Category: In Case You Missed It O’ The Day

Just in case you missed it in the previous article:

Here’s some great news to finish with: Fauci’s Chinese partners are now experimenting with a gain-of-function variant of coronavirus with a 100% kill rate.

In the wake of a plandemic that killed millions of people, caused by a bug that likely escaped from a Chinese biolab that was funded by the US government, the Chinese have decided to double down on playing with viruses that have the power to wipe millions or billions of human beings off the face of the earth.     

The arrogance is breathtaking. 100% kill rate.

This time, the Chinese have announced that they have been breeding a bug that has a 100% kill rate in humanized mice, which is pretty impressive until you realize that this is not some fancy new way to eradicate rodents but a scary new way to liquify the brains of human beings.

The Trace Accidentally Shows How Little Brady Bill Did

It’s been 30 years since the Brady Bill passed. This was the bill that mandated all licensed gun dealers had to conduct background checks on anyone trying to buy a firearm.

It was heralded as a huge step forward. After all, before the law went into effect, felons could walk into gun stores and buy a firearm. They weren’t supposed to–it was illegal for them to do so–but they could just lie and say they weren’t a felon. In most states, that was enough.

So then the law changed. The Brady Bill went into effect and after 30 years, The Trace has decided to look at some numbers as to just how effective it’s been.

Let’s take a look at a few.

2,266,746

The number of federal background checks that resulted in a denial

These denials occurred because an FBI search of the NICS indices turned up a record that legally disqualified the person from owning firearms. This total does not include denials in states where state or local law enforcement handles the background checks. In 2023, the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that federal and state agencies combined had denied a total of 4.4 million firearm background check applications since 1994. [FBI and Bureau of Justice Statistics]

3 in 20 (or 1.5 percent)

The proportion of firearm background checks that result in a denial

This estimate from the Bureau of Justice Statistics encompasses denials issued at both the state and federal levels. Between 1998 and 2020, state and federal background checks blocked an average of 509 prohibited gun purchases and permits each day. However, when BJS looked solely at 2019 and 2020 — a period that overlaps with the pandemic gun-buying surge — the average number of denials jumped to 878 per day. [Bureau of Justice Statistics]

1 in 2 (or 51 percent)

The proportion of denials that are the result of felony convictions

Federal law prohibits people from owning firearms if they have been convicted of a felony or certain misdemeanors. Since the national background checks system went into place, this prohibitor has been the most common reason applications are denied. Compared to the FBI, state and local agencies deny for felony reasons at a lower rate, but one that still accounts for the largest proportion of denials. State and local agencies deny applications for state prohibitions and mental health reasons at a higher rate than the FBI. [FBI and Bureau of Justice Statistics]

Now, more than 2.26 million denials sounds like a lot, but what The Trace isn’t including in their numbers are false denials. They might be denied and counted as someone with a felony, only the person in question isn’t a felon. NICS gets it wrong a fair bit because, well, they’re people. That’s going to happen.

So the number of felons being denied guns is actually lower.

Further, this is over 30 years. When you consider just how many guns are bought and sold annually in the US, the just over 75,000 denials we see on average per year doesn’t sound particularly staggering.

And The Trace notes that only half of them are for felonies.

See, while they’re celebrating how effective the Brady Bill is, what I’m seeing here is that criminals are getting plenty of guns and they’re not getting them from gun stores. They’re not even trying to get them from gun stores.

Why would they? Most know they can’t get one lawfully anyway–many of those who do try to get a gun don’t realize they can’t own a firearm anymore–so they look for alternate way to obtain one.

They bypass the Brady Bill framework entirely so they never show up in the denial numbers.

So hundreds of millions of people have bought guns over the last 30 years, undergoing background checks that make them feel like they’re the criminal, all while doing next to nothing to actually stop criminals from getting guns because the criminals just went a different direction.

