The Top 5 Plus (February 28)

1) “The Biggest Loser of Trump’s 2026 SOTU: The Unborn” (Suzanne Bowdey, Washington Stand)

From the article -- As far as theatrics go, Donald Trump’s sixth State of the Union had everything a showman could want — the golden boys of Team USA, the heart-wrenching moments of grieving parents and miraculous recoveries, the drama of Democratic protests, and the president’s answering antagonism. But for all that’s been written about the record-setting night, the biggest takeaway may not have been what was said, but what wasn’t. In a speech of 10,599 words, not one was about life.

For conservatives, the lack of even a single mention of the unborn in an almost a two-hour running commentary of the last year was disappointing for a host of reasons. This is a man who, in the recitation of his greatest second-term achievements, omitted what a lot of Americans would consider some of his finest. After four years of Joe Biden’s social extremism, taxpayers are no longer living under a government that forces them to finance the culture of death -- in most programs at home and overseas. His administration has done everything from protecting conscience rights, defunding Planned Parenthood, rolling back policies that force insurance companies to cover abortions, stopping the grotesque practice of fetal tissue at NIH, and even turning off the spigots for free abortions for illegal immigrants.

But Tuesday's vacuum on life, one of Trump’s core first-term issues, says a lot about the president’s recent reluctance to engage in key aspects of this debate — when, unfortunately, it’s raging the fiercest.

2) “Israel’s Forgotten Christians” (Robert Nicholson, Providence)

From the article -- Much of the recent coverage of Christians in Israel suffers from a basic analytical flaw: it focuses almost exclusively on the places where the fewest Christians actually live.

Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza dominate the conversation. These communities matter, but they are not representative. More than 70 percent of Israel’s 188,000 Christians live elsewhere—primarily in the north, especially in Galilee—and their absence from the discussion has distorted the picture beyond recognition.

The Christians of northern Israel are not marginal figures. They play an outsized role in education, medicine, and business. They are overwhelmingly laypeople, yet media coverage fixates almost entirely on religious officials. One might be forgiven for concluding that Christianity in Israel is a clerical caste rather than a living community of families, professionals, and citizens.

If these northern Christians are mentioned at all—and usually they are not—they are treated as an afterthought, stripped of agency and relevance. The result is an account of Christian life in Israel that is incomplete and misleading.

3) “AI, Addiction, and the Soul of a Nation: A Biblical Warning for Our Time” (Bob Maginnis, Washington Stand)...

From the article -- OpenAI recently released a 37-page report, Disrupting Malicious Uses of AI, documenting how criminals and state-linked actors are already exploiting generative AI to conduct fraud, impersonation, and influence operations. Romance scams are now scripted by machines. Fake legal identities are fabricated with bureaucratic precision. Foreign adversaries use AI to refine propaganda and calibrate narratives for maximum psychological impact.

None of this is theoretical. The architecture of deception is being rebuilt, brick by digital brick.

But the deeper danger lies beneath those headlines.

These AI tools are being deployed inside social media ecosystems that dozens of state attorneys general allege were deliberately engineered to be addictive. Internal documents disclosed in litigation against major platforms reveal that executives understood how algorithmic feeds stimulate dopamine responses — particularly in adolescents — yet continued optimizing for engagement over truth. We built platforms designed to capture attention at any cost. Now we are arming them with persuasion machines.

That is not a technology story. That is a civilization-level moral crisis.

Related articles: “Souls in the Algorithm: What AI Is Doing to Us - and What the Church Must Do about It” (Bob Maginnis, Washington Stand)...“Even the Best AI Scenario Is the End of Everything We’ve Ever Been: AI is not merely another technological leap -- it may be the moment machines begin to eclipse the very human talents that built our world.” (Edward Ring, American Greatness)

4) “The Disturbing Doctor Touring the Country to Promote Her Career of Third-Trimester Abortions: Sella had no doubt she was killing babies, and she loved it anyway.” (Ellie Gardey Holmes, American Spectator)

From the article -- Abortion doctor Shelley Sella is so proud of her 20-year career killing babies that she is traveling around the country in a sort of victory tour. Calling herself, in celebratory fashion, “the first woman to openly practice third-trimester abortion care in the U.S.,” Sella has spent the past year promoting her new book and evangelizing people into supporting late-term abortions. Her book, titled Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care, tells the stories of six babies she killed. And, yes, she herself calls them “babies.”

