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
In yet another humiliating blow to Cringe California Governor Gavin Newsom, his foul-mouthed communications team has been caught red-handed telling a respected journalist to “f**k off” when pressed for any shred of evidence proving his so-called “lifelong dyslexia” diagnosis.
RealClearPolitics national correspondent Susan Crabtree, a California resident, revealed on X that when she asked the governor’s office for documentation related to Newsom’s claimed dyslexia diagnosis, she received a vulgar response from his communications director.
“What about that @GavinNewsom dyslexia diagnosis — can the gov. provide any paperwork related to his dyslexia diagnosis at any time of his life? Newsom’s comms team just now tells me to ‘fuck off.’”
According to Crabtree, she emailed Newsom’s Director of Communications, Izzy Gardon, with a series of straightforward questions.
She acknowledged that learning disabilities are sensitive matters but noted that Newsom himself had invoked dyslexia publicly to defend controversial remarks made during his Atlanta book tour stop.
Crabtree asked whether the governor could provide documentation to substantiate his claim that he was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, reportedly in 1972 when he was five or six years old. Newsom has previously stated that he rediscovered paperwork confirming the diagnosis after his father’s death in 2018.
If that documentation exists, Crabtree asked, why not provide it?
She also inquired whether, if childhood records were unavailable, any more recent medical confirmation could be shared to counter critics questioning the claim.
Crabtree asked Gardon:
Hi there,
I know any type of learning disability is very sensitive. But I also see that Gov.
Newsom and his press team have been using the diagnosis to hit back at Sean Hannity and other critics in the wake of Newsom’s comments over the weekend that he had his 960 so “I’m like you,” which he said t to a black moderator.
Gov. Newsom has claimed that he found the paperwork from his childhood about his dyslexia after his father died in 2018. If that’s the case, does he have
it so he can demonstrate that he was in 2018. If that’s the case, does he have it so he can demonstrate that he was given a dyslexia diagnosis early on in his childhood?
Newsom also has said he was diagnosed with dyslexia in 1972 -that would be when he was five or six. Is there anything the governor can point to as proof of this?
If the early paperwork is not available, is there any evidence of a more recent dyslexia diagnosis he can provide?
I have a deadline of tomorrow, Tuesday, at 5 p.m., but any information you provide, I can distribute it immediately on X to combat critics who are doubting the diagnosis.
Here’s the exact questions I asked his taxpayer-funded comms team to elicit the “fuck you” response — I live in California, BTW. pic.twitter.com/tqTv8FKwRK
The response from Newsom’s California taxpayer-funded spokesperson to a California resident and a journalist was nothing short of unhinged:
“Hey, Susan – thanks for reaching out. Respectfully, fuck off. — Izzy”
“Hey, Susan – thanks for reaching out. Respectfully, fuck off. — Izzy”
🚨🚨EXCLUSIVE and BREAKING: What about that @GavinNewsom dyslexia disgnosis – can the gov. provide any paperwork related to his dyslexia diagnosis at any time of his life?
Newsom’s comms team just now tells me to “fuck off.”
Susan asked questions about claims the governor made. That isn’t trolling. It’s reporting. But while we are on the topic, is it acceptable for a male politician’s staff to tell a female journalist to “fuck off”? I know of a recent Democratic president who would say no. https://t.co/ILU06D2iMq
Riley Roberts, AOC’s Fiancé, snores while she tries to defend her performance in Munich, Germany, earlier this month. Credit: Fox News/AOC Instagram
The love of AOC’s life spoke for all Americans following her latest meltdown over her humiliating foreign policy mistakes earlier this month in Munich.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, the New York Democratic Congresswoman went on social media this weekend and made a fool of herself by blaming everyone but herself for her failures, which have shown she’s not ready for primetime.
AOC’s voice quivered as she held back tears.
“If you think that I don’t understand foreign policy because, out of hours of discourse about international affairs, I pause to think about one of the most sensitive geopolitical issues that currently exists on Earth, I’m afraid the issue is not my understanding, but rather that perhaps you’ve grown accustomed to a president who never thinks before he speaks,” AOC complained.
During her childish tantrum, her Fiancé, Riley Roberts, can be heard in the background snoring like a chimney.
Was he simply too tired from a long week or just exhausted from AOC continuing to obsess?
WATCH AND LISTEN:
WATCH: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responds to critics of her widely mocked performance at the Munich Security Conference in a social media video that is going viral, in part, because her fiancé is snoring through it. pic.twitter.com/0KMQmwooi7
If this is what Mr. Roberts has to deal with constantly, he has our sympathies.
Earlier this month, AOC delivered one of the most humiliating performances by a U.S. politician in modern history at the Munich Security Conference. She made a host of mind-boggling gaffes in response to simple questions while botching basic geography.
In one instance, a moderator at the event asked AOC if the US should commit troops to defend against China, and she turned into a stuttering mess.
“Um, you know, I think that, uh, this is such a, uh, you know, I — I think that this is a, umm, this is of course a, uh, a very longstanding, um, policy of the United States – uh and I think what we are hoping for is we want to make sure that we never get to that point,” AOC said.
In addition to the ugly episode, AOC also incorrectly stated that Venezuela was below the equator and called Secretary of State Marco Rubio racist for saying cowboys came from Spain.
AOC then called The New York Times and vented her fury over the coverage of her gaffes and the questions she was asked.
“This reporter came up to me and was like, ‘Is Munich the new New Hampshire?’ And I cannot say enough how out of touch and missing the point, genuinely, that is,” AOC whined during the interview with the Times.
“Global democracies are on fire the world over, and established parties are falling to right-wing populist movements.”
Once again, the Radical Left’s favorite Squad member is substituting actual policy knowledge with absolute theatrical melodrama.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, AOC delivered one of the most humiliating performances by a U.S. politician in modern history at the Munich Security Conference. She made a host of mind-boggling gaffes in response to simple questions while botching basic geography.
In one instance, a moderator at the event asked AOC if the US should commit troops to defend against China, and she turned into a stuttering mess.
“Um, you know, I think that, uh, this is such a, uh, you know, I — I think that this is a, umm, this is of course a, uh, a very longstanding, um, policy of the United States – uh and I think what we are hoping for is we want to make sure that we never get to that point,” AOC said.
“And we want to make sure that we are moving all of our economic research and global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise,” she said.
In addition to the ugly episode, AOC also incorrectly stated that Venezuela was below the equator and called Secretary of State Marco Rubio racist for saying cowboys came from Spain.
AOC then called The New York Times and vented her fury over the coverage of her gaffes and the questions she was asked.
“This reporter came up to me and was like, ‘Is Munich the new New Hampshire?’ And I cannot say enough how out of touch and missing the point, genuinely, that is,” AOC whined during the interview with the Times.
“Global democracies are on fire the world over, and established parties are falling to right-wing populist movements.”
AOC continued to complain about the media clips that went viral, saying, “Any five-to-10-second thing” only serves to “distract from the substance of what I am saying.”
AOC later took to Instagram, her voice wavering and her eyes welling up, as she pushed back hard against claims that she lacks ‘serious foreign policy chops.’
“If you think that I don’t understand foreign policy because, out of hours of discourse about international affairs, I pause to think about one of the most sensitive geopolitical issues that currently exists on Earth, I’m afraid the issue is not my understanding, but rather that perhaps you’ve grown accustomed to a president who never thinks before he speaks.”
