Unhinged

 So far in the early months of the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump as attacked his ex UN ambassador, attacked De Santis who he supported for governor, and now unloaded on his ex press secretary.  

McEnany stood in the White House press room day after day and took bullets for Trump, and he can't even be bothered to spell check his unwarranted attacks on her.  

I see people like Trump and others who constantly blame others for everything that they don't like, yet strangely no one seems to find that strange. 

Is It True?

 I saw something yesterday that calls into question the entire narrative around the debt ceiling debate.  The narrative is essentially, "If we don't give the DFL a blank check to spend whatever they want, the US will default.", but is this True?

For starters, debt service is the only item on the federal budget that absolutely must be paid, everything else is discretionary.   Fortunately, the amount of projected revenue is more than enough to cover the debt service, and save us from default.  So, in reality, default IS NOT something likely to happen.  The problem then becomes the rest of the budget.  The allocation of discretionary funds is then the responsibility of the president.    So what we really have is a situation where Biden does not want to be the guy who has to make the hard decisions about who gets what slice of the remaining federal budget pie.    It's not about default, it's about fear.  There's a reason why social security checks are the threat that the Biden administration is holding over our heads.  When you see Biden complaining, remember that he's afraid of having to make tough decisions.  

As a side note, when the position of the DFL is that there is absolutely zero possible way to even consider spending even 1% less than we spent last year, even though the COVID spending is or should be over and done with, should tell us all we need to know. 

Banning

 Ban, officially or legally prohibit.

 If the above is the definition of ban, then "The book remains available in the media center.", would seem to indicate that the book was not banned.

It seems like educators making a decision that certain books are not appropriate for one age group, while having them available to appropriate age groups is literally not banning the book.

Silence

 Not unexpectedly, the usual suspects who are unable to contain themselves when a young black man is shot, have apparently been struck speechless.  

I haven't heard any of these folx protesting, speaking out, or actually saying much of anything about Jamoure Harrel.

One wonders why.

One wonders of BLM will be dispensing any of the millions they grifted for the benefit of his family?

One wonders where the celebrity funded, millions of dollars, Go Fund Me campaign is.

"Say his name." My ass. 

Consistency

 Christopher Neeley, the uncle of the guy who died while being restrained in an NYC subway, was adamant in demanding that those who restrained him not be given the option of a plea bargain.

Well, Chris managed to get himself in a little jam when he ran from police, was found to be in possession of stolen credit cards, and is wanted for multiple larcenies.  

I guess we should apply his standard to him, and not give him to option of a plea bargain. 

Oh Look

"bad form, says I"

 

Oh look, Dan is right up front about his use of "Because I say so." in one form or another.

Who Knows Better?

 According to Joy Behar, notable for being an unattractive, old, white, liberal, woman, Tim Scott and Clarence Thomas have absolutely zero idea of what it’s like to be a black man.   

Sunday Thoughts

 As I was in a couple of different churches this past Sunday, I had a couple of thoughts that struck me.

First, we are currently in the middle of a sermon series focusing on Psalm 23.  This is a pretty well known passage, even among those who are not committed Christians.    The first line says, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.".    This acknowledgement is pretty profound.   The shepherd/sheep image is one that is used throughout scripture, and the more I think about it the more interesting it is.    The sheep is an animal which is not particularly intelligent (note the recent video showing a sheep getting pulled out of a trench, and immediately jumping back in).  It is also an animal that has literally zero defensive abilities.  No camouflage. no horns/antlers, not particularly fast or agile, no sharp teeth, or anything else.   Enter the shepherd, who provides protection, guidance, care, and pretty much everything needed to keep the sheep safe and flourishing.    Yet YHWH refers to us as sheep.   We're being told that we are these relatively stupid, defenseless, animals that can't really survive without help.    I don't know about you, but that almost sounds insulting doesn't it?    In Matt 25 Jesus makes the point that the helpless sheep are the "good" ones, while the goats (who have some of the defensive measure sheep lack) are the "bad" ones.   I really don't think that a lot of people quite buy into the notion that we are like sheep, and that we desperately need a shepherd.   I think a lot of folx believe that they are the exception to the rules about sheep.  That they can fend for themselves and that they don't really need a shepherd.  Or at least that they don't need a shepherd until things get really, really bad.  Then they desperately need a shepherd.    Based on the repeated use of the sheep/shepherd example in scripture, I can't understand how so many people are convinced are so convinced that they have things under control.   Maybe we need to reevaluate our condition.