It’s not often that you see the arrogant jackass Morgan lost for words…

Salient exchange:

MORGAN: Well, there is, but I don’t think that all of these protesters are pro-Hamas. I think you’re making…

MURRAY: Right, and the difference is whether you have a large artillery behind you.

MORGAN: You don’t honestly think they’re all pro-Hamas, these people.

MURRAY: Well, well, I think that anyone who for instance chants things like From the River to the Sea is, in fact, what I described and is criminally ignorant. Oh, well they are, there were masses of idiots marching past Westminster Abbey last week saying exactly that.

MORGAN: Yeah, but they’re not all doing it (crosstalk) I’ve watched the videos. There are some who are chanting and some who aren’t.

MURRAY: Okay, well here’s a challenge, Piers. If you decided to go on some kind of march and in week one you discovered that you had the BMP calling, for instance, for the murder of all black people, would you not wonder whether or not you should go on week two? Would you not drop out by week three? I would have thought so, I would.

MORGAN: That’s a good question…yes, I would.

GloBull warming………

Alaska’s Largest City Declares ‘Snow Emergency’ After Record Snowfall Piles Up on Back-to-Back Days

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A winter storm dropped record snowfall amounts in Anchorage, Alaska, with some areas outside of Anchorage proper receiving more than 2 feet of snowfall in just two days.

The largest city in Alaska broke its daily snowfall record on Wednesday when 9 inches of snow fell in 24 hours. For context, the previous record for Nov. 8 was 7.3 inches set in 1982. Another 8.2 inches piled up Thursday, which also broke the daily record of 7.1 inches set on Nov. 9, 1956. That brought Anchorage’s two-day total to 17.2 inches of snow.

By late Thursday, Anchorage had a 21-inch snow depth, or the total amount of snow on the ground. This was Anchorage’s greatest snow depth for so early in the season, according to Alaska-based climatologist Brian Brettschneider. Already, 26.6 inches of snow has fallen in Anchorage this season, which is 17.5 inches above the average snowfall to date for Nov. 9.

Poll Shocker: Majority of Young People Say Guns Make Homes Safer

The Guardian is reporting what amounts to a stunning revelation of research supported by the anti-gun Joyce Foundation which says—probably to the foundation’s chagrin—an overwhelming majority of young people (76%) say gun ownership “makes a home safer.”

Anti-gunners have been insisting for years that guns in the home make families less safe.

The same 2019 study said 42 percent of boys and men in the 13-21 age group expect to own a firearm at some point, after years of efforts to convince the younger generation to avoid gun ownership. The survey results may be viewed here.

Another report, from the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), supported by Everytown for Gun Safety and the Southern Poverty Law Center, also produced some interesting findings which included:

  • While youth think that gun violence is a problem, they think it flows from the actions of individuals, especially those they perceive as “criminal,” “irresponsible,” “mentally ill” or “bad.” These descriptions tend to be racialized and classed.
  • Youth separate legitimate and illegitimate uses of guns. “Legitimate” uses include protection (e.g., against “home invaders”), hunting and target shooting.
  • Youth perceptions of safety are also racialized, classed and shaped by ideologies surrounding geography and folk-theories about urban-rural differences.
  • Youth from rural areas perceive guns as a ‘fact of life’. Geographical regions are used as shorthand for particular community relations to guns/gun violence.
  • Young, white, cisgender boys/men are frequently introduced to gun use through gendered bonding activities like hunting with fathers, grandfathers and friends.

The Guardian report tends to negatively portray the notion of gun ownership, which perhaps unintentionally exhibits the viewpoints of people who dislike firearms ownership. The story quotes Kelly Drane, research director at the Giffords Law Center, who acknowledges, “Gun ownership has diversified dramatically.”

More women and minorities are buying guns, and according to the Guardian article—referring to the PERIL study—the reason Latinos and Asian Americans are buying firearms is because they are concerned about “the increased threat of racist extremism.”

The PERIL study also showed that about one-third of youths under age 18 “believe they are safer with guns than without them.”

