So here is a boots on the ground report. If anyone wants to believe it to be false I encourage them to go there and see for themselves. Want to believe mainstream propaganda media!? There is a wealth of information to debunk anyone wanting to defend this atrocious administration! There may be some offensive language in this clip.
“Tina Peters was sentenced to 9 years in prison yesterday for allowing an outside tech guy to access the voting machines after the 2020 election to try and prove Dominion machines aren’t secure. She didn’t tamper with the machines to cheat or do anything. She just wanted to ensure they were safe to use.
The democrats are sending a clear message. Anyone with any authority who questions them will be punished severely. No one was sent to prison in Detroit for blocking voters. No one was sent to prison in Georgia for receiving ballots all for Biden right after a “burst pipe.””
“Investigative journalist Nick Sortor on-the-ground in North Carolina reveals shocking FEMA absence in hurricane response, complete abandonment of victims
“I haven’t seen a single FEMA truck. A single FEMA employee. I don’t know where these people are…””
“Another Hurricane Helene Victims Donation Center SHUT DOWN by Kamala Harris’ FEMA
Greenville, North Carolina “FEMA has shut down all the local donation operations that were going on and delivering supplies”
“Now they’re saying that they’re not allowed to deliver any more supplies anymore”
“So to everybody that heard about all the supplies and planes that were coming from downtown Greenville Airport and flying up to North Carolina to deliver supplies, uh, water, whatever anybody was donating and people were needing as being sent up there.
Well, today, it’s awfully quiet. And we see these helicopters lined up, and they have a booth set up here and everything. Turns out that’s FEMA. FEMA has shut down all the local donation operations that were going on and delivering supplies.
And now they’re saying that they’re not allowed to deliver any more supplies anymore. So all these people are unfortunately, have all these supplies, but cannot take it up there. So that’s our government for you. Oh, and another thing, those helicopters that have been sitting there, I’ve been sitting there since this morning. Haven’t seen a single movement.
Just a bunch of impacting of important equipment and nothing happening. So I’m so sorry, North Carolina. We tried””
And once again a corrupt judge refuses to allow an accounting of the facts or to ensure the safety of the system. These judges aren’t even hearing legit claims, so some mistakenly think there’s nothing there. There is, but they refuse to even look at it, and will lock you up if you check for yourself, like the clerk in Colo.
“Despite damning evidence showing how unsafe and insecure Georgia’s voting machines are, Judge Scott McAfee DISMISSES the case
McAfee — the same judge overseeing the BS case against President Trump — claims there’s no ongoing legal obligation that the system be safe and practicable. Even when you find out they fail EAC certification standards and can and were remotely accessed during 2020. INSANE.
During his visit, Biden made an astonishing claim, stating that people in the storm zone were “very happy” with the assistance they were getting. Really? How can he stand in front of the American people and make such a tone-deaf comment while families in Florida, Georgia, and other storm-ravaged states are left without power, water, and basic necessities?
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a man actually in touch with what’s going on, was quick to debunk Biden’s claim. He made it clear that rural areas in particular are desperate for help. When only 11 counties were initially declared disaster zones, there was outrage. “There was such devastation in up to 90 counties,” Kemp said. Yet Biden’s administration dragged its feet, sending the message that rural communities—those often filled with hardworking, conservative Americans—were not a priority
Truth….and some still defend this sick leftist administration
I’m still not seeing a lot of political signs out here. Friends have Trump and Vance signs but they bring them in the house at night; another house in my neighborhood has now put up separate “Kennedy” and “Musk”? signs in the front yard (“Musk,” that’s a new one). I was stopped at a light next to a large truck the other day (w/kind of a camouflage paint job?) and with an even larger US flag flying from the truck bed (and something blaring on the radio), but no bumper sticker that I could see.
WSJ has a story about the horror of being in a politically mixed marriage during this very emotional election. That would be awkward in a year like this.
And someone else posted an image of a giant meteor that might (he hoped) still take us out of our collective misery.
And it’ll probably only get more intense for the unforeseeable future.
One couple likes to take tango lessons so they just do the tango; others follow a protocol of not speaking about politics, but that’s tough. Key seems to be not to try your spouse’s mind (probably good overall in political conversations, too!).
Calmly share your views and don’t badger, ridicule or personally attack. Relationships (of all varieties) don’t end well with that tactic.
Thirty eight years ago, my strong minded lifelong Republican dad married a strong minded lifelong Democrat news reporter. Friends referred to them as the odd couple. Gradually he won her over to the point the newspaper editor publicly asked what that guy had done to their beloved Loris. Then she became a Christian when she was eighty. He is not there yet unless he is and I don’t know.
A momentary video I saw on a reel that did not show the whole thing was a warning from a former FEMA inspector that before people take the money that they will be given a contract to sign. The reel went to another before I found out more. Just wondering what the contract says if that is true.
Gen. Flynn is putting his reputation on the line so I hope he has good sources regarding the dead in NC. It will affect his believability in the future. But I hate to think the death toll will be that high.
“Its hard to believe, but one person is in charge of:
– FEMA
– Immigration
– Border Security
– Secret Service
Alejandro Mayorkas is criminally incompetent across the board. Not only does Mayorkas still have a job, he is evasive, combative, smug, and perjurious during compelled testimony.
He’s been impeached by the House, only to have Chuck Schumer protect him in the Senate.
This is everything that is wrong with our federal government.”
DJ, these are times of stress on relationships with people who disagree with each other for sure. But I look at it as more of an opportunity to strengthen those relationships, not by coming to agree on political issues, but by learning to live and grow and thrive with people who don’t.
