Daily News Brief

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. We’ve talked about how Washington State has increased its gun laws and restrictions in previous episodes, so now it's time that we also talk about how to battle these unconstitutional fences around guns. So, how do we preserve the second amendment? Our journalist Justin Chartray wrote an article about this and reported that even though liberals may have the money, numbers, and votes, we can fight back their influence by helping the citizens of Washington State understand the true nature of a firearm. People need to know more about guns than just what popular media tells them. Jeremy Ball, a Washington State citizen who owns "Sharp Shooting Indoor Range and Gun Club", thinks that this is the best course of action to take because even though liberal influence has had a negative impact on guns, we also need to realize that many of us have not done our duty in teaching our kids how to handle guns properly. This blame also falls onto the gun industry itself. "We have not pushed back as an industry to get kids involved. We have failed to provide a positive outlook for them, and a positive outlet for teaching them safe firearm  ownership and teaching them some of the things they get to do with guns." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/a-bright-future-in-sight) Not many people are raised properly around guns anymore, so when the left says that guns are evil, there’s no pushback because guns aren’t a part of our daily life or thought. This allows the left to control the narrative. This allows them to criminalize guns. So, the first step is that we need to get guns back into people’s hands, but we still need to do it in safe contexts. For example, one of the best ways to do this is through creating trap teams in schools that competitively shoot clay pigeons. We can fight back the broad and false narrative about guns by giving people, as Jeremy Ball says, a positive way to think about firearms. While it’s hard to make changes in liberal government and legislation, we need to realize that if we want long term effects, we need to focus on how parents and families understand firearms. We need to shape how the next generation will handle their responsibility of guns in a safe way that still honors everyone's second amendment rights.  Jeremy Ball wants to preserve these rights, and he knows it will be hard. However, it’s not impossible: "It probably can be done. But it’s going to take parent(s) who are motivated to do it and to start pushing the issue. They expect gun store owners to lead the charge...but I can’t do it by myself. The approach needs to happen in the community, and if you make enough noise people will listen."  (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/a-bright-future-in-sight)  Meanwhile, President Trump just issued a presidential memorandum yesterday about the security of the Southern Border. This memorandum will give the military more power to protect the Southern Border from external threats. As seen on the White House's website, President Trump, "assigned the Armed Forces of the United States the military missions of repelling the invasion and sealing the United States southern border from unlawful entry to maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States." (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/military-mission-for-sealing-the-southern-border-of-the-united-states-and-repelling-invasions/)  President Trump wants our southern border to be stronger, so hopefully this memorandum will help accomplish that goal. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as "Severance Season 2 Review", by our journalist Wes Walker, or "Stopping Universal (Nationwide) Federal Court Injunctions", by our reporter David Fowler, or even "Is Your Pastor a Coward?", by our journalist Luke Edison. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews' Weekly Roundup, sponspored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that's businessmakers.network. And don't forget that our first Business Makers Summit is happening next week on April 10th and 11th in Pennsylvannia. If you want to find out more about it, make sure to check out the link in the description and read about this great opportunity to learn from other Christian business leaders and shapers of culture.  https://businessmakers.network/events/business-makers-summit-pa/ As our journalist Jonathan Kelly reported, Dr. Owen Anderson is a professor at Arizona State University who has taught religion and philosophy for over twenty years Dr. Anderson has been criticized for one of his class in the past few years, "Introduction to Christianity", because 1) it had too much Christianity in it, and 2) he didn’t talk about issues that his department's overseers wanted to hear in the course, like decolonization or slavery. Eventually, the college took away the general education credit for this class, so the number of students in the course grew smaller and smaller until it didn’t even fit the requirement of twenty students in the classroom. Is Arizona State University just trying to be neutral with its classes and how it approaches religion? No. Dr. Anderson says that there is no neutral ground: “We’ve wrongly accepted the idea that institutions are neutral. All that really means is that they’re not Christian.” (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/the-silencing-of-christianity-and-the-battle-for-academic-freedom) We can see this because, as Dr. Anderson points out, the college offers courses that strictly oppose Christianity: "As of now, my class isn’t being offered. I checked the ASU course catalog for the fall—there’s only one class with Christianity in the title, while there are multiple courses about witchcraft." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/the-silencing-of-christianity-and-the-battle-for-academic-freedom) As we can see, neutrality is really just warfare against Christianity and God. Dr. Anderson is also suing Arizona State University because they require employees to take DEI training, because they are enforcing their own ideology on their employees. ASU should not be allowed to do this, so Dr. Anderson is taking a stand against the college. However, there is a deeper problem than just DEI training, and Dr. Anderson sees this. The deeper problem is the reality that the majority of our culture’s colleges attack Christianity: "A huge number of students enter college as Christians and leave their faith behind. But the opposite isn’t true—you don’t see students going to university and suddenly becoming Christian." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/the-silencing-of-christianity-and-the-battle-for-academic-freedom)  Dr. Anderson wants parents to really consider where they send their children to college, remembering both the fact that many colleges are anti-Christian and the fact that people don’t always need a college degree to get a good job. On a slightly different topic, our journalist Luke Edison wrote about the decline of courageous pastors in the church. Too many of them want to stay clear of political topics to try and keep the unity of the church. But the fact is, many political topics overlap with spiritual topics because many deal with spiritual issues. For instance, many pastors are shy when they have to talk about homosexual relationships, education, or Israel. They don’t want to be too strong on any topic because of the pressure they could get from culture. But, as we see in Revelation, God hates lukewarm Christians. This doesn’t mean to be rash, but, as our reporter Luke Edison wrote, "we are to fear God and God alone – not secular culture or the demands of humans." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/is-your-pastor-a-coward)  Christians need to consider whether or not their church takes a strong stance on actions condemned in the Bible, such as abortion, transgenderism, and the like. If these issues are not definite, the pastor probably can’t stand his own ground when it comes to politics and the church.   We prioritize parts of politics because of how God speaks about those subjects in the Bible. As our journalist Luke Edison wrote, God is political, but God is political in the sense that good politics will align with the Word, and bad politics will contradict it. "The topic of politics falls squarely under God’s purview and authority, and thus, while God is not political for the sake of politics, politics are moral, and morality flows from God." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/is-your-pastor-a-coward) So, when we talk about politics, we are talking about a subject that connects back to God and his commandments. Morality is linked to politics, so pastors should not be weak when it comes to defending God’s truth.  