Second.   On Sunday night I attended the service at a church that started as a Sunday night service at our church and eventually was planted as their own congregation.   When they met at our church, they had between 1,500-2,000 people who attended every week.  When they were planted, that dropped to 700-900 per week. They had a run of 21 years as a church and we saw lots of good things happen within the community.   Yet, Sunday night was their final service.  I don't know all the details, and I really don't need to.   What I took away from the service was that YHWH raises up congregations/churches in a particular place and time, and that there is no guarantee that they will go one forever.   I think it's OK to acknowledge that sometimes a congregation/church runs it's course.   "For every thing there is a season." we're told, and season's come to an end.   I'll admit that there was sadness, and disappointment watching this final service, but not an excessive amount.    The members will find other places to worship, serve. and communities to be a part of, and eventually things will be fine.  I guess that whole shepherd/sheep thing might go for churches too. 

Unintended consequences

 Back on the early 2000's the government decided that not enough people of certain demographic groups owned homes, and that home ownership was going to be a panacea for these groups.  The government decided that the best way to fix this problem was to lower the requirements for obtaining a mortgage, while simultaneously guaranteeing these mortgages so that the lenders faced virtually zero risk of default.   I'm not going to go into the details here, but suffice it to say that the standards held by the mortgage industry prior to this big change, were supported by plenty of data that demonstrate that people who qualified under the previous standards (certain credit score/DTI/etc) had a high probability of being able to pay back their loans.    Strangely enough, the looser loan requirements led to increased defaults, trying to bury these bad loans in better loans inside of mortgage backed securities, and the like, which led to lender/bank failures, and chaos in the housing market.     

One result of this mess was that the number of new houses being built dropped off of a cliff, and remained below the trend line until 2020/2021.   This resulted in our current reality where we have a shortage of homes in the US.   We're talking about having over a million fewer housing units that we currently need, without regard to future needs.    Add this to the fact that cities across the country are making it virtually impossible to build affordable housing, and the reality that most cities don't have the infrastructure to accommodate replacing single family homes with multi family homes, and you get a sense of the problem.  One area where this is very noticeable is how it has affected rental properties.  As we know from econ 101, when supply goes down, and demand goes up, prices for the commodity rise.  Rents are currently so high as to be unaffordable for many people.   Speaking on unintended consequences, rent control is s shitty idea.

So, into this situation where decent, affordable rental property is hard to find, and cities are making it difficult to build more, we add one more factor.   Immigration.   Some folx have decided that what will really fix this situation is to introduce millions of immigrants to the picture.   As if placing more demand for a scarce commodity will somehow not make the price for that commodity continue to rise.   But as long as we can blame the greedy landlords,  and cap the amount they can charge for rent while raising taxes and lowering services, what could possibly go wrong.   Let's not forget that VRBO's and STR's are taking rental stock out of the market as well.  

I guess that condemning immigrants to high priced, substandard, overcrowded rental housing, is one way to show them compassion. 

Could Be

https://medium.com/@anthonybernardi/why-waking-up-early-is-rooted-in-white-supremacy-f487b04376f1 

This could be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read.    The reality is that prior to electricity and the industrial revolution virtually everyone worked from sunrise to sunset.  Especially those with an agrarian lifestyle.   The notion that these sorts of things, waking up early, punctuality, hard work, diligence, self control, and the like are somehow based in one's race seems absurd on it's face.  But any excuses necessary, right?

RIP

 Tim Keller passed away after a battle with cancer.   Prayers for his family and friends.   

Jehova Jireh

 The term Jehova Jireh is a translation of a Hebrew term that roughly means "The Lord will provide".   As I've been working through John Piper's book on God's Providence, and other things I've been thinking about this concept regularly for a couple of years.  

I firmly believe that YHWH provides for the needs (and then some) for myself and my family.   I firmly believe that nothing happens to us that does not pass through YHWH's hands first and that it is all for His glory.  

Recently I've been struggling with how this plays out in real life, and what my role in all of this is.  I'm pretty sure that if I sit around and do nothing all day that YHWH is not going to magically meet my needs.  Yet I'm, also pretty sure that it's not 100% based on my effort either.   Lately I've been really focused on being thankful for every opportunity I get to work with people, and to remain thankful whether or not they choose to work with me.  

