says camp leadership told him to ‘back off’ when he reported abuse
‘Christians Against Trumpism’ Co-Founder Arrested for Soliciting Sex from 15-Year-Old Boy
IDF officer who secretly filmed female soldiers nude convicted of dozens of sex crimes
Trans person arrested after being found with body of dead Minneapolis trans activist
Miss Maryland Contestants Push Back After Male Winner Steals Their Crown
CRC Tells LGBTQ-Affirming Congregations to Retract and Repent
Rachel Levine Successfully Pressured Medical Experts to Promote Child Sex Changes
Health Secretary Rachel Levine Opposed Age Limits for Transgender Treatment
Another Leak! Supreme Court ‘Inadvertently’ Posts Opinion on Idaho Abortion Law – Then Removes It
Justices seem set to allow emergency abortions in Idaho for now, a prematurely posted opinion says
Tokyo University creates self-healing artificial skin for robots
Fears new ‘most dangerous’ mpox strain could cross borders
COVID cases on the rise in 39 states, marking the start of an anticipated summer surge
Mandates to Follow? Feds Race to Prepare Millions of Vaccines for ‘Low Risk, Rare’ Bird Flu
Connecticut’s vaccine exemption ban survives legal challenge
“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”.
“If men through fear, fraud or mistake, should in terms renounce and give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the great end of society, would absolutely vacate such renunciation; the right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of Man to alienate this gift, and voluntarily become a slave.” —Samuel Adams (1772)
| ON THIS DAY in 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs — Lt. Michael Murphy and petty officers Matthew Axelson, Danny Dietz, and Marcus Luttrell — began a high-risk mission in the mountains of Afghanistan. Ambushed by the Taliban, three of the four were killed, and a rescue helicopter was shot down, killing all 16 Americans on board. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his courageous sacrifice to save his comrades, though only Luttrell made it out alive to tell the story. |
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The U.S. Supreme Court, in a potentially landmark case with significant ramifications for Americans’ First Amendment right to free speech, effectively chickened out and avoided the question altogether. Instead, on Wednesday, by a 6-3 decision, the justices decided that the plaintiffs — wait for it — had no standing and therefore dismissed the case.
“We begin — and end — with standing,” reads the majority opinion written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett. “At this stage, neither the individual nor the state plaintiffs have established standing to seek an injunction against any defendant. We therefore lack jurisdiction to reach the merits of the dispute.”
The case in question was Murthy v. Missouri, in which the state of Louisiana had also joined to sue the Biden administration for violating the First Amendment when federal agencies pressured social media companies to censor speech that they deemed inconvenient or unhelpful.
Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley argues that the administration “made a mockery of the limits of the First Amendment.” And the Supreme Court let Biden get away with it. In fact, the administration will no doubt take this as a license for even more censorship.
What is particularly frustrating about this ruling is that the High Court took this case after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled last fall that the federal government was guilty of infringing on Americans’ First Amendment rights. Ironically, Barrett seemingly recognized this but then argued, “The Fifth Circuit, by attributing every platform decision at least in part to the defendants, glossed over complexities in the evidence.” She also argued that “the platforms moderated similar content long before any of the Government defendants engaged in the challenged conduct” and “continued to exercise their independent judgment,” which largely negated the plaintiffs’ argument.
In other words, since every decision to censor speech on these social media platforms was not due to pressure from the government, since these companies occasionally engaged in censorship of their own volition, one cannot charge the government with violating the First Amendment.
While it appears the Court’s majority had an opinion regarding the actual merits of the case, they chose to avoid it, likely because such a view would open up a can of worms regarding government infringement of free speech.
The Court’s minority, which included Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch, offered a deserved and scathing dissent. Writing for the trio, Alito called out his colleagues for effectively shirking their duty to protect constitutional rights. “What the officials did in this case,” warned Alito, “was more subtle than the ham-handed censorship found to be unconstitutional in [National Rifle Association of America v.] Vullo, but it was no less coercive. And because of the perpetrators’ high positions, it was even more dangerous. It was blatantly unconstitutional, and the country may come to regret the Court’s failure to say so.”
He then delved into the whole issue of coercion, which the Court’s majority sought to downplay. “If a coercive campaign is carried out with enough sophistication, it may get by,” Alito said. “That is not a message this Court should send.” Indeed. He illustrated by pointing to publicly available reactions from Facebook personnel. Facebook’s reactions “were not what one would expect from an independent news source or a journalistic entity dedicated to holding the Government accountable for its actions,” Alito noted. “Instead, Facebook’s responses resembled that of a subservient entity determined to stay in the good graces of a powerful taskmaster.”
That doesn’t mean Facebook isn’t ideologically aligned with the Biden administration, only that it responded as if it had little choice.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represented three doctors who were plaintiffs in the case, also blasted the decision. NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione called it “a bad day for the First Amendment” while noting, “The Government can press third parties to silence you, but the Supreme Court will not find you have standing to complain about it absent them referring to you by name apparently.”
This is not the only social media censorship case on the High Court’s docket. However, this outcome doesn’t inspire confidence that the Court will defend our First Amendment against an oppressive government and like-minded Big Tech entities.