Sella has headlined events in Washington, Illinois, Missouri, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Wyoming, and has appeared in such publications as New York Magazine, the Nation, Time, and Mother Jones...

In her book, Sella explains that her desire to perform abortions emerged from a radical feminism. Evidently, she was so passionate about her love for abortion that only the prospect of killing babies who could survive outside the womb excited her. This so thrilled her that she spent 20 years commuting by plane from California to work in late-term abortion clinics in New Mexico and Kansas.

Sella told Mother Jones that she is outraged by state constitutional amendments that guarantee a right to abortion up to the point of viability. “Now’s the time,” she said, “to push back on viability and gestational limits, because Roe has been overturned.” Roe, Sella explained, was “problematic” because it allowed for restrictions post-viability. “So to think, ‘Let’s go backwards and restore Roe,’ to me, is wrong thinking. We have an opportunity to think big.”

5) “Teen Marijuana Use Doubles Chances of Future Psychotic Disorders, Study Finds” (Dan Hart, Washington Stand)

From the article -- Dr. Ryan Sultan, a psychiatrist and cannabis researcher at Columbia University, described the results of the study as “very, very, very worrying.”

The new JAMA study is merely the latest datapoint in a body of evidence of marijuana’s health dangers stretching back at least a decade. After California legalized the recreational use of the drug in 2016, cases of cannabis-induced psychosis that required emergency room visits increased by 54% within three years. In 2019, the American Psychiatric Association found that there was a “strong association” between use of the drug and the “onset of psychiatric disorders.” In April 2022, a team of researchers found that if marijuana use were eradicated globally, it would result in a 10% reduction of all schizophrenia cases.

Other studies have laid out clear evidence showing the multi-faceted array of serious health risks associated with marijuana use. In July of last year, a major study that sifted through a cadre of 24 other studies found that regular cannabis use is associated with a twofold risk of serious cardiac problems, including death due to heart attacks. That study, along with another one from November 2023, found that regular marijuana use raises the risk of heart failure by 34% when compared to non-users. Dr. John Ryan, a cardiologist at the University of Utah Hospital, remarked that he has witnessed numerous “heart attacks in otherwise healthy people who use marijuana regularly.”

Related article: “Adolescent cannabis use linked to doubling risk of psychotic and bipolar disorders” (Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan, Medical Press)

Other Excellent Articles from the Week:

* “Why People Don’t Like Talking About Politics” (John Halpin, Liberal Patriot)

* “The Dating Emergency: America’s dating crisis isn’t just personal -- it’s cultural, fueled by tech, feminism, and lost manners, and threatens both romance and the nation’s future.” (Katya Sedgwick, American Greatness)

* “The Anti-Zionism Exception: A court decision just carved Jews out of civil rights law” (Matthew Segal, Tablet)

* “UK Police Officers Worked With Muslim Assault Gang” (Catherine Salgado, PJ Media)

* “The Middle East: A Stack of Fake Narratives, An Attempted Fake ‘Palestinian State’ and the Real Threat to the West” (Guy Millière, Gatestone)

The Top 5 Plus (February 21)

1) “The Unholy Alliance Between Islam And The Radical Left Is More Emboldened Than Ever”  (Erick Stakelbeck, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- The mask is now off completely. As America marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, the unholy alliance between Islam and the radical left is becoming very bold, publicly proclaiming that they intend to take the United States in a new direction—from faith, family, and freedom to socialism, Sharia, and separation.

Zoran Mamdani personifies this movement. His brand of Islamo-Communism now reigns over our nation’s financial capital and largest city. 25 years after 9/11, the New York City Mayor is quoting Mohammed and the Koran in Arabic to defend open borders.

2) “Why Exactly Did They Destroy the Border? Biden’s border chaos wasn’t accidental—it was a political strategy to reshape America’s electorate and expand left-wing power.” (Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness)

From the article -- Why would any president destroy the U.S. southern border?

The Left typically “pounces” on anyone daring to suggest that the Biden administration had green-lighted illegal immigration to gain new constituents for agendas that otherwise were without broad public support. The Left smears critics of open borders as racist conspiracists spreading the “Great Replacement Theory.” Yet for years, Democrats and leftists themselves had written triumphalist books with titles like The Emerging Democratic Majority. And often they crowed that “Demography is Destiny.”

