Servanthood | WRETCHED TV Episode 2388
As Christians we should be following Christ’s example of serving others. Christianity is defined by humility and service rather than power or status.
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Daily Archives: August 16, 2024
LESSONS FROM THE LIVING ROOM
It’s Mailbag Friday! What is the difference between patriarchy and complementarianism? Wretched Radio is hosted by Todd Friel. On the show you will hear live witnessing encounters and discussions of tough theological issues and various topics in the Christian community. You might even have a laugh.
LESSONS FROM THE LIVING ROOM
Entering the Kingdom (Matthew 13:44–46) [Audio Only]
For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2303
Source: Entering the Kingdom (Matthew 13:44–46) [Audio Only]
Kingdom Parables, Part 2 (Matthew 13:3a, 10–17, 34–35) [Audio Only]
For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2298
Source: Kingdom Parables, Part 2 (Matthew 13:3a, 10–17, 34–35) [Audio Only]
Kingdom Parables, Part 1 (Matthew 13:1–2) [Audio Only] | Grace to You
For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2297
Source: Kingdom Parables, Part 1 (Matthew 13:1–2) [Audio Only]
Streaming Tonight: Facing Death with Confidence in Christ | Ligonier Ministries
Death is a reality that every Christian will face until the Lord Jesus returns, yet we do not grieve as those without hope (1 Thess. 4:13). This evening, we’re streaming a recent conversation on the subject of death with Drs. Burk Parsons and Guy Waters. Watch tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET as they discuss how Christians can face their own mortality and the loss of loved ones with confidence in the Savior who has overcome the grave.
You can view the stream below, as well as on Facebook, X, and YouTube. We encourage you to share this stream with others who may benefit from the discussion.
Source: Streaming Tonight: Facing Death with Confidence in Christ
August 16 Evening Verse of the Day
15 The Lord will graciously move his people to gratitude if they will humble themselves and call on him in their need. When the spirit of pride is broken and their trust in God restored, they will again enjoy the benefits of answered prayer and experience the Lord’s deliverance of those who call on him (see Reflections, p. 544, Yahweh Is My Redeemer). In response, they are expected to give “honor” to God with heartfelt joy.[1]
Ver. 15. Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.—The true deliverance:—
Many an one, in the day of trouble, has called on God even with an exceeding bitter cry, and yet has found no deliverance. The “cloudy and dark day” has continued full of a gloom, which no light from heaven has broken through to relieve. The blow which we dreaded, and which we prayed might not fall, has fallen. But need our faith fail, so that we shall refuse any more to rely on God’s promise again? Can there be any real ground for that? It would be awful if there were; if we had to think of God, as we too often have to think of men, as not to be depended on, not to be trusted to make good His word. It would be almost better to be Atheists than to think that. But the solution of the difficulty is in the fact that what God means by “deliverance” is other than what we mean. We are asking for one thing when He means another. And perhaps, also, we misunderstand God when He says, “Call upon Me.” Do we not too often take it to mean that when we see no other help, then we should call on God for there is nothing else to be done? Is not this too much our idea; and is it a just idea? Have we any right to treat God in that way? to neglect Him and forget Him till we are in trouble, and then to call aloud on Him, simply to remove the trouble? I do not think we can interpret God’s Word as meaning that He will answer such a call by such a deliverance. He means that the trouble is to do the work which He desires it should; to lead us to Him, to break in upon our worldliness, self-sufficiency, and forgetfulness of our dependence on Him, and to help us to receive the blessing it is meant to bestow, so that through it we may be delivered, not necessarily from it, but from the evils which it was intended to correct, from the dangers against which it was the warning. A man, for instance, who had wilfully committed a crime and been visited with the punishment of his crime, might feel so touched in heart and so distressed in mind, as to be led to the thought of God, and to cry to God for deliverance; but could he expect God to open his prison door and let him go free, or to pay his fine and let him off without a penalty? Would that be indeed a “deliverance” to him? Would not the only real deliverance be a deliverance from the evil heart and unrighteous spirit which led him to commit the crime; and would not the outward trouble, from which God did not deliver him, be doing its proper work, if through God’s grace it was the means of delivering him from that evil heart and that unrighteous spirit? If it did that, could he say God had not heard his cry or wrought deliverance for him? (R. H. Story, D.D.)
Encouragement for the pious in the day of trial:—
I. The speaker. “The mighty God;” possessing—
1. Boundless knowledge (Heb. 4:13; Acts 10:5–6; Matt. 10:30).
2. Infinite goodness (Ps. 145:9; 103:13; 147:11).
3. Omnipotent power (Ps. 148:6).
II. The persons addressed.
1. Those who fear and love God (1 Cor. 3:21–23).
2. Those who are subjects of trial (Heb. 12:6, 10).
III. The duty suggested. “Call upon Me.”
1. Humility.
2. Sincerity.
3. Confidence.
4. Consistency.
5. Importunity.
IV. The declaration made. “I will deliver thee.”
1. At what time He sees best.
2. In what way He sees best.
3. By what means He sees best.
V. The grateful returns required. “And thou shalt glorify Me.”
1. By a devout acknowledgment of the Divine goodness (Ps. 34:1–4). Be careful not to ascribe that to human agency which is immediately the work of God.
2. By unreserved devotedness to Him (Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 6:20).
3. By promoting His interests—your time, talents, influence employed for God. Present them through the merits of Christ.
VI. Improvement.
1. To those who love and fear God. How blessed is your state! The Lord is your God, call upon Him.
2. To those who are humbly seeking God (Matt. 11:28).
3. To those who are living without God. How awful your state! (Rom. 2:5). (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
For the day of trouble:—
I. The day. “Day of trouble.”
1. All know more or less of this “day”—morning, noon, or eventide of it, or the whole “day.”
2. Trouble various:
(1) Business trouble—competition—dishonest traders—bad times, etc.
(2) Domestic trouble—family cares—sick child—wayward son or daughter—poverty.
(3) Soul-trouble—sins realized—con-science accusing—unworthiness and imperfections—doubts and fears, etc.
3. Only a “day”! not a week—month—year, etc.
II. The request. “Call upon Me.” Friends generally plentiful in prosperity, scarce in trouble. God wants us to come particularly then. Take your prayer-cheques and faith-orders to His Bank, and so ask and receive that your joy may be full. This the Divine cure for trouble. Don’t worry—chafe—fret—despair; simply give Him a “call”—He is always at home, etc.
III. The promise. “I will deliver thee.” Infinite ability and willinghood—power and love—are at the back of this promise. None ever called aright and were refused. Noah, David, Daniel, etc., cried and were delivered.
IV. The result. “Thou shalt glorify Me.”
1. By presenting praise (ver. 23).
2. By publishing His fame—gratitude will constrain to this.
3. By trusting implicitly at all times. (J. O. Keen, D.D.)
Robinson Crusoe’s text:—
One book charmed us all in the days of our youth. Is there a boy alive who has not read it? I am not ashamed to confess that I can read it even now with ever fresh delight. You remember how Robinson Crusoe was wrecked. He is left in the desert island all alone. He is smitten with fever. He is ready to perish. Now he begins to think, and opens a Bible which he finds in his chest, and he lights upon this passage. That night he prayed for the first time in his life. It is a text which I would have written in stars across the sky, or sounded forth with trumpet at noon from the top of every tower. Observe—
I. Realism is preferred to Ritualism. Note the content. How this is so.
1. Because there is meaning in it. There is none in ritualism when grace is absent. But when you call upon God in the day of trouble there is meaning, and God understands, and cares for it when all the pomp and show, and the gorgeousness of ritual are to Him as nothing.
2. There is spirituality in it, and worship in spirit and in truth is what God would have.
3. It recognizes God as the living God.
4. It is sincere. In prosperity we are apt to forget our prayers. Too many of us are like boys’ tops, that cease to spin except they are whipped. Certainly trouble gives intensity to prayer.
5. It is humble. Too often we are over-satisfied with our own performances in the way of worship, but when in deep trouble the soul bows down then.
