5/09/2023

American Maoism

 

May 9, 2023

Rage meets self-pity as the permanently offended root out false thought.

Those of us who care about the survival of ordered liberty are daily faced with a conundrum: Do we painstakingly chronicle the constant assaults on the life of the mind and civilized norms and risk the charge of being one-note Johnnies? Or do we turn to other, more noble concerns and preoccupations, doing the right and the good? The latter path might seem more high-minded, rooted in a refusal to have our intellectual and political agendas determined by the rage of others. Why should our concerns be determined by the transparently false agendas of those who tear down and repudiate, and who offer nothing constructive in place of our civic and civilized inheritance? Let them pursue the thankless path of total critique, while we teach, build, construct, and sustain a civilized order worthy of human beings.

Equal Justice Under the Law?

 

May 9, 2023

When it comes to riots, that may depend on which side you're on.

Many J6 protestors have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms without evidence that they engaged in violence. The “QAnon shaman” Jacob Chansley, for example, was sentenced to four years imprisonment for obstructing an official proceeding, though it was subsequently reported that he had been escorted to the Senate floor by Capitol police. Another protestor, Kevin Seefried, got three years for marching into the Capitol carrying a Confederate flag (less than the seven-year sentence prosecutors had requested).

Border Patrol clears way for more migrant releases to city streets, sources say: 'The dam is about to break'

 

May 9, 2023

Tens of thousands of migrants are expected to surge into the United States as Title 42 expires on May 11

The Biden administration's top border officials in Washington, D.C., have decided to authorize all Border Patrol sectors to begin "safe" mass releases of migrants to city streets if non-governmental organizations don't have the capacity to hold them, multiple sources tell Fox News.

The consequence of this decision is that migrants will be mass released at bus stops, gas stations, supermarkets and in towns and cities across the border as Customs and Border Protection facilities are already over capacity in multiple sectors, according to CBP sources who were not authorized to speak publicly. 

NGOs are quickly approaching their limits to house migrants and tens of thousands more migrants are expected to surge into the United States once the Title 42 public health order is lifted on May 11. The city of El Paso, Texas has already seen thousands of migrants camped out on the sidewalks.

Full Article

The Ethicist

 

May 9, 2023

David W. Miller weighs right and wrong, creativity and courage

In a time when what’s right and wrong seem to depend on who’s asking, ethics is still a field where people look for timeless answers to what matters over time. David W. Miller, director of Princeton University’s Faith & Work Initiative and an ordained Presbyterian minister, argues that personal faith — in any form — can help us to figure that out. That’s why he takes his own spirituality to work, where he conducts research, lectures on business ethics and social responsibility, and consults with corporate clients.

Full Article

Biden’s bizarre view of women’s sports puts female athletes at risk

 

May 9, 2023

American voters want to save women’s sports from Biden’s dangerous decisions

How to Bring People to God and Religion

 

May 9, 2023

There are four primary reasons fewer and fewer people in America and the West take God, the Bible or religion seriously.

1. The belief that science disproves religion.

2. The belief that reason and feelings supplant God and the Bible as the only necessary vehicles to morality.

3. The “progressive” ideologies of at least 100 years that seek to replace religion.

4. The failure of religious people to convince the next generation to be religious.

Full Article

Catholic hospitals' attorney reacts to win against Biden admin's 'shocking' threats to force closures

 

May 9, 2023

'I've been doing religious liberty work for a long time and I was shocked,' the attorney for St. Francis' hospital system said

The Catholic hospital system the Biden administration had nearly forced to lose its accreditation over an eternal flame in its chapels is relieved that, after it threatened litigation, the federal government backed off, its counsel told Fox News Digital Monday.

The federal government had attempted to force the St. Francis Catholic hospital system Oklahoma to choose between losing its accreditation for Medicaid and Medicare or removing eternal flames from its chapels, which is central to their faith. The hospital system refused, citing their First Amendment rights and religious beliefs. 

"St. Francis is relieved they've always served God and serve their community. Those two things go hand in hand, and they're happy to continue doing it," said Lori Windham, the Vice President and Senior Counsel The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

Full Article

Riley Gaines calls on famous female athletes to choose a side in trans debate. Here's who she's starting with

 

May 9, 2023

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines asks tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams how they 'feel about males competing against women'

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who speaks out against trans athletes competing in girls and women’s sports is calling on famous female athletes to join her cause.

"Each day for the next week I'm going to call on well-known female athletes to take a stance on this issue because silence is complicity...we need their voices," Gaines, who swam with the University of Kentucky, tweeted.

Her first tweet asked the world-famous tennis star sisters Serena and Venus Williams how they "feel about males competing against women."

