There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Video shows Chinese special forces conducting a so-called “decapitation drill” only days after the U.S. forces arrested Venezuela’s Nicholas Maduro. It was Beijing’s message to Washington that it can do the same thing against Taiwan.
The successful U.S. raid on Venezuela has struck a major blow to China’s Latin American strategy, according to China expert Gordon Chang.
“China has used Venezuela as its beachhead and is a very important country for China,” Chang said. “China used Venezuela not only as a place to get cheap oil, but it also was a place very much for military penetration.”
Venezuela had become the largest purchaser of Chinese military equipment in Latin America, some of which failed miserably during the U.S. raid.
According to Dr. Evan Ellis, Latin American Research Professor at the U.S. Army War College, the event will not remove Chinese influence in Venezuela overnight. It’s too vast.
Taco Bell’s Luxe Value menu includes five brand-new items, along with some fan favorites.Courtesy of Taco Bell
Taco Bell debuted its new 10-item Luxe Value menu on January 22.
The menu features five new dishes and five fan-favorite menu items.
Every item on the value menu costs $3 or less.
A new value menu, in this economy? Yes, please!
Fast-food chains across the US are mixing up their menus, hoping to entice customers who are tightening their wallets. McDonald’s is betting on breakfast, and Wendy’s has new “Biggie Deals.”
Never one to be left behind, Taco Bell revamped its value menu for 2026 as well. The chain introduced five new items to join five fan favorites on the newly dubbed Luxe Value menu, all priced at $3 or less.
There are some classic tacos and burritos, as well as surprises like churros and a mini taco salad.
Business Insider’s food reporters Anneta Konstantinides and Erin McDowell tested and ranked every item to help you decide which ones are worth trying.
10. Chips and nacho supreme dip
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
The $2.49 chips and nacho supreme dip are among the five new items on Taco Bell’s Luxe Value menu. The dip features seasoned beef, refried beans, nacho cheese sauce, sour cream, pico de gallo, and a three-cheese blend, served alongside tortilla chips.
There’s plenty of cheese to enjoy in this dip, but the strong smack of the sour cream overpowered the first bite. And while the seasoned beef tasted delicious, we thought there wasn’t enough of it — the flavor got lost among the other ingredients.
Taco Bell offers plenty of delicious dips and sauces on its menu, so we’ll be giving this one a skip.
9. Cheesy roll up
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
The $1.19 cheesy roll up is definitely the simplest item on Taco Bell’s value menu. It features a three-cheese blend melted into a soft flour tortilla.
This dish instantly reminded Anneta of the quesadillas she used to make when she was a broke 20-something in New York City, surviving on Trader Joe’s tortillas, cheese, a microwave, and a dream.
Erin thought the roll up tasted light and cheesy but lacked the exciting flavors of the other value menu items.
While we wouldn’t order it again, we could see kids enjoying this palate-friendly snack.
8. Cheesy double beef burrito
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
The $2.79 cheesy double beef burrito first debuted on Taco Bell’s 2024 value menu. Designed to be a heftier version of Taco Bell’s discontinued beefy melt burrito, it features more meat alongside rice, nacho cheese sauce, tortilla strips, a three-cheese blend, and sour cream.
Erin generally prefers Taco Bell’s chicken products, but she thought the meat in the cheesy double beef burrito was well-seasoned and flavorful.
Anneta, who also wasn’t a fan of Taco Bell’s original beefy melt burrito, believes this version gives you way more bang for your buck. It’s packed with tons of meat, and the tortilla strips are a nice crunchy touch.
We just wish the flavor was more distinct — it needs some acid or heat to keep things interesting.
7. 3-cheese chicken flatbread melt
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
The $2.29 3-cheese chicken flatbread melt was also part of Taco Bell’s 2024 value menu. It features a flatbread stuffed with grilled chicken and a three-cheese blend topped with the chain’s creamy chipotle sauce.
Erin enjoyed the flatbread’s juicy chicken and thought the blend of cheeses helped elevate the overall flavor compared to Taco Bell’s usual quesadilla.
Anneta thought the flatbread was the strongest component of the dish thanks to its soft, pillowy texture, but overall, she felt the dish was a bit flat. The filling could have used an extra vegetable or some avocado salsa to help it look and taste less beige.
6. Spicy potato soft taco
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
Taco Bell’s $1.29 spicy potato taco first debuted on the chain’s value menu in 2020. It features seasoned potatoes, lettuce, cheese, and chipotle sauce in a soft flour tortilla.
The potatoes were nicely cooked and had a slight kick from the chipotle sauce, though they easily slipped out of our tacos because of their small, square shape. We wonder if the dish would work better with a hash-brown patty instead, which would add some crunchy potato to every bite.
5. Avocado ranch chicken stacker
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
The $2.99 avocado ranch chicken stacker is another new item on the value menu. It features grilled all-white-meat chicken, a three-cheese blend, lettuce, tomatoes, and the avocado ranch sauce. The ingredients are stuffed inside a tortilla that’s been grilled and folded for easy eating.
Anneta and Erin were both excited by the stacker’s fresh flavors. The tender and well-seasoned chicken paired with the creamy avocado sauce reminded Anneta of Taco Bell’s discontinued chipotle ranch grilled chicken burrito, while the crisp veggies were reminiscent of Erin’s beloved McDonald’s ranch Snack Wraps.
There’s a lot of tortilla layered within each bite, so we both wished there had been more filling to balance the flavors and textures. It was delicious, so why not add more of it?
4. Cheesy bean and rice burrito
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
The $1.49 cheesy bean and rice burrito features beans, seasoned rice, nacho cheese sauce, and creamy jalapeño sauce.
While the ingredient list sounds simple, this burrito has a surprising amount of flavor. The oozing cheese sauce tasted warm and comforting, pairing well with the plentiful beans. We were also pleasantly surprised by how hefty this burrito was for its price point.
