Month: March 2018

6 Christian Communities that Can’t Practice Their Religion Freely This Easter

As Christians around the world prepare to observe the holy weekend of Easter, many will be asked at their services to pray for the persecuted around the world. After years of advocacy groups raising awareness, the plight of the Christians of the Middle East, particularly in the former Islamic State territories, has become common knowledge among American Christians. Yet they are far from the only group that will celebrate Easter this year in defiance of state persecution, mob violence, and repressive cultural norms imposed by groups threatened by the spread of the Christian faith. Click here for a list of six countries where Christians struggle to practice their faith freely against systematic institutional and cultural pressure.

And this is nowhere near the full list.  It doesn’t even mention N. Korea, where the practice of Christianity is punishable by death.

Ted Nugent on Parkland Gun Control Activists: ‘They Have No Soul’

Rocker and NRA board member Ted Nugent used an appearance on the “The Joe Page Show” to describe the Parkland gun control activists as people who “have no soul.” The Hill published excerpts from the interview, with Nugent describing the gun control push as “ignorant and dangerously stupid” and “soulless.” He added, “These poor children, I’m afraid to say this and it hurts me to say this, but the evidence is irrefutable, they have no soul.” Nugent believes the media is not only propping up the Parkland gun control activists but also giving them direction in what to say. He said, “The dumbing down of America is manifested in the culture deprivation of our academia that have taught these kids the lies, media that have prodded and encouraged and provided these kids lies.” His comments come after more than a month of intense criticism of the NRA and politicians associated with it. On March 17 Breitbart News reported that David Hogg, one of the Parkland gun control activists, released a PSA in which he asked, “What if our politicians weren’t the b*tch of the NRA?”

Gotta love Uncle Ted not holding back, and calling it as he sees it.   Excellent!     🙂

11 Easter Sunday dining deals

No matter how you celebrate, Easter is a wonderful time to gather loved ones and ring in a new spring season with a beautiful meal. Whether you’re busy with work, travel or simply don’t want to cook for the holiday, one of these chains near you is surely serving up delectable fare. Though restaurants will likely be less crowded on April 1 than other food-centric holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, making advance reservations is still an egg-cellent idea. And sure, Easter falls on April Fool’s Day this year, but these deals and steals are no joke… Click here to see our list.

Happy Easter!!   🙂

Opinion: MLB’s Opening Day: What the NFL could learn from Major League Baseball

On Major League Baseball’s opening day Thursday, hope springs eternal across the country. Even as Chicago Cubs fans shiver in their puffy blue jackets, New York Yankees fans rub their hands together in the Bronx, and millions of baseball fans search box scores at work, a unity among people from all backgrounds not only exists, it flourishes. So does patriotism. The “Star-Spangled Banner” actually debuted in the sports world thanks to baseball. In 1918 during Game 1 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, Babe Ruth – a man who would become arguably the most iconic home run hitter – and his teammates first sang along to the national anthem. The Cubs followed suit, and the pageantry quickly spread to every team across the league. Appropriately, baseball earned the nickname “America’s Pastime.” Now, compare that to the modern-day National Football League, where the en vogue trend has been to kneel for our country’s most emblematic sign of solidarity. This movement, spearheaded by the now-unemployed Colin Kaepernick, is meant to protest police brutality against African-Americans. Supporters will tell you it has nothing to do with the flag … despite players using the American flag as a prop to give themselves the most publicity. When President Trump weighed in on the matter, which he repeatedly and rightfully did, at least 200 players knelt or sat during the anthem last Sept. 24. Many of those players – on the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars rosters – actually had the audacity to still stand for “God Save the Queen” prior to kick off in London. It was a blatant sign of disrespect, followed months later by an even more egregious act. The league rejected a print ad for this year’s Super Bowl program that read “#PleaseStand.” In response, a NFL spokesperson said the Super Bowl has “never been a place for advertising that could be considered by some as a political statement.” Hey, Commissioner Roger Goodell, how about you tell your own players that? You know how many baseball players have knelt during the national anthem? One. Bruce Maxwell, a catcher for the Oakland A’s, joined in the protest late last fall. It was short-lived and he failed to garner any participation from teammates. This is in part because most baseball players see the consequences of an ongoing problem in this current political climate: Debate isn’t just relegated to politics anymore. Athletes and coaches increasingly use America’s beloved pastimes, and their participation in them, as a method of division. But in reality, sports should exist as a way to bring Americans together. Just one regular baseball season provides 162 opportunities for refuge from tiresome rigors of everyday life or from the wounds of tragedy. At Yankee Stadium in Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, baseball helped Americans transcend the most horrific act of terrorism on U.S. soil – 9/11. Against security recommendations, then-President George W. Bush decided to make an appearance and throw out the first pitch. He strode onto the field waving one hand and holding a baseball in the other. Smiling ear to ear, the president took the mound and calmness instantly enveloped the stadium. As soon as the ball hit the catcher’s mitt, cheers and chants of “U-S-A” erupted. “The country, which was rallying at the time, had further caused a rally to see baseball being played, and I was just a part of that,” President Bush told ESPN. “I didn’t realize how symbolic it was, though, ‘til I made it to the mound.” Even before that game, baseball helped bring Americans back to normalcy after 9/11. The Mets and Braves played each other when games resumed that season after the tragedy, and for one beautiful, brief moment two bitter division rivals tipped their caps to the people of New York City and shared a feeling of resiliency. That same embodiment of hope propelled an already extremely talented Houston Astros roster to a World Series clinch over the Dodgers last year. Game 6 scored Fox its best ratings in almost a decade after the Dodgers staged a rallying comeback. Even though the larger market team didn’t win the Commissioner’s Trophy, it felt like the whole country shared a piece of joy with the Astros. As Houston learned from Hurricane Harvey, catastrophe can strike from Mother Nature too, and even though thousands of Houston residents lost most of their belongings and homes, a baseball team managed to rekindle their spirit. All of our spirits will once again reignite with pleasure as the 2018 baseball season kicks off. As you enjoy a hot dog, watch a flyover, and tip your cap to veterans, take a minute to appreciate the beauty of a sport that, unlike the NFL, contributes to and enhances the patriotic fabric of our country.