But what I've noticed is that when I do the activities (lead generation and follow up) that I know I should do, things happen.   For example, I got a text from some old clients out of the blue today and they are possibly interested in purchasing an investment property.   They also referred another client to me earlier this month.   I'm somewhat convinced that when I am diligent in doing what I can do to generate business, that I am more likely to see things pop up that are not directly related to the specific things I do.  I feel like this is where YHWH is moving with opportunities that I can't claim are a direct result of my work.   I don't want to discount the fact that I've done multiple transactions with this family, and that they have been happy with my work.  Or that they are friends.   Although, they have tow other friends who do what I do and they could easily have called one of them,  

I guess what I'd like to do is come up with a "theology" of self employment that puts YHWH is His rightful place, and me in my rightful place, without it becoming some sort of a transactional relationship.   I know that part of the reason I want to do this, is because I want to know how it works so I can hold up my end better.   I suspect, that I'll never really be able to because I suspect that YHWH is more concerned with me being thankful and giving Him the glory instead of me taking more credit than I should.  

I know this might sound a bit rambling, but the fact that I had this drop in my lap today pushed me to finally try to express where I am with this.

SDG

Reasons for abortion

 We know from research that there are many reasons for women to choose abortion.   The majority of those reasons can be summarized as for the convenience of the woman.  We also know that various countries have eradicated various things like Down's Syndrome by simply aborting any baby that shows a propensity for Down's in testing.   Those who support abortion for any reason and at any time, by definition support women having abortion for any reason.   That leads me to wonder what they'd say if someone wants to abort because the don't want a boy (or girl).    What about if a white woman drunkenly gets pregnant with a black man, and the woman doesn't want a black child?  Or, what is they discover a "gay gene" (or "trans" gene), and the mother doesn't want a gay child?   

It seems like if one was to choose intellectual consistency, one would wholeheartedly agree that if any reason for an abortion is appropriate, then every reason for an abortion is appropriate. 

A Note

 In Dan's recent post where he expresses his dislike of the current Biden administration border policy, he closes with this statement.  "Seeking asylum is a basic human right"

While I might agree that "seeking asylum" might be a "basic human right", I would note that recieving asylum is not a "basic human right".  

News

 There is a lot of stuff going on in the news over the last couple of days, and I don't have time to get to all of it right now, but I did want to mention a couple of things. 

The Durham report is out, and it really doesn't help those on the left who peddled the various rumors about Trump during the 2016/2020 presidential campaigns.  It also doesn't make Hillary, the FBI, or P-BO look particularly good.  One take I've heard, which makes some sense, is as follows.   If 1/6, where a couple of hundred people wandered around the capitol mostly peacefully for a couple of hours, was a legitimate attempt to overturn an election then how can an attempt by the Clinton Campaign, the FBI, the P-BO administration, the DOJ, and the MSM not be considered an attempt to overturn an election?    Since when do we weaponize the FBI,DOJ, and the like against our political enemies.

Much has been made of the Marine who restrained a man on a subway in NY.  The marine has recently been charged with murder, and those who donated to his legal defense fund villianized.    Strangely enough, we've been told that they should have totally ignored the victim's erratic behavior, and threats of violence.  Even more strangely, we've seen what happens when subway passengers DO ignore erratic behavior and threats of violence.  Unfortunately that resulted in three innocent bystanders getting knife wounds.   I also can't help but wonder why the black and Hispanic guys who helped the Marine restrain the victim haven't been charged as accessories.   I suspect that we know, but can't say it out loud.

While the MN legislature has time for pressing issues like recreational weed legalization, they've ignored the promised rebate checks for overpayment of taxes, and the loophole that allowed a dangerous teenager free to kill.

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/closing-a-loophole-that-allows-mentally-incompetent-defendants-to-buy-guns/89-8cf3a7ae-95f8-4b29-a1bb-beb1a1f62db2

A recent study suggests that emissions driven climate change isn't a big problem.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X22005490

A study regarding trans women suggests the following.

90%+ retain their penises.

80%+ remain attracted to women.

Seems strange to suggest that these guys are 100% women.  

https://www.thetaskforce.org/injustice-every-turn-report-national-transgender-discrimination-survey/

Socialized healthcare is awesome, they said.  Canada's healthcare system is the way the US should operate, they said.   

Unless, you are poor, homeless, or unworthy.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/canadian-disabled-mans-euthanasia-request-due-to-poverty-approved/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/11/canada-cases-right-to-die-laws

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/08/24/canada-is-euthanizing-its-sick-and-poor-welcome-to-world-of-government-health-care

One more scientific study that casts doubt on the climate change narrative. 

https://journals.lww.com/health-physics/Fulltext/2022/02000/World_Atmospheric_CO2,_Its_14C_Specific_Activity,.2.aspx

Finally, Revrend John K Amanschukwu attempted to read aloud from the book It's Perfectly Normal during a school board meeting in Asheville NC, it's actually hilarious listening to a school board member trying to the the Reverend to stop reading the book aloud, because it's inappropriate for a meeting in a room full of adults.   Strange that the book is available in public school libraries and is appropriate for children.  

https://www.bitchute.com/video/qzkPrZZGBBKC/

As Trump goes after DeSantis on his abortion restrictions, it's starting to look like Trump's new strategy is to move to the left of conservatives.   Personally, I have no problem with Trump running to the left of DeSantis and Haley. 