WATCH:
Rep. AOC holds back tears: "If you think I do not understand foreign policy…. the issue is YOU" pic.twitter.com/gdBpDE8jVh
She is hoarse because she’s been screaming at her aides and her poor boyfriend 24/7 since she got from that trip like 2 weeks ago and she still can’t shut up about it.
Yes. We should totally have an emotional teen girl in the White House. Or the Senate. Even the House really.
There is no crying in politics @AOC. NO ONE with a brain who watched your performance believes you know anything about foreign policy or history. https://t.co/ATB6ZhmUDS
I don’t think she’s holding back tears here, but the immaturity of this cope is off the charts. Like – I was waiting for her to say “neener neener” at the end of this. https://t.co/ojPhjrZlOI
▶️LINK TO FULL AUDIO BOOK:
A Treatise of Earthly-mindedness – Jeremiah Burroughs
00:00:00 The Text Opened
00:08:15 Earthly-mindedness discovered in Nine particulars
00:41:11 Fourteen Evils of Earthly-mindedness
01:50:04 Six things may be wrought in a man, and yet Earthly minded and Nine Convincements of Earthly-mindedness
02:17:09 Seven Reasons of mens Earthly-mindedness
02:24:56 Eleven Considerations to take off mens’ hearts from Earthly-mindedness
02:50:19 Five Directions how to get our hearts freed from Earthly-mindedness
Jeremiah Burroughs (sometimes Burroughes; c. 1600 – London, November 13, 1646) was an English Congregationalist and a well-known Puritan preacher.
Burroughs studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and was graduated M.A. in 1624,[1] but left the university because of non-conformity. He was assistant to Edmund Calamy at Bury St. Edmunds, and in 1631 became rector of Tivetshall, Norfolk. He was suspended for non-conformity in 1636 and soon afterward deprived, he went to Rotterdam (1637) and became “teacher” of the English church there. He returned to England in 1641 and served as preacher at Stepney and Cripplegate, London. He was a member of the Westminster Assembly and one of the few who opposed the Presbyterian majority. While one of the most distinguished of the English Independents, he was one of the most moderate, acting consistently in accordance with the motto on his study door (in Latin and Greek): “Opinionum varietas et opinantium unitas non sunt ασυστατα” (“Difference of belief and unity of believers are not inconsistent”).
Five Directions how to get our Hearts Freed from Earthly-mindedness – Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs
We live in a lowest common denominator society. For the last several decades, virtually every major institution in our society has become less civilized, and that is because our entire population has become less civilized. 20 years ago, a film entitled “Idiocracy” was released. It was about an average American that was selected for “a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten and left to awaken to a future so incredibly moronic that he’s easily the most intelligent person alive”. It was an incredibly stupid movie, but the truth is that we are living it right now. Did you see the Super Bowl halftime show? The FCC has ruled that it didn’t violate any federal decency regulations. Of course we might as well not have any decency regulations at all, because our television shows and our movies are filled with some of the raunchiest material imaginable and nobody ever seems to get in trouble for it. Of course that is only part of the equation. Most of the “programming” that we constantly consume also seems to be specifically designed for people of extremely low intelligence. Sadly, this is not a coincidence. It has been said that art imitates life, and that is certainly accurate in this case.
In the “dumbed-down” environment that we find ourselves in today, it should be no surprise that “nude cruises” have been surging in popularity…
Imagine coming home from your next cruise with no tan lines.
Swimsuits are standard attire on many cruise ships, but some voyages don’t even require those. Nude cruises allow travelers to sail the high seas au naturel – and pack light. The American Association for Nude Recreation promotes the cruises as “a unique way to experience nude recreation, offering members options beyond traditional resort or club settings,” president Linda Weber told USA TODAY.
While the dress code might be non-restrictive, it doesn’t mean the sailings are a free-for-all on board; there is some etiquette that passengers should be familiar with before boarding.
While our society falls apart all around us, Americans are flocking to cruises that are filled with naked people.
What does that say about us?
Let me give you another example of what I am talking about.
A 20-year-old woman from Calif0rnia left her children in an extremely hot car while she got lip and butt injections. By the time she was done with the procedures, her 1-year-old son had died…
A 20-year-old California mom was found guilty Wednesday in the death of her 1-year-old son, after reportedly leaving him in a sweltering car to receive lip and butt injections last June.
Maya Hernandez took a plea deal in the child endangerment case, ultimately dropping her first-degree murder charge in exchange for involuntary manslaughter.
On June 29, Bakersfield officers arrested and charged Hernandez after finding two young children left unattended in a vehicle for over two hours, according to a police report posted on a GoFundMe page. Authorities said the mother left the children unattended to undergo a cosmetic procedure inside a nearby medical spa.
What was she thinking?
In that case, it doesn’t appear that she intended to harm her children.
But in another case in New Mexico, a 38-year-old woman purposely killed her newborn child in a portable toilet…
A New Mexico woman is facing charges after she allegedly gave birth in a portable toilet and then killed the newborn by drowning them in the holding tank.
Sonia Cristal Jimenez, 38, arrived at Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces at around 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 7, when staff said she appeared as if she had just given birth, but she had no baby with her, Las Cruces Police said in a press release.
Hospital staff then notified police about the unusual encounter.
She didn’t want the baby, and so she killed it.
As a society, we have so little respect for life because we have been trained to have so little respect for life.
A mum and her ex-boyfriend have been accused of killing her three-year-old son in order to “make room for a child that the two of them could have together”.
Little Matthew Maison was found dead in the bed of his home in Port Huron Township, Michigan, by his babysitters on February 18, 2018. His mum, Amanda Maison, and Maurice Houle, who was her boyfriend at the time of Matthew’s death, were arrested in connection with the killing. An autopsy showed that Matthew had died from blunt force trauma injuries and possible suffocation.
The ex-couple allegedly admitted to abusing the young boy when they were arrested, prosecutors have previously said. Maison, 33, has pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree homicide in relation to her son’s death, admitting as she appeared in court to enter her plea on November 5 that she abused Matthew.
These are not isolated incidents.
Every day there are even more signs that our society is rapidly degenerating.
Yes, we possess more advanced technology than previous generations, but in many ways that advanced technology is making things even worse.
For example, all over the country women are “marrying” AI husbands. When an older version of ChatGPT was recently retired, it resulted in the “death” of one woman’s AI husband, and now she is in mourning…
A woman has been left in tears over the ‘death’ of her AI husband, after an old model of ChatGPT was retired this week – as she joins a slew of others ‘mourning’ their non-existent lovers’ deletion.
Speaking to the BBC, Rae (not her real name), who is based in Michigan, laid bare the heartbreak of saying goodbye to her virtual partner Barry, who she began chatting to last year – after going through divorce.
Initially, she turned to artificial intelligence for advice on self-improvement with things like skincare and workouts – but what first began as a ‘fantasy’ turned into real feelings, and they were ‘married’ within weeks.
Some surveys have shown that nearly 30 percent of Americans have engaged in a romantic relationship with an AI chatbot.
That is not a sign of an emotionally healthy society.
And even as we were all expressing outrage about the Epstein files, “sex dolls that look like kids” were being advertised on Facebook…
Sickening sex dolls that look like kids are being advertised for sale on Facebook.
A group of websites touting small models with overtly childlike features have published over 1,300 ads on the social media platform. They are alarmingly realistic in appearance and many ads use photos in sexualised poses, some holding balloons or teddy bears. The National Crime Agency warns the creepy imports “pose a significant risk to children”. And a former cop told us: “Anyone who buys one of these dolls should be a person of interest to the police.”
Thankfully, the offending ads were eventually taken down.
But this is the society that we live in now.