6. And there is a measure of faith in such prayers. When faith does, as it were, only cross over the field of the camera, so that across the photograph there is a dim trace of its having been there, God can spy it out, and He can and will accept prayer for the sake of that little faith. Next we have—
II. Adversity turned to advantage. God cannot deliver a man who is not in trouble: even Jesus Christ cannot heal a man who is not sick. Now, if you be in trouble, you have—
1. A plea from the time. This is the day of trouble. Your case is urgent.
2. From the trouble itself. It is so great.
3. From the command. God bids you pray.
4. From His own character—so great, so good.
III. Free grace laid under bonds. “I will deliver thee:” thus God pledges Himself. The text is unconditional as to the persons. And God’s “I will” includes all needful power which may be needed for deliverance. But we are not told exactly when God will do this. You are in a great hurry, but the Lord is not. When the gold is cast into the fining-pot, there it must stay till the dross is purged away. But promptitude is implied. He will deliver you in the best possible time.
IV. God and the praying man taking shares. Here is your share, “Call upon Me”; here is God’s share, “I will deliver.” Again, here is yours, You shall be delivered; and then, again, it is the Lord’s turn, “Thou shalt glorify Me.” Here is a delightful partnership. Who would demur to these terms? If God will pardon and justify us, adopt and sanctify us, and bring us home to heaven at last, shall He not have the glory of it? Even some divines will give man a little of the glory. Oh, that Dagon of a free will! How men will worship it! Go out henceforth, you saved ones, and tell what the Lord has done for you. An aged woman once said that if the Lord Jesus Christ really did save her, He should never hear the last of it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Prayer to God in trouble an acceptable sacrifice:—
God here reproves Israel not for keeping back from Him abundant ceremonial service—they were not at fault there—but for not rendering Him the worship of the heart. That was what He desired more than all burnt offering and sacrifice. And the reasons of God’s preference are evident. For—
I. It brings glory to Him in itself.
1. It shows that God is a reality to the man.
2. There is spiritual intercourse in it. How easy it is to say a prayer without coming into contact with God! Year after year the tongue repeats pious language, as a barrel organ grinds out the old tunes, and there may be no more converse with the Lord than if the man had muttered to the ghosts of the slain. Many prayers might as well be said backward as forwards, for there would be as much in them one way as the other. The abracadabra of the magician has quite as much virtue in it as any other set of mere words.
3. It is filled with a manifest hope in God.
4. It exhibits a clinging affection to Him, and—
5. A most stedfast confidence. Therefore is it that such prayer brings glory to God.
II. Also, through the answer which it wins. The answer is personal, positive, practical, permanent.
III. And the Lord will be glorified in your conduct afterwards. Adoration, gratitude, trust, patience, a consecrated life. It is by the sharp needle of sorrow that we are embroidered with the praises of the Lord. The brightest of the saints owe much of their clearness to the fire and the file. We must be tried that the Lord may be glorified. (Ibid.)
Our only deliverance:—
I. The duty enjoined. “Call upon Me,” etc. This bears fully upon our present circumstances (2 Chron. 7:13, 14). The word “call” implies—
1. Earnestness of heart.
2. Faith, which realizes both God’s truth and God’s grace.
3. Expectation.
II. The promise given—“I will deliver thee.” Who else can? Medical science seems of but little avail. But God can (Rev. 7). The command to the angel of penitence; and 2 Sam., last chapter. All show that the Lord can limit the powers of evil. Let us remember the love of God—His presenting, forbearing, redeeming, sanctifying love.
III. Practical lessons.
1. Acknowledge God’s hand in this affliction.
2. Do not exaggerate it.
3. Do not neglect it. Humble yourselves and help the poor. (H. Montagu Villiers, M.A.)
The Christian’s duty in the day of trouble:—
What an encouraging character does this psalm give us of the religion He would see in us. He represents it as consisting chiefly in thanksgiving and prayer.
I. A command for God’s people. They are represented as in trouble. There is “a day of trouble,” it is intimated, either come on them or coming. And it is a touching circumstance, that whoever else may overlook our troubles, the Lord does not. Call upon Me in the day of trouble. Afflicted souls should pray more and oftener, and to bring us to this is the design of trouble, and when we are brought thus to pray, it is one of the very best evidences that our trouble has been blessed to us. One thing more we must add—the Lord will assuredly bring all His troubled people to this, this calling upon Him. He will knock away their props from under them, or He will wither their strength, or He will add more and more to their burden; in some way He will make them feel that they cannot possibly stand without Him (Ps. 107).
II. A gracious promise the Lord gives to His people. “I will deliver thee.” This means—
1. Deliverance in trouble; or—
2. From trouble.
III. The happy effect which is to follow—“Thou shalt glorify Me.” And this will be both in and after our trouble. The believer ever recognizes God’s hand in such deliverance, and therefore glorifies Him. Let us all turn to God now, so that we may be able to turn to Him when trouble comes. (C. Bradley, M.A.)
The day of trouble:—
Why not “deliver” without calling? He knows the sorrow and need of His people, and if it be in His heart to “deliver,” why wait to be “called upon”? When a man is in “trouble,” and his neighbours help him out, he is not in much danger of confounding his benefactor with himself, or of questioning, after all, if the deliverance did not come in some other way. But if God delivered men without being “called upon,” they would soon become rationalistic, in their way of looking at things, and not only account for “the day of trouble,” but also for their “deliverance,” upon the mere principles of reason or natural law. It is the calling spirit which He seeks to evoke—the spirit which recognizes Him as the only “deliverer” of His people.
I. The time. “The day of trouble “does not appear to be governed, as is our natural day, by planetary revolutions, or the swing of the pendulum. It may come at any hour, and may stay long after the natural day is done.
II. The request. “Call upon Me.”
1. Humbly.
2. Believingly, etc.
III. The promise. “I will deliver thee.” God can always repeat Himself; He can always “deliver” more gloriously the next time you “call upon Him,” if you only honour Him by asking, and believing that He will.
IV. The result. “Thou shalt glorify Me.”
1. By our faith.
2. By gratitude.
3. By obedience.
4. By testifying of His goodness.
5. By devotion to His cause.
6. By praising Him. (T. Kelly.)[2]
15. “And call upon me in the day of trouble.” Oh, blessed verse! Is this then true sacrifice? Is it an offering to ask an alms of heaven? It is even so. The King himself so regards it. For herein is faith manifested, herein is love proved, for in the hour of peril we fly to those we love. It seems a small thing to pray to God when we are distressed, yet is it a more acceptable worship than the mere heartless presentation of bullocks and he-goats. This is a voice from the throne, and how full of mercy it is! It is very tempestuous round about Jehovah, and yet what soft drops of mercy’s rain fall from the bosom of the storm! Who would not suffer such sacrifice? Troubled one, haste to present it now! Who shall say that Old Testament saints did not know the gospel? Its very spirit and essence breathe like frankincense all around this holy Psalm. “I will deliver thee.” The reality of thy sacrifice of prayer shall be seen in its answer. Whether the smoke of burning bulls be sweet to me or no, certainly thy humble prayer shall be, and I will prove it so by my gracious reply to thy supplication. This promise is very large, and may refer both to temporal and eternal deliverances; faith can turn it every way, like the sword of the cherubim. “And thou shalt glorify me.” Thy prayer will honour me, and thy grateful perception of my answering mercy will also glorify me. The goats and bullocks would prove a failure, but the true sacrifice never could. The calves of the stall might be a vain oblation, but not the calves of sincere lips.
Thus we see what is true ritual. Here we read inspired rubrics. Spiritual worship is the great, the essential matter; all else without it is rather provoking than pleasing to God. As helps to the soul, outward offerings were precious, but when men went not beyond them, even their hallowed things were profaned in the view of heaven.[3]
[1] VanGemeren, W. A. (2008). Psalms. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms (Revised Edition) (Vol. 5, p. 430). Zondervan.
[2] Exell, J. S. (1909). The Biblical Illustrator: The Psalms (Vol. 2, pp. 510–513). Fleming H. Revell Company; Francis Griffiths.
[3] Spurgeon, C. H. (n.d.). The treasury of David: Psalms 27-57 (Vol. 2, p. 388). Marshall Brothers.
August 18 – Do We Have Ancient Records of Mordecai? | VCY
TODAY’S BIBLE READING CHALLENGE:
Esther 1:1-3:15
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Psalm 35:17-28
Proverbs 21:19-20
Esther 1:2 — Welcome to the book of Esther. The only book of the Bible where the name of God is not found even once! Unfortunately, Alexander the Great’s troops were none too kind to the legacy of Xerxes:
… compared to the palace of Darius, the house of Xerxes is badly damaged. A likely explanation is that it received a special treatment when the Macedonian king Alexander the Great destroyed Persepolis in the spring of 330 BCE. His soldiers were especially interested in the palace of the man who had once sacked Athens.