To Be Clear

 We just saw an extensive report yesterday detailing a complex web of LLC's and other business entities which the Biden family established for some reason.   It also looks like there is evidence of these LLC's being used to receive money from various foreign entities with ties to Biden's areas of responsibility when he was VPOTUS.  

To be clear, I have no problem with LLC's, in fact I set one up when I started my current business.   I've also used incorporation in previous businesses, and will likely incorporate my current business at some point.    It's also possible that every single dollar of the millions that flowed to the Biden family are totally legitimate.   But what we've seen so far, certainly has the appearance of impropriety.   Almost as improper as Hunter fighting against paying child support for his illegitimate kid.  

If the name in this story was Trump, the response would be loud, constant, and outraged.  But since it's Biden, the response is muted, to say the least.    It's interesting that most of the complaints about Trump are from his behavior in the private sector, yet the complaints about Biden, The Clintons, etc are virtually all from their behavior in government.  Obviously, bad behavior is bad behavior and should be dealt with, but I can't help but think that using one's elected office to gain personal profit by dubious means, seems a little worse to me. 

Border walls are bad

It's an article of faith for the APL that a wall at the US Mexico border is a bad thing.  The notion that the US as a sovreign nation should have any control over it's borders is not a popular one on the political left. 

However, Yael Lambert (the Biden nominee for ambassador to Jordan) was asked about the $150 million in the 2023 omnibus spending bill (continued into 2024) that will pay for physical border security to prevent people from illegally crossing into Jordan.

So, just to clarify, the Biden administration thinks that US taxpayers should fund physical border security to protect the subjects of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, but not for the citizens and taxpayers of the US.   

Obviously this policy an expenditure on behalf of the subjects of the king of Jordan is a perfectly rational and reasonable policy.  Especially when one considers the exemplary state of human rights in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.  The report from Human Rights Watch paints an interesting picture of the plight of the subjects of the HKJ.   

Obviously I could be wrong, but it sure seems like this is one of those situations with a different set of standards for the US, than for the countries we financially support. 

Ethics

 Well, it looks like George Santos might be reaping the whirlwind of his creative additions to his "resume" when he was running for office.  

It also looks Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch chose not to recuse themselves from a case involving their publisher.  Gorsuch apparently has received thousands of dollars in advances/royalties from the publisher, while Sotomayor has received millions.   Fortunately retired justice Breyer did make the ethical choice and did recuse himself from cases involving companies he held stick in.

There have also been reports of a DFL congresswoman who miraculously managed to sell her stock in the most recent failed bank, while miraculously putting that money into JPMC stock before they bought the assets of the failed bank.  

Finally, while Justice Thomas took the bulk of the criticism, it looks like a significant number of SCOTUS justices have rich, generous friends who do lots of stuff for them.    It doesn't look great, but as long as there is no direct conflict, I'm not sure that much can be done about it.

Finally, we still have absolutely no idea who leaked the Roe decision from the Court.  Most people have concluded that it was a staffer for one of the liberal justices, but somehow they've been unable to track the leaker down. 

Soon and very soon...

 It won't be long before the TDS crowd starts crowing about how Trump was found guilty of "sexual harassment" and defamation.   But, is that what really happened?

Not exactly.  Trump was found "liable" for "sexual harassment" and "defamation" and fined $5 million dollars.   This was NOT in criminal court, but CIVIL court, and the burden of proof in civil court is significantly lower than in criminal court.     But this should put a dent in the "Trump is a rapist" crowd, although it's likely it won't.  

I want to focus on a few of aspects of this case.  

1. The plaintiff was unable to remember what year the alleged rape took place.  She also claimed that Les Moonves raped her, but is also unable to remember what year that happened.   Contrast that with Kathleen Willey who was able to provide many specific details about her rape by Bill Clinton, yet somehow has never gotten her day in court and Clinton remains unpunished.

2.  Trump is an idiot.   It is highly likely that he could have settled this case long ago and negotiated as part of the agreement that neither side could comment on the details.   But he chose to go to court.  Now that he's lost the civil suit, he could choose to simply pay the $5 million, and move on.  It's bad enough that he's handed this gift to his political opponents, but he's likely to make this the gift that keeps on giving by appealing.   It seems clear that he has no one in his circle who he will listen to regarding his public perception and how it affects his candidacy.