Husband and I do not always agree on politics. We’re both strong willed and independent. In 2016, he voted for Jill Stein, while I voted for Trump (and put up a yard sign). Neither one of us kept our mouth shut about politics, although there were times when we put it on a shelf by mutual agreement.
Life is more than politics. Our family, the Church, our salvation, our faith in Christ, our utter dependence on the mercies of God—-those are by far the more important things. Politics come and go; the Lord is forever. Stressful times like these are just another opportunity to demonstrate that or to work on it.
With me, it’s always been fragile friendships with my liberal friends. It’s an accumulation of things with this year holding the straws that break the camel’s back.
With one it was early on being told I couldn’t homeschool because I did not have a degree in education and would not be a fit teacher. There has been no mention of having been wrong about that. So. yeah, big things to overcome in order to remain friends over the years. At this age, I don’t have the energy anymore to keep hiding feelings and keep my mouth shut when being told I don’t get my news from the proper sources.
Grace is easier to give people here because we don’t have the longer term history, and we do practice, for the most part, a semblance of the same Christian faith. I don’t consider the main group here to be nominal Christians.
I am still learning the difference between being a grace giver and a floor mat regarding some situations.
Trump is in a rally at Butler, PA. Vance is speaking right now. The crowd is amazing. Vance is quoting Psalm 23. The people are very brave to be there.
“There has been no mention of having been wrong about that.”
Janice, are you sure she even remembers having discouraged you like that? I have found that people may be offensive and manipulative then not even remember it. At any rate, the next time the subject of education comes up, you can express how glad you are that you chose homeschooling for Wesley and look what a splendid educator he is. It’s ok to take satisfaction in your accomplishment and your son’s and to share it with your friend. Hiding hurt feelings can cause resentment ( I speak from experience).
Several months ago, probably shortly after the October 7th attack on Israel, the claim was made here that most Palestinians support Hamas. According to this writer, who is originally from Gaza and still has family there, that is not true.
(I’m not sure if this can be read by non-subscribers, so I have included the main part here.)
~ “As we approach the one-year mark since October 7, we’ll remember Hamas’ horrendous massacre of Israeli communities in the Gaza Envelope. The ruthless calculus and unapologetically masochistic demeanor of Hamas was on full display for the entire world that day. It was, perhaps to the surprise of many, also on display for Palestinians in Gaza.
The unacknowledged irony, as I explained to the diplomat, is that the people of Gaza most certainly do not see in Hamas’ atrocities any form of success, not while they are the ones paying the unbearable price of Sinwar’s sick and twisted strategies. Most people in Gaza—my home until I moved to the United States as a 15-year-old exchange student and where my immediate and extended family continued to live—do not want to be “martyrs” on behalf of Hamas and the Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance.” Gazans dream of the prosperous lives that were robbed of them.
One of the biggest obstacles to recognizing this, however, has been the infamous polls by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR). Led by the prominent Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki, the PCPSR has long been considered one of the few supposedly reliable sources for assessing Palestinian public opinion. Its surveys have painted an inaccurate, dehumanizing, and disturbing picture: Allegedly, a majority of the Gaza Strip’s population supported the October 7 attack against Israel and continued Hamas control of the enclave.
Unsurprisingly, Shikaki’s polls were used to present the people of Gaza as intrinsically supportive of a nihilistic and suicidal terrorist organization. Many within Israel, including military leaders, have attributed support for Hamas to radicalization and brainwashing among the Gazan public. As a result, traditional counterinsurgency campaigns focused on winning hearts and minds were dismissed as ineffective given Hamas’ deep-seated support. In part because of the PCPSR polls, Israeli decision-making and war planning opted for mass destruction and acceptance of a civilian death toll in Gaza that even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conceded in May was above 15,000.
But last month, the IDF alleged it found documents that showed how Hamas was falsifying and manipulating the results of the PCPSR polls, overstating Palestinian approval of the October 7 massacre by some 40 percentage points. “These documents are part of a systematic process,” the IDF claimed in a statement, “the purpose of which is to disguise the collapse of [Hamas], and the collapse of public support for it.”
The findings should not have been surprising. Through my work in the coastal enclave, I’ve long seen how Hamas has, directly and indirectly, manipulated public opinion to manufacture the perception of widespread support, whether through the use of trolls, social media groups, or counterintelligence agents. But common sense alone should have been enough to see through Hamas’ facade of widespread popularity. How could a population continue supporting the very organization that has made their lives a living hell? After all, Hamas has brought unprecedented death and destruction upon Gazans, not to mention 15 years of failed governance, poverty, a blockade, and unemployment. The Islamist group is so deeply despised by the majority of the population—including, in recent months, by those who may have historically supported the group.” ~
Thanks, Debra. She has been a supportive friend over the years in many ways, but the politics and different ways of doing Christianity are making it very difficult to be close at the moment. In time things might settle down depending on how the election goes. It does not seem that should matter, but I am being realistic and thinking ahead that it will.
I’m sorry about that, Janice. You can only do your part to try, the rest is in God’s hands . We can never really know the full impact of our words, but we can pray God’s blessings over them. He can redeem the impact of a lost relationship even if you never know about it and make the most unlikely things work together for the good.
Years ago, I heard the story of a friend’s mother who had had either a miscarriage or a stillbirth. A woman in her church made a painful remark that she believed that the baby didn’t go to Heaven, but to Limbo. (She may have been a former Catholic with that belief still hanging on.) However she worded it, it was very painful for the grieving mother.