Erin thinks this would be a great choice for those who are trying to eat a more plant-based diet, while Anneta believes it’d be the cure for a bad hangover. Now that’s multifaceted.
3. Salted caramel churros
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
Taco Bell’s brand-new $1.99 salted caramel churros are dusted in salted caramel sugar and come in a pack of three.
We both thought the salted caramel churros were a delicious and inspired treat. Their crunchy shell gave way to the sweet and creamy middle, while the salted caramel sugar added some lovely and unexpected depth to the flavor.
Dessert isn’t the first thing that comes to mind with Taco Bell, but we would happily get these churros again and again.
2. Beefy potato loaded griller
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
We were both huge fans of the $2.49 beefy potato loaded griller, which features seasoned beef, crispy potato bites, nacho cheese sauce, chipotle sauce, and sour cream, all wrapped up in a grilled tortilla.
Taco Bell purposely designed the griller for on-the-go eating, but this smaller burrito still packs plenty of punch. The grilled tortilla had a satisfying crunch, adding a contrast of textures to the juicy beef and soft potato bites in the middle. The creamy chipotle sauce also added a hit of extra tang, tying everything together.
This feels like a fresh new direction for Taco Bell, and we’re here for it.
1. Mini taco salad
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
If you had told us the mini taco salad would be our favorite item on Taco Bell’s new value menu, we wouldn’t have believed you.
Alas, the $2.49 dish — which features seasoned beef, refried beans, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and chipotle sauce piled up in a mini tortilla bowl — was full of surprises.
Neither of us is a fan of traditional taco salads, but Taco Bell found a way to upgrade and elevate the typically lackluster dish. It turned the tortilla shell into a crispy and salty delight, adding plenty of crunch without being dry. The refried beans provided a strong base to the deliciously warm beef, which paired well with the fresh veggies and zesty chipotle sauce.
Plus, you have to give this dish bonus points for being pretty adorable!
As Americans brave a brutal cold snap, households are facing higher heating bills this summer.
According to a report released last week by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), heating prices are expected to rise by 9.2% in the 2025-2026 winter vs. one year ago.
According to the NEADA analysis, electricity costs are expected to rise $12.2%, or $133 this winter, while gas prices are projected to rise 8.4% or $54. Heating oil costs are expected to remain flat, while propane should be down 1.4%, or $18 this winter.
Several factors are at play pushing retail electricity prices higher.
“Higher interest rates have increased the cost of financing power plants and transmission projects. Rising natural gas prices are pushing up electricity generation costs. At the same time, electricity demand is growing rapidly, driven in part by the expansion of data centers,” reads the report cited by Fox Business.
“Aging grid infrastructure and regional capacity constraints are adding further system costs,” the report continues. “In addition, reduced federal incentives for renewable energy have slowed new clean energy investment.”
NEADA notes that more than 210 electric and natural gas utilities have either raise rates or proposed to do so within the next two years, which amounts to roughly $85.5 billion – and continues a trend seen in recent years of average monthly residential electricity bills rising faster than average inflation.
Low and moderate-income households are of course hit the worst, as they spend between 6% and 10% of their income on energy, roughly 3-5x what higher-income households pay.
Additionally, about one-in-six households are behind on utility bills, with Americans collectively owing about $23 billion to electric and gas utilities. NEADA estimates that up to 4 million households faced utility disconnections last year, an increase of about 500,000 from 2024. -Fox Business
According to the NEADA report, “Even modest rate increases can force families to choose between paying utility bills and covering essentials such as food, rent or medicine.”
Border czar Tom Homan holds a press briefing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as unrest continues in the Twin Cities over federal immigration enforcement. #foxnews #news #us #fox
How would the American people respond if they suddenly saw images of a U.S. aircraft carrier burning after it had been destroyed by an overwhelming Iranian assault? If the U.S. attacks Iran, and that appears to be very likely at this stage, the USS Abraham Lincoln will almost certainly be targeted by the Iranians. In a previous article, I wrote about how the Abraham Lincoln’s defenses could be overwhelmed by a massive barrage of either missiles or drones. In particular, if I was in command of the Abraham Lincoln I would be deeply concerned about Iran’s SS-N-22 Sunburn anti-ship missile batteries. Staying out of range of those missiles will be of the utmost importance, because they come in at an absolutely blistering pace.
Nobody can deny that Iranian leaders have been thinking about sinking a carrier. On Sunday, they unveiled a giant billboard in Enghelab Square that conveys quite an ominous message…
The Iranian regime unveiled a new mural on a giant billboard in Tehran’s Enghelab Square on Sunday, depicting an aircraft carrier with damaged and exploding fighter planes on its flight deck.
The deck is covered with bodies and streaked with blood, which trails into the water and forms stripes reminiscent of the American flag.
A slogan – warning the US to not attempt a military strike on the country – is emblazoned across one corner: ‘If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.’
They aren’t exactly being subtle, are they?
In all my years, I have never seen anything quite like this…
The Iranians seem to believe that they are very capable of sinking a U.S. aircraft carrier.
But President Trump is sending the USS Abraham Lincoln toward Iran anyway.
On Wednesday, Trump specifically mentioned the Abraham Lincoln in a Truth Social post that was directed squarely at Iran…
Many are regarding this as a final warning to the Iranians.
When Trump said that “time is running out”, I believe that he fully meant it.
Of course the Iranians have no intention of negotiating a deal or giving up their nuclear program.
In response to Trump’s post, Iran’s delegation at the United Nations issued a very alarming warning…
Iran’s mission to the United Nations responded in kind.
“Last time the U.S. blundered into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it squandered over $7 trillion and lost more than 7,000 American lives,” it said in an X post quoting Trump’s statement.