“When minutes count, the army is only hours away”

In Heroic Battle, 15 People Saved Kibbutz Kerem Shalom From Hamas Massacre.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Although most of the Kibbutzim in the western Negev were woefully unprepared for a mass Hamas attack and paid a heavy price in civilian casualties, there was one Kibbutz where Hamas did not succeed in conquering the Kibbutz, did not take captives and did not cause any civilian casualties.

The kibbutz is situated at the southwestern tip of Israel, near the border with Gaza and Egypt. A few years ago, the kibbutz nearly disbanded due to lack of people willing to live in the parched, arid zone with few employment opportunities. However a Garin Torani (nucleus of Bnei Torah) arrived a few years ago to strengthen the kibbutz and to build their lives there in pioneering fashion. The young religious families energized the kibbutz and on Simchas Torah all the residents both religious and secular celebrated in the shul with many guests from all over the country.

At one point, Moshe Yedidia Raziel stood in the middle of the circle and began singing Am Yisrael Chai as everyone jumped up and down in unison. At the end of the Hakafos everyone went back to eat the festive meal.

At 6:30 A.M they awoke to sirens around the Kibbutz and the defenders, consisting of nine local residents with army training (former IDF soldiers) and six soldiers, prepared for the invasion. Amichai Yisrael Vitzan told his wife that “this is what we have been training for.” The small force deployed around the kibbutz in different places. Tens of terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz and the force engaged them in fierce fighting.

Kerem Shalom’s 35 homes became a battlefield. In the first hours the force eliminated many of the terrorists and for 6 hours continued the battle alone. In on of the shootouts, the wife of Moshe Yedidia Raziel heard heavy shooting and then Yedidia shouted: “We eliminated them”.

Amichai was calm and told his wife on Whatsapp to make the children feel good as today is Simchas Torah. This was the last she heard from him. A few hours after the fighting started, a terrorist surprised Amichai Yisrael and Moshe Yedidia from behind and murdered both of them. Amichai (33) left five children and Moshe (31) left three children. Both were friends from the same community (Psagot), both were studying social work in Ashkelon and both came to help the struggling kibbutz. It was their heroic struggle which saved the kibbutz members from the fate of neighboring communities. All of the families were saved (two other members of the fighting group were injured) and nobody was taken captive.

The army arrived only at 1 PM after the group had fought off Hamas for six hours.

 

Federal Judge Rejects Hunter Biden Request To Appear In Court Via Video Conference

A federal judge rejected a request from Hunter Biden’s legal team this week to allow the president’s son to make his arraignment on federal gun charges through a video conference instead of having to show up in person.

U.S. Magistrate Judge from the District of Delaware Christopher Burke rejected the request in an order on Wednesday afternoon.

Burke gave multiple reasons for denying, including that the Court believes the appearance in important because its one of the few times that the defendant will physically be in the courtroom and the setting “helps to emphasize the ‘integrity and solemnity of a federal criminal proceeding.’”

Special Counsel David Weiss indicted Hunter Biden earlier this month on three charges related to the purchase of a firearm, including allegedly making multiple false statements, and being unlawfully in possession of a firearm.

“Moreover, in this matter, most of the criminal charges that Defendant now faces are new and were not addressed at his prior hearing in July 2023-such that this will be the first time they are discussed in court,” Burke wrote. “The Court will also address Defendant’s pre-trial release conditions; while the Court expects it is likely that the currently-imposed conditions will remain in place, were either side to suggest alterations, the Court would want to be able to address that issue in person with the parties.”

“Other than during the exigent circumstances of the COVID crisis (when the Court was proceeding under the auspices of the now-expired CARES Act standing order), in 12 years as a judge on this Court, the undersigned cannot recall ever having conducted an initial appearance other than in person,” he continued. “That has been the case as to defendants of all types, regardless of their location or personal circumstance.”

