The Top 5 Plus (October 24)

1) Paradise From the Wall Socket: Why the Left Is Winning the Young, From Berlin to New York -- Human dignity is an unconditional right. Prosperity is a conditional achievement. (Frank-Christian Hansel, American Greatness) 

From the article -- Electricity comes from the wall socket. Money comes from the ATM. Food comes from the store, the pension from the government, the apartment from the landlord. The water runs, the heat works, the ambulance arrives. Nothing about this needs to be understood in order to be used. You are born into it, and it is simply there.

That is the greatest achievement of the modern affluent society and its most dangerous weakness. What has always been there is taken for granted. What is taken for granted seems available. What is available merely needs to be fairly distributed. And whatever does not flow equally to everyone is a scandal.

In that short chain of assumptions sits an entire political worldview. It belongs to a generation that encounters a finished world and sees in it mainly the gaps: the unaffordable apartment, the unequal wealth, the poverty in a rich country. The questions are legitimate. The answer that follows with great regularity is wrong. It says, “all that is missing is political will.”

The better a society works, the less its members have to think about how it works. Nobody has to understand supply chains to buy a phone. Nobody has to know how a power grid is kept stable to switch on a light. This invisibility is a civilizational accomplishment; the division of labor frees the individual from knowing all the preconditions of his own life. But invisibility breeds illusion. What works reliably looks like nature. What has always been there will always be there. And what is there need only be shared out.

So prosperity becomes a pile to be divided. The question “how does this come into being?” disappears behind the question “why doesn’t everyone get the same amount?” And with it disappears the half of reality on which the other half stands.

2) A frenzied assault on French civilisation: The rioters’ targeting of the French Republic’s symbols speaks to their violent estrangement from their nation. (Frank Furedi, spiked!)

From the article -- Yet the most striking feature of these riots has been the extent to which they’ve been fuelled by a destructive and disruptive dynamic from the start. This dynamic has encouraged the convergence of different groups with no shared goals – from school and university students to violent bands of casseurs – to hit the streets together and cause havoc. And this, in turn, has led to a loss of self-control and the erosion of the kind of restraint that is usually associated with civilised behaviour. The riots have effectively been decivilising society.

Unlike the well-known revolts of modern times, these riots seem driven by a profound sense of hatred towards France. From the outset, the mob has directed its destructive passions against the symbols of the French Republic and the authority of the state. Schools, police stations and city halls have been targeted and, in many instances, set on fire – including the ornate, 19th-century Limoges city hall, which was gutted and engulfed by flames last Saturday.

The self-conscious desecration of the institutions of the French Republic was captured well by the behaviour of the masked gangs who invaded the city hall in Marseille and hurled the bust of Marianne on to the floor. The desecration of Marianne – the female personification of the French Republic – was not an accidental act of vandalism. The mob was performing a ritual of giving France a good kicking.

Related articles: The French Revolution of the 21st Century: From the Guillotine to the Suicide Vest: The Reign of Terror, Reimagined. (Itxu Díaz, American Spectator), France on fire: the nihilists against the normies: Across the West, a Bonapartist alliance of privileged leftists and lumpen foreigners are setting fire to decency. (Brendan O'Neill, spiked!), BLM-Style French Riots Offer Cautionary Tale to Americans (Joshua Arnold, Washington Stand)

3) Pyromania, from Paris to Palestine (Seth Mandel, Commentary)

From the article -- Brad Lander is currently on a selfie tour of Judea and Samaria. Here he is on a comfy bus ride guarded by IDF soldiers—Lander was with a group of foreigners seeking to provoke clashes between Jews and Arabs during the olive harvest, and the IDF accompanied him away from the area where he was trying to start a war.

Lander’s fun trip turned sour, however, when he practically begged the IDF to arrest him and they refused. Lander told the friendly IDF soldiers that he wasn’t yet a congressman, just a candidate for Congress, hoping they would put him in handcuffs or give him some anti-Zionist photo op. But the IDF didn’t care that he wasn’t that important; they treated him with respect anyway. All they required of him was to follow the law.

Lander’s disappointment was palpable. Over the past week or so, a particular pattern has taken place. American activists join Arab Palestinians in rock-throwing attacks and other provocations against Jews in the area, Jews respond with their own acts of violence, the foreign media print only the Jewish violence, and more conflict tourists are incentivized to join a conflict on the other side of the world.

Jewish shepherds and farmers have had their animals stolen, others have seen their animals poisoned. Settlers have blocked roads, trapped Palestinians inside their houses, and committed their own disreputable acts of violence and provocation. It’s a genuine cycle of violence, with a complicated back story: The Palestinian rejection of statehood has left Judea and Samaria in a state of limbo. Jews and Arabs thus try to create facts on the ground in a competition over land.

The other day, a Palestinian appeared to be caught on video trying to kill Knesset candidate Fleur Hassan by throwing a football-sized jagged rock through her car window while she and others were driving through Judea and Samaria. Brad Lander did not volunteer to drive Fleur Hassan around in an act of protective solidarity because such anti-Israel activists are there to provoke, not prevent, violence.

4) The Damage Weak Leaders Can Do To Their Own Countries (Nils A. Haug, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- Why are France and other parts of Europe going up in flames? No one tried to stop the marauders when they could. Many people, apparently, would rather be conquered by rapists, stabbers, car-rammers and beheaders than be called a racist.

There also seems to be a slight confusion about who are actually the racists here: the Westerners who incomprehensibly seem not to appreciate being raped, stabbed, car-rammed or beheaded, or the rioters and those who told them exactly which homes and businesses to smash, loot and burn. By a miraculous coincidence, it seems, not one Muslim shop in Marseille was damaged.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out this week, the Jews have lived on that land for more than 3,000 years. Part of it is actually called Judea. How can you "occupy" land if you are its indigenous people?

If anyone is committing ethnic cleansing or genocide -- not just of Israelis, but of all Jews -- it is the Palestinians. Hamas states it quite plainly in its original covenant: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." – Hamas Covenant, Article 7, 1988.

5) Europe: Ready for the Antichrist (Jan Markell, Harbinger's Daily)

From the article -- We’re seeing Europe’s globalists paving the way for the Antichrist. They are throwing out the welcome mat.

No, the title of Antichrist doesn’t belong to bumbling Emmanuel Macron, but in 2016, even The Economist magazine was calling him Europe’s savior. How God humbles the proud. As the head of France, no European leader today should be as ashamed as Emmanuel Macron, who casually enjoyed a Celine Dion concert while policemen were on fire in Paris and elsewhere.

Now the world knows he’s no savior. But there is one standing by somewhere. He will rise from obscurity.

There have been riots and demonstrations in Greece, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, and beyond, but began in mid-September in France.

Be He God or Devil, We Will Receive Him! Seriously?

Europe has cried for a savior in days gone by. Paul Henri Spaak—a Belgian politician called “Mr. Europe”, was Secretary General of NATO in 1957. At that time, he made a statement that lingers and should haunt Europeans today:

“What we need is a man of sufficient stature to hold the
allegiance of all people, and to lift us out of the
economic morass into which we are sinking.
Send us such a man, and be he god or devil, we
will receive him.”

Daniel 9 suggests the Antichrist will come from the region that destroyed the Temple in 70 AD. And while the Roman Empire was huge, most scholars suggest this “little horn” will arise from what is today, the European Union.

Welcoming the Stranger??

Europe has reeked with the familiar mantras of “free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea” since October 7, 2023. Could that be a judgment? Decades ago, Europe killed most of its Jews and then began welcoming Islamic immigrants to the point of collapse today.

Now, they need a savior, and according to Spaak and almost all of today’s globalists, be he god or devil, they will receive him.

Other Excellent Articles

* High Time For A History Lesson: Who Is The Greatest Obstacle To Peace Between Israelis And Arabs? (Chris Katulka, Harbinger's Daily)

* Crazy Colorado: It’s no California, but it’s getting there. (Tom Raabe, American Spectator)

* The Emperor’s New Running Shoes: A Washington cross-country runner’s sudden success puts the hypocrisy of progressive feminism on full display. (Sarah Kendis, American Spectator)

* Pedophilia Proliferates in U.S. Schools: The federal government has intensified efforts to curb rampant sexual abuse of students in the nation’s schools and to end the despicable practice of “passing the trash.” (Larry Sand, American Greatness)

* Your Browser Might Be Spying On You To Change The Price Of Items You Purchase (Sarah Westall, Federalist)

The Top 5 Plus (October 17)

1) What an Awful Woman: She wants to promote abortion as a cost-saving measure. (Ellie Gardey Holmes, American Spectator)

From the article -- Of course, this question Valenti refers to, “whether or not to have a child,” is really a question of whether or not to kill your existing child.

