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essentialsaltes · Jul 6, 2025

Landon Caeli said:
MAGA does not like the Taliban, or even Afghanistan.

Some MAGA types don't think Afghanistan is all that bad. Much improved, a thriving economy and safe for erstwhile refugees who no longer need refuge.

DHS Terminating Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan

DHS Secretary Noem:  “We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation. Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country."

The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to ongoing-armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions. She further determined that permitting Afghan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to the national interest of the United States.

See also:

Afghan Christian refugees facing deportation still in limbo; advocate rejects claim it's safe to return

A woman advocating for around two dozen Afghan Christian refugees facing deportation who attend her North Carolina church has pushed back against the Trump administration's assertions that conditions in Afghanistan have improved enough for them to return and is still looking for someone in...

www.christianforums.com

and

essentialsaltes said:
Afghan ally detained by ICE after attending immigration court hearing
Naser was legally paroled into the U.S in 2024, according to his lawyer, Brian McGoldrick. In addition to an active asylum case, he has a pending Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) case because of his long history supporting the U.S. military. SIVs are provided to foreign nationals who worked with U.S. military forces in war zones including Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Naser has no criminal record in the U.S. or Afghanistan, according to court records reviewed by CBS News.

As part of his asylum process, Naser was required to attend an in-person hearing last week in front of a judge and a lawyer from the Department of Homeland Security. But when Naser showed up to court, the DHS lawyer said that his case was "'improvidently issued."

"'Improvidently issued' is becoming ICE's new catch-all — a vague, unchallengeable justification being used to clear dockets and meet removal and detention quotas," said VanDiver. "It's being weaponized to put lawful, parole-compliant asylum-seekers in cells."

LizaMarie · Jul 6, 2025

ralliann said:
Gulag? Come on!
You do realize these people are being offered money and transportation expenses to self deport don't you? That is quite kind. Those caught who refuse this, should be deported, and have no more opportunity for citizenship ever. Nothing wrong with that.

I am talking about shipping people to a gulag in El Salvador, with no due process and no way to get out. I have no problem with those here illegally being deport to their country of origin. Now a group of men were shipped to South Sudan, none of whom are originally from that country, to a prison there. What was wrong with sending back to their countries of origin?
Again, I have no problem with securing the border, the remain in Mexico policy, most people want to see that enforced.

ralliann · Jul 6, 2025

LizaMarie said:
All persons on American soil have the right to due process due to the 5th and 14th amendment. It is true that non citizens do not have the same rights as citizens. But people being grabbed off the street and thrown in a gulag reminds me more of North Korea not the US.

Gulag? Come on!
You do realize these people are being offered money and transportation expenses to self deport don't you? That is quite kind. Those caught who refuse this, should be deported, and have no more opportunity for citizenship ever. Nothing wrong with that.

ralliann · Jul 6, 2025

Valletta said:
The rhetoric has been against ILLEGAL immigration, not against immigrants. Democrats have had a horrible history in preventing immigrants who faced persecution, particularly in communist countries, from coming to America. They denied the genocides that were going on and sometimes even praised brutal communist regimes. Many died who should have been admitted into our country. In this situation they wanted future Democrat votes, so they illegally swamped the country with 10 million plus during the Biden regime, which enriched the cartels and gangs (who gained a much stronger foothold in America) and brought slavery (human trafficking) to levels not seen since the Civil War. For years Democrat leaders flat out lied and said they borders were safe, secure, and closed. If there were real justice all of those who enabled the illegal immigration would be stripped of citizenship and banished from our country and made to reapply while immigrants took their place here. I feel sorry for the good ones who were lured in. But unfortunately we need to enforce the law and make everyone apply legally for citizenship. Trump and conservatives are pro-immigration, but against illegal immigration.

They also did not want Cubans. They were conservative people escaping Castro.

Akita Suggagaki · Jul 6, 2025

ARBITER01 said:
Does it say infallible?

Doesn't "God breathed" imply that? To many it does.

I don't think so. Nor do I think 2 Timothy is referring to his own writing.

Belk · Jul 6, 2025

rjs330 said:
Thats local jails for misdemeanor arrests. Thats not prison for felonies. No one is in prison for smoking weed.

In some states weed is still illegal. So what if you are in the local slammer for it. Its illegal. If you want a discussion on whether ir not weed should be legalized take it up with your local legislators.

Prisons are state or federal prisons for state felonies or Federal offenses.

No one is in prison for smoking weed.

No, those numbers are based on long term confinement and specifically exclude those localy jailed for misdemeanors which is part of why the guesstimate is so low.