A few left-wing globalists even boasted of a new borderless world, in which anyone could live anywhere he wished. Not too long ago, Texas State Representative Gene Wu (D-Houston), chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, jumped the shark to say out loud what is usually left unsaid about the Democrat agenda:

"The day the Latino, African American, Asian, and other communities realize that they share the same oppressor is the day we start winning, because we are the majority in this country now. We have the ability to take over this country and to do what is needed for everyone."

The same unapologetic left-wing weaponization of illegal immigration is occurring in Europe. Sheer numbers there have already radically changed the demography—and political constituencies—of the continent.

3) “‘Ignoring Human Nature’: Using Biblical Reasoning, Rubio Pinpoints Why Globalism Is A Recipe For Disaster” (Breanna Claussen, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s powerful message at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) has garnered well-deserved attention. Standing before a room of European and Western leaders, Rubio boldly exposed the folly of globalist policies and how they have been used to undermine sovereignty, national strength, and the Judeo-Christian foundation of Western civilization.

One particular statement was truly profound, and its tremendous accuracy stems from being bred out of a Biblical worldview. Discussing the collapse of communism in Germany, Rubio warned that the celebration of this success in the West quickly morphed into an ill-conceived fantasy about the future of nations.

“The euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion: that we had entered, ‘the end of history;’” Rubio emphasized, “that every nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood; that the rules-based global order – an overused term – would now replace the national interest; and that we would now live in a world without borders where everyone became a citizen of the world.” This globalist mentality, he stressed, “was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature and it ignored the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history. And it has cost us dearly.”

4) “The Best and Worst Presidents: The PragerU Survey -- The old presidential scorecards failed. A new survey shakes up the list.” (Paul Kengor, American Spectator)

From the article -- I’ve been in academia long enough to remember the dark days of presidential rankings by groups like Political Science Quarterly and the New York Times. These “surveys,” particularly the one done by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., made you want to scream. Academic political scientists pride themselves in conducting scientific surveys with large enough sample sizes to gain accuracy of, say, plus or minus 1-3 percent on a political question. But leave it to left-wingers — about 80-90 percent of the professoriate — to stack the deck with a small group (a few dozen) of likeminded left-wing academics to “rank” presidents from best to worst. Predictably, the likes of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson and Woodrow Wilson would show up among the top, while Republicans like Ronald Reagan and Calvin Coolidge were bottom dwellers.

These surveys were nothing but surveys of the sympathies of left-wing academics. They didn’t tell you a damned thing about the reality of best and worst presidents. They told you about the biases of professors. And yet, predictably, the liberal press touted these “studies” as if they deserved to be chiseled on Mt. Rushmore...

PragerU has posted a compelling ranking. It asked 155 scholars for their assessment of each and every president, using a scale of 1-10 to judge various criteria. To be sure, those surveyed slant to the conservative side, but there’s still more diversity in this group than anything by the Schlesinger jokers. The results are very interesting, and most of those reading this column will appreciate them.

Related -- See the PragerU survey yourself right here.

5) “Was Climate Change the Greatest Financial Scam in History?” (Stephen Moore, RCP)

From the article -- Environmental scholar Bjorn Lomborg recently calculated that across the globe, governments have spent at least $16 trillion feeding the climate change industrial complex.

And for what?

Arguably, not a single life has been or will be saved by this shameful and colossal misallocation of human resources. The war on safe and abundant fossil fuels has cost countless lives in poor countries and made those countries poorer by blocking affordable energy.

Since the global warming crusade started some 30 years ago, the temperature of the planet has not been altered by one-tenth of a degree -- as even the alarmists will admit. In other words, $16 trillion has been spent -- a lot of people got very, very rich off the government largesse -- but there is not a penny of measurable payoff.

But it's much worse than that. In economics there is a concept called opportunity cost: What could we have done with $16 trillion to make the world better off?

What if the $16 trillion had been spent on clean water for poor countries? Preventing avoidable deaths from diseases like malaria? Building schools in African villages to end illiteracy? Bringing reliable and affordable electric power to the more than 1 billion people who still lack access? Curing cancer?

Other Excellent Articles from the Week:

* “Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds: Ben Sasse on Mortality, Meaning, and the Future of America.” After his stage 4 cancer diagnosis, Ben Sasse reflects on faith, mortality, and redeeming the time - then takes on Congress, higher education, and our fragmented, attention-starved republic. (60-minute Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson episode)

* “When our church was invaded: A miracle triumphed over the madness at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn.” (Jonathan Parnell, World)

* Discover the Network’s summary of the life of Jesse Jackson.