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. As our reporter Justin Chartray wrote, we’ve entered another spring of baseball, and the first game this year was played on March 18th between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Where did they play? Chicago? Los Angeles? Actually, they played in Tokyo, Japan. This might seem a little weird at first, but there’s some reasoning behind it. Our journalist Justin Chartray interviewed a former pitcher for the MLB named Mark Dewey, who’s also the host of the podcast In the Bullpen. Dewey has been involved in baseball for over twenty years, and he thinks that playing baseball in Tokyo is an overall good thing. For instance, he enjoys the fact that baseball is gaining traction in other places of the world as a popular sport, and so it makes sense to play the first game in Tokyo because many baseball fans live there. "“Overall I see it as a positive move. Now, if I knew the actual motives behind it, I could have all kinds of concerns.” (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/recovering-americas-pasttime)  After all, there are reasons to believe that baseball’s popularity is generally declining in America. Local networks are struggling, there are fewer people who watch it, and young boys don't seem to be playing it as much.   Why? Well, baseball is a bit more expensive and particularized than other sports that just need a ball to kick or throw. Also, people might not be as interested in baseball because it requires more attention and patience than most social media influenced Americans want to give a sport. Over the years, baseball has continued trying to keep peoples’ interest through shortening the game, by playing loud music, by including dancing girls, and by finishing off games with a fireworks finale. Mark Dewey, the former MLB pitcher mentioned earlier, notice that this overall change in baseball actually started around 35 years ago, and we’re still seeing it today. "I have no problem trying to grow the game, trying to involve more fans. But I’m convinced if baseball sets all kinds of revenue records, I would still argue that the vast majority of that has nothing to do with baseball fans. You’re not developing fans, you’re expanding a customer base.” (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/recovering-americas-pasttime)  Even worse, America is seeking globalism at the cost of its morality, much like its neighbor across the Atlantic—Europe. Terrible ideology is pouring out of America’s big colleges into the baseball diamond, and it’s slowly rotting the sport. In order to rekindle America’s love for good baseball, Dewey says that we need to start baseball again in the home and then in that home’s surrounding community. Then, along with cultivating this humbler, neighborhood mindset, we must fight the other major problems plaguing baseball and our culture, which are self-idolatry and self-obsession. This idolatry must be killed if we want to restore baseball to the iconic American game that it once was. Our journalist Esther Elliott recently interviewed Samuel Sey, a black Christian, conservative blogger who fights against and explains the ideological problems of our culture. He enjoys explaining topics through a biblical lens, and coupled with this, he also uses stories to help persuade his audience better. In this interview, Sey mentioned that while he was interested in politics since the start of high school, it wasn’t until Christians voted for Obama in 2008 and the BLM riots happened a decade later that he really wanted to explore the topic of politics more. Now, he has a blog called Slow to Write where he posts about politics and became his full-time job after it was received well around 2020. If you want to find out more about this article and read some insightful quotes about our culture, make sure to check out “A Black Conservative Perspective on Culture: An Interview With Samuel Sey” by our journalist Esther Elliott. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as "Missouri Wins Lawsuit Against China with $24B ruling" by our journalist Wes Walker, or even "The Mainstream Narrative is Not Real: Investigating the Case of Tiffany Gomas" by our reporter Luke Edison, or even “‘Severance’ Season 2 Review” by our journalist Wes Walker. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. You’re going to hear a lot about money in today’s episode. You’ll hear about Missouri demanding money from China in the courtroom and then also about generous donors who give lots of money to try to get rid of guns.   First, though, the money that China owes. As our reporter Wes Walker wrote, the state of Missouri had filed a lawsuit against China back in twenty-twenty two  for starting the Covid-19 virus, although then Missouri later changed its intent to prosecute China for "withholding PPE materials." (https://www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/missouri-wins-lawsuit-against-china-with-24b-ruling) The judge in this court, Stephen Limbaugh, just ruled in favor of Missouri in the past couple of weeks, so now Missouri demands 24 billion dollars from China in the form of assets, such as farmland, for damages done during Covid. China, however, had wanted to avoid all charges, stating that America didn’t hold the legal authority to prosecute them internationally, but Missouri doesn’t want China to get away like this. So now, according to the ruling, China owes 24 billion dollars to Missouri, whose own farmland and assets do not even add up to this amount of money. Still, though, the issue isn’t completely settled yet because China will probably refuse to pay by arguing that Missouri has no authority to prosecute them like this. The Attorney General for Missouri, Andrew Baily, wants more support for their ruling, asking both President Trump and the country to help them in this effort. However, as reporter Wes Walker noted, this ruling combined with the threatened Tariffs on China by the U.S. will also increase the tension between both of them. Meanwhile, about the topic of guns, our journalist Justin Chartray reported that liberals have been able to advance anti-gun regulations in Washington State through emotional stories and outside financial support. So long as liberals get money to keep going, they won’t stop. However, while money is the logs that keep the fire burning, it is these tragic stories of recent mass gun shootings that act like the match that sets it all off. Yes, these shootings were horrible, but the liberals have used them as emotional manipulation so that they can lead people to blame guns as the problems in society instead of the criminals using those guns. Now, maybe it seems like all of these groups have a noble motive: that is, to save lives. However, when our reporter Justin Chartray interviewed Jeremy Ball, who owns Sharp Shooters Gun Store and Indoor Range in Washington State, Ball said that while people quickly establish these anti-gun laws to protect people, they don’t actually check afterwards to see if these laws actually work. If human safety really is the priority, and it is for many, why aren’t more people looking at the results of the various laws and regulations in Washington state? As Jeremy Ball wondered, it seems like the legislature’s goal is a moving target. And while he doesn’t believe that these activists will ultimately take away all guns, it seems clear that they aren’t done advancing gun regulations yet, either in Washington or other states. We can see this because there is still more money being donated to support these anti-gun rights groups. These groups aren’t going away yet, and they will continue to manipulate people’s emotions in order to advance their ideology and raise money. However, Ball does show us hope because in his personal experience, he has shown multiple supporters of these anti-gun groups the faulty thinking behind this type of emotional entanglement, and they have been persuaded. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as "SCOTUS Case Exposes State of Christianity" by our journalist David Fowler, where he talks about free speech and Christian counseling, or even "The Mainstream Narrative is Not Real: Investigating the Case of Tiffany Gomas" by our reporter Luke Edison, where he talks about a weird airplane incident that still remains a mystery.   Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews’ Weekly Roundup sponsored by Christian Business Leaders Network. If you want to find out more about this network and its efforts to connect Christian business leaders so that they can more effectively help their businesses and shape culture, visit businessmakers.network. Again, that’s businessmakers.network. Recently, our reporter David Fowler wrote about the legislation efforts in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Missouri to enact “covenant marriage license laws” (www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/tony-perkins-and-homosexual-covenant-marriages). in their respective states. When you first look at it, this seems like a good thing. Wouldn’t these covenant marriage license laws help our country return to a more Christian understanding of the world? We’re commanded to spread Christianity in our country and in the world, but this is actually not the way to do it. This isn’t the way to do it because these license laws place the authority of marriage beneath the state’s standard and give the government a power over marriage that it shouldn’t have. It’s not an issue of the government enacting good or bad laws, but of whether the state even has the power and ability to make laws that will give them a defining control over marriage.  