“Iran stands ready for dialog based on mutual respect and interests—BUT IF PUSHED, IT WILL DEFEND ITSELF AND RESPOND LIKE NEVER BEFORE!”
As we have seen so many other times in recent weeks, the Iranians are threatening to do something extraordinarily dramatic if they are attacked.
Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, warned on X that Tehran’s forces were ready to retaliate.
He said: ‘Our brave Armed Forces are prepared – with their fingers on the trigger – to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air, and sea.
‘The valuable lessons learned from the 12-Day War have enabled us to respond even more strongly, rapidly, and profoundly.
In addition to striking U.S. targets, the Iranians would also inevitably launch missiles at Israeli cities.
Needless to say, the Israelis are fully prepared to strike back with overwhelming force.
And then there will be no turning back.
I hope that everyone understands what that will mean. The Iranian regime is run by crazed Islamic zealots that will literally do anything to survive. If you think that there are any limits to what they will do, you should consider the vast numbers of their own people that they have already killed…
As many as 30,000 people could have been killed in the streets of Iran on Jan. 8 and 9 alone, two senior officials of the country’s Ministry of Health told TIME—indicating a dramatic surge in the death toll. So many people were slaughtered by Iranian security services on that Thursday and Friday, it overwhelmed the state’s capacity to dispose of the dead. Stocks of body bags were exhausted, the officials said, and eighteen-wheel semi-trailers replaced ambulances.
If that is what they are willing to do to their own population, what would they be willing to do to us or to the Israelis?
Witnesses say millions were in the streets when authorities shut down the internet and all other communications with the outside world. Rooftop snipers and trucks mounted with heavy machine guns opened fire, according to eyewitnesses and cell phone footage. On Friday, Jan. 9, an official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on state television to anyone venturing into the streets, “if … a bullet hits you, don’t complain.”
We just witnessed one of the greatest slaughters of political protesters in human history.
One man that was actually in Kaj Square when the shooting started there told Iran Wire what he witnessed…
The protester told IranWire that from around 8:00 or 8:30 PM, security forces were already using tear gas and sound bombs. Green laser sights were trained on people’s heads, chests, and eyes, while the hum of low-flying drones filled the air. But the first live bullet was fired around 10:00 PM, striking a young man in the chest near the ice cream shop. There was no warning. No announcement. They began shooting once they realized the crowd could not be dispersed, and arresting such a massive gathering was simply impossible.
He said that in such an enormous crowd, nothing could be done – not even escaping. Perhaps more than 50,000 people had gathered: the old and the young, women and men, even children. The entire square and the streets around it were overflowing with protesters.
The protester continued: “The next bullet hit the stomach of a young woman; the next hit a man’s groin; the next hit a young man’s shoulder; the next… and the next… I still hear the sound of those bullets and the subsequent shrapnel in my ears every night. A few people were there – we never found out if they were government agents or ordinary people – who were collecting the bodies of the slain from among the crowd and taking them to one of the nearby shops. We don’t even know what they did with those bodies.”
“At 11:00 or 11:30 PM, the shooting became heavier. They were aiming directly for our upper bodies. We moved toward North Allameh Tabatabaei Street. However, they were shooting intensely north of Kaj Square as well. A young boy was in front of me; he didn’t look more than 15 or 16 years old. He was right there when he was shot and fell. They were firing from all sides; we were running, and we could hear the shell casings hitting the ground just a short distance behind us.”
Accounts such as this need to be shared all over the world.
The courage that these protesters have demonstrated has been astounding.
President Trump on Wednesday announced he has nominated Colin McDonald to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for National Fraud Enforcement.
The new position will be Senate-confirmed, and Senate Majority Leader Thune has promised a swift confirmation.
“I am pleased to nominate Colin McDonald to serve as the first ever Assistant Attorney General for National FRAUD Enforcement, a new Division at the Department of Justice, which I created to catch and stop FRAUDSTERS that have been STEALING from the American People,” Trump said.
“My Administration has uncovered Fraud schemes in States like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen Hundreds of Billions of Taxpayer Dollars. Colin McDonald is a very Smart, Tough, and Highly Respected AMERICA FIRST Federal Prosecutor who has successfully delivered Justice in some of the most difficult and high stakes cases our Country has ever seen. Together, we will END THE FRAUD, and RESTORE INTEGRITY to our Federal Programs. Congratulations Colin — STOP THE SCAMS!” Trump said.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche praised Colin McDonald.
“Colin is a rockstar, who was instrumental in our team’s mission of Making America Safe Again. He is a consummate prosecutor who loves God, family, and country and will serve the President and the American people well,” Todd Blanche said.
Colin is a rockstar, who was instrumental in our team's mission of Making America Safe Again. He is a consummate prosecutor who loves God, family, and country and will serve the President and the American people well. https://t.co/Plr4Mz9C3T
The new assistant attorney general’s work will begin in Minnesota after it was revealed that Somali fraudsters stole billions of dollars of taxpayer money in various schemes.
“It has all the benefits, all the resources, all the authority of a special counsel, but with two crucial differences,” Vice President JD Vance said earlier this month to reporters in the press briefing room.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi will not be supervising Colin McDonald.
Vance continued, “Number one, it will be run out of the White House under the supervision of me and the President United States.”
“And number two, it’s actually constitutionally legitimate. As you guys may know, the special counsel statute has some major constitutional questions,” he said.
“When we get the bad guys, we want to make sure we get them permanently, and they don’t have some legal technicality they can get out of, which is why we set it up as an associate attorney general,” he said.