Valenti concludes that this decision of whether or not to kill your baby is just the same as sitting around your kitchen table with your spouse and deciding whether to change to a cheaper phone plan or spend less on eating out that month. Valenti concludes that this decision of whether or not to kill your baby is just the same as sitting around your kitchen table with your spouse and deciding whether to change to a cheaper phone plan or spend less on eating out that month. “And so I do not see how this is not a kitchen table issue when you talk about it,” she said. “Voters understand it when you are actually talking about it.”

Apparently, the reason Valenti sees dollar signs when she thinks of abortion is that she herself is happy every day that her bank account is a little fuller because her child is dead. Yes, when Valenti was 28 years old, she killed her own unborn child. She has spoken about how much better her life is because her dead child is not a part of it anymore. (RELATED: How Abortion Politics Led to a Broader Revolt Against Biology) FindCare Clinics

“The life and family I have now simply would not exist without that abortion,” she wrote in 2021. Moreover, she explained, she would not have been able to have a successful career advocating for abortion and “helping” other women abort their own babies. “Because of my abortion,” she wrote, “I wrote books and gave speeches; I did work that helped other women.”

2) As Europe Crumbles, The United States And Israel Stand As The Two Nations Willing To Defend Their Civilization (Erick Stakelbeck, Harbinger's Daily)

From the article -- It’s easy to see why Europe resents Israel so much.

Israelis are patriotic. They’re resilient in the face of adversity. They’re confident in their country, their culture, and the justness of their cause. Everywhere you look in Israel, there are large families. Israel is everything Europe used to be.

The prophet Zechariah promised a day would come when the streets of Jerusalem would be full of boys and girls playing in the streets (Zech. 8:5). We are there today, and it’s a beautiful thing to see. Israelis are increasingly conservative, and they honor their traditions and forefathers. There is a feeling among Israelis that they are all in it together as they battle Islamic jihadists on a daily basis. Israelis are innovative and optimistic about the future.

Drive through Jerusalem today, and you see cranes and construction everywhere. Exciting things are happening. On the other hand, drive through Paris, London, Brussels, or Berlin, and the last word that comes to mind is not excitement, but alarm.

Over the past several days in France, we’ve seen thousands of young Muslim migrants and second-generation Muslim immigrants wreak havoc.

According to the willfully blind mainstream media, they’re supposedly protesting the conditions in French schools. But that’s just a cover for the real goal: to conquer France from within. The display from Paris last weekend was Palestinian flags as far as the eye could see, no French flags—funny how that works! Now, the riots in France have spread to Brussels. We have also seen mass Islamic shows of force over the past week in London, Copenhagen, and Turin, all with the full support of the European left, which is marching arm in arm alongside.

The unholy red-green alliance is the main reason Europe is a basket case today. Mass civil unrest and civil war seem inevitable.

Related article: A People Apart: The deepest questions about America and Israel are not questions of foreign policy. (Michael S. Kochin, American Greatness)

3)  Europe’s Hard Left at Its Most Dangerous: As elections loom, it’s determined to do whatever it takes to hold on. (Martin Arostegui, American Spectator)

From the article -- Conservatives are poised to win back power throughout Europe, but the left is fighting back, violently. Communists and Islamist groups funded through CCP channels are using shock tactics, mass mobilizations, media, and vote manipulation to influence critical elections scheduled in the coming months.

Far left organizations allied with pro-Palestine activist groups are rioting across France in anticipation of a victory by the anti-globalist Rassemblement National party. Leftist parliamentary leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has said that he will “not accept” an RN victory, has called for a “general strike.” 

Violent protests are spreading in Germany in response to nationalist AfD victories in recent regional elections. In Spain, socialist president Pedro Sánchez is calling for “mobilizations against the ultra-right wing opposition” favored to win Nov. 29 elections, which his scandal-ridden, rickety minority government is holding after losing far left support in parliament. 

Socialist-controlled labor unions are now also calling for a general strike in Spain, which could become the next major battleground...

The far left, backed by powerful outside actors, is waging  political warfare at an unprecedented scale to retain control of the EU.

The chaotic scenario unfolding in major NATO countries once considered stable U.S. allies and bulwarks of the Western alliance plays into the hands of Iran’s IRGC, which is activating terrorist sleeper cells in Europe. China’s interests are also closely protected by European leftists. Russia is already engaged in widespread hybrid warfare against NATO countries. 

4) FDA continues to punt conclusions on abortion drug’s safety (Erin Morrow Hawley, Alliance Defending Freedom)

From the article -- The American people deserve the thorough report on abortion drug safety that the FDA has promised for nearly two years, but the agency has again failed to deliver it. The FDA now says it won’t release its final study until March. That will be too late for nearly 90,000 unborn babies who will die between now and then by illegally obtained abortion drugs in states like Louisiana that have taken great care to protect babies and mothers from the harms of abortion.

“But even then, the lengthy regulatory work that will be required after the study concludes could push any potential solution to the next administration. Not only is that unacceptable, but it’s also beside the point. The release of a study does nothing to correct the unlawfulness of the FDA’s 2023 decision, which three 5th Circuit panels, two district court judges, and now DOJ leadership itself have all concluded was ‘wrong.’

“Meanwhile, every month of additional delay puts nearly 15,000 additional babies at risk in states where mail-order abortion drugs are unlawful—1,000 in Louisiana alone—and more women like Rosalie, Catherine, and Elizabeth at risk of being coerced or tricked into ingesting these life-ending drugs. Nobody disputes that. And the FDA can easily end that today, even while its study continues, by entering into a consent decree with Louisiana to vacate the 2023 REMS.

“Indeed, mail-order abortions don’t empower women—they facilitate the abuse, coercion, and poisoning of women by making high-risk drugs accessible to bad actors at the click of a button. The FDA knows the right thing is to restore the in-person dispensing requirement. In fact, a new peer-reviewed article was just released detailing that the agency lacked evidence to justify removing this basic safety requirement.

Related article: The Case to Revisit the FDA’s Approval of Abortion Pills (Chuck Donovan, Washington Stand)

5) Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Pro-Hamas Supporter Of Chinese Genocide: The Nobel Committee’s credibility won’t recover until it stops treating political alignment as a substitute for genuine achievement. (Helen Raleigh, Federalist)

From the article -- Critics of Pillay’s award were blunt. Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, said Pillay’s “troubling record on antisemitism and gross breach of ethics in presiding over a notorious UN commission utterly disqualifies her from such an award.” A Wall Street Journal editorial argued that because Pillay could not distinguish “the difference between genocide and a defensive military campaign against a homicidal adversary that hid behind civilians in mosques, schools and hospitals,” awarding her the Peace Prize is unlikely to “promote the cause of peace.”

Pillay’s 2026 award continues a disturbing pattern of the Norwegian Nobel Committee elevating figures whose record on peace was either doubtful or even anti-peace. Yasser Arafat received the 1994 prize despite chairing the Palestine Liberation Organization and pursuing armed struggle against Israel rather than peace throughout his life. In 2009, Barack Obama received the prize despite the absence of major peace agreements and while overseeing ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many criticized the Nobel Committee for rewarding aspirations, rhetoric, and potential rather than real accomplishment. A USA Today/Gallup poll shortly afterward found 61 percent of American adults said he did not deserve it. 

These examples show how the Norwegian Nobel Committee has steadily blown its credibility by using the Peace Prize to spread leftist worldviews rather than consistently recognizing genuine peacemaking and the courageous defense of human rights. Such an approach is increasingly shaped by what critics call the red-green alliance — the convergence of Democrats, leftists, and socialists with radical Islamists, bound together mainly by hostility to capitalism, Israel, and the West.

Related article: The Moral Inversion of the Nobel Peace Prize: From Liu Xiaobo to Navi Pillay (Sasha Gong, American Greatness) 

Other Important Articles:

* 'Do Not Provoke Us!': The Extremist Persecution of Christians, June 2026 (Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institue)

* The cloying cult of Muslim victimhood: A new report claims a mosque in the UK is attacked every five days. It’s simply untrue. (Brendan O'Neill, spiked!)