David Fowler foresaw this in 1998. And then, in 2015, the Obergefell versus Hodges case showed that he was right. In the Obergefell case, there were five justices in the Supreme Court who agreed that marriage is personal, and that civil law could create one type of marriage just as easily as another.In other words, the government could declare homosexual relationships as “civil marriage” because they had the power to define what it could look like. But while we want to keep this power away from the government, we also want governments to preserve a biblical view of marriage. So, how can we do this?Our journalist David Fowler recommends that we require the government to recognize but not administer marriages. When a man and woman would get married, the government would have to, “give notice to the public of their already existing marital relationship.” If we did this, then the standard and definition of marriage would properly be outside the state's control.So, we shouldn’t want the government to enact covenant marriage license laws, but we should have it recognize marriages rightly and biblically understood. After all, if the state doesn’t recognize its proper place, then the covenant marriage license laws could also be easily exploited by the liberals. On a different topic, our journalist Jonathan Kelly wrote about the case of Navy pilot and reservist Michael Cassidy, the man who tore down the Satanic statue that stood in the State Capital of Iowa. Cassidy had turned himself in after destroying the statue, and “pleaded guilty to misdemeanor vandalism but maintained that his actions were not extremist, violent, or a violation of military conduct standards" (www.crosspoliticnews.com/news/navy-clears-michael-cassidy-rejects-extremism-charges-over-satanic-statue-incident). His attorney argued against the bias towards Christians in the military, and he also brought up the larger issue of Satanic statues in our culture because Cassidy’s actions to both Florida and Iowa voting no against installing more of these statues.Cassidy’s boldness not only tore down that one statue then, but it also prevented others from being erected. Returning to Cassidy’s attorney, though, he said that Christians have effectively been told to be quiet, compliant, and secret with their faith. As we can see, Cassidy’s actions have thankfully challenged this mainstream, unbiblical expectation. Christians should thank God that Cassidy has won his case, even we don’t know yet if the Navy leadership will allow him to be completely reinstated into the Navy. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as Bridge-Building Apologetics With Lindsey Medenwaldt by our journalist Esther Elliott, or Tier List: Trump’s Greatest Moments by our reporter Luke Edison, or even The Oscars and the Moral Confusion of Hollywood by our journalist Wes Walker. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews weekly roundup, sponsored by our corporate partner Dominion Wealth Strategists. If you want to find out more about their efforts to restore biblical financing, visit dominionwealthstrategists.com. As our journalist Justin Chartrey reported, things are looking pretty bleak for the gun store owners in the state of Washington as tyrannical legislation continues to choke their freedom and ability to sell guns.Specifically, Washington state legislation has not only focused on limiting the types of guns they can sell, but they are also attacking how gun stores sell those guns, which they can do by using what is called the FFL, or Federal Firearms License. This license gives the ATF (which is the Bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives) oversight over how gun stores sell their firearms. Our reporter Justin Chartrey interviewed a man named Jeremy Ball, who owns Sharp Shooting Indoor Range and Gun Store in the city of Spokane, Washington, and Ball said that this oversight isn’t bad in itself. In fact, it makes expectations from the government clearer and so it helps with their compliance. But even with this process, the gun store can still legally sell their firearms and conduct business after the oversight, because the FFL is not meant to stifle their business. However, neither the Obama nor the Biden administration liked these FFLs, and since Washington state has grown more progressive, these licenses have suffered many attacks. These liberals have painted these licenses in a bad light by pointing to the various shootings around the country and in Washington state. Then, they connect that violence with the licenses. But this is more than just a false narrative now because in 2023, a bill was issued called Senate Bill 5078 that brings heavy financial consequences on any gun store that sold a gun that somebody used later in a crime. But this isn’t justice. The stores are being punished for crimes they didn’t commit, simply because liberals are feeding everyone a narrative that blames these gun stores. There’s another recent bill, the House Bill 2818, that has also added many financial burdens to these stores by requiring them to have money that they just don’t have. And if all of this wasn’t enough already, Washington State has introduced its own state oversight over gun purchases along with the already existing oversight of the ATF. But this oversight from the state doesn’t want to help gun store owners run things smoothly and legally. No, it takes so long to approve gun purchases that the unfinished gun deals expire, leaving the guns unsold. And the state’s interference is only spinning a new sticky web of legalities for the stores that is so convoluted that even though the state has banned gun store owners from holding and selling AR-15s, the owners don’t have a way to get rid of them. For example, even though the state has banned gun store owners from holding and selling AR-15s, the legalities don't allow the owners a good way to get rid of them.All of these bills and regulations have led to a huge decrease in gun sales, hurting an incredible percentage of gun store owners in Washington State. Things look bad right now for these gun stores. Jeremy Ball, the previously mentioned gun store owner, said that he is trying to push back against the mainstream criminalizing narrative and attitude towards these FFLs, and he’s also fighting back legally against the unjust legislation of Washington State. But it will be a long process.Our journalist Justin Chartrey also wrote about a different topic in Washington State, though. People in its government are also talking about changing the state’s flag, which has a picture of George Washington that was originally designed in 1914. If this happened, though, it wouldn’t be the first time that a state has recently done this because in May 2024, the state of Minnesota changed its flag. The flag most recently had a picture of a man plowing his field next to a river in front of green plains, a yellow and red sunrise, and a Native American riding his horse. And this entire picture had a white frame with gold edges set on a blue background. Now, the redesigned flag has two solid blue colors with a white, eight-pointed star on the darker blue. Apparently, the star is supposed to represent the North Star. But it’s evident that the people and landscape of Minnesota have been wiped out and replaced with lifeless shapes. What happened? Well, it seems that people didn’t like the Native American in the original background, so they claimed that the flag as a whole didn’t represent the people of Minnesota well. But now, as our reporter Justin Chartrey noted, it doesn’t represent Minnesota at all. And it looks like Washington state wants to do the same thing with their flag because some people are arguing that the picture of George Washington doesn’t represent everyone in their state. However, there are thankfully a number of voices who are fighting against this disastrous potential change, asserting that this flag is part of their history. Let’s hope that these voices manage to protect their state’s flag and prevent yet another terrible result of liberal agenda. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as Investigating the "Case of Tiffany Pontes-Dover" by our journalist Luke Edison, or "The Democratic Party’s Transgender Madness" by our reporter David Fowler, or even "'House of David' TV Review (Episode 1)" by our journalist Wes Walker. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is CrossPoliticNews' weekly roundup, sponsored by our corporate partner Classical Conversations. If you want to find out more about their efforts to forward classical Christian education, visit ClassicalConversations.com. Right now, it’s hard to tell whether or not America’s allies feel comfortable with all of her recent political changes, and we can see this attitude whether we consider Vice President J. D. Vance’s speech in Germany or even the most recent national hockey league games of Canada versus America. For example, as our reporter Justin Chartrey noted, while the Star-Spangled Banner began to play at the NHL (or national hockey league), people in the Canadian crowd began booing the song, most likely angry at America for the tariffs that President Trump wants to enforce on Canada. And then, when the whistle blew and the game began, there were immediately three fights between the players of the two teams in the first nine seconds. We don’t necessarily know that these fights were provoked by the booing of the crowd, but it seems evident that a tension filled the stadium between America and Canada. Meanwhile, as our journalist Jonathan Kelly reported, President J.D. Vance recently gave a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, and the topic of the speech wasn’t quite what Europe expected. Instead of talking about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia or the rising power of China, Vance addressed the internal problems that currently plague the nations of Europe, infections that eat them from the inside out. Vance criticized the willingness of Romania to stall elections because of possible interference from Russia, and he critiqued the swiftness of German authorities for executing punishments on people who used “hate speech.” Vance even rebuked the U.K. for unjustly treating a man named Adam Smith Connor by prosecuting him for praying silently nearby an abortion clinic. All of these actions, according to Vance, stifle the democracy of Europe’s nations. “The fundamental principle of democracy is the ability of people to express their views, even if they are unpopular. Yet across Europe, we are witnessing a systematic suppression of dissenting voices, all in the name of combating misinformation or extremism.” – J.D. Vance Additionally, Vance also attacked the willingness of Europe’s nations to allow illegal immigrants to enter their borders, yes, allowing illegal immigrants to come into their land, despite the harm done to their own citizens and despite their citizens’ longing for security. In his speech then, Vance took this opportunity not to point out the problems that arise for Europe from other countries, but to show Europe the problems that they are creating themselves, the sickness that they don’t want to see. Vance gave his speech as a call for action and hope, but we will have to see if Europe repents, if they turn around, or if they clench their fists and refuse to listen. Just like tension filled the hocky stadium, we can sense the tension that is filling the nation of Europe. To discover more news, check out some of our other articles, such as “Can We All Acknowledge That Pope Francis is a Progressive, Globalist, Heretic Yet?” by our journalist Luke Edison, or “Rick Warren’s Politics Isn’t the Worst of It” by our reporter David Fowler, or even “Gen Z Christians On The Rise: Interview With Noelle Fitchett” by our journalist Esther Elliott. Here at CrossPoliticNews, we want to faithfully deliver you unbiased news from a Christian worldview.  For more content, you can find us on YouTube at CrossPolitic News, follow us on X at cpnewsusa or cpnewsaus in Australia, or head to our email list and find us at CrossPoliticNews.com.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, January 31st, 2024.    Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com.   https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-demonstrators-found-guilty-face-up-to-11-years-in-federal-prison   Pro-Life Demonstrators Found Guilty, Face Up To 11 Years In Federal Prison   Six pro-lifers were found guilty on Tuesday after the Biden administration charged them over a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in 2021. They face up to 11 years in prison.   The pro-life activists were accused by the Department of Justice of violating the FACE Act and civil rights conspiracy for a protest that took place in a hallway outside of a Mount Juliet abortion provider on March 5, 2021. On that day, a group of demonstrators gathered on the second floor of an office building in the hallway outside the Carafem Health Center Clinic. The group prayed, sang hymns, and urged women showing up to the clinic to not get abortions.   Those on trial included Chet Gallagher of Tennessee, Coleman Boyd of Mississippi, Heather Idoni of Michigan, Cal Zastrow of Michigan, Paul Vaughn of Tennessee, and Dennis Green of Virginia.   All six defendants were found guilty of both counts. They are expected to be sentenced in July.   The conspiracy charge can be punished with up to 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $350,000 while the FACE Act charge can lead to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.   The verdict was delivered on the fifth day of the trial, which took place at the Fred D. Thompson courthouse in Nashville. The case was overseen by Judge Aleta Trauger, appointed to the court in 1998 by then-President Bill Clinton.   One of the government’s key witnesses was Caroline Davis, a woman who was arrested with the group at Carafem. During her testimony, Davis claimed that she had a change of heart about attending the protest and that her “rational side” was “in the toilet” at the time of her participation. She said that she changed her mind “over time” and that being indicted by the federal government “terrified” her.   Video of the demonstration showed the group singing songs like “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and “Onward Christian Soldiers,” while others showed members of the group talking to police. Another video showed one participant telling another to speak “in love” to a man with his girlfriend who had shown up at Carafem and that someone’s “baby is a gift from God.”   https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-governor-abbott-stark-message-sanctuary-cities-migrant-crisis   Texas Gov. Abbott sends stark message to sanctuary cities as migrant crisis continues   Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a stark message to sanctuary cities on Monday, vowing his state's transportation of migrants to their areas would continue until the federal government takes action on the worsening border crisis.   "Texas has transported over 102,000 migrants to sanctuary cities. Overwhelmed Texas border towns should not bear the brunt of Biden’s open border policies. Our transportation mission will continue until Biden secures the border," Abbott wrote in a post on X.   Abbott's promise comes amid his feud with the Biden administration over enforcement of the border, and whether Texas has the authority to defend itself from the waves of migrants overwhelming law enforcement and immigration officials.   The two sides have been feuding since 2021 when the migrant crisis escalated and Texas launched Operation Lone Star to surge resources to the border.    The administration recently sued over an anti-illegal immigration law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants. It has also sued over the state’s setting up of buoys in the Rio Grande. The administration says immigration enforcement is up to the federal government and Texas is interfering.    Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on an emergency appeal to temporarily overturn a lower court’s injunction that banned the federal government from cutting razor fencing Texas had installed along the border near Eagle Pass while litigation continues.   Following the ruling, Abbott declared his constitutional authority to reserve the right of his state to self-defense against an invasion, adding that the executive branch had broken its constitutional pact with the states by failing to enforce federal immigration laws.    Former President Donald Trump on Thursday gave his backing to Abbott amid the latter’s feud with the Biden administration — urging states to send their National Guards to the border and promising to work "hand in hand" with the state to combat the "invasion" if he is inaugurated again in January 2025.   Abbott has also picked up the support of more than two dozen Republican states who have publicly expressed their support for the state. Meanwhile, some Democrats have urged the Biden administration to seize control of the National Guard.   https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-disneyland-posts-woke-wheel-of-privilege-in-employee-kitchen-removes-it-after-daily-wire-inquiry   Disneyland Posts Woke ‘Wheel Of Privilege’ In Employee Kitchen, Removes It After Daily Wire Inquiry   Posters featuring a “wheel of power/privilege” were hung in employee spaces in Disneyland, instructing employees that being white, “cisgender male,” and even speaking English means you have “unearned” privilege that your “marginalized” coworkers do not, according to images obtained by The Daily Wire.   The wheel featured for all employees to see has the word “power” in the middle, and is sectioned like a dart board, with certain traits fanning outward that are labeled “marginalized.” For example, being white, a “cisgender male,” owning property, and speaking English are all considered privileged, while being dark-skinned, transgender, homeless, and not speaking English are considered marginalized. In between the inner and outer circle – which would be considered not completely marginalized but not totally privileged either – are “cisgender women,” gay men, people with a high school education, and who learned English.   Included with the wheel is a definition of “privilege,” stating that it is “unearned access or advantage granted to specific groups of people because of their membership in a social group.”   “Privilege can be based off a variety of different social identities such as race, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, ability status, sexuality, age, education level, and more,” it continues. “Within the US, members of social groups that hold privileges (white, male, wealthy, able-bodied, etc) have historically held dominance and power over targeted groups.”   