We were expecting global events to accelerate in 2026, but what we have witnessed throughout the month of January so far has been quite a shock to the system. Everywhere around us, things are going totally haywire. Gold and silver are skyrocketing in price, we are on the verge of a cataclysmic war with Iran, conflict has erupted on the streets of major U.S. cities, and we just keep getting hammered by natural disaster after natural disaster. So many things are happening that I couldn’t pick just one to write about, and so I am throwing a whole bunch of stuff into this article. The following are 10 ways that global events just went completely bonkers…
#1 The price of silver just hit 117 dollars an ounce and the price of gold just hit 5,400 dollars an ounce. In a desperate attempt to get precious metals prices under control, CME Group just hiked margin requirements again…
Following a record surge in silver prices, the CME Group has increased margin requirements for COMEX silver futures. The exchange announced that margin for non-high-risk accounts will rise from 9% to 11%, while high-risk accounts will see an increase from 9.9% to 12.1%. Additionally, margin requirements for platinum and palladium futures will also be adjusted.
The CME Group stated that this adjustment, effective after the market close, is part of a routine assessment of market volatility to ensure sufficient collateral coverage. Earlier this month, the exchange shifted from fixed to percentage-based margin requirements for precious metal futures.
#2 Amid reports that President Trump is considering a naval blockade of Iranian oil, a top Iranian official has issued a “thinly veiled threat” to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz…
An Iranian military official said the country can control which ships can pass through the crucial Strait of Hormuz as US President Donald Trump ramped up military threats.
The thinly veiled threat to halt some traffic on the Hormuz came as a US aircraft carrier arrived in the region, leading Trump to demand negotiations with threats of “violence”.
Mohammad Akbarzadeh, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, said in a Fars News Agency report that Iran has “complete control” over the strait, a bottleneck for oil exports from the Middle East Gulf.
Let’s hope that the Iranians do not decide to do this.
We are being warned that if the Strait of Hormuz is shut down, it could instantly cause “a global oil and gas crisis”…
Industry experts cautioned that a military confrontation could provoke Iran to choke off the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that that connects the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea and through which nearly a third of the world’s seaborne crude flows.
“A disruption through the Strait of Hormuz could cause a global oil and gas crisis” especially when considering the “desperate and ill advised lengths the current Iranian regime may go to” should they find themselves increasingly backed into a corner with their power and lives at stake, said Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Marquee.
About 13 million barrels per day of crude oil transited the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, accounting for roughly 31% of global seaborne crude flows, data provided by market intelligence firm Kpler showed.
#3 Marco Rubio just told the U.S. Senate that we may have to “preemptively prevent” the Iranians from attacking U.S. forces in the Middle East…
Rubio said during the Wednesday Senate Foreign Relations Hearing focused on Venezuela, “And so I think it’s wise and prudent to have a force posture within the region that could respond and potentially, not necessarily what’s going to happen, but if necessary, preemptively prevent the attack against 1000s of American servicemen and other facilities in the region. And our allies.” But ironically this is just after admitting the US ordered additional assets to the region in the first place, which are the same assets now supposedly under threat by Tehran.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but that’s I think what you’re seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel,” the secretary of state said.
Meanwhile, a senior adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei is warning that if the Iranians are attacked they will strike Tel Aviv in response…
Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, warned that any US military action would be met with a harsh response, including strikes on Tel Aviv, in a Hebrew post on X/Twitter on Wednesday.
Shamkhani wrote that a “limited strike is an illusion,” adding that any US military move, “from any source and at any level,” would be treated as an act of war.
He cautioned that Iran’s response would be “immediate and unprecedented,” aimed at “the aggressor, the heart of Tel Aviv, and all supporters of the aggressor.”
#4 Giving Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine would put us right on the brink of nuclear war with Russia, but apparently such a move is being strongly considered anyway…
Behind closed doors in Washington, a discreet but intensifying effort is underway to push the United States toward supplying Ukraine with its most far-reaching conventional strike capability yet: ground-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles, according to Kyiv Post. The campaign, described by those involved as deliberate and methodical rather than public or confrontational, is being driven by a familiar figure in U.S.–Ukraine defense diplomacy — Dan Rice.
Rice, the president of the American University in Kyiv and a former special adviser to Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has emerged once again as a central intermediary between Kyiv’s strategic needs and Washington’s internal debates. His latest push comes as the war enters a phase defined by deep-strike warfare, long-range attrition, and growing questions about escalation, deterrence, and end-state leverage.
There is a lot of pressure to do something to shake things up in Ukraine.
Western leaders are becoming increasingly desperate, because negotiations with the Russians are going nowhere, and Russian forces are steadily gobbling up even more territory…
During an inspection of the Zapad group of forces, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov summarized the interim results of offensive operations in the special military operation zone, noting significant territorial gains since the beginning of this year. According to the head of the military department, 17 settlements have come under Russian control, and the total area of liberated territories amounts to more than 50 square kilometers. A key achievement on this section of the front was the capture of the strategically important Kupyansk-Uzlovaya junction, where the clearing of city blocks is currently being completed. Meanwhile, the situation of Ukrainian forces near Kupyansk itself is assessed as critical: approximately 800 Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers are trapped, effectively encircled, as a result of the rapid maneuver of Russian units.
#5 We have been told how “peaceful” Alex Pretti was over and over again. But now video evidence has emerged that reportedly shows that he has a history of anti-ICE violence…
A protester believed to be Alex Pretti was filmed spitting at a federal SUV, smashing its tail light and fighting with cops 11 days before the shooting that shocked America.
The News Movement said facial analysis of their new video gave a 97 percent probability that the man in their report is Alex Pretti.
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was killed on January 24 after being shot 10 times by Department of Homeland Security officers.
#6 It looks like we are about to have another government shutdown. At this moment, the Democrats are making three major demands that the Trump administration will consider to be quite unacceptable…
With an increasingly likely partial government shutdown only days away, Senate Democrats outlined three main demands for reforming the Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in the wake of Alex Pretti’s killing.