Some time later, that same woman, who had said such a painful thing, was a source of great comfort and help to that friend’s mother in a different situation.
I love the line from the classic movie “The Philadelphia Story,” spoken by Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord: “The time to make up your mind about people is never.”
@4:06 Debra, I appreciate that. And may that advice be taken to heart by everyone here and on this thread in particular.
How wonderful that would be. Truly.
Some of us in the ‘minority’ camp have been — and continue to be — sincerely trying to be reasonable and avoid inflammatory/sarcastic words, personal attacks; realizing others have different views — but that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and that comes first, certainly it’s way more important than “politics” (which I think have taken on way too much importance in this era and too often via this blog — I’ve been trying to suggest that as well, there’s so much more than politics in this world).
It requires the discipline of being careful with our own words; and when things spin out too badly, which is not rare here, unfortunately, being able to step away frequently and for as long as it takes. That helps, trust me. 🙂
Pray, breathe. Dwell in His peace, remember all of that in our interactions with each other above the disagreements. “Politically” accept God’s will in what comes to pass.
Debra (re: your comment at 5:15pm yesterday) – I agree with what you wrote about people not remembering things they have said that may have been offensive. They often do not intend a remark to be offensive, but we may take it as such anyway. And we may do the same thing at times!
My mom once brought up something that I had said a few years prior that she was quite offended by. I was so surprised, because it was an honest question, but her preconceptions of the topic had made her hear it in a whole different way than it was intended.
And sometimes, people say something that is indeed offensive or hurtful, but they just don’t see it. That is where grace and forgiveness on our part is so needed.
I think the problem with this friend stems more about the media and where we get our news than on actual politics. I don’t remember anything but acceptance from both of us that we would not be voting the same way. We have neither tried to persuade the other to vote for the other candidate unlike the problems I have had with my other liberal friend who has over the years bashed all my preferred candidates. The messages I get from one is that she believes I am a very smart person so she can’t understand why I would bevoting for such a terrible person (whomever the Republican is). The other message is more what I see here from the minority which tends to say we have the superior news source and you are gullible for not doing what we do.
As I told my friend who said I had fake news about FEMA misappropriations:
Biden’s cognitive decline was fake news, until it wasn’t.
I feel, in time, after the dust settles, that it will be revealed how FEMA money get misappropriated. Fact checkers call that situation fake news for now, before the election. I also said that God knows the truth.
AJ – The author of that piece, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, is a Gazan Palestinian himself, with family and friends still there. As for The Dispatch, he is not a regular contributor, having only written this one piece for them.
In that piece, he cites Israel’s own IDF which has said that those polls showing a large percentage of support for Hamas have been faked.
Even if one of those polls could be considered legitimate, we should keep in mind that people under hardline rulers (or terrorists in the case of Gaza) tend to be afraid to reveal their real opinions.
Oh, you must mean like Trump supporters who hide their true preferences from the regime and the biased media polls, lest they get political prisonered, Jan6ers too. 🫤
The Muslim author of the piece is a questionable character at best, so not surprising he’s a senior fellow over at the Atlantic Council, and a reporter for the Dispatch.
He’s not a journalist, he’s an activist with an agenda.
With the breakup of the overall “media” landscape (which now also includes a lot of non-mainstream, more outlier sources that aren’t well known) we all have to beware of “confirmation bias” — the tendency to seek out, read and accept things we already “like” and agree with. It’s something we all lean toward and is easy to do these days.
In the interest of ferreting out “truth,” it’s good to always poke around, to see how other sources are treating the same story, if there are legitimate discrepancies.
Dispatch, which is more traditionally conservative, writes with a point of view, granted. Some of us find those viewpoints and contributors rational and worthwhile based on their credentials and the arguments themselves. Doesn’t mean those are the only legitimate view out there we should consider, by any means.
The point is only that “the media” landscape is basically a chaotic whirlwind right now, and includes many off-shoots, start-ups, single voices vs. a collective of voices.
Yes, the writer of the piece Kizzie linked. That’s his highlight reel, courtesy of his personal feed. It’s him in his own, clearly biased words. His agenda is obvious there, and in his writings
AJ – Just because we disagree with certain general positions a person may have doesn’t mean that they are always wrong. It could be said that the fact that he is so pro-Palestinian (since he is Palestinian) gives him more credit for going against Hamas.
As far as I can see, he is not a reporter for The Dispatch, but wrote that one piece. Even if he were, that should not completely disqualify him.
According to Wikipedia, Alkhatib has also written for Haaretz, The Times of Israel, The Jewish Chronicle, and The Jerusalem Post, as well as a variety of American sources, liberal and conservative.
Again, the Israeli IDF backs up what he wrote about Hamas lack of support in Gaza.
This is a post from him, on X, earlier this evening (the bold at the end is as it appeared):
~ “On the eve of the one-year mark since the October 7 massacre, I urge all who claim to care about Palestinians in Gaza and beyond to remember what this dark day represents for the Israeli and Jewish people. Please understand that 10/7 was an exceptionally painful day in which over 1,000 were criminally murdered and maimed; children, women, and bystanders were randomly killed, kidnapped, abused, and taken hostage; remember the trauma that this unjustified terror act has brought upon the Jewish people, making it the worst single-day attack since the Holocaust.
Do not celebrate Hamas, the despicable terror organization that has destroyed Gaza, held its people hostage, and delivered them on a silver platter to the most extremist government in Israel’s history. Do not taunt the Jewish people or boast about the supposed act of resistance, which October 7 was not. Do not harass people who are commemorating the tragedy and its victims. Please be mindful and respectful.