The poster also asks, “why should we accept that we have privileges?” It provides the following answer: “By accepting that we have privileges, we can see that not everyone sees the world from our perspective and that we have privileges in our life that have hindered our awareness of the world.”   The image was provided by source who works for the Walt Disney Company, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the company. The employee said the materials were posted in the production kitchen on Main Street USA in Disneyland in Anaheim, California. This production kitchen services Carnation Cafe, The Tropical Hideaway, Jolly Holiday Bakery and Cafe, and Refreshment Corner sponsored by Coca Cola.   The employee said divisive materials like this are “destroying the magic” of the park.   “So many cast members, myself included, are tired of the division being pushed by companies with a lack of regard for the founder’s vision,” the source told The Daily Wire. “This isn’t what Walt would have wanted for his company. He once said, ‘To ALL who come to this happy place, Welcome.’ Things like this make people feel unwelcome, destroying the magic.”   The Daily Wire reached out to the Walt Disney Company to ask about the poster and why they are posted. Within hours of reaching out, our source said a manager removed the poster, and sent a photo of the now-empty display cabinet, which still features another poster about the lunar new year and 2024 being the year of the dragon. Disney did not ultimately respond to the request for comment.   Disney has come under fire in recent years for its turn toward “wokeness,” with numerous box-office blunders for films deemed to be pushing Leftist political agendas. Top-ranking employees at Disney have also admitted to pushing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda,” The Daily Wire previously reported. In 2023, the company lost nearly $1 billion on movies like Elemental and The Little Mermaid.   Company CEO Bob Iger admitted last year that Disney lost sight of entertainment as it put more political messaging into its content.   https://www.dailyfetched.com/serbia-to-introduce-a-mandatory-military-draft-amid-ww3-tensions/   Serbia to Introduce a Mandatory Military Draft amid WW3 Tensions   Serbia is reportedly considering reintroducing compulsory military service as tensions in the Balkans and elsewhere in Europe begin increasing amid WW3 fears.   President Aleksandar Vucic said army commanders gave him “a strong argumentation” in favor of mandatory draft.   Compulsory drafts here were suspended in 2011 in a push to professionalize the armed forces.   However, the Serbian president did not specify when the draft would return but said the national parliament would vote on the proposal.   “We are not threatening anyone,” Vucic said.   “Today, if you don’t have (a strong) army, you don’t have a country.”   “We will see if it (military service) will last 90 or 100 days, or maybe 110 days,” Vucic told reporters.   “As well as when it will be introduced and how the financial and logistical assumptions will be fulfilled.”   The Washington Post reported:   “Opposition politicians and other critics of a draft have questioned the logic of a military buildup when Serbia is almost completely surrounded by NATO member countries which have superior firepower in case of a conflict. There are also concerns that the government may struggle to foot the bill for a larger military.   Tensions have been high in the Balkans, which went through the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Although formally neutral, the Serbian Army has maintained close ties to Russia, from which it purchases most of its arms, including fighter jets and tanks.“   Serbia was one of the few countries to refuse sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.   Tensions revolved around Serbia’s former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, which Serbia and allies Russia and China have not recognized.   Over the last few months, Serbia has raised the combat readiness on the border with Kosovo several times.   The country also maintained cordial relations with NATO, whose troops have been stationed in Kosovo since 1999.   Earlier this week, top military officials warned that conscription could happen in the UK if NATO goes to war with Russia.   General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing head of the British Army, said such a conflict would need to be a “whole-of-nation undertaking.”   “Within the next three years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120,000, folding in our reserve and strategic reserve. But this is not enough,” he said.   “We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare – and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking,” Sanders added.   “Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them. “But we’ve been here before, and workforce alone does not create capability.”   The BBC reports that “other senior NATO military commanders have also recently been calling on the alliance to ready itself for a potential conflict.”   According to the outlet:   In response to Gen Sir Patrick speech the UK prime minister’s spokesman said hypothetical scenarios of a future potential conflict were not helpful and ruled out any move towards a conscription model for the Army.   One senior Conservative MP told the BBC he did not think Rishi Sunak had fully appreciated the threat posed by Russia.   The MP said that might be because the prime minister when growing up had not experienced the existential threat posed by the old Soviet Union during the Cold War era.   Gen Sir Patrick said the nation could not afford to make the same mistakes of 1914, when it failed to perceive the escalations that led to World War One.   And that is your news for today…   Now folks, normally this is the part where I’d ask you to send me a news story to my email, or if you have questions about the upcoming FLF conference shoot me an email, etc. But alas, not this time. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed bringing you the news over the last year and a half or so. I’ve enjoyed giving you a look at what’s happening around the world on your morning commute to work… but I’ve received a job offer out of state - down in Huntsville AL, that I just couldn’t pass up. If you’re down that way, friend me up on Facebook by the way and we’ll meet up!    With that being said, I wanted to tell you, the listener, how thankful I am for you giving my news show a listen. For saying hello at our FLF Conferences when I was out and about, for sending me news stories to my email, for the encouragement, or constructive criticism I’d receive when I couldn’t pronounce something… which believe me, I’m aware of those things… All of that to say. I’m thankful for the FLF community

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, January 26th, 2024.    Dropwave Do you have a podcast, or thinking about starting one? Does your church have a podcast feed for sermons? Then Dropwave.io is for you. Cancel culture is like walking on a thin glass bridge over the Grand Canyon. Every step you take could get you killed, I mean canceled. Since the beginning CrossPolitic has been working on being antifragile, so no matter what happens, our content can still be delivered to your tv and to your podcast. The Waterboy and his friend Jeremi, have been working on building a podcast hosting solution for rowdy platforms like CrossPolitic, so that you can be confident your podcast will never fall through that glass bridge. Dropwave offers seamless onboarding for shows that have been around for years to easy to use solutions for starting your own podcast. Dropwave will track all your show’s downloads by city, state, and country, and it offers network and enterprise packages for solutions like the Fight Laugh Feast Network. Free to speak, Free to podcast, free to start your journey now at www.Dropwave.io.    https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4428905-gop-governors-abbott-border-security-immigration/   GOP governors back Abbott in border standoff   Republican governors are backing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in his standoff against the federal government over border authority.   On Tuesday, the Texas National Guard appeared to ignore a Supreme Court decision and continued building razor wire barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, preventing the federal Border Patrol from doing their jobs.   In a statement Wednesday, Abbott justified the actions by claiming his authority to combat an “invasion” of the state “supersedes” federal law.   GOP Govs. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and Brian Kemp of Georgia have all said they support Abbott’s actions.   “If the Constitution really made states powerless to defend themselves against an invasion, it wouldn’t have been ratified in the first place and Texas would have never joined the union when it did,” DeSantis said on X, formerly Twitter. “TX is upholding the law while Biden is flouting it.”   Youngkin added that the Biden administration “has turned every state into a border state,” and that Abbott is doing what the border officials “refuse to do to secure our border.”   Stitt, Noem and Kemp also said their states “stand with” Texas.   