The relief on the second photo shows the great king leaving the palace and is an example of the destruction. The damages from the right are partly due to natural causes (and quite recent), but the face has been destroyed with a hammer, and someone must have made a great effort to create a hole near the king’s ear.
And while we’re at it, J. Vernon McGee has a helpful infographic on Esther:
Esther 2:5 — Who was Mordecai? He was of the lineage of Saul living in secular Persia. Do we have secular records of him? From the Biblical Cyclopedia:
As regards Mordecai’s place in profane history, the domestic annals of the reign of Xerxes are so scanty that it would not surprise us to find no mention of this Jew.
But, he may be recorded as Matacas, Xerxes’ chief favorite. Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers:
Mordecai. — Canon Rawlinson is disposed to identify Mordecai with Matacas, who was the most powerful of the eunuchs in the reign of Xerxes. It may be assumed that Mordecai was a eunuch, by the way in which he was allowed access to the royal harem (Esther 2:11; Esther 2:22). The name Mordecai occurs in Ezra 2:2; Nehemiah 7:7, as one of those who returned to Judaea with Zerubbabel.
Esther 2:12 — Spa treatments today pale in comparison.
Esther 3:1 — Saul kept Agag, king of Amalek, alive in disobedience to God’s will (1 Samuel 15:20).
Esther 3:13 — Adolph Hitler would try the same thing 2,300 years later!
1 Corinthians 11:18 — Paul is continually talking about the problems in the Church of Corinth. Shockingly, people came to the Lord’s Supper drunk (1 Corinthians 11:21).
1 Corinthians 11:32 — David recognized this truth in 2 Samuel 24:14 and 1 Chronicles 21:13. We can seek the chastening of the LORD now and repent, or endure His wrath later.
Psalm 35:24 — Echoing Paul, let us seek the LORD’s judgment now and not later.
Proverbs 21:19 — Some people desire simply to be married, and find their desires were too simple. The Bible has much to offer in premarital counseling!
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.
Never Ashamed | VCY
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32)
Gracious promise! It is a great joy to me to confess my Lord. Whatever my faults may be, I am not ashamed of Jesus, nor do I fear to declare the doctrines of His cross. O Lord, I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart.
Sweet is the prospect which the text sets before me! Friends forsake and enemies exult, but the Lord does not disown His servant. Doubtless my Lord will own me even here and give me new tokens of His favorable regard. But there comes a day when I must stand before the great Father. What bliss to think that Jesus will confess me then! He will say, “This man truly trusted Me and was willing to be reproached for My name’s sake; and therefore I acknowledge him as Mine.” The other day a great man was made a knight, and the Queen handed him a jeweled garter; but what of that? It will be an honor beyond all honors for the Lord Jesus to confess us in the presence of the divine Majesty in the heavens. Never let me be ashamed to own my Lord. Never let me indulge a cowardly silence or allow a fainthearted compromise. Shall I blush to own Him who promises to own me?
How Is Jesus the Resurrection and the Life? | Monergism.com
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The Doctrine of Justification | Monergism.com
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16 Aug 2024 News Briefing
Canadian Wildfire Smoke Pours Into US Northeast
Canadian public policy think tank Fraser Institute recently said, “Canada’s burning because of bad forest policy, not climate change.” Wildfire smoke from Canada has poured into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States, raising air quality alerts across the region.
Want More Freedom Of Speech? Try Less Government!
The Biden Administration has made speech regulation a priority in targeting disinformation, misinformation or malinformation. President Joe Biden even said that companies refusing to censor citizens were “killing people.” His administration has now created an anti-free speech record that is only rivaled by the Adams Administration, which used the Alien and Sedition Acts to arrest political opponents. The release of the Twitter Files destroyed any plausible deniability of the government’s role in this censorship system.
Western Battle Tanks Are Invading Russia: Sky News
In a first which hasn’t been witnessed since World War 2, Western battle tanks have been operating inside Russian territory. Sky News is reporting Thursday that Ukrainian troops have used British Challenger 2 tanks during the ongoing cross-border offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.
“It’s Communism”: Kamala’s First Economic Plan Proposes Price Controls To “Combat Inflation”
she’s echoing President Biden’s actions and rhetoric to crack down on sky-high food prices by proposing the first-ever federal ban on “corporate price-gouging in the food and grocery industries”—a move that reeks of socialism. …Harris’ campaign argues that lowering Americans’ costs is a function of socialist-style price controls. Yet this is the quickest way to understand that Harris’ economic team has no actual understanding of inflation.
Trump reportedly calls Netanyahu ahead of crucial hostage deal summit as hostage families & US rabbis demand agreement
… U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss the hostage release deal with Hamas, ahead of a crucial summit set to start in Doha on Thursday. Trump’s call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to agree to a deal,
Columbia U president resigns after months of criticism over lacking response to anti-Israel protests
Minouche Shafik, announced that she would resign from her post just weeks before the start of the new school year. The previous months saw her campus become the epicenter of anti-Israel protests in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Shafik came under criticism for her perceived lack of response to the campus protests that gripped Columbia University, as well as her testimony before a Congressional panel investigating antisemitism on college campuses, where she said her school could do more to combat antisemitism.
IDF has its boot on Hamas’ throat but Washington is its biggest barrier to success, warns former British Army officer
Israel is fighting unconventional urban war under immense Western pressure. …former British Army Officer Andrew Fox argued that contrary to the assessment of many in the West, the IDF is winning the war against Hamas and needs to be allowed to finish that job.
Ukraine’s Surprise Attack Forces Russia to Divert Forces in Response
Since its surprise incursion into Russia more than a week ago, Ukraine has steadily gained ground, saying it advanced even deeper into Russian territory on Wednesday. It says it has captured hundreds of soldiers, as Russia has evacuated more than 130,000 people from nearby communities and declared a new state of emergency in one region. And now Moscow has begun withdrawing some troops from Ukraine in an effort to repel Kyiv’s offensive into western Russia,
US sanctions companies tied to Houthis and Hezbollah
The United States State Department announced on Thursday that it is imposing sanctions on one individual and six companies, and blocking three vessels, for their involvement in illicit revenue generation to support the Houthis’ destabilizing activities on behalf of Iran-based, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force-backed Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal.
Drone footage from Rafah | IDF destroys 50 Hamas tunnel routes in a week
The IDF on Thursday published drone footage of the demolition of underground complexes in the Philadelphi Corridor in Rafah. (watch)
Jordan Opens Airspace to Israeli Aircraft
Jordan has decided to open its airspace to Israeli aircraft while simultaneously closing it to Iranian planes. This unexpected move enhances Israel’s ability to intercept potential threats from Iran, strengthening its regional security posture. The reasons behind King Abdullah’s decision remain unclear, but the impact on Middle Eastern geopolitics is undeniable.
Layoffs announced at multiple companies this summer
The summer has brought announcements of job cuts at a slew of different companies. The planned layoffs are expected to collectively hit thousands of people who work in industries including tech, media and auto. Some of the firms that have disclosed intentions to reduce their headcounts this summer include: Cisco, Intel, …….etc..
2024 sees Southern California’s highest M4 earthquake count since 1988, return to long-term average
Since 1932, Southern California has averaged 10 – 12 M4 earthquakes annually. However, in the last 20 years, this number dropped to around 5 per year. In 2024, with 13 M4s already recorded, the region is seeing a return to its long-term average.
Alaska Glacial Flooding Called ‘Unprecedented’
Seasonal flooding expected from an ice dam turned into something much more disastrous for hundreds of people in Juneau, Alaska. Watch this video to see why the flooding is being called “unprecedented.”
10 Things to Know About Tim Walz and His Ties to Communist China
…In the wake of the selection, Walz has received considerable criticism for his deception and dissembling regarding his military service. He merits equally great criticism for his ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Here are ten things that you did not know about Tim Walz and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
“It’s Communism”: Kamala’s First Economic Plan Proposes Price Controls To “Combat Inflation”
After the unoriginal Vice President Kamala Harris stole former President Trump’s proposed ‘no tax on tips’ policy, she’s at it again with yet another recycled idea. This time, she’s echoing President Biden’s actions and rhetoric to crack down on sky-high food prices by proposing the first-ever federal ban on “corporate price-gouging in the food and grocery industries”—a move that reeks of socialism.