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| Latest PodcastPopCon #50: Women’s Sports in AmericaCaitlin Clark is the pro women’s basketball rising star that everyone is talking about. The WNBA rookie is already regarded as one of the greatest collegiate players of all time. One would think this is an exciting time for women’s sports, as Clark is drawing viewership numbers never before seen. In spite of this, she is catching flak. Is it because of feminism, or even racism? Join Thomas, Sterling, and Andrew as they discuss the state of female sports. |
Tone-Deaf
“The safety and security of the American people are our highest priority.” —DHS Secretary Alejandro “Open Borders” Mayorkas
The BIG Lies
“The border security steps we have taken over the past 18 months are bringing order.” —Alejandro Mayorkas
“The fact of the matter is our policy is working.” —Alejandro Mayorkas
“In this administration, the different agencies and departments across the federal enterprise are … doing more robust screening and vetting than ever before.” —Alejandro Mayorkas
“With respect to the people from Central Asia, we have no evidence that they are individuals plotting to harm the United States. That is inaccurate.” —Alejandro Mayorkas
“When it comes to immigration, the president has always had a twofold program: secure the border, and make sure we have a welcoming path of legal immigration.” —Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jared Bernstein
Baghdad Bob
“I think you’ve got to, first of all, take a step back and look at what President Biden has done for the economy. He’s created over 15 million jobs. GDP has been at a record high.” —Biden campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod
For the Record
“Dangerous anti-female attitudes are invading our country because of open borders. Leftists deny the problem. They’re horrified that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein raped women on a casting couch, but they’re in denial when Latin American illegals rape.” —Betsy McCaughey
Debate Food for Thought
“The idea that [Dana] Bash and [Jake] Tapper can impartially moderate a debate featuring Donald Trump is laughable. Among other things, both of them pushed Hillary Clinton’s absurd ‘Russia collusion hoax’ to undermine the 2016 election. It would be nice if they apologized to Donald Trump during the debate, but they won’t.” —Gary Bauer
“It is just a fact that both the president and the former president could be rusty. Neither has debated in four years. Biden has been in the bubble of the White House, and Trump sailed through a Republican nomination process that he dominated so completely that he did not need to take part in any debates.” —Byron York
“If the Trump of 2016 shows up on Thursday evening, Biden is toast. If the Trump of 2020 shows up, Biden will stand a chance … if he’s able to stand at all.” —Ian Haworth
For more of today’s memes, visit the Memesters Union.
For more of today’s cartoons, visit the Cartoons archive.
“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in Washington, reportedly making progress with US officials to speed up weapons to Israel; Israeli media reports Prime Minister Netanyahu will have a new position on a Palestinian state in his speech to Congress, but his office says he opposes such a state and will not change; and Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Hergo toured the northern border this week, as Hezbollah has been launching attacks; CBN’S Chris Mitchell talks about Herzog’s warning that the situation there is spiraling out of control; whether Netanyahu’s views have really changed on a Palestinian state; new terror threats from the West Back; and how Israel is picking up its focus again on the nuclear threat from Iran; a look at the expectations for former President Trump and President Biden as they square off in historic debate; Bishop Robert Stearns, author of “Rise and Rebuild,” talks to CBN’s “The Global Lane” about the twin threats facing Israel, the Jewish people worldwide, and the Judeo-Christian way of life; how a 100-year-old poll worker smiles as she greets voters; and a 105-year-old finally gets her Master’s degree.
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— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
Tucker Carlson
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Matt Taibbi, one of the last working journalists in the west.
(03:22) The Rise and Fall of Journalism
(14:12) Putin’s Rise to Power
(25:22) Western Media’s Ties to Government
(36:40) Post-9/11 America
(51:04) The Twitter Files
(1:02:06) Donald Trump and Russiagate
(1:26:16)… pic.twitter.com/1SZWEVixD7— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 27, 2024
Today’s top headline news brief from NEWSMAX includes:
[1:19] -Fmr. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on preparing for a Presidential debate. [Newsline]
[5:25] -Newsmax host Greg Kelly: “This could be a huge catastrophe.” [Greg Kelly Reports]
[7:35] -House Speaker Mike Johnson says Biden needs more than a week to defend his disastrous record. [Newsmax Breaking]
[9:23] -Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney tells radio show he expects Biden to be on a “secret White House” drug.
[12:14] -Newsmax host Joe Pinion has some disturbing facts you won’t hear about in tonight’s debate. [Newsmax 2]
[18:43] -Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt says Biden’s assignment was to stir up complete chaos at the border. [Rob Schmitt Tonight]
[21:46] -The US Supreme Court allows the government to continue influencing social media.
— Read on www.youtube.com/watch
ATLANTA, GA — As the much-anticipated first presidential debate of the 2024 election approaches, officials at the White House have stepped forward to caution Americans that any videos from the debate which show Biden looking confused and senile will be deepfakes.
The White House also stated that any videos depicting Biden as stammering, forgetting the names of his cabinet members, bending forward at odd times, shuffling aimlessly offstage, or standing stock-still for longer than five minutes at a time are also definitely AI-generated deepfakes.
“The president is feeling sharp and energetic as he prepares for this debate,” said Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a press conference. “Because he is in such tip-top shape, any videos which seem to depict him as bewildered, unstable, or ineloquent are certain to just be deepfakes made to spread the far-right conspiracy theory that the president is incompetent. Just remember — if the president seems to be displaying anything less than perfect, inspiring rhetoric and logic in the debate, you’re just watching a clever deepfake.”