Burke used the words from Hunter Biden’s legal team against him, saying that he agrees that Hunter Biden “should not receive special treatment in this matter-absent some unusual circumstance, he should be treated just as would any other defendant in our Court.”

“Any other defendant would be required to attend his or her initial appearance in person,” he said. “So too here.”

Awhile back, you’ll recall, the guy starts out on the road to Moscow with his mercs, then stops and whatever. You’d think he’d understand that he was in Putin’s crosshairs from then on and take precautions, because, at that point, he has to stay “on” all the time and Putin just has to be lucky once.

Wagner Decries ‘Murder’ Of Prigozhin Amid Reports Anti-Air Missile Struck Plane.

At this point it’s looking like the entire top command of Russian mercenary outfit Wagner Group was aboard the private plane that was downed northwest of Moscow hours ago. Wagner itself is confirming Yvgeny Prigozhin’s death, with Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel Grey Zone calling it a ‘murder.’

“It’s a Sicilian message”

“Complete and total shock.” Neighbors speak about the Provo man killed by the FBI

PROVO, Utah (ABC4) — On Wednesday morning, Provo resident Craig Robertson was shot and killed by the FBI after allegedly threatening to kill President Biden. ABC4 spoke with his neighbors to get a closer look at how neighbors and friends perceived him.

Robertson was described by neighbors as an older church-going man. He was reportedly in his late 70s, and barely mobile. According to neighbors, Robertson used a hand-carved walking stick just to get out of a chair and move around.

One neighbor, Connor Bunch, said Robertson was a weird old guy, just like any other weird old guy.

“He would say funny things sometimes, but I never thought anything of it because old people say weird things all the time,” Bunch said. “You know, everyone has someone in their life, some old person in their life that says whacky things, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

Bunch also said at one time Robertson noticed that there was an old lady at church who wanted a ramp built for her trailer so she could get in and out more easily, so he organized volunteers to come and build the lady a ramp.

“It was a positive experience, That’s one of the only memories that I have of [Robertson]. I never really was friends with [him] or talked to him that much, but he just seemed like a decent guy to me,” Bunch said. “It’s really surprising to see that something like this would happen.”

Another neighbor, Travis Lee Clark, said Robertson was the financial clerk in their ward for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly a decade. Clark said at the time he was the executive secretary so he knew him pretty well.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable, it’s a complete and total shock. I can’t believe it happened.”

According to Clark, Robertson was a great guy, a woodworker, and was always working on toys or rocking horses for kids. At the time of his death, he was reportedly in the process of building a bed for his adult son Sean whom he took care of.

“He was not anyone that anybody would ever look at or regard as a threat in any way,” Clark said.

Clark said most members of the community are worried about Robertson’s son Sean. He is reportedly disabled and blind and was living with his father who was his primary caretaker. A few weeks ago he reportedly suffered a stroke and wasn’t living at home at the time of the incident but lived there usually.

According to Clark, while Robertson was political, and collected guns, the posts he saw on Facebook were not the man he knew.

“He was very political, very pro-second amendment, he loved his guns and he loved woodworking as a hobby, but I never saw anything that indicated that he might be violent,” Clark said. “He could be kind of [a] curmudgeonly old guy […] but [a] very lovable big teddy bear of a guy.”

Clark said he believes Robertson may have just let himself get carried away on social media.

“I can’t imagine that he could either physically or mentally act on any of that at all. So I think it’s just a tragedy like this, an abject tragedy that got out of hand,” Clark said.

Around 6:15 a.m., FBI agents attempted to serve an arrest and search warrant at his Provo residence when the raid led to the shooting and killing of Robertson.

Robertson had allegedly posted multiple threats of violence toward President Biden, Vice President Harris, and New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Investigators had deemed the threats as credible.

Utah Man Accused of Threatening President Shot and Killed During FBI Attempt to Serve Warrant

74-year-old Craig Deleeuw Robertson of Provo, Utah, was shot and killed early Wednesday morning as the FBI attempted to serve a warrant at his home. According to reports, Robertson was armed and had made multiple threats against President Joe Biden, who was traveling to the state later in the day.