It is sick.
And even when people are arrested for criminal behavior, they are often dumped right back into the streets.
Needless to say, that can have tragic consequences.
In fact, one repeat offender in Seattle that had been arrested over and over again viciously attacked a 75-year-old woman with “a wooden board with nails in it”…
An elderly woman was savagely attacked in broad daylight by a man wielding a wooden board with nails in it.
Jeanette Marken, 75, was left permanently blinded in her right eye after being hit in the face with the makeshift weapon in Seattle, allegedly at the hands of repeat offender Fale Vaigalepa Pea, 42.
Family members told KOMO that a screw sticking out of the board gouged out Marken’s eye, and after several surgeries she was told she will not recover her eyesight in the eye.
One police officer that is very familiar with Fale Vaigalepa Pea referred to him as “a regular”…
‘He’s a regular. He usually punches,’ the officer responds.
‘I guess today he decided to escalate from his usual.’
According to KOMO, Pea’s string of offenses dates back to 2011, when he stabbed two people at a party.
They have been dumping this guy back into the streets for well over a decade.
This sort of thing happens day in and day out in major cities all over the nation.
What would our founders think if they could see us today?
We will soon be celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country, and we are literally committing societal suicide. This is something that Abraham Lincoln once warned was a real possibility…
As the country approaches its 250th anniversary, we should remember Abraham Lincoln’s remark that no external enemy could by force take a drink from the Ohio River. “If destruction be our lot,” he said, “we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
But if we make a choice to renounce what we have become and start embracing the values that early Americans held so dear, we could turn the ship in another direction.
Bill Clinton looks worried at the second Trump-Hillary debate after his accusers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, and Juanita Broaddrick were invited to the debate by Donald Trump as his personal guests.
The official GOP X account poked fun at Democrats after their Presidents Day post left out one of their most popular presidents.
On their official X account, the Democrats shared the message, “We honor their service to our country.” Happy Presidents’ Day.”
The message was accompanied by a photo collage that includes Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.
Hillary was also mocked with the resharing of her infamous October 26, 2016, tweet, which featured a picture of herself as a young girl with the words, “Happy Birthday to this future president,” just days before Donald Trump’s historic victory.
The effort to shape public opinion on the political left has crossed from spin into something far more reckless.
On the floor of the United States Senate, Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin displayed an AI-generated image that he claimed depicted the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti. The image was not authentic, contained obvious visual flaws, and misrepresented key facts about the agencies involved. Yet it was presented as evidence in a high-profile speech meant to inflame emotion and harden opinion.
This was not a minor misstatement or an honest error. It was a calculated use of fabricated imagery to frame a political argument, knowing that most viewers would never question what they were shown.
That same instinct to manage perception rather than present reality showed when CNN rigged a “town hall” meeting. A recent Minnesota town hall promoted as a public forum was anything but organic. Critics documented how CNN carefully recruited participants and questioners to tilt the conversation in one ideological direction, heavily favoring left-leaning activists and donors.
Town halls are supposed to reflect the voice of a community. When they are stage-managed to produce a preferred outcome, they become political theater masquerading as journalism. This kind of manipulation deepens public distrust and reinforces the belief that major media organizations are no longer committed to fairness, balance, or transparency.
When the fix is in before the first question is asked, the audience isn’t being informed — it’s being guided.
Taken together, these incidents point to a broader pattern. When facts threaten the narrative, the narrative takes precedence.
Artificial images, curated audiences, selective framing — these are tools of persuasion, not truth-seeking. The danger isn’t simply that falsehoods are told. It’s that repetition normalizes them. Over time, people stop asking whether something is accurate and start asking whether it advances their side. That erosion of shared reality is how societies lose the ability to reason together.
Once truth becomes optional, outrage becomes currency, and deception becomes strategy.
The long-term cost is measured not just in bad policy but in a public that no longer trusts institutions meant to serve it.
Proverbs 14:25 says, “A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.”
Deception always carries consequences, even when it feels politically expedient. It corrodes credibility, poisons civic discourse, and leaves people vulnerable to manipulation.
Once these narratives are created, an entire media machine, including social media, news networks, wire services, and others jump in and promote the lie using just enough truth to make the lie believable. And while some will eventually see through the tactics, many won’t.
Trouble is, a huge number of people lack discernment and believe these lies, which is, say it with me… Stupidocrisy.
The folks at Fox News Channel have decided to spend day after day covering the alleged abduction of Nancie Guthrie, the mother of anti-Trump media personality Savannah Guthrie, and its constant, tiresome coverage of the subject, which isn’t really national news, has angered and alienated a notable portion of the Fox News viewership base, which got very annoyed online over the coverage FNC is devoting to the family life of an anti-Trump personality.
The online eruption from MAGA over what Fox News Channel has been up to came thanks to a tweet from FNC host Jesse Watters on February 5. Posting a clip from his show in which he was commenting yet again on the alleged abduction of Nancie Guthrie, the mother of anti-Trump media personality Savannah Guthrie.
Captioning the video with a summary of the situation on X in an utterly absurd post, Watters said, “ BREAKING: The alleged kidnapping case grows MORE CONFUSING by the hour There is STILL NO proof of life Blood trails from the house to the driveway Security cameras were DISABLED ”
Continuing with more brain rot commentary on the alleged abduction, Watters then said, “If this was about money… You don’t go to TMZ You don’t make it NATIONAL Investigators are now focused on proof of life Another deadline is approaching Nothing adds up. Praying she’s alive ”
Commenters were generally annoyed with the wall to wall covereage in which Fox News has engaged during this whole incident. One commenter on Watters’s post, for example, wrote, “Fox News is unwatchable the past 2 days, wall to wall coverage about this. Meanwhile, normal citizens go missing daily with no coverage, elites, but not others, got it. ”
Similarly, another commenter noted that this situation is local news at best, not something for FNC and Watters and Fox News to spend all day, every day on. That commenter said, “Can’t believe Jesse has wasted a full show yesterday on this and most of today. If this was not tied to a TV personality, it would barely make the local news. It’s insane how much ‘national’ time is spent on this ‘local’ issue.”
Still another said, making much the same point about how absurd the whole spectacle has gotten with FNC covering it constantly, “It’s like there is nothing else to report on. I think last night was 3 solid hours of just this! Why?!!! It’s not of national interest. It’s like Baby in the Well 5.0 Give it a rest!”
And yet another commenter who chimed in noted that the constant coverage Fox News was devoting to a subject that has no national importance and, in any case, involved a notoriously anti-Trump media hack about whom the supposedly conservative press shouldn’t really care, saying, “Why is @FoxNews spending 24/7 on this topic for a family that hates Trump, lies about him and bashes him every day. Is Trump gonna send the head of the FBI to search for victims of regular people? Would CNN do this if this was in the other side? Nope.”
Agreeing with that perspective, a commenter on the comment said that even CNN is less bad right now that Fox News, which is saying alot, writing, “I actually switched to CNN to see if they were doing 24/7 coverage and they were reporting news. It hurt to watch CNN, but it was a needed break from ridiculous Fox News.”
Doctors who trans minors found guilty of malpractice. The end of mass market paperbacks. And designer babies via IVF.
Doctors Who Trans Minors Found Guilty of Malpractice
Last summer, I said this in a blog post about physicians who do sex-change treatments on minors: “Some malpractice suits against doctors who sterilized and mutilated children would go a long way to ending these practices once and for all.” That has started to happen.
A jury in New York state has awarded a 22-year-old girl $2 million in a malpractice judgment against her psychologist who recommended “gender transition” and a plastic surgeon who gave her a double mastectomy when she was 16.