When asked for comment, President Biden stared into the abyss for several minutes and then threatened to fight a moose. Karine Jean-Pierre, however, clarified that this behavior was “just another one of those devilish deepfakes.”
At publishing time, the White House had cautioned Americans that everything bad from the past four years is probably also a deepfake and we may, in fact, be living in the matrix.
A Babylon Bee subscriber contributed to this report. If you want to pitch your own headline ideas to our staff, click here to check out all of our membership options!
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Leading Report reporter Patrick Webb reported earlier that there would be a 1-2 minute delay.
CNN itself did not directly address the issue, leaving it to Stelter to debunk the report.
Brian Stelter wrote, “Watch out — it’s wild out here today — lots of people are falling for misinfo about the prez debate production. To address one of the B.S. claims, no, CNN is not putting the live feed on a 1/2 minute tape delay to somehow protect the elderly candidates.”
The debate is scheduled to last 90 minutes and begin at 9 p.m. Eastern time (6 p.m. Pacific) — with two commercial breaks.
The Seattle Times notes:
That is a normal length for a presidential debate, but the commercial breaks are noteworthy: General-election debates in past cycles, sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates rather than an individual news organization, did not have them.
The candidates will not be allowed to talk to their aides during the commercial breaks, but they will have time to take a breather and collect themselves in a way they would not have in past years.
Unlike past debates, there will also be no live audience. The Biden campaign demanded this, likely because it was worried that former President Donald Trump would feed off of audience excitement.
The Times report also pointed out, “CNN will allow two minutes for each answer and one minute for rebuttals. The moderators, CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will be able to grant extra time at their discretion.”
“The candidates’ microphones will be muted when it isn’t their turn to speak. That was another Biden request, intended to guard against Trump’s penchant for interrupting and speaking over debate opponents.”
The post UPDATE: CNN Responds to 1-2 Minute Delay Report appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
During his “My Take,” Thursday, “Varney & Co.” host Stuart Varney previewed Thursday’s CNN Presidential Debate, arguing President Biden’s politicized attacks on Trump undermine his ‘threat to democracy’ refrain.
STUART VARNEY: The Biden campaign has one overriding theme. Donald Trump is a threat to democracy.
That theme will be prominent tonight. We are told that Biden will try to rile Trump up by saying he tried to overturn the 2020 election results.
BIDEN, TRUMP FACE OFF AT CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE WHICH MAY ‘CHANGE THE NARRATIVE IN A MASSIVE WAY’
He encouraged the mob on January 6th. He’s a convicted felon. He says he will be a “dictator” on day one.
Well, when things are going wrong with the border, inflation, crime, foreign wars and just about everything else, why not dig up the past and claim Trump is out to destroy democracy?
It’s the one issue where they really feel they have traction.
Unfortunately, there’s bad news for the Biden campaign. The strategy is not working.
CNN’S PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE COULD DECIDE THE ELECTION: VARNEY
In a Washington Post poll of 6 swing states, 44% trust Trump to handle threats to democracy, 33% trust Biden.
He’s underwater on his signature issue. Why? Because Biden has undermined his own argument.
Attacking your opponent, using trumped-up politicized lawsuits is an attack on democracy.
We look like a banana republic, not a constitutional republic. “Lawfare” is not a tactic that sharpens democracy. It undermines it.
And Biden’s open border? We’ve already seen efforts to get non-citizens to vote, and there’s clearly an effort to boost the numbers from the next census to add congressional seats to blue, Democrat states.
Hardly the democratic way to do things. So what about tonight? The audience could reach 100 million or more.
TRUMP, BIDEN CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE EXPECTED TO BE MOST WAGARED-ON IN HISTORY
A Fox poll shows more than half believe the face-off is extremely or very important, and the performance of the candidates will make a difference.
A Quinnipiac poll showed 16% are open to changing their vote. Bidenhas a big decision to make.
With Trump holding a small lead in most polls, how does he get people to switch to him when he’s underwater on the issues, and his attack on Trump as threatening democracy isn’t working as planned?
Big night tonight. I say it’s Trump’s to lose.
— Read on www.foxbusiness.com/media/stuart-varney-bidens-threat-democracy-strategy-isnt-working-planned
This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire
By Paul Sperry,RealClearInvestigations
Real Clear Wire
Just before Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off in their second presidential debate, then-National Intelligence Director James Clapper met in the White House with a small group of advisers to President Obama to hatch a plan to put out a first-of-its-kind intelligence report warning the voting public that “the Russian government” was interfering in the election by allegedly breaching the Clinton campaign’s email system.
On Oct. 7, 2016 – just two days before the presidential debate between Trump and Clinton – Clapper issued the unprecedented intelligence advisory with Obama’s personal blessing. It seemed to lend credence to what the Clinton camp was telling the media — that Trump was working with Russian President Vladimir Putin through a secret back channel to steal the election. Sure enough, the Democratic nominee pounced on it to smear Trump at the debate.
And that wouldn’t be the only historically consequential maneuver for Clapper, whose role in skewing presidential campaigns might deserve a special place in the annals of nefarious election meddling – by, in this case, a domestic, not foreign, intelligence service.
