NewYorkPost

Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump case, donated to Biden campaign in 2020​

Apr 7, 2023

Judge Juan Merchan, the jurist handling former President Donald Trump’s criminal case in Manhattan, donated $35 to Democratic causes in 2020, including $15 to President Biden’s campaign and $10 to a group dedicated to “resisting … Donald Trump’s radical right-wing legacy.”

Federal Election Commission records show Merchan made three small-dollar donations within the span of two days in July 2020 through ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s preferred online fundraising platform.

Assumption #1: God knows all things past, present, and future; therefore, God knew that sin would exist even before the creation of Lucifer.
Assumption #2: God is love

Points to consider

1. God does not desire companion bots that love him instinctually.
2. God does not desire a choiceless "love."
3. God had reasons for proceeding with creation, even though He knew it would result in sin and suffering.

Since God is love, what does the existence of sin teach us about God's nature and Godly love?
What is God's ultimate goal?
What does the cross inform us about free will?
Can God be just without being merciful?
What does all of this say about the nature of God's wrath? (When the thing happens that God foreknew would happen, does God get mad?)

In addition to the alleged statements about service members generally, Trump has publicly insulted McCain, in particular, by calling him "not a war hero," and "I like people who weren't captured," according to footage on C-SPAN.

The military code of conduct was name, rank, and serial number. Trump has every right to refer to someone who went outside of that code (see the link below for a war time story on McCain) as "not a war hero." That's not an insult!
An unbiased fact checker organization should just say they found no record of Trump saying those words and not editorialize based on their own politics. This is the problem with fact-checkers in general.

A priest at a Michigan parish has resigned his post following a controversy over an “openly gay” author’s appearance at the parish parochial school’s pre-kindergarten class.

Father Thomas Held has resigned from the pastorship at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Beal City “effective immediately,” Diocese of Saginaw Bishop Robert Gruss said in a statement on Tuesday.

The parish and Held himself have been at the center of controversy since last month after area author Dominic Thrasher made an appearance at the parish’s school to read one of his children’s books, which are based on his family’s dogs.

Thrasher has identified himself as “openly gay.” About a week after he visited the school, the church’s Facebook page was updated with a message from Held in which he wrote that “a guest who does not represent the values of our Catholic faith read to our pre-k children” as part of a schoolwide reading program.

Continued below.

John 3:

1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

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Unlike some other Pharisees, Sadducees, and teachers of the law, Nicodemus was humble when meeting Jesus.

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

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Jesus introduced the concept of born-again. Naturally, Nicodemus wondered what it was about and asked an innocent question.

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit b gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

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After hearing Jesus' answer, Nicodemus still had trouble understanding the concept and followed up with a further innocent question.

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

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Nicodemus did not contradict Jesus. He seemed sincere in his questions.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?

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You are Israel’s teacher. You should have known. The idea can be found in the OT.

11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe;

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Nicodemus had not expressed unbelief. He merely raised questions, trying to understand what Jesus said. However, Jesus knew his heart: Nicodemus did not believe.

Jesus was more gracious in his encounters with, for example, the Samaritan woman at the well. Why didn't Jesus elaborate on his answer so Nicodemus could better understand born-again? The elaboration would have benefited us.

James 3:

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

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Nicodemus was an authoritative rabbi and was blessed with a lot of talents. Jesus expected more from him. Jesus expected him to believe immediately. Nicodemus was capable of it. That's why Jesus had more patience with the Samaritan woman than with him. He should have understood the idea of being born again quickly instead of questioning the words of Jesus.

In the end, Nicodemus did believe.

Pray that cooler heads prevails in regard to the military conflict between Israel & Iran:

Pray that a heathen lady named Holly comes to accept Jesus Christ as her Lord & Saviour

Iranian Press TV also reported that an explosion was heard “near Iran’s central city of Isfahan”, adding the cause of the blast was not yet known.
Reports of the explosion come hours after Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told CNN that if Israel takes any further military action against Iran, its response would be “immediate and at a maximum level.”

Iran's largest nuclear research complex is at Isfahan, I hope that was the target. I have previously posted on how Israel needs to take out Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities.

The January 6 Committee has been caught repeatedly embellishing events from that day, withholding evidence and witnesses from their findings, and utilizing the public hearings to launch political attacks against Donald Trump in an attempt to handicap his presidential campaign. If Trump wins I expect that we will have a much more transparent government and that there will be great efforts to deal with corruption. For those who have not committed serious crimes there should be no worries.

Would you please tell me what glue I should use to reattach this corpus to this crucifix? (See photo.) Could you link me to the product from Amazon.com? Could you tell me what materials these appear to be? (Is it olive wood and stainless steel?)

So why did not Christ make Adam and Eve SINLESS .

Check Gen 1:31 and it says that Christ made all CREATION , GOOD ?

your thoughts ?

dan p

Whitehouse.gov

DECEMBER 13, 2023

FACT SHEET: Accelerating the U.S. – Africa Partnership After the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit​

Since the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022, President Biden kicked off an extraordinary year of U.S. engagement with Africa and made progress in delivering on our high-profile commitments announced during the Summit. The Biden-Harris Administration is over-delivering on our commitment to invest $55 billion in Africa over three years.

The best aroma of spring imo. Several of my bushes are just starting to bloom.