Democrats And Globalists ‘Urgently’ Prepare to Re-Impose Covid-Style Policies on Schools
Government schools across the United States must “urgently” prepare to re-impose COVID-style policies on students and staff in response to an expected upcoming pandemic, warned a former high-ranking “public-health” bureaucrat in the Obama administration. Among the key measures: A push for mass vaccination.
Democrats And Globalists ‘Urgently’ Prepare to Re-Impose Covid-Style Policies on Schools
Government schools across the United States must “urgently” prepare to re-impose COVID-style policies on students and staff in response to an expected upcoming pandemic, warned a former high-ranking “public-health” bureaucrat in the Obama administration. Among the key measures: A push for mass vaccination.
The UN Takes Step Forward to Create a ONE WORLD Government
The United Nations is a SERIOUS threat to our future, and not only should the United States withdraw from the UN, it should be thrown out of New York City. The Biden Administration REFUSES to seek peace with Russia and has NO INTENTION of negotiating with Russia. That effectively says the United Nations is just a dog and pony show with no purpose other than to expand its own power as well as its World Health Organization to create its long-term dream of ruling the entire world.
Nigeria: Government responds to “bad governance” protests by unleashing a wave of brutal repression
Under the theme of ending bad governance, youth take to the streets in response to the rising inflation as the Tinubu government unleashes a wave of repression.
Here are the biggest enemies of free speech in the UK
Opportunists have used the civil unrest in the UK in the last couple of weeks to advance their long-term plans to criminalize speech they don’t like. Dan Wootton lists 10 people and organizations that have used the civil unrest to advocate for “the Woke Stasi’s bid to crackdown on expression online.”
Most painkiller users DON’T become addicts
“UK Corporate media is publishing scare stories about people becoming addicted to opioid painkillers. Why? Because they want to reduce palliative care and push people to accept euthanasia, Dr. Vernon Coleman says.”
Nigel Farage didn’t cause the UK riots; the “elite” class did
…Their narrative is of course being pushed through corporate media outlets such as The Times. There’s just one glaringly obvious problem. Their accusations could not be further from the truth. And we, the majority of the people, know it. So, what are the “elite” class trying to cover up?
Study by Pfizer Stooges proves mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination during Pregnancy is highly likely to cause Abortion, but Health Authorities have been Bribed to dismiss it
A recent study conducted by Pfizer has sparked controversy as it suggests a highly likely link between mRNA COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy and spontaneous abortions.
Vast Stretches of America Are So Depressed That They Look Like Something Out of a Horror Movie
The wealthy are doing just fine at the moment, but they don’t seem to understand that much of the country is deeply hurting right now. 59 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. economy is currently experiencing a recession, and that is because most of them are personally experiencing economic pain. Literally just about everything is substantially more expensive in 2024, more major layoffs are being announced with each passing day, and thousands of businesses are going bankrupt. We haven’t seen a tsunami of economic suffering like this in a long time.
Here Comes the Fear: The WHO Warns That the New Mutant Strain of Monkeypox Is an Emergency “For the Entire Globe”
It was fun while it lasted. We actually had quite a few months without an official “global health emergency” to be concerned about, but now that streak is over. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced that Monkeypox has officially been classified as a “public health emergency of international concern.”
Who Owns America? Oligarchs Have Bought Up the American Dream
…While the Deep State keeps the nation divided and distracted by a presidential election whose outcome is foregone (the police state’s stranglehold on power will ensure the continuation of endless wars and out-of-control spending, while disregarding the citizenry’s fundamental rights and the rule of law), America is literally being bought and sold right out from under us.
Source: https://www.raptureready.com/2024/08/16/16-aug-2024/
Headlines – 8/16/2024
Israel Official Says Iran War ‘Inevitable’ and US Should Strike Now
US officials say Iran attack ‘potentially soon, without notice’
Iran’s mixed signals leave some allies in the dark and set region on edge
French, British FMs to visit Israel as it remains braced for attacks by Iran, Hezbollah
Qatar said urging Iran to carefully weigh attack on Israel, citing progress in talks
Gaza Cease-Fire Talks Resume, but Hopes Are Muted Amid Fears of Wider War
New high-stakes Gaza truce talks hope to avert a wider war
Gaza truce talks in Doha get off to ‘promising start,’ set to continue Friday
Netanyahu reportedly approves broad mandate for Israeli negotiating team at Doha summit
In Tel Aviv, hostage relatives tell negotiators not to come back without a deal
US said to believe IDF can’t make further gains against ‘diminished’ Hamas in Gaza
Hezbollah won’t launch major reprisal during talks to reach Gaza ceasefire – report
IDF says jets struck Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon overnight
El Al’s profits soar as foreign carriers’ cancellations give it market dominance
IDF orders Gaza evacuations ahead of fresh op, as 2nd day of Doha talks set to begin
IDF: Dozens of tunnels razed on Gaza-Egypt border, 17,000 terror operatives killed in war
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in 10 months of war in Gaza, health ministry says
Trump: I told Netanyahu ‘get your victory quickly’ because ‘the killing has to stop’
In Turkey, Abbas declares he’ll go to Gaza ‘even if it costs my life,’ mourns Haniyeh
Thousands of residents return to homes near Gaza as state ends hotel funding for some
Israel Police misused their forces on October 7, civilian probe told
Netanyahu weighing various commissions of inquiry to stave off legal action at ICC
Alex Marlow: Kamala Harris Chose Tim Walz to Pacify the ‘Pro-Hamas’ Faction of Democrat Party
Dems brace for impact of massive protests by anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian agitators at Chicago DNC
Chicago Officials Under Fire After Blocking Pro-Palestinian Protest At DNC
Campus Cops: ‘Dangerous’ Onslaught of Protests Coming
US colleges revise rules on free speech in hopes of containing anti-war demonstrations
US Jewish groups file federal lawsuit alleging antisemitism at Atlanta schools
Jordanian man in Florida indicted for vandalizing businesses he said were pro-Israel
Palestinian killed as settlers torch homes and cars in West Bank village
Israeli Settlers Storm West Bank Village, Drawing Rare Rebukes From Israeli Officials
Ben Gvir claims IDF chief and Gallant to blame for deadly settler riot, says he condemns vigilantism
Herzog says settler violence ‘certainly not the way of Torah and Judaism’
Russia uncovers mass grave of Holocaust victims in Kherson
Ukraine rejects as ‘nonsense’ alleged role in Nord Stream blasts
Ukraine Denies Involvement in Nord Stream Explosions, Blames Russia
Ukraine Gambles Incursion Deep Into Russia to Change the War
Zelensky says Ukrainian forces have occupied largest town in Russia’s Sumy region
Zelenskyy: Ukraine Has Full Control of Russian Town of Sudzha
Ukraine Establishes Military Office in Kursk
Ukraine attacks a second region in Western Russia, prompting a state of emergency
Physicist Urges Putin to Use Nukes to Cut Ukraine’s NATO Aid
Russian Navy trained to strike Europe with nuclear-capable missiles, FT reports, citing secret files
Fears of a Venezuelan mass exodus increase with election crisis fallout
U.S., Brazil float new Venezuela election despite rebuffs from Maduro and the opposition
Biden Says He Supports New Election in Venezuela
Gold Star Dad: Taliban Parade ‘Disgusting’
China Scolds: Biden ‘Left Behind a Mess in Afghanistan’
Majority of Americans say Biden not fit to serve out rest of term: JL Partners/Daily Mail poll
Rep. Bergman: Walz Has ‘Reputation as a Liar’
CNN: Walz Congressional Campaign Lied About DUI Arrest
RFK Jr. Has ‘No Plans’ to Back Kamala Harris After Reportedly Seeking Meeting for Cabinet Deal
Food prices skyrocket under ‘Kamalanomics’ – haven’t been this bad since the Carter administration
Kamala Harris to Announce Soviet-Style Price Controls on Food Under Guise of ‘Gouging Ban’
Opinion: When your opponent calls you ‘communist,’ maybe don’t propose price controls?