First, they want President Donald Trump to end sweeping immigration checks known as “roving patrols.” They also demand more accountability for ICE and Border Patrol, including independent investigations and stricter use-of-force standards. Lastly, they want “masks off” officers – and “body cameras on.”
#7 What is the FBI searching for in Georgia? On Wednesday, it was being reported that the FBI had just conducted a search of the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center…
FBI agents were seen Wednesday carrying out a search at an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia, a location that became ground zero for concerns and complaints about voter fraud beginning in 2020.
Agents were seen entering the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center, a new facility that state officials opened in 2023 that was designed to streamline their election processes.
It was not immediately clear what the FBI agents were investigating, but Fox News Digital is told the probe is related to the 2020 election.
#8 Have you read the novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley? Sadly, our society is embracing eugenics a little bit more with each passing day. For example, one company is now giving parents the chance to select their new baby from a “menu” of embryos that have been conceived through IVF…
“Pick your baby.” The invitation is now not just for little girls choosing their baby doll or for “Sims” gamers. It is the draw for real-life couples trying to conceive a baby through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to the company Nucleus IVF+, which has chosen that unsettling invitation for their marketing campaign and URL: http://www.pickyourbaby.com.
Couples who sign up with Nucleus IVF+ are presented with an electronic “menu” of up to 20 embryos they have conceived, allowing them to view the sex of each baby, their anticipated hair and eye color, and predictions about the height and IQ of each as well as their risk for various diseases. The company notes that all these characteristics are only framed in terms of probabilities — they cannot make any guarantees.
#9 The historic winter storm that more than 200 million Americans just experienced turned out to be a real nightmare. Daniel Holdings is telling us that at his home in Kentucky trees were literally exploding all around him…
That ice coated the trees and, as we used to say in the Air Force, made the ground as “slick as snail snot.” After the ice, the precipitation turned to sleet and that’s when things went bad.
I read an article a couple of days before that talked about exploding trees in Wisconsin, I think. I thought to myself, “Come on, there’s no such thing! That has to be clickbait!”
But shortly after 9 am Sunday, trees started exploding all over our hill community. It was some sight to see. The tops of trees were ripping themselves off of their trunks and raining down to the ground. Big pines were also falling to the ground. In a span of about 15 minutes, all over the neighborhood you heard a frightening succession of whomp, whomp, whomp! It was so surreal.
The lots on either side of our house are filled with huge pines, so yes, we were not spared from this tree terror. One particular tree exploded and it took out our power line and internet cable. Thank the Lord that not one of those trees hit our house or car, but the damage was done.
#10 Should we be concerned by what is happening at Yellowstone? Apparently a “Chicago-sized bulge” is rising right now…
There’s a Chicago-sized bulge in Yellowstone National Park, and it’s still rising.
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem remains one of the most dynamic places on the planet. This is largely due to the ongoing volcanic, geothermal, and hydrothermal activity that keeps the park’s geysers erupting and hot springs bubbling.
Mike Poland, scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, and other scientists are monitoring an area of ongoing uplift on the northern rim of the Yellowstone Caldera, near Gibbon Falls.
I told you that there was a lot to talk about today.
So much is happening in our world at this moment that it really is exceedingly difficult to keep up with it all.
These are such challenging times, but they are also such exciting times.
As for me, I can’t wait to see what is going to happen tomorrow, because it feels like global events are about to hit some sort of a major crescendo.
If you’ve been watching The Five lately, you know that Jessica Tarlov has been particularly annoying.
The liberal panelist on the show has used the events of recent weeks to push her negative views of ICE and to virtue signal over illegal aliens.
Greg Gutfeld has been trapped in California most of the week, due to the snow storms but he came back today and read the riot act to Jessica over her hypocisy.
He held up three pages and said, “Here’s three pages of women who have been murdered by illegal aliens in the last like, seven or eight years.”
He compared the situation to someone hovering over a maid and complaining about the way the maid is cleaning up a mess.
Finally, he said, “I’m back to correct the record that people need to hear! I don’t care about this performance any more, Jessica. It’s done. If you want to cry about murderers and rapists do it on your own time!”
Watch the whole thing below:
🚨Greg Gutfeld just WENT NUCLEAR on Jessica Tarlov!
“I’m back to correct the record that people need to hear! I don’t care about this performance any more, Jessica. It’s done. If you want to cry about murderers and rapists do it on your own time!” pic.twitter.com/ZssVqHvKqr
Hollywood in Toto notes that 2025 was a pretty good year for Gutfeld:
‘Gutfeld!’ Ruled 2025 While Two Late-Night Shows Collapsed
Greg Gutfeld’s program, which features a crush of comedians, talking heads and pundits, boosted its ratings lead by an impressive 21 percent from 2024.
No A-listers, no problem. The show’s reliance on rebel comedians like Dave Landau, Jamie Lissow and Jeff Dye fuels the show’s laugh quotient.
And while the early start time gives “Gutfeld!” a distinct advantage, the show airs on a cable channel, which reduces the number of potential viewers by a sizable margin.
Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers all spread their liberal views via free broadcast airwaves.
The teary-eyed “Man Show” alum watched his show nearly bite the dust, and he had only himself to blame. Kimmel suggested that a MAGA supporter, not progressive activist Tyler Robinson, pulled the trigger that killed Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10.
That sent Kimmel to the bench after a sizable affiliate revolt. Since his return, his ratings have ticked upwards, partly due to the nonstop publicity as well as leaping past Colbert as late-night TV’s “Resistance” warrior.
Zohran Mamdani has been mayor of New York City for less than a month and he is already talking about raising taxes on the ‘wealthy’ to make up the city’s budget deficit, which he claims is on par with the Great Recession.
Get ready to see a lot of Uhauls leaving the city.