Full Article

This is America’s surprising youth drug crisis

 

May 9, 2023

Legalized drug crisis is harming young people far more than most realize

The data is in and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the impacts of commercial marijuana industry are even worse than we thought, particularly for America’s young people. A new report released by Smart Approaches to Marijuana shows the reality in "pot-legal states" paints a vastly different picture than the common sales pitch of the industry and supporters of legalization. 

The marijuana industry, which spent billions to lobby elected officials and bankroll legalization referendum campaigns, is following the playbook pioneered by Big Tobacco. They recognize that the road to big profits runs through the heaviest users. As such, they have increased potency of the drug by more than four times since 1998, hoping to hook kids while they are young and vulnerable. The numbers show that it’s working. 

Full Article

Americans Lack Confidence in Major Economic Leaders

 

May 9, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With the U.S. facing a deadline to increase the nation’s debt limit and the threat of an economic recession looming, Americans lack confidence in a variety of key U.S. leaders on economic matters. Gallup finds between 34% and 38% of U.S. adults expressing a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence in President Joe Biden, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and congressional leaders in both major parties to do or recommend the right thing for the economy.

Full Article

The Battle Within the Club is Escalating Now

 

May 9, 2023

As the geography narrows before us, it is important to remember the stakes and avoid the distractions.  As a consequence, the baseline must be reaffirmed. It is critical to understand that both the DNC and RNC are private corporations with no affiliation to government.

It is a difficult shift in thinking, but the party system in U.S. politics revolves around two distinct private corporations, two clubs that feed from the same corporate trough and position for influence and affluence within a political dynamic they control.

The priority for both clubs, Republican and Democrat, is NOT politically or culturally ideological.

In the modern era, the corporate priority first begins with a battle over who controls each corporation.

As long as there is no challenge, the clubs operate without issue.  However, when there is a battle for control of the corporation, a battle that will ultimately determine the financial outcome, the internal battle becomes the priority.

Full Article

Robert Kennedy’s Movement

 

May 9, 2023

A broad new coalition won’t let COVID crimes be forgotten.

Up until a week ago, the 2024 presidential election campaign was by and large an uninteresting slog. The arrest of President Trump had shown some promise of injecting life into the race, but just a few short weeks later it is all but forgotten. Events that used to carry great significance which would be etched into the public memory for decades—like the investigation, prosecution, or impeachment of a president—have now been reduced to farcical shadow-play, gone in a moment. To generate lasting outrage or even attention, a story needs some element of surprise or departure from normalcy. But the new norm in politics is to destroy all norms. And since mainstream press catastrophizing has been dialed up to 11 since at least 2016, it rings hollower with every passing cycle. To anyone who has been paying attention, not even the most breathless histrionics on the part of professional observers makes a mark.

Dems Pull Out All the Stops Ahead of Debt Limit Talk

 

May 9, 2023

Pass a clean debt limit increase, no strings attached. We will not negotiate! That was the line parroted by the president and Democrat lawmakers alike as time ticked away toward the disastrous default they say is coming sometime in early June. But then House Republicans passed a debt limit bill of their own – one with considerable budget cuts and a limit to spending hikes in the future – and the Democrats started singing a slightly different tune.

Nonnegotiating Negotiating?

After months of refusing to discuss the borrowing cap at all short of simply repeating his “clean bill” demand, President Joe Biden on Monday, May 1, called Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) with an invitation to meet up and talk on Tuesday, May 9. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre clarified the next day that the talk was not a sign that Biden would negotiate on the debt limit, and that it was the duty of Congress to raise the cap in order to pay the nation’s debts.

But if there’s nothing to discuss, why ask McCarthy for a meeting?

Full Article

Government-Funded Censors Violated Congress’s Mandate To Target Only Foreign ‘Disinformation’

 

May 9, 2023

‘None of the funds … shall be used for purposes other than countering foreign propaganda and misinformation,’ Congress mandated. But the State Department didn’t care

The State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) served as one cornerstone of the Censorship-Industrial Complex, colluding with nongovernmental organizations and tech giants to silence disfavored speech during the 2020 election cycle. An investigation by The Federalist now indicates GEC violated its congressional mandate by financing activities and organizations that targeted the speech of Americans.

Full Article

The Medlock Post Ep. 146: World Totalitarianism


 May 9, 2023

Around the world, politicians have either just passed or are on the cusp of passing sweeping new laws, which would allow governments to censor ordinary citizens on social media and other Internet platforms.

Under the guise of preventing “harm” and holding large tech companies accountable, several countries are establishing a vast and interlinked censorship apparatus, a new investigation by Public finds.

Listen Now!