Her mother resisted giving consent, but the two doctors manipulated her by saying that if she didn’t, her daughter would likely commit suicide (“Would you rather have a dead daughter or a live son?”), an emotional blackmail that has been thoroughly discredited.
Later, when the gender dysphoria faded, as it does 80% of the time, the girl no longer wanted to be a boy, but the doctors had permanently mutilated her. The court agreed that the doctors rushed the girl into this treatment, without considering the other psychological factors in her distress.
This is the first malpractice finding against doctors for their “gender re-assignment” treatments for minors. It will not be the last. Some 27 similar lawsuits have already been filed. The monetary win for “de-transitioners” will encourage many more. Some 1,000 children have been “transitioned” every year
Another promising sign is that United States medical associations, which used to be all-in for gender reassignment for children and were cited as authorities to justify the practice, are changing their tune. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has just come out with a statement urging its members not to perform gender-reassignment surgery on minors.
And the biggest offender, the American Medical Association (AMA), has toned down its previously positive advice. “The evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement,” says the new the AMA statement, while also saying that it “agrees” with the ASPS “that surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood.” Actually, there is lots of evidence–including massive European studies that the plastic surgeons drew on–that these “interventions” are bad medicine.
Once malpractice insurance premiums shoot up–or are denied altogether–for doctors who sterilize and mutilate children, the treatments will come to a quick stop. They will fade into medical history like bloodletting, lobotomies, eugenic hysterectomies, opium tonics for children, medical experimentation on black people, and other “how-could-they-have-thought-that-was- right” practices.
The End of Mass Market Paperbacks
The publishing industry is phasing out mass market paperbacks, those small, cheaply printed editions with the attention-grabbing covers sold at newsstands, drug stores, and other retailers that weren’t bookstores.
“Trade paperbacks,” the size of hard-bound books but with a paper cover, will still be available. But not the inexpensive 4.25” × 6.87” titles, some of which sold in the millions.
From the late 1960s through the mid 1990s, the mass market paperback was the leading format in the publishing industry. According to Publishers Weekly, in 1979, mass market paperbacks sold 387 million copies, with hardcovers selling 82 million and trade paperbacks selling 59 million. But by 2004, that number dropped to 131 million, and by 2024, it was only 21 million.
Now Readerlink, the nation’s largest book distributor, has announced that it will no longer carry mass market paperbacks, dooming the format. E-books and audio books have mostly taken their place. According to 2024 data from the Association of American Publishers, the market share of books sold was 37.2% for hardcovers, 33.8% for trade paperbacks, 1.3% for mass market paperbacks, 10.3% for e-books, and 11.3% for digital audio books.
The demise of the mass market paperback saddens me. Yes, lots of these were “trashy paperbacks,” as they were affectionally called. They were mostly “genre” books: science fiction, crime novels, romances, thrillers, westerns. Many of these were formulaic and predictable, simply ringing the changes on the genre’s conventions. But some of them were really good: Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, were only a few of the great Sci-Fi authors who made their careers with mass-market paperbacks. Some writers who ascended into the literary pantheon of hard-cover and trade books–Elmore Leonard, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler–got their start with novels with lurid covers sold in drug stores.
I read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in its mass paperback edition. Actually, most of the books I read were in this format, since the small town I grew up in had no bookstores, but lots of paperback racks with titles I could afford with my Dairy Queen salary. By the time I grew up, publishers like Bantam and Penguin were selling mass market editions of classic literature, which became staples of my student and teaching years.
I wonder now what impact the end of paperbacks will have, not only on Sci-Fi and other genre fiction, but on the habit of reading. The Publishers Weekly article quotes former Bantam executive Esther Margolis: “I believe that mass market paperbacks democratized America. . . .Books and reading became popular in a way never before seen. I think how lucky I was to be part of its explosive growth.”
Designer Babies via IVF
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) has crossed the line into eugenics. Already, IVF companies use genetic screening to test embryos for the likelihood of various diseases. Now a company has expanded that screening to allow customers to select an embryo on the basis of his or her future appearance, IQ, proclivity for sports, and other qualities of a “designer baby.” The embryos that don’t measure up to those consumer standards are “discarded” as medical waste.
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. . . .
To shed light on the “why” behind the tool, company founder Kian Sadeghi described parents’ desires for their children: “They want us to, you know, play sports and they want us to go to the best school. They want us to be well educated. They want us to thrive. Life, I think, as a parent doesn’t just stop at ‘I want my child to be healthy,’” Sadeghi told CBS News in December. . . .
Once you pick your “best baby” (Nucleus’ own marketing phrase), the rest of your embryonic-stage babies are discarded like trash, as is standard in IVF practice. This itself is objectively evil and dystopian. “Pick your baby” then is an Orwellian euphemism for selecting the genetically “fit” and killing the rest of your offspring.
An article on the subject in Futurism points out the lack of evidence that genetic tests can predict traits such as height, much less complicated characteristics such as intelligence. So parents swept up by the hype of Nucleus IVF+ are basically picking their “best baby” and killing the rest of their offspring for nothing.
A former Fox News contributor and host of “The Dennis Michael Lynch Show” is asking tough questions about the coverage of Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapping.
Dennis Michael Lynch shared his thoughts on social media.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of it. What I’m talking about is the headline every minute of the day, whether it is on television, newspaper, a website, or social media, about Savannah Guthrie and her missing 84-year-old mother,” Lynch said.
“Now, don’t get me wrong. My heart aches for anybody who is abducted, especially an 84-year-old who needs her medication. I hope she’s found yesterday But the world doesn’t stop spinning because some celebrity television host of a far-left program that runs in the morning has her mother missing.I want to give you some statistics. You’d never know about it because it’s never covered like Savannah’s mother’s covered.”
“Thousands of children every single day are reported missing.”
“Hundreds every single day are abducted by family members or people they know.”
“And about one every day every other day, depending on the month, is abducted by a stranger.”
We never hear about it. And if we do hear about it, we just hear about it like on the fifth or sixth story. It’s a quick blurb, and we never hear about it again unless the person’s found dead. And what a shame that is.”
“So my issue is, why is this woman getting so much attention, and the other people who go through this thing, they’re completely blown off? And I mean, blown off. You know, and I know, that they probably don’t even get the best detective in the precinct.”
“Now, Fox News this morning puts it on the headline at the very top, a picture of the sheriff down in Tucson who’s leading this whole investigation. He was at a basketball game. Somebody took a picture of him, and it was based on how dare he be here at a basketball game while the Guthries are trying to find their mother.”
“First of all, is the guy supposed to work 24/7? Does he work exclusively for the Guthries? Is he a private investigator or is he an elected sheriff? And is he not supposed to stop to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, take a shower, can’t go to a basketball game to just unwind the amount of stress that’s on this man? And because he’s there, does that mean that nobody else is looking into things?”
“Let me tell you this. You know and I know that if we had the means, financial means that Savannah Guthrie had, I wouldn’t be waiting on some sheriff. I would be having every top detective and private investigator in the country working on this 24/7.”
“So my heart aches for the 84-year-old, but I’ll tell you what, if we’re going to give her that amount of time because her daughter is a celebrity, let’s give it to everybody.”
“Otherwise, this is why people can’t stand celebrities, they can’t stand the members of Congress, and they absolutely despise the media.”