Be as outraged and horrified as you want to be about Gaza and the unbelievable death and destruction there. But give Israelis and Jews the space to remember their lost loved ones. The two traumas do not have to cancel each other out; they are, in fact, intertwined, and only this recognition can help us move forward.
Gaza is central to my being, identity, lived experience, and connection to the land. I care deeply about ending the war and being part of the Strip’s transformation. But that would never mean denying the horrors that Hamas and other terrorists committed on October 7.
Not in my name.
I stand with my Jewish brothers, sisters, and allies in remembering those who lost their lives on that fateful day, and pledged to always be a partner in pursuit of healing, reconciliation, justice, freedom, safety, security, and dignity for all.” ~
“Wow, here is a really good answer as to why I’m not voting for Trump but for America!
Someone recently asked me why I like Trump. My answer was that I don’t really like a lot of things about Trump. But this election is not about choosing the most likeable person. We are voting between two vastly different ideologies. We are voting for the country we want to leave our children and grandchildren. Trump represents that future and has proven that he can deliver. He is a patriot to the core and even served his country for 4 years without pay.
That moment when someone says, “I can’t believe you’re voting for Trump”. I simply reply, “I’m NOT voting for Trump.” I’m voting for the First Amendment and freedom of speech. I’m voting for the right to speak my opinion and not be censored. I’m voting for secure borders and LEGAL immigration. I am voting for election integrity to include mandatory voter ID. (Why would anyone vote against this?) I’m voting for the Second Amendment and my right to defend my life and my family. I’m voting for the police to be respected once again. I am voting for law & order and an end to allowing protesters to trespass and burn our cities, destroying innocent small business. (Tim Walz) I am voting for personal responsibility and the end of the revolving door where criminals are being put back on the street. (Kamala Harris) I’m voting for the next Supreme Court Justice(s) to protect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I’m voting for a return of our troops from foreign countries and the end to America’s involvement in foreign conflicts. I’m voting for the Electoral College and for the Republic in which we live. I’m voting for the continued appointment of Federal Judges who respect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I’m voting for keeping our jobs to remain in America and not be outsourced all over the world – to China, Mexico and other foreign countries. I am voting for doing away with all of the freebies given to all of the illegals and not looking after the needs of the American citizens and homeless veterans. I’m voting for the military & the veterans who fought for this country I’m voting to keep men out of women’s sports. I’m voting for peace progress in the Middle East. I’m voting to fight against human/child trafficking. I’m voting for Freedom of Religion. I am voting for the return of teaching math, history, and science instead of the indoctrination of our children. I’m not just voting for one person. I’m voting for the future of my Country. I’m voting for my children and my grandchildren to ensure their freedoms America is the greatest country in the world, hense why everyone wants to immigrate here.
So why do you want to change it? Why do politicians want to enact policies that have failed in other countries throughout history? I’m not voting for Trump. I’m voting for America.”
Wandering Views 
So here is a boots on the ground report. If anyone wants to believe it to be false I encourage them to go there and see for themselves. Want to believe mainstream propaganda media!? There is a wealth of information to debunk anyone wanting to defend this atrocious administration! There may be some offensive language in this clip.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2336176923390314?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
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Thanks, NJ. I posted it on Facebook for any who want on the ground news.
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“Tina Peters was sentenced to 9 years in prison yesterday for allowing an outside tech guy to access the voting machines after the 2020 election to try and prove Dominion machines aren’t secure. She didn’t tamper with the machines to cheat or do anything. She just wanted to ensure they were safe to use.
The democrats are sending a clear message. Anyone with any authority who questions them will be punished severely. No one was sent to prison in Detroit for blocking voters. No one was sent to prison in Georgia for receiving ballots all for Biden right after a “burst pipe.””
https://x.com/Travis_4_Trump/status/1842546024025305309?t=V4RoKPALN3J7xFRwn_yoCw&s=19
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“Investigative journalist Nick Sortor on-the-ground in North Carolina reveals shocking FEMA absence in hurricane response, complete abandonment of victims
“I haven’t seen a single FEMA truck. A single FEMA employee. I don’t know where these people are…””
https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1842586288471633954?t=ifFafo7FsAUrt_HjsdWZdw&s=19
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“Another Hurricane Helene Victims Donation Center SHUT DOWN by Kamala Harris’ FEMA
Greenville, North Carolina “FEMA has shut down all the local donation operations that were going on and delivering supplies”
“Now they’re saying that they’re not allowed to deliver any more supplies anymore”
“So to everybody that heard about all the supplies and planes that were coming from downtown Greenville Airport and flying up to North Carolina to deliver supplies, uh, water, whatever anybody was donating and people were needing as being sent up there.
Well, today, it’s awfully quiet. And we see these helicopters lined up, and they have a booth set up here and everything. Turns out that’s FEMA. FEMA has shut down all the local donation operations that were going on and delivering supplies.
And now they’re saying that they’re not allowed to deliver any more supplies anymore. So all these people are unfortunately, have all these supplies, but cannot take it up there. So that’s our government for you. Oh, and another thing, those helicopters that have been sitting there, I’ve been sitting there since this morning. Haven’t seen a single movement.
Just a bunch of impacting of important equipment and nothing happening. So I’m so sorry, North Carolina. We tried””
https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1842347845136830924?t=dkwPWryaWg4uQ3258ZUp2A&s=19
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Checked and rechecked!