* Romans One On Display: Secular Study Struggles To Answer Why The Laws Of Physics Are So Perfectly Suited To Life (Ken Ham, Harbinger's Daily)

* National Book Foundation Honors Book About White Paint Being Racist (Steven Tucker, Federalist)

* Why Gas Prices Stay High Even When America Drills Its Own Oil (Victor Davis Hanson, Daily Signal)

The Top 5 Plus (October 10)

1) “When It Comes to Christians and Policy, Pastor Willy Rice Gets It” (Paul Batura, Citizen)

From the article -- “The need of the hour is not for executives, celebrities, intellectuals, life-coaches, podcasters, authors or performers,” he said. “The greatest need in our movement is for faithful, Christ-honoring pastors that will take up the task of shepherding the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

According to Dr. Rice, part of that pastoral task includes encouraging Christians to engage in the political process. “Throughout American history, pastors have had a strong voice at key moments in American political history, even in the revolutionary times—maybe especially in the founding of our country,” Rice said.

Pastor Rice isn’t shy about confronting the mistaken belief that Christian leaders should stay silent on hot-button cultural issues. “It’s quite interesting, over the last several years, among many conservatives—and by conservative, I’m not talking politically there as much as I’m talking theologically; I’m talking about historic Christian orthodoxy,” Rice stressed. “Many Bible-believing, conservative evangelicals were actually being encouraged to be more quiet, to withdraw from the political process.”

He continued: “Some of those voices came externally from pressure saying, ‘You shouldn’t mix religion and politics,’” Rice argued. “But some of those voices came internally from those who said, ‘In order to be faithful in our mission, we needed to decouple, divorce ourselves as it were, from some controversial political issues.’”

Related articles: “Rice: Southern Baptist pastors should be involved in the political process” (Scott Barkley, Baptist Press), “Southern Baptist Convention President: Midterm Election Issues Are ‘Deeply, Profoundly, Theological’” (Lee Weeks, Decision)

2) “The New Antisemitism: October 7 Was A Symptom As Well As A Tragedy” (Olivier Melnick, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- It took decades for the tree of “Palestinian Narrative” to take root, but today it is a tree of deceit firmly planted in Western tolerance and multiculturalism, and it continues to be watered by social justice and wokism from the Left AND from the Right. In 2026, the switch is complete. In the eyes of our global village, the Jewish victims have fully morphed into the new perpetrators in the Middle East (and by proxy, all Diaspora Jews), seeking occupation, apartheid, and genocide.

At the same time, Palestinian Arabs have been recast as the new victims, through the crafty media productions in books, movies, online, and on the streets. It is a method known as “Pallywood,” where scenes are staged and filmed with actors and fake victims to simulate victimization and heavy casualties of Palestinians and, as a result, demonize and delegitimize Israel in the eyes of the world. If there were ever an award ceremony for the “Palestinization” of the world, the events of October 7, 2023 would win in every category.

So, it is appropriate to remember the tragedy of October 7. In a gruesome Holocaust fashion, many lost their lives after psychological torture, violence, rape, and fire. Many more were taken hostage by Hamas and a plethora of willing Palestinian co-perpetrators (70%-75%). Even during Nazi Germany, some Germans rescued and sheltered Jews. Not one Palestinian did such a thing in Gaza. 

Related articles: “Oct. 7, remembered in Israel and beyond” (JNS Staff), “Hijacker Target Revealed: Ben Gurion Airport” (Also, Britain's antisemitism problem returns.) (Amit Segal and Ari Tatarka, It’s Noon in Israel), “We Stand with Israel” (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog), “On The October 7 Anniversary, The United Kingdom Advocates For Israel’s Eradication ‘From The River To The Sea’” (Chris Katulka, Harbinger's Daily), October 8th’s Irony: Islamic Supremacists Fall in the Middle East, Rise in the West: Will we find the moral clarity and summon the courage to defeat them? (Benjamin Weingarten).

3) “The West Confronted with Two Islams” (Bat Ye’or, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- The concept of dar al-harb (the “abode of war”) -- countries still to be conquered for Islam and regarded as the realm of absolute evil in which the injustice of infidel laws prevails -- remains current and effective in Islamic theology. It is this concept that today mobilizes some Muslim immigrants in the West to reject integration into societies that do not practice sharia. In other words, the clash of civilizations persists, but now within Western civilizations themselves, which have lost their homogeneity through the demographic changes and host large numbers of Muslim immigrants imposing their own laws

The present situation recalls the traditional waves of jihadist conquest of territories inhabited by Christians, Jews and other non-Muslims. Greek, Serbian, and Slavic historians bitterly chronicled, over the course of centuries, the internal traitors -- military figures, displaced aristocrats, princes of the Church -- who made pacts with Muslim conquerors and handed citadels and cities over to them.

The radical activism today of the Muslim diaspora within Western societies and its refusal to integrate... stem from directives issued by the OIC [a sort of global caliphate representing 56 Muslim countries].

In the West, jihad operates on several levels: indiscriminate terrorism, censorship of “blasphemy,” changes in customs and laws, the ballot box, the adoption of Western concepts in order to turn them against Europeans, such as cancel culture (to shut out Western evil), and calls for “resistance” (against Christian laws, by holding to jihadist principles of conquest and domination) and "liberation" (meaning the replacement of infidel law by sharia).

4) “Rubio’s Magnificent Speech Meant for Europe... and US: The Sec’y of State was masterful at the Acropolis” (Roger Simon, Substack)

From the speech itself -- For 25 centuries since, the Parthenon has stood.  Empires have risen and fallen beneath its shadow.  And the progeny of the men who built it – the sons of Athens and Rome – have carried their civilization with them to the ends of the Earth.

Two and a half centuries after the founding of the American republic halfway across the world from where I stand now – I stand here today as the Secretary of State of that republic, and a great-grandson of settlers who arrived in the new world from Spain – I stand here to testify to a debt that no lapse of time, no distance of space can ever extinguish. 

The history of America, the history of my country, is covered with the fingerprints of antiquity.  Greece is literally carved into the architecture of our government: in the towering columns, in the domes and the monuments across our capital city.  The city where our Constitution was born – Philadelphia – is itself a Greek name.

The men who founded my country were fascinated by the heritage we inherited from yours.  They were exceptionally well-read in history – they were vividly aware of their unique place in it – but no other age of the past held their attention or their imagination quite like that of antiquity.  Many, many people are surprised to learn that the most commonly cited author in the Federalist Papers was not an Enlightenment philosopher or political theorist.  No, the most commonly cited author in the Federalist Papers was Plutarch, the Greek biographer of Greece and Rome’s great men.

Now, much has been written and said about the influence of ancient Greece on the ideas of the American Founders – and, for that matter, on all of the Western philosophers and statesmen that preceded them.  Most of us are familiar with the basic history.  Athens gave us democracy.  Plato and Aristotle gave us Western philosophy.  Our ideas of law, of virtue, of citizenship, and republican government were shaped in the Greek city-states.  Even much of our political vocabulary – words like democracy, tyranny, the word “politics” itself – found its origins here.

Now, all of that is true.  But the things we owe to this place – as Americans, and as Westerners – are actually far far deeper.  These institutions and ideas – these institutions and ideas were the outward expression of more fundamental qualities we see in the ancient Greeks – qualities that can’t be reduced to any particular political system or theory.

Related articles plus a link to the full text (and video!) of the Rubio speech:

“Marco Goes Hard About what really matters” (Glenn Harlan Reynolds), “Rubio Warns Europe to ‘Wake Up’ and Rediscover National Strength” (AG News Staff), “Marco Rubio Delivers First Speech of the 2028 Presidential Race -- The speech receives an A+ grade.” (Daniel J. Flynn, American Spectator), and “Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks” (U.S. Department of State). 

5) “Trump and the Relentless Momentum of Events: Trump is the great magnetic north of our political metabolism.” (Roger Kimball, American Greatness)

From the article -- Back in 2022, I agreed with the conventional wisdom that the election would be a blowout for Republicans. I was wrong. This time, I suspect that the conventional wisdom has failed to price into its calculations the astonishing number of victories the Trump administration has racked up in its first 18 months.

It is a long list. The Dems recently learned the word “affordability” and have been practicing saying it aloud early and often. News from many quarters is undercutting their complaints. Yes, gas prices, which peaked in 2022 under Biden, are still elevated because of the war in Iran. But they are on their way down and will plummet in coming weeks as markets begin to register Iran’s defeat. Recently, the Atlanta Fed predicted that real growth in the third quarter will come in at a blistering 5.0–5.1 percent. At the same time, the Census Bureau released data showing that the poverty rate fell to 10.2 percent, the lowest in our history. Blue-collar income has jumped between 4 and 5 percent since January 2025, when Trump began his second term. Manufacturing—and manufacturing jobs—are flooding back into the United States.

