Firstlightdawn said:

ake biodiversity in our own city. On the community page, some people want all the wild cats killed. I remind them what happened in Europe when they wiped out the cats — the Black Plague exploded and half the population died. That usually shuts the conversation down fast. Cats protect the food supply by keeping rodents in check.

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Yep. Some cities actually set up shelters for them in neighborhoods, and the neighbors often leave food and water for them. It's not that they kill all the rats; evidence shows that after a few killings, most of the rats get smart and leave for safer quarters.

Evidence shows that this is how cats became "domesticated." Humans had granaries; rats were attracted to them. Cats were attracted to the rats. Humans and cats realized that this could be mutually beneficial. It was more like friendly neighbors than family. Dogs and cats have different arrangements with humans; the similarity is that both of them seem to have been mutual understandings.

Good for them.
More people need to stand firm.

Spiritual Jew said:

I say so, also. You didn't address one single point that he made. You think you can just post a verse and the argument is won. You are very delusional. And your 40 years of studying these things seem to have all gone to waste because you seem to have no understanding of Bible prophecy whatsoever.

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Yes, I was interested in his arguments, indicating a true understanding of opposing viewpoints, but I'm not getting that. Echo Chamber for a single school of interpretation? A lack of creativity and an unwillingness to respect the viewpoint of others? Apparently.

Fantine said:

You do realize our workforce will be depleted, prices will rise, and tax revenues decreased because of the purging of immigrants, the overwhelming majority honest and hardworking.
I daresay most of them work harder in a week that our uninformed, impulsive, avaricious chief executive works in a whole year. I hope the good ones ride it out till we trade him in for a better model.

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Illegal immigrants provide a net negative fiscal impact on goverment budgets and the economy. And its very dangerous for all Americans to have people here undocumented. You want to come to American - then do it the right way.

rjs330 said:

If this is true, it is unacceptable. Period. Like what happens when we do DEI hires instead of competent people.

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ICE Unloads (interviews of actual ICE agents)

A long time ago, an emperor of Rome assigned a man to infiltrate the new religion of Christianity and report back if it was a threat. The man did as he was ordered and returned to the Emperor to report. His conclusion was that the important difference in Christians was the way they loved their neighbors. "See how they love each other."

Having fulfilled his duty, he left to become a Christian.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.

Ellesmere said:

View attachment 376901

Trump family says U.S. dollar needs an upgrade and they are the ones to do it

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Liberty Forum why they think the U.S. needs an alternative to the dollar.

www.cnbc.com

"The media's continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public's distrust in what they read. Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest."

"Through executive actions, supporting legislation like the GENIUS Act, and other common-sense policies, the administration is fulfilling the President's promise to make the United States the crypto capital of the world by driving innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans,"

- Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary .

**********************************************************************

Donald Trump's net worth has increased by 273% during his 1st year in office - largely based on his investments in crypto!

If this had been a Democratic President, Republicans would be screaming "DRAIN THE SWAMP" from the rooftops - but when its one of their own, "THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING!"

Apparently President Trump and congressional Republicans would have us believe that "THE SWAMP HAS BEEN DRAINED" and as his Press Secretary asserts, it would be "irresponsible" to "CONNECT THE DOTS" and come to the obvious conclusion = the President is actively engaged in a "CONFLICT OF INTERESTS!"

-Apparently we are to ignore the fact his stated goal was making the United States "THE CRYPTO CAPITOL OF THE WORLD" in which he made appointments and supported legislation aligned with the "CRYPTO INDUSTRY" - meanwhile, Trump was heavily invested, personally, resulting in a $4 billion profit in just 1 year!

President Trump, in his infinite wisdom, selected Paul Atkins, a consultant who has worked with the crypto industry, as his new chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the primary federal agency that supervises the financial sector.

The "CRYPTO INDUSTRY" spent hundreds of millions of dollars during the 2024 Election to ensure a "CRYPTO FRIENDLY" President and members of Congress who dutifully passed the "GENIUS ACT" - legalizing the use of "STABLECOINS," a digital currency that allows for almost instantaneous transfers between parties anywhere in the world!

From November 2024, when Trump was elected Until October 2025, "BITCOIN" nearly doubled in price registering a high of approximately $126,000!

Since then, however, it has experienced a succession of major downturns, decreasing in value by as much as 19% in one week - "BITCOIN" is currently trading at $66,344!

