Worse than Antifa: Inside the new breed of ultra-extremist groups dedicated to chaos, violence — and even alleged murder ***caution - link contains video of vulgar language​

The far-left radical movement known as Antifa has been getting its own taste of cancel culture.

Just look at what happened on Aug. 19 in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. Masked, fist-clenched agitators belonging to the anarchist collective turned up to sow chaos — but locals banded together to confront the troublemakers, telling them to get lost.

Experts who track domestic terrorism and extremist movements aren’t surprised: Once the face of a grassroots leftwing insurgency, Antifa has lost its spark.

But experts warn that could be a dangerous thing — as the vacuum has given way to even more fringe and violent offshoots that are coalescing in the Marxist ether. And we’re only beginning to see the deadly fallout.

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Police respond to shooting at south Minneapolis church; multiple victims reported, shooter dead

Richfield police confirmed reports of 20 victims, adding that a man dressed in all black and armed with a rifle was reported at the scene.

Suspect ‘contained’ after shooting reported at Minneapolis Catholic school: authorities​

Authorities say a suspect has been “contained” after a shooting occurred at a Minneapolis Catholic school on Wednesday morning.

Gov. Tim Walz said on social media that he had been briefed on a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School, located on the city’s south side. Police told local news outlet KARE that an active shooter allegedly opened fire at Annunciation Church.

It’s unclear if students, who had their first day of classes on Monday, were in the church at the time. The pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school had an all-school Mass scheduled at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to its website.

'Young people are taking Jesus more seriously'

Prominent Christian apologist Cliffe Knechtle recently discussed the reality of spiritual warfare with Tucker Carlson, noting he discerns a growing spiritual hunger among many young people who have been left reeling amid moral relativism and personal brokenness.
"I am very excited the way young people are taking Jesus more seriously," said Knechtle, who has been preaching on college campuses for 45 years and serves as senior pastor at Grace Community Church in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Knechtle's viral exchanges with often hostile college students have swelled his YouTube channel "Give Me an Answer" to more than 890,000 subscribers.

During a wide-ranging, two-hour interview with Carlson released this week, the two discussed the nature of the spiritual war that has manifested in what they characterized as the unprecedented scale of moral relativism in modern society.

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A few months ago, around December 2024, I was deep in preparation for an exam I had been working towards for nearly a year. I felt confident in my abilities, and when school resumed after Christmas break, we began practice exams.


One of my bad habits is skipping meals whenever I feel like I have “more important” things to do, so I was often eating only once or twice a day in favor of studying. On one fateful exam day, my head started to feel light and I became short of breath. I removed my sweater, thinking it was just the heat, but then everything went black.


I woke up in the nurse’s office and was later taken to the hospital, where doctors told me my blood sugar was dangerously low because I wasn’t eating enough. I thought that was the end of it—but it wasn’t.


The very next morning, while doing my routine, I fainted again. This time it was worse: my body went stiff, my skin turned pale, and even though I could see and hear everything, I couldn’t move. I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been for those who witnessed it, thinking I had died right in front of them.


At the hospital, the doctors decided to run a scan—and what they discovered shocked me. I had been living with a tumor growing inside me for over 16 years, completely unnoticed. If it had remained any longer, I would have lost my life. I was rushed into emergency surgery, and by God’s grace, I recovered quickly.


By the time the real exam came, I was fully healed and able to write it unhindered. Looking back, I truly believe this was God’s way of ensuring all my efforts did not go to waste. If I had collapsed during the actual exam, I might not have had the chance for surgery and recovery.


Today, having received my results and passed with flying colors, I see clearly what the enemy was trying to stop. My destiny is in God’s hands, and His plans will always prevail. May the schemes of the devil never succeed in any of our lives.

Tellyontellyon also has a new thread about fasting but this is a bit different... (and since I'm a non-Christian I'm not allowed to post in his thread)

In the transfiguration Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah. It looks liked Elijah fasted for 40 days in 1 Kings 19.

Exodus 34:28a says "Moses was there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights. He didn’t eat any food or drink any water."

I wonder how that is possible... maybe he was drinking non-water drinks like milk?

And Jesus also fasted for 40 days. I thought it was interesting that all three of the people involved in the transfiguration had fasted for 40 days.

So 40 days is almost 6 weeks...

says:

The Irish hunger strikers of the early 1980s illustrated the outcome of unsupplemented, prolonged, absolute fasting. They only drank water, and it was clear after six weeks that all involved had sustained significant weight loss and were mortally ill. By seven weeks, all were dead.

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That's 49 days...

So it seems 40 days is very dangerous. Do Christians think that God was supernaturally helping those people in the Bible who fasted for 40 days?

