5/04/2023

A new survey explores how and where Americans seek divine connection — and who they pray for

 


May 4, 2023

Americans today may spend less time in houses of worship than they once did, but many still regularly try to connect with the divine, according to new research on religious and spiritual habits.

The survey, which was released Thursday on the National Day of Prayer, showed that 85% of Americans participate in some kind of spiritual practice, with the most common being prayer.

More than 6 in 10 survey respondents (61%) said they pray, while 39% said they practice meditation. Millennials and members of Gen Z were more likely than older adults to meditate or engage in other mindfulness practices.

The new survey, which was conducted by City Square Associates on behalf of Skylight, an initiative of the Radiant Foundation, was fielded online from April 6-12, 2023, among 1,783 U.S. adults. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Skylight’s mission is to use technology to help young people embrace God-centered spiritual habits. Like the Deseret News, it’s part of Deseret Management Corporation.

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National Day of Prayer

 


DHS Invites Communist State Sponsor of Terrorism to Tour U.S. Maritime Security Facilities

 


May 4, 2023

As if the Mexican border crisis were not sufficiently compromising national security, the Biden administration invited officials from a communist country that appears on the government’s list of state terrorism sponsors to tour sensitive U.S. maritime security facilities. The bizarre secret jaunt was scheduled last week to grant a delegation from Cuba’s Border Guard and Ministry of Foreign Affairs access to the nation’s Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C. as well as port facilities in Wilmington, North Carolina. Cuba appears on the State Department list of terrorist nations along with Syria, Iran, and North Korea. Cuba has a long history of providing advice, safe haven, communications, training, and financial support to guerrilla groups and individual terrorists, according to the State Department. Furthermore, Cuba maintains close and collaborative ties with designated state sponsors of terror such as Iran and North Korea and the communist island harbors multiple fugitives who committed or supported acts of terrorism in the United States.

It makes no sense for any administration, Democrat or Republican, to grant an adversary with a history like Cuba’s access to essential Homeland Security facilities, especially at a time when the country is getting slammed with unknown foreigners entering illegally in droves. Apparently, the excursion was part of the International Port Security Program, which seeks to reduce risk to U.S. maritime interests, including American ports and ships, and facilitate secure maritime trade globally in partnership with global maritime trading partners. “Through international port visits, the discussion and sharing of port security best practices and the development of mutual interests in securing ships coming to the United States enhance both U.S. port security and the security of the global maritime transportation system,” according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s description of the program.

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Proud Boys Members Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy by DC Kangaroo Court

 


May 4, 2023

 JUSTICE DENIED: Proud Boys Members Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy by DC Kangaroo Court – Face 20 Years in Prison – After FBI Created and Planted Evidence in Their Chat Room


The jury agreed that the government proved the existence of seditious conspiracy (a complete joke).
Proud Boy Ethan Nordean – guilty of seditious conspiracy
Proud Boy Joe Biggs – guilty of seditious conspiracy
Proud Boy Zachary Rehl – guilty
Proud Boy founder Enrique Tarrio – guilty of seditious conspiracy

The FBI created and planted evidence in the Proud Boys’ group chat. The kangaroo court ignored this truth.

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Biden Regime Scheming with Environmentalists to Unleash Backdoor Ban on Hunting and Fishing Across Parts of America


 May 4, 2023

The Biden Regime’s quest to restrict the rights of American citizens never takes a day off. Their next mission is to take away your right to hunt and fish.

Fox News reported the regime is colluding with radical environmental groups to put this scheme into motion. Here is some background via Fox News:

In 2021, the Center for Biological Diversity — an influential environmental group with assets exceeding $40 million that advocates for stringent federal wildlife protections — sued the federal government over a Trump administration rule expanding hunting and fishing on 2.3 million acres across 147 wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries.

Instead of defending the rule, the Biden administration asked the court to delay proceedings in the case in February 2022, and in November agreed to a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity that stipulated the government would take wide-ranging steps to protect wildlife “harmed by expanded hunting and fishing” on national wildlife refuges.