‘Unretirement’: Massive and Troubling Phenomenon Plaguing Seniors Victimized by Bidenomics
Secret Service prepares use of bulletproof glass for outdoor Trump rallies: Sources
Palm Beach Mayor Threatens to Shut Down Mar-a-Lago Estate
Trump asks for delay in NYC sentencing until after November election
George Soros uses army of ‘radicalized government lawyers to tear apart the justice system’
Trump: Harris’ Editing of Google Headlines ‘Illegal’
Facebook Admits to ‘Incorrectly’ Rejecting Ads for ‘Reagan’ Movie
As AI Encroaches on Hollywood, Animators Say This Is An Existential Moment
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Is a Cheating Machine for Students
Artificial intelligence: The US wants to scan the faces of migrant kids at the border
Japan ends ‘megaquake’ advisory after no abnormalities are observed
2024 sees Southern California’s highest M4+ earthquake count since 1988, return to long-term average
Over 1,000 earthquakes happened in Texas this summer
Texas earthquakes: Seismologist points to oil, gas production as cause
6.3 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Taiwan: Weather Agency
5.4 magnitude earthquake hits near Yilan, Taiwan
5.3 magnitude earthquake hits near Lae, Papua New Guinea
5.0 magnitude earthquake hits near Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
Increased seismic activity in Svartsengi, Iceland signals new volcanic eruption
Sabancaya volcano in Peru erupts to 25,000ft
Sangay volcano in Peru erupts to 22,000ft
Ibu volcano in Indonesia erupts to 20,000ft
Popocateptl volcano in Mexico erupts to 20,000ft
Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupts to 16,000ft
Santa Maria volcano in Guatemala erupts to 15,000ft
Semeru volcano in Indonesia erupts to 15,000ft
Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupts to 14,000ft
Alaid volcano in the Kuril Islands erupts to 10,000ft
Lewotobi volcano in Indonesia erupts to 10,000ft
Decades-old bridge collapses in southern China
Typhoon Ampil Approaches Japan, Disrupting Flights and Trains
Hurricane Ernesto strengthens into a Category 2 before impacts felt in Bermuda
Palestinian illegal immigrant on terror watchlist arrested at southern border
11-year-old illegal immigrant arrested for subway robbery, Central Park muggings in NYC
US Arrests Reputed Peruvian Gang Leader Wanted for 23 Killings
Chinese Company Caught Stealing Dead Bodies to Make Dental Implants
Avian flu spreads to 23 mammal species, cats become major concern
US undercounts bird flu in cattle as farmers shun testing
Sweden Reports 1st Case of More Infectious Form of Mpox First Identified in Congo
Jailed Minnesota woman who defied COVID lockdown orders: Walz ‘Tyrant of Tyrants’
Walz Spent Nearly $100K in COVID Funds on Abortion Doulas
California Health Officials Urge Indoor Masking as COVID Surges
New York county signs controversial mask ban meant to hide people’s identities in public
Mid-Day Snapshot · August 16, 2024
“From The Patriot Post (patriotpost.us)”.
THE FOUNDATION
“It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it. After discriminating, therefore, in theory, the several classes of power, as they may in their nature be legislative, executive, or judiciary, the next and most difficult task is to provide some practical security for each, against the invasion of the others.” —James Madison (1788)
| ON THIS DAY in 1977, Elvis Presley, “King of Rock and Roll,” died at Graceland in Memphis. |
IN TODAY’S DIGEST
- Executive News Summary
- Featured Analysis: Commie Kamala Calls for Price Controls
- More Analysis
- Best of Right Opinion
- Best of Videos
- Short Cuts
- Memes and Cartoons
EXECUTIVE NEWS SUMMARY
Douglas Andrews, Thomas Gallatin, & Jordan Candler
Politics
- Three Dem senators to snub the DNC: Democrat Senators Jon Tester (MT), Jacky Rosen (NV), and Sherrod Brown (OH) will not be seen at the Kamalafest coronation convention next week in Chicago. The reason they will be absent is because they find themselves in tight races in their home states; a single one of them losing could swing majority control of the Senate to Republicans. The current makeup of the Senate is 51-49. However, with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin retiring — and with his likely successor being Republican Governor Jim Justice — the Democrats are staring at an uphill battle to hold onto the Senate. It’s also telling that Tester, Rosen, and Brown are effectively distancing themselves from Harris in an effort to hold onto their seats.
- Tim Walz’s other lie: In 1995 in Nebraska, 31-year-old Tim Walz was pulled over for speeding. He was clocked going 96 MPH in a 55 MPH zone and subsequently arrested for drunk driving. However, a little over a decade later when he ran for Congress, Walz’s campaign claimed that he was not drunk but rather had failed the field sobriety test because of an alleged hearing loss he suffered while serving in the National Guard. Walz’s campaign manager at the time, Meredith Salsbery, claimed Walz “couldn’t understand what the trooper was telling him during the field sobriety test, and the trooper refused to speak up.” It wasn’t until his run for governor in 2018 that Walz finally admitted the truth, which was apparently due to court records being made available. And those records clearly show that Walz was drunk, having a blood-alcohol level of 0.128, well above the legal limit. Whether it’s about his military service record or his DUI arrest, Walz is clearly willing to deceive voters if it helps him get elected.
- “Evangelicals for Harris” invokes Billy Graham: One of Donald Trump’s most loyal constituencies are the evangelicals, and Democrats know it. Which is why the hard-left “Evangelicals for Harris” group has trotted out a new ad with a brief clip of the late Reverend Billy Graham preaching about sinning and repentance, followed by a nine-year-old video of Trump being asked at the Family Values Summit in Ames, Iowa, whether he’s ever asked God for forgiveness. Trump called it “a tough question” and said, “I don’t bring God into that picture.” Were Trump asked the same question today, especially in light of his recent near-death experience, we suspect his answer would be markedly different. Nevertheless, the ad decries Trump’s response, saying. “Is there any greater denial of Christ than to say, ‘I don’t need his forgiveness’?” In response, the legendary preacher’s son Franklin, who himself is a preacher and also the founder of Samaritan’s Purse, posted the following: “The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father Billy Graham’s image. They are trying to mislead people. Maybe they don’t know that my father appreciated the conservative values and policies of President Donald Trump in 2016, and if he were alive today, my father’s views and opinions would not have changed.”
- Avoiding interviews, Harris sits down with running mate to talk “tacos” (Washington Free Beacon)
- VP debate hosted by CBS News set for October 1 between Vance and Walz (CBS News) | Harris says she’ll debate Trump again in October (PM)
Culture
- Harris campaign’s nine pronoun choices: Demonstrating just how radically leftist and woke Kamala Harris is, her campaign includes in its job application several questions regarding “preferred pronouns.” Applicants are given a number of pronouns to choose from beyond “he/him,” “she/her,” and “they/them.” These “pronouns” include “Xe/xem,” “Ze/hir,” “Ey/em,” “Hir/hir,” “Fae/fair,” and “Hu/hu.” In other words, completely made up, fake words that have literally no real meaning. Other questions in the application include, “How would you contribute to building a diverse culture?” and, “Describe a time when you had to overcome adversity.” Furthermore, sexual orientation is apparently really important to the Harris campaign as well, since the application includes this question: “Do you identify as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?” Talk about identity politics.
- ESPN fires woman of integrity: ESPN has fired Samantha Ponder, anchor of “Sunday NFL Countdown.” The Leftmedia sports outlet claimed the decision to fire Ponder was due to “financial reasons.” However, other notable figures in the sports media landscape aren’t buying the claim. Ponder was one of the few remaining ESPN personalities who stood against males competing in women’s sports. For example, last year, Ponder posted on social media, “Biology is not bigotry. Loving people does not require the absence of boundaries.” Riley Gains responded to the news by noting, “So ESPN fires [Sam Ponder], the only woman at the network who [has] publicly said men don’t belong in women’s sports. Three weeks before football season? Sam is one of the most beautiful, genuine women I’ve ever met along with [former ESPN host Sage Steele] who had a similar fate….not a coincidence.”
- Leftist nonprofits dodge Affirmative Action ban: Last year, immediately after the Supreme Court struck down the racially discriminatory practice euphemistically known as Affirmative Action, we warned that leftist colleges and universities would devise their own end runs around the ruling in order to continue their discriminatory practices without subjecting themselves to lawsuits. Not surprisingly, that corruption has since spread to the realm of nonprofits. As The Washington Free Beacon reports, “Nonprofit leaders devoted to DEI led a discussion on Tuesday about how to continue making race-based decisions while staying ‘under the radar’ and avoiding anti-discrimination lawsuits … the webinar was advertised as a discussion of ‘recent efforts to stymie diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States.’” One of the event’s presenters said a simple and effective example of this workaround would be to describe a grant not as “only open to black entrepreneurs” but instead as one in which “preference will be given to black entrepreneurs.” Same discrimination. Just slightly different language.