* “Newsom Confesses His Disturbing Role in the Euthanization of His Mother: ‘It was horrible,’ Newsom said of his mother’s killing.” (Ellie Gardey Holmes, American Spectator)

* “Virtually All Countries Support Voter Photo ID – So Why the Filibuster?” (John R. Lott Jr., RCP)

News, Photos, and “Why Do I March for Life.” -- The February LifeSharer Letter

In the February edition of the edition of the Vital Signs Ministries newsletter, you’ll find amply illustrated highlights of our activities in January and something unusual and inspirational; namely, Claire’s brief essay, “Why Do I Still March for Life.”

Check it out right here.

The Top 5 Plus (February 14)

1) “Agenda-Driven Handling Of The Bible: Scripture Does Not Mandate Lawlessness And Open Borders” (Alex McFarland, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- For centuries, Christians have wrestled with the tension between mercy and order, compassion and responsibility. That tension is at the heart of today’s immigration debate, where some in the church insist that Biblical commands to “welcome the stranger” (Leviticus 19:34) require support for open borders and tolerance of illegal immigration. This reading, however sincere, reflects a misuse of Scripture, Christian benevolence, and the God-ordained role of civil government.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is to be commended for articulating this balance in a recent press conference on Capitol Hill. Drawing openly from his Christian faith, Johnson stated that Scripture does not call governments to abdicate their responsibilities. On the contrary, the Bible affirms that maintaining order, enforcing laws, and protecting citizens are moral duties. His remarks offered a needed counterweight to the growing tendency among some in the church to selectively quote Scripture while disregarding its broader teaching.

While Christians should welcome moral engagement from pastors, careless and/or agenda-driven handling of the Bible to justify policies that undermine law, order, and public safety deserves correction. Scripture says much about compassion, but it also speaks clearly about personal accountability, justice, authority, and the God-ordained role of civil government. Those truths must not be ignored when addressing immigration.

Passages about “entertaining the stranger in your land” are rooted in the Old Testament law prescribed for Israel. Certainly, humane and even gracious care of others is echoed in the New Testament, which speaks to personal obligations and communal charity. God’s people are, of course, expected to treat all persons with dignity, not cruelty. But godly benevolence in no way mandates that a nation abandon borders, suspend enforcement, or ignore the rule of law. Ancient Israel itself had defined boundaries, laws, and expectations for those who entered and remained.

Christian charity has never meant the erasure of lawful distinction. Compassion does not require chaos. Jesus’ call to “love one’s neighbor” (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31) cannot possibly mean that we endorse policies incentivizing unlawful entry, human trafficking, or cartel control of migration routes.

A nation can be generous while still insisting that entry occurs through legal, orderly processes. When those in the church conflate mercy with lawlessness, they create a false moral dilemma that Scripture itself does not support.

2) “If All Human Lives Deserve Protection and Love, Then the Debate Is Over -- No rhetoric. No complexity. Just two yes‑or‑no questions. And once you follow the implications of those answers honestly, the truth becomes impossible to ignore.” (Christian Vezilj, American Thinker)

From the article -- Several years ago, I was seated in an open-office setting, overhearing a group of colleagues discussing abortion. The opinions were all over the map, and as the conversation grew more heated, something struck me. I stepped in and asked two simple questions that cut through every argument, every exception, every emotional appeal:

Do all human lives deserve to be protected?

Do all human lives deserve to be loved?

That’s it. No rhetoric. No complexity. Just a yes‑or‑no question. And once you follow the implications of that answer honestly, the truth becomes impossible to ignore.

Let us examine both questions objectively, focusing on logical analysis and critical thinking, rather than emotion, ideology, or personal preference. These are not abstract questions, philosophical riddles for classrooms or seminar tables. They are the foundation stones of a civilization. How we answer them determines not only how we treat the smallest and most vulnerable among us, but also who we become and what kind of nation we choose to build.

The Fourteenth Amendment does not say “most persons,” or “persons who have reached a certain stage,” or “persons who are convenient to protect.” It says, “any person.” The framers of that amendment understood something profound: the moment you begin carving out exceptions to human dignity, you have already abandoned the principle itself. Equal protection is either universal or meaningless.

