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
“Then Ignatius inquired, “Dear Doctor, is fornication also a sin if I don’t take another man’s wife but an unattached wench, as long as I am myself free too?” The doctor [Martin Luther] replied by citing Paul, “Neither the immoral [… nor adulterers … will inherit the kingdom of God, I Cor. 6:9].” “Paul,” he added, “made no distinction between fornication and adultery. I can’t make a law for you. I simply point to the Scriptures. There it is written. Read it for yourself. I don’t know what more I can do.” — Martin Luther
An abolitionist. The longest-serving first lady. The Labor secretary through the Great Depression. The founder of the Girl Scouts. These are some of the candidates to be the first woman on U.S. currency notes in more than a century.
Governor Abbott signed a law last week to build a depository for its 5,600 bars of the precious metal and, as he said in a statement, “repatriate $1 billion of gold bullion from the Federal Reserve in New York.” The gold, it turns out, isn’t at the New York Fed — it’s in a rented vault in midtown Manhattan — and is worth about $650 million. Regardless, Texas aims to bring it home.
Using proceeds from debt sales to send cash to stockholders has never been more popular. S&P’s 500 Index companies listed buybacks or dividends among the use of proceeds in $58 billion of bond deals in the past three months, the most on record. More than $460 billion in repurchases were announced during the first five months of 2015, on pace to top last year’s record.
A victory at the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage would be a historic moment for gay rights. Defeat would bring legal pandemonium. The high court will decide by the end of the month whether the Constitution gives gays the right to marry.
Last month was the hottest May on record, and the past five months were the warmest start to a year on record. It’s a continuation of trends that made 2014 the most blistering year for the surface of the planet, in records going back to 1880.
AP Top Stories
The uncle of a 21-year-old man accused of opening fire inside a Charleston church — killing nine people — says he will “push the button myself” if his nephew receives the death penalty, which is legal in South Carolina.
Everybody handles breakups differently, and a German man has found a hilarious (albeit demented) out-of-the-box way to express his anger with his ex-wife. The two have been together for 12 years before splitting up, so the handy man took it upon itself to split in half everything they owned with help of a saw and other power tools. And then put his share up for sale on eBay.
The Army has the Green Berets, while the Navy is known for the SEALs. Now, an elite branch of the U.S. Marine Corps will officially be known as Raiders. The Marines will rename several special operations units as Marine Raiders at a ceremony Friday, resurrecting a moniker made famous by World War II units that carried out risky amphibious and guerrilla operations.
Warring forces in South Sudan have carried out horrific crimes against children, including castration, rape and tying them together before slitting their throats, the UN has said.
For more than a year, antagonistic rhetoric and deeds have ticked upward as the West seeks to restrain and punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine. Moscow and NATO have broken off ties, and both sides have staged an escalating series of war games near each other’s borders. Experts have been pointing to the growing risk of accident or miscalculation as Russian and NATO ships and planes are increasingly thrown into unscripted encounters in international territory.
Three rival Los Angeles gangs united in a rare alliance to conspire to control drug trafficking and carried out crimes that included murder and extortion, federal prosecutors said Thursday in announcing a racketeering indictment against 22 gang members.
It’s called Heaven Square, but after the Islamic State group started using the roundabout in Raqa for gruesome public executions it earned a new name: Hell Square. Human heads are displayed on spikes at the central roundabout and crucified bodies hang for days to terrorize local residents.
Disgraced US television news anchor Brian Williams was dumped from NBC’s nightly news program Thursday, and replaced by Lester Holt, the first African American to helm a weekday network evening newscast.
Russia is willing to consider giving financial aid to Greece, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Friday ahead of talks between the leaders of the two countries.
NATO member Poland said Thursday that the post-Cold War period of peace is “now over”, as the European Union grapples with various crises including the Ukraine conflict and terrorism.
BBC
Fears are growing over the health of Greek banks after indications that savers have withdrawn billions of euros in the past week.
Russia has protested to the Belgian ambassador over the seizure of Russian state assets in Belgium – a move triggered by a court ruling over the now-defunct Yukos oil firm.
A group of eight Brazilian senators on a visit to Venezuela to meet a jailed opposition leader said they had to flee after their bus was attacked.
Thailand has confirmed its first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers), the deadly virus that has killed 24 people in South Korea.
At least 41 people have been killed after consuming toxic alcohol in India’s western city of Mumbai (Bombay), local police said.
WND
Go home before midnight, and don’t come back before 7am. Goldman Sachs – one of Wall Street’s toughest firms – has told interns they have got to work hard, but not too hard.
The Washington Post reported that 21 of the world’s 37 largest underground aquifers have passed their sustainability tipping points.
The Republican-dominated House has given President Obama what he wants: so-called “fast-track” authority to negotiate massive trade deals with other countries cut Congress out of the negotiations and limit lawmakers’ participation to a simple yes or no vote when such treaties are concluded. And, if the Senate approves the revised bill, as expected, he will get it.
The University of Toledo announced this week that it will no longer allow head football coach Matt Campbell to lead the team in pregame prayers.
A church in Tabgha, Israel, on the Sea of Galilee where the Christian faith points to Jesus feeding his flock of 5,000 followers with five loaves of bread and two fish was hit by arsonists.