- Woke Harley-Davidson CEO compares himself to the Taliban (PJ Media)
Around the Nation
- New York’s Nassau County bans face masks: It’s an idea whose time has long since come but whose implementation has nonetheless been nonexistent. Until just now. New York’s Nassau County has banned face masks in public. The county, which includes part of Long Island, thus becomes the first in the nation to officially ban the pandemic-era masks, which have been used by thugs, criminals, and lawless protesters to hide their identity. As Just the News reports, “Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed the bill into law during a news conference, which includes exemptions for health and religious reasons. The ban will affect part of the New York City suburb of Long Island, and goes into effect immediately.” At a news conference, Blakeman added that such a law could be put to good use elsewhere: “Mayor Eric Adams has been very vocal that he’d like the New York City council to pass a similar legislation. This is not an abridgment of anybody’s rights. Nobody has a constitutional right to hide their identity in public.”
- New study ranks Washington, DC, as the least desirable to live in for a second year running (Fox News)
- A record 8.5% of U.S. homes are worth $1 million or more (Business Wire)
- Court rules that a fetus can be referred to as “unborn human being” in Arizona’s voter pamphlet (Townhall)
Immigration
- Biden-Harris released illegal alien mass murderer into U.S.: Back in 2019, when Kamala Harris announced her first woefully uninspiring campaign for the presidency, she called Donald Trump’s proposal to build a border wall a “medieval vanity project” and scoffed at the need to protect our border from terrorists and other dangerous invaders. Needless to say, those characterizations haven’t aged well. More evidence of this comes courtesy of the AP, which reports: “A reputed Peruvian gang leader suspected in 23 killings in his home country was arrested Wednesday in New York by U.S. immigration authorities. Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, the leader of ‘Los Killers’ who is wanted for the killings in Peru, was arrested in Endicott, New York, about 145 miles (233 kilometers) northwest of New York City, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday. He is being held at a federal detention facility near Buffalo pending an immigration hearing.” In an understatement, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the open-borders malfeasance of the Biden-Harris regime “should alarm every American.”
- Republicans call for enhanced northern border security as Gazans flock to Canada (Just the News)
Misc.
- Secret Service investigating report agent left post to breastfeed during Trump campaign event (Fox News) | Secret Service OKs new outdoor security plan for Trump rallies with bulletproof glass (NY Post)
- New round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations begin without Hamas (The Guardian)
- Ukrainian troops have taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha (AP)
For the Executive Summary archive, click here.
Follow Thomas Gallatin and Jordan Candler on X/Twitter.
FEATURED ANALYSIS
Commie Kamala Calls for Price Controls
Douglas Andrews
Barring leap years, there are 1,460 days in an American presidential term. We should keep that number in mind the next time Kamala Harris vows to do this or that on “Day One” of her administration.
For example, when she says, as she did in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, recently, “When I am president, it will be a Day One priority to fight to bring down prices,” what she really means is, It’ll be a Day One Thousand, Four Hundred and Sixty-One priority.
It doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as smoothly, does it?
The Wall Street Journal’s James Freeman boiled things down to their essence on Fox News this morning: “Basically, when Kamala Harris and Joe Biden took office, we had a low-inflation, high-growth economy, and they’ve converted it to a high-inflation, low-growth economy — an economy growing about half as fast as it did when they took office, and inflation is double. They’re celebrating this 2.9% [inflation] number this week. That’s double what it was in January 2021.”
I mention all this because it’s the fix that Harris finds herself in: How to talk about the number one issue in the minds of the American people without reminding them that she’s been a big part of the problem for three and a half years. Put another way, by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, Harris has been “acting as the economic arsonist-in-chief and then trying to show up in a firefighter’s uniform.”
And there’s no escape, not even with a supplicant mainstream media. The lack of message discipline has also been a bit of a challenge. As Biden domestic adviser and former Obama hand Susan Rice told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Tuesday, “I think it’s very important to remember that this has been the Biden-Harris agenda. Kamala Harris has been an integral architect and executor of the policies of the Biden-Harris administration.”
Yikes. With friends like Rice, who needs a proctologist?
Chief among Firebug Kamala’s accelerants are price controls, a favorite tool of central planners everywhere. And while she won’t utter these words later today, when she gives her first policy speech on her economic plan, make no mistake: This is what she’s planning to do. On Wednesday, The New York Times gave us a preview: “Vice President Kamala Harris will call for a federal ban on corporate price gouging on groceries in a speech laying out her economic agenda on Friday, campaign officials said late Wednesday, in an effort to blame big companies for persistently high costs of American consumer staples.”
Right — it’s all the fault of those greedy corporations. You know, like the Kroger grocery chain, whose operating profit as a percentage of sales fell from 2.78% in 2022 to 2.06% in 2023. That’s some seriously incompetent price gouging, no?
Whether capping prices on drugs or groceries, it won’t work. And Harris is planning to do both.
Remember: When leftists start talking about “price gouging,” they’re about to start implementing price controls. And price controls don’t work. They never have. If you doubt me, just ask a Venezuelan — you know, like those guys who were famously captured on video a few years ago eating out of the back of a garbage truck. Or ask that desperate mob of skinnies who were gruesomely seen stoning a cow to death.
What’s remarkable here is that the geniuses within the Harris campaign seem to be the only people who don’t know what an awful idea price controls are. Take The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell, for example, who says in her subhead, “It’s hard to exaggerate how bad Kamala Harris’s price-gouging proposal is.”
Or take Paul Teller from the scholarly journal Advocacy and Policy, who called the Harris plan “a Soviet Union approach to inflation.” Or The Economist’s Samuel Gregg, who called it “economic lunacy.” Or his Economist colleague E.J. Anton, who called it “Marxist.”
Man. I can only imagine the panic that’s setting in right now on Kamala Harris’s speechwriting team. Because whatever she says about price gouging later this afternoon will be used against her straight on until November 5.
We know this because a recent Fox News poll made clear that a campaign season which once saw illegal immigration and the economy competing for mindshare among the American electorate is now a one-issue race. And that one issue is the ultimate kitchen-table issue. For a while, folks were most concerned about illegal immigration. But now, as a new Fox News poll shows, by a 38% to 14% margin, It’s the economy, Stupid.
The Democrats are fond of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and while Paul certainly doesn’t object, a lot of Peters do.
In a piece titled “How the Biden-Harris Economy Left Most Americans Behind,” the Wall Street Journal editorial page warns about what’s coming if the American people are stupid enough to elect this closet commie: “Harris is promising the same economic policies [as Biden] with a shinier countenance. Don’t expect better results.”
MORE ANALYSIS
- Emmy Griffin: Ukraine Seizes Russian Territory — In a move that surprised enemies and allies alike, Ukraine won itself a bargaining chip.
- Brian Mark Weber: Trump Regains His Focus — Amid an extended Harris honeymoon and a tightening of the polls, the former president seems to have refocused on the issues.
- Mark Alexander: Profiles of Valor: Samuel Whittemore, Patriot — The roots of American Patriotism originate with the “shot heard round the world.”
- Ron Helle: God’s Ear — The next time you feel you need to go someplace special to find God’s presence, remember He hears you wherever you may be.
- In Brief: America Is Turning Into the EU — Democrats are steering the U.S. towards European-style censorship, technocratic rule, and economic decline.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
- Victor Davis HansonThe Weird, Creepy, Surreal — and Dangerous — 2024 Campaign
- David HarsanyiOperation Harris for President Is One of the Shadiest in Media History
- Josh HammerRepublicans Must Make a Laser-Focused, Issues-Based Case to the People
- Michael BaroneWho’s for the First Amendment — and Who’s Against
- The Babylon BeeTouching: Kamala Announces Plan to Hang ‘Joy’ Sign Above Bread Lines
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion.
BEST OF VIDEOS
- Harris Spokesmen Pressed on Why Kamala Won’t Do Interviews — “Would it kill you guys to have a press conference?”
