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THIRTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME LUKE 14:25-33 Friends, in our Gospel today, the Lord offers one of the greatest, most “slap you in the face” challenges he ever offered. “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother . . . and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” There is the great spiritual principle that undergirds the entire Gospel: detachment. The heart of the spiritual life is to love God and then to love everything else for the sake of God. But we sinners, as St. Augustine said, fall into the trap of loving the...

BREAKING: @dbongino announces he is creating a "fund" to help employees fired by Cumulus over its controversial vaccine mandate, pledging $250K of his own money. Ultimately, he says he wants the fund to help people across the nation, including cops and first responders

Former Vice President Al Gore went from making Armageddon climate predictions that didn’t pan out to running point for China’s alleged “commitment” to end its overseas coal financing. Gore offered cover for the communist state of China, slobbering over how Chinese President Xi Jinping “made a very significant commitment to end all of China’s financing of overseas coal plants, and they were building 72 percent of them. So that’s a major commitment.” He continued: “[Xi] also made a commitment, almost a year ago, to reach net zero.” A May report from BBC illustrated how ridiculous Gore’s pro-China propaganda is: “Report:...

CNN commentator Van Jones said Glenn Youngkin's in the Virginia governor's race could be evidence of the emergence of "the delta variant of Trumpism." Jones suggested that Youngkin, who welcomed Trump's endorsement in the contest but also sought a distance from the former president, represented the same kind of politics as Trump. But Jones said it came in a packaging that could be better sold to voters and that might help the GOP win elections. "When this election is over we will know, have we seen the emergence of the delta variant of Trumpism," Jones said Tuesday evening during CNN's...

A friend of Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two people during Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year, testified that the teenager was "freaking out" after the shooting. Dominick Black said in court Tuesday that then-17-year-old Rittenhouse was pale and "really scared" after he fired shots at an Aug. 2020 protest that followed the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. Black added that Rittenhouse said he had to shoot them because "people were trying to hurt him," according to The Associated Press.

Ms. Tiffany Thomas. LAND O’ LAKES, FLORIDA — Ms. Tiffany Thomas owns a small business called Emerging People. Its mission is to provide in-home services for people with developmental disabilities. Now she needs the services that she provided others for more than a decade.Ms. Thomas received her first and only Pfizer mRNA injection on April 6, according to her Facebook page. Everything seemed fine for nearly two weeks, until her entire existence flipped upside down on April 18. She was rushed to the emergency room with a plethora of symptoms, including convulsions, inability to speak complete sentences, dizziness, and memory...

Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who has slowed down negotiations on a massive $1.75 trillion reconciliation package, says the “unbelievable” Republican victories in Virginia’s statewide races Tuesday validate his concerns about inflation and moving the Build Back Better Act too quickly through Congress. Manchin said that GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin’s victory in a state that President Biden won by 10 points in 2020 also underscores the need for the House to pass the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, which progressives are holding up. “It’s unbelievable to see what went on in Virginia and not just from the governor’s race...

Democrats analyzed Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin’s election victory over former Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday. NBC and MSNBC’s political analyst Julian Castro suggested Democrats lost because the media was not effectively controlling the “narrative.” “Youngkin has shown Republicans that they can launder dog whistles through huge unregulated platforms, driving base turnout—even while distancing from Trump,” he said. Richard Signorelli insinuated the election was lost due to “Trumpism.” “The only way to defeat Trumpism is to hold him & his accomplices accountable for their federal/state criminality STAT,” he claimed. Larry Sabato, a professor of Politics at the University of Virginia,...

He just issued a brief statement; “While last night we came up short, I am proud that we spent this campaign fighting for the values we so deeply believe in.”Terry McAuliffe issues concession statement: "While last night we came up short, I am proud that we spent this campaign fighting for the values we so deeply believe in."— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) November 3, 2021As it turns out, attacking parents’ concerns about their children’s education as racist isn’t a winning election strategy.Despite McAuliffe waiting until today to concede, victor Glenn Youngkin delivered an energetic victory speech last night:While Virginia voted for...

Over the last few years, Big Tech has unleashed many different attacks on WND, the pioneering Christian journalism organization now in its 25th year. From classifying WND as an "extremist group," to writing WND out of its search algorithms, to de-monetizing WND's YouTube channel, to confining WND to "Facebook jail" for over a year, the attacks never end. However, as of this week, Big Tech has upped its game: Google has now officially de-monetized WND.