In 2020, he was the lead signatory on the “intelligence” statement that discredited the New York Post’s October bombshell exposing emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop, which documented how Hunter’s corrupt Burisma paymasters had met with Joe Biden when he was vice president. It was released Oct. 19, just three days before Trump and Biden debated each other in Nashville. Fifty other U.S. “Intelligence Community” officials and experts signed the seven-page document, which claimed “the arrival on the U.S. political scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son Hunter, much of it related to his time serving on the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
In hindsight, Clapper’s well-timed pseudo-intelligence in 2016 and 2020 helped Clinton and Biden make the case against Trump as a potentially Kremlin-compromised figure, charges that crippled his presidency and later arguably denied him reelection.
The phony laptop letter actually helped Biden seal his narrow victory since many of his voters in the close election told pollsters they would have had second thoughts about backing him had they known of the damning materials contradicting his denials he knew anything about his son’s shady foreign dealings.
A post-election survey by The Polling Company, for one, found that thanks to the discrediting and suppression of the laptop story, 45% of Biden voters in swing states said they were “unaware of the financial scandal enveloping Biden and his son” and that full awareness of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal would have led more than 9% of these Biden voters to abandon their vote for him – thereby flipping all six of the swing states he won over to Trump and giving Trump the victory.
In effect, Joe Biden was elected president because millions of voters were steered away by Clapper and his intelligence colleagues from learning about the damning contents on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
In 2016, Clapper appeared to use his authority as Obama’s chief of intelligence to try to trip up Trump on behalf of Clinton.
But not everyone in the administration was on board with releasing his official statement about supposed Kremlin meddling.
Then-FBI Director James Comey had also met in the Situation Room in early October to discuss the plan. But Comey balked at accusing “Russia’s senior-most officials” of authorizing the “alleged hack” of the Clinton campaign and trying “to interfere in the U.S. election process,” as the two-page document claimed. Conspicuously, the FBI did not sign on to the intelligence.
Still, Clapper implied in his statement that this was the finding of the entire “U.S. Intelligence Community” and that it was “confident the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of emails.” Aside from Clapper’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the only other agency that attached its name to the assessment was the Department of Homeland Security. Also remarkable was the paucity of underlying evidence. The joint ODNI-DHS statement based its conclusion primarily on a report by a cybersecurity contractor hired by the Clinton campaign’s law firm, who later walked back his finding in a sworn congressional deposition, allowing: “We did not have concrete evidence [Russian agents stole campaign emails].”
At best, Clapper’s finding was shoddy tradecraft. At worst, it was manufactured, or simply “dreamed up,” as one former FBI counterintelligence official described it to RealClearInvestigations.
Either way, it came at a highly opportune time for Clinton. The Democratic nominee seized on the intelligence report during her debate with Trump in St. Louis on Oct. 9 to tarnish her Republican opponent as some kind of Russian agent.
“You know, let’s talk about what’s really going on here, because our intelligence community just came out and said in the last few days that the Kremlin – meaning Putin and the Russian government – are directing the attacks, the hacking on American accounts to influence our election,” Clinton asserted, citing Clapper’s warning. “We have never in the history of our country been in a situation where an adversary, a foreign power, is working so hard to influence the outcome of the election.”
“And believe me, they’re not doing it to get me elected,” she continued. “They’re doing it to try to influence the election for Donald Trump.”
“Now, maybe because he has praised Putin, maybe because he says he agrees with a lot of what Putin wants to do, maybe because he wants to do business in Moscow, I don’t know the reasons. But we deserve answers,” Clinton went on, clearly reciting a prepared talking point. “And we should demand that Donald release all of his tax returns so that people can see what are the entanglements and the financial relationships that he has with the Russians and other foreign powers.”
Some former U.S. intelligence officials say the Oct. 7 intelligence assessment appears to have been cooked up for the benefit of Clinton.
“There was no evidence to support it,” said retired U.S. Army Col. Derek Harvey, who investigated the origins of the assessment for the House Intelligence Committee. “It was a political diversion to help Clinton.”
He pointed out that the specious sourcing behind the intelligence violated Clapper’s own 2015 Intelligence Community directive outlining analytical standards for such assessments. What’s more, his directive prohibited any political bias in intelligence reporting, warning that assessments must be “independent of political consideration.”
“Analytic assessments must not be distorted by, nor shaped for, advocacy of a particular audience, agenda or policy viewpoint,” according to the six-page document, which was signed by Clapper himself.
Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker said Clapper’s Oct. 7 assessment is another example of the many covert ops the Intelligence Community ran against Trump to try to keep him from power or to minimize his effectiveness while in office. By pre-cooking the conclusion about the Russian government targeting Clinton, he said, Clapper abused the U.S. government’s awesome intelligence powers to intervene in a U.S. election.
“In hindsight, it is now clear that the leaders of our intelligence agencies directed their immense powers towards all things Trump,” he said in an RCI interview.
Swecker added that Clapper, now 83, was easily manipulated by Obama and then-CIA Director John Brennan, even though Clapper oversaw the CIA. “James Clapper was the Barney Fife of the Intelligence Community,” he said.
The CIA and other American intelligence agencies are prohibited from getting involved in domestic affairs, Swecker noted, and certainly not American elections.
Attempts to seek comment from Clapper, now retired, were unsuccessful. But in his 2018 memoir, “Facts and Fears,” Clapper revealed that he and then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, another Obama appointee, “agonized over the precise wording” in the Oct. 7 intelligence release, ostensibly because the linkages to the Kremlin were gauzy at best.