- Harris’s ‘No Tax on Tips’ Hypocrisy Exposed — Kamala Harris cast the tiebreaking vote that passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which expanded the IRS and its efforts to enforce taxes on tips.
- Unearthed Footage of ‘The View’ Loving and Praising Trump — Before he ran for president, Donald Trump was well-liked among the establishment media class. He hasn’t changed, so why do they now hate him so much?
- Ohio Men Arrested for Fake Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes — Another Democrat goes all Jussie Smollett, falsely claiming that he was attacked by a bunch of racist right-wing extremists.
- PopCon #57: Assault on Free Speech and the West’s Islam Problem — From riots in the UK to the influence of global organizations like GARM and the WEF, there are troubling forces at play that are shaping media narratives and eroding free speech.
SHORT CUTS
“Tone Down the Rhetoric”
“Let me tell you what our Project 2025 is: Beat the hell out of them. I mean it.” —Joe Biden
Non Compos Mentis
“He ought to get a job.” —Joe Biden when asked, “Mr. Trump says he wants to Make America Affordable Again. Your response?”
The BIG Lie
“My policies are working. Start writing that way.” —Joe Biden
Political Futures
“Let’s face it: President Joe Biden was former President Donald Trump’s clearest path to victory. And the gift that kept on giving has laid its last golden egg. … Trump needs a course correction … and quickly. … Three things are a political imperative to get the Trump Train back on its tracks: Stay on mission. … Focus on pocketbook politics. … Help down-ticket races. … The winning side will be the one that makes the fewest mistakes and stays on mission.” —Armstrong Williams
For the Record
“Kamala Harris would rather cause a literal food shortage then admit that her decision to cast the tying vote to print trillions of dollars is what caused everything to become stupid expensive.” —Greg Price
“Early voting in Pennsylvania opens on September 16. How utterly insane is that?” —Josh Hammer
“We live in a propaganda state — and that’s very dangerous for self-government.” —Mollie Hemingway
Non Compos Mentis
“I became a board member at Harley-Davidson. Now you could ask, what am I doing here? And of course Harley’s all about the sound and the smell of the Harley-Davidson, isn’t it? So I became the Taliban again in a sustainable way. I decided to chair — actually, create a sustainability committee … which I’m still chairing today.” —Harley-Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz
Re: Nihilism
“Science, properly done, is supposed to be about the pursuit of truth. But without God as the ultimate source of truth, men soon come to believe that the truth is whatever they say it is, then demand that others agree. In other words, they try to make themselves God. … Those pushing to further reduce Christianity’s influence on Western civilization — or eliminate Western civilization itself — will soon find that what takes its place is not a secular utopia of multicultural respect and scientific rationality but a bloody morass of sectarian conflict, widespread ignorance, routine violence and subjugation of the weak by those in power. In other words, the status quo before Christianity.” —Laura Hollis
MEMES & CARTOONS
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 Commando’s Warning | The Global Lane – August 15, 2024
The pressure grows for a Gaza cease-fire. IDF Gaza commando Elkana Cohen says not so fast; Cohen shares stories from the Gaza front lines; Forcing American Christians out of the public square; Is the U.S. heading for recession before the election? Want more news from a Christian Perspective? Choose to support CBN: https://go.cbn.com/ugWBn CBN News. Because Truth Matters™
Source: Israeli Commando’s Warning | The Global Lane – August 15, 2024
The New York Times just woke up from a coma and published this piece that says Hunter Biden should be charged with spying
My friends, it has come to my attention that some of you actually believe that you hate journalists enough.
The New York Times just woke up from a coma and published this piece that says Hunter Biden should be charged with spying
Evangelicals for Kamala? | Aquila Report
The evangelical world still holds a powerful weapon in its hands. Because of the electoral college, what really matters in elections is what happens in each states. In 2020 Biden beat Trump in Arizona by 10,935 votes. In Georgia, Biden won by 14,152 votes. In Wisconsin, Biden won by 20,546 votes. That’s a total of around 46,000 votes in an election where the total number of votes cast was over 150 million.
David French is at it again. In the New York Times he recently pinned an opinion piece entitled To Save Conservativism from Itself, I Am Voting for Harris. Now he is making his rounds on anti-Christian platforms like MSNBC. He is also part of a movement called “Evangelicals for Kamala.” French was blocked from a round-table discussion at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) this past summer, but he is welcomed with open arms by those who hate Christianity. You can tell a lot about a man by who his friends are.
I voted for Donald Trump in the last two presidential elections and I will be voting for him again. See the reasons for my vote four years ago in an article on the Aquila Report: Why I Am Voting for President Trump – Again!.
My goal here is not to discuss all of the political issues surrounding this presidential election. If you have not made up your mind on these issues, then you are probably sinking in spiritual quicksand. I simply want to remind the reader of two things—how critical this election is, and what part evangelicals must play in it. Elections have consequences.
The great battle in America in this election is not between personalities, or even between political parties. There is a war going on in this nation between Christianity and Marxism (I prefer the term Neo-Marxism). Neo-Marxism has captured all of the major institutions in this country including the federal government, the educational institutions, the media, and even the military. Now, it is infiltrating the church. See Megan Basham’s book on Shepherds for Sale. The Church was sleeping while the enemy sowed his seeds.
Kamala Harris is a puppet for the power behind her campaign which is Neo-Marxism. Trump with all his failures, sins, inconsistencies, and fiascos holds some hope for Christianity, or at least the last flicker of what is left of Christianity in this nation. Trump is no savior. Some of his positions are anti-Christian, but he may be able to buy us a little more time to fight for biblical liberty and freedom in America.
Four more years of Neo-Marxist insanity will either make America a third world country or bring about a civil war. Our foreign adversaries are ready to take advantage of our weakness and to shame us. Kamala Harris with lipstick and high-heals cannot negotiate with the likes of men as Putin or Xi Jinping.
The evangelical world still holds a powerful weapon in its hands. Because of the electoral college, what really matters in elections is what happens in each states. In 2020 Biden beat Trump in Arizona by 10,935 votes. In Georgia, Biden won by 14,152 votes. In Wisconsin, Biden won by 20,546 votes. That’s a total of around 46,000 votes in an election where the total number of votes cast was over 150 million. Probably, if evangelicals had turned out in full force and voted for Trump, the results of the election (even discounting fraud) would have been different. That’s a lot of power in the hands of evangelicals.
The bottom line is that if movements like “Evangelicals for Kamala” have only a minimal influence over evangelicals, then it may push the election in the favor of Kamala Harris and her coterie of Neo-Marxists. According to a Gallup Poll, the Trump vote by white evangelicals declined from 2016 to 2020 by about 4%. With all the anti-Trump rhetoric that came out of evangelical networks, that sounds about right. This 4% decline in the white evangelical vote was probably enough to defeat Trump in 2020.
I hope evangelicals will rise up and choose to have a major impact in this election. We do live in a democracy. We are not living in the New Testament age where Christians had no freedom or responsibility to vote.
If need be, hold your nose, and vote for Trump. “Evangelicals for Harris” will have a tremendous influence with their purity claims and their guilt manipulation. All they need is a small incremental change for Kamala to win. Remember, too, that refusing to vote for Trump guarantees a victory for Harris.
Will the influence of men like David French carry the day in the evangelical church by switching the votes of just few thousand evangelicals for Harris, or will the evangelicals that I know turn out and vote for a future that will restrain Neo-Marxism? I hope I will not be disappointed in the evangelical church again in 2024 as I was in 2020.
Yes, God is sovereign. In the end we all have to learn to live with his will, even in presidential elections. However, God has given to each of us both responsibility and accountability, and we need to be faithful in all things.
Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tenn.
Source: https://theaquilareport.com/evangelicals-for-kamala/
WICKED: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Force States to Fund Health Care Costs for Illegal Aliens Starting Nov. 1, 2024 — As Average U.S. Family Pays $23,968 per Year! | The Gateway Pundit
Did you hear about this?
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will force states to fund health care costs for illegal aliens in the US starting November 1, 2024.
If you thought something like this big would make a few headlines, you would be wrong.
How many Americans of working age get free health care? How much are you paying for your health care insurance?
In 2023, the average cost of health insurance for a family of four was approximately $23,968 per year. But illegal aliens will get there’s free! Don’t you just love Democrat policies?
Miranda Devine wrote about this.