And once again a corrupt judge refuses to allow an accounting of the facts or to ensure the safety of the system. These judges aren’t even hearing legit claims, so some mistakenly think there’s nothing there. There is, but they refuse to even look at it, and will lock you up if you check for yourself, like the clerk in Colo.
https://x.com/realLizUSA/status/1842368131114655996?t=f16s0XSbc94GlBeQaJGjMw&s=19
“Despite damning evidence showing how unsafe and insecure Georgia’s voting machines are, Judge Scott McAfee DISMISSES the case
McAfee — the same judge overseeing the BS case against President Trump — claims there’s no ongoing legal obligation that the system be safe and practicable. Even when you find out they fail EAC certification standards and can and were remotely accessed during 2020. INSANE.
Appeal likely”
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I hope he’s wrong about the numbers.
https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1842317732575859168?t=zgy_K945SYl4ztX3Did0_A&s=19
“The Biden-Harris Administration has completely turned their backs on suffering Americans in North Carolina
Gen. Flynn confirms over a thousand dead with the toll expected to DOUBLE”We’re going to be probably somewhere around two thousand dead people””
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During his visit, Biden made an astonishing claim, stating that people in the storm zone were “very happy” with the assistance they were getting. Really? How can he stand in front of the American people and make such a tone-deaf comment while families in Florida, Georgia, and other storm-ravaged states are left without power, water, and basic necessities?
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a man actually in touch with what’s going on, was quick to debunk Biden’s claim. He made it clear that rural areas in particular are desperate for help. When only 11 counties were initially declared disaster zones, there was outrage. “There was such devastation in up to 90 counties,” Kemp said. Yet Biden’s administration dragged its feet, sending the message that rural communities—those often filled with hardworking, conservative Americans—were not a priority
Truth….and some still defend this sick leftist administration
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I’m still not seeing a lot of political signs out here. Friends have Trump and Vance signs but they bring them in the house at night; another house in my neighborhood has now put up separate “Kennedy” and “Musk”? signs in the front yard (“Musk,” that’s a new one). I was stopped at a light next to a large truck the other day (w/kind of a camouflage paint job?) and with an even larger US flag flying from the truck bed (and something blaring on the radio), but no bumper sticker that I could see.
WSJ has a story about the horror of being in a politically mixed marriage during this very emotional election. That would be awkward in a year like this.
And someone else posted an image of a giant meteor that might (he hoped) still take us out of our collective misery.
And it’ll probably only get more intense for the unforeseeable future.
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My CA friend is in a mixed marriage. I have sympathy for her in that regard though she and I are not on the same side of the fence.
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One couple likes to take tango lessons so they just do the tango; others follow a protocol of not speaking about politics, but that’s tough. Key seems to be not to try your spouse’s mind (probably good overall in political conversations, too!).
Calmly share your views and don’t badger, ridicule or personally attack. Relationships (of all varieties) don’t end well with that tactic.
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Thirty eight years ago, my strong minded lifelong Republican dad married a strong minded lifelong Democrat news reporter. Friends referred to them as the odd couple. Gradually he won her over to the point the newspaper editor publicly asked what that guy had done to their beloved Loris. Then she became a Christian when she was eighty. He is not there yet unless he is and I don’t know.
mumsee
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And I’d hope that becoming a believer made the bigger difference in their relationship 🙂
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I do still have concerns about how this ‘political’ season is impacting fellow believers and those relationships.
We are a somewhat mixed (political) group here, maybe important to keep in mind more often.
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A momentary video I saw on a reel that did not show the whole thing was a warning from a former FEMA inspector that before people take the money that they will be given a contract to sign. The reel went to another before I found out more. Just wondering what the contract says if that is true.
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Gen. Flynn is putting his reputation on the line so I hope he has good sources regarding the dead in NC. It will affect his believability in the future. But I hate to think the death toll will be that high.
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Isn’t it nice having the “adults” in charge again?
https://x.com/JohnLeFevre/status/1842619992858407193?t=PT64Xs22gjTwS-n3AY0GKQ&s=19
“Its hard to believe, but one person is in charge of:
– FEMA
– Immigration
– Border Security
– Secret Service
Alejandro Mayorkas is criminally incompetent across the board. Not only does Mayorkas still have a job, he is evasive, combative, smug, and perjurious during compelled testimony.
He’s been impeached by the House, only to have Chuck Schumer protect him in the Senate.
This is everything that is wrong with our federal government.”
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DJ, these are times of stress on relationships with people who disagree with each other for sure. But I look at it as more of an opportunity to strengthen those relationships, not by coming to agree on political issues, but by learning to live and grow and thrive with people who don’t.
Husband and I do not always agree on politics. We’re both strong willed and independent. In 2016, he voted for Jill Stein, while I voted for Trump (and put up a yard sign). Neither one of us kept our mouth shut about politics, although there were times when we put it on a shelf by mutual agreement.
Life is more than politics. Our family, the Church, our salvation, our faith in Christ, our utter dependence on the mercies of God—-those are by far the more important things. Politics come and go; the Lord is forever. Stressful times like these are just another opportunity to demonstrate that or to work on it.
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With me, it’s always been fragile friendships with my liberal friends. It’s an accumulation of things with this year holding the straws that break the camel’s back.
With one it was early on being told I couldn’t homeschool because I did not have a degree in education and would not be a fit teacher. There has been no mention of having been wrong about that. So. yeah, big things to overcome in order to remain friends over the years. At this age, I don’t have the energy anymore to keep hiding feelings and keep my mouth shut when being told I don’t get my news from the proper sources.