Shalom

Can you pray for my children Quirin (10) and Levin (7), who are growing up with their mother and their new partner, that the Lord protects them from all evil and raises them to be upright, honest, and strong individuals in Jesus' name?

"Train up a child in the way he should go, so when he is old he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:6

Thank you for your prayers!

May the Lord bless you abundantly (Luke 6:38, Job 42:10) and may He bless Israel in Jesus' name. Amen!

Soli Deo Gloria

PS And I pray that the Lord will send out harvesters into His harvest (Matthew 9:38).

I am reaching out to ask for your prayers as I try to rebuild my life after a very difficult year. I have faced the pain of broken relationships, financial hardship, and even a time of homelessness.

At the moment, I have no income, though I do receive food stamps, and I am grateful to have stable housing through a subsidized apartment. I am waiting to hear back about SSI benefits I reapplied for, but I am uncertain whether I should focus on that or try to reenter the workforce, which is difficult in my small town without a car.

I am also in a committed relationship that means a great deal to me. Although we have been through many trials and challenges, I have never met someone who understands me and loves me the way he does. I feel very strongly about building a life with him, even though the road has not been easy.

Since going through all of this, I have often felt lost, confused, and at times hopeless about the future, as if the obstacles before me are insurmountable. Yet, I am doing my best to remain faithful and to follow God’s will.

Please pray for me—for strength, healing, mental health, and clarity. Please also pray that the resources I need may become available, whether through a person to guide me, a loan, or some other form of help, so that I can begin rebuilding my life with hope.

Thank you for your prayers. You will be in mine as well.

Here is a structured overview of the ten U.S. cities with the highest violent crime rates in 2025, along with the political affiliations of their state governors and city mayors:

Top 10 Crime Cities in the U.S. (2025)​

Note: Crime rates are based on FBI and local law enforcement data for 2024–2025. Figures are rounded and may vary slightly by source.

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Observations​

• Governors: 6 of these cities are in Republican-led states, despite many being urban Democratic strongholds.
• Mayors: 9 of the 10 cities are led by Democratic mayors, with Detroit’s mayor having shifted to an independent stance.
• Regional Trends: High-crime cities often reflect deep-rooted socioeconomic challenges, including poverty, housing instability, and under-resourced policing—not merely partisan governance.

The Association of US Catholic Priests (AUSCP) held its annual meeting in San Antonio, TX, this past June. The theme of this year’s Assembly was “Sexuality and Spirituality: Pastoral Approaches.” Audio recordings of these meetings – provided exclusively to the Lepanto Institute – reveal priests openly discussing self-pleasure, and even blasphemously suggesting that such an act could be considered a form of prayer.

The Lepanto Institute has been reporting on the AUSCP for nearly a decade, tracking its promotion of:

• women’s ordination,
• homosexuality and transgenderism,
• priestless parishes,
• heretical notions of the Holy Eucharist,
• the normalization of general absolution in place of personal confessions.

A full catalogue of our reports on the AUSCP can be found, here.

Opening this year’s Assembly, Fr. Ron Rolheiser – a professor of theology and philosophy at the Oblate School of Theology – spoke on the question of how priests should “work with” concerns pertaining to sexuality and spirituality. His talk covered homosexuality, masturbation, transgenderism, and questions pertaining to mortal sin and worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist.

“The audio file we received was shocking,” said Michael Hichborn, president of the Lepanto Institute. “We heard priests admitting to being homosexual, admitting to masturbating, and in one case, a priest even said that he ‘thanks God’ for the gift of being able to pleasure himself sexually. And in the face of these admissions, Fr. Rolheiser refused to condemn such acts as intrinsically and gravely sinful.”

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most of the times its working uploads ,trying to find a powder bullet combination that makes for the smallest groupings . it does not always work ,why will drive ya nuts . thoughts of competition shooting tug at me but there's no money in it

Is anyone else concerned about the rise of 'modern' conditions that grip lives and ensnare them in pharmaceutical dependence at great expense ?

In our country - just to get an official diagnosis for ADHD from a Psychiatrist will cost you around $2000. This is required before you get access to any med's.

Stepping back - this generation is subject to more stress than any other since WW2.

It seems the human condition trying to survive under pressure shuts down as a survival response.

These 'symptoms' are picked up by the medics and bingo another serious source of profit.

At the same time, believers have access to the redemption of the soul through the Cross, including healing and deliverance - but not many seem to access this because the modern theology has moved on from these 'archaic beliefs'.

"Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed" is rarely activated.

Am I the only one concerned about this ?

For what purpose did Jesus fast for..? What is the Christian understanding of what his particular purpose was?