Watch:
Savannah Guthrie & family get special treatment? EACH DAY: Thousands of kids go missing, hundreds are abducted by a family member, 1 is kidnapped by a stranger, yet we never hear about it /there’s no national concern.I hope she’s found, but the special treatment is tiresome. pic.twitter.com/clSIiMblPP
Screenshot of Michelle Obama during her latest podcast appearance.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama has urged people to be “mindful” when buying from white-owned clothing brands.
During a recent interview clip circulating on social media, Obama says she actively tries to buy clothes from people of “color” in order to “make it a point.”
“If I hear of someone whose fashion that I like, and I know that they’re a person of color, I try to make it a point, but the clothes have to be available.”
“You know, I think we can all do some work to think about that balance in our wardrobes, you know.”
“What does our closet look like and who’s in it? Who are we supporting in it? You know, and I think if you have the money to buy Chanel, then you have the money to buy everybody.”
“And so let us be mindful, I think would be my advice.”
Michelle Obama says she is mindful to try to avoid white-owned brands and others also should be pic.twitter.com/5MqY5gaxUv
The suggestion is just one of numerous racially charged comments by Michelle Obama over recent years.
Last year, she claimed that Americans did not show her and her family “grace” because of their skin color, despite the fact her husband was elected in a landslide.
“You can’t afford to get anything wrong because you didn’t get the—at least until the country came to know us,” she said in an interview with NBC last October.
“We didn’t get the grace that I think some other families have gotten.”
Michelle Obama complains: “We didn’t get the grace that I think some other (first) families have gotten.” pic.twitter.com/wgLY3TZqFD
Despite being repeatedly touted as a future presidential candidate, Obama recently put an end to that speculation on the grounds that Americans simply aren’t ready for a woman to lead the country.
“As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” she said during an appearance at Brooklyn Academy of Music.
“That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not.”
“You know, we’ve got a lot of growing up to do,” she continued. “And there’s still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman, and we saw it.”
One of the keys to being successful in life is a strong work ethic. No matter where you find yourself, if you are willing to work hard you are more likely to get ahead. This is something that I have studied for many years. Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Jerry Rice were all born with physical gifts, but so were countless others. The primary reason why Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Jerry Rice are now considered to be some of the greatest athletes of all-time is because they simply worked harder than everyone else. When Tom Brady came out of college, he didn’t have a gun for an arm and he was very slow. He was not a highly regarded prospect, and so he was drafted in the sixth round of the NFL draft. But once he got into the league, he worked like mad, and eventually he won seven Super Bowls. If he had not been willing to work extremely hard, he could have easily faded into obscurity without ever accomplishing much of anything.
Have you noticed that a lot of young people today don’t want to work hard?
There are a lot of employers that specifically avoid hiring those that are fresh out of college because they have a reputation for being lazy.
Of course the reason why they are not inclined to work hard is because they have never been trained to work hard.
If kids do not learn self-discipline when they are young, they are not likely to learn it as adults.
That is why it is vital to create a structure that makes self-discipline a part of their normal routine.
Recently, a man named Carol Randolph Jr. shared a chores list that he was expected to complete as an 8-year-old boy in the early 1990s…
A chore list from a Philadelphia household in the early 90s has been praised by users on social media.
The list, posted on Threads by Carl Randolph Jr., (@fatcarl_sp) lays out daily, weekly and monthly expectations that began when he was just 8 years old.
His father, Carl Randolph Sr. wrote instructions for making the bed, completing homework, doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms and kitchens, vacuuming, wiping down furniture, and even washing down the exterior of the house with a hose, weather permitting.
Carl Randolph Sr. was a single father, and so having a very strict routine was very important.
And by having all of the household tasks on a regular schedule, it ensured that everything ultimately got done…
What percentage of parents have a list of chores this extensive today?
Needless to say, that number would be really, really small.
So where did Carl Randolph Sr. get his work ethic?
Before school, Carl Jr. was expected to make his bed, eat breakfast, check homework for “neatness and completeness” and be out the door before 6:50 a.m. In the comments, he clarified that his father was in the Navy.
Dishes could not be left in the sink. Trash had to be taken out and liners replaced. Even leisure time was conditional—earned once obligations were met. The tone is firm but not punitive, focused less on control and more on preparation.
“We had fun doing these duties, but he didn’t play about getting business done or breaking rules,” Carl Jr. said.
In those days, virtually anyone that served in the U.S. military was going to develop a very strong sense of self-discipline.
Of course much has changed since that time.
We have gotten soft as a society, and our system of education is completely failing our young people.
An 11-year-old boy faces homicide charges after shooting and killing his father in Perry County, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
WGAL News 8 obtained court documents that reveal new details about what happened the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 13, in Duncannon Borough.
Officers responded to a home on South Market Street around 3:20 a.m. for an “unresponsive male” and found Douglas Dietz, 42, dead from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the documents.
I haven’t even told you the worst part yet.
It appears that he shot his own father to death because his Nintendo Switch had been taken away…
Clayton said he found the key in his father’s drawer and unlocked the safe in an attempt to find his Nintendo Switch, which was previously taken away from him, according to the documents.
Clayton admitted to “removing the gun from the safe, loading bullets into it and walking over to his father’s side of the bed,” the affidavit stated. “He pulled back the hammer and fired the gun at his father.”
We have raised an entire generation of ultra-coddled young people that are completely addicted to entertainment and that have never learned to fend for themselves.
As a result, one out of every five 30-year-old men in the United States still lives at home…
This is during a time of acute anxiety and curiosity about young men in America. Much ink has been spilled about their loneliness, their jawlines, their physical fitness and about being “performative males.” The prolific podcaster Scott Galloway’s book “Notes on Being a Man” jumped to No. 1 on the New York Times advice bestseller list when it was published in November and sparked fresh discussion about the “masculinity crisis.” (On “Today,” Savannah Guthrie asked Galloway why “this particular cohort — young men — have fallen so far so fast” as an infographic citing Galloway’s book noted that 1 in 5 30-year-old men still live at home.)
We wouldn’t be in this mess if we had taught our young people the value of hard work.
When I was born, it was very common for a 25-year-old man to already be married and own a home.
Today, it is extremely rare to find a 25-year-old man that is both married and a homeowner.
There was a time when Americans were known for their work ethic.
Sadly, those of us that have been around long enough to have experienced that are getting older with each passing day.
I Don’t Even … What do we do with a story like this? Mattel has introduced a new Barbie doll to their line. It’s an autistic Barbie, intended to “celebrate diversity.” There are already Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, and dolls with vitiligo. But things like “blind” and “autism” aren’t things we see, exactly, and these dolls don’t do anything, so if it’s not a visible trait, how does a doll help? I understand that everyone needs respect, but is a Barbie doll the best way to encourage it? To me, it feels more like trivializing it. (And it’s ironic since Barbie historically excluded almost everyone “but the beautiful” as defined by … Barbie.)
Iranian Freedom Iranians have been protesting their government loudly for two weeks now. They’re protesting economic decline and calling for a regime change and the return of Reza Pahlavi. So, as any civilized nation would do … Iran is killing protesters by the hundreds. Pahlavi is the crown prince of the last shah, but he’s not his father. He’s not in favor of “Monarchy 2.0.” He wants democracy for Iran. Clearly the current government is not in favor of Pahlavi … or their own people.
The Double Standard New York Attorney General Letitia James settled with a Jewish group she accused of trying to intimidate pro-Palestinian activists. Her “settlement” was to threaten them with a $50,000 penalty. “New York will not tolerate organizations that use fear, violence and intimidation to silence free expression or target people because of who they are,” she said … you know … like the pro-Palestinian protesters do by definition. Talk about double standards.