3) “Justice has left the building -- Judges are letting dangerous foreign felons out across the country, endangering law-abiding citizens.” (Kevin Finn, American Thinker)

From the article -- Congratulations, citizens! Your judicial branch has finally stopped pretending. Evidently, the legal system now views law-abiding citizens as expendable extras while rolling out the red carpet for career criminals and foreign felons.

Exhibit A: In St. Louis, 58-year-old Keith Brown -- a walking crime encyclopedia with convictions stretching back to 1986 (burglary, robbery, armed criminal action) -- decided to cap off a busy week of armed holdups by gunning down 28-year-old Sam Linehan, a beloved ice skating coach and former Team USA medalist, in a Starbucks drive-thru. She complied with his demands. He shot her anyway, grabbed her cards and license, and strolled off. Brown had already robbed a Jack in the Box (stealing a mom’s purse, gun, and phones in front of her daughter) and a Dollar General days earlier. 

After forty years of burglaries, armed robberies, and general mayhem, somehow Missouri’s finest kept finding new excuses to hand him get-out-of-jail-free cards. As a result, this repeat offender was free to upgrade from robbery to cold-blooded murder. Way to go, Missouri justice! Nothing says “rehabilitation” like letting a 40-year rap sheet holder refine his skills.

4) “The Left’s Long Game in Latin America” (Benjamin Braddock, American Mind)

From the article -- January 3, 2026. Caracas. 2:47 AM. The helicopters had come in low over the Caribbean, running dark. The Delta Force operators on board were well-rehearsed. By 3:29 AM, it was over. Thirty-two Cuban bodyguards lay dead in the compound. Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were in flex cuffs, hustled onto a transport aircraft bound for New York. At Mar-a-Lago, President Trump watched the operation unfold in real time with his national security team. It was January 3—exactly 36 years to the day since American forces had extracted military dictator Manuel Noriega from Panama City.

To the general public, the operation in Caracas may have seemed to come out of the blue. But in fact it was only the latest episode—the most dramatic one yet—in a 60-year war that most Americans have never known about. Our adversary in that war has been the Castro regime, which has been pursuing a project far more ambitious than the survival of Cuban socialism. Its goal has always been the revolutionary transformation of the entire Western Hemisphere—including the United States itself.

5) “Politics And The Church: The Stunning Biblical Backing For Christian Influence On Government” (Decision Magazine via Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- Believers have a responsibility to bear witness to the moral standards of the Bible by which God will hold everyone accountable, including those in public office. Influencing government for good on the basis of the wisdom found in God’s own words is a theme that runs through the entire Bible.

Try to imagine what a nation and its government would be like if all Christian influence on government were suddenly removed—if all the churches and all the Christians in a society stopped seeking to have any kind of influence on laws or on government.

Within a few years, most people would have no moral authority beyond that of individual human opinion. How could a nation find any moral guidance?

We need to remember that the entire world is locked in a tremendous spiritual battle. There are demonic forces, forces of Satan, that seek to oppose God’s purposes and bring evil and destruction to every human being that God created in His own image. They are seeking to bring destruction to every human society and every nation. “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).

Therefore, if pastors and church members say, “I’m going to be silent about the moral and ethical issues that we face as a nation,” that will leave a moral vacuum, and it will not be long until the ultimate adversaries of the Gospel—Satan and his demons—will rush in and influence every decision in a way contrary to Biblical standards.

Other Excellent Reads from this Week:

* “Three Cheers for Attorney General Pam Bondi: A GOP star on the rise.” (Jeffrey Lord, American Spectator)

* “Our Super Bowl Satyricon: Super Bowl halftime has devolved into a stale Roman bacchanal -- gaudy, raunchy, and empty -- leaving millions bored, alienated, and wondering who the spectacle is even for anymore.” (Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness)

* News, Photos, and “Why Do I March for Life.” (The January LifeSharer Letter)

* “New York Times Adjusts Stance and Admits America Has a ‘Marijuana Problem’” (Sarah Holliday, Washington Stand)

* “We must be free to speak about the scourge of trans violence: The massacre at Tumbler Ridge feels like the militant wing of grievance culture.” (Brendan O'Neill, spiked!)

The Top 5 Plus (February 7)

1) “Apocalyptic Islamic Ideology: The Most Important Factor In Iran’s Motivation Is Being Overlooked” (Mark Hitchcock, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- Iran’s government is an Islamic theocracy built on the foundational principle of Velāyat-e Faqīh, or the “Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist.” This doctrine was developed by Ayatollah Khomeini as part of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Iran’s constitution places a “Guardian Jurist”—a religious cleric—at the head of the state. Currently, that is the Ayatollah Khamanei.