On the foreign policy front, it is hard to keep up. At the beginning of the year, Trump nabbed Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their supposedly impregnable fortress in Caracas. He then made what the White House called “the biggest oil deal in world history, delivering U.S. majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela.” Last month, Trump signed a permanent security deal with Denmark and Greenland. The agreement recognized official “Danish sovereignty and Greenlandic self-determination.” It is an odd or “lite” version of sovereignty, however, since the agreement also grants to the United States the exclusive right to maintain and expand military bases in Greenland. The deal also grants the U.S. exclusive say about access to Greenland’s extensive mineral wealth and “sensitive sector investment.”

Other Important Articles

* “Are We Becoming Gondor?: J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision of a declining Gondor offers a warning for the troubled West—but also a message of hope that renewal remains possible.” (Victor Davis Hanson, Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness)

3 of Denny’s Open Letters from This Week’s Vital Signs Blog:

* “Enough Already! Let's DEFUND the United Nations.”

* “Nebraska Leaders AWOL on the Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act: An Open Letter”

* “Fulfilling Islamic Law by Burning His Daughters? An Open Letter to Nebraska Senators”

* “Margaret Thatcher Goes to Hell” (If you didn't loath the modern Disney corporation enough) (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

Enough Already! Let's DEFUND the United Nations.

This basic letter is being sent to President Trump, all of Nebraska's Federal lawmakers, and selected Cabinet members...

Dear Secretary Rubio,

I certainly stand with Senator Mike Lee -- and so do the majority of Americans who are aware that the United States gives 13-14 billion dollars every year to the United Nations – “No more blank checks for the United Nations. Americans’ hard-earned dollars have been funneled into initiatives that fly in the face of our values, enabling tyrants, betraying allies, and spreading bigotry.”

Enough is way more than enough. The United States playing patsy to this ever-increasingly greedy, bizarre, socialistic, anti-Semitic, terrorist applauding, and anti-American business must come to an end.

Please pursue the aims proposed by of S. 669, the DEFUND Act and, in whatever other ways possible, defend America’s reputation for freedom, fair play, justice, and fiscal sanity by extricating our country from this inept, and hyper-hypocritical organization.

"We Stand with Israel"

"In this house, we remember in mourning the some 1,200 Jews that Hamas barbarians terrorized, tortured, and murdered on this date 3 years ago. And we remember the thousands more who survived the attacks and yet were injured, many of them severely, with effects that will last their entire lives. And we remember the 251 Jewish people who the demonic thugs of Hamas then kidnapped, took back to Gaza, imprisoned in cages, and further humiliated, starved, and further tortured.

And, in this house, we stand with Israel."

Have You Ever Thought of the Constitution as Sin Management?

“Alone in the woods, it’s possible to go a whole day without sinning, nutty as that may sound. Walking alone in the fields and praying, watching the game running up and down the pig trails, it’s unlikely you’ll use the Lord’s name in vain or worship some other god. In the woods there’s no one to steal from, no women to lust after. There’s no one to lie to either, and you can’t murder someone who’s not around. See? Sin management in isolation is easy. [But] I suspect our Founding Fathers knew most people wouldn’t participate in sin management by making their way to the woods. 

They knew that our great America wouldn’t be forged in isolation, and that most people would congregate down the wider roads. They knew folks would rub shoulders as they built society. And as I wrote in the previous chapter, they hoped these folks -- together with all their children and grandchildren -- would build a strong and virtuous nation. They knew, though, that any community of people hoping to build a virtuous society would need a teacher. And so, they left us a grand instructor: a canon of biblically based law.” (Phil Robertson, The Theft of America’s Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies that are Destroying Our Country, page 115)

Nebraska Leaders AWOL on the Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act: An Open Letter

Dear Senator Ricketts,

I’m writing to ask what you are doing in opposing the mail order abortion drug mifepristone, a deadly and wickedly deceptive chemical poison that seriously endangers the health and well-being of the pregnant woman... and kills the precious and innocent baby she is bearing. Indeed, why have you not bothered to even co-sponsor S. 4066, the Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act?

That this common-sense, humane, and eminently just effort has only received 7 co-sponsorships among those Republicans who so loudly tout their pro-life convictions when they appear at pro-life events back home is truly inexplicable. We have long trusted your statements regarding the sanctity of life and have deeply appreciated your past efforts, so, please don’t let this oversight continue.

Therefore, Senator Ricketts, I am writing to ask you to please co-sponsor S. 4066 ASAP and to work diligently to educate your colleagues (and your constituents) about the sinister workings of the abortion poisons being manufactured by Danco and other big-pharma companies. And then, please redouble your efforts to defend and promote the sanctity of life by going strong against fetal death by chemicals. 

After all, Senator, more preborn boys and girls are being wantonly destroyed now with these abortion pills than even the worst years of the Roe v Wade era. In fact, there has been more than a 20% increase since the Dobbs decision with 2/3 of the abortions being committed with the abortion pill. And the Safeguarding Women from Chemical Abortion Act presents a critically important response to this burgeoning, deadly industry.

The common-sense purpose of S. 4066 is “To provide that the approved application under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for the drug mifepristone for the purpose of the termination of intrauterine pregnancy is deemed to have been withdrawn, to establish a Federal tort for harm to women caused by chemical abortion drugs, and for other purposes.”

Suction machines. Curettes. Saline solutions. Chemical poisons like mifepristone. It is time to fight wisely, comprehensively, and hard against all the means of killing boys and girls in the womb. Please let us know that you will be increasing your efforts in this most momentous of pro-life campaigns.

Denny Hartford (for Claire Hartford too)
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha

Fulfilling Islamic Law by Burning His Daughters? An Open Letter to Nebraska Senators

Dear Senator Fischer, 

Among the most atrocious elements of the militant Islam that are malignantly spreading throughout the world are forced conversion, violent persecution of Christians and other “infidels,” the cruel subjugation and mistreatment of women, and an arrogant disdain for evenly applied justice. Well, this story has it all. It is a horrifying example of the insidious evils spewing forth from intolerant Islam.

Late this summer, Amina and Shamila (shown above), teenaged sisters in the Kasese district of Uganda, had been introduced to Christianity with its central themes of compassion and forgiveness of sins via the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. They decided to leave Islam and become Christians. Their father’s reaction? Just a few nights later, he doused their house with gasoline and set it ablaze while the girls were sleeping. He had previously threatened that he would “fulfill Islamic law” by punishing them and this was the lethal plan he chose.

By the grace of God, the girls awakened to the sounds and smells in the burning building, saw the flames entering their room, and began to frantically remove enough bricks from the wall to crawl out to safety. And, though they lost all their belongings in the fire, they were alive and received immediate help from Christian neighbors.

Despite the murder by arson attempt, the young women’s new faith in Christ was actually strengthened. “We are happy to say that the fire consumed our shelter, but did not consume our faith and hope in Jesus Christ.”

It remains unclear whether or not the father will face trial for the attempted murder of his daughters.

This sad account -- and its certainly not the first of its kind -- emphasizes the dire need of Americans to 1) carefully investigate immigration into the United States to keep hardcore Islamists out and 2) to diligently protect the U.S. Constitution (and the laws, procedures, and freedoms that flow from it) against the very real threats of its usurpation by “sharia law.” 

Thank you, Senator, for seriously considering the dire importance of these matters.

Denny Hartford
Director, Vital Signs Ministries
Omaha

The Top 5 Plus (October 3)

1) “Those amazing and heroic Israelis: An averted catastrophe in the air shows how the Jewish state chooses life, while Britain and the West are embracing a culture of death.” (Melanie Phillips, JNS)

From the article -- Only the Israelis could behave like this—regular people displaying raw courage, heroism and the lion-hearted, can-do Israeli spirit. Alerted to an existential threat, these ordinary guys immediately took matters into their own hands, neutralized the danger and saved countless lives.

What an amazing, wonderful, heroic country. What a symbol of everything Israel has been doing for the past three years, ever since Hamas launched its genocidal onslaught against it on Oct. 7, 2023. What a statement of defiance against Britain and a Western world now consumed (whatever they think they’re supporting) by a deranged agenda to wipe this country out. How this lifts the spirits. And how those spirits are instantly lowered by contact with the life-destroying venom of the Western intelligentsia.