Nikki Haley: Death Penalty for Roof, Not Gun Control
“We will absolutely want him to have the death penalty,” Haley NBC’s Savannah Guthrie on “Today.” Roof was the only person to blame, she said, “a person filled with hate.”
Hamas close to agreeing five-year ceasefire with Israel: sources
The plan, proposed by Qatar and supported by Turkey as well as a number of EU countries and the UN, would see Hamas and Israel declare a five-year ceasefire in exchange for Israel easing its blockade of Gaza, speeding up the process of rebuilding the Strip, and constructing a floating seaport on the Gaza coast. The plan could also be extended beyond the five years.
INCOMING CME
Yesterday, June 18th, sunspot AR2371 unleashed the strongest solar flare in nearly 2 months. The M3-class explosion caused a brief shortwave radio blackout over North America, and it hurled a CME into space. A glancing blow is likely on June 20th or 21st, possibly sparking geomagnetic activity and auroras.
Author: Muslim spies in churches to catalog Jews and Christians for jihad
“When Muslims come to you and say ‘Oh yes, we have accepted Christ and we are born-again,’ you gotta be real careful because lying in Arabic is not only permissible it is commanded,” he added. “Lying is a virtue in Islam to defeat the enemy.”
Sen. Rand Paul to Unveil 14.5 Percent Flat Tax for All
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul outlined some of the highlights of a “fair and flat tax” plan he was to unveil on Capitol Hill later on Thursday, saying that the measure will not only simplify the nation’s sprawling tax code, but will allow Americans to keep more of the money they’ve earned.
France Wants the Whole World to Replace US to Force ‘Peace Process’
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is launching a new effort to resurrect the “peace” process” that nobody seems to want, except for Western leaders who see the world from hotel rooms and airplanes. He is traveling to the Middle East, where he plans to meet with Arab League ministers on Saturday and then with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday.
MENACING SUNSPOT
Sunspot AR2371 has an unstable ‘beta-gamma-delta’ magnetic field that harbors energy for strong explosions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of M-class solar flares and a 15% chance of X-flares on June 19th. Any such explosions will probably be geoeffective as the sunspot is turning to face Earth.
Tsipras optimistic on Greek debt deal as banks bleed
Greeks pulled more than 1 billion euros out of their banks in a single day, banking sources said on Friday, as the country edged closer to default despite assurances from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that the doomsayers are wrong. Tsipras was due to meet President Vladimir Putin on the second day of a visit to Russia on Friday – a trip that has raised eyebrows given the EU is at loggerheads with Moscow over the violence in eastern Ukraine.
Volatile Indonesia volcano set to blow but thousands of villagers refuse to flee
Mount Sinabung, one of about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, has been at the highest alert level for nearly two weeks. On Tuesday, at least 48 avalanches of hot ash barreled down its slopes, with the biggest reaching 2.5 km (1.5 miles) southeastward. The volcano in northern Sumatra, one of Indonesia’s main islands, has also been shooting smoke and ash more than 700 meters (2,300 feet) into the air.
Mount Shindake erupts for second time
Mount Shindake rumbled back to life Thursday as a second eruption rocked Kuchinoerabu Island off Kagoshima Prefecture shortly past noon, the Meteorological Agency said.
Pentagon Building Cruise Missile Shield To Defend US Cities From Russia
The Pentagon is quietly working to set up an elaborate network of defenses to protect American cities from a barrage of Russian cruise missiles. The plan calls for buying radars that would enable…fighter jets to spot and shoot down fast and low-flying missiles. Top generals want to network those radars with sensor-laden aerostat balloons hovering over U.S. cities and with coastal warships equipped with sensors and interceptor missiles of their own.
Russian fury at Belgium asset seizure in Yukos oil case
Russia has protested to the Belgian ambassador over the seizure of Russian state assets in Belgium – a move triggered by a court ruling over the now-defunct Yukos oil firm. The ambassador was told that the asset seizure was “an openly hostile act” that “crudely violates the recognised norms of international law”.
‘If conflict not resolved, ISIS will make Palestinian cause its own’
France’s foreign minister heads to the Middle East this weekend with an initiative aimed at bringing Israel and the Palestinians back to peace talks… “Everything points to inertia,…” said a senior French diplomat. “We can no longer isolate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the regional context.” If the conflict remains unresolved, the diplomat added, radical groups such as Islamic State will make the Palestinian cause their own.
Palestinians head for Jerusalem to attend first Friday prayer of Ramadan
West Bank residents crossed on Friday the checkpoints separating them from Jerusalem on their way to Ramadan’s first Friday prayers at al-Aksa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. The Aksa compound includes the octagonal Dome of the Rock, which was built by Jerusalem’s Arab conquerors in 691 on the spot where Muslims say the Prophet Mohammad began his night Journey to heaven.
Rush Limbaugh Woes Continue Amid Ratings Drop In Major Markets
The Rush Limbaugh woes are still adding up a month after being notified he was getting dumped by his Boston talk radio host station. While Limbaugh is on another AM radio station in the city, the station currently boasts a 0.6 rating, and trails four non-commercial stations in the market, according to Examiner.