Agreed!  And, well said Britt!  Former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry is the author of that spot-on op/ed.  Excellent!!     🙂

Analysis: Scott Pruitt Is #Winning, Bans Junk Science from Environmental Protection Agency

Junk science is no longer welcome at the Environmental Protection Agency. Administrator Scott Pruitt has declared war on what he calls “secret science” – the process whereby EPA regulators have been able to craft rules using non-publicly-available science data. Pruitt told Daily Caller: “We need to make sure their data and methodology are published as part of the record. Otherwise, it’s not transparent. It’s not objectively measured, and that’s important.” This decision will correct a longstanding injustice at the EPA, perpetrated against the U.S. taxpayer. For years the EPA has been able to behave as a law unto itself, cavalierly passing regulations which restrict freedoms, hamper business and hold back the U.S. economy for reasons which have much more to do with left-leaning environmentalist politics than with objective science. The problem dates back to the early 1990s when the EPA decided it wanted to regulate fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 but couldn’t find any hard scientific evidence proving it was harmful.

Kudos to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for trying to bring some sanity to the EPA.  For more on this excellent op/ed from James Delingpole, just click on the text above.    🙂

Extreme vetting: State Dept. to demand tourists’ social media history

The State Department will publish new rules this week that would require most visitors and immigrants to the U.S. to turn over their recent social media histories, carrying out one of President Trump’s key security enhancements from his extreme vetting executive order. Travelers would also be asked to list previous phone numbers, email addresses and international travel during the previous five years, and to detail any immigration problems they’ve had, whether with the U.S. or elsewhere. They’ll also be asked about potential family connections to terrorism. And in a striking human rights move, would-be immigrants from countries where female genital mutilation is prevalent would be directed to a website ensuring they’re aware the practice — common in some African countries — is illegal in the U.S. The proposals are laid out in two new documents slated to be published Friday, kicking off a comment period before the government finalizes the policies. “This upgrade to visa vetting is long overdue, and it’s appropriate to apply it to everyone seeking entry, because terrorism is a worldwide problem. The aim is to try to weed out people with radical or dangerous views,” said Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies. She also called the effort to discourage female genital mutilation “innovative.” “The message needs to be sent that ‘we don’t do that here,’ ” she said. Security experts have demanded the government collect more information from visitors and immigrants for years, but civil liberties groups have been wary of the move. Homeland Security had floated plans to track social media of immigrant applicants, but the State Department’s new proposal would apply to tourists and others coming on temporary visas. Some 14 million people would be affected by the request for information, the department’s documents say. Don Crocetti, a former senior fraud investigator for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said it makes sense to collect the information — but said officers need to stay within privacy rules, too. He said in the immigration context, looking at social media can help an adjudicator assess whether the story the applicant is telling for applying for a benefit rings true — such as in the case of a marriage petition. But Mr. Crocetti said someone’s refusal to turn over the passwords or other non-public social media information can’t be used on its own to deny approval. “The use of social media is a wrench in their tool box. It’s not that you use that same wrench for everything you do, but it’s a wrench, it’s a different sized tool, and you have use that selectively,” he said. The State Department said it already collects limited information about travel history and family relations. The new information will go beyond that to include prior passport numbers, information about family members, and a longer history of past travel, employment and contact information. “Collecting this additional information from visa applicants will strengthen our process for vetting these applicants and confirming their identity,” the department said. Ms. Vaughan said she wished the State Department had also requested information on the visitor application asking whether female travelers are intending to enter the U.S. for the purpose of having a child. She said that could cut down on what’s known as “birth tourism,” where women in the late stages of pregnancy visit the U.S. in order to give birth on American soil, which secures citizenship for the child.