Major news outlets have reported that political outsider Youngkin will defeat McAuliffe in the Virginia gubernatorial election. However, even though Youngkin is poised to win the election, McAuliffe said Virginia should count all of the votes before declaring a winner. “So, we still got a lot of votes to count, we have about 18 percent of the vote out,” McAuliffe said. He emphasized that “every single Virginian should have their vote counted.” McAuliffe wrote in a statement: "Folks, not everything is counted and we’re still waiting for a lot of votes to come in. And we want to ensure every...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has granted approval for emergency use to India's government-backed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin. The vaccine was approved in India in January while the third phase of clinical trials was still under way, sparking some concern and criticism. Bharat Biotech, which makes the vaccine, has since published data suggesting 78% efficacy. The WHO said in a tweet it believed the benefits far outweighed the risks. Some experts had pointed to a fast-track approval and incomplete data, but the firm's chairman, Dr Krishna Ella, said the vaccine was "200% safe". The WHO's expert panel, which authorises emergency approvals,...

Parents unhappy with the woke takeover of their local education systems won big on Tuesday when they ousted progressive school board members and beat out pro-critical race theory candidates in multiple districts across the nation.In Southlake, Texas, Andrew Yeager, a father concerned with the top-achieving school district’s drastic “cultural competence action plan” — which aims to shame people, especially white people, based on their race — won the seventh spot on the Carroll Independent School District’s school board on Tuesday in a landslide victory against his opponent Stephanie Williams. Yeager’s win was quickly maligned by NBC News as the result...

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced Wednesday he has canceled in-person appearances at events due to a coronavirus exposure. DeWine and his wife, Fran DeWine, canceled all in-person events through Sunday after they were exposed to COVID-19 by two staff members. The governor’s office said DeWine and his wife both are fully vaccinated and received the COVID-19 booster shot.

While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that while she is saddened by Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe’s defeat in the Virginia gubernatorial race, “the people have spoken.” And “We respect the results.” Pelosi also stated that the results in Virginia do not change the agenda for the House of Representatives. Pelosi said, “Well, the people have spoken. We respect the results. I’m very sad. Terry McAuliffe was a great leader and he was a great governor of the state.”

We rarely pay attention to one of the most shocking warnings Jesus ever gave: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea (Mark 9:14). This is the gentle Jesus, meek and mild, speaking to everyone, addressing everyone as whoever. One of the great signs of degradation in our present culture is the attack progressivism has made and is making on our children. The Puritans in Massachusetts in 1647 “ordered that every township in...

Republican Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin garnered more support from Hispanic voters than Democrat Terry McCauliffe, a Fox News exit poll shows. According to the poll, 54 percent of Hispanic voters backed Youngkin and 45 percent cast their ballots for McCauliffe — a nine percentage point difference for Virginia’s fastest-growing ethnic group. In pre-election analysis from the Washington Post, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University Mark J. Rozell noted that Latino voters are an “emerging powerhouse in Virginia politics.” “It can make a critical, perhaps, the critical difference in this election,” Rozell correctly forecasted.

UPSET ALERT: GOP truck driver Edward Durr, who spent $153 on his campaign, leads incumbent Dem State Senate President Steve Sweeney.. In what could be the BEST story of the 2021 election cycle, Republican Edward Durr — a Harley-riding, Eagles fan and truck driver — is on the verge of defeating his Dem opponent, 7-term incumbent State Senate President Steve Sweeney after reportedly spending only $153 on his campaign: https://www.nj.com/politics/2021/11/live-election-results-nj-senate-assembly-races-2021.html

Last night in the New Jersey Governor’s race Republican Jack Ciattarelli was leading current Democrat Governor Phil Murphy in the largest county in the state, Bergen County. Then suddenly things changed. Last night the governor’s race in New Jersey was showing the Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli in the lead over the incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy. Then miraculously things changed. With 83% of the votes counted in the state, Republican Ciattarelli held a statewide lead of 42,000 votes. At this time, Bergen County, the largest county in New Jersey, claimed 100% reporting with Ciattarelli winning 52% of the vote. Then things...

The institutions of civil society are now thoroughly politicized. "Wokeness" is their ideology and religion, and mastering an ever-changing arcane vocabulary is now the key to access to the elite, as well as making sure you're not the next one sent to the proverbial Gulag. I can't keep up with everything in this vein. Still, I've been silent long enough, so I think it's worth passing along interesting tidbits as they come. A few items on this theme came across the transom last week, that seem fun to share. The American Medical Association issued an official 54 page document instructing...