President Trump's net worth had actually increased from $2.5 billion to $7.3 billion from November 2024 until October 2025, but having experienced a $1.1 billion loss since November 2025, he was forced to be content with a mere 273% increase ($4 billion) since November 2024!

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https://www.npr.org/2026/01/01/nx-s1-5642654/trump-crypto-winter-bitcoin

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We should mention that the U.S. has seized enough bitcoins that the losses from last year are around 5 billion. Yes, by speculating your tax dollars the Trump administration has wasted 5 billion and counting.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

You might offer to help with something on the condition that if they yell at you, you will leave for the day.

Sometimes negotiation works to moderate behavior.

bling said:

What are you hearing others say?

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Very few replies as yet. Unqualified liked the post.

A former Canadian school board of trustees member who has been fined $750,000 over his public comments expressing opposition to the promotion of trans ideology in schools is appealing the decision.

In a decision issued Wednesday, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ordered former Chilliwack Board of Education trustee Barry Neufield to pay $750,000 for purportedly discriminating against trans-identified teachers and staff in the Chilliwack School District by expressing opposition to efforts to push gender confusion, and by expressing on social media his belief in the scientific reality that there are only two sexes.

The tribunal claims the astronomical fine is justified to compensate the LGBT-identified district employees for “injury to their dignity, feelings, and self-respect.”

Continued below.

California lawmakers are advancing legislation to bolster protections for churches and other houses of worship amid a rise in reported disruptions and intimidation at religious services across the state and nationwide.

Senate Bill 1070, introduced by state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, in collaboration with The American Council, would update the state’s penal code, which currently classifies intentional disturbances of religious worship as a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

The proposed bill would create a "wobbler" offense, giving prosecutors discretion to charge violations as either a misdemeanor or a felony based on severity, coordination or repetition. If passed, SB 1070 would expand California Penal Code Section 302 and impose felony penalties, including fines of up to $5,000 and 16 months in county jail.

Under current state law, disturbing a religious meeting by using profanity, misbehavior or unreasonable noise is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of up to a $1,000 fine and/or a year in county jail.

Continued below.

The desperately needed trade negotiations with Indian trade delegation was due to begin on Monday but has now been postponed indefinitely after US Supreme Court ruling on Trump’s tariff regime.

Has the recent decision against Trump Tariffs lost him all of his ‘cards’ in future negotiations?

Has Trump torpedoed the American Dream and its economic future?

This is the Devotional section.

Jeanine Pirro's office shelves pursuit of Democrats over social video, sources say​

Jeanine Pirro's office has decided to stop pursuing the case against six Democratic lawmakers who urged members of the military and intelligence communities in a social media video not to comply with unlawful orders, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Roughly two weeks ago, as first reported by NBC News, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., unanimously rejected an attempt by Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, to indict lawmakers over the video, illustrating that grand jurors didn’t think the government had passed even the low legal threshold of probable cause required to bring an indictment.

Legal experts and Democrats have criticized the unprecedented attempt to use the immense powers of the Justice Department to punish six members of Congress as a purely political attack on protected free speech and a sign that the guardrails that existed during the first Trump administration have been eroding.

Since the Watergate era, administrations of both parties have worked to varying extents to create a firewall between the Justice Department and the White House, allowing the president to broadly set his administration’s policy, but to steer clear of interference in prosecutorial decision-making or even communications that would create an appearance of impropriety.

Nowadays...

SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

wing2000 said:

Trump would not have been elected president in 2016, nor in 2024, without the support of the Evangelicals.

Peter Wehner writes:
The Calvin University historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez, the author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, challenges the commonly held assumption that the religious right backed Trump for only pragmatic reasons. She argues that Trump represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals’ most deeply held values. Kobes Du Mez’s book offers an account of 75 years of evangelical history, showing how the evangelical subculture worked for decades to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism.

The support for Trump was “the culmination of evangelicals’ embrace of militant masculinity,” she argues, and they condoned his “callous display of power.”

Where Did Evangelicals Go Wrong?

Jesus told us to love our enemies. And yet so many have embraced hostile politics in the name of Christianity.

www.theatlantic.com

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That's not meant to be compliment...

The fact that Brisbane, the Capital City of Queensland (Australia), was founded just over 200 years ago is not exacly a religious post. But I happen to live in Logan City just south of Brisbane.

Indirectly it owes its name to Captain Patrick Logan who was the first commandent of the new Settlement established in 1825.

Governor Bathurst wanted to move the most troublesome convictions from the area around Sydney which was originally settled by the First Fleet in 1788.