Behind all of this is the belief that clerics have to pave the way for the return of their Mahdi, the 12th Imam. They believe that preservation of the regime is the existential imperative for the Mahdi to return.

According to their view, the 12th Imam was born in 868 AD. He communicated with his followers through four deputies until 941 AD, after which he went into total seclusion and hiding. This Imam is expected to reappear in the end times to “usher in justice” and “put down tyranny”—an ironic premise considering the fact that Iran today is the most tyrannical regime in the world.

2) “Always Ready: Speaker Johnson Gives Biblical Defense of Borders” (Joshua Arnold, Washington Stand)

From the article -- “Borders and walls are biblical — from the Old Testament to the New, God has allowed us to set up our civil societies and have separate nations,” Johnson began. Fact check: this is true. As Paul put it to the pluralistic skeptics of Athens, God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26).

At the same time, “We are to welcome the sojourner and love our neighbor as ourselves,” Johnson allowed. “But what’s also important in the Bible is that assimilation is expected, and anticipated, and proper. When someone comes into your country, comes into your nation, they do not have the right to change its laws or to change its society. They’re expected to assimilate. We haven’t had a lot of that going on.”

Indeed, the same law that taught Israel to welcome the sojourner anticipated both political and religious assimilation. The Lord commanded Moses, “Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 31:12).

On this point, it’s worth noting how Johnson was able to affirm two separate biblical teachings that could be held in tension with one another. Those who misuse the Bible often take one verse or teaching and over-extrapolate it through human reason, to the point that they make it contradict other biblical teachings. The way to protect ourselves against such misuse of Scripture to know and understand the whole counsel of God, so that we affirm everything the Bible affirms — even if it includes ideas that are, or seem to be, in tension. Johnson modeled this well.

3) “The Loss of Trust in Legacy Media” (John Kass)

From the article -- So, how did the Legacy media lose the public trust? Simple: By mocking the people who bought the newspapers and supported the advertising, by opening the newsroom wide to the snobs of the American left, by adopting the language of the left. And by manufacturing demigods like Barack Obama to lead the country where it did not want to go.

Journalism lost something irreplaceable as corporate legacy media created Obama as something of a plaster saint. What they lost, or abandoned, was the one thing a journalist needs to do the job: Curiosity.

And he, Obama, led American journalism into a special hell, having his shadowy Deep State operatives like the CIA’s John Brennan and the FBI’s James Comey manufacturing phony evidence to cast Donald Trump as the tool of Putin’s Russia—even though they knew that was totally untrue. But that didn’t stop Deep State, establishement newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post to push these notions into Pulitzer Prizes, and American journalism sealed itself into the vault of horror.

4) “The National Miseducation Association. In addition to being consumed with left-wing politicking, the teachers’ unions inflict significant harm on the nation’s children.” (Larry Sand, American Greatness)

From the article -- So, what do we do to counter the destructive power wielded by teachers’ unions? Franklin Delano Roosevelt, hardly a right-winger and a champion of private-sector unions, wrote in an August 1937 letter to the National Federation of Federal Employees that “All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service.”

But trying to outlaw them now is a nonstarter. The best way to defang the unions is for teachers to stop supporting them.

5) “In Nations Across The Globe, Technology Is Becoming A Dangerous Tool To Target Freedoms” (Mark Henry, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- As with any technological device, it’s not the instrument itself that poses a threat, it’s how and for what purpose the technology is used by those having access to it.

In the hands of individuals, organizations, or political bodies whose intentions are noble, morals are honorable, and values are righteous, innovations and advancements in differing scientific fields can prove to be tremendous blessings. Productivity can be increased, burdens of daily life can be eased, hinderances that limit one’s ability to thrive can be removed, and hope can be kindled for those suffering from various disabilities.

However, in the hands of those who are selfish, those who strive for power and control, and those driven by wicked ambitions, technology can quickly become weaponized against those that are ignorant, unsuspecting, gullible, or powerless to stop it. Freedom of speech and expression can be censored, access to different locations and establishments can be restricted, and ability to purchase certain products can be limited, all because of something said, done, or believed that contradicts the “established” or “approved” policies and positions of those in power.