Under the settlement, the Federal Fish and Wildlife Services promised to expand lead ammunition prohibitions across various federal refuge properties beginning in 2026 as part of the 2023-2024 annual rule expected to be proposed in May.

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Hollywood and left-wing foundations behind climate charity quietly bankrolling extremist protest groups

 



May 4, 2023

A little-known climate change advocacy organization heavily funded by celebrities and influential left-leaning foundations has been quietly dishing out grants to various activist groups deploying unorthodox and extremist methods across the world to protest fossil fuels, documents reveal.

Anti-fossil fuels groups have been ramping up protests in the United States and overseas as part of a coordinated campaign to bring awareness to climate change by vandalizing fine art, blocking major roads, and even gluing themselves to sports cars. Many of these activist hubs are being bankrolled by Climate Emergency Fund, a Beverly Hills-based charity linked to Hollywood celebrities and top liberal nonprofit organizations aiming to shape the Democratic Party's agenda, according to tax forms and other documents reviewed by the Washington Examiner.

"Climate Emergency Fund has quickly become the ATM that radical environmental activists turn to fund their latest disruptions," Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of the conservative watchdog Americans for Public Trust, told the Washington Examiner. "And as their destruction increases, so should the scrutiny on who is bankrolling the Climate Emergency Fund and their ties to more mainstream environmental groups that might disagree with these over-the-top and dangerous tactics."

Last week, an entity called Declare Emergency that calls fossil fuels reliance "genocidal" and "criminal" took credit for smearing paint on the display case of a sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Just Stop Oil, a group that made headlines in October 2022 for splattering tomato soup on a Vincent Van Gogh painting estimated to be worth $84 million at London's National Gallery, has been blocking traffic for days in the United Kingdom.

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Work Ethic

 May 4, 2023

I didn’t write this, but I certainly agree. 
I need to rant for just a moment. I'm getting old and I’ve worked hard all my life. I have made my reputation, the good and the bad, I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I have worked hard to get where I am in life. I have juggled my job, my family, and made many sacrifices up front to secure a life for my family. It wasn’t always easy and still isn't, but I did it all while maintaining my integrity and my principles. I made mistakes and tried to learn from them. I have friends of every walk of life and if you’re in my circle, it should be understood that I don’t have to remind you of what I’d be willing to do for you. 
However....
I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. People who have sacrificed nothing and feel entitled to receive everything.
I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it themselves.
I'm really tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which, no one is allowed to debate.
I'm really tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of all parties talk like their opinions matter to the common man. I’m tired of any of them even pretending they can relate to the life and bank account that I have.
I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.
I’m upset that I’m labeled as a racist because I am proud of my heritage. I never stole any ones land, the government did that..
I’m tired of being told I need to accept the latest fad or politically correct stupidity or befriending a group that’s intent on killing me because I won’t convert to their point of view.
I'm really tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. Especially the ones that want me to fund it. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.
Yes, I'm really tired. But, I'm also glad to be in the twilight of my life. Because mostly, I'm not going to have to see the retched, depressing world these young useless idiots are creating. And lastly, because even though I shouted from the rooftops, no one listened or seemed to give a rat's behind. You reap what you sow, and so do your children.
No one is entitled to anything. You have a choice to work, a choice to stay off drugs, a choice to make something of yourself. I have nothing to do with your choice. That's all on you. You are entitled to what you earn.
There is no way these thoughts will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on! Surely, the politically correct police censors will try to quiet us.


The Medlock Post Ep. 143: By far the Most Dangerous Situation

 


May 4, 2023

The Medlock Post Ep. 143: By far the Most Dangerous Situation

The King James Bible, the most famous version of the world’s most influential book, was published on this day in history, May 2, 1611.

"The King James, or Authorized, Version of the Bible remains the most widely published text in the English language," claims the British Library. 