A Sermon of Hate in the District of Columbia
You wouldn’t expect conspiracy theories about Jews and their control of world events to be promoted in a church today. But that is exactly what was preached last month in Washington.
Danish election: Opposition bloc wins
Denmark’s opposition parties have beaten the ruling coalition after a close general election. With all mainland votes counted, the centre-right group led by ex-PM Lars Lokke Rasmussen beat PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s centre-left coalition, although her party is the largest.
Brian Williams to join MSNBC after losing anchor role
US news anchor Brian Williams will not return to his role at NBC Nightly News but instead join the cable news network MSNBC to cover breaking news. Mr Williams was suspended in February after reports that he had embellished his recollections about the Iraq war.
Chaos in Libya paves way for Islamic State expansion
Benefiting from Libya’s political chaos, Islamic State militants are consolidating their base in the city of Sirte and grabbing new territory, pushing back fighters from Misrata.
US urges N.Korea to drop ‘fantasy’ of nuclear program
North Korea must abandon its “fantasy” that it is free to pursue its nuclear program while seeking global help to prop up its economy, a top US official said Thursday.
Denmark’s new ruling party will be forced to face migration conundrum
Denmark’s centre-right party will have to grapple with pressure to adopt border controls while remaining an open participant in a borderless European Union, after it clinched victory in the country’s parliamentary election.
“[N]either the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.” —Samuel Adams, essay in The Public Advertiser, 1749
It took Barack Obama just 12 hours to classify the senseless killings in Charleston as a “gun problem,” exploiting the blood of innocents as political fodder to advance his gun control agenda. In a press conference Thursday, Obama asserted, “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.” Unless you count all the “mass violence … in other advanced countries” like the recent Charlie Hebdo attack in France, where eleven were murdered. Oh wait, the Paris hate crime was perpetrated by Islamists — Obama doesn’t count those (see Ft. Hood attack). But it was a nice sound bite. Moreover, other countries have not deliberately institutionalized urban poverty plantations, which have become mass breeding grounds for such violence. That is the inconvenient truth Obama will never mention. Alveda King, NAACP member, Christian civil rights activist and niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., acutely observes, “To politicize this by calling for gun control — we already know that gun control is not going to stop the violence. Only a change of heart is going to do that.”
The Supreme Court could issue a ruling as early as Monday in King v. Burwell, the case regarding whether the federal government overstepped its authority in paying out subsidies to those purchasing health insurance on the federal ObamaCare exchange. The GOP has been preparing for this moment for awhile now. If the Court strikes down the subsidies, a legislative fix will be needed, and proposals have been coming in from all sides of the conservative spectrum. Sen. Ron Johnson proposed extending the subsidies to 2017, as a Republican administration may occupy the White House then. The Heritage Foundation suggested repealing the subsidies. And Rep. Paul Gosar unveiled his Premium Reduction and Insurance Market Reform Act, a bill that would end subsidies and also end regulations like the age rating restriction. Now it is up to the Republican leadership in Congress to plot a policy and strategy to enact a conservative reform to ObamaCare. Chief Executive for Heritage Action for America Michael Needham said, “A continuation of illegal subsidies will simply cover up the law’s costs while giving the impression Republicans believe subsidies are necessary for Americans to afford health insurance.” But that option is tempting GOP leadership, as Barack Obama and the Left will make a King v. Burwell fallout politically fraught.
Texas no longer trusts our nation’s central bank to safely store its gold in New York City. For years, the Lone Star State has kept its $1 billion in gold in the hands of the Federal Reserve Bank, which has safeguarded the bullion of the U.S. government, foreign governments and other major organizations. But now, the state is setting up its own bullion depository and will soon withdraw its gold from Fed control. “Today I signed HB 483 to provide a secure facility for the State of Texas, state agencies and Texas citizens to store gold bullion and other precious metals,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement June 12. “With the passage of this bill, the Texas Bullion Depository will become the first state-level facility of its kind in the nation, increasing the security and stability of our gold reserves and keeping taxpayer funds from leaving Texas to pay for fees to store gold in facilities outside our state.” The move could be as simple as Texas stepping up and taking responsibility for its own assets, as well as providing a place for Texas citizens to store gold. Or, as CBS notes, it could be a step toward establishing a currency if Texas were to secede from the union. Regardless, it’s a Texas two-step toward greater autonomy.
FATHER’S DAY
Sunday is Father’s Day, a fitting day to consider four contexts for “father” — God the Father, our own earthly fathers, the role of men as father to their children, and the legacy of our forefathers. They combine to create a rich and abiding sense of what fatherhood means, as well as what it should look and feel like in heart and practice.
But for tens of millions of Americans from broken homes, the consequences of failed fatherhood are the enormous obstacles their children must endeavor to overcome in relationships with their Creator, with their own spouses and children, and in their ability to honor their forefathers’ legacy.
Patriot fathers, if you want to extend the Legacy of Liberty to the next generation, there is no better place to start than in your own home.
In the words of the Father of our Nation, George Washington, “May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us in all our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.” (1790)
Pope Francis released his much-discussed 184-page papal encyclical on climate change Thursday and the Leftmedia have already distilled the message down to a one sentence quote: “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.”
Liberals embrace the Pope, or any aspect of religion in general for that matter, when it suits them. The rhetoric surrounding this encyclical is no different.
