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Matthew 11:11-15 Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says to the crowds, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” The title for Flannery O’Connor’s irresistibly powerful second and final novel, The Violent Bear It Away, is taken from the Douay-Rheims translation of this last phrase.This famously ambiguous passage has given rise to a variety of interpretations over the centuries. Many have taken it to mean that the kingdom of God is attacked by violent people (such as those who killed John the Baptist) and that...

Rock Hill SC A former police detective and Rock Hill school resource officer who already faces state child exploitation charges has been indicted on new, federal child pornography charges. Daniel Paul Shealy, 35, faces 18 counts of receiving or sending videos that contained child sexual abuse material, according to an indictment in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina. In a news release from the Department of Justice dated Wednesday, prosecutors said Shealy is indicted for distributing 13 child sex abuse videos and receiving several videos, all between June 2 and Sept. 17, 2023. The videos were between five seconds...

A New Jersey wedding photographer scammed dozens of people, including his own friends and family, out of $1 million in a sham investment scheme — and instead used the money on an Audi, gambling and travel, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. Vincent Villafane — a photographer and graphic designer from Ford, NJ — allegedly tricked his victims into investing tens of thousands of dollars each into scarce computer graphic cards for gaming laptops, claiming he could sell them for more than double what they were purchased at, federal prosecutors said. His victims included elderly people, public employees like police...

This video was a helpful source of updated information on nutrition.I really appreciate the video's author for providing a transcript and dividing the video into content 'chapters' with separate links, which I'll post below. Click on the chapter link to jump to that part of the video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhkxidN2M9Q 435,893 views Premiered Nov 9, 2023 InterviewsThis episode features Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D., and was originally recorded for the Institute for Functional Medicine's podcast, 'Pathways to Wellbeing.' This episode outlines a series of fundamental tactics you can start applying immediately to enhance cellular health, protect the nervous system, elevate mood, reduce inflammation, promote muscle...

On the day after Thanksgiving this year, one ChatGPT user received an unusually lazy, human response from the AI chatbot: 'You can fill in the rest of the data.' Since then, ChatGPT's makers at OpenAI have fielded a wave of complaints about their large language model (LLM) AI behaving sluggishly over the past month — leading to jokes and some sincere data analysis on the bot's 'seasonal depression.' 'We've heard all your feedback about GPT4 getting lazier!' OpenAI's ChatGPT team posted to X. 'We haven't updated the model since Nov 11th, and this certainly isn't intentional,' the team said. 'Model...

One of the biggest news stories so far this week is that the House of Representatives has subpoenaed Hunter Biden for a deposition. The House wants Hunter to talk to members behind closed doors about his father's involvement in his business dealings. Instead, Hunter skipped the deposition and called a whiny, self-indulgent press conference in which he repeated the Democrat talking points that Joe Biden is clean as a whistle and never got involved in his business dealings. "They belittled my recovery, and they have tried to dehumanize me, all to embarrass my father, who has devoted his entire life...

I can't believe I watched the whole thing — First Lady DOCTOR Jill Biden's cringeworthy annual Christmas video in which smiling dancers from the Capitol demand tributes from the lesser districts. I also can't believe that the Universe has such a twisted sense of irony that it came out the same day The Hill asked if Jill Biden will save the Democrats. I swear I'm not making any of this up — including the part (hat tip to VIP reader Lyon Gardner Tyler) that the featured Durrance Dance troupe is one of those reliably anti-police/pro-BLM groups. Before we get to...

The military wrapped up a counter-terrorism operation in Jenin Thursday, some 60 hours after launching a major raid in the northern West Bank city and adjacent refugee camp. According to the IDF, troops scanned hundreds of buildings, arrested 60 wanted Palestinians, and seized 50 weapons and hundreds of explosive devices during the 60-hour incursion that began late Monday. The IDF said the troops also found more than 10 tunnel shafts, seven labs used to manufacture explosive devices, and five war rooms used by local terror operatives to monitor IDF operations. Some of the sites were blown up by the troops....

In a heart-wrenching turn of events, Florida police have confiscated a 180kg pet pig named Pork Chop from its owner, Kelly Jacobson. Worries about the animal's welfare prompted the authorities to take action, leaving Jacobson devastated and determined to fight for custody. While she acknowledges the concerns raised, Jacobson is determined to demonstrate that Pork Chop is well cared for and loved.