Grace is easier to give people here because we don’t have the longer term history, and we do practice, for the most part, a semblance of the same Christian faith. I don’t consider the main group here to be nominal Christians.
I am still learning the difference between being a grace giver and a floor mat regarding some situations.
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Trump is in a rally at Butler, PA. Vance is speaking right now. The crowd is amazing. Vance is quoting Psalm 23. The people are very brave to be there.
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Since you all enjoyed it in the past, another Imprimis newsletter arrived in the mail with this articel:
https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/our-out-of-control-federal-law-enforcement-agencies/
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“There has been no mention of having been wrong about that.”
Janice, are you sure she even remembers having discouraged you like that? I have found that people may be offensive and manipulative then not even remember it. At any rate, the next time the subject of education comes up, you can express how glad you are that you chose homeschooling for Wesley and look what a splendid educator he is. It’s ok to take satisfaction in your accomplishment and your son’s and to share it with your friend. Hiding hurt feelings can cause resentment ( I speak from experience).
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Several months ago, probably shortly after the October 7th attack on Israel, the claim was made here that most Palestinians support Hamas. According to this writer, who is originally from Gaza and still has family there, that is not true.
(I’m not sure if this can be read by non-subscribers, so I have included the main part here.)
~ “As we approach the one-year mark since October 7, we’ll remember Hamas’ horrendous massacre of Israeli communities in the Gaza Envelope. The ruthless calculus and unapologetically masochistic demeanor of Hamas was on full display for the entire world that day. It was, perhaps to the surprise of many, also on display for Palestinians in Gaza.
The unacknowledged irony, as I explained to the diplomat, is that the people of Gaza most certainly do not see in Hamas’ atrocities any form of success, not while they are the ones paying the unbearable price of Sinwar’s sick and twisted strategies. Most people in Gaza—my home until I moved to the United States as a 15-year-old exchange student and where my immediate and extended family continued to live—do not want to be “martyrs” on behalf of Hamas and the Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance.” Gazans dream of the prosperous lives that were robbed of them.
One of the biggest obstacles to recognizing this, however, has been the infamous polls by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR). Led by the prominent Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki, the PCPSR has long been considered one of the few supposedly reliable sources for assessing Palestinian public opinion. Its surveys have painted an inaccurate, dehumanizing, and disturbing picture: Allegedly, a majority of the Gaza Strip’s population supported the October 7 attack against Israel and continued Hamas control of the enclave.
Unsurprisingly, Shikaki’s polls were used to present the people of Gaza as intrinsically supportive of a nihilistic and suicidal terrorist organization. Many within Israel, including military leaders, have attributed support for Hamas to radicalization and brainwashing among the Gazan public. As a result, traditional counterinsurgency campaigns focused on winning hearts and minds were dismissed as ineffective given Hamas’ deep-seated support. In part because of the PCPSR polls, Israeli decision-making and war planning opted for mass destruction and acceptance of a civilian death toll in Gaza that even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conceded in May was above 15,000.
But last month, the IDF alleged it found documents that showed how Hamas was falsifying and manipulating the results of the PCPSR polls, overstating Palestinian approval of the October 7 massacre by some 40 percentage points. “These documents are part of a systematic process,” the IDF claimed in a statement, “the purpose of which is to disguise the collapse of [Hamas], and the collapse of public support for it.”
The findings should not have been surprising. Through my work in the coastal enclave, I’ve long seen how Hamas has, directly and indirectly, manipulated public opinion to manufacture the perception of widespread support, whether through the use of trolls, social media groups, or counterintelligence agents. But common sense alone should have been enough to see through Hamas’ facade of widespread popularity. How could a population continue supporting the very organization that has made their lives a living hell? After all, Hamas has brought unprecedented death and destruction upon Gazans, not to mention 15 years of failed governance, poverty, a blockade, and unemployment. The Islamist group is so deeply despised by the majority of the population—including, in recent months, by those who may have historically supported the group.” ~
https://thedispatch.com/article/hamas-monstrous-gazans-agree/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Israeli%20Leaders%20Mull%20a%20Retaliatory%20Attack%20on%20Iran&utm_campaign=Israeli%20Leaders%20Mull%20a%20Retaliatory%20Attack%20on%20Iran
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Thanks, Debra. She has been a supportive friend over the years in many ways, but the politics and different ways of doing Christianity are making it very difficult to be close at the moment. In time things might settle down depending on how the election goes. It does not seem that should matter, but I am being realistic and thinking ahead that it will.
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I’m sorry about that, Janice. You can only do your part to try, the rest is in God’s hands . We can never really know the full impact of our words, but we can pray God’s blessings over them. He can redeem the impact of a lost relationship even if you never know about it and make the most unlikely things work together for the good.
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Years ago, I heard the story of a friend’s mother who had had either a miscarriage or a stillbirth. A woman in her church made a painful remark that she believed that the baby didn’t go to Heaven, but to Limbo. (She may have been a former Catholic with that belief still hanging on.) However she worded it, it was very painful for the grieving mother.
Some time later, that same woman, who had said such a painful thing, was a source of great comfort and help to that friend’s mother in a different situation.
I love the line from the classic movie “The Philadelphia Story,” spoken by Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord: “The time to make up your mind about people is never.”
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Of course, that is hard to do.
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@4:06 Debra, I appreciate that. And may that advice be taken to heart by everyone here and on this thread in particular.
How wonderful that would be. Truly.