Butt Heads California Governor Newsom is butting heads with Louisiana who is trying to get a doctor extradited for mailing illegal abortion drugs to a patient in Louisiana. Newsom says, “No!” He’s standing firm on being allowed to kill babies and will refuse to respect other states’ laws. Because killing babies is considered “reproductive health care services.” I can only imagine what the rest of their “health care” looks like when killing patients is classified as “health care services.”
Your Best Source for Fake News As Trump threatens to annex Greenland (actual story), NATO is asking the U.S. for emergency funding to defend Greenland from the U.S. It doesn’t help that new recruitment ads say, “Visit lovely Greenland.” And, with the Supreme Court hearing a case on transgender athletes (actual story), SCOTUS has asked a five-year-old to explain the difference between boys and girls. Helpful … unless, of course, the five-year-old has already been inculcated by the latest gender insanity.
What she found was that the money had gone to a number of non-profit organizations, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with disaster recovery.
Republicans who control the House Judiciary Committee investigated and have just released their findings. It’s not good.
House Republicans release report on FireAid fund distribution
Organizers of last January’s FireAid benefit concert are once again facing accusations that the $100 million in donations did not directly help victims of the Los Angeles fires, after House Republicans published findings from their investigation on Tuesday.
Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), who helped launch the investigation, claimed the “report highlights where the funds were not used in the way that the donors would likely have wanted them to be used.”
In its report, the House Judiciary Committee stated money went to “left-leaning pet projects, illegal aliens, and the administrative costs related to running non-profit organizations.”
“You had examples of funds used for voter outreach efforts, towards political advocacy groups, towards podcasters, fungus planting, those examples are pretty troubling,” Kiley said. “I do want to be clear, there were many organizations that got funds, nonprofits that are certainly very worthy nonprofits.”
FireAid organizers denied the claims made in the report. They stood by their original promise that all money raised during the concert would go to well-known, vetted nonprofits serving residents of Altadena, Pasadena, Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
The report is broken down into sections that include the following headings:
– $100,000 of FireAid donations went to promote voter participation.
– $550,000 of FireAid donations went to groups involved in political advocacy.
– An unknown amount of money from FireAid donations went towards illegal aliens.
– $100,000 in FireAid donations was sent to podcasters.
– Over $500,000 of FireAid donations were used to pay bonuses, salaries, and consultants for non-profit organizations.
This is an excerpt from the report’s conclusion:
FireAid advertised that all donations raised during its benefit concert would go directly to victims of the California wildfires. Unfortunately, this was not the case.55 Instead, money went towards left-leaning pet projects, illegal aliens, and the administrative costs related to running non-profit organizations. FireAid still has $25 million in donated funds to disperse.56 It is critical that the remaining money—donations intended to help Californians in need—be allocated directly to victims of the California wildfires.
Will the actual victims of the fires ever see any of this money that was raised in their names? They are certainly not getting any help rebuilding from the political leadership in California.
The French far left burns the U.S. flag in protest of the arrest of Venezuela’s socialist dictator, while Venezuelans celebrate freedom. Screenshot from Twitter.
In France, the far left is burning the American flag, while in New York socialists and communists are demanding the release of Nicolás Maduro. Meanwhile, Venezuelans around the world are celebrating the end of life under socialism. Zohran Mamdani is promising to govern New York under socialism, a system which can only fail to improve the lives of the average person. Venezuela is a perfect example.
Venezuela was once one of the richest countries in Latin America. After more than two decades of socialism, 82 percent of Venezuelans live in poverty, including 53 percent in extreme poverty. More than 94 percent of the population lacks sufficient income to purchase basic goods and services. As of May 2024, the minimum monthly wage is $3.56, and the average monthly salary is about $100, while the basic monthly food basket costs roughly $500. The Gini inequality coefficient has reached 0.603, making Venezuela one of the most unequal societies in the world.
Eighty-two percent of Venezuelans suffer from food insecurity, and 17 percent of children under five were malnourished as of 2018. Because of misguided socialist policies, including collectivization and nationalization, along with the inability to purchase necessary chemicals and fertilizers on the global market, food production fell by 60 percent between 2014 and 2018. While the country cannot produce enough food domestically, most people also lack the income to purchase imported food. As a result, 84 percent of basic food basket items are unavailable in supermarkets.
The healthcare system has collapsed, with both maternal and infant mortality increasing by more than 30 percent since 2015. The maternal mortality rate stands at 98.87 deaths per 100,000 live births, far above the UN target of fewer than 70. Previously eradicated or controlled diseases have returned. Malaria cases rose from only 106 in 2008 to 1.3 million confirmed cases by 2018. Diphtheria, measles, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and dengue have returned. Seventy-nine percent of hospitals lack running water, and 14 percent of intensive care units have shut down. Most laboratory services and hospital nutrition programs operate only intermittently or are completely inoperative.
Because of extremely low pay and the high cost of living, roughly half of the country’s doctors have fled Venezuela. An estimated 70 percent of medical and nursing staff have abandoned their positions in search of better-paying work so their families can survive.
Rolling blackouts and intermittent water supply affect daily life. Forty percent of school-aged children experience irregular attendance due to teacher strikes, staff shortages, lack of food, and failures in electricity, water, and transport services.
Along with economic ruin, socialism imposed repressive social controls. Venezuela ranked 156th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2024 World Press Freedom Index. The government blocked websites, social media platforms, and foreign news outlets, and shut down at least 115 media organizations across print, radio, and television. So-called anti-hate laws, carrying prison sentences of up to 20 years, have been used to silence journalists and activists. Additional anti-fascism, anti-terrorism, cybercrime, and NGO surveillance laws created a rapid and comprehensive legal machinery for repression.
The government built a sweeping surveillance apparatus that collects data on large segments of the population. State-directed disinformation campaigns use paid troll accounts and fake websites to smear journalists and activists. Venezuelans have been detained simply for filming events on the street or for comments made in WhatsApp groups, creating widespread fear of discussing political or social issues online.
As of September 2024, Venezuela held 1,793 political prisoners, the highest number recorded in the 21st century. Following the July 2024 election, approximately 1,400 people were detained for protesting or expressing dissent, bringing the post-election total to 1,659 detainees, including children. Most were charged with terrorism and remain imprisoned without sentencing.
President Maduro called Roman Catholic bishops “devils in cassocks” in 2021. Diosdado Cabello declared the Catholic Church is a “political party.” Arbitrary arrests of religious leaders by the Bolivarian National Guard have been documented. Raids on places of worship and assaults on Catholic priests by intolerant citizens have occurred. The government canceled passports of religious leaders.
The government created the “Good Pastor Bonus” program offering financial incentives to pro-Maduro pastors, 495 bolivars monthly, equivalent to $14. The “My Well-Equipped Church” program provides equipment and funds only to select Protestant pastors aligned with the regime. The government withdrew financial support from Catholic educational institutions in retaliation for Church criticism.
Aid to the Church in Need classified Venezuela as a country in “aggravated discrimination” in religious matters in 2023. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom identified Venezuela as part of an “authoritarian triad” of religious persecution alongside Cuba and Nicaragua.
When Venezuelans protested the regime, they were met with lethal force. Across multiple waves of demonstrations since 2014, security forces and pro-government armed gangs repeatedly fired on protesters, killing hundreds and arresting thousands. Independent investigations documented arbitrary detentions, torture, and abuse, while those responsible were almost never prosecuted.