He thought transportation was no longer held in dread by convicts, who thought they might have long term prospects once their sentences were finished.

Moreton Bay in Southern Queensland which had been recently explored would be ideal as it was a long distance from Sydney. Even if they escaped, they had virtually no hope of getting back there.

So in September 1824, the Amity docked at Redcliffe Peninsula just north of Brisbane but it was found to be too inhospitable. So they moved to the present site of Brisbane City on the Brisbane River around May 2025, although the exact date is unknown.

Captain Patrick Logan was in charge. He was an efficient administrator, but he had a reputation for cruelty. Punishments of 140 lashes were common.

The oldest surviving building is the Tower Mill or Old Windmill on Wickham Terrace built during his rule. It had wind sails but the wind was not reliable. It deliberately included a treadmill which convicts trod to drive the millstones in shifts of up to 14 hours per day!

He was also an avid explorer and amongst other things discovered the Logan River, after which Logan City is named, along with place names such as Loganholme, Logan Reserve and Loganlea.

He was killed by aboriginals in 1830 to great rejoicing by the convicts who had borne the brunt of his vindictive cruelty.

So I live in Logan City on the Logan River ultimately named after an efficient, but sadistic commandent in Brisbane's earliest history, and the city of Brisbane itself was originally meant to be a place of suffering for hardened convicts.

In the 200 years since then, Brisbane has become the hub of "South East Queensland" with a population of about 4.2 million people, including the tourist hot spots of the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.

Now the news has just hit that a Trump Tower is proposed for the Gold Coast which will be the tallest building.


It looks like the "loser" convicts as Trump would call them started something two hundred years ago.

This was a Walz appointed judge who allowed bail even though she ordered a psychological evaluation of the suspect.

Jimmy Akin delivers an eye-opening inductive Bible study! He meticulously examines every single Bible verse containing the phrase “word of God” (nearly 50!) and uncovers a shocking truth: Scripture never uses the phrase to mean the Bible itself. Instead, it overwhelmingly refers to divine revelation through preaching, prophecy, commands, and Jesus himself. Prepare for a game-changing perspective on a term you thought you knew! Don't miss this deep-dive revelation.

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Bradskii said:

From here: France bans US envoy after no-show at meeting over killing of activist

Donald Trump’s ambassador to Paris has been banned from meeting French government ministers after failing to show up for a meeting at the foreign ministry to explain US comments about the killing of a far-right activist.

“In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission, the minister has requested that he no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.'

Just a heads up on Kushner's qualifications for the job.
1. He's Trumps son-in-law' father.
2. In 2005, Kushner, 71, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, making false statements and witness tampering.
3. He hired a sex worker to seduce his brother-in-law, who was testifying against him.
4. He spent 14 months in prison (and you'll never guess how he got out!).

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I dunno - sounds like a good representative of the MAGA administration.

More of His comfort..for Christians in Brunei.
- in the midst of persecution.

Michie said:

I really believe there’s never been a better time to feel justified in crediting God with creating the universe.

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There has never been a conflict between science and the bible, they are just two different ways God expresses Himself. Both are dependable, trustworthy and true.

I'm so confused.

Trump practically crooned that they had totally obliterated Iran's nuclear program.

But as Jon Stewart just said, "What happened? Did Iran suddenly 'rebliterate' their nuclear program?"

So America is going to have a war with Iran to develop some kind of moderated outcome? What some might call a deal?

Oh I get it. A former reality TV star thinks he can treat the US military like props in his show. He left the Iranian nuclear deal, practically crooning as he did so. Then he blames them for developing their own program, and totally destroys and obliterates the thing entirely. Then a few months later he sending a few battle groups into the Persian gulf to go to war with Iran because apparently he lied about obliterating and totally destroying the entire thing. And the outcome of all this?

A nuclear deal with Iran.

Ummmmmm......?

As we say in Australia when mimicking our own right wing muppet: "Please explain?"

Laura Wilkerson, whose son Joshua was tortured and killed by a classmate in the country illegally, said she first met Trump about 11 years ago and recounted telling him what happened to her son. “He watched as the tears rolled down my face as I told him the story of how our youngest son, Joshua, was brutally beaten, tortured, strangled to death, and his body set on fire,” Wilkerson said. “He never, ever, looked away from my pain. He looked me straight in the eye and he said, ‘I will never forget the story of your sweet son, and I will never give up fighting for the American family.’”

Love thy neighbor.

Servus said:

Stuff I should get done.

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A never-ending source of angst, that.