Worries linger about financial stability following bank rescue, Fed report shows

 

May 9, 2023

  • The Federal Reserve issued its periodic report on the nation’s financial and economic health, a survey showing the biggest fears about current conditions.
  • Respondents cited “persistent inflation and tighter monetary policy, banking-sector stress, commercial and residential real estate and geopolitical tensions.”
  • Several sectors were identified as having elevated potential for trouble. They include money market funds, stablecoins and hedge funds, particularly larger firms.
  • Full Article

Why labor shortages could be here to stay

 May 9, 2023

Share of U.S. population that is working age

More and more Americans are getting too old to work.

Why it matters: Even if the job market cools off from its current hotness, that could mean labor shortages will be with us for the long term.

State of play: Declining fertility rates, and increasing life expectancy, is expected to lead to a drop in working-age populations across all G20 countries, according to projections cited in a recent report from Moody's Investors Service.

  • "Korea, Germany and the U.S. are expected to see the sharpest declines over the next decade," Moody's states.

Driving the news: The job market is still going strong, per the latest nonfarm payrolls report from the Labor Department.

Full Article

"How the USA’s Public School Students Became the Sickest in the History of the USA


 May 9, 2023

1. President Carter established the National Department of Education in 1979.
The Amendment X of The Constitution of the United States: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The National Department of Education is illegal and should be abolished.
The way I heard it was:
2. Bill Gates wanted his computers in all the public schools, so he hired a staff to write Common Core. Bill then went to the Governor’s convention and sold all 50 of them on restructuring the school system and putting Common Core into all the schools Nationwide.
3. The Governors presented it to the State School Boards and the State School Boards approved it.
4. Then the Governors signed it into law.
We lost our schools without even knowing it. Now our little children are abused with long days and heavy schedules. These demands are way too heavy for many of them to bear.
The public cried out against Common Core. The State of SC just added a few more Standards and renamed them the SC Standards. To accommodate the excessive requirements an hour was added to the school day in the early morning. As a result, many children do not get enough sleep. The optional kindergarten naps were eliminated in Horry County, SC and many other counties. The brain repairs itself while sleeping. Many children develop mental illnesses from lack of enough sleep.
Recesses were eliminated except for 10 minutes of playtime after lunch. The District claims it is 20 minutes but it takes 10 minutes of it to go to the restroom.
The developmentally appropriate curricula were thrown out. Teachers are still not given a written curriculum to follow. They have the Standard written and they must come up with the rest. Planning is very difficult and time consuming.
Computers were given to kindergartners and their little hands are too little to learn keyboarding. Therefore, they hunt and peck developing bad habits, which are never completely broken later when properly taught.
A developmentally appropriate handwriting curriculum should be: Manuscript in k, 1, and 2. Cursive should be taught in 3rd grade requiring 62 fifteen-minute lessons to cover lower and upper case letters as well as connections and transitioning. Computers should be given to the children in 4th grade and keyboarding should be taught. This way they learn correctly, when their hands are large enough to keyboard correctly.
The teachers wrote the standards but had no say in where they were placed in the curriculum or how many would be required at each level.
The curriculum is not developmentally appropriate. Twenty percent of our children are only able to learn life skills to survive. Thirty percent of our children need life skills and trade skills to help us all survive. Only 50 % of our children have the ability to complete college level work. We do not have enough jobs for the college graduates that we graduate. We have the most educated taxi drivers and waiters in the world. Each child is different and God makes them perfect for the job that He has for them. Our children need to find the will of God for them in their lives and do it. That is success.
As a result of the takeover of our schools in the late 90’s, suicides have risen consistently since 1999. That was 20 years before Covid. Don’t blame it on Covid or the social media. Blame it on the abusive schools and fix it.
We can start by:
Shortening the day by 1 hour.
Start school no earlier than 8 AM.
Restrict formal instruction to 4 hours a day.
Art, PE, music, and library are not recesses.
Recesses should be fifteen minutes around 10 AM and 40 minutes in the PM.
Lunchtime should be 20 minutes at the table and 10 minutes for the restroom, giving a total of 30 minutes.
Kindergartners should have the option of a nap.
Teachers should control curricula.
Testing should only be done the first week of school and during the last two weeks of school.
All other testing should be at the teacher’s discretion. The teacher knows when her children are ready for a test. Success is healthy.
Teachers should have the option to take their children outdoors anytime that she believes that they need a break.
Teachers should all have bases and balls so that the children can be rewarded an incentive game on Friday afternoon for good behavior. "

Federal government under Biden runs $928,000,000,000 deficit in just 7 months

 

May 9, 2023

That is from September 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. That's $132.57 Billion per month.  With five months left in the fiscal year, which will add approximately another $662.85 billion to the National Debt. A total debt for this fiscal year of $1.591 Trillion. Who needs a debt ceiling?

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revealed the federal government under President Biden has run a near-$1 trillion federal deficit in the "first seven months of fiscal year 2023."

CBO’s report dropped on Monday, giving lawmakers insight into the current state of the federal deficit.