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The Fight of Two Wolves Within You

 


May 4, 2023

The Fight of Two Wolves Within You
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life:
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
”It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil–he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued,
“The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
The same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
Feeding Both Wolves
In the Cherokee world, however, there’s another version of the story and it ends this way:
The old Cherokee simply replied, “If you feed them right, they both win.” and the story goes on:
“You see, if I only choose to feed the white wolf, the black one will be hiding around every corner waiting for me to become distracted or weak and jump to get the attention he craves. He will always be angry and will always fight the white wolf. But if I acknowledge him, he is happy, and the white wolf is happy, and we all win. For the black wolf has many qualities – tenacity, courage, fearlessness, strong-willed and great strategic thinking–that I have need of at times. These are the very things the white wolf lacks. But the white wolf has compassion, caring, strength and the ability to recognize what is in the best interest of all.
“You see, son, the white wolf needs the black wolf at his side. To feed only one would starve the other and they will become uncontrollable. To feed and care for both means they will serve you well and do nothing that is not a part of something greater, something good, something of life. Feed them both and there will be no more internal struggle for your attention. And when there is no battle inside, you can listen to the voices of deeper knowing that will guide you in choosing what is right in every circumstance. Peace, my son, is the Cherokee mission in life. A man or a woman who has peace inside has everything. A man or a woman who is pulled apart by the war inside him or her has nothing.
“How you choose to interact with the opposing forces within you will determine your life. Starve one or the other or guide them both.”


The American Flag

 


Owner of MI Horse Farm, Who Refused to Sell Property to CCP-Tied Battery Plant, is Notified She’s Under Investigation by Gov. Agency Tied to Dirty Dem AG Dana Nessel

 



May 4, 2023

100 Percent Fed Up reports – The state of Michigan is currently investigating a horse farm after its owner held a rally against the building of an electric vehicle battery component plant that will be built by Gotion, a subsidiary of the Chinese company Guoxuan High-Tech Co.

The MI Republican Party has long taken issue with Gotion, which has ties to the CCP.

In October 2022, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who lost a massive electric-vehicle plant expansion opportunity with Michigan-based Ford Motor Company, bragged that the CCP-tied company, Gotion, would be moving to Michigan and building a battery plant that would be funded by Michigan taxpayers to the tune of just under a BILLION dollars.

Ford Motor Company’s decision to build electric vehicles outside of Michigan, the automotive capital of the world, was a huge embarrassment for Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan’s least pro-business governor in decades, who was left flat-footed when it was revealed she had no idea of Ford’s $11.4 billion plan to build their new electric vehicles in facilities located in Tennessee and Kentucky.

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'Digging his own grave': Biden secretary of state gets snagged in 'boldface lie'

 


May 4, 2023

The leading senator investigating Biden family corruption says Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a "boldface lie" when he said in a sit-down previous interview with lawmakers after the 2020 election that he did not communicate via email or text with Hunter Biden, the son of the then-future president.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., made the allegation after he and Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote a letter providing evidence that Blinken had "provided false testimony to Congress" in his transcribed congressional interview.

Johnson's and Grassley's May 1 letter to Blinken begins by stating, "On December 22, 2020, you provided false testimony to Congress during your voluntary transcribed interview."

Further on, after establishing that Blinken agreed it is a crime to lie to Congress, the letter states: "Despite this clear warning that it is a crime to make false statements to Congress and congressional staff, you did not provide truthful testimony during the interview when you denied corresponding with Hunter Biden via email when you served as Deputy Secretary of State under the Obama administration."

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House subpoenas FBI file on Biden role in ‘criminal scheme’ as new whistleblower emerges

 


May 4, 2023

WASHINGTON — In a stunning development, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena Wednesday for an FBI file that a whistleblower said links President Biden to a “criminal scheme” involving “money for policy decisions” during his vice presidency.

The tip is a potential breakthrough for GOP investigators looking into Joe Biden’s role in his family’s business dealings in countries such as China, Mexico, Russia and Ukraine.

Republicans say the file pertains to potential wrongdoing by Joe Biden — rather than possible criminal activity by first son Hunter Biden or another relative that indirectly implicates the president.

The alleged corruption is believed to involve a country other than China, The Post understands. Two sources say the whistleblower is not the same person as the IRS agent who anonymously came forward last month to allege a coverup in the criminal investigation of the first son.