The federal government has claimed in court filings that the Texas National Guard has physically prevented the Border Patrol from doing its job on certain parts of the Rio Grande, as well as blocked off portions of the border previously used to process migrants.   The claim that Texas officials can supersede federal authority has sparked calls from Democrats for President Biden to nationalize the Texas National Guard and force them to follow the court’s decision and federal law.   Democratic Texas Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar have advocated for nationalizing the state guard.   Abbott’s statement Wednesday specifically claims the federal government has “broken the compact” with the states, justifying ignoring federal law and the Supreme Court.   The so-called “compact theory” is a rejected idea of state supremacy used to justify the secession of Confederate states during the Civil War. The Supreme Court repeatedly shot down the legal theory in the early years of the U.S., when it was first proposed to nullify federal legislation during former President John Adams’s time in office.   https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-ags-battle-blue-state-push-to-shutter-largest-ammo-manufacturer-to-punish-second-amendment-rights   GOP AGs take aim at Dem plea for Biden to shut down critical ammo manufacturer   Every republican attorney general in the country blasted their Democrat counterparts for attempting to shutter an ammunition factory in Missouri, a letter sent to the White House Wednesday revealed.    In a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, all 28 GOP attorneys general asked President Biden and White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention director Stefanie Feldman to disregard their Democrat colleagues' request to end commercial sales from Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, one of the country’s largest ammo manufacturers.    Democrats had previously asked the administration to investigate the contracting and manufacturing practices of the plant after a New York Times report alleged that "military-grade rounds" were sold commercially and were connected to mass shootings.   But the Republicans say the Democrats’ letter contained a "litany of errors." "Perhaps those States should focus more on prosecuting crime to stop mass shootings—rather than trying to stop lawful Americans’ use of guns and ammunition. Their tactic is an overt attempt to punish Americans’ exercise of their Second Amendment rights, Among the list of "errors" the GOP AGs point out that their Democrat colleages allege that ammunition manufactured for "military use" does not belong in communities.    "First, the ammunition manufactured at Lake City and sold into the commercial market is not the primary rifle cartridge used by the United States military. The primary cartridge is proprietary to the Army and may not be sold commercially," the AGs note.    "Second, while the United States military purchases and uses a particular type of ammunition, that is not determinative as to whether it is "military ammunition" that should be banned for public use," they write.    "If the United States military using ammunition precluded that ammunition’s use by civilians, then other widely and commonly available ammunition, including 9mm and 12-gauge shotshells, would also be prohibited for public use," they argued, adding that Supreme Court precedent "does not support such an openly artificial distinction."   According to the state’s top prosecutors, Lake City only sells ammunition to commercial customers that is legal to manufacture, and it complies with all the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) requirements.    The AGs argued that the Democrats’ efforts would undermine national security. "Gun control advocates are firing blanks when they contend that taxpayers are subsidizing mass shooters. They get causality backward. The law-abiding target shooters and gun owners who buy Lake City ammunition are subsidizing national defense and military readiness," they argue.   They note that the Defense Department "sought to avoid a situation when the military needs surge due to a real-world conflict, ammunition is not readily available," adding that ammunition availability requires facilities, production equipment, a skilled workforce, and supply chains to remain in constant operation.    "Machines and production cannot be turned on like the flip of a switch. It takes time to hire and train the highly skilled workers needed to operate production lines to manufacture the highest quality ammunition for U.S. warfighters. Commercial production has allowed Lake City, and its suppliers, to maintain steady labor, maximize equipment run time, ensure a stable supply base, and provide a level of readiness to the U.S. military that would not otherwise be available," they added.   The attorneys general also said that Lake City cannot halt commercial use without a "detrimental loss" to their communities and economy. If it stopped, the AGs allege it would result in an estimated loss of 500–700 jobs or 30%–45% of the skilled workforce now employed at Lake City and "countless more" throughout the supply chain.   Montana Attorney General Austen Knudsen in a statement to Fox News Digital called the investigation by the New York Times "highly questionable" and, their latest effort to shut down the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is based on a highly questionable ‘investigation' by the New York Times."   Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird charged that "if the Biden Administration and anti-gun activists were serious about saving lives, they would start by enforcing the laws on the books to combat violent criminals."   Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey echoed those sentiments, adding that "Lake City Ammunition did nothing wrong."    "We should be focused on the free flow of illegal weapons coming across our border – not taking aim at law-abiding patriots," Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said, adding that the border crisis "is exactly why law-abiding citizens need the liberty to defend themselves."   https://thefederalist.com/2024/01/24/canadian-court-rules-trudeaus-unreasonable-crackdown-on-trucker-convoy-violated-federal-law/   Canadian Court Rules Trudeau’s ‘Unreasonable’ Crackdown On Trucker Convoy Violated Federal Law   A Canadian court ruled Tuesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of a controversial federal law in early 2022 to target truckers protesting their industry’s Covid vaccine mandate was “unreasonable” and illegal.   The use of the Emergencies Act “does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility,” Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley wrote. “I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires.” As the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) explained, “ultra vires” is a term courts use “to refer to actions beyond the scope of the law.”   In early 2022, Trudeau’s government implemented a series of Covid shot mandates for various sectors of Canadian society, including a requirement for truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border. The tyrannical mandate ultimately prompted Canadian truckers to launch the “Freedom Convoy,” a massive protest comprised of vehicles that ended outside Parliament Hill in the nation’s capital.   While peaceful, the protests evoked the ire of Trudeau, who used the Emergencies Act to mobilize the Canadian military and state intel agencies to forcibly remove the demonstrators gridlocking Ottawa. In addition to backing GoFundMe’s attempts to deplatform fundraising efforts for the convoy, Trudeau’s administration also expanded “its terrorist financing rules to target crowdfunding sites like the convoy’s new platform GiveSendGo,” The Federalist’s Jordan Boyd wrote, with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland baselessly claiming the platforms were “being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity which is damaging the Canadian economy.”   As if his abuse of the Emergencies Act weren’t despicable enough, Trudeau — who went into hiding upon the convoy’s arrival in Ottawa — also grossly smeared the protesters with the typical diatribe of leftist slanders, including accusations of “antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, homophobia, and transphobia.”   Despite his best attempt to play the role of a dictator, Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act went beyond the scope of what is permitted by Canadian law. While the Emergencies Act can be employed to manage a national emergency that “cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada,” Mosley determined that Trudeau’s actions far exceeded that threshold.   “The potential for serious violence, or being unable to say that there was no potential for serious violence was, of course, a valid reason for concern,” Mosley wrote. “But in my view, it did not satisfy the test required to invoke the Act, particularly as there was no evidence of a similar ‘hardened cell’ elsewhere in the country, only speculation, and the situation at Cou[r]ts had been resolved without violence.”   