Pro-government colectivos operated with impunity, acting as armed enforcers of the state. Elections widely condemned as fraudulent triggered further crackdowns, including killings that human rights groups described as possible extrajudicial executions. A decade later, international bodies concluded that repression, violence, and total impunity had become systemic tools of governance in Venezuela.
Far from the workers’ paradise that was promised, Venezuela became a nightmare the population is eager to leave behind. There is trepidation and fear about what comes next. However, with Maduro removed, hope has emerged among the roughly eight million Venezuelans who have fled the country since 2014 that they may be able to return and help rebuild their nation.
Independent journalist Nick Shirley took over the news cycle and shamed legacy media with his explosive 42-minute video, which uncovered over $110 million in alleged taxpayer-funded fraud at Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota. He has already garnered over 132 million views of his work.
Exposing the truth has put Shirley in danger. He revealed he’s receiving death threats and warnings that he’ll be “Kirked,” a sinister reference to being assassinated, following his documentation of empty daycares raking in millions while showing no signs of actual childcare.
NEW: @nickshirleyy says people telling him he’ll get “KIRKED” after viral Somali fraud video
Legacy media seems more interested in investigating and attacking Shirley than they do exposing the fraud perpetuated against American taxpayers.
CNN’s Whitney Wild attempted to downplay Shirley’s explosive findings, but instead was utterly annihilated.
Wild argued that federal authorities had already issued over 80 indictments in related cases, suggesting the matter was under control and had been ongoing for years.
“Why did I show up one day in Minnesota, go to all these daycares with no children, receiving millions of dollars? We uncovered nearly $110 million in fraud in one day,” Shirley fired back.
He noted the media’s posturing on X sharing, “Mainstream media is more mad at me then they are at the FACT that billions of YOUR dollars are being used for fraudulent business.”
“I am not an enemy of the people, they are.”
“I’m with you, they are against you.”
“Remember that.”
Mainstream media is more mad at me then they are at the FACT that billions of YOUR dollars are being used for fraudulent business
A New Year’s Eve celebration at Restaurant Martin in New York City, 1907. Library of Congress photo
I like to read old newspapers from the 1800s and early 1900s. Especially local ones. Their focus on the minutiae of life is charming to me. The notices of who visited who, who is sick, the price of potatoes, who sold their horse. But even more than that, those people could write well and had a large vocabulary. I especially enjoy reading their obituaries. The sendoffs from this world to the next are eloquent and emotional. They are so unlike today’s obituaries that are so fact-driven and dry.
Our local weekly paper has been in continuous operation since 1895. This is remarkable. Even more than that, many of the oldest newspaper editions have been preserved and digitized. It is these original images I like to read. The old time font, the ads for tonics and liquids sure to drive away the numerous listed ailments…all so amazing to look at from the vantage point of 130 years later.
I brought to my screen the 1895 newspapers looking for obits. I had an idea for a blog article. But like the squirrel I am, I soon jumped here and there to many other articles. The first papers that were preserved were from January 3, 1895, and I got involved in reading the New Year’s news and wishes. It was timely, seeing that I am in the same week between Christmas and New Year’s as that long ago paper, so I changed my focus to copy some of the more interesting published items from that time. This first one doesn’t have anything to do with New Years but I thought it was hilarious, both the incident itself and the paper’s response to it. Newspapers back were cheeky, let me tell you.
DECLINES TO SERVE. Mr. Wm. C. Berryman, who was recently appointed as a populist committeeman for Harrison district, requests us to announce in our columns, that he is not in politics at all, and that he will not accept the position, and further that he was appointed without his consent or authority. He said further on being interviewed that he was a democrat. We make this announcement for Mr. Berryman with pleasure and hope that he may never see fit to depart from the faith of his fathers. ~Danielsville Monitor, 1895.
My Note: Back then there were the political parties of the Republicans, the Democrats, and the Populists. Populists were new (1892) but suddenly very powerful. Democrats were the dominant party in Georgia at the time. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, “In 1892 Georgia politics was shaken by the arrival of the Populist Party. Led by the brilliant orator Thomas E. Watson this new party mainly appealed to white farmers, many of whom had been impoverished by debt and low cotton prices in the 1880s and 1890s. Populism, which directly challenged the dominance of the Democratic Party, threatened to split the white vote in Georgia.” (Source)
A very pretty custom was that of tasting the “cream of the well,” the first drink from spring or well on New Year’s morn. The first part of water drawn, the flower of the well,” insured positively the best husband in the parish to the water drawer.” ~Danielsville Monitor January 3, 1895.
“What a man is at 40 he is apt to remain. No amount of New Year’s resolves will help him who is not full of virtuous endeavor. Jan. 1 dawns brightly to the mind, but the succeeding days conclude dismally as to achievement. Nevertheless its recurrence must ever be pleasant. If it does not bring accomplishment, it at least brings hope, and hope nerves us to bear our burdens, to discharge our duties. We dearly love to think that the cares and troubles of the old year, which so largely spring from our temperament, will not invade the new one.” ~Danielsville Monitor, 1895
New Year’s Don’ts.
Don’t fail to receive New Year’s day with a smiling face. Don’t usher in that day by declaring you are growing old. Don’t sent word you are out because New Year’s calls are out of fashion. Don’t neglect to send a bonbon box to your best girl. Don’t receive an old friend gloomily on that day. Don’t trust to new 1895 and slander old 1894. Don’t fail to send New Year’s greetings to those far away. Don’t think you may meet your fate in 1895. Perhaps it will be better to miss him. Don’t be unfriendly. Do all the good you can, and don’t slander anybody. Don’t turn over too many new leaves for 1895. Don’t be unhappy about anything. Be a philosopher. Don’t deride the new year. Don’t make the day unhappy. Don’t lose your temper. Don’t fall in love. Don’t declare you hate men. Don’t celebrate too much.
————————- That is a long list of don’ts! Don’t fall in love?? Anyway, the reference to “New Year’s Calls” or in another article “Calling Day” was the custom of people to go about on New Year’s Day visiting. Since men were not working and women liked to keep up social ties, they took the opportunity to go all around and visit one another. But by 1895 this newspaper piece described the waning days of the custom-
Source, Library of Congress
Originally New Year’s was intended
not for a universal, miscellaneous calling day, without motive or pro- propriety, into which it ultimately degenerated. It was intended for a day when men who had been prevented during the year by business or any condition of circumstances from keeping up their friendship of acquaintance with women they liked or esteemed should pursue social atonement for apparent social neglect and renew their pleasant relations. The idea was excellent and commendable, as was the custom. Before this city grew to be such a Babylon the calls were agreeable, often delightful, to makers and receivers. But the city became too big, and the custom was grossly abused. Many men and women thought only of the number of calls, ignoring quality for quantity, and sometimes the scenes indoors, and outdoors waxed disreputable from overindulgence.”
LOL on calling this rural Georgia town in 1895 a ‘Babylon’. I guess every generation thinks it is the worst?
Carlton News, January 3, 1895 Danielsville Monitor
‘Xmas is over and I think it has been a week of quiet, pleasant enjoyment in our town. There has been nothing to mar the happiness of our people. The usual dinners, suppers, and sociables for young and old which has been immensely enjoyed by all, and the most enjoyable occurrence was the beautiful snow which visited us last Sunday evening and now comes the new year with its number of good resolution and pledges, which we hope to see complied with and feel confident that this year will be more prosperous, and happy than the past. We wish the Monitor a happy, prosperous New Year.
–It must have been a memorable holiday to one and all here in Georgia to receive snow!