The most glaring issue centers around “who” they define as a cannabis prisoner. Both reports only speak to the number of people held in long-term confinement in state and federal facilities. They do not account for the following categories of people.

people incarcerated in local and county jails (a significant number, given that there were 545,602 arrests for cannabis in 2019).

Akita Suggagaki · Jul 6, 2025

ARBITER01 said:
You didn't answer the question, but let me answer it for you,.... it doesn't.

Many will tell you it is God breathed. From 2 Timothy 3:16

rjs330 · Jul 6, 2025

Belk said:
That you have not heard of something is the definition of an argument from ignorance. Best guesstimate I could find is 40K based on simple possession.

Exactly How Many People Are Locked Up For Weed?

Last Prisoner Project dives into different data sources to estimate the number of people currently incarcerated for cannabis.

www.lastprisonerproject.org

Thats local jails for misdemeanor arrests. Thats not prison for felonies. No one is in prison for smoking weed.

In some states weed is still illegal. So what if you are in the local slammer for it. Its illegal. If you want a discussion on whether ir not weed should be legalized take it up with your local legislators.

Prisons are state or federal prisons for state felonies or Federal offenses.

No one is in prison for smoking weed.

Jamdoc · Jul 6, 2025

PesachPup said:
I don't have time (right now) to give a long reply, but let me point out an issue that I have with your view.
In verse 16 out says that "by HIS hand, shall he consume the glorious kingdom". But in verse 19 that " he shall stumble and not be found". They can't be the same person... if he is replaced by a "raiser of taxes".

Verses 1-20 focus on the KOS.

While 21- end of ch.11 focuses on the KON.
In verse 25: "he stirs up his courage against the KOS..
In verse 40: "the KOS shall push at him..."

I will wait for your reply to say anything further.
Be Blessed
The PuP

the Glorious Kingdom is Israel.

the shift from King of the South to King of the North begins in verse 13, where the subject changes

There's a chain of succession:
King -> Raiser of Taxes -> Vile Person.

in verse 25

25 And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him.

If he's moving against the King of the South, then the King replaced by the raiser of taxes and then the vile person can't be the King of the South, it has to be the King of the North.
The King of the North is never again mentioned after verse 19 until verse 40 when apparently there's a new King of the North (or the old one found?) and the King of the South both move against the Vile Person (so the idea that Antichrist ever has total control of everything doesn't seem to line up, multiple nations reject him and fight against him).

ralliann · Jul 6, 2025

SabbathBlessings said:
I choose to believe God when the Sabbath started, He spoke it He wrote it, and since He is our Creator of both man and the Sabbath and everything else, I will continue to place my faith in Him.

Exo 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

There was no command, as you said. Geesh! Besides we were talking about HEBREWS and the REST foreshadowed in Joshua.

LizaMarie · Jul 6, 2025

All persons on American soil have the right to due process due to the 5th and 14th amendment. It is true that non citizens do not have the same rights as citizens. But people being grabbed off the street and thrown in a gulag reminds me more of North Korea not the US. Yes Democrats and Republicans should work together but they don’t sadly they would rather blame each other than actually fix the problem. There was a bill that would have gone a certain ways toward fixing the problem but Trump pressured the Republicans in Congress to reject it so he could run against the Biden administration’s terrible record on immigration

keith99 · Jul 6, 2025

ozso said:
Based on satellite view, the summer camp is a group of bungalows and other buildings alongside a highway. There are even tennis courts. It's the kind of place where 99.9% of the time nothing ever happens and usually the biggest threat from nature is mosquitos.

I worked with the YMCA as a camp leader for several years, which included a couple of times as an assistant director. I went to camp as a camper for years before that. Because of professional staff transferring to advance I worked with over a half dozen different YMCAs.

The campers and parents may have been blissfully unaware of emergency plans, but they existed. Being in California the top of the nature against us list was fire. First day always had a fire drill. Only once did a drill go poorly. It was repeated. If the second try had gone poorly the 3rd would have been an alarm going off between 2 and 3 in the morning.

The typical Y camp lasted a week at a site with 20 cabins that each held 10-12 people. The kids were bussed in. The cabin leaders were on the same busses. There would be at most a dozen cars on site. Not even close to what would be needed to evacuate. But plans were in place. for one camp that meant that each week on the day kitchen and other staff had off that activity was a mass hike out the back trail. The kids (and 90% of the staff) had no idea that it was the weekly test of the very bad case of walking out with a fire closing in.