Western media outlets tried everything they could to downplay the near-catastrophe in the skies over Saudi Arabia. CNN called it “an internal personnel incident between pilots.” The New York Times called it “a clash in the cockpit.” Reuters headlined it: “A pilot brawl, then a rapid descent: Passengers recount chaos in flydubai flight.”

As ever, the BBC excelled itself as a disgrace to journalism. BBC News reported: “Israel’s far right national security minister Ben-Gvir says that an Israel bound flight that landed in Saudi Arabia was due to a terrorist who wanted to crash the plane and kill Israelis.”

Related articles: “The lesson of Flydubai? Don’t mess with Zionists: The heroism on that crazy flight was a beautiful reminder that the Jewish nation is here to stay.” (Brendan O'Neill, spiked!)

2) “Why Solzhenitsyn’s 1978 Speech About America Still Demands Attention” (Daniel J. Mahoney, Daily Signal)

From the article -- Writing three years later in the pages of Foreign Affairs magazine, Solzhenitsyn remarked that he had been under the mistaken impression that Americans welcomed criticism, but now he understood that our elites only welcomed it from the Left. “Total,” unrelenting, even nihilistic, criticism of Western civilization by leftist ideologues was welcome, but “partial,” yet sympathetic, criticism of the kind proffered by Solzhenitsyn was verboten.

Later, however, Solzhenitsyn would observe in his memoir “Between Two Millstones” that after the initial round of uncomprehending indictments of the “Harvard Address,” he began to hear from those who belonged to another, more solid, traditional America. This less elite-driven America “was small-town and robust, the heartland, the America I envisioned as I was writing my speech, and to which my speech was addressed.” The receptive welcome of these patriotic and religious-minded Americans gave the great Russian writer and Nobel laureate “a glimmer of hope” that he could connect with the part of the country that had not yet succumbed to the progressivist Zeitgeist.

In the “Harvard Address,” Solzhenitsyn defends liberty under God and the law while taking aim at soulless legalism and facile moral relativism. Instead of recommending authoritarian coercion of any kind, Solzhenitsyn endorsed “freely accepted and serene self-limitation” as the wisest and most prudent course of action for both individuals and societies.

3) “‘UNAI’: It is time to rename the UN to United Nations Against Israel” (Duvi Honig, Jerusalem Post)

From the article -- From the opening day of the General Assembly, speech after speech turned toward Israel: Turkey. Jordan. Qatar. France. Britain. Brazil. The secretary-general himself. Different continents. Different religions. Different political systems. Different national interests. Yet somehow they keep finding the same common ground: Israel.

The world has wars raging, dictatorships crushing their own people, political prisoners sitting in cells, minorities being persecuted, women being denied basic rights, and terror groups operating openly. Iran itself poses a direct threat to America and the West. Yet when the nations gather, the recurring target becomes Israel.

Again and again.

And that is where the institution’s name begins to take on a different meaning. The UN seems unable to unite around almost anything. But put Israel in the middle of the room, and suddenly the nations discover what it means to be united.

Related articles: “United Nations Against Israel: The Backwards Antisemitic Thinking Of The World Is Stunning -- But Not Unanticipated.” (Breanna Claussen, Harbinger’s Daily): “America First Means Standing with Israel: Standing with Israel is in our strategic interest.” (Fred Fleitz, American Greatness)...“‘October 7 Will Return': Hamas, Like Iran, Will Not Voluntarily Give Up the Fight” (Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute)...“Is Anti-Jewish Legislation Making A Comeback Across Europe?” (Olivier Melnick, Harbinger’s Daily).

4) “The Quiet Islamic Colonization of America” (Pierre Rehov, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- While countries in the West are always nonchalantly accused of imperialism and colonization, how come no one ever mentions the Islamic imperialism and colonization of Christian Byzantium – now Turkey – let alone the entire Ottoman Empire? How come no one ever mentions the Islamic colonization of the Coptic Christian country of Egypt, or of northern Cyprus in 1974? Or the formerly Buddhist countries of southeast Asia, such as the Maldives, Malaysia or Indonesia?

The Islamic colonization now underway in Europe and the United States carries no racial or demographic content.... The territory being taken is ideological: it changes hands whenever a political movement discovers that open institutions can be used more profitably than if they were attacked, or whenever foreign money purchases standing inside institutions that form the next generation of American elites, or whenever two movements with incompatible values find they can trade access for votes.

Americans may not notice it right away, or now, but one day, unless actions are taken as soon as possible to prevent it, they may wake up one morning to find themselves under Islamic rule.

Related article: “‘Kowtowing To Sharia Law’: Gavin Newsom Signs Law Codifying Muslim Observances Over Christian, Jewish Holidays” (Decision Magazine, via Harbinger's Daily)

5) “Lost in the Wilderness: The True Roots of Male Demoralization: The crisis of young men isn’t simply a failure to grow up.” (R.B.A. Di Muccio, American Spectator)

From the article -- Nowadays, young men are treated as either victims of intense sociological anxiety or the objects of thinly veiled ideological derision. To their critics on the progressive left, young men are creatures of “fragile masculinity,” clinging to (and failing to live up to) arbitrary, patriarchal norms that must be therapeutically deconstructed if we are to achieve a more equitable future. To secular cultural commentators, they are caricatures of apathy; stalled adolescents lingering in their childhood bedrooms, checked out of the labor force, alienated from civic life and hopelessly anesthetized by the digital world.

The diagnosis from both camps is remarkably similar: the modern young man suffers from a fundamental failure of character. A refusal or inability to grow up is merely the predictable effect.

But this convenient consensus is not just lazy; it is willfully blind. A more honest assessment reveals that our sons are not suffering from a sudden, mysterious collapse of personal ambition. Rather, they are experiencing a profound, systemic misalignment between their hardwired aspirations and the woefully insufficient institutional pathways provided by our corrupt society. 

Related article: “Learning to Read and the Crisis of Male Demoralization: We have to nurture the right kind of masculinity.” (James H. McGee, American Spectator)

Other Important Articles:

* “I lost a state championship to a boy. I refuse to lose my voice.” (Kendall Kotzmacher, Fox News)

* “A Farewell to Land Acknowledgments: What was that all about anyway?” (Kyle Smith, WSJ Free Expression)

* “Rockefeller Brothers Fund Sent Nearly $32 Million to China-Based Nonprofits, Watchdog Finds -- ‘Dangerous partnership with Communist China’ is detailed in new report” (Ira Still, Washington Free Beacon)

* “Why Eric Cantor Going To Head Big Pharma Is The Swampiest Move Ever” (Christopher Jacobs, Federalist)

* “A Conservative Answer to the ‘National Freakout’ Over AI: AI needs a referee, not a ruler.” (Donald Devine, American Spectator)

Will Someone Please Turn Down the Noise?

When asked what he would like the orchestra to play while he was dining at a London restaurant, playwright George Bernard Shaw thoughtfully replied, “Dominoes.”

In this matter, I’m with Shaw.

It is a crazy, unhealthy feature of modern life -- this matter of unrelenting noise. For instance, having television or radio, canned music or internet advertisements blaring at us absolutely everywhere we go. Airports, restaurants, convenience stores, doctor’s offices, the car mechanic’s waiting room, shopping malls, the vehicle next to yours at a stoplight, coffee shops, nursing home and hospital rooms, even church. For crying out loud, the other day I was putting gas in the car and had to try and block out the TV playing inside the gas pump!

Will someone please down the incessant noise!

George Prochnik, in his book “In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise,” warns of the harmful physical impact of noise. “Noise wreaks havoc on all different parts of our bodies. The heart rate accelerates. We get vasoconstriction…The really scary thing is even if we do habituate mentally to noise, that doesn't change what's happening to our bodies.”

Is noise truly inescapable in our time? Is there no place where we can escape the intrusion of dissonant sound? Must our bodies and brains be forced to suffer the constant stress from clamoring, clattering commotion?

Perhaps not. But it will certainly take effort to turn down the noise in our lives, to listen more attentively to the natural sounds of life: God’s creation, calm conversation, serene music. More radical still, shouldn’t we be making time to relish some peace and…genuine quiet?

William Penn, in a book containing advice to his children, wrote, “True silence is the rest of the mind and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. It is a great virtue; it covers folly, keeps secrets, avoids disputes, and prevents sin.”