Donations Pour in for Rifle Team After School District Rejects NRA’s ‘Dirty Money’

A Pennsylvania high school rifle team is being flooded with donations from local businesses and residents after its school district voted to reject a National Rifle Association grant. The Stroudsburg Area School District’s board voted 6-2 Monday to reject the $4,730 grant, the Allentown Morning Call reported, with one board member calling it “dirty money.” The president of a local contracting company, upset by the decision, spearheaded a fundraiser in which several businesses bundled more than $6,000 to replace the grant money. Brian Winot’s group of local business donors put out a press release criticizing what they called the politicization of the situation. “[The business owners] are all members of the NRA and strongly disagree with the school board’s decision and further attempt to politicize guns in this country, on the backs of our kids,” the business owners stated. On top of that, a Democratic state lawmaker set up a GoFundMe campaign so that the rifle team would be funded without help from the NRA. “We have students organizing marches in Washington [and] all around this nation crying out for their lives. God forbid anything happens in this school, how are we going to feel about taking that money?” said State Rep. Maureen Madden (D-Tobyhanna). The funding call brought in more than $5,000 in the past few days. According to an AP analysis, about 500 U.S. schools received more than $7.3 million from the NRA from 2010 through 2016 to promote the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp, rifle teams and hunting safety courses.

Of course the dominantly liberal mainstream media doesn’t want you to know that.

Opinion/Analysis: Parkland Gun Control Activists Driving Americans Toward 2nd Amendment

As Parkland gun control activists and their surrogates mock the idea of arming teachers, march for gun bans in D.C., and call for new gun controls via Twitter, they risk driving Americans toward the Second Amendment instead of away from it. They run this risk via their in-your-face gun control hubris, especially when that hubris is directed toward docile actors. For example, on Monday Rep. Steve King (R-IA) addressed Parkland students who want to raise the minimum age for gun purchases by asking, “If you are a teenager & believe you won’t be responsible enough to own a gun until 21, why should you vote before 21?” That is a reasonable question when one considers that voting and owning guns are both constitutional rights. Yet the responses to his question varied between things too vulgar to print and pronouncements that his political career is over–that he is a pawn of the NRA and is going to be voted out office. Or consider David Hogg, one of the most frequent spokesmen for Parkland gun control activists. He put out a PSA one week before the student march for gun control and asked, “What if our politicians weren’t the bitch of the NRA?” And it is not just the way he talks about the NRA, although that runs the risk of motivating the group’s five million-plus members to show up and vote. It is also the way he appears to set himself apart from other Americans in general. Take his March 22 Axios interview as an example. In that interview he talked of how his teachers are “very understanding” when he has to skip school for gun control events and appearances. He even talked of how he was recently supposed to take a math test but just said, “Nah.” This gives the appearance of special rules for the philosopher king, rules and opportunities that cannot be enjoyed by others. One cannot be blamed for sensing a similar, conflicting set of rules in gun controllers from Hollywood and D.C. If, by chance, you still do not see the hubris, then look at Parkland gun control activist Cameron Kasky, who spends time rejecting the idea of arming teachers to defend students when he is not making fun of Americans’ abiding conviction that we need to be armed to repel a tyranny. On Tuesday he tweeted: “To all people who think they need an assault rifle: I can not promise this, but I truly do not believe the redcoats will be coming for any of us any time soon.” And we have not even mentioned how the gun control activists treated Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch during the CNN gun control town hall. It was just a few short months ago–October 19, 2017, to be exact–that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was urging his colleagues to drop gun control until after the November 2018 election. He worried that the incessant, post-Vegas gun control push was going to hurt Democrats in the midterm elections. Yet the gun control push from Democrats has only escalated since Schumer voiced his concerns, thanks to the Parkland activists and others. Meanwhile, the NRA PAC took in February donations that were three times higher than it received during January. This could mean that people had spent months saving in a coordinated effort to give money to the NRA in February or…it could mean that Schumer was right and all the gun control rhetoric is rallying Americans to the standard once more. And that standard is the Second Amendment.