BOSTON, MA — On Wednesday, a bouncer specially trained to detect variances in skin color and ethnicity was appointed by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to keep the whites away from a minority-only holiday party. "Whoa, whoa, buddy. Do I detect Scottish ancestry?" the bouncer said as he roughly grabbed white City Council Member Frank Baker. "Look at the sign! No Whites allowed!" To aid in his duties, the bouncer reportedly utilized a flashlight, a skin color card, and a background in anti-racist studies. Though white people weren't formally invited, invitations made their way to them by mistake. To maintain the...

Boston, Massachusetts, Mayor Michelle Wu (D) is defending her holiday party that excluded white city council members after receiving backlash when an invitation leaked online. Seven out of the 13 council members are white and were “uninvited” from Wu’s “Electeds of Color” gathering after they were mistakenly emailed an invitation, the New York Post reported. Wu admitted that white council members were accidentally invited to the party, which was meant to exclude them, but said it was an “honest mistake.” “We’ve had individual conversations with everyone so people understand that it was truly just an honest mistake that went out...

The economic and demographic shifts in California present significant hurdles. The departure of high earners, as you pointed out, strains the tax base, with a small fraction of taxpayers now carrying a hefty portion of the state’s budget burden. The exit of over a million taxpayers and the purported replacement with what you describe as “illegal fake refugees” introduce additional complications. Balancing immigration policies, economic stability, and resource management becomes a nuanced challenge for California’s leaders.

Vladimir Putin's annual end-of-year press conference was thrown into disarray after messages embarassing the Russian President appeared on screen. The 71-year-old was told to "quit" in multiple messages which apearred on giant screens behind him, while he was also accused of not living the same "reality" as the rest of the country. And in another bizarre turn during the event, an AI video of Putin even asked the President whether he used body-doubles to go about his duties. In total about two million questions were submitted for answering, according to state media. The annual press conference gives Russian journalist and...

Renewables are reaching the point where they are outcompeting fossil fuels on price — setting the stage for their predicted dominance of the energy sector by midcentury. When it comes to the surging demand for new electric generation, wind and solar prices are now the cheapest options almost everywhere, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Building new wind and solar projects is also cheaper than running existing coal plants, according to a report from Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan climate policy think tank. The fall in price has led to a global rush to install new wind and solar —...

@PU28453638 Alex Jones On War Room 🔥 Enjoy

Et tu, Kamala? In an incredible act of betrayal, the Vice President of the United States is now undercutting Joe Biden's support for Israel in its war against Hamas. Poor old Joe's got a full-blown insurrection on his hands. On Thursday night dozens of masked White House staffers stood outside the front gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and demanded an 'immediate ceasefire' by Israel. 'We are horrified to see the full resumption of killings, displacement and bombardment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,' the protesting bureaucrats wrote in their letter. Funny, though, they didn't mention which side broke the peace in...

One of two Florida burglary grand theft suspects with a long criminal history bragged that he would be out of jail shortly after his arrest before he realized he was taken into custody in a county where the law is enforced by a no-nonsense sheriff with a tough-on-crime platform. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said his deputies spotted a stolen Dodge Ram just after 1 a.m. Wednesday. The driver, identified as Tamari Lucas, 24, a Tampa resident, and a passenger eventually stopped the truck and fled on foot, authorities said. Lucas was arrested but the passenger was not found, Judd...

Ron DeSantis asked Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday to arrange a head-to-head debate that would allow the Florida governor to take on former President Trump. “Well, Sean, I don’t think we’ve spoken since that debate, and the reaction that I’ve gotten has been incredible in terms of obviously being able to show that freedom works, and the California model’s a failure, what that means for the country,” DeSantis said. DeSantis praised Hannity’s moderating skills and suggested he hold additional debates with either of his top competitors in the presidential primary

Attorneys for the spiritual adviser of a soon-to-be executed inmate filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the restrictions placed upon the adviser due to the method of execution are "hostile to religion." Officials with the Alabama Department of Corrections instructed the Rev. Jeff Hood that it could be dangerous to his health when he stands by Kenneth Eugene Smith in the execution chamber, according to a report. Smith is slated to be the first inmate in Alabama to be put to death via nitrogen gas, and Hood purportedly was asked to sign a waiver recognizing the risks that could arise...

There’s a new cruiser in town, and it’s from Chinese motorcycle manufacturer Jedi. We’ve talked about this brand on multiple occasions in the past, and back then, it seemed as though Jedi was all about sportbikes that looked like they were plucked out of the set of a Star Wars movie. Well, as it would turn out, Jedi’s branching out into cruisers, with its new 250 4L. For the record, the Chinese brand doesn’t have anything to do with Star Wars contrary to what its name suggests. In fact, its new 250 4L seems pretty underwhelming, especially when put in...