The range of ability among directing staff was huge, and that included outright incompetence.

One potential issue was kids sneaking off to the camp next door. I was spared that. It looks like the potential was there in this setup.

A lot of what I am seeing about the storm predictions are from 4-5 in the morning. Based on Socal fire planning that is far too late.

The good camp directors would have been up all night listening to the latest forecasts.

BTW I would not expect campers or even leaders to have cell phones. Expensive stuff at summer camp has always led to theft problems and with cell phones, part of the idea is to get away from the digital world.

rjs330 · Jul 6, 2025

essentialsaltes said:
The National Weather Service warned of “life-threatening flooding” along the river in a series of alerts in the early morning hours. But questions remain about how many people they reached, whether critical vacancies at the forecast offices could have affected warning dissemination, and if so-called warning fatigue had been growing among residents in a region described as one of the most dangerous in the country for flash flooding.

The two Texas NWS offices most closely involved in forecasting and warning about the flooding on the Guadalupe River — Austin-San Antonio and San Angelo — are missing some key staff members, but still issued a slew of watches and warnings about the flood danger.

The question is whether the warnings reached who they needed to reach.

Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the NWS employees’ union, told CNN that while he believes the offices had “adequate staffing and resources,” the Austin-San Antonio office is missing a warning coordination meteorologist — a role that serves as a crucial, direct link between forecasters and emergency managers.

The first warning for “life-threatening flash flooding” for Kerrville came at 1:14 a.m., and was marked specifically to trigger the Emergency Alert System. It would have sounded the alarm on cell phones in the warned area, assuming those phones had service, and their users hadn’t turned off EAS weather alerts.

The NOAA official defended the National Weather Service forecasts, and said the disaster ultimately resulted from too much rain in too short of time in one of the most vulnerable spots in the country for flash flooding, and in the overnight hours — the worst time of day to get warnings to people in harm’s way.

The [Trump 2026 request] budget seeks to eliminate all of NOAA’s weather and climate research labs along with institutes jointly run with universities around the country. The entire research division of NOAA would be eliminated under the proposal, which is subject to congressional approval.

One of the NOAA labs slated to be shut down is the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, Oklahoma, which works to improve flash flood forecasting among other hazards from severe thunderstorms.

Once again, no claim from any offices involved that this happened due to any cuts or losses.

Man, how many times does it have to be said?

Clare73 · Jul 6, 2025

trophy33 said:
Empty words. After it has been proven that Gospels are not perfect,

My faith is not based in their human "perfection". . .

ralliann · Jul 6, 2025

Fantine said:
It is the authoritarian dictatorial model of communism or socialism that is so negative.

It is about power. Giving power over to "Government". Why would people want that? Seems to me they like all that power.

Fantine said:
The authoritarian dictatorial model of capitalism is just as negative, or even more so. It is taking control from the votes of the people and ceding it to callous amoral leaders who do not have our best interests at heart.

In other words the people are incapable of looking to their own interest? These others know better than they what is best for them? Seems like right there you have those who think the people are inept and need a certain class to control?

Fantine said:
Our government in its current form and its current leadership is every bit as vulnerable to abuse of power as the communism and socialism you describe.

As long as freedom of speech continues ,and the vote is not corrupt "we the people can choose who has power to do what.

rjs330 · Jul 6, 2025

JosephZ said:
If you would have read beyond the first paragraph of the article I quoted earlier in the tread, you would have read that staff shortages at the NWS and the inability to coordinate with local officials in a timely manner were an issue.

I cant read the article, pay wall. But that being said NO ONE IN THE KNOW HAS CLAIMED rhat shortages was a cause for the people getting caught in this flood. NO ONE. Anyone teying to make this claim is either lying or speculating due to political positioning.

GracetoYoufromMe · Jul 6, 2025

My reply to your Part 2:

>I have yet to meet anyone among the brethren who has personally led an unbeliever to faith in Jesus Christ.
I think everyone in my family has, even my 21 yo son who was just saved 1.5 years ago! To our shame we’re not turning the world upside down, but we do have a heart for the lost.

>One of my closest friends, who bemoans the lack of evangelism, has never led anyone to faith in Christ.
What a stunning lack of self-awareness.

>At what point can one say with absolute certainty that another individual is saved?
That’s a good point…we can’t judge hearts so we can’t know for sure, but there should be a clear testimony at least, even if it’s just “I don’t know who He is but one thing I do know: I was blind, but now I see.”