Related articles: “Developers Design AI To Talk To Each Other -- And They Immediately Made Their Own Religion (Answers In Genesis, Harbinger’s Daily)... "AI And The Antichrist: As Artificial Intelligence Becomes More Powerful, Serious Spiritual Questions Arise" (Greg Laurie, Harbinger's Daily)

Other excellent articles from the week:

* “Shaping Young Minds: UAE Cuts Scholarships To Study In The UK, Citing Radical Islamic Ideologies In British Universities” (Thomas Fretwell, Harbinger’s Daily)

* “The West’s pragmatic fallacy: Qatar represents the Jeffrey Epstein of world politics.” (Melanie Phillips, JNS)

* “It’s Time For Trump To Win The West’s Civil War” (Bradley A. Thayer, Federalist)

* “The British state treats its adults like children: From smoking bans to arrests over tweets, the UK is being run like an oversized kindergarten.” (Sheila Lewis, spiked!)

* “On Remigration and the Question of Belonging in Europe” (Alexandros Dolgov, The European Conservative)

What's This About Work in Heaven?

I am really enjoying David Jeremiah’s new book, Heaven. Yes, I’m a big fan of the heaven-oriented books written by Randy Alcorn and Joni Eareckson Tada, but this one is also an impressive work. Enlightening. Inspiring. Full of exciting hope and joyful expectation. 

Let me give you an example from Chapter 20 of the book,“Won’t Heaven Be Boring?” After citing such key verses from Revelation as 7:15, 19:5, and 22:3, David comments, “When we enter heaven, we won’t be put on some kind of divine Social Security list. No, listen to this welcoming speech (and promise) from the Lord himself: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:23)

That verse surely doesn’t sound to me like we’re going to be sitting around doing nothing forever and ever in heaven. It doesn’t sound like retirement but a promotion! In other words, eternal life is not a break from work, it is a breakthrough to better work. It is purpose without pressure, service without fatigue, and joy without end.

There are two things against which we all revolt. One is work that is tedious and meaningless or encumbered by a difficult working environment. The other is idleness and the lack of occupation. But the work that awaits us in heaven will be a delight to the soul.

(David Jeremiah, Heaven, Chapter 20, pages 177-78)

Hallelujah!

The Top 5 Plus (January 31)

My apologies for skipping last weekend's edition of The Top 5 Plus but with several pressing tasks (including being in Washington D.C. for the March for Life), we just couldn't get to it. Let's get back on track with this weekend's selections...

1) “‘Medical Malpractice’: DOJ Asks Court to Stall Federal Case on Abortion Drug” (S.A. McCarthy, Washington Stand)

From the article -- Last year, the DOJ similarly asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the FDA by Missouri, Idaho, and Kansas. That case also challenged the weakening of safeguards around mifepristone, but the DOJ argued that the states had brought their challenge in the improper venue and lacked standing.

Louisiana and other states with pro-life laws in place have filed lawsuits, issued arrest warrants, and requested extraditions in an effort to bring blue state abortionists to justice for violating state pro-life laws, killing children, and harming women, but “shield laws” in states like California and New York block the pro-life states’ efforts. In a recent bid to circumvent “shield laws,” Florida legislators introduced a bill empowering women and their families to sue out-of-state abortionists directly, rather than pitting two states against each other in court.

In July, the FDA launched a review of the safety standards surrounding mifepristone, following numerous studies and reports demonstrating the damage that the drug does to pregnant women — in addition to the unborn children killed by the drug. However, the agency quickly outraged pro-life Americans when it moved to expand mifepristone, approving a generic version of the abortion drug in September 2025.

Related article: “FDA Wants Pause On Landmark Abortion Pill Suit. Pro-Lifers Say It Will Cost” (Jordan Boyd, Federalist)

2) “Slouching Towards Fort Sumter? Minnesota’s defiance of federal immigration law echoes pre–Fort Sumter nullification, forcing Trump to choose between enforcement and letting blue states slide toward open rebellion.” (Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness) 

From the article -- But after Fort Sumter, Lincoln—who was hated as much by the Confederates as Trump is by the woke and socialist left—gained a consensus that the Constitution had no clauses about any lawful departure from the union. But it did operate under a clear supremacy clause that made state obstruction of federal law and occupation of federal property veritable sedition.

Lincoln and the preservationists felt that they easily had the moral high ground of abolition versus the continuance of slavery. Nor did they want a North America of fragmenting, warring nations in the manner of Europe.

Something similar is emerging over Minnesota, the South Carolina of our age.