Did you know that on Nov.1 the Biden Harris administration imposes a new rule forcing states to fund health care for illegal aliens. This will bankrupt NY which has already spent $5 billion on free housing etc… Missouri @AGAndrewBailey Files Suit https://ago.mo.gov/attorney-general-bailey-files-suit-to-prohibit-obamacare-from-funding-illegal-immigrants/
Here is Miranda’s tweet.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey joined a coalition of 15 states to file suit against the Biden regime to prohibit Obamacare from funding illegal immigrants.
According to the press release:
“In his ongoing fight to protect Missourians’ tax dollars from misuse, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced today that he joined a 15-state coalition in filing suit against the Biden-Harris Administration over its rule treating illegal aliens as legal citizens and making states pay for their public benefits.
“Not only is the Biden-Harris Administration responsible for bringing illegal aliens into Missouri, they are also giving illegal immigrants access to citizen benefits for free, encouraging them to remain here illegally on the taxpayers’ dime,” said Attorney General Bailey.
“The American people are already struggling to make ends meet in the current economy; their paychecks should fund their own healthcare, not the healthcare of those here illegally. I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to ensure that Missourians’ hard-earned dollars are not funding illegal immigration.”
Set to go into effect November 1, the rule would cause states to expend limited resources on illegal immigrants. In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bailey notes, there are 77,000 to 104,000 illegal aliens currently residing in Missouri, costing taxpayers between approximately $342 million and $462 million per year.
The lawsuit asserts, “In the ACA, Congress limited eligibility to participate in a qualified health plan through a subsidized health exchange to citizens or nationals of the United States and individuals ‘lawfully present’ in the United States.”
The States point out that the Biden-Harris Administration’s new definition of “lawfully present” is itself unlawful because it violates the plain text of the federal Affordable Care Act. “The Final Rule amends CMS’ definition of ‘lawfully present’ for public healthcare benefits to now include unlawfully present aliens who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Now, through the Final Rule, CMS reverses course and proclaims that DACA recipients are in fact ‘lawfully present’ for purposes of receiving taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits through the ACA.”
In addition to Missouri, the attorneys general of Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia joined in filing the lawsuit.”
Here is a copy of the lawsuit:
The post WICKED: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Force States to Fund Health Care Costs for Illegal Aliens Starting Nov. 1, 2024 — As Average U.S. Family Pays $23,968 per Year! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
There’s not going to be a deal between Israel, Hamas: KT McFarland | Wake Up America
On Friday’s “Wake Up America,” former Deputy National Security Advisor KT McFarland said the only way to get peace in the Middle East is for Israel to eliminate Hamas and bankrupt Iran. Watch NEWSMAX, an independent news network with a conservative perspective, available in 100M+ U.S. homes.
Source: There’s not going to be a deal between Israel, Hamas: KT McFarland | Wake Up America
Will China’s economic struggles lead to war? | Denison Forum
While a number of stories, both at home and abroad, have taken their turn leading headlines, one of the more important and potentially troubling trends in recent months has been the continued downturn of China’s economy. I call it troubling less for what it means for the world economically—which is where much of the attention has focused—than for what it could mean for the world politically and militarily.
You see, China’s designs on becoming the world’s leading superpower, taking back Taiwan, and seeing their global influence spread while the West’s declines have not changed. To this point, however, those plans had the benefit of patience. Given the level of control President Xi exerts over the nation, they have had the freedom to choose their spots and wait for the best opportunities to act. Yet, as their economy continues to slide and the day-to-day lives of their people become increasingly difficult, that margin will begin to fade.
And, ultimately, a China that has to act could end up being a far greater threat than a China that believes time is on its side.
To that end, let’s examine why their economy has struggled and what those struggles could mean for China and the larger world.
China’s bursting bubble
Most of the global economy has had trouble bouncing back from COVID, and, in that regard, China is no different. While the nature of their top-down governance meant they could mask much of that struggle during the pandemic’s initial years, doing so simply pushed the problem down the road and exacerbated it once the bubble burst.
As such, the latest data demonstrates a decline in the world’s second largest economy that has many around the globe worried. In their most recent report, the National Bureau of Statistics found that:
- Unemployment rose for the first time since February
- Growth in industrial production has slowed despite attempts to prop it up
- Investment in real estate has fallen by 10.2 percent so far this year when compared to 2023’s already-declining market
This is despite the government announcing plans to spend 150 billion yuan—roughly $20.9 billion—in government debt to buy back older versions of appliances, cars, and other consumer goods to stimulate new spending. Even attempts to subsidize lending by providing Chinese banks with $42 billion to help state-owned firms buy excess homes and buildings have failed to make a difference.
And there is little to indicate that the situation will improve anytime soon.
A population in decline
While China’s strict COVID restrictions played a large part in changing the nation’s economic forecast, many of the trends at the heart of its decline have been around for far longer. And perhaps none will play a larger role going forward than its declining population.
While China’s one-child policy technically ended in 2015, they have continued to see a dearth of births, with 2023 marking the second straight year that the general population has declined. That two-year stretch—one likely to continue for the foreseeable future—marks the first time China’s population has fallen since the Great Famine of the early 1960s. As such, the country’s population is expected to be nearly cut by half—roughly 732 million people—by the end of this century.
Yet, the pain of that decline will not be felt equally. The impact of the low birth rate is compounded by a population that will continue to live far longer than they can work.
China’s retirement-age population—those 60 and older—is expected to grow to 400 million by 2035, which, for comparison, is substantially more than the entire population of the United States. That means even more of the stress and burden of maintaining their society will fall on those still able to be part of the labor force. Many of them cite such burdens as one of the chief reasons they simply can’t afford to have kids, thereby perpetuating the cycle.
And, unfortunately, what’s happening in China may be coming to our shores soon.
America is not immune
While America’s economic struggles may not mirror those in China, we share a similar issue regarding our declining birth rate and the problems it has already started to create. And we’re not alone.
I wrote more about the dangers of our decreasing population in a recent article, but fertility rates are currently below replacement level in more than half of all countries and territories around the world. Moreover, higher-income and more developed countries typically experience the greatest rate of decline while simultaneously also experiencing the longest lifespans for their people.
For a time, it appeared that the United States would remain an outlier in this regard. While Europe and many parts of Asia saw their birth rates plummet, America maintained a level that left some room for optimism. However, that began to change around 2007, and the decline has been fairly steady in the years since.
Most attempts to convince people to have more babies—whether through tax breaks, longer maternity leave, or a host of other initiatives—have proved either insufficient or unsuccessful regardless of the country in which they’ve been tried. As such, many of the world’s most powerful nations are waking up to the reality that, in order to survive, they’ll need a fairly large influx of people from outside their borders.
As we’ve seen and discussed in recent months, however, that solution is not without issues of its own.
Consequently, governments across the developed world are left without a clear solution to an increasingly desperate problem. That’s a scary place to be, as countries like China, Russia, and even the US will grow increasingly tempted to distract their populace from the crisis rather than try to solve it. And, as we’ve seen with Russia and Ukraine in recent years, that distraction often takes the form of war.
A better place to focus
Only time will tell if history repeats itself once again, but, until we know one way or the other, our time and energy will be better spent praying for God to intervene and bring peace than worrying over the prospect of war.
After all, Jesus was clear that this world is far from perfect and will remain that way until he returns to establish a new heaven and a new earth to take its place. As such, our job is to help as many people as we can to place their faith in him between now and when his kingdom finally comes in all its glory.
How can you do that job today?
Friday news to know:
- New Zealand charity accidentally gave away meth disguised as candy
- Cease-fire talks in Sudan started this week amidst continued civil war and famine
- Russia plans to evacuate 20,000 more citizens from Kursk region
- Arizona Supreme Court rules fetus can be referred to as “unborn human being” in leadup to November vote on abortion
- On this day in 1954: Sports Illustrated debuts
*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.
Quote of the day:
“Faith is measured by your feet, not your feelings … if your feet are not walking in faith, then there is no faith regardless of your emotions.” —Tony Evans
The post Will China’s economic struggles lead to war? appeared first on Denison Forum.
Rev. Franklin Graham calls out ‘Evangelicals for Harris’ for ‘trying to mislead people’
Fox
“The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father @BillyGraham’s image,” he wrote in a social media post. “They are trying to mislead people. . . . .
Truth2Freedom's Blog 