Amen, Brother Penn. A quiet but unqualified amen.

Phil Robertson on Believing Lies

“The enemy came and he convinced us that God is not the author of life, that all of it happened by chance. He’s convinced us that we aren’t made in God’s image, but that we’ve evolved from monkeys. He’s made us believe that our unborn babies aren’t really alive, that they’re nothing but clumps of tissue to be disposed of. The evil one has blinded us to God’s creating and sustaining ways, and what’s the result? We protect animals and kill babies. We’ve turned to murder and mayhem. We lack the peace and presence of God that comes from understanding God’s life-authoring ways.” (Phil Robertson, The Theft of America’s Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies that are Destroying Our Country, page 66)

Why A Pro-Life Witness Outside Abortion Clinics?

Giving public witness to the sanctity of life in this culture is certainly not easy. And testifying against the horror that is abortion outside a business where preborn boys and girls are actually killed? Well, that is particularly disheartening, disgusting, and disillusioning.

So why do I do it?  Indeed, why have Claire and I and many of our close friends participated in sidewalk counseling and pro-life witness outside abortion mills for 43 years and counting?  Here are 5 quick reasons.

5) The presence of peaceful, prayerful pro-life advocates outside an abortion clinic has a profound and ongoing effect on those going inside, on the workers, on the people walking or driving by.  It provides multiple and memorable messages regarding the wrongness of abortion, the availability of alternatives, and the offer of forgiveness through Christ’s gospel. 

4) A pro-life witness outside an abortion business insures that men and women – even those who ultimately decide to commit the abortion – will forever remember that someone was there to plead with them, “no, don’t do this.”  They will retain in the memory of their abortion experience that someone was standing up for their child…and for the mother’s spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. That provides a tremendous incentive for repentance, a motivation to seek forgiveness and healing from the God Who delivered His Son to die for mankind’s sins.

3) Being regularly at an abortion clinic and coming face to face with the persons availing themselves of the demonic opportunities for child sacrifice fuels, as nothing else can, one’s zeal and commitment to fight against abortion on all other fronts. Political action?  Spiritual intercession?  Crisis pregnancy work?  Pro-life education?  Chastity campaigns?  Efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood?  Conversion of the arts to provide for effective sanctity of life expressions?  All of these (and more) are powerfully stimulated by being there at the very doors of death, being regularly challenged by what the stakes are in this fight.

2) Pro-lifers outside abortion mills save lives by dissuading people from aborting their children.  Even when they are not aware of their impact, pro-life advocates provide an impressive force for life that changes minds.  Would-be abortion clients are challenged in their conscience and end up driving by.  Even clients inside the place change their minds and leave.  And, among the dozens or hundreds or thousands who drive by and see peaceful protestors who carry pictures of babies and words like “Choose Life” and “Mother and Child: Love Them Both” and “Life: What a Beautiful Choice,” there are countless numbers of people whose consciences are challenged. Do you not expect that the Lord will tend those seeds of winsome truth and that they will not be relevant in future meditations, conversations, and especially when people are pressed by abortion temptations? Oh yes, the presence of pro-life advocates provide illumination and spiritual challenge that goes far beyond what we can imagine.

1) Because my honor as a Christian is at stake.  Where such brazen, violent injustice is occurring, how can I refuse the opportunity to testify against it?  What does it mean to the reputation of the Church (not to mention her sense of moral priority) if children are brutally murdered in our neighborhoods without us raising our voices in principled protest?  How much is our evangelism and discipleship tarnished and weakened if we do not take seriously such charges as Jeremiah 22:3 and Isaiah 1:16-17:  “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.’” And “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend the orphan. Plead for the widow.”

Fewer and fewer American Christians bother nowadays to go in front of abortion mills to pray and give pro-life witness. That is an ominous warning of how far we have been co-opted by the world around us.  We have become indifferent, callous, distracted, and cowardly. Nevertheless, the grace of God remains available to us all – grace that forgives and cleanses, grace that yields wisdom and strength, grace that yet can bring personal and cultural revolution.

Our marching orders are quite clear. We read them in the Scriptures already listed. And in others like Psalm 82:3,4: “Vindicate the weak and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.  Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” And Proverbs 24: 11,12: “Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.” And James 1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

As I said at the beginning of this column, giving public witness to the sanctity of life in this culture is certainly not easy.  But it remains extremely high in the values expressed by our Lord.

And that’s why, by the grace of God, we continue to do it.

Satan's Deadly Agenda

“Murder, death, destruction -- these are Satan’s chief means of separating humans from God. Can’t you see his work all around you? Hasn’t it run amok in America? Suicide rates are at an all-time high. Somewhere between 40 and 50 percent of marriages die in divorce. Hundreds of thousands of babies are aborted annually. America is a slaughterhouse. Why? We've been enslaved by the power of the evil one, the murderer of all murderers...

Unchecked by the truth of Jesus, Satan is free to work his agenda -- death. This agenda can take down a person, sure; this agenda can take down entire countries too.” (Phil Robertson, The Theft of America’s Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies that are Destroying Our Country, pages 28,30)

Well, That Was a Weekend!

My, what a significant weekend we just enjoyed, beginning with a productive “date” with Claire at Milady’s CoffeeHouse out in Fremont. Prayers on the way, conversation, making plans, catching up on our journals, etc. Very nice. Then, before heading home for our preparations for Sunday’s busy schedule, we stopped off at Hobby Lobby. That proved an interesting (and kinda’ fun) errand because, though our reason for going was simply to get a couple of gift cards, we ended up getting all of our Christmas Child boxes (and lids) and a surprising array of “impulse buy” items which were on sale: Thanksgiving napkins, 9 boxes of Christ-honoring Christmas cards that we will use in Vital Signs’ December letter-writing parties, a. nifty attention-getting Christmas yard sign, and two books -- Revelation: How God’s Plan for the Future Can Change Your Life Now by Amir Tsarfati and The Theft of America's Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies That Are Destroying Our Country by Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame.

Saturday’s key event was our attendance at an open house party to celebrate LaVern and Marlene Smith’s 65th anniversary. It was also our first chance to see their new place, admire LaVern’s latest paintings, and to meet 3 of their children that we had not met before. We had a terrific time with the Smiths, their family, and such other guests as old friend Coach Jim Classen and his wife Dot. It was a lovely and inspirational afternoon.

Then came a packed Sunday beginning with my presentation “The Unlearned Lessons from 9/11” to the adult Sunday school at Wellspring Church in Papillion. And, for the worship service later, I gave a sermon on Jesus’ healing of the 10 lepers in Luke 17. We always love it when we are invited to Wellspring. What an engaging, attentive, and encouraging group of saints.

From there we caught a quick lunch back home before going to Aksarben Village Senior Living for our regular Sunday afternoon church service with my sermon there being a brief but direct challenge from Philippians 2:14-16 about avoiding a complaining/argumentative spirit. Also significant were questions I was asked afterwards (in the coffee, cookies, visiting portion of the service) about spiritual warfare and Islam. I was pleased to be able to answer Mary’s concerns in some detail with several others listening in. It was a good afternoon.

And finally, we then headed over to the Global Friends annual fundraising dinner where we were really honored to have Bob & Linda Potter, Dan and Barb Serlet, and Israel and Luqi Olasunkanmi at our table. (That's the photo above.) The program was excellent (especially GF Director Julie Arant) with  the testimonies of God changing the lives of international students coming one after another. And not only from Omaha but from the other places where GF has established new “beachhead” outreaches: Lincoln and Bellevue, Nebraska; Estes Park & Golden, Colorado; Vermillion, South Dakota; Okoboji, Iowa; and still more. It was a wow evening with an exciting, effective ministry that we truly admire. Bless them mightily, dear Lord...and thank You for a great weekend! 

The Top 5 Plus (September 26)

1) “Champions of ‘Choice’ Are Choking Women’s Options” (Chuck Donovan, Washington Stand)

From the article -- In June, Heartbeat International published an open letter signed by more than 200 women celebrating their successful decision to reverse the abortion pill and carry their children to term. The language used at Open Arms Real Choices for APR is similarly positive, saying, “The abortion pill is a common abortion method, and some women begin the process while feeling scared, rushed, or unsure. If you’ve taken the first pill and regret your decision, you may still have options. Abortion Pill Reversal may offer a second chance.” Studies showing women’s ambivalence about abortion are incontestably common.