What happens when 19 year olds are running the show...

The U.S. DOGE Service uploaded a copy of Americans’ Social Security data to the digital cloud, risking the security of critical personal information for more than 300 million people, a whistleblower in the agency alleged.

Chief Data Officer Charles Borges raised concerns that DOGE staffers bypassed safeguards, circumvented a court order and created a copy of the Social Security Administration’s entire collection of data on the U.S. public on the cloud. Borges said the SSA had no oversight of who had access to the file.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/26/social-security-data-cloud-whistleblower/

I tried to find an article with a clip with the least profanity.

I recently came across a video where a Christian woman was discussing the topic of people - mostly women - practicing witchcraft on men who unintentionally piqued their interest and have fallen victim to these demonic wiles. I already was aware of witchraft in the world but this was a rude reminder for me. We need to be more vigilant, especially about who we allow into our lives as prospective partners - You never know if they are in their room writing your name on the bottom of a leaf or something! However, true Christians are given unpentrable protection against the kingdom of darkness. As a believer, witchcraft cannot work on you unless you open a door through fear, sin, or unbelief.
Psalm 91:5 : "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day"


Thus, we must remain vigilant and fervent in faith.

Baptist church elder says books included depiction of 6-year-old performing sex act

The leadership of a Baptist church in Kentucky says they support members of their congregation who choose to “not return” certain library books that contain LGBT-related themes, but denies the movement is a “church directive.”

Reformation Church of Shelbyville (RCS), located about 30 miles east of Louisville, says it all began in June 2024, when a family attending the church discovered more than a dozen “sexually perverse books,” prompting a video response from RCS evangelist Tanner Cartwright warning about the books. Many of the titles listed, according to RCS, promoted transgenderism and homosexuality, including My Two Dads by Claudia Harrington, Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, and Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, by Susan Kuklin, which, said the church, includes a story of a 6-year-old child performing oral sex.

At the time, RCS asked for permission from the Shelby County Public Library to hold a “Pastor’s Story Hour” event, but that request was denied. However, the church said it “took that well, because the reason given would also make a Drag Queen Story Hour improbable. We should have known there was something more to it.“

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Trump opens door to 600,000 Chinese students amid Beijing trade talks​

Move reverses previous administration plans to revoke visas for Chinese nationals​

Donald Trump said 600,000 Chinese students would be allowed into the U.S. to study at colleges amid ongoing trade talks with China.

Speaking at the White House Monday, the president's announcement signals a potential thaw in U.S.-China relations after escalating tariffs and restrictions on Chinese students.

In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced plans to "aggressively revoke" visas for Chinese nationals, particularly those tied to the Communist Party or sensitive research fields.

Trump has since shifted tone, telling reporters in June that he has "always been in favor" of welcoming students from China.

He's got 'em right where he wants 'em.

It all started one night around 2:39am. Normally, if I was up at that time, I’d just be scrolling through TikTok watching funny or random things. But that night was completely different. Slowly, my For You page began to fill with Christian content—prayers, people preaching about repentance, testimonies of children seeing Jesus, warnings that the end times are near, worship songs, and people spreading the gospel. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but then something unusual happened: I started to cry. I couldn’t explain it because the normal reaction would have been just to watch and maybe praise God quietly, but tears began to roll down my face, and I even felt the urge to stand up and dance when a worship song came on.


This had never happened to me before. And it wasn’t just the content—it was the timing. I had recently made the decision to stop reading fanfiction and listening to secular music, and earlier that same day, I had even been curating a Christian music playlist for myself. Now here I was, in the middle of the night, unexpectedly overwhelmed with tears, praise, and conviction.


Then it hit me. I remembered how I had been praying for God to speak to me. Many times I had felt like I was just talking to myself in prayer—like I was pouring my heart out, but the days went by with nothing changing. I had prayed and prayed, asking God to talk to me the way I talk to Him. And now, out of nowhere, He did. That night was proof that God hears even when it feels like silence.


The craziest part is that I can’t even explain it away. I can’t say it happened just because I cut out fanfiction or secular music, because even before then—back when I was still lukewarm—God had given me dreams and visions. So, this encounter wasn’t about me earning it; it was about God’s grace.


For the first time in my life, I willingly stayed awake until almost 5am just watching testimonies, worship, and repentance videos, feeling driven in a way I’ve never felt before. And then, the very next day, when I opened TikTok again, there was nothing. Not a single trace of those Christian videos. It was as if that flood of content had only been meant for that one night—as if God had chosen that exact time to reach me.