The nonpartisan agency found that in the first seven months of FY2023 alone, the federal government has racked up $928,000,000,000.

Full Article


Ant-Man Star Evangeline Lilly Laments Society That Villainizes Masculinity In Men

 

May 9, 2023

Ant-Man’s Evangeline Lilly laments society that villainizes masculinity in men Ant-Man Actress Evangeline Lilly shared a rant on masculinity and femininity on Instagram on Thursday.

Lilly gave her opinion seemingly unprompted while visiting the Siwa Oasis in Egypt. The 43-year-old actress is known for her roles in Lost and Ant-Man, with fan bases that have garnered her two million followers on the platform.

GOP SENATORS QUESTION NAVAL DRAG QUEEN AMBASSADOR EFFORT FOR SECURITY REASONS

“Why are we only applauding masculinity in women and villainizing it in men? And why are we only applauding femininity in men and debasing it in women? Why can’t we just allow for all of it?” Lilly wrote.

Full Article

5/08/2023

Faith Crisis? This One False Idea Could be the Biggest Cause

 

May 2023

A False Idea

I (Duane) once taught a Sunday School class of high school juniors and seniors, including my daughter (and co-author of The Last Safe Place) Kimberly. Over time it became clear to me (1) that these youth held a shared assumption or idea (whether consciously or not) and (2) that this idea was coloring everything I taught them about the gospel. They all, implicitly, believed it—and yet, it was completely false.

The idea was that they could not or should not accept anything unless they understood it. Their unstated assumption was that if they didn’t understand something, then they should be suspicious of it. In other words, they assumed that when a doctrine or statement or scripture “didn’t make sense” to them, their inability to understand or make sense of the issue served as evidence that the doctrine/statement/scripture was wrong—or at least, imperfect or incomplete. And this idea was creating doubts in them about the Church itself and its doctrines.

Full Article

Texas AG Ken Paxton’s COVID-19 vaccine investigation could stick it to Big Pharma execs

 

May 8, 2023

It’s sickening how much Big Pharma bosses have profited from the COVID-19 pandemic, after overselling billions of people around the world on the wondrous qualities of their vaccines. 

Moderna chief executive Stéphane Bancel made nearly $400 million last year on his stock options and still owns a reported $2.8 billion of shares in the company plus his salary and perks. 

His Pfizer counterpart, Albert Bourla, pocketed a $33 million salary last year, on top of the millions in Pfizer shares he sold. 

But before they ride off into the sunset to count their filthy lucre, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plans to investigate whether their companies misrepresented the efficacy and safety of the vaccines and manipulated vaccine trial data. 

Full Article

Biden Admin Pushed Out $182 Billion Worth Of Regulations In A Single Week

 

May 8, 2023

The Biden administration last week proposed or finalized regulations totaling $182 billion in compliance costs while adding 1.8 million yearly paperwork hours, according to a report by the American Action Forum (AAF).

The most expensive rule for consumers was the Environmental Protection Agency ‘s (EPA) strict new tailpipe emissions limits for passenger cars, which would cost businesses roughly $180 billion in “vehicle technology costs” through 2055, the AAF calculated, citing the government’s own publicly available cost-benefit analyses of each regulation. The proposed regulation — which the EPA hopes will push two-thirds of all passenger car sales after 2032 to be all-electric — was initially announced in April alongside comparable regulation for heavy-duty vehicles and was formally proposed on May 5.

Full Article

Overcommitment to NATO turns Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker in Europe

 May 8, 2023

America has long been the biggest military spender of any of its allies, but other nations aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. It’s time to rethink NATO burden sharing, says Justin Logan of the Cato Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank that studies many public policy issues, including a more restrained foreign policy that keeps the U.S. strong for future generations.  

As of last year, the U.S. can include 50 of the world’s countries as formal allies, plus dozens of other informal partnerships. The U.S. shoulders a vastly disproportionate amount of the economic burden: While U.S. allies account for about 36% of world economic output, they contribute just 24% of global military spending. 

This imbalance allows allies to spend money on domestic priorities while U.S. taxpayers pick up the tab for their national security. Every U.S. president since Eisenhower has called this out, but the solution is far from simple. It likely involves reevaluating our alliances, pulling back from firm commitments, and following a three-pronged approach to spurring allies to take on more economic responsibility involving institutions, military deployments, and diplomatic signals. 

Full Article

Fed report shows banks worried about conditions ahead, with focus on slowing economy and deposit outflows


 May 8, 2023

Tumult in mid-sized institutions caused banks to tighten lending standards both to households and businesses, potentially posing a threat to U.S. economic growth, according to a Federal Reserve report Monday.

The Fed’s quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion survey said requirements got tougher for commercial and industrial loans as well as for many household-debt instruments such as mortgages, home equity lines of credit and credit cards.

Full Article