>What works must one do to merit "fellowship"?
For the open brethren, I can’t imagine works would be required, but a clear testimony and no known open and unrepentant sin. I don’t think it’s an effort to maintain complete purity, else no one would be allowed in fellowship including the elders, but it is reasonable to attempt to prevent unbelievers and unrepentant believers being guilty of the body and blood of the LORD.

>nothing I could do or say that would ever admit me into "fellowship" other than to provide a stirring testimony of having been born again following a stirring sermon at the hall which gave me visions of burning in hell forever.
It’s so interesting that you noticed this – I did too in the tight meeting in Maine! It seemed to be a requirement of their testimonies that there be an immense and intense spiritual battle. I had more of a “Damascus road” experience when I was saved and I sometimes wondered what they thought of that.

>One teenage chap would go outside to smoke during the meetings, along with his mates.
The teenagers in our meeting would do their homework. But they were good kids, and most if not all have made professions of faith and are in fellowship now as young adults.

Fervent · Jul 6, 2025

Hentenza said:
For your left camp it is all about entitlements. Secondly I premised my argument a few posts back with those that are able bodied to work. I called it a subset. I have no problems taking care of the actual poor so your attacks are unfounded.

My examples are neither left nor right, and your characterization says more about your positions than my own.

Hentenza said:
That is one big assumption you have there. Why don’t you try to bring some evidence next time. Example, most convenience stores are actually small to medium businesses. They have all sorts of business needs.

My earlier post addressed that to a subset of people a safety net can create a benefit cliff further perpetuating their poverty cycle.

Somehow I suspect your concern in that regard is...insincere. Especially since the poverty cycle is largely reinforced by restrictions that a lack of safety nets creates, such as inability to access public educational resources due to immediate needs and the ability to be selective about opportunities and only take those that best serve their interests.

Hentenza said:
There you go.

The benefits cliff, explained

Why is the benefits cliff issue so hard to address? And what are some communities doing to take on the problem in the face of that challenge?

fedcommunities.org

THe problem with ideas like this is they operate in the realm of hypothetical and serve little function other than to villainize the poor for their crime of not being born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

Jeff Saunders · Jul 6, 2025

Clare73 said:
"Cosmos" and "world" are the same Greek word (kosmos).

Cosmos means the whole universe, world is just this planet, there is a difference. I will ask again, show me in scripture or a dictionary that cosmos has two definitions like you said.

Jamdoc · Jul 6, 2025

tranquil said:
The 4 kings start after Dan 10:1's 'great conflict'. This would be WWI, not the Islamic Revolution. In other words, Khamenei is this 4th king.

I don't see anything about a great conflict in Daniel 10. The only conflict in Daniel 10 was the "Prince of Persia" held the Angel from coming to deliver the message to Daniel for weeks, and Michael had to help fight him.
But that's nothing to do with WW1, THAT was something that happened in Daniel's day. the Vision Daniel needed understanding of however, was NOT for Daniel's day but is for a future time, which is stated in Daniel 10:1.

Hentenza · Jul 6, 2025

Fervent said:
It's not about entitlements, anymore than God commanding leaving the fields for the poor to glean or caring for them through the tithes was entitlements.

For your left camp it is all about entitlements. Secondly I premised my argument a few posts back with those that are able bodied to work. I called it a subset. I have no problems taking care of the actual poor so your attacks are unfounded.

Fervent said:
Small to medium companies tend to have exceedingly limited employment needs, most hardly need more than owner-operation.

That is one big assumption you have there. Why don’t you try to bring some evidence next time. Example, most convenience stores are actually small to medium businesses. They have all sorts of business needs.

Fervent said:
We're getting a bit far afield from the topic at hand, as the make-up of the job market isn't really relevant to whether or not we should create safety nets or whether or not those who rely on such programs are just no-good lazy moochers.

My earlier post addressed that to a subset of people a safety net can create a benefit cliff further perpetuating their poverty cycle.

Fervent said:
You're the one making the claim, so I'll leave you to prove your statements. In the mean time, I'll simply believe that you are just looking for an excuse to blame them for suffering rather than recognizing the real sociological and economic barriers that lead to the need for safety nets.

There you go.

How safety net benefits discourage the escape from poverty

A new research paper from GCO shows the ways social safety-net programs provide critical support but also discourage career advancement.

foropportunity.org

BelieveItOarKnot · Jul 6, 2025

2PhiloVoid said:
letting people off the hook

When were you let off the hook or made sinless?

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DHS Terminating Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan​

Afghan ally detained by ICE after attending immigration court hearing​

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DHS Terminating Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan

Afghan ally detained by ICE after attending immigration court hearing