An encyclical, for those of us who are not Catholic, is an open letter written by a pope. They are not considered infallible. Think of it as an opinion piece written by the pope.
The document, entitled “Laudato Si” (Praise Be to You), states, “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”
Francis blames the problem on consumerism, corporate greed, overreliance on technology and the poisonous political atmosphere in and among many nations. He called for a radial change in how people conduct their political and economic affairs and suggested that the time has come for each of us to alter our individual lifestyles in response to climate issues.
The encyclical was leaked earlier this week by the Italian magazine L’Espresso, which set off half-baked opinions and speculation about what the document was going to say, with liberals pre-embracing Francis’ message and conservatives expressing concern about the injection of the Vatican into a debate that is far from settled, despite what environmentalists would have us believe.
It is interesting how liberals, who have always rejected religion in favor of worship of the state, have embraced Francis since his ascension in Rome. Francis, who comes from Argentina, is the first pope from the developing world, and, coming from a poor nation as he does, his worldview is shaped accordingly. He has frequently spoken on issues of poverty and inequality, often excoriating capitalism and calling on Western democracies to do more for the world’s poor.
This message of taking from the rich and giving to the poor combined with his latest writings on climate change fall right into line with the liberal narrative, and they have fallen over themselves to praise the pope’s latest message.
Of course, the liberal media has been quite selective in its adoration for Francis, choosing to promote his words that match their ideology, but somehow failing to report on other parts of the pope’s message that don’t swing with the liberal dogma.
Here are a few excerpts from “Laudato Si” that are unlikely to make the front page of the major daily newspapers:
“A spirituality which forgets God as all-powerful and Creator is not acceptable.”
“When media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously.”
“Concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion … It is troubling that, when some ecological movements defend the integrity of the environment, rightly demanding that certain limits be imposed on scientific research, they sometimes fail to apply those same principles to human life.”
“Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work.”
While the document does reveal a more considered and practical view of the Catholic Church’s stand on environmental and cultural issues than the media would have us believe, there is still cause for concern as to the sources Francis has chosen for his own climate change education.
The pope has relied on some less than reputable sources for his encyclical. Jeffrey Sachs, an economist with a lifelong adoration of socialist policies, has been a vocal supporter of abortion and just the kind of redistributive activities that make him a darling of the Left. The Vatican invited him to speak at its conference on climate change.
Another “gem” the Vatican has listened to is Hans Joachim Schellnhuber. Schellnhuber, director of Germany’s Potsdam Institute and the WBGU, a German climate change advisory council, authored the two-degree-trigger, which stated that a two-degree-Centigrade average rise in global surface temperature was the point of no return in terms of climate change. He claimed that we would reach this point by 2020. Of course, the 18-year lull in rising temperatures forced Schellnhuber to revise his doomsday date to 2030.
Whether or not Francis chooses to surround himself with real scientists or enviro-Nazis is his choice, but has the pope stirred a storm by injecting the Catholic Church into the environmental debate?
The Catholic Church has always been part of the political debate in Europe and around the world. Hundreds of years ago, Church decisions drove politics and individual nations followed its lead. Today it’s a different story, though. Christianity is facing a withering ideological attack in the U.S. and Western Europe by secularists who preach the primacy of the state or the individual above God. Except when it suits them, like with “Laudato Si.”
It could be that Pope Francis is not the liberal activist the Left wishes him to be. He still holds dear many tenets of the Church that rankle liberal ideologues, such as his beliefs onheterosexual parents and abortion. And even if Francis chooses to embrace the radical liberal environmental agenda, there will always be room for a loyal opposition within the Catholic Church.
Mona Charen: “They’re coming for our money. OK, that’s nothing new, but this time, the Obama administration is coming for our $10 bills — the notes graced by the image of Alexander Hamilton. True to the identity politics of the Democratic Party, the Obama Treasury Department has announced that some worthy female will replace Hamilton on the currency. The sheer arrogance, ignorance and stupidity of this move are difficult to capture in one column. Let’s start with stupidity. If there’s one figure whose face arguably does not deserve to adorn the currency, it’s the man on the $20 bill, not the $10. That is Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, adamant opponent of paper currency (!), friend of slave power and scourge of Native Americans. … Here’s the solution: Upgrade the security features on the $10, but keep Hamilton in his spot. Dump Jackson from the $20 and hold an essay competition among American high school seniors for his replacement. It would be a great exercise in the appreciation of excellence. Both sexes may be nominated. … [B]y announcing in advance that you’re choosing a woman, you’ve guaranteed that the honor will be downgraded to the ‘best woman’ rather than the best candidate. In short, you’d be echoing the Hillary Clinton campaign.”