Happy New Year, Danielsville Monitor, January 3, 1896
The old year, has passed away and the new year has been ushered in. We should now lay aside all our prejudices and little petty differences, and start the new year on a higher plain. All of our new resolutions should be carried out faithfully, and we should try to make this the most prosperous year of our lives. We are all one people and all of our common interests are the same, therefore we should all strive to that end, that all may be benefited. So here is our happiest greetings to you for the New Year, and we hope that when the end of this new year shall come that you all will be our friends still, and that we will have many new ones added to our list, and we hope that not an enemy will have been made.”
Sometimes 130 year old sentiments are good ones! Happy New Year to all of you from The End Time blog.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is facing a wave of drive-by taunts at the governor’s mansion in St. Paul, with motorists slowing down to shout “retard.”
The comments echo President Donald Trump’s recent jab, calling him “seriously retarded” in a post on Truth Social on Thanksgiving.
The trend really kicked off after Walz whined during a press conference earlier this month, calling Trump’s use of the word “shameful” and claiming that people were driving by his house and shouting it.
“This creates danger,” Walz told reporters on December 5. “And I’ll tell you what. In my time on this, I’d never seen this before: People driving by my house and using the R-word in front of people.”
“This is shameful. And I have yet to see an elected official, a Republican elected official say, ‘You’re right. That’s shameful. He should not say it,” Walz continued. “So look, I’m worried. We know how these things go. They start with taunts, they turn to violence, so deeply concerned.”
A viral video capturing one of these moments shows a black Mercedes SUV cruising past the snow-covered Governor’s Mansion on a sunny winter day.
The driver appears to yell toward the gated property before speeding off. While audio is muffled in circulated clips, the context and reports confirm they shouted “retard.”
The footage, first shared widely on X, has racked up hundreds of thousands of views and sparked heated debates.
An account called “American Papa Bear” posted the clip on X, writing, “TIM WALZ IS NOT SAFE EVEN ON CHRISTMAS!”
“More Patriotic Americans record themselves yelling r*tard outside of the Minnesota home of Tim Walz!” the post added. “I love this energy!!
TIM WALZ IS NOT SAFE EVEN ON CHRISTMAS!
More Patriotic Americans record themselves yelling r*tard outside of the Minnesota home of Tim Walz!
“Everyone really needs to take a breath and stop being awful, stop rewarding awfulness, and stop promoting awfulness with your algorithms,” Tapper complained. “Happy & fulfilled & confident people don’t spend time doing any of this.”
This isn’t the first time Walz has faced public backlash. His tenure has been marred by controversies, including billions in alleged fraud tied to Somali-linked programs and criticism over his COVID policies.
The drive-by heckling is a sure sign of frustration in Minnesota.
The $30 million venture capital firm run by Rep. Ilhan Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, has quietly removed the names and bios of its top officers and advisors from its website.
This comes as the Minnesota Democrat faces intensifying questions about her family’s explosive wealth surge, from near bankruptcy to millions, amid one of the largest welfare fraud scandals in U.S. history, centered in her own district.
According to a bombshell report from the New York Post, Rose Lake Capital, founded by Mynett in 2022, scrubbed the details of nine key figures between September and October 2025.
The list included high-profile Democrats like former Obama Ambassador to Bahrain Adam Ereli, ex-Senator and Obama Ambassador to China Max Baucus, DNC Finance Chair associate Alex Hoffman, former DNC treasurer William Derrough, and Keith Mestrich, the ex-CEO of Amalgamated Bank, which he once called “the institutional bank of the Democratic Party.”
None of these individuals has been charged with any fraud. However, the timing coincides with federal prosecutors announcing charges against eight more suspects in the massive Minnesota welfare scam, six of whom are of Somali descent.
Omar, a prominent member of the far-left “Squad,” entered Congress in 2019 with a net worth between negative $25,000 and negative $65,000, burdened by student loans and car debt with no assets to her name.
Fast-forward to 2024, and her financial disclosures show assets ballooning to between $6 million and $30 million.
How did this happen so quickly, and what role, if any, do connections to the $9 billion Minnesota welfare fraud play?
The scandal revolves around the theft of billions from government-funded children’s meal programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly 90 people have been charged so far, including at least three with direct ties to Omar, though she herself has not been implicated or charged.
Fraudsters allegedly claimed millions of “phantom” meals that were never served, pocketing subsidies meant for hungry kids.
One key figure, Salim Ahmed Said, co-owner of Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis, was convicted in August of stealing over $12 million by fabricating 3.9 million meals.
Said’s restaurant hosted Omar’s 2018 victory party, and a resurfaced 2020 video shows Omar praising the program there, saying in Somali, “Every day Safari provides 2,300 meals to children and their families,” while handing out food trays.
I posted this video earlier …
Do you all want to know the kicker to this video?
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced on April 20, 2023 H.R. 2777 the "School Meals During School Closures Act.
She defrauded 250 Million from "The feeding our future Act." The same act she introduced. pic.twitter.com/zErLwE7d3y
Another convicted fraudster, Guhaad Hashi Said, worked on Omar’s 2018 and 2020 campaigns and pleaded guilty in August to running a fake food site that claimed 5,000 daily meals, netting $3.2 million in ill-gotten gains.
Omar’s campaign received $7,400 in donations from at least three now-convicted individuals, which she claims were returned after the scandal broke.
Omar pushed the MEALS Act in Congress in 2020, which critics argue loosened oversight on these programs, paving the way for the fraud. When asked last week if she regretted the legislation, Omar told a reporter, “Absolutely not, it did help feed kids.”
Mynett’s firm, Rose Lake Capital, reported assets under management of $60 billion despite operating out of a WeWork office in Washington, D.C.
In 2023, it was valued at less than $1,000 in Omar’s disclosures, but by the next year, it jumped to between $5 million and $25 million. The firm boasts “deep global networks built from on-the-ground work in more than 80 countries,” but details are scarce.
Adding to the intrigue, Mynett’s other venture, a California winery called eStCru, LLC (formerly estCru), faced its own fraud allegations.
In October 2023, an investor sued Mynett for allegedly swindling $900,000 by misrepresenting the business.
“The fraud case involved a wine investor suing Mynett in Oct. 2023, accusing him of swindling him of $900,000 as he ‘fraudulently misrepresented … that estCru, LLC was a legitimate company.’ Mynett claimed he simply struggled to build a business during the pandemic,” The Post reports.
The case settled out of court.
The winery, which once sold gimmicky wines like “Blockchain” and “The Devil’s Lie,” saw its value skyrocket from $15,000-$50,000 in 2022 to between one and five million in 2024, a staggering 9,900% increase.
Today, it appears defunct. No wine sales, a broken website, a disconnected phone, and no social media activity since 2023.
“In total, Mynett has received a whopping $878,930.65 from Omar’s campaign since he began working for her in 2018, raising eyebrows among watchdogs and political law experts who say the practice is rife with cronyism,” The Post wrote in a 2020 report on the matter.
Paul Kamenar, counsel for the National Legal and Policy Center, didn’t mince words, telling the New York Post this week, “There’s a lot of strange things going on… She was basically broke when she came into office, and now she’s worth perhaps up to $30 million…she needs to come clean on these assets.”
In September, President Donald Trump asked about Omar’s ties to the fraud scam, writing on Truth Social, “Does Ilhan Omar know these people? Are they from her wonderfully managed Home Country of Somalia?”
Omar dismissed the wealth reports as “ridiculous” and “categorically false” earlier this year. Her office declined comment, citing a holiday closure until January 5.
Mynett did not respond to inquiries from The Post, and his businesses’ contact info is non-functional.
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