Agreed..  Author AWR Hawkins has a great point here…one I heard someone echo last night.  Each time there is an overreach for guns by anti-gun, liberal politicians, there is a political backlash against them by we-the-people.  That said..  If you’re thinking about getting a firearm, NOW is the time to do that, and stock up on ammo while you can.  You just never know..  Also, take a minute and join the NRA or renew your membership online.  If we all do it, it’ll send a powerful message to the politicians in D.C.

Pope Francis: ‘There Is No Hell’

In another interview with his longtime atheist friend, Eugenio Scalfari, Pope Francis claims that Hell does not exist and that condemned souls just “disappear.” This is a denial of the 2,000-year-old teaching of the Catholic Church about the reality of Hell and the eternal existence of the soul. The interview between Scalfari and the Pope was published March 28, 2018 in La Repubblica. The relevant section on Hell was translated by the highly respected web log, Rorate Caeli. The interview is headlined, “The Pope: It is an honor to be called revolutionary.” (Il Papa: “È un onore essere chiamato rivoluzionario.”) Scalfari says to the Pope, “Your Holiness, in our previous meeting you told me that our species will disappear in a certain moment and that God, still out of his creative force, will create new species. You have never spoken to me about the souls who died in sin and will go to hell to suffer it for eternity. You have however spoken to me of good souls, admitted to the contemplation of God. But what about bad souls? Where are they punished?” Pope Francis says, “They are not punished, those who repent obtain the forgiveness of God and enter the rank of souls who contemplate him, but those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear. There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, ‘eternal fire.’ The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.” (1035) The Catechism further states, “The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: ‘Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.’ “Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where ‘men will weep and gnash their teeth.'” Pope Benedict XVI said in a 2007 sermon, “Jesus came to tell us that he wants us all in Heaven and that Hell, of which so little is said in our time, exists and is eternal for those who close their hearts to his love.” As for the human soul, the Catholic Church teaches that it is eternal, immortal in countless places throughout the Catechism. One instance, “Endowed with ‘a spiritual and immortal’ soul, the human person is ‘the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.’ From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude.” (1703) * In a statement released on Mar. 29, after Scalfari’s report garnered worldwide attention, the Vatican said: “The Holy Father Francis recently received the founder of the newspaper La Repubblica in a private meeting on the occasion of Easter, without however giving him any interviews. What is reported by the author in today’s article [in La Repubblica] is the result of his reconstruction, in which the textual words pronounced by the Pope are not quoted. No quotation of the aforementioned article must therefore be considered as a faithful transcription of the words of the Holy Father.”

Fascinating!  I’m not Catholic.   But, I’m sure there are many out there wondering…  “Sooo..  Did the Pope say there is no hell, or didn’t he?”

‘South Park’ Creators Stun Hollywood Crowd: ‘We’re Republicans’

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker reportedly stunned a liberal Hollywood crowd this week after revealing they are proud Republicans. After receiving a ‘Freedom Award’ from Norman Lear’s left-wing organization People for the American Way Foundation, the pair apparently revealed their true political persuasion. “Trey Parker & Matt Stone of @SouthPark asked me to introduce them when they received a ‘freedom’ award from Norman Lear’s organization,” Larry Elder wrote on Twitter. “After they graciously accepted, they said, ‘We’re republicans.’ Nervous laughter. They repeated, ‘No, seriously, we’re republicans.’” The foundation, whose opening website message calls on people to “Defeat Trump and the Right Wing in 2018,” describes itself as a “progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism.” South Park, meanwhile, has for years ruthlessly mocked aspects of both the left and right of American politics, and has recently focused on belittling aspects of political correctness and left-wing campus culture such as “safe spaces” and “trigger warnings.” However, Trey Parker said last year that unlike many comedy shows, South Park would move away from jokes about President Donald Trump, as they had “gotten boring.” Although not overtly political, the pair have long described themselves as libertarians, but have claimed what they really dislike are the excesses of both political extremes.

Matt and Trey are definitely equal opportunity offenders.  But, c’mon..  How great is it that they “came out” with their Republican allegiance at some left-wing wacko award ceremony.  HAHA!!  Excellent!!     🙂