“We didn’t see any hard evidence of political collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government,” Clapper admitted on page 349, “but as I said at the time, my dashboard warning lights were all lit.”
He also suggested he was looking out for Clinton – whom his boss, President Obama, had publicly endorsed and was actively campaigning for at the time.
“Both the Russians and the Trump campaign were, in parallel, pushing conspiracy theories against Secretary Clinton,” Clapper complained, namely that “she was corrupt.”
Added the former intel chief: “Jeh and I felt strongly that we should inform the electorate,” and “President Obama assented.” In doing so, Clapper confessed they “pushed the boundaries” of what they could say about the purported “Russian activities.” As much as they juiced the intel, though, they agreed to stop short of blaming Putin directly.
While Clapper, in his book, mentioned the presidential debate that took place two days later, he did so only in passing and failed to note the key fact that Clinton cited his ginned-up intelligence during the televised event, almost on cue.
The Clinton campaign’s foreign policy adviser later gloated about the Clapper statement, showing how important it was to the campaign.
“The fact is that the entire Intelligence Community stood behind a statement in October that the Russian campaign had hacked the DNC and released their emails,” Jake Sullivan testified in a closed-door December 2017 interview with the House Intelligence Committee. “We feared that we were under attack, not just by the Russians, but by a coordinated [sic] with the Trump campaign as well.”
Sullivan was mistaken, of course. The entire Intelligence Community did not stand behind the statement, which was backed by no real evidence. At the time, according to internal documents, the FBI called the notion that the Russian government was behind the alleged hack “speculation.” And nothing the Russians may have done was coordinated with the Trump campaign, as multiple investigations have concluded.
Having been nearly charged with perjury in 2013 for lying to Congress about intelligence gathering before apologizing, Clapper appeared to politicize intelligence ahead of the 2020 presidential debate as well.
In an Oct. 19, 2020, formal statement, Obama’s and Biden’s old intelligence czar falsely implied damning emails found on Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop were Russian disinformation. The “intelligence” came just in time for Biden, who would be squaring off with Trump in three days, just like it did for Clinton in October 2016.
“Clapper didn’t know the Russians were involved. He was just spitballing. His pre-debate guesswork was similar to his pre-debate so-called intelligence on Russia in 2016,” said the former senior FBI counterintelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Although the statement declared the Hunter Biden laptop “had all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” it provided no actual evidence of Russian involvement. Clapper and his colleagues asserted that they strongly suspected “the Russian government played a significant role in the case.” Later in the statement, they went further to state “our view” shared by the Intelligence Community — not merely a suspicion anymore — “that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue.”
“There is incentive for Moscow to pull out the stops to do anything possible to help Trump win and-or to weaken Biden should he win,” they speculated. “A ‘laptop op’ fits the bill, as the publication of the emails are clearly designed to discredit Biden.”
But Clapper was dead wrong. There was no Russian “op.” And the laptop and its contents — including the damning emails published by the Post — were 100% real and authentic, as Special Counsel David Weiss confirmed during the recent trial of Hunter Biden on three felony gun charges, for which he was convicted earlier this month. The Russian government had nothing to do with any of it.
In retrospect, many political analysts agree Clapper’s intel statement was designed not to inform the electorate but to mislead it. But more significantly, the timing of its release suggests it was meant to help Biden in the next presidential debate, which was scheduled just three days later in Nashville.
During that final presidential debate, held on Oct. 22, 2020, Biden dismissed concerns about his son’s laptop emails and family foreign influence-peddling as part of a “Russian plant” after Trump lit into him about the laptop story. “Joe, they’re calling you a corrupt politician,” Trump said. “Take a look at the laptop from Hell.” Leaning on Clapper’s intel statement, Biden flatly denied knowing anything about Hunter’s foreign business dealings.
“Look, there are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant,” Biden shot back. “They have said this is, has all the characteristics — four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except him and his good friend Rudy Giuliani.”
The intel provided a much-needed lifeline for the former vice president.
It were as if Clapper had teed up the perfect talking point for Biden. As it turns out, Biden campaign officials had worked with Clapper’s team prior to the release of the intel statement accusing Putin of planting the laptop story.
In a House deposition, former deputy CIA Director Mike Morell, a Clapper confidant and one of the 51 signatories of the letter, testified that around Oct. 17, top Biden campaign aide Antony Blinken, now Biden’s Secretary of State, reached out to him to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Morell revealed that one of the goals in releasing the letter two days later “was to help then-Vice President Biden in the debate,” according to an April 20, 2023, letter House investigators sent to Blinken. The day after speaking with the Biden campaign, Morell blasted out an email to former intelligence officials to recruit them to sign the Oct. 19 intel letter. “We want to give the VP a talking point to use in response” to Trump in the event he attacks Biden over the laptop revelations during the upcoming debate, Morell wrote his colleagues. After the Oct. 22 debate, Morell testified that Biden campaign chairman Steve Ricchetti called him to thank him “for putting the statement out.” Morell said former CIA chief of staff Jeremy Bash was also involved in the coordination effort. Bash happens to be the ex-husband of Dana Bash, who will be one of the CNN moderators questioning Trump and Biden at Thursday night’s debate in Atlanta.