Snopes​

Did Daughter of Judge in Trump Hush-Money Case Work for Harris, Biden Campaigns?​

The case pursued by the Manhattan DA is being handled by New York County Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.​

Alex Kasprak​

Published April 5, 2023​

Claim:
The daughter of the judge assigned to the hush-money criminal case of Republican former U.S. President Donald Trump worked for Democratic campaigns involving Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden.
Rating:

True
About this rating
Context
Judge Juan Merchan's daughter, Loren Merchan, was the director of digital persuasion for Kamala Harris' 2020 presidential campaign. His daughter has also worked, indirectly, for the Biden-Harris 2020 campaign through a communications firm that provides services for progressive campaigns.

Trump’s joint fundraising committee wrote three checks in February and one in March to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, totaling $411,287 and another in March to Trump National Doral Miami for $62,337, according to a report filed to the Federal Election Commission this week.

Trump has been doing it for years, shifting millions in campaign cash into his sprawling business empire to pay for expenses such as using his personal aircraft for political events, rent at Trump Tower and events at his properties, which has included hotels and private clubs.

The payments Trump’s campaign has made to his businesses ... have been growing in recent months.

The Trump campaign and affiliated political committees paid businesses owned by Trump at least $4.9 million since the start of 2023, according to an analysis by USA TODAY. Trump's various campaign committees and a super PAC controlled by his supporters also spent at least $809,000 at his properties since the beginning of last year.

The primary thing Trump’s businesses need to do is charge his campaign and PACs the same amount they would charge any other paying customer for the services. But there’s also an ethical question of whether the campaign and PACs could get a better deal somewhere else.

“How much are they charging? And to what extent are they putting people up who might be staying someplace else that might be cheaper?” Briffault asked. “You could imagine that there could be cheaper venues to these things, but they’re purposely holding them there.”

Other GOP candidates also have been spending considerable campaign cash at Trump properties. Ohio Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno's campaign spent $109,000 on "event catering" at Mar-a-Lago in April, December and January of 2023, records show. Trump endorsed Moreno in December. Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Jim Marchant's campaign spent about $67,000 at Mar-a-Lago on "event venue rental and catering" in November and December.

A suspect has been arrested for allegedly throwing a pipe bomb that damaged The Satanic Temple headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts, where investigators found a letter addressed, “Dear Satanist” at the scene last week, prosecutors announced.

Sean Patrick Palmer, 49, of Perkins, Oklahoma, was arrested Wednesday morning and has been charged with using fire or an explosive to damage a building used in interstate or foreign commerce during the April 8 incident, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said.

The letter reads, in part, “Elohim send me 7 months ago to give you peaceful message to hope you repent. You say no, Elohim now send me to smite Satan and I happy to obey,” according to the affidavit.

About 7 months ago, on September 11, the Satanic Temple headquarters was vandalized with Bible verses spray painted in white, according to the affidavit.

In a statement on the arrest Wednesday, The Satanic Temple expressed thanks to police and federal investigators and “profound gratitude to the Salem community for the outpouring of support we have received during this challenging period.”

Please note: This is an EV free zone.

Are you better off financially today than you were four years ago.

Hi everyone, I have been pondering this, but I am not sure if this is scriptural and legit or not. Let me know what you think! My question is this- when did God create the universe? I think the answer is- never! God created time! The bible does say that God created the heavens and the earth in 7 days and I believe that, but when were the 7 days? Space and time are connected, there is space-time and the space-time continuum. I believe the "heavens" described in the bible are the universe. What do you think of this?

When Asna Tabassum learned that USC had disinvited her from speaking at next month’s graduation, she hadn’t yet planned what she would say in her remarks, beyond that she would convey a message of hope.

University leaders who announced the decision Monday, after pro-Israel groups criticized a link on Tabassum’s Instagram page as evidence of her being antisemitic, didn’t know the theme of her speech because she hadn’t shared it with them, the class valedictorian said an interview with The Times on Tuesday.

In keeping Tabassum from giving a three- to five-minute speech in front of 65,000 people during the May 10 ceremony, USC Provost Andrew T. Guzman cited the need to “maintain campus safety and security.” The university alluded to unnamed threats but has not publicly detailed them.

The backlash against Tabassum, who was chosen as valedictorian by a university committee from nearly 100 applicants with GPAs of 3.98 or above, was unusual, even at a time of intense campus strife between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists, because it didn’t involve anything she said or did. The opposition appeared to stem mostly from a link on her Instagram profile to a website she did not create.

[And allegedly the actual college decision was based on 'safety', implying that it had nothing to do with her, but rather that if "anti-pro-Palestinian" (let's call them) groups complain loudly and threateningly enough, they can cancel speech on a college campus.]

Tabassum, who minored in resistance to genocide, suggested her opponents were mistaken about her views and her studies.

The program, an official minor at USC, requires students to enroll in five courses from a list that includes several on the Holocaust as well as on the Armenian genocide and other genocides, such as targeted killings of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.

--

On Tuesday, Joel Curran, USC’s senior vice president of communications, said the “final decision” on the matter rested with university President Carol Folt.

Folt was not available for an interview.

[I wonder if the scene of various college presidents being haled before Congressional subcommittees may have affected her thinking.]

my mom is having surgery please pray for her

I just don't think I have EVER seen any other President ilicit death threats from his supporters.

I certainly have my reasons and a lot of it has to do with his cult leader like strategies he uses subconsciously often I'm sure IMHO, but I'm curious of everyone else's thoughts.


Why is Trump seen by his supporters as more a savior than president? Is it just because he repeats ad nauseum that he is the only one who can save America and they believe him?

I'm sorry but this picture is not typical "support your politician " behaviour and it seems very common