The shooting happened around 6:15 am local time as agents attempted to serve search and arrest warrants at Robertson’s home.

Video recorded by neighbors, and obtained by CBS News, showed the raid, during which apparent flashbangs were seen. One neighbor told CBS News they heard about six gunshots and said the man’s body was eventually brought out to the street.

A criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Utah and obtained by CBS News details graphic threats gathered during an FBI investigation against a number of public officials. The suspect named in the complaint, Craig Deleeuw Robertson, was charged with three federal counts, including threats against a president. Authorities have not publicly confirmed the man who was killed is the man named in the complaint.

Online posts also showed an intent to kill Mr. Biden, the complaint said. In a post dated Aug. 6, Robertson allegedly wrote, “I hear Biden is coming to Utah,” and that he was “cleaning the dust off his M24 sniper.” The complaint showed photos of the suspect with a long-range rifle and a type of camouflage known as a ghillie suit.

As news of the raid emerged, so, too, came details of numerous online posts allegedly made by Robertson threatening Joe Biden and numerous other officials, though neighbors described a man who was elderly and frail.

Neighbors described Robertson as a frail, elderly man — his online profile put his age as 74 — who walked with the aid of a hand-carved stick. Though he regularly carried guns, they said he didn’t seem a threat.

“There’s no way that he was driving from here to Salt Lake City, setting up a rifle and taking a shot at the president — 100% no way,” said neighbor Andrew Maunder outside the church across from Robertson’s street.

Still, the posts allegedly made by Robertson are disturbing.

Robertson posted online Monday that he had heard Biden was coming to Utah and he was planning to dig out a camouflage suit and begin “cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle,” a post that came after months of graphic online threats against several public figures, according to court documents. Robertson referred to himself as a “MAGA Trumper,” a reference to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, and also posted threats against top law enforcement officials overseeing court cases against Trump. …

Robertson also referenced a “presidential assassination” and also posted threats against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and New York Attorney General Letitia James, authorities said.

“The time is right for a presidential assassination or two. First Joe then Kamala!!!” authorities say Robertson wrote in a September 2022 Facebook post included in the filings. No attorney was immediately listed for Robertson in court documents and family members of Robertson could not be immediately reached for comment through publicly available phone numbers.

Per reports, the FBI opened their investigation into Robertson in March after he made threats against Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg following Bragg’s indictment of Donald Trump.

“I’ll be waiting in the courthouse parking garage with my suppressed Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm to smoke a radical fool prosecutor that should never have been elected,” the post read in part, according to the complaint.

Neighbors also provided video of the raid.

Cause of fire at Rand Paul’s office remains unknown as senator looks for answers

The cause of a fire at a building housing a Kentucky office of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., remains unknown as investigators continue to search for answers as to what started the blaze that impacted a handful of buildings in downtown Bowling Green.

A Saturday Facebook post from the Bowling Green Fire Department provides a detailed account of a fire that engulfed the building located at 1029 State Street and nearby buildings early Friday morning. The office building houses Paul’s local office and a local law firm.

A picture of the aftermath posted to the department’s Facebook page Friday shows an upper story of the building, with the numbers “1029” visible at the front entrance, partially collapsed. The department elaborated on the extent of the damage in the Saturday Facebook post.

“Yesterday at 01:45, BGFD responded to multiple reports of smoke and fire coming from the Presbyterian Church on State Street. Soon after these calls, more units were dispatched for a fire alarm at 1025 State Street,” the Saturday Facebook post stated.