In effect, the Intelligence Community conspired with the Biden campaign to deceive the electorate by creating a false talking point for Biden in the presidential debate, which some government watchdogs say constituted an unreported campaign contribution and a potential violation of federal campaign finance laws.
On the same day that Clapper released the statement, then-Politico reporter Natasha Bertrand hyped it in a story with the conclusive headline: “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.” During the earlier frenzied coverage of Russiagate, Bertrand, who now works for CNN, acted as a go-to reporter for leaks from intelligence officials about Trump. She quoted one signatory to the letter as being confident that “once again the Russians are interfering” in U.S. elections. About 15 minutes after Politico published its story, Jen Psaki tweeted a link to the Politico article. Psaki was named Biden’s press secretary the next month. The Biden campaign repeatedly cited Clapper’s statement to dismiss the allegations against Hunter and Joe Biden. Clapper played his part by jumping on CNN to claim the laptop was “textbook Soviet tradecraft.”
It’s clear Clapper was rooting for Biden to win. Three days before Clapper released his all-too-convenient intelligence letter, he had donated $1,000 to Biden’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records. He had given another $250 to Biden For President the previous October. In the current election cycle, records show Clapper has contributed at least $300 so far to Biden.
RealClearInvestigations reached out to Clapper for comment but did not hear back. However, in a previous statement, he was unapologetic. “I stand by the statement made at the time,” he told the New York Post. “I think sounding such a cautionary note at the time was appropriate.”
Clapper’s history of intrigue gainst Trump includes leaking damaging classified information about him to the media.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper thought he had the scoop of his career when, on Jan. 10, 2017, he reported that President-elect Trump had been briefed by the FBI about “classified documents” containing information from a “credible” intelligence source that the Russians had “compromising” dirt on him. Citing unnamed “U.S. officials,” the report, co-bylined with Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, also falsely claimed that the Trump campaign and the Russian government had “exchange[d] information” throughout the election and that these allegations had been verified. Tapper failed to note that the supposedly “classified” information came from political opposition research funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign, otherwise known as the Steele dossier, compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele.
As flawed as the story was, it triggered a feeding frenzy in the national media, which up to that point backed off from covering the wild and unsubstantiated allegations contained in the Steele dossier. But after they learned from Tapper – by way of Clapper – that the U.S. Intelligence Community itself had taken a keen interest in the dossier and appeared to be taking it seriously, they reported the allegations against Trump nonstop for several years as if the dossier reports were the Pentagon Papers.
When congressional investigators first asked Clapper about the CNN leak in a July 2017 deposition, Clapper “flatly denied ‘discuss[ing] the dossier [compiled by Steele] or any other intelligence related to Russia hacking of the 2016 election with journalists,’” according to a report issued by the House Intelligence Committee. But Clapper changed his story upon further questioning. “Clapper subsequently acknowledged discussing the ‘dossier with CNN journalist Jake Tapper.’” The report added that Clapper secretly spoke with Tapper in early January 2017 and that on Jan. 10, CNN published Tapper’s story about the dossier allegations, for which he won the Merriman Smith Award for broadcast journalism in 2018.
The next day, Clapper issued a statement describing a call with Trump in which Clapper “expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press” and stressed that “I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC,” or Intelligence Community.
Clapper, who was later hired by CNN as an official “national security analyst,” had blatantly lied not only to the incoming president but also to the public. Again. And in effect, he had used Tapper, who’s not only failed to correct the record at CNN, but finds himself in the position to grill Trump on Thursday night as co-moderator with Bash of the first 2024 presidential debate in Atlanta.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Paul Sperry is an investigative reporter for RealClearInvestigations. He is also a longtime media fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution. Sperry was previously the Washington bureau chief for Investor’s Business Daily, and his work has appeared in the New York Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Houston Chronicle, among other major publications.
The post Paul Sperry: James Clapper, Mr. October Surprise: How Obama’s Intel Czar Rigged 2016 and 2020 Debates Against Trump appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
According to Real Clear Investigations reporter Paul Sperry, the White House press corps is being forced to watch feed of the CNN presidential debate Thursday night from a building across the street because they believe there may be a “medical emergency” involving one of the presidential candidate (Joe Biden).
“White House press corps has petitioned CNN to open up the debate studio to reporters, who for now have to watch a feed from a building across the street, b/c they believe there may be a “medical emergency” involving one of the prez candidates requiring on-scene coverage,” Paul Sperry said.
Recall that Joe Biden had a medical emergency during a CNN town hall in September 2019. His eye filled with blood during the climate town hall.
The corruption is off the charts.
Thursday night’s CNN debate in Atlanta will be hosted by Trump haters Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
The debate is rigged.
According to Leading Report reporter Patrick Webb: CNN will implement a 1-2 minute delay for tonight’s presidential debate instead of the standard 7-second delay, potentially allowing time to edit parts of the broadcast
CNN got triggered and responded to Patrick Webb but didn’t refute his claims.
The microphones will be muted except when it is the candidate’s ‘turn’ to speak.
Of course, they will likely only use this feature to mute Trump.
According to CNN: The ‘high tech’ microphones have green lights which will tell Biden and Trump whether their mic is on or not.
If the light is off but the candidate tries to talk, the sound of their voice won’t make it to the viewers watching on TV.