New York Mayor Mamdani says city must hike taxes on wealthy to fill $12 billion deficit
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday said the city’s wealthiest must pay more in taxes to help fill the staggering budget deficit of more than $12 billion that he was left by his predecessor.
“This is at a scale that’s actually greater than what we saw here in New York City during the Great Recession,” Mamdani said of that budget hole during an interview with CNBC “Squawk Box” co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin at City Hall.
The Democrat, who took office on Jan. 1 after campaigning on a platform of hiking taxes on the rich, attributed the big deficit to “gross fiscal mismanagement.”
He pointed to actions taken by former Mayor Eric Adams, and by ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom he soundly defeated in the November general election, for causing that budget gap.
Mamdani vowed that his administration will be up front with New Yorkers about budget issues that have been “hidden from them for far too long.”
City Comptroller Mark Levine earlier this month said the new mayor faces a budget shortfall that is projected to total $12.6 billion over the next two fiscal years.
That comprises a $2.2 billion projected deficit on the city’s nearly $116 billion budget for fiscal 2026, which ends on June 30, and a $10.4 billion gap in fiscal 2027.
See the video below:
🚨 BREAKING: Mayor Zohran Mamdani Says New York City is Facing a “Fiscal Crisis at the Scale of the Great Recession”
“That means looking inward into savings and efficiencies. That also means raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and the most profitable corporations.” pic.twitter.com/ck89QhFFwL
Now over a year into the new congressional term and moving toward the midterms, the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress has been racking up one major victory after another. Don’t believe it? Just look at the facts.
The Babylon Bee has the receipts with the following list of things the GOP has accomplished while in power:
Got Little Debbie Zebra Cakes added to the Capitol cafeteria: The far-reaching magnitude of this cannot be overstated.
Thought long and hard about doing something: They’re not sure what it was, but they definitely considered it.
Added a cool light show to the Washington Monument: And it reportedly only cost American taxpayers $7 trillion.
Issued a record number of sternly worded letters: Shape up, or they’ll send one to you, too.
Convinced Mike Johnson to try parting his hair on the other side: This required months of tough negotiation.
Released six heavily redacted pages of the Epstein files: They’re serious about accountability.
Exempted the National Mall landscapers from all ICE operations: They can’t afford to lose José and his crew.
Passed legislation to fund the federal government for the next 8 minutes: Isn’t that amazing? Oh, wait, time’s up, and the government is about to shut down again.
Lost the midterms earlier than any other Republican Congress in history: And that’s saying something.
No one can say the GOP hasn’t been getting things done. What else have Republicans accomplished while controlling both chambers of Congress for the last year? Add your thoughts in the comments.
16:16 his soul grew impatient to the point of death Delilah may have withheld sexual favors from Samson since he kept coming to her day after day.
Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jdg 16:16). Lexham Press.
16:16 she pressed him. Delilah did precisely what Samson’s wife had done earlier (14:17). Samson’s weak character shows through again: he did not learn from his previous mistake, but yielded in both cases.
Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 466). Crossway Bibles.
16:16 Delilah pestered him, just as Samson’s wife had done earlier (14:17). Samson’s foolishness prevented him from learning the lesson of his earlier experience.
Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (p. 330). T. Nelson Publishers.
Ver. 16.—So that. Omit so. The meaning is, that in consequence of her daily solicitation his soul was vexed (ch. 10:16) to death—literally, was so short, so impatient, as to be at the point to die.
Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). Judges (p. 168). Funk & Wagnalls Company.
It is true that sinners are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:1-8). We cannot earn God’s acceptance or favor by anything we do. He forgives us, rescues us, and justifies us freely by his grace. Grace means we do not earn anything from God. However, grace does not mean the Christian life excludes effort (e.g. Heb 4:11, 12:14, etc.). I appreciate how Dallas Willard explained the difference between earning and effort for disciples of Christ:
One of the primary problems for contemporary evangelicals is that we have lost the concept of discipleship. Among evangelicals generally, it is now assumed that you can be a Christian without being a disciple of Jesus, and many are—or so it seems. In fact, this is widely assumed among Christians far beyond evangelical circles. To be a disciple is to be an apprentice or student of Jesus in Kingdom living. But today evangelicals may even farm the making of disciples out to parachurch organizations and assume that the local church is not necessarily in that business.
In fact, we now are somewhat at a loss as to what discipleship is. That is partly related to some theological developments. The teaching of salvation by grace through faith has, in many quarters, brought people to a condition where they really don’t know what they are supposed to do. This is no wonder. My background is Southern Baptist. We may preach to you for an hour that there is nothing you can do to be saved, and then sing to you for a half-hour trying to get you to do something (“come forward,” profess your faith) to be saved.
Currently we are not only saved by grace; we are paralyzed by it. There is deep confusion. We find it hard to see that grace is not opposed to effort, but is opposed to earning. Earning and effort are not the same thing. Earning is an attitude, and grace is definitely opposed to that. But it is not opposed to effort. When you see a person who has been caught on fire by grace, you are apt to see some of the most astonishing efforts you can imagine (1 Corinthians 15:10). Of course, the evangelical tradition is filled with effort—for example, the great missionaries (Judson and Carey and others) who went out. Some said to them, “Don’t you believe God is going to save who He is going to save?” And they would reply, in effect, “Yes, that’s exactly why I am going. I want to be there when it happens.” Grace is a tremendous motivator and energizer when you understand and receive it rightly…
Jesus proclaimed that Christianity is indeed a narrow and exclusive belief system when he shared in (John 14:6): “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” We also read in (Matthew 7:13-14): “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Christianity by definition proclaims that only Jesus is worthy of our worship. If we strip away the deity of Jesus and his substitutionary death on the cross we are left with a Christless Christianity. Yes, diversity can be good, but when it comes to the foundational doctrines of Christianity we must remain narrow or else risk presenting to the world a false Christianity. Yes, there is a place for diversity of views in certain areas of doctrine (that’s why we have different Christian denominations) in non-core beliefs, but not when it comes to the essential doctrines of the faith. In these cases, we must remain steadfast in our narrowness.