Some of us in the ‘minority’ camp have been — and continue to be — sincerely trying to be reasonable and avoid inflammatory/sarcastic words, personal attacks; realizing others have different views — but that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and that comes first, certainly it’s way more important than “politics” (which I think have taken on way too much importance in this era and too often via this blog — I’ve been trying to suggest that as well, there’s so much more than politics in this world).
It requires the discipline of being careful with our own words; and when things spin out too badly, which is not rare here, unfortunately, being able to step away frequently and for as long as it takes. That helps, trust me. 🙂
Pray, breathe. Dwell in His peace, remember all of that in our interactions with each other above the disagreements. “Politically” accept God’s will in what comes to pass.
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Debra (re: your comment at 5:15pm yesterday) – I agree with what you wrote about people not remembering things they have said that may have been offensive. They often do not intend a remark to be offensive, but we may take it as such anyway. And we may do the same thing at times!
My mom once brought up something that I had said a few years prior that she was quite offended by. I was so surprised, because it was an honest question, but her preconceptions of the topic had made her hear it in a whole different way than it was intended.
And sometimes, people say something that is indeed offensive or hurtful, but they just don’t see it. That is where grace and forgiveness on our part is so needed.
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Kizzie,
Not surprisingly, the fellow from the Dispatch isn’t being honest.Numerous polls show high support from Hamas.
Every time something bad happens to Israel or the US, they celebrate it in the streets, and pass out candy.
That reporter’s agenda is showing.
https://x.com/OzraeliAvi/status/1731278950889037844?t=ANDaR4bbyT41yNMSX3aQRQ&s=19
“A new opinion poll shows 75% of Palestinians SUPPORT Hamas’ barbaric Oct 7 attack on Israeli civilians.”
—–
https://x.com/DrEliDavid/status/1725513493850312847?t=kbpVqjRkxnjJJm4MMx0gBQ&s=19
“According to a new opinion poll conducted in both West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians:
🇺🇲 Hate America (< 1% approval)
🇵🇸 Hate Palestinian Authority – Fatah (23% approval)
☠️ Love Hamas (76% approval)”
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https://x.com/DrEliDavid/status/1725249165373132912?t=Lxy2ykSEugXI36lsz6Ll3w&s=19
“New opinion poll in Palestinian 🇵🇸 territories (West Bank and Gaza):
Q: Do you support Hamas’ October 7th operation [the massacre]?
A:59% Fully support
16% Somewhat support
25% Don’t support / no opinion”
—–
https://x.com/rheytah/status/1770983382383562760?t=9Bw6h3QE_8tuPE-Gr6UGrQ&s=19
“Majority of Palestinians support Oct. 7 & don’t believe Hamas engaged in war crimes.
Palestinian Center for Policy & Survey Research released its latest poll on Palestinian attitudes of Hamas, Oct. 7 atrocities & war in Gaza.
71% of Palestinians believe Hamas’ attack “correct.””
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We’re supposed to believe this is a close race. The media insists it is.
Here’s yesterday’s rally in Butler. Meanwhile Kamala can’t pack a high school gym.
https://x.com/JohnStrandUSA/status/1842781513844203798?t=zZG35Cdvsw22Nvhstk4dAQ&s=19
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I think the problem with this friend stems more about the media and where we get our news than on actual politics. I don’t remember anything but acceptance from both of us that we would not be voting the same way. We have neither tried to persuade the other to vote for the other candidate unlike the problems I have had with my other liberal friend who has over the years bashed all my preferred candidates. The messages I get from one is that she believes I am a very smart person so she can’t understand why I would bevoting for such a terrible person (whomever the Republican is). The other message is more what I see here from the minority which tends to say we have the superior news source and you are gullible for not doing what we do.
As I told my friend who said I had fake news about FEMA misappropriations:
Biden’s cognitive decline was fake news, until it wasn’t.
I feel, in time, after the dust settles, that it will be revealed how FEMA money get misappropriated. Fact checkers call that situation fake news for now, before the election. I also said that God knows the truth.
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https://www.facebook.com/share/p/aWJozqCXB28zzrTL/
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AJ – The author of that piece, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, is a Gazan Palestinian himself, with family and friends still there. As for The Dispatch, he is not a regular contributor, having only written this one piece for them.
In that piece, he cites Israel’s own IDF which has said that those polls showing a large percentage of support for Hamas have been faked.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-says-documents-found-in-gaza-show-hamas-was-falsifying-prominent-polling-results/
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Even if one of those polls could be considered legitimate, we should keep in mind that people under hardline rulers (or terrorists in the case of Gaza) tend to be afraid to reveal their real opinions.
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Posted that too quickly. Meant to add:
A piece I read a while back said that the people of Hamas will torture and kill fellow Palestinians if they don’t toe the Hamas line.
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Oh, you must mean like Trump supporters who hide their true preferences from the regime and the biased media polls, lest they get political prisonered, Jan6ers too. 🫤
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The Muslim author of the piece is a questionable character at best, so not surprising he’s a senior fellow over at the Atlantic Council, and a reporter for the Dispatch.
He’s not a journalist, he’s an activist with an agenda.
First from Wiki….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Fouad_Alkhatib
“Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib (born April 25, 1990)[1][2] is a Palestinian American humanitarian activist and blogger.”
——
His Twitter/X feed reveals his activism and agenda.
https://x.com/afalkhatib/highlights
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With the breakup of the overall “media” landscape (which now also includes a lot of non-mainstream, more outlier sources that aren’t well known) we all have to beware of “confirmation bias” — the tendency to seek out, read and accept things we already “like” and agree with. It’s something we all lean toward and is easy to do these days.