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What’s up in space

EARTH-DIRECTED CME (UPDATED): A magnetic filament in the sun’s southern hemisphere erupted on July 11th (movie #1) and hurled a CME toward Earth (movie #2). According to a NASA model, most of the CME will sail south of our planet, but not all. The northern flank will likely strike our planet’s magnetic field during the late hours of July 14th possibly causing a G1-class geomagnetic storm. Aurora alerts: SMS Text

A HYPERACTIVE SUNSPOT: New sunspot AR3372 is seething with activity. In the last 24 hours alone it has produced eight M-class solar flares (graph) To the extreme ultraviolet telescopes onboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, it looks like the northeastern limb of the sun is on fire:

The rat-a-tat-tat of solar flares from AR3372 is causing a rolling series of shortwave radio blackouts around all longitudes of our planet. Ham radio operators, mariners and aviators may have noticed loss of signal below 30 MHz on multiple occasions since July 11th. In addition, episodes of sudden ionization in the atmosphere are doppler-shifting the frequency of time-standard radio stations such as Canada’s CHU and America’s WWV (data).

If current trends continue, we should expect more strong M-class flares during the next 24 hours with a chance of X-flares as well. This sunspot will become even more geoeffective in the days ahead as it continues to turn toward Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text

THIS IRS EMAIL CORROBORATES WHISTLEBLOWER’S CLAIMS ABOUT BIDEN DOJ INTERFERENCE IN HUNTER PROBE.

A senior IRS official corroborated a whistleblower’s bombshell allegation that Biden Justice Department officials meddled in the Hunter Biden tax probe, according to internal IRS emails released this week.

Whistleblower Gary Shapley’s boss confirmed Shapley’s account of a key meeting that occurred on October 7, 2022, between IRS agents and DOJ prosecutors handling the Biden probe. After the meeting, Shapley wrote to his boss, Darrell Waldon, that U.S. attorney David Weiss indicated he was prohibited from bringing charges against Biden in Washington, D.C. Weiss said that he requested special counsel status but that Justice Department headquarters had denied that request.

“Weiss stated that he is not the deciding person on whether charges are filed,” Shapley wrote.

Waldon, who attended the meeting with Shapley, signed off on his subordinate’s characterization of the meeting. “Thanks, Gary. You covered it all,” Waldon wrote.

The email is powerful evidence supporting Shapley’s claims that the Biden Justice Department interfered in the investigation into the embattled first son and that, contrary to statements from Attorney General Merrick Garland and others, Weiss could not operate freely.

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The oceans care not one whit who you are. I learned how to SCUBA dive when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis. We had it pounded into our heads that one step into the Pungent Sound put us 1, in the food chain (and not at the top by the way) and 2, at the mercy of our gear and an unforgiving environment.

OceanGate took eight hours to report missing sub to Coast Guard after it lost contact — as Navy commander says crew has a ‘one percent chance of survival.’

A WHISTLEBLOWER RAISED SAFETY CONCERNS ABOUT OCEANGATE’S SUBMERSIBLE IN 2018. THEN HE WAS FIRED

The director of marine operations at OceanGate, the company whose submersible went missing Sunday on an expedition to the Titanic in the North Atlantic, was fired after raising concerns about its first-of-a-kind carbon fiber hull and other systems before its maiden voyage, according to a filing in a 2018 lawsuit first reported by Insider and New Republic.

David Lochridge was terminated in January 2018 after presenting a scathing quality control report on the vessel to OceanGate’s senior management, including founder and CEO Stockton Rush, who is on board the missing vessel.

According to a court filing by Lochridge, the preamble to his report read: “Now is the time to properly address items that may pose a safety risk to personnel. Verbal communication of the key items I have addressed in my attached document have been dismissed on several occasions, so I feel now I must make this report so there is an official record in place.”

The report detailed “numerous issues that posed serious safety concerns,” according to the filing. These included Lochridge’s worry that “visible flaws” in the carbon fiber supplied to OceanGate raised the risk of small flaws expanding into larger tears during “pressure cycling.” These are the huge pressure changes that the submersible would experience as it made its way and from the deep ocean floor. He noted that a previously tested scale model of the hull had “prevalent flaws.”