WATCH:
The post WHOA! White House Press Corps Forced to Watch Feed of CNN Debate From Building Across the Street Because They Believe There May Be a “Medical Emergency” Involving One of the Candidates Requiring On-Scene Coverage appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Someone give me a good reason, other than the clearly obvious one, for why a major news network would delay the live coverage of a debate between two presidents – arguably the most important debate in the lives of all Americans currently living.
https://notthebee.com/article/why-is-cnn-putting-a-1-2-minute-delay-on-a-presidential-debate/
Tonight’s televised presidential debate is the earliest such event in US history. Debates between presidential candidates are not legally required—there were none in 1964, 1968, or 1972.
Some are more pivotal than others: Sen. John Kennedy’s performance in 1960 likely legitimized him with viewers and contributed to his victory, while former Gov. Ronald Reagan’s confidence and likeability helped him win in 1980.
Since roughly 10 percent of US voters are still undecided, tonight’s event could prove especially pivotal. Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker writes:
There has probably been no occasion in the modern era when the stakes of a presidential debate have been so high, the competition so close, or the candidates’ performances so unpredictable. The direction of the long campaign, its outcome and even the ultimate identity of one of the party’s candidates could hinge on this ninety-minute encounter in Atlanta.
Your views regarding tonight’s debate likely reflect your views of the candidates before it begins. This is not just the case with your partisan positions, which will obviously influence your opinion of the event. It turns out, your personality is a major factor as well.
A recent study reported that “candidate and voter traits are systematically linked to each other, in such a way that voters are more likely to support candidates with personalities that ‘match’ their own.” It added that the effects of candidates’ personality traits are often stronger for voters who display a weaker partisan attachment.
In other words, we all view the world through the prism of our personal beliefs, traits, and experiences. This is not new information. Philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) theorized that we filter our sensory experiences through innate interpretive categories in our minds. In his view, which dramatically affected Western culture, we cannot know “the thing in itself,” only our experience of it.
As a result, philosophers eventually concluded that all truth claims are subjective, since they result from the subjective way our minds interpret our subjective sense experiences. Accordingly, multitudes who have never heard of Immanuel Kant or the postmodern thinkers who eventually followed him are convinced by our post-truth culture that “your truth” is just as valid as “my truth.”
In a world where all truth is personal, tolerance is the one universal value left. And those who seem to be intolerant of others, such as evangelical Christians who declare and defend biblical truth and morality, are (paradoxically) rejected as intolerant.
Now let’s relate this discussion to our weeklong question: How can an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God allow innocent suffering? In the minds of many skeptics, the existence of such pain precludes the existence of such a deity. Atheist Sam Harris speaks for many in concluding that, in the face of innocent suffering, God, if he exists, “is either impotent or evil.”
Of course, as we noted this week, such diatribes recounting the evil of the world (and blaming God for it) fail to account for the good it contains (and fail to credit him for it).
Nonetheless, I understand why many are frustrated with those of us who persist in believing in God despite evidence to the contrary. In their minds, since nothing can apparently persuade us that he does not exist, our beliefs are non-falsifiable and thus mere opinions.
If I cannot talk you out of believing that Martians visited you last week, despite conclusive evidence that Martians do not exist, I am forced to conclude that your belief is based merely on subjective supposition. And I am free to discount it as a claim to actual truth.
Here’s what such critics overlook: Christianity is objectively and rationally falsifiable. The Apostle Paul was blunt: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). If archaeologists could prove that they had discovered the earthly remains of Jesus of Nazareth, Christianity would be rendered null and void.
But the opposite is the case: such remains have never been discovered because they do not exist. As Paul continued, “in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (v. 20). Jesus’ empty tomb is an empirical fact skeptics have never sufficiently explained. (For an extended discussion based on historical facts and logic, see my website article, Why Jesus?)
As a result, we can know with confidence that Jesus Christ is alive and at work in our world today. We can trust him to weep as we weep (John 11:35), to pray for us in every moment and challenge (Romans 8:34), and to redeem even our deepest pain in ways we cannot imagine today (cf. Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10; 1 Corinthians 13:12).
Paul assured us:
“The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
In the meantime, trusting in Jesus despite the suffering of our lives and world can be our most persuasive witness to the relevance and power of his life in us. It is easy to believe in God when all is well. But if we say with Job, “though he slay me, I will hope in him” (Job 13:15), the skeptical world takes note.
In The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis writes that Satan’s “cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do [God’s] will, looks round upon a universe in which every trace of him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”
Will you threaten Satan’s “cause” today?
*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.
“Faith is a sounder guide than reason. Reason can go only so far, but faith has no limits.” —Blaise Pascal
The post Anticipating a presidential debate unlike any other appeared first on Denison Forum.
Future historians will look back on our day with wonder. They will try to puzzle out just how it was that a handful of ideologues managed to convince the elites of our powerful institutions, political, educational, business, media and through them entire nations, to believe absurdities such as the notion that feelings triumph over science, and that sex is entirely flexible and dependent upon emotion.
Scholars will spend hour after hour writing PhD theses on how an advanced industrial culture dismantled itself by embracing the utterly fatuous idea that competence in every field of endeavour had to take second place behind perceived personal identity. Choosing leaders and workers on the basis of their sex, race or sexual preferences is a recipe for eventual destruction.
The Family Most of all they will be totally unable to grasp how a highly developed culture could quite deliberately set about destroying the institution which was foundational to its development and success: the family.