Mosley further ruled that the government’s financial crackdown violated demonstrators’ Charter rights “by permitting unreasonable search and seizure of the financial information of designated persons and the freezing of their bank and credit card accounts.”   Unsurprisingly, the Canadian government plans to appeal the ruling, with Freeland laughably claiming on Tuesday that the administration’s unlawful actions were “necessary” and “legal” because Canadian “national security was under real threat.”   https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/taxpayers-could-get-stuck-cost-removing-offshore-wind-farm-after-biden-admin   Taxpayers may get stuck with cost of removing an offshore wind farm after Biden admin waives fees   The Biden administration reportedly waived fees for an offshore wind project that are in place to ensure that the infrastructure is removed and the site reclaimed at the end of the project’s life.   President Joe Biden, as part of his climate agenda, is pushing an aggressive buildout of offshore wind projects along the East Coast. With the offshore wind industry struggling financially, the waiving of these fees raises concerns about what would happen if these companies go bankrupt and leave behind wind farms they can’t afford to remove.   Protect The Public Trust (PPT), a government watchdog group, obtained documents showing that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) informed Vineyard Wind had approved the company’s request to waive fees for financial assurances that goes toward decommissioning costs.   The bureau’s reasoning for granting the deferral, according to PPT, was that the financial assurance was “unnecessarily burdensome for lessees because, at that point, they have not begun receiving project income.” Since the project is using “proven wind turbine technology” and its contracts guaranteed electricity sale prices, BOEM reasoned, the project had a predictable income over the life of the project.   The Department of Interior requires these bonds from oil and gas producers, as taxpayers have been stuck decommissioning the projects of companies that go bankrupt or were operating prior to bonding requirements.   California, for example, is trying to decommission 23 federal offshore platforms at a cost of $1.7 billion, and the liability for those costs remain unresolved. There are also thousands of onshore orphaned wells across the country that the federal government is trying to plug. In some cases, these wells were drilled a century or more ago before bonding requirements, and there’s no solvent owner of record to hold accountable for the costs.   In Wyoming, an industry sprang up a decade ago hoping to tap coal beds for natural gas, but after natural gas prices collapsed, the entire industry collapsed with it. The state was left with a lot of wells to plug and no companies to hold accountable.   While the Biden administration is granting waivers for these protections to offshore wind projects, it’s proposing steep increases in bonding requirements for oil and gas operations. While that proposal is met with support from environmentalists, industry groups have criticized the measure.   Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, told Reuters in July that rather than trying to ensure funding for reclamation efforts, the administration was raising the costs so high as a means to reduce the number of operations.   Elmer Peter Danenberger III, a petroleum engineer with decades of experience in the oil and gas industry, explained on his “Bud’s Offshore Energy” blog that BOEM’s decision to waive Vineyard Wind’s obligations significantly increases the public’s risk exposure. Danenberger wrote that BOEM, in granting the waiver, cited a general departure authority, which was intended for special situations and not for waivers that could be applied broadly.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, January 25th, 2024.    Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com.   https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/01/24/calls-grow-louder-for-haley-to-drop-out-of-gop-primary/   Calls Grow Louder for Haley to Drop Out of GOP Primary   Demands grew louder for former Gov. Nikki Haley to drop out of the GOP primary race on Tuesday after placing second in New Hampshire to former President Donald Trump.   Many Republicans believe Haley should leave the race so all available GOP resources can be allocated towards defeating President Joe Biden. Republicans spent over $167 million in losing efforts to defeat Trump in New Hampshire and Iowa, with plans to release millions more in future primaries.   https://twitter.com/i/status/1750015374639390818 - Play Video   After Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) exited the race Sunday, Haley’s path to the nomination did not appear to improve. In fact, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ endorsement of Trump further consolidated support behind the former president, placing pressure on Haley to also end her fledgling campaign. In all states besides New Hampshire, Trump leads by no less than 30 points.   Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said Trump is the de facto GOP nominee moving forward. “Congratulations to President Trump on another decisive win in New Hampshire and becoming the presumptive nominee of our party,” he said.  Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) congratulated Trump on his big win Tuesday evening: “To no one’s surprise, @realDonaldTrump won BIG tonight in New Hampshire. President Trump’s message is resonating with voters. It’s only a matter of time until 45 becomes 47. Congratulations, Mr. President!”   CEO of the Federalist Sean Davis urged Haley to drop out, noting that if she did not, she would be “fully owned by the left-wing Democrats.”   “If Nikki Haley’s primary goal is to defeat Joe Biden in November, she will drop out tonight and endorse Trump. If she continues to stay in a race she cannot win just to attack Trump, then we’ll know she’s fully owned by the left-wing Democrats who are funding her campaign,” he said.    Social media influencer Ryan Fournier demanded Haley just give up and drop out. “Nikki Haley is refusing to drop out, claiming “this race is far from over.” It’s been over from the start. You all betted on the worst happening to Trump to secure victory. It’s time to give it up.,” he said.    Nate Cohn, the New York Times’ chief political analyst, wrote on Monday the polling undoubtedly shows Haley’s inevitable resignation from the race, so Trump can turn his focus to defeating President Joe Biden. “So, without a monumental shift in the race, he will secure the nomination in short order,” he said.   “Too little, too late,” Haley backer and a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, Fergus Cullen, told the New York Times about Haley’s prospects. “She had to inspire and engage unaffiliated voters, and I just haven’t seen her doing what she needs to do to reach that audience and turn them out in the numbers that she needs.”   https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/2814985/biden-administration-demands-texas-grant-dhs-access-border/   Biden administration demands Texas grant border access following Supreme Court decision   The Biden administration has demanded the state of Texas relinquish control of a 2.5-mile strip of land on the border and grant federal agents access following a Supreme Court decision that gave Border Patrol agents to slash state-installed razor wire.   The Department of Homeland Security sent Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) a letter Tuesday obtained first by the Washington Examiner in which General Counsel Jonathan Meyer called out the state for its inaction after the highest court rescinded an appeal court injunction and allowed federal police to cut down razor wire fencing in Eagle Pass in order to rescue and apprehend illegal immigrants as they cross the Rio Grande.   “The state has alleged that Shelby Park is open to the public, but we do not believe this statement is accurate,” Meyer said. “To our knowledge, Texas has only permitted access to Shelby Park by allowing public entry for a memorial, the media, and use of the golf course adjacent to Shelby Park, all while continuing to restrict U.S. Border Patrol’s access to the park.”   Meyer said the Supreme Court decision allowed federal law enforcement not only to cut wire at the border but to be present on the border, the latter of which has not been possible since the Texas National Guard commandeered the 2.5-mile strip of city land and locked out all federal employees on Jan. 10.   “As you are aware, yesterday, the Supreme Court vacated the injunction prohibiting the Department from cutting or moving the concertina wire that Texas had placed along the border except in case of emergency, and restored the Department’s right to cut and move the concertina wire placed by Texas in order to perform their statutory duties,” Meyer wrote. “The Department must also have the ability to access the border in the Shelby Park area that is currently obstructed by Texas.”   But despite the court’s decision, Texas National Guard soldiers reaffirmed the state’s position Tuesday. Soldiers in Eagle Pass installed more razor wire at the river and laid out more fencing and concertina wire despite the rain that swept through the region Tuesday, according to video.   