Saturday, August 02, 2025

The Latest Mountain Adventure

We enjoyed a couple of wonderful days in Colorado and even the travel days to get there and back were very pleasant and engaging. The climax of the trip was our annual attempt to summit a 14er and that was a resounding victory for our dear friends Ryan Garvey, and Matt Troutman and his 17-year old son, Luke. They conquered Mt. Sherman in real style. Congratulations, guys!

Alas, Mt. Sherman conquered me this time around! My 74-year old legs got me quite away into the climb (13,510 feet) but, unlike last year, I couldn’t overcome the last mile or so of steep, rugged ascent. Thus, the series of 14er climbs that began on my 65th birthday may well have ended. True, that’s no small accomplishment but the primary challenge now, whether I end up closing the chapter at 7 successful summits or not, is to find new inspiration and resolve to stay in as “fighting trim” as possible.

However, notwithstanding my submission to the heights of Mt. Sherman this time, our Colorado experience produced many extraordinary blessings and I am very grateful to God for each one of them. 

Stimulating conversations with Ron and Linda Scheffler and with Matt, Luke, and Ryan... God’s deliverance when an engine alert light on our rented Jeep Grand Cherokee providentially “went away”... Staying at a secluded, spacious, and beautiful house in Dillon for a very reasonable price... Meals out at the Mave in Fort Morgan, the Driftwood in Ogallala, and such traditional mountain town haunts as the Haywood Cafe in Keystone and the Empire Grill in Breckenridge... A lovely hike from Frisco to Rainbow Lake... Coffee and conversations and prayers throughout our stay...And a daring, 90-minute mountain drive through the dark from our house to the Sherman trailhead.

More than that? Yep! There were the grand panoramic views, the smell of the pines, the quaking aspens, the gurgling streams, the high altitude breezes, the refreshing mountain rains, the grey fox we spotted on the sidewalk of Breckenridge in the predawn hours, the gelato and London fogs alongside the Blue River in Breckenridge, the tour of the historic buildings in Frisco, and the engaging talks on the way back to Omaha about theology, music, race, books, and our personal quests for spiritual wholeness.

And let me mention one more time, the conquest of Mt. Sherman by Luke and Matt and Ryan! It was, for so many reasons, a terrific trip. Thank you, Lord.

The Top 5 Plus (August 2)

1) “‘Starvation’ In Gaza Is A Blatant Lie, One That The Media Is All Too Willing To Deceitfully Promote” (Olivier Melnick, Harbinger's Daily)

From the article -- There are thousands of pallets of food supplies inside Gaza. They are literally rotting in the sun, halted by Hamas, which wants to control distribution. They [Hamas] will go as far as to hurt their own people who get near the supplies, but of course, the culprit is Israel! Incidentally, if you do an internet search for photos using the words “pallets of food in Gaza”, you get pages of photos with people looking hungry, sick, and emaciated, desperately seeking food, but no photos of the thousands of pallets unless you choose to dig deeper into articles, and most people won’t. Are we being redirected towards propaganda and away from the facts? This would make Josef Goebbels very proud!

This is not meant to dismiss the crisis in Gaza, but why is it that the photos used by the media to “prove” that there is a total famine within the Palestinian population of Gaza are only photos of young children? Is it possible that it is done that way because children will make people feel more sorry about the situation? There are indeed many children in Gaza, but they are not starving, on the contrary, they have food supplies. Why isn’t the media reporting this instead?

Important related article: “Crumbling Lies And The Antisemitic Delusion Grabbing Hold Of Western Leaders” (Amir Tsarfati, Harbinger's Daily)

2) “Covid Lockdowns Devastated an Entire Generation of Children” (Ian Miller, Brownstone Institute)

From the article -- In what we now understand were completely theatrical attempts to control the Covid-19 pandemic, experts demanded and politicians mandated all sorts of intrusive policies. Mask mandates were one of the most obvious. School closures. Lockdowns. Curfews. Capacity limits. Fear campaigns. The list is and was endless. And unfortunately the public willingly complied with all of them.

On and on they went, for years in some cases. But in their discussions of those useless policies, one thing they always, without fail, ignored was the ancillary cost.

Sure, you can mandate masks, but what does are the effects for those who are forced to wear them? What does it cost in terms of lost social cohesion, normalizing anti-social behavior? What are the trade-offs that result from closing schools, from forcing businesses to shut down, or locking down society?

Important related article: “The latest news from the Covid jab front” (Rushbabe 49, Calling All Rushbabes)

3) “Your Salvation Is Sealed” (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- Believing the gospel of salvation results in many supernatural and ongoing effects in a person’s life.  And one of the most glorious and comforting is the truth the apostle Paul describes in the verse quoted above; namely, that the Christian is sealed with the Holy Spirit to guarantee the ultimate redemption he will receive in heaven.  You see, the New Testament explains that when a person places his trust in Jesus Who died on the cross to pay the penalty of mankind’s sins, that sinner is forgiven – completely and forever. 

And that salvation comes with three effects...

4) “Secular Mythology: The Scopes Monkey Trial” (Ben Voth, American Thinker)

From the article -- In the popular telling of secular fundamentalists today, the Scopes trial, while scoring a victory for Tennessee’s laws against teaching evolution, ultimately betrayed the archaic thinking of Christian “fundamentalists” and their inherently backward ways. Darrow, the ACLU, and the larger intellectual ethos of evolution represent the greater and truer future of America. Bryan’s feeble defense of faith is a reminder to those who are astute and sophisticated that we must be eternally vigilant in the defense of the First Amendment’s assurance of ‘separation of church and state.’ These treasured tropes anchor the 21st-century defense of secularism and form the rhetorical contest of culture wars today regarding sexuality and so much more.

Important related article: “100 Years Later: How The Scopes Trial Resulted In Generations Of Judicially Imposed Public Secularism” (Darrell White, Harbinger's Daily)

5) “Pointing To Anti-American Ideologies And The Evils Of Globalism, Trump Admin Says ‘Enough’ To UN ‘Education’ Agency” (Alex Newman, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- The most important tool of the United Nations agenda for globalism, the UN “education” agency known as UNESCO, just received a major black eye from the Trump administration this week as the U.S. government announced its withdrawal. Globalists everywhere are howling. And UNESCO’s leadership is fuming.

But much more work remains if Americans are going to free themselves and their children from the dangerous influence of the communists, New Age occultists, population-control zealots and other evildoers running the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Indeed, its influence is felt in classrooms across America and worldwide.

And UNESCO is boasting that despite the withdrawal, it intends to continue working with other “partners” in America. These “partners” include state and local education agencies, textbook publishers, “EdTech” purveyors, institutions of “higher learning,” and much more. The group also said the U.S. government will be welcome back again when ready.  

Other recommended reads for this weekend

* “Bugs Bunny at 85: Bugs Reflected the Culture, Politics of the Times” (Hans von Spakovsky, Daily Signal)

* “Friendships Matter: The Concerning Rise in Male Loneliness” (Katelyn Rafferty, Washington Stand)

* “Bombshell Study Reveals Real Reason Behind Surge in Homelessness, and It’s Not What the Dems Tell You” (Bob Hoge, Red State)

* "We Were Commanded [by Allah] to Kill You': The Persecution of Christians, June 2025" (Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute)

* “UK’s Authoritarian ‘Online Safety Act’ Debuts to Raving Mad Reviews” (Beege Welborn, Hot Air)