Once sanctuary states, cities, and counties had established the precedent that, with impunity, they could nullify federal immigration law, then what followed was a logical and mounting descent into the current open defiance of the federal government. How odd that self-described progressives are now acting out the visions of prior kindred nullificationists and neo-Confederates from John C. Calhoun to George Wallace.

Related articles: “The Rise of the New Confederacy: Democrat insurrectionists have a poor track record.” (Josh Hammer, American Spectator) “Like Their Southern Secessionist Ancestors, Today’s Democrats Push New ‘Massive Resistance’ to Federal Law Enforcement” (Mark Tapscott, Washington Stand)

3) “From Classroom to Clash: The Long March to Disorder -- As cities descend into repeated cycles of chaos and lives are lost in Minnesota, Americans are asking a simple question: how did we get here?” (Tony Perkins, Washington Stand)

From the article -- Minnesota is not an outlier; it is a case study of what happens when institutions that once fostered moral restraint abandon that role. The real cause is less obvious because it is far removed from the tragic events we see today in the headlines. It can be traced back decades to what was called the long march through the institutions — a phrase coined in the late 1960s by Marxist student leader Rudi Dutschke. The phrase deliberately echoed Mao Zedong’s Long March, but Dutschke’s was not a military campaign. It was a cultural and ideological one, measured in decades rather than battles.

The strategy was to transform society not by overthrowing government outright, but by infiltrating its core institutions: universities, primary and secondary education, the media, the courts, and even churches. The objective was to shape what people were taught — what would be considered normal, respectable, and acceptable — so that political outcomes would eventually become inevitable.

4) “Congressional Republicans Launch ‘Sharia Free America Caucus,’ Shining A Light On The Dangers Of Rising Islamic Ideology” (Harbinger’s Press)

From the article -- With twenty-six members from seventeen different states, the newly launched “Sharia Free America Caucus” in the US House of Representatives is working to reveal the dangers and safeguard America from freedom-trampling Islamic ideology.

The caucus, chaired by Texas Congressmen Keith Self and Chip Roy, underscores that Sharia Law poses a direct threat to the United States and Western civilization, noting that both members of Congress and American citizens must be educated to understand the danger.

“Sharia is a direct threat to our Constitution and Western values and seeks to replace our legal system and erode our basic freedoms,” Roy stated. “Our immigration system must be prepared to confront this challenge and defend our Judeo-Christian values.”

Congressman Self, in an interview with CBN, drew a “direct connection between a growing Muslim population in his home state to a gradual infiltration of Islamic control.”

5) “The emergence of Holocaust erasure: The world hasn’t learned the key point -- that it was a uniquely monstrous crime aimed specifically at the extermination of the Jewish people.” (Melanie Phillips, JNS)

From the article -- The United Nations chose Jan. 27—the date of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration/death camp—to commemorate the Holocaust, the term that developed specifically to describe the Nazi genocide of the Jews.

Yet the message the United Nations posted on X on Tuesday omitted any mention of the Jews. It said: “The genocide started with apathy & silence in the face of injustice, and with the corrosive dehumanization of the other. Today and always, we need to remember this. And we must stand up for our shared humanity.”

The post was quoting from a statement issued by the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who also said that “a group of deluded killers inflicted unspeakable atrocities on millions of Jews and members of other minorities.”

As reflected in the U.N.’s abbreviated version of this statement on X, Türk universalized the Holocaust and thus blurred its real significance. But at least he mentioned the Jews. Others, shockingly, did not.

Other excellent articles from this week:

* “Iran’s Slaughter Of Civillians Reaches Unprecedented Heights As Fiery Warnings Sound From America And Israel” (Amir Tsarfati, Harbinger’s Daily)

* “The EU Just Murdered Western Civilization” (Bradley A. Thayer, American Greatness)

* “Two Decades Of Inconvenient Inaccuracies” (I & I Editorial Board)

* “Twenty Years of Justice Alito: Supreme Court Justices must be smart, wise, and steadfast, too, especially when under pressure. Alito checks all of the boxes and more.” (Aaron L. Nielson, Civitas Institute)

* “The Truth About Malaysian Flight 370 Is Scarier Than The Conspiracy Theories” (Hans Mahncke, Federalist)

You Get Rid of Religion...and You Can't Hire Enough Police

I believe it important to share Clay Christensen's profound video clip every once in awhile. It's only 90 seconds but its ever-relevant, ever-challenging. Watch it; reflect on it; share it.