The DHS maintained in its letter that it had the upper ground in terms of legal ground that allowed its personnel to be on city land along the border. It cited the U.S. Code, in which the department acquired permanent real estate interests in and around Eagle Pass in 2008 to build border wall barriers in the vicinity.   “Because the Department owns property rights to the areas depicted on the attached map, we demand that you immediately remove any and all obstructions on it,” Meyer said.   Border Patrol still has limited access to a boat ramp within Shelby Park despite the state’s initial concession earlier in the land seizure to let agents load and unload a boat into the river. Meyer called for full access to the boat ramp and river.   The Biden administration had threatened Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) with legal action on Jan. 14 if Texas did not relinquish control of land, but has not followed up with a lawsuit.   “We demand that Texas cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access in the Shelby Park area,” Meyer told Paxton in the letter.   The showdown between state and federal leaders comes 12 days after three immigrants drowned attempting to wade across the river from Mexico on Jan. 12. Border Patrol officials in Eagle Pass were alerted to immigrants who had drowned and two others in distress and attempted to respond but were denied access at a gate into the state-seized land.   The state has taken issue with Border Patrol cutting its wire on the basis that the wire would deter and prevent more illegal immigration. Federal law enforcement agents are required to arrest anyone who has illegally entered the country or is illegally present, including those who cross the river and are blocked from continuing up the riverbank by the razor wire.   https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/holocaust-survivors-numbers-report-claims-conference/2024/01/23/id/1150570/   Almost 80 Years after the Holocaust, 245,000 Jewish Survivors Are Still Alive   Almost 80 years after the Holocaust, about 245,000 Jewish survivors are still living across more than 90 countries, a new report revealed Tuesday.   Nearly half of them, or 49%, are living in Israel; 18% are in Western Europe, 16% in the United States, and 12% in countries of the former Soviet Union, according to a study by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference.   Before the publication of the demographic report, there were only vague estimates about how many Holocaust survivors are still alive.   Their numbers are quickly dwindling, as most are very old and often of frail health, with a median age of 86. Twenty percent of survivors are older than 90, and more women (61%) than men (39%) are still alive.   The vast majority, or 96% of survivors, are “child survivors” who were born after 1928, says the report “Holocaust Survivors Worldwide. A Demographic Overview'” which is based on figures that were collected up until August.   “The numbers in this report are interesting, but it is also important to look past the numbers to see the individuals they represent,” said Greg Schneider, the Claims Conference’s executive vice president.   “These are Jews who were born into a world that wanted to see them murdered. They endured the atrocities of the Holocaust in their youth and were forced to rebuild an entire life out of the ashes of the camps and ghettos that ended their families and communities."   Six million European Jews and people from other minorities were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.   It is not clear exactly how many Jews survived the death camps, the ghettos or somewhere in hiding across Nazi-occupied Europe, but their numbers were a far cry from the pre-war Jewish population in Europe.   In Poland, of the 3.3 million Jews living there in 1939, only about 300,000 survived.   Around 560,000 Jews lived in Germany in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler came to power. At the end of World War II in 1945, their numbers had diminished to about 15,000 — through emigration and extermination.   Germany's Jewish community grew again after 1990, when more than 215,000 Jewish migrants and their families came from countries of the former Soviet Union, some of them also survivors.   Nowadays, only 14,200 survivors still live in Germany, the demographic report concluded.   For its new report, the Claims Conference said it defined Holocaust survivors "based on agreements with the German government in assessing eligibility for compensation programs.”   For Germany, that definition includes all Jews who lived in the country from Jan. 30, 1933, when Hitler came to power, to May 1945, when Germany surrendered unconditionally in World War II.   The group handles claims on behalf of Jews who suffered under the Nazis and negotiates compensation with Germany's finance ministry every year. In June, the Claims Conference said that Germany has agreed to extend another $1.4 billion, (1.29 billion euros), overall for Holocaust survivors around the globe for 2024.   Since 1952, the German government has paid more than $90 billion to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis.   https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-announces-2-billion-medical-debt-bailout-500000-residents   NYC Mayor Eric Adams announces $2B medical debt bailout for up to 500K residents   New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday a plan to buy up millions of dollars in medical debt owed by hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.   In what the mayor said would be a "one-time" deal, the city will spend $18 million in taxpayer funds over the next three years to pay off medical debt owed by up to 500,000 residents. Officials estimate that the program will wipe out over $2 billion of medical debt owed in what they call the "largest municipal initiative of its kind in the country."    "Getting health care shouldn't be a burden that weighs on New Yorkers and their families," Adams said in a statement. "Since day one, our administration has been driven by the clear mission of supporting working-class New Yorkers and today's investment that will provide $2 billion in medical debt relief is another major step in delivering on that vision. Up to half a million New Yorkers will see their medical debt wiped thanks to this life changing program — the largest municipal initiative of its kind in the country."   Medical debt is among the top causes of bankruptcy in the United States, especially for those who lack health insurance. Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. adults (9%), or roughly 23 million people, owe medical debt, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The collective medical debt owed by Americans nationwide is estimated by the group to be as much as $195 billion.    New York City will partner with RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based nonprofit, to acquire debt portfolios and retiree debt from health care providers and hospitals and erase it, officials said.   "No one chooses to go into medical debt — if you're sick or injured, you need to seek care. But no New Yorker should have to choose between paying rent or for other essentials and paying off their medical debt, which is why we are proud to bring this relief to families across the five boroughs, as we continue to fight on behalf of working-class New Yorkers," Adams said.   Founded in 2014, RIP Medical Debt uses donations to buy debt from health care providers in bundles at a steep discount. The group uses data analytics to identify debtors who are most in need — households that earn less than four times the federal poverty level or whose debts are 5% or more of annual income — and buys their debt. Those who benefit from the organization's work receive letters in the mail announcing that their debt has been erased, tax and penalty-free.   The group has partnered with local governments before, including with Cook County in Illinois to abolish more than $280 million in medical debt owed by residents, but never at the scale of its partnership with New York City.   To supplement the city's spending on the program, RIP Medical Debt and the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City are soliciting private donations to raise additional funding over the next three years.   https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2024/1/22/ngsegtq5k078chahr8s3etgus3983p   New ‘Jurassic World’ Movie in the Works, 2025 Release Being Eyed   A new “Jurassic World” movie is in the works. In fact, it’s so deep in development that Universal is eyeing a 2025 release date for this one. If that’s the case then it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if it goes into production this year.   The good news is that “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp is back, his last script for the series was 1997’s “The Lost World.” Koepp is set write the script to introduce a “new Jurassic era,” which likely means Chris Pratt won’t be returning as the lead.    It’s only been two years since the last one, 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion”, but Universal’s clearly looking to make more of these films. No director is attached for now, but, the way things are speeding up, one will surely be hired soon.