There are some who view this narrowness of the gospel as a negative. They feel that we need to be more open-minded and tolerant of diverse views of Christianity. These advocates of religious diversity argue not only that contemporary diversity is good and historic Christianity unduly narrow, but that this was the state of affairs among Jesus and the first century Christians. As Christianity moved into the second and third centuries, they contend that Christians became increasingly narrow in their doctrinal views. The question is does the evidence support this view?
Christianity will always present a narrow road to Jesus since Jesus clearly claimed to be God and thus alone is worthy of worship and obedience to His teachings. Their idea that diversity prevailed during the first and second centuries is hard to swallow since clearly many of the original apostles of Christ died a martyr’s death just because they held to this narrow view and would not renounce the claims of Christ. Advocates of diversity of the gospel message claim that diversity was always the original intent of Christianity. But the exclusivity of the gospel clearly precludes diversity since Jesus claimed to be the only way to heaven. Diversity, in actuality, destroys the message of the cross and makes Christianity just another of many ways to God.
Clearly the religious leaders of Jesus’ day knew that Jesus claimed to be God and the only way back to the Father since it was for this belief that they had Christ crucified at Calvary. A simple reading of the New Testament leaves us with only one alternative – that Jesus is God. Jesus believed He was God, His apostles believed He was God, and the early church fathers believed He was God. Diversity in non-essential doctrines, yes, but never in the core doctrines of Christianity. If we take those away we have another gospel and no real Christianity at all. So, right from the very start of Christianity orthodoxy of essential doctrines was what prevailed. Exclusivity, not diversity, has always been and will always be what true Christianity is all about when it comes to the core doctrines of the Bible.
Last week we talked about a newer movement within the visible Church called Christian Nationalism, and we want to continue our discussion in this episode with some words of warning. What are syncretism and ecumenicalism, and how might we be influenced toward this unbiblical mixing of truth with error through political organizations such as TPUSA?
Anxiety over tomorrow’s concerns will rob you of the strength for today. Getting stuck in worry will steal your joy and render you ineffective for the work God wants to do through your life. If Satan can keep you immobilized by fear he can steal from you the zeal to serve Christ in this generation.
The aim of this installment is to shed light on why a non-Reformed view of the atonement subverts Christian orthodoxy as it relates to a divine intention to redeem by the undivided works of the Trinity. Stated positively, only limited atonement coheres with God’s intention to save. Particular attention will be given to theological inconsistencies within “four-point Calvinism” and anti-Calvinism respectively.
Christ’s high priestly prayer:
Being a priest, Jesus prays for the efficacy of his atoning sacrifice. In doing so, the Savior prays for those given to him by his Father. Perhaps most striking is not that Christ prayed for those chosen in him but that he positively excludes from his prayer the rest of mankind, which he refers to as the world. (In passing we might note that “world” need not refer to every person God could save but can also refer to those he has sovereignly determined not to save.)
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.”
John 17:9
Had Scripture merely revealed that Jesus prayed that his atoning sacrifice and persevering grace would be applied to the elect, that of itself would not imply that he did not ever pray or desire that his shed blood would be applied to those who would not believe. However, the hypothetical possibility of the salvation of every person becomes theologically untenable when we consider that Jesus explicitly limits his prayer of efficacy to the elect alone. In other words, Jesus decidedly prayed that God’s saving grace not be extended to those not chosen in him.
Now, of course, those who reject limited atonement can counter with Jesus’ plea upon the cross that forgiveness be extended to those who mocked him and were instrumental in his crucifixion. (Luke 23:34) They can also point to the mandate of 1 Timothy 2:1-4, that we are to pray for all people without distinction. Of course, Calvinists have rejoinders to those sorts of objections to limited atonement. Perhaps the prayer in Luke’s gospel was fulfilled at Pentecost recorded in the second chapter of Luke’s Acts. Or perhaps the man, Christ Jesus, prayed as all humans are instructed in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 to pray, not only that Christians might flourish under biblical governance but that God might be pleased to save those who from our human perspective might be elect. Lastly, just maybe Paul is telling Timothy that we must pray for all kinds of people, such as those in authority over us, because God will save from all classes Regardless of the correct interpretation, the takeaway is simply that exegetical interpretation is subject to theological commitment, and theological commitment is largely shaped by exegesis.
It is safe to assume that the Calvinist-Arminian impasse won’t likely be resolved anytime soon given the human factor. Notwithstanding, the discussion and charitable debate maymust ensue. In the spirit of the Ninth Commandment, we ought always to strive for a deeper and more critical understanding of opposing positions along with greater consistency with respect to our own theological systems. One way to approach such matters with intellectual integrity is to evaluate the downstream implications of opposing views in an effort to test which can successfully maintain Christian orthodoxy while maintaining its own position. (1 Corinthians 11:19)
The atonement and God:
From a Reformed perspective, limited atonement, which is an adequate term that need’t be reworked for the implacable, is a crucial doctrine if we are to do justice to the orthodox doctrine of the inseparable operations of God and a divine intention to save.
One God, will and purpose in salvation:
God’s acts are necessarily undivided because Christ is one in being with the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son. If all three persons of the Trinity are involved in every action of creation, providence and grace, then it follows that although God eternally exists as three distinct persons, there is an external unity in what God does. The unity of divine actions are a necessary consequence of God being a simple being who is not made up of parts.