We have witnessed the deconstruction of the family. We have moved with ever-increasing pace from the widest understanding of the family, the clan, to the extended family with a close network of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; then to the nuclear family of parents and children, until finally we have arrived at the destructive concept of the atomised family where none of the above are necessary.
Marriage, when not ignored, has become a system of temporary contracts which can be easily broken and reformulated at will. Elderly parents can be parked in euphemistically named ‘care’ homes where they may or may not receive actual care. Instead of fathers, children can have a succession of ‘uncles’. We teach children that the normative family is an illusion, that any combination of parents of whatever sex is a family and must be accepted and respected as such. The family has been reduced to such an extent that it no longer exists as a social construct. When anything can be a family, the family has disappeared.
Human beings are built for belief and we won’t rest until we believe in something.
Only Christians who faithfully live out biblical principles and social conservatives who value traditional standards are hold-outs against the all-pervasive woke progressive ideology.
A Radical Revolution When the basic building block of a culture is undermined to the extent that it is destroyed, that culture is unable to resist the corrosive pressures which seek to restructure society into a mass of malleable consumers. There is no conspiracy being run by shadowy figures in Davos intent on producing a pliant populace easily manipulated to become the drones of the New World Order. Rather we have an elite throughout the West who, motivated by the pursuit of their own personal power and commercial interests, and the promotion of their own private predilections, implement policies and promote ideologies which work to their personal advantage.
The most radical revolution our civilisation has faced would not have happened if not for the overturning of religious authority, especially by the rise of psychology in the 20th century. Psychology, with its concentration on the self and one’s inner life, and with its priestly caste directing the individual’s search for meaning, has replaced Christianity as the pathway to discovering purpose and direction in life.
Intersectionality The ultimately nihilistic focus on self has become the nexus of the seemingly separate strands of woke ideology. Intersectionality teaches that no social identity category exists in isolation of others; rather gender, race, sexuality, age, disability and all the other identities our culture emphasises intersect and influence each other. Thus we have the absurdity of Queers for Palestine, one group of supposedly oppressed people, homosexuals, supporting another group, Palestinian Muslims, who would cheerfully throw homosexuals from the tops of tall buildings.
To destroy one is to destroy all. When the feminist cries, as Taylor Swift did, ‘F**k the patriarchy’ before her millions of adoring fans, the implications go far beyond feminism. The intersectional feminist activist Maria Watanabe asserts the pervasive and intricate ways supposed patriarchy harms all people, regardless of gender identity, sex, or sexual orientation.
‘Patriarchy perpetuates oppressive and limiting gender roles, the gender binary, trans phobia and cissexism, sexual assault, the political and economic subordination of women, and so much more. And it is of the utmost importance that we prioritize dismantling the patriarchy in our intimate lives, as well as in a larger systemic sphere.’
The 34-year-old billionaire singer may not realise it, but the cry to dismantle the patriarchy is a cry to dismantle everything, just as the cry to promote Pride, critical race theory and body positivity all knit together in an attempt to restructure society as we know it.
Christianity In a saying often attributed to G K Chesterton, ‘When people cease to believe in God, they do not then believe in nothing, but in anything.’ Human beings are built for belief and we won’t rest until we believe in something. Along the way we have been sincere and even passionate believers in some of the most destructive ideologies imaginable: from Marxism to fascism, we invest our trust in that which ultimately destroys. Progressivism, beloved by our elites and propagated in our education systems, is the latest ideology to capture the minds and hearts of those who, having abandoned Christianity, long for something to give them meaning and purpose.
Ultimately the Christian church, in having watered down and in some cases even abandoned the faith, bears a significant responsibility for the state of society today. As Ezekiel tells us, when the watchmen are asleep and abandon their tasks they will be held responsible when the city falls to the enemy (Ezekiel 33:5-7).
Those of us who still hold to the faith, of whatever denomination or confession, have to prepare for the disintegration of our culture with its inevitable conclusions. The future is not going to be easy and we are faced with the challenge of strengthening what remains and readying ourselves for life as Christians in a hostile world.
The biases of CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who are moderating the first 2024 presidential debate in Atlanta, will impact the event to the point that it will not matter what topic is being discussed, Ric Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany under Trump, said Thursday on Newsmax.
“Jake Tapper is a former Democratic staffer,” Grenell told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “He worked on the Hill for the Democrats.”
He also pointed out that Bash’s ex-husband, Jeremy Bash, was a CIA operative who signed a letter in 2020 along with 51 individuals that discredited the Hunter Biden laptop as being used as a tool for Russian interference.
Narcissism is when people are excessively interested in themselves or admire themselves too much. You would hope that the words “narcissism” and “pastor” would never be associated with each other, but unfortunately, they often are. While this does not apply to every pastor, there are some narcissistic pastors in our pulpits today. Who knows, maybe one is standing in the pulpit of your church. While it is sad to have even to write these words, there are some signs of pastors who are too full of themselves.
I will admit some of these behaviors sicken me, so please do pray for me. Also, keep in mind that these warning signs must be taken together to know if a pastor struggles with narcissism. We cannot simply apply the label to every pastor we dislike. We can use the information to consider if something is off with the current pastor we are spending time with.
https://www.crosswalk.com/slideshows/warning-signs-of-a-narcissistic-pastor.html
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