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Going woke is simply exchanging one religion for another.

MEGACHURCH PASTOR RICK WARREN GOES SCORCHED EARTH IN EFFORT TO PUSH SOUTHERN BAPTISTS DOWN THE SLIPPERY WOKE SLOPE

Southern Baptists are meeting in New Orleans for their annual convention this week. Megachurch Pastor Rick Warren, author of the bestselling book The Purpose-Driven Life, is waging war with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), hoping to push the denomination to the left on the issue of female pastors.

Warren has been all over Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube this past week, viciously attacking his opponents (while calling for love and reconciliation). He’s become increasingly combative, calling his opponents “angry fundamentalists,” “angry fighters,” and “legalist showmen.” (I’ll leave it up to readers to determine who’s playing the role of “showman” in this debate.)

Warren also issued a veiled threat to leaders who oppose him. During a recent podcast with Christianity Today Editor-in-Chief Russell Moore, he warned, “We [Saddleback churches] don’t need the Southern Baptist Convention. They need the 6,000 purpose-driven churches that are in the Southern Baptist Convention in our fellowship, but we don’t need the Convention. It would be for the benefit of others, not for us.” In other words, if he doesn’t get his way on liberalizing the doctrine of the SBC, he’ll take his churches and go home.

As background, in June of last year, the SBC Credentials Committee determined that Saddleback Church was “not in friendly cooperation with the Convention,” essentially disfellowshipping the church for having a female “teaching pastor.” Southern Baptist churches are officially self-governing, but blatant violations of the Baptist Faith and Practice (BF&P — the SBC’s statement of faith) can be cause for removing a church from membership.

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Success! NYC’s Drug Paraphernalia Machine Cleaned Out in One Night.

If it were a Broadway show, it would have received rave reviews. “A Hit!” “NYC Scores Big in New Debut! “Boffo!” “A Must-See!” “Five Stars and Two Thumbs Up!” “All of Gotham Is Talking!”

Alas, we aren’t talking about the latest play or musical to grace the Great White Way. Nope. We’re talking about the machine that dispenses free drug paraphernalia to users in New York City. But to be fair, it was received extremely well by the target demographic. The machine in question was installed on Monday in Brownsville, Brooklyn. It offers crack pipes, drug test strips, condoms, and Narcan. And lip balm. Patrons can also get tampons and gum.

By 1:00 P.M. Tuesday, a drug prevention program worker was hard at work restocking it. That same worker suspected that it might need to be restocked at least twice a day. For the most part, users were happy with the new amenity. Evelyn Williams told the New York Post, “Yes, I love it. They put it in yesterday, and it’s empty already.” She added, “We have a lot of addicts and heroin users over here. They should re-stock it immediately!” Another man rode by on a bike, gave a thumbs up, and said simply, “Yeah!”

Not everyone was impressed. The paper reported that 56-year-old Minoshi Calpe groused that the crack pipes were not quite up to her standards. She said she preferred the Pyrex pipes, and that the ones in the vending machine had no resale value since they were already available for free. She stated, “The crack pipes are a little too thin now. And every time I pull on [the newer ones], it was burning my lips. I was like, ‘Hell, no! I like my lips too much for this.’”

The machines cost around $11,000 without the contents. In the future, the city may also offer syringes for injection drugs. Charming.

The people in charge of the cluster-**** that has become New York City will undoubtedly tout this as an act of compassion. Actually, this is an act designed to help bureaucrats launder money through the system. And it has the added bonus of increasing poverty, death, and disease. And it should also contribute to the number of citizens getting accosted and assaulted on the streets and pushed onto subway tracks.

I know that Mayor Eric Adams recently gave a speech touting the values of patriotism. It was a nice speech from someone who may view himself as center-left. But a good speech is not going to help a city that is so complicit in its own demolition. If Adams wants to say anything, he should start with admitting that New York City has a left-wing problem. That is, as after all, the first step to recovery.