The document subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee was “created or modified in June 2020″ — months before Biden won the presidency— and must be supplied at a meeting on May 10, the subpoena says.

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DIRTY GOVERNMENT

 May 4, 2023

FBI Had Evidence Biden Was Given Money for Policy Decisions at Same Time FBI Was Concocting Trump-Russia Lies with Hillary Campaign

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) sent letters Wednesday to the FBI, calling on the bureau to produce an unclassified record of an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.

The GOP leaders are giving the FBI until May 15th to turn over the relevant documents.

The Daily Caller reported:

The document in question is an FBI-generated FD-1023 form that allegedly shows an arrangement exchanging money for policy decisions. Comer issued a subpoena Wednesday after “legally protected disclosures” to Grassley’s office.

“We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current President of the United States. What we don’t know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further. The FBI’s recent history of botching politically charged investigations demands close congressional oversight,” Grassley said in a statement.

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How the U.S. eroded the dollar



 May 4, 2023

Americans hate inflation, in large part because it erodes the bedrock of capitalism — money. Concentrating on inflation, however, risks missing the profound other ways in which money has lost its power over the past three years.

Why it matters: U.S. government actions over the course of the pandemic have radically reshaped the dollar, which is now much more politicized and mutable than it was before 2020.

The big picture: Felix Salmon's new book, "The Phoenix Economy," out on Tuesday, covers the ways in which the world has changed since early 2020. Among them: a quiet revolution in how people think about what money even is.

Flashback: In mid-April 2020, millions of Americans woke up to find out that $1,400 had magically appeared in their bank accounts, placed there by the Trump administration as part of the first COVID stimulus plan.

  • The U.S. dollar was effectively obeying orders being handed down by the government, the only entity capable of pulling such a move.

Where it stands: The Biden administration has been unusually aggressive in using the dollar as an instrument of foreign policy.

  • It effectively confiscated $7 billion belonging to the central bank of Afghanistan, which it was able to do because those funds were on deposit at the New York Fed.
  • It then did the same thing with Russia's foreign reserves and followed that up by cutting Russia off from the dollar-based payments system.

Between the lines: The pandemic changed the world's (or at least America's) conception of money itself. In what Felix calls the New Not Normal, money has become contingent, more of a social construct than objective reality.

  • In a society that for decades was centered on the almighty dollar, that was disconcerting, to say the least.
  • "Fiat currency" has become a pejorative term used by crypto advocates to undermine trust in the dollar. The Federal Reserve is constantly attacked by Republicans from former President Donald Trump to Sen. Rand Paul.

Zoom out: The dollar still retains its hegemony as the world's reserve currency, along with its utility as a measure of relative wealth. But trust in the currency is eroding, in a world where the Fed's main policy tool is always its own credibility.

The bottom line: The good news is that we've found an important new tool of foreign policy, and even of domestic fiscal policy.

  • The bad news is that it makes capitalism that much more difficult.

NAEP scores show kids have terrible understanding of US history

 


May 4, 2023

The eighth graders who took these tests last year are finishing ninth grade in the coming weeks. We have a lot of ground and just three years to make up before they graduate, head to college or the workforce, and are asked to fully participate in civic life.

Students read a lot in my class and even practice their math skills, for example when we analyze polling and look at percentages in our elections unit. But this isn't just about boosting student achievement in tested subjects. There is magic that happens in a strong social studies classroom, a magic that kids badly need to experience now. With a growing awareness about problems related to chronic absenteeism and concerns around a lack of student engagement, education leaders and policymakers need to bring joy and a purpose to learning to schools. When taught well, history and civics are subjects that foster excitement and inspiration while honing essential life skills.

My teachers conveyed history with passion and insight

When I was a kid, growing up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, I studied world history with a teacher who still inspires me today. Mr. Pickle drew us into lively debates, for example asking us to put ourselves in Harry Truman's shoes and weigh his decision to use the atomic bomb. This debate was relevant given my hometown’s role as a key Manhattan Project site, and by tackling a challenging topic, Mr. Pickle helped students exercise the “civic muscles” of discourse and debate.