The absurdity of the California and New York action against APR — i.e., its rank persecution of the women affected — should not be lost on anyone. Mifepristone is a non-naturally occurring drug promoted and distributed by companies that do nothing else for pharmaceutical therapy or the cause of medicine. They exist solely to speed and profit from the destruction of unexpected pregnancies. The drug displaces progesterone, the naturally occurring hormone that supports pregnancy and is routinely used to help women with a history of miscarriage, from the developing child’s bonding site in the womb. The result is fetal demise. APR involves the administration of the natural hormone progesterone to displace mifepristone, reestablish the nourishing role of progesterone, and give the child a chance to live.

2) “From Common Ground to Battle Grounds: The DSA is merely stating the end to which the Democrat party has been moving for the last hundred years.” (Richard C. Lyons, American Greatness)

From the article -- Many Americans are rightfully alarmed by the stated positions of the “Democratic” Socialists, as they seem to be outside of the common ground of most Americans’ beliefs regarding our government. But we should not be surprised… the DSA is merely stating the end to which the Democrat Party has been moving for the last hundred years: creating our everyday battlegrounds today. The Democrat Party, since Woodrow Wilson’s presidency, has fostered the growth of socialism in our government, turning it into a hybrid today between America’s founding and socialism’s tyranny.

Our founding Constitution is a social compact and document of law dedicated to limiting the federal government and separating its powers equally between legislative, judicial, and executive branches. Woodrow Wilson himself created the unenumerated power of the Administrative State, whose present-day 435 agencies combine those three powers within every one of those agencies through the making of rules with the effect of laws, by adjudicating cases within agencies and executing punishments, making the Administrative State’s power unilateral, unlimited, and the devoted creature of a Democrat Party dedicated to the unlimited growth of a centralized government.

A large portion of the Constitution deals with the process of voting the representatives of the people into congressional office and the limitations of those offices and the length of their tenures between elections so that those elected are always representative of the people. The unenumerated Administrative State’s bureaucratic offices are filled by appointment and effectively have lifetime tenure. In which body of our hybrid government do you think there is more power? In 2023, Congress passed 27 laws on a constitutional basis by elected representatives. In the same year, the federal registry amassed 90,402 pages of rules that have the effect of laws—rules written by persons that no one ever elected…

3) “IVF And The Commodification Of Children: Adult Desires Should Not Trump The Right To Life” (Ken Ham, Harbinger’s Daily)

From the article -- This is what happens when adult desires are placed ahead of the rights and well-being of children. Consider a recent news story out of the UK. The BBC headline reads, “We spent £23,000 on fertility treatment – now our embryos will be destroyed.”

The article tells the story of a lesbian couple who, obviously unable to have children on their own, turned to fertility treatments and a sperm donor. After some difficulty, they created six embryos, one of whom was implanted in one of the women’s wombs and was born last year. The other five embryos were frozen until “the couple were ready to grow their family.”

But those babies will not get an opportunity for life on earth because all five embryos will soon be destroyed. That means five human beings will be deliberately killed. The article says that the father, the sperm donor, “has withdrawn his consent for further use.” Apparently, “In the UK, a sperm or egg donor can withdraw consent up until the embryo is transferred into the womb.”

The article then shares the story of another lesbian couple that experienced the same thing: “[They] were told last month that their sperm donor had withdrawn consent and their 10 remaining embryos will be destroyed next year.” Ten more human beings sentenced to death.

It’s a very chilling article—15 unborn lives, made in the image of God, will be lost if these embryos are discarded. Now, before we go on, it’s worth noting that the men who changed their minds are the ones who have decided all of the embryos will die next year. But it’s very unlikely that either lesbian couple planned on implanting all of those embryos; in all likelihood, one or two more might have been implanted, the others would have remained frozen indefinitely or been discarded eventually.

Related article: “Is In Vitro Fertilization Ever Justified For Christians, Even With Careful ‘Safeguards?’ -- Are humans meant to be begotten, not made?” (Chaney Gooley, Federalist)

4) “The UN’s Never-Ending Power Grab: António Guterres dresses an old argument for centralized power in the fashionable language of climate, AI, and global justice.” (Itxu Díaz, American Spectator)

From the article -- Yet, beyond the childish rhetoric lies an extremely dangerous underlying idea: the struggle “for power.” Guterres denounces something Marx himself might have decried: “we are witnessing an extraordinary transfer of power away from governments to a handful of private corporations and individuals.” Upon hearing this, my immediate thought was: “If only!” But no, Guterres. The reality is that we are being invaded and crushed by the massive backside of the State, the massive backside of international institutions, and the massive backside of globalist bureaucracy.

Guterres, a socialist morphing into a communist through the corruption of the U.N. and a passion for globalism, is essentially rewriting a centuries-old class-struggle speech. He adapts it to current issues that, while filling the pages of left-wing newspapers, are not what matter most to ordinary people. Even war itself does not necessarily trouble families and workers; rather, it is the economic (and, if you will, moral) consequences that might cause the vast majority some concern. I am not saying ordinary people in the West do not care about war. They care about world hunger, too. But it is not something happening directly over their heads, nor does it appear in their bedrooms at night, the way the IRS does.

Ordinary people continue to suffer most from the economy, the loss of national sovereignty (hijacked by UN globalists), the bloated size of the State and its bureaucracy, the erosion of cultural identity and values, and the dire security consequences brought about by globalism.

5) “Does the British foreign secretary know British history?: Borders cannot resolve a conflict when one party refuses to accept the other’s national legitimacy.” (Mitchell Bard, Jewish News Service)

From the article -- British Foreign Secretary Edward Miliband threw a tantrum in parliament, railing against “settler terrorism” as well as peaceful communities of Jews living in parts of their homeland because of their alleged threat to a two-state solution. The economic effects of the sanctions he announced will inevitably extend beyond the settlements, and harm Israelis and Palestinians alike.

His performance raised several questions. Why is a British Jew adopting the language and policy prescriptions of antisemites? Why does Miliband believe that Britain still has the standing to dictate outcomes in a region where its policies produced a record of broken promises and disastrous miscalculations? What two-state solution does he imagine sanctions will preserve?

And why is he punishing Israel while imposing no comparable consequences on the Palestinian Authority for rejecting negotiations, glorifying terrorists and indoctrinating generations of Palestinians against peace?

Other Important Articles:

* “Strong and Invincible? Not Quite: The Clancy Trial Setback for Women” (Marianne M. Jennings, Jewish World Review)

* “A Bankrupt America Can’t Defend the World: As interest costs consume an ever-larger share of the federal budget, maintaining an informal global empire becomes fiscally and strategically indefensible.” (Doug Bandow, Daily Economy)

* “‘They’re Going to Kill Me?’ Canadian Family Demands Answers after Grandmother’s Disputed ‘Medical Assistance in Dying’ Act Death” (Joshua Arnold, Washington Stand)

* “Giorgia Meloni is right -- migrants must integrate.: It is not enough simply to ‘stop the boats’ or to limit newcomers when so many existing migrants live parallel lives.” (Joanna Williams, spiked!)

* “Top 25 Trump Accomplishments” (Donald Trump, Truth)

* “Twice As Many Men Are Single Than Married Today. Are Women To Blame?” (Bethany Miller, Federalist)

An Autumn Reading Invitation

With autumn dramatically announcing itself here in Nebraska with falling temperatures and oodles of drizzling rain, I’m keenly reminded that it’s my favorite time of year to read. Sure, I read all year round and I greatly appreciate winter reading too, but fall reading is somehow really special. For instance, fall is usually the time when I revisit long-treasured friends – Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, the Dumas classics of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, Stevenson’s Treasure Island and Kidnapped, Milne’s beloved The Wind in the Willows, Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, and the adventure novels of such talents as Rafael Sabatini, Alistair MacLean, John Buchan, and C.S. Forester.

But I am planning a somewhat different approach for this fall, the autumn of 2026. This time around I’m planning on piling in a lot more non-fiction books. And, not only that but, as avid a re-reader as I am, these non-fiction books are ones I have never read before. 

But why am I bothering to go public with this news? It’s because I'm inviting you to join me in the project. Read through the list of books I’ll give you in a moment and, if one or more strikes your fancy, consider joining me. How would a book partnership of this kind work? Well, in a variety of ways. You may be encouraged to read it merely because I am -- a kind of stimulant and accountability factor. Or you might want to read and exchange ideas and opinions about the book, as over coffee or just a letter or email. The fact is that after ending our 30 plus years of the Notting Hill Napoloeons book club, a club in which the members met every month to discuss our mutual reading of the best of classic literature, Claire and I really miss talking to friends about books. And thus this invitation.