SHORT CUTS
Insight: “To enjoy freedom, if the platitude is pardonable, we have of course to control ourselves. We must not squander our powers, helplessly and ignorantly, squirting half the house in order to water a single rose-bush; we must train them, exactly and powerfully, here on the very spot.” —English writer Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)
Upright: “Clinton, if she wins, would be the first former secretary of state to be elected since James Buchanan — not an encouraging precedent. Reporters who have been demanding Bush and other Republicans say how they would have acted in 2003 may want to ask Clinton about how she actually did act between 2009 and 2013 — and what she would do going forward.” —Michael Barone
Demo-gogues: “I do not know how much longer we can thwart the views of the American public on taking reasonable gun safety measures.” —Harry Reid
Non Compos Mentis: “I call on all media to use terms ‘white racist’ + ‘terrorist’ with same force & ease that we would use terms ‘Muslim’ + ‘terrorist.'” —tweet by Van Jones
Village Idiots: “The ideology of racism promoted by … @FoxNews and Co. breeds the terrorists who commit #CharlestonShooting.” —tweet by University of Maryland professor Faheem Younus
Freudian slip? “We should be reforming our criminal justice system in such a way that we are not incarcerating non-violent offenders in ways that renders them incapable of getting a job after they leave office.” —Barack Obama
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.
CLIFF KINCAID — Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s speech that launched his presidential campaign on Monday noted that Hillary Clinton’s “progressive agenda” includes the admonition that traditional religious beliefs “have to be changed.” Mrs. Clinton’s entire quote, in talking about opposition to her version of feminism and demands for abortion, was that “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”… (more)
SUSAN FERRECHIO — The House will vote Thursday on a “Fast Track” trade bill that most Democrats oppose, with passage hinging on a coalition of Republicans and a small faction of Democrats. The bill will not include a provision to extend a program that provides aid to workers displaced by new trade deals, a provision known as Trade Adjustment Assistance… (more)
WEEKLY STANDARD — Senator Jeff Sessions is worried that the adoption of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would lead to an “historic international regulatory Commission” that would eoncmpass 90 percent of the world’s GDP. He’s concerned that it would “[create] a self-governing and self-perpetuating Commission with extraordinary implications for American workers and American sovereignty.”… (more)
BREITBART — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has issued yet another clarion call to House Republicans urging them to abandon GOP leadership’s desperate ploys to bring Obamatrade back to life and instead vote against Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and stop President Obama from getting even more power in his final years in office…. (more)
WORLDNETDAILY — A few congressmen are fighting to block the planned importation of thousands of Syrian refugees into American cities and towns, arguing that they present a grave security risk because many Syrians have ties to the Sunni rebel groups ISIS and al-Nusra Front…. (more)
BOB UNRUH — A former member of the federal judiciary is laying the blame for the vast expansion of same-sex “marriage” across the United States directly on federal judges…. (more)
BOB UNRUH — Just as the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to announce whether Obamacare subsidies can be paid through the federal exchange as well as state exchanges, a new poll shows subscribers to the government program are drifting away from the Democrats who wrote, signed, sealed and delivered it…. (more)
CHARLES HURT — Finally, a serious and truly experienced contender. Donald Trump and his $9 billion just made the biggest splash of the 2016 presidential race. By the time the seas stop sloshing back and forth, there may not be a drop of water left over for anybody else to float a rowboat…. (more)
CHELSEA SCHILLING — An explosive new Gallup poll shows Americans have lost confidence in almost every major institution – – from the U.S. presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court to banks and organized religion. “Americans’ confidence in most major U.S. institutions remains below the historical average for each one,” a Gallup spokesman said…. (more)
NEWSMAX — Lester Holt will take over the anchor chair at NBC’s “Nightly News” permanently, while Brian Williams takes another position in the organization in the wake of his disclosure earlier this year that he falsified details of a reporting trip to Iraq, according to press reports released Wednesday night…. (more)
GARTH KANT — The congressman’s voice was calm but there was exasperation in his words, and an implicit concern that Republicans were poised to snatch defeat from the jaws of a major victory. Referring to a Supreme Court decision, due any day now, that could effectively overturn Obamacare, U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, lamented, “I think there is some fear in some circles in the Republican Party that if this decision goes our way that it’s actually bad for us.”… (more)
BOB UNRUH — A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court establishing a right to same-sex “marriage” would move the nation onto a slippery slope toward polygamy, child marriages and more, according to prominent conservative commentator Cal Thomas…. (more)
NEWSMAX — A new report claims U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has mostly ceased efforts to enforce laws pertaining to hiring illegal workers in the United States…. (more)
NEWSMAX — Rush Limbaugh has not been on board the trend to accept Caitlyn Jenner as a woman or former Spokane NAACP Chapter President Rachel Dolezal as black, and on Tuesday the ample-sized talk show host declared himself to be skinny…. (more)
NEWSMAX — Three U.S. House Republicans were kicked off the leadership team responsible for counting votes after siding against party leaders last week on a measure setting rules for floor consideration of a trade package…. (more)
NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE — When a group of House conservatives voted last week to kill a trade bill favored by President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders who support the measure steamed. Representative Mick Mulvaney (R., S.C.) celebrated the revolt as a coming-of-age moment for rebel backbenchers…. (more)
MICHELLE MALKIN — Fifteen years ago this week, my beautiful daughter Veronica entered the world. She didn’t make a sound. As I stretched out my arms to hold her in the delivery room, furrow-browed doctors and nurses instead whisked her away. I shouted after them in panic: “Is she all right? Is she going to be OK?!”… (more)
PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY — On Friday, Congress disrupted President Obama’s plan for a sweeping transfer of U.S. sovereignty to an unaccountable group of foreign busybodies. Hurray for the stalwart Americans who resisted the demands of Obama, the Republican leadership and the big-donor claque – – but Speaker Boehner plans to give Congress another chance this week to make this dangerous mistake…. (more)
WORLDNETDAILY — A Texas congressman who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee is calling on President Obama to abandon his plan to resettle thousands of Syrians displaced by that country’s civil war, saying the plan is “very dangerous” for America’s security…. (more)
WASHINGTON TIMES — More than 100 immigrants whom the Obama administration released back into the community went on to be charged with subsequent killings, according to government data released Monday that raises more questions about whether immigration authorities are doing enough to detail illegal immigrants awaiting deportation…. (more)
NEWSMAX — President Ronald Reagan carried a handgun with him at all times during his years in office, author Brad Meltzer writes in the New York Daily News. Meltzer says he was doing research for his latest thriller “The President’s Shadow,” and wanted to talk to Secret Service agents about how the president lives…. (more)
WORLDNETDAILY — It was reported recently that Rachel Dolezal, the president of the Spokane, Washington, chapter of the NAACP, has erroneously claimed for years to be African-American. However, according to her parents, the reality is that the 37-year-old is not black after all… (more)
PAUL BEDARD — Conservatives are not waiting to hear Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s presidential announcement speech to question his electability. “Jeb Bush will be a loser,” added Brent Bozell, who runs both the Media Research Center and the conservative group ForAmerica. The group has been opposing Bush and Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton on their website…. (more)
ALAN KEYES — What purports to be a movement for so-called homosexual “rights” is in fact intended to discard, once and for all, the idea of God-endowed unalienable rights, inherent in the Creator’s information of all human beings (i.e., our human nature). The transcendent authority of “the laws of nature and of nature’s God” is the source or origin from which certain natural penchants or inclinations derive their special claim of right… (more)
BOB UNRUH — Prominent Christian and Jewish leaders are warning the U.S. Supreme Court justices in a full-page ad in major newspapers that they will not honor any decision that violates the “biblical understanding of marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman.”… (more)
God is not silent, but His pulpits are! An article addressing gay marriage and transgender issues came across my newsfeed. It stood out because the reporter quoted a response from, “a megachurch pastor, who asked not to be named.” 1 The pastor of this megachurch did a fantastic job of clearly stating what the Bible had to say concerning marriage and gender. However he apparently felt it necessary to do so behind the cloak of anonymity. Why? Is this where we are in the church in America?
Are we so afraid of the controversy and backlash of the political correctness police that we refuse to put our name beside biblical truth? Are we afraid of losing people and tithes in our large megachurches because we stood with God rather than man? Are we now afraid to speak out for fear of personal loss? If so, then all is truly lost. Last week Tony Campolo called “for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the church.” 2 When he did, he was brave enough to sign his name to his position. He knew it wouldn’t be popular in Christian circles, but he voiced his opinion. Have you heard any high profile pastors bold enough to call out Campolo’s error and take a stand for marriage as God designed it? FULL REPORT
Censored and heavily redacted emails[PDF] from U.S. government scientists and officials reveal that there were major concerns among American policymakers shortly after the devastating Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011 that there would be widespread radiological contamination and spikes in thyroid cancer rates. “I would like to raise another issue which now merits expeditious, near term action. There is a short time window… during which it will remain possible to… measure any I-131 that members of the public may have ingested,” said an email sent to John Holdren, senior adviser to Pres. Obama on science and technology,
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, DOE/NRC officials, and others whose names were redacted on March 23, 2011, 12 days after the disaster on March 11, according to a recently released trove of email documents, per a Freedom of Information Act request. “Collecting this data… would be very valuable,” said the email. Nuclear science experts were clearly concerned that radioactive fallout from the disaster would not merely spread to the U.S. West Coast but cause a spike in thyroid cancer rates there, as well – though none of those concerns were publicized by reports or expressed publicly by the Obama Administration at the time. FULL REPORT
Dino-chicken. Chickosaurus. Squawkasaurus Rex. None of these sound quite as terrifying as the reptilian star in “Jurassic World,” which set box-office records when it opened this past weekend. Dubbed Indominous rex, the behemoth is a fictitious chicken-based dinosaur that was created in a lab — an idea that is not so far-fetched, says a famed dinosaur hunter. Why, of all things, a chicken? As it turns out, fossilized dinosaur DNA that is still viable has been impossible to find so far … and may not even exist.
But the secret coding of dinosaurs is alive and well at your local Colonel Sanders. “Chickens and all birds are carrying much bigger chunks of dinosaur DNA than we are ever likely to find in the fossil record,” said James Horner, the inspiration for the original Jurassic Park’s Alan Grant.Horner shook up the paleontological establishment with his work onMaiasaura fossils in the 1980s, when he published a book detailing their communal behaviors. He has also championed the idea that Tyrannosaurus rex was a scavenger, not a hunter. FULL REPORT
BREAKING NEWS – Russia is pouring troops and weapons — including missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads — into its western exclave of Kaliningrad at such a rate that the region is now one of Europe’s most militarized places. A NATO official, writing to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity, said that Moscow is stationing “thousands of troops, including mechanized and naval infantry brigades, military aircraft, modern long-range air defense units and hundreds of armored vehicles in the territory.”