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John Solomon explains how the GOP plans to use the power of the purse to institute accountability

 May 4, 2023

John Solomon lays out how Republican lawmakers are beginning to look at utilizing the power of the purse to hold government employees accountable. Solomon says one way Republicans could exact consequences is by including an addendum in the budget bill barring the 51 security experts who claimed the Hunter Biden laptop was “Russian disinformation” from future federal government employment.

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5/03/2023

AP poll: The public doesn't trust us at all

 



May 3, 2023

Wednesday is World Press Freedom Day. The Washington Post will be celebrating by hosting Antony Blinken (of all people) to discuss the importance of a free and independent press. In preparation for the event, the Associated Press put out a poll in coordination with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll sought to measure the public’s trust in the news media and how good of a job they are doing in defending democracy. They also asked whether or not the mainstream media was contributing to the political polarization gripping the country. The results were… not good. At least not for the AP and the rest of the legacy media. Almost three-quarters of the public blame the news media for political polarization and most have very little faith in the press’ ability to “fairly and accurately” report the news. I know you’re all shocked. (/sarc)

When it comes to the news media and the impact it’s having on democracy and political polarization in the United States, Americans are likelier to say it’s doing more harm than good.

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults say the news media is increasing political polarization in this country, and just under half say they have little to no trust in the media’s ability to report the news fairly and accurately, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

The poll, released before World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, shows Americans have significant concerns about misinformation.

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BREAKING NEWS: FBI has document alleging pay-to-play scheme involving Joe Biden, lawmakers allege

 May 3, 2023

House and Senate GOP investigators said Wednesday they have learned the FBI possesses a document alleging a pay-to-play bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and have subpoenaed it in an explosive new twist in their long running corruption probe of the first family.

Senate Budget Committee ranking member and long-time whistleblower advocate Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said they learned of the document, known as FD-1023, from a whistleblower.

"We believe the FBI possesses an unclassified internal document that includes very serious and detailed allegations implicating the current President of the United States," Grassley said. "What we don't know is what, if anything, the FBI has done to verify these claims or investigate further. The FBI's recent history of botching politically charged investigations demands close congressional oversight."

Said Comer: "The information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national. The American people need to know if President Biden sold out the United States of America to make money for himself. Senator Grassley and I will seek the truth to ensure accountability for the American people." 

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Choosing Better Judges

 


May 3, 2023

Conservatives need to be a lot savvier about how they vet judicial candidates.

Our justice system across all levels is now in thrall to dangerous, radical left-wing actors who feel no shame in weaponizing prosecutors, judges, and legal scholars for vengeful and ideologically charged ends. This new system of justice, which is more accurately characterized as the collapse of the rule of law and constitutional jurisprudence, increasingly resembles primitive third world legal regimes that lack the enlightened principles that ground our society in the Anglo-American tradition of the rule of law.

This sober fact is a realistic assessment of the way the American judicial branch now works. Lip service to an impartial and apolitical judiciary may still hold some currency in the legal academy, but in reality, everyday Americans recognize the judiciary as the uniquely politicized body it has become. The problematic actors, however, are not so much on the Left, who fully understand the game as a raw power play and have accordingly devised the rules and legal framework by which both sides must play. Many on the Right, however, pretend like it still is possible to have fair and equitable justice in a system that has emerged as a two-tiered, vindictive system that punishes its enemies and rewards its friends.

There are countless examples of allegedly conservative judges betraying their constituency and their ostensible principles. This may be observed in U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly’s hostile treatment of the Proud Boys, now on trial for their actions on January 6; U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols’s finding back in late 2020 that then-President Donald Trump overstepped his executive authority in restricting the use of TikTok, a Chinese-based company, due to legitimate concerns about election interference; and the Supreme Court’s refusal to even listen to the merits of Donald Trump’s 2020 election integrity case. In each of these cases, judges who fell under the umbrella of “conservative,” “originalist,” or “textualist” failed in their duties to uphold the Constitution. These failures directly empower the Left, which reads the Right’s claims of impartiality as weakness and then runs roughshod over those weaknesses by exploiting them for flagrantly political objectives.

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