And the books I’ve selected for the fall? The Counter Revolution: The Fall & Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement (Victor Davis Hanson); Going Further: The Incomparable Clarence Thomas (Senator Ted Cruz); Revelation: How God’s Plan for the Future Can Change Your Life Now (Amir Tsarfati); Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story (Wilfred M. McClay); and The Theft of America's Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies That Are Destroying Our Country (Phil Robertson). A couple of these I bought at Hobby Lobby, the others I bought in Kindle version. And I’m starting on the Phil Robertson one this evening.

So...if you’re interested in a reading connection involving any of these this autumn, just let me know.

The Top 5 Plus (September 19)

1) “Our Children Are Getting Dumber: The ‘Idiocracy’ is ahead of schedule.” (Itxu Díaz, American Spectator)

From the article -- The United States and Europe continue to see declining performance, particularly in  math and reading. Some experts blamed the pandemic for the educational gap affecting new generations; six years later, there is no trace of the pandemic left (except in mental health clinics), and Western children are getting dumber by the day. On the other side of the scale, all those children from the East (Singapore, China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan) keep improving their results, especially in math, though I am not suggesting for a moment that we should slit our own children’s eyes.

For decades, the Left has harped on about academic inequality, claiming that disadvantaged children get worse results because they have fewer resources, rather than encouraging them to study hard and exercise their right to social and economic mobility. Now we see the consequences of trying to close that gap: the current PISA disaster no longer distinguishes between the privileged and the disadvantaged; everyone is becoming equally thick. The Left, remember, always levels down.

2) “WTH -- The Trump Administration Is Giving Billions to the United Nations” (Danielle Pletka, AEI)

From the article -- The new arrangement with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), involving a total of $3.8 billion to date, has fundamentally weaker oversight than even the deficient procedures that allowed U.S. funding to facilitate terror in Gaza.

That’s not a typo. The Donald J. Trump administration has funneled — to date!! — $3.8 billion to OCHA. What is OCHA? Exactly as it sounds, OCHA coordinates humanitarian affairs for the United Nations. What did OCHA do in Gaza, exactly? Here’s an example: On November 14, 2023, the Department of Defense revealed that the United States had information that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operated a command-and-control node from Al-Shifa Hospital, stored weapons there, and used hospitals to conceal military operations and hold hostages...

Historically, those managing U.S. assistance, whether at the now defunct AID or at the State Department have confronted challenges in dealing with NGOs too cozy with unsavory governments and groups. Bad things tend not to happen in places filled with angels, and that’s natural. What’s unnatural is the State Department’s evident lack of effort to mitigate the risk that, um, American tax dollars are being used by terrorists to, um, kill Americans.

3) “A Booming Economy: Who Cares?” (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

From the article -- So why is the Trump administration seemingly on the ropes, with the Republicans’ midterm prospects considered to be bleak? The main reason is the Iran war; not because of casualties we have suffered in that conflict, which have been almost nonexistent–rather, because of the transitory impact on the price of gasoline.

I think the root cause of the administration’s current malaise is the fact that Donald Trump is not a good politician. A competent politician would have handled the Iran conflict quite differently. It would have begun with an address from the Oval Office in which the president would announce the beginning of the conflict, explain the reasons for it, and outline the administration’s goals. Trump never did that, and his Truth Social posts–which he seems to think fill the role of the traditional address to the nation–have been sporadic, amateurish and inconsistent.

A competent politician would not have empowered the IRGC by wasting months trying to achieve a “deal” that would, in any event, have been worthless. Trump should have carried out the military operation until his announced goals had been achieved, and then terminated it.

And a competent politician, instead of spouting off on everything under the Sun on a daily basis, thus giving his opponents endless ammunition to attack him, would stick to consistent messaging on the most important topics, like the economy and immigration. Instead, Trump’s significant achievements have largely been lost in a blizzard of irrelevant  news headlines, usually enabled by Trump himself.

4) “What the hell is a ‘non-practising white’? -- The reaction to the black juror in the Lindsay Clancy trial has exposed the ugliness of woke identity politics.” (Ada Akpala, spiked!)

From the article -- The case generated intense discussion about mental health, postpartum depression and the extent to which severe mental illness can affect a person’s responsibility for their actions. Many of us also watched, with some bewilderment, as hordes of women rallied behind a mother who had admitted to taking the lives of her own children. Throughout the trial, groups of supporters gathered outside the courthouse in a show of support for Clancy, either proclaiming her total innocence (some suggested her husband was really the murderer) or suggesting that, because of her mental health, Clancy was just as much of a victim as her dead children.

Since the jurors’ identities came to light, race has dominated the discussion. Put simply, Clancy’s progressive supporters are struggling to get to grips with the fact that the lone juror who thought she was guilty is black. One Clancy supporter’s disappointment has since gone viral. ‘As a non-practising white’, she said on TikTok, ‘I am surprised, and that changes the landscape of the conversation’.

This is where identity politics starts to become genuinely surreal. Why should the race of a juror ‘change the landscape’ of the debate? What does one man’s skin colour have to do with whether Clancy’s mental state absolved her of responsibility? For one thing, Clancy is a white woman, as were the three children she killed. Race had nothing to do with this case at all. And what in the world is a ‘non-practising white’?

We need to speak honestly: this is a form of racism. In the woke worldview, ‘white’ is no longer simply a description of someone’s race or ethnicity. It is a signal of politics and morality. Whiteness is oppression, the thinking goes, so the more distance you put between yourself and it, the more naturally aligned you become with the ‘victim’ of the story.

Related article – “The Dangers Of The Modern Therapeutic Culture: When Moral Responsibility Is Erased, Justice Is the Casualty” (Alex McFarland, Harbinger’s Daily)

5) “Piddington: roar of the Waitrose mums: The middle classes might finally be waking up to the lunacy of illegal migration.” (Tom Slater, spiked!)

From the article -- That sound you hear in the distance is the roar of the Waitrose mums. Piddington, a tiny, well-to-do village in Oxfordshire, has voted to secede from the United Kingdom over government plans to stick 1,256 male illegal migrants on a nearby military base. When and if they arrive, the newcomers will dwarf the 350-strong Piddington population by four to one. Long the preserve of the working classes, opposition to asylum policy is now reaching into the ‘centrist’ Home Counties. And all it took was for them to be personally affected by it.

The vote is purely symbolic, of course. The rebels of Piddington aren’t about to erect border posts or seize the post office. Not yet, at least. But what a signal it sends. The newly dubbed Principality of Piddington represents a broadening of the public agitation against the small-boats crisis, and it will be emulated elsewhere. Rebel leader Tim McNally, chairman of Piddington parish council, has said hundreds of councillors from across the country, keen to resist the imposition of asylum accommodation on their own areas, have been in contact with him to discuss the Piddington ‘blueprint’.

That Piddingtonians fought back through the ballot box is telling. Asylum policy has become an affront to democracy, national and local. The potential repurposing of Bicester barracks was announced over the heads of residents and their representatives, via Crown-estate powers that blindsided the council. McNally says the village was given just 10 days to respond to a 1,000-page planning document for the site. In its desperation to close migrant hotels and force richer areas to take their ‘fair share’, Labour is succeeding only in spreading public fury with the asylum system more evenly across the country and the income brackets.

Related articles: “The Invasion of Britain: The UK No Longer Belongs to Its Own People” (Robert Williams, Gatestone Institute)... "Why is the Church of England fawning over a hardline Muslim? -- On the anniversary of 9/11, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave an award to a man who once gushed over Osama bin Laden. This is insane." (Brendan O'Neill, spiked!)

Other Excellent Articles

* “The suicide of American Jewish leadership: American Jews must understand that their current leaders cannot save them. And so, they must save themselves.” (Benjamin Kerstein, Jewish News Service)

* “There Is No Such Thing As A Moderate Democrat Anymore” (Brianna Lyman, Federalist)

* “Iran, the Midterms, and October Surprises: The Iran war could reshape the midterms as Democrats, Iran’s regime, dissidents, and Kurdish rebels weigh the political and military stakes of the next 50 days.” (Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness)

* “‘Without Excuse’: From A Child To A Genius, Intelligent Design Is Common Sense” (Ray Comfort, Harbinger’s Daily)

* “Nearly 100% of Princeton faculty donations went to Democrats -- zero to Republicans” (Jennifer Kabbany, College Fix)