Although all God’s acts are indivisible, Scripture often attributes particular works to distinct divine persons and not to the one triune God. So, with respect to redemption: the Father chooses, the Son redeems, and the Spirit seals and sanctifies. Nonetheless, theologically we understand these particular acts of God as the Father saving his people in Christ by the Spirit. Accordingly, attributing particular divine acts to distinct persons needn’t puzzle us with thoughts of tritheism if we remain mindful that Scripture presents an ordering of the external works of God that are appropriate to the eternal personal relations of divine origin (unbegotten, begotten, and procession). So, with biblical fluidity, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself through the rebirth by the Holy Spirit. (John 3:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19) Similarly, it is by the the new birth the blood of Christ purifies the believer’s conscience of dead works in order to serve God because Christ through the eternal Spirit has offered Himself without blemish to God. (Hebrews 9:14)
The divine intent:
Before bringing these various strands of thought together, a word or two might be in order regarding the divine intent. The divine intent is closely associated with the will of God. And because the will is always indexed to a person’s nature (e.g., the incarnate Son has two wills, human and divine, whereas mere mortals have one), the unity of the three distinct persons of the Trinity demands numerically one divine will, given one divine essence, and by extension a single divine purpose. Accordingly, from a Reformed perspective God (ad extra) is a divine agent working indivisibly in perfect harmonious-unity with a single intent to save only those who are chosen to believe.
Whether one believes in limited atonement or not, evangelicals agree that not all will be saved. Evangelicals, also, agree that only the elect (i.e., those eternally chosen in Christ), will be saved. Accordingly, when it comes to redemption, the debate between Calvinists and non-Calvinists turns on the question of why one is chosen for salvation and not whether some are not chosen for salvation. (Both sides agree on the latter.) Now then, with respect to some four-point quasi-Calvinists, a central point of disagreement they have with pure Calvinism is not over why one is chosen in Christ but over the question of whether those who are not elected unto life can possibly be saved by virtue of the finished work of Christ on their behalf. Yet aside from that somewhat esoteric debate, all four-point Calvinists do not value the finished work of Christ upon the cross as being particular for the elect in the same sense as God’s electing grace and the Spirt’s irresistible drawing are deemed particular. At the very least, how can the atonement be “sufficient to save all” if electing and irresistible grace are not sufficient in the same way? (Noodle that around.)
For the four-point Calvinist, if there was a divine intention for redemption accomplished, it is detached from redemption applied. In other words, the historia salutis does not mate-up well with the ordo salutis. Consequently, confessing any less than the Reformed doctrine of limited atonement, an unfortunate mismatch is set forth – a mismatch that undermines the Christian doctrine of God with respect to intent and inseparable operations. What the four point Calvinist is left with is: the Father sovereignly chooses the elect for salvation – the Spirit draws only the elect unto salvation – yet the incarnate Son dies for those who perish. Clearly, such implicit cross-purposes would undermine any hope of a coherent divine intent.
Final implications:
We can finally turn to specific ramifications of a non-Reformed view of the atonement from two different evangelical perspectives.
1. The downward spiral of a non-Reformed atonement in four-point Calvinism:
If the cross was intended to make all men savable, then all men are indeed savable lest God is not all powerful. But if all unelected men are truly savable, then why is unconditional election and irresistible grace even necessary for one’s salvation? And if those graces are not necessary for salvation, then how does such a theological system avoid spiraling downward to an Arminian notion of autonomous freedom, which further leads to a view of foreknowledge and omniscience that would undermine God’s utter independence or aseity? In short, if the non-elect can be saved by virtue of Christ’s death on their behalf, then those not predestined to be irresistibly drawn can mysteriously incline their fallen and depraved wills to Christ. This is semi-Pelagian at best, which belies four-point Calvinism.
(The hypothetical universalism conundrum is addressed here and more thoroughly here.)
2. Non-Calvinistic evangelicals who deny not just limited atonement but Reformed predestination etc.:
For those who will have none of this Calvinistic high talk, we may safely infer either that God intends to save the non-elect or it is false that God intends to save them. (There is no third option given the law of the excluded middle.)
A. If God intends to save the non-elect, then it follows that God’s intention does not come to pass. Moreover, God would have intended to save those he foreknew would not believe and be saved. It is admittedly hard to understand what such a divine intention can even mean. Are we to believe by “intention” that it was God’s goal, plan or design to save those who won’t be saved? Did God’s intended mission fail?
B. Yet, if it is false that God intends to save the non-elect, then we might go in one of three directions. It would seem that either (i) God has no intention for the non-elect, (ii) God has positive intention to pass over the non-elect, or (iii) God’s only intention is to make all men equally savable. The second option is immediately disqualified because it’s Calvinistic, whereas the first option reduces God to an indifferent bystander with no goal, plan or design whatsoever for the non-elect. But if God has no divine intention for the non-elect, while also having a positive intention to save the elect, then there must be some particularredemption intention for the elect that does not apply to the the non-elect, which in turn undermines the equality contemplated in option (iii). Of course, in a last ditch effort non-Calvinists can say that God has no intention to save anyone. Any takers?
Closing:
As discussed elsewhere, consigning ourselves to exegesis alone (e.g., context, grammar, genre, etc.) is inadequate to derive a biblical theology given that what is to be gleaned from Scripture are the theological implications of what the texts of Scripture say. For instance, exegesis can lead us to believing that God is both one and three, but only a sound philosophical theology can bring these teachings together with the unbegottenness of the Father, eternal generation of the Son, the spiration of the Holy Spirit, the mutual indwelling of the Three (perichoresis), and the inseparable operations of the Trinity. It is this last doctrine in particular that is subverted by anything less than a confessionally Reformed view of limited atonement. In sum, to deny limited atonement is to abandon any hope of a divine intention to redeem that is fulfilled by the triune God of Scripture who lives.
Why are questions about the book of Genesis so popular in January, and why? What are some of the most frequently asked questions about the book of Genesis?
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