The military activity in Kaliningrad, which has no land connection to Russia and which borders EU members Lithuania and Poland, has raised alarms in Vilnius and Warsaw that can be clearly heard in Brussels and Washington. FULL REPORT
A controversial Belfast preacher faces prosecution for describing Islam as “heathen” and “satanic”. Rev James McConnell made the comments in a sermon streamed live from his Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle church after he read of the imprisonment in Sudan of Meriam Ibrahim, who was forced to give birth in chains after being accused of apostasy from Islam. He said then: “Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell.”
The Public Prosecution Service said that he had been offered an “informed warning” of an offence under the Communications Act 2003. “That offence was one of sending, or causing to be sent, by means of a public electronic communications network, a message or other matter that was grossly offensive,” a spokesperson said. FULL REPORT
The bold faith of a young Ohio man invoked a miracle that turned what could have been a deadly encounter into an amazing display of God’s power. Shaquille Hairston was walking home from his bus stop after work when one of his fellow former passengers gave him a rude awakening. Following instructions from the man to turn around, Hairston was confronted with a gun and a threat: Give me your money, or else. Hairston told the robber that he didn’t have much money, but his assailant didn’t abate, hitting the 21-year old pre-med student over the head with the gun. Fearing for his life, Hairston complied with the man’s threat.
“He raised the gun up and he was like ‘I’ll shoot you. I’m not playing with you, man,’” Hairston recounted to Cleveland’s Fox 8 News. As he handed over his wallet and cell phone, Hairston began praying aloud, not only for his own current plight, but also for his attacker. FULL REPORT
It started out like a normal, Sunday morning service. Little did everyone know that Father’s Day, 1995, would go down in history as the beginning of one of the most powerful revival movements that would ever touch the United States. On this day, lightning from heaven struck Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida, not simply launching a five year series of sustained revival meetings, but loudly declaring to an often lukewarm American church that Great Awakening was possible … for whosoever was willing to pursue God with revived zeal!
Brownsville did not attract global crowds through cutting edge media presentations or seeker sensitive gimmicks. Rather, it was the presence of God that brought the world to this local church in the Florida panhandle!To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Brownsville Revival, I have edited a book co-authored by Brownsville leaders, Dr. Michael Brown and Pastor John Kilpatrick, called The Fire That Never Sleeps. This is not a nostalgia tour, focusing simply on what happened “20 years ago … when God moved.” FULL REPORT
Despite record highs in the market, former Rep. Ron Paul says the Fed’s easy money policies have left stocks and bonds are on the verge of a massive collapse. “I am utterly amazed at how the Federal Reserve can play havoc with the market,” Paul said on CNBC’s “Futures Now” referring to Thursday’s surge in stocks. The S&P 500 closed less than 1 percent off its all-time high. “I look at it as being very unstable.”
In Paul’s eyes, “the fallacy of economic planning” has created such a “horrendous bubble” in the bond market that it’s only a matter of time before the bottom falls out. And when it does, it will lead to “stock market chaos.”As far as when the bubble will burst, the former Republican presidential candidate said, “I don’t think there’s any way to know what the [timeline] is, but after 35 years of a gigantic bull market in bonds, [the Fed] cannot reverse history and they cannot print money forever.” FULL REPORT
Greek banks are facing collapse and the country is “dangerously close” to exiting the euro, officials warned after talks to prevent Greece defaulting on its debts ended in failure last night. In secret negotiations, and with panicking savers withdrawing cash, the European Central Bank (ECB) said that Greek banks might be forced to remain closed on Monday. Some euros 2 billion (pounds 1.4 billion) in deposits have already been taken out of the country in the first three days of this week.
Tourists heading to Greece have been warned to take cash in case of emergencies. Two million Britons visit the country each year. The deteriorating situation will lead to fears of strikes or protests, for which airlines do not usually compensate passengers. During yesterday’s talks, Benoit Coeure, an executive board member of the ECB, was asked by Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch chairman of the group of European finance ministers, if Greek banks would open today. FULL REPORT
Yesterday, June 18th, sunspot AR2371 unleashed the strongest solar flare in nearly 2 months. The M3-class explosion caused a brief shortwave radio blackout over North America, and it hurled a CME into space. ESA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a movie of the expanding cloud:
The CME is not heading directly for Earth. Nevertheless, it could affect our planet. A glancing blow is likely on June 20th or 21st, possibly sparking geomagnetic activity and auroras. NOAA analysts are still calculating storm probabilities. Stay tuned for updates. FULL REPORT
Pope Francis: Climate Change and Abortion Are “Interrelated”
According to Berean Research:
A piece in National Journal will no doubt have the far left fit to be tied. Apparently Pope Francis believes what the headline says: Climate change and abortion are interrelated. So what does he mean by that?
On his radio show today Rush Limbaugh speculated that the pope is essentially saying, “Look, you cannot have an attitude that says we must do everything to save the planet and be pro-choice at the same time. If you’re gonna be an environmentalist wacko, if you’re gonna devote yourself to saving the planet via climate change, you had better stop killing embryos.” If Rush is right, the left will be furious with “Il Papa” over the “curve ball” he threw.