Looking back, I realize I used to envy people who could share encounters with God, who had stories of visions, conviction, or special encounters that strengthened their faith. But now, it’s me. God chose to meet me personally, to answer my prayers in such a direct way, and to remind me that He is real, that He listens, and that He is calling me closer.

The co-founder of the largest free online encyclopedia in the world is signaling his plans to convert to Christianity after spending most of his adult life as a religious skeptic.

In a thread posted to X on Thursday, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger announced his intention to “seek to be confirmed in early September into the Anglican Church of North America.” Sanger quipped that he was “fairly sure they’ll let me in.”

Sanger explained why he decided to join the Anglican Church, noting, “I attended a local ACNA church last Sunday, and I absolutely loved the liturgy, which I found deeply spiritual, as well as the fellowship.”

He added, “It helps that the liturgy is all on overhead projectors, and the acoustics are such that I could actually hear the sermon if I turned my hearing aids all the way up.”

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For the sake of this post...
anti-abortion are those who are against abortion.
pro-abortion are those who are fine with abortion for any reason.

When any abortion happens a growing baby dies.
And even though you may not have an abortion yourself, if you support that others can if they choose, that's still being for abortion since a dead growing baby is the result.
Adoption is an option if a woman doesn't want her son or daughter. There are plenty of people willing to adopt unwanted babies.


Do you consider yourself anti-abortion or pro-abortion?

Most of the news these days about Democratic candidates for public office focuses on a singular figure, Zohran Mamdani, running for mayor of New York. The suddenly popular 33-year-old member of the state legislature captured 56% of the vote in the Democrats’ ranked choice primary in June. He has drawn such descriptors as “socialist” or even “communist,” attracting the sobriquets after media-magnet comments on the abolition of the New York Police Department and the creation of city-run grocery stores and free public transit. Mamdani’s stances continue to draw new contenders into the mix as November’s election looms little more than 10 weeks away.

Whatever term fits best, and as senior Democrats wrestle with the question of whether Mamdani’s big government philosophy will hurt the party in more moderate locales in 2026, candidates in the nation’s handful of closely contested races are going out of their way to strike a temperate tone. Next year’s House, Senate, and state (most of them) elections are still 14 months away, but the narratives are already shaping up as appeals to everyday concerns in a national and global economy whose defining shape isn’t completely clear. One thing, however, does seem to be acquiring clarity — that is, will the 2026 Democrats amend their views on social policies like abortion and transgenderism? The answer so far appears to be no.

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You almost have to wonder if the Democratic Party is secretly trying to lose.

Because if they aren’t, then boy, they sure are doing a convincing impression of a political death spiral.

Let’s start with the numbers. In just four years, Democrats have bled more than two million registered voters across the 30 states that actually track registration. Republicans? We’ve gained 2.4 million. That’s not a rounding error — that’s a seismic shift. Combine that with their approval rating scraping the bottom of the barrel — 35-year lows according to the Wall Street Journal, and one poll dropping them to a jaw-dropping 19 percent — and you’ve got a party that should be in full-on panic mode.

But instead of course-correcting, they’re doubling down on everything that got them here.

Case in point: their big summer strategy meeting. You’d think, given the polling, given the hemorrhaging of voters, they’d open with a laser-focused plan to fix the economy, tackle crime, or maybe — just maybe — talk about the border crisis Americans keep screaming about. But nope. They kicked things off with a “land acknowledgment.” Because nothing says “we hear you” to struggling families like a symbolic lecture about indigenous territory before diving into more Trump-bashing.

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I touched upon this question in another thread I made, but I feel this question deserves its own thread.

While the topic of heaven is part of this thread, I am not really looking at this as a religious/secular debate.

There is some debate about the nature of heaven. For this thread, I am asking people to imagine a place with zero pain and suffering. Especially the concept of heaven before the fall.

Are you able to imagine love in such an environment? Ever since I was a kid I have tried to imagine love in such a place but I have always psychologically seen no connection. Intellectually I believed there was love, but I could never understand it and assumed God would grant us this knowledge when we go up there.

The concepts of care, and sacrifice require an environment with pain and suffering, even if only potential.

Curiously I have seen other people ponder heaven before and they seem to exhibit the same confused look. Although the subject of love was never directly addressed. There does seem to be some disconnect imagining a place with zero pain and suffering.

I didn't notice just love, but that things like drama we love in media like films, videogames and music also make no sense.

Are you able to psychologically and emotionally process such an environment? Even if you can, do you feel like so many perspectives here in this fallen would would be gibberish in heaven?

What appears to be a ripple in space, is today’s Picture of the Week depicting a newborn planet eating its way through its dusty cradle as it orbits its host star. This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, is the first clear detection of a baby planet in a disc with multiple rings.