In the interest of ferreting out “truth,” it’s good to always poke around, to see how other sources are treating the same story, if there are legitimate discrepancies.
Dispatch, which is more traditionally conservative, writes with a point of view, granted. Some of us find those viewpoints and contributors rational and worthwhile based on their credentials and the arguments themselves. Doesn’t mean those are the only legitimate view out there we should consider, by any means.
The point is only that “the media” landscape is basically a chaotic whirlwind right now, and includes many off-shoots, start-ups, single voices vs. a collective of voices.
Our work as news consumers isn’t easy.
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My phone won’t take me to that last link. I wonder why?
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Looks like it’s an X account, I was able to reach it.
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Janice,
Yes, the writer of the piece Kizzie linked. That’s his highlight reel, courtesy of his personal feed. It’s him in his own, clearly biased words. His agenda is obvious there, and in his writings
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Kathaleena, that’s pretty near unbelievable. 😦
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Interesting, AJ — but would you consider yourself biased?
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Yes, it is, dj. People do a lot of unbelievable things.
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AJ – Just because we disagree with certain general positions a person may have doesn’t mean that they are always wrong. It could be said that the fact that he is so pro-Palestinian (since he is Palestinian) gives him more credit for going against Hamas.
As far as I can see, he is not a reporter for The Dispatch, but wrote that one piece. Even if he were, that should not completely disqualify him.
According to Wikipedia, Alkhatib has also written for Haaretz, The Times of Israel, The Jewish Chronicle, and The Jerusalem Post, as well as a variety of American sources, liberal and conservative.
Again, the Israeli IDF backs up what he wrote about Hamas lack of support in Gaza.
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This is a post from him, on X, earlier this evening (the bold at the end is as it appeared):
~ “On the eve of the one-year mark since the October 7 massacre, I urge all who claim to care about Palestinians in Gaza and beyond to remember what this dark day represents for the Israeli and Jewish people. Please understand that 10/7 was an exceptionally painful day in which over 1,000 were criminally murdered and maimed; children, women, and bystanders were randomly killed, kidnapped, abused, and taken hostage; remember the trauma that this unjustified terror act has brought upon the Jewish people, making it the worst single-day attack since the Holocaust.
Do not celebrate Hamas, the despicable terror organization that has destroyed Gaza, held its people hostage, and delivered them on a silver platter to the most extremist government in Israel’s history. Do not taunt the Jewish people or boast about the supposed act of resistance, which October 7 was not. Do not harass people who are commemorating the tragedy and its victims. Please be mindful and respectful.
Be as outraged and horrified as you want to be about Gaza and the unbelievable death and destruction there. But give Israelis and Jews the space to remember their lost loved ones. The two traumas do not have to cancel each other out; they are, in fact, intertwined, and only this recognition can help us move forward.
Gaza is central to my being, identity, lived experience, and connection to the land. I care deeply about ending the war and being part of the Strip’s transformation. But that would never mean denying the horrors that Hamas and other terrorists committed on October 7.
Not in my name.
I stand with my Jewish brothers, sisters, and allies in remembering those who lost their lives on that fateful day, and pledged to always be a partner in pursuit of healing, reconciliation, justice, freedom, safety, security, and dignity for all.” ~
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From a friend’s friend on a text, a good summary:
“Wow, here is a really good answer as to why I’m not voting for Trump but for America!
Someone recently asked me why I like Trump. My answer was that I don’t really like a lot of things about Trump. But this election is not about choosing the most likeable person. We are voting between two vastly different ideologies. We are voting for the country we want to leave our children and grandchildren. Trump represents that future and has proven that he can deliver. He is a patriot to the core and even served his country for 4 years without pay.
That moment when someone says, “I can’t believe you’re voting for Trump”. I simply reply, “I’m NOT voting for Trump.” I’m voting for the First Amendment and freedom of speech. I’m voting for the right to speak my opinion and not be censored. I’m voting for secure borders and LEGAL immigration. I am voting for election integrity to include mandatory voter ID. (Why would anyone vote against this?) I’m voting for the Second Amendment and my right to defend my life and my family. I’m voting for the police to be respected once again. I am voting for law & order and an end to allowing protesters to trespass and burn our cities, destroying innocent small business. (Tim Walz) I am voting for personal responsibility and the end of the revolving door where criminals are being put back on the street. (Kamala Harris) I’m voting for the next Supreme Court Justice(s) to protect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I’m voting for a return of our troops from foreign countries and the end to America’s involvement in foreign conflicts. I’m voting for the Electoral College and for the Republic in which we live. I’m voting for the continued appointment of Federal Judges who respect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I’m voting for keeping our jobs to remain in America and not be outsourced all over the world – to China, Mexico and other foreign countries. I am voting for doing away with all of the freebies given to all of the illegals and not looking after the needs of the American citizens and homeless veterans. I’m voting for the military & the veterans who fought for this country I’m voting to keep men out of women’s sports. I’m voting for peace progress in the Middle East. I’m voting to fight against human/child trafficking. I’m voting for Freedom of Religion. I am voting for the return of teaching math, history, and science instead of the indoctrination of our children. I’m not just voting for one person. I’m voting for the future of my Country. I’m voting for my children and my grandchildren to ensure their freedoms America is the greatest country in the world, hense why everyone wants to immigrate here.
So why do you want to change it? Why do politicians want to enact policies that have failed in other countries throughout history? I’m not voting for Trump. I’m voting for America.”
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Amen Janice!
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