What advancing the status of man-made global warming has to do with religion leaves countless Christians scratching their heads.
Most know that while the papal environmental encyclical will be officially released tomorrow, its unofficial release came days before from a leaked document Vatican-identified as a “draft” report, courtesy of an Italian reporter fired for breaking an embargo that allegedly didn’t exist.
Few know that Pope Francis now rides Internet fame as Earth’s newest ‘superhero’ in an epic, mock Hollywood trailer, courtesy of a Brazilian-made video the lib-left works to send viral.
How the president is exploiting the suffering of nine innocent victims of a racial assault to attack his country and launch a political campaign.
Why does the president of the United States think it’s proper to take a horrible racial tragedy in Charleston South Carolina as an excuse to bash America as the violence capital of the “advanced” world, and a prop for Democrats’ lust for gun control legislation in a state that already has it?
9 powerful minutes of animation that begins with a thief behind bars watching the scourging of Jesus, and it ends with the thief dying next to Jesus, and waking to see Him in a beautiful place.
The dying thief: What was so great about his faith?
There are many acts of extraordinary faith in the Bible. The one that has impressed me the most concerns the dying thief on the cross. We could take the approach that he had nothing to lose, so he decided to cast his lot with Jesus. But this makes absolutely no sense of the text and the context.
In this conversion we have a specific fulfillment of Christ’s first words on the cross. No sooner had Christ spoken the words, “Father, forgive them,” had the Father answered that prayer by turning a once-reviling criminal into a Christ-glorifying saint. While the soon-to-be converted criminal was not directly responsible for Christ’s death, he nevertheless joined with those who were and was thus indirectly addressed when Christ asked for God to forgive “them.”
Christ, the sinless one, was numbered with or counted among the transgressors (Isa. 53:12; Luke 22:37), all of whom have a bigger problem than the day-to-day sins they commit. They hate Christ, the God-man. Anyone who has a master other than the Lord Jesus hates him (Lk. 16:13; Gal. 4:8). That these two criminals loathed him is clearly manifested during the crucifixion: “And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way” (Matt. 27:44).
When the criminal who was converted was doing his worst against Christ, Christ was doing his best for this criminal.
The conversion of the one criminal was most extraordinary and testifies to the power of Christ’s prayer and the grace of God. Why?
This criminal’s faith did not come at a time such as when Christ turned water into wine; or performed miracles, such as walking on water, opening the eyes of a blind man, or raising Lazarus from the dead. No! The criminal believed on the Messiah while he was hanging as one cursed upon a tree. The criminal trusted in and boldly defended the one whose disciples had abandoned him. Jesus was at his lowest when this criminal asked to be remembered in Christ’s kingdom.
When he was on the cross, did anyone publicly cry out, as John the Baptist did, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29)? But this is essentially what the dying thief did. Little wonder, then, that Christ should promise him a place in his kingdom: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43).
The criminal acknowledged he was guilty; he acknowledged that Christ was not (“this man has done nothing wrong”); he feared God; but, and here is the key: the criminal did not merely want to be in a better place. He wanted to be with Christ in a better place: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk. 23:42). The criminal believed “against all hope”.
Heaven is a better place because that is where Christ is. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but not everyone wants to go to Christ’s heaven. Not so with this criminal: he saw, with his eyes, Christ at his worst; but with the eyes of faith, he believed that Christ would soon be at his best, and so put his faith in a dying king.
Christ is always – always! – willing to save even the most miserable of sinners. A recognition of guilt (Lk. 23:40) and a confidence in him and not ourselves (Lk. 23:42) will always lead to the most assuring truth a sinner can receive: the Savior welcomes such into his paradise!
“One is saved, and we may not despair; the other is lost, and we may not presume.” Spurgeon
With that brief question Jesus Christ confronted His followers with the most important issue they would ever face. He had spent much time with them and made some bold claims about His identity and authority. Now the time had come for them either to believe or deny His teachings.
Who do you say Jesus is? Your response to Him will determine not only your values and lifestyle, but your eternal destiny as well.
Look to Jesus
Have you ever felt a little lost and wished there was a quick-start guide to your relationship with God? This is it!
30 Day Next Steps
John Beckett, a leading Christian businessman, has written a series to read over 30 days for new believers.
New Believers Guide
The New Believer’s Guide is a series of articles designed to show you how to walk in the new life Christ has given you— a life of faith and freedom.
Jesus Booklet
Jesus is the Savior of the world. Discover who Jesus is today in this series.
(Alternative News, Apologetics, Current Events, Commentary, Opinion, Theology, Discernment Blog, Devotionals, Christian Internet Evangelism & Missions Activist).
“A simple layman armed with Scripture is to be believed above a pope or a council without it…” – Martin Luther
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“Then Ignatius inquired, “Dear Doctor, is fornication also a sin if I don’t take another man’s wife but an unattached wench, as long as I am myself free too?” The doctor [Martin Luther] replied by citing Paul, “Neither the immoral [… nor adulterers … will inherit the kingdom of God, I Cor. 6:9].” “Paul,” he added, “made no distinction between fornication and adultery. I can’t make a law for you. I simply point to the Scriptures. There it is written. Read it for yourself. I don’t know what more I can do.” — Martin Luther
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