3.   I'm not saying that he's right to do so, in fact it's one of the reasons I can't support him, but Trump defames everyone who disagrees with him.  It's stupid, petty, childish, and the like, but it's how he rolls.  In this case, he likely defamed the plaintiff by publicly denying that he raped her, and other protestations of his innocence.  I'm not saying he's correct to do so, but it seems like to publicly dispute the nature of charges brought against him is  to be expected.  I get that the nature of proclaiming one's "innocence" is to tacitly accuse the plaintiff of lying, but in the absence of more detail, I'm thinking that this liability was as much a way to punish Trump for being an asshole, than an acknowledgement of any actual defamation.

Anyway, ignore anyone who claims that Trump has been found guilty of any crime, and who doesn't note the differences in the burden of proof in civil court. 

Remember

 Remember when we were told that there was absolutely no way that children would be allowed to undergo irreversible surgery if they wanted to transition.   I was told in no uncertain terms, that the transitioning of children was not ever going to happen.  I've been told by the same people that the human brain does not fully develop until age 25.    So, while I'm not an expert, it seems reasonable that someone who is legally a child with a brain that has not fully developed, should probably not be allowed to make decisions that will cause (at a minimum) irreversible changes to their bodies.  

Well, we now have an advocacy group pushing for the age of irreversible change to 14.  

https://apnews.com/article/gender-transition-treatment-guidelines-9dbe54f670a3a0f5f2831c2bf14f9bbb

I'm no scientist, but it seems like a 14 year old's brain isn't developed enough to make that kind of decision with a full understanding of the implications for their future.   Further, we still have that whole pesky problem of legal minority and the inability to sign a contract, give informed consent.  

Of course, if the quotes in the piece below are accurate, then there are people pushing to start transitioning or steering children towards transition as young as 3 or 4.  At this point it doesn't sound like any toddlers have actually started any medical procedures, but it sure does sound like they're pushing to start steering toddlers towards transitioning.  

Given how so many of the instances of minority sexual behaviors have been pushed into the mainstream over the last few decades, it seems reasonable to suspect that the groundwork is being laid to justify transitioning every toddler who plays with a toy associated with the opposite sex.

https://www.edfirstnc.org/post/transgender-toddlers-treated-at-duke-unc-and-ecu

Dan will likely bitch and moan about the source, but the only issue is whether of not the quotes in the piece are accurate.  If they are accurate, then the bigger scandal is why the MSM hasn't reported this story. 

Texas

In Cleveland Texas we just had an incident where a man and his family were shot for asking their neighbor to shot firing his gun in his yard.   His response was to execute 5 people.    This story will likely fade pretty quickly from the MSM and from the left wing types who like to capitalize on shootings to move their narrative forward.    One reason why this case will fade from view is that we know the identity of one party with significant responsibility, and no one will want to have that conversation.

Stupidity

 In what can only be described as a move of colossal stupidity the Biden administration decided that it made sense to penalize people with high credit scores.   It's not enough that we've seem mortgage interest rates jump sharply during the Biden administration, we now need to punish those who've expended the effort to maintain a high credit score as well. 

Kind of Cool

 I just saw a preview of the new Sweet and Lynch song released in advance of their new album.

Michael Sweet is the lead singer/guitarist/songwriter for Stryper.   Stryper as a band and Michael as an individual are very outspoken and up front about their Christian faith.   Yet somehow, despite that unwillingness to compromise, Stryper is mentioned favorably by many different metal bands.   And Michael has fronted Boston, partnered with George Lynch, and is in a side band with Doug Aldrich from Whitesnake.   I think it’s cool that he/they are able to maintain their faith while also maintaining respect in an industry and genre that’s not particularly friendly to Christians.

Keep on rocking.  

What...????

 What is going on?  I just heard the news report of the third or fourth failure of a major bank recently.  I could be wrong, but I suspect if these failures had happened when Trump was in office, that they would be reported much differently.   I'm sure it's just an innocent coincidence that these failures happened during the Biden administration.   Nothing to see here, just move along.    Banking monopolies, no way.

This just in, Lois Frankle (D) FL, managed to miraculously sell her stock in the failing bank and buy Chase with perfect timing.   What are the odds?

take this with a grain of salt

 The Christian school shooting in TN didn't get a lot of news coverage after it was learned that the shooter was "trans", and had a vendetta against Christians.   

What's interesting, is that there is some unconfirmed claims that the parents at the school took up a collection and paid for the shooters funeral.    I'm not suggesting that this is True, because it sounds like they intentionally didn't publicize this if it happened.    I will say that for these parents to have done this seems to be them acting consistent with their Christian faith, as would be doing so without publicity.   I really hope that this is true.