Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Venezuela’s Maduro closes Brazil border to block aid entry ~ Socialist tyrants never actually care about the people – beyond their value as willing pawns ~

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — As a showdown looms over humanitarian aid destined for Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro closed off his country’s border with Brazil, vowing on Thursday to block the emergency food and medicine that has rallied his opponents and which he claims is part of a U.S.-led coup plot.

 
Federal Reserve Confesses Sole Responsibility For All Recessions ~ Between printing money (“quantitative easing”) and manipulating interest rates, it’s all a precarious juggling act – with trillions at risk. No worries though ~

It’s not every day that the Fed admits total culpability for the death of every expansionary period. Nor that it admits that the inflation its expansionist monetary policies create force it to become the culprit. Nor that it routinely overplays its hand.

 
Missionary bishop in Africa: Abuse crisis was caused by homosexuals becoming priests in 1970s ~ Spanish bishop, Juan Jose Aguirre, has been a missionary to the Central African Republic (CAR) for almost four decades ~

“The first is the entrance of homosexual priests to the seminary, who have lived their homosexuality within the Church in the 1970s to the 1990s. Secondly, the arrival of Internet, through which the negative impulses of many priests have been awakened. Thirdly, there are priests who do not occupy their time well, who have too much free time and let themselves be tempted by the devil,” he said.

 
Report: Widespread National Food Stamp Fraud Totals at Least $1 Billion ~ Government give-a-way programs are always rife with opportunities to steal from the taxpayers ~

According to a new report produced by the Government and Accountability Office (GAO), at least $1 billion in food stamp benefits are “trafficked annually,” meaning they are fraudulently used. The extent of the fraud is uncertain, the GAO warns, estimating the abuse of the program could be as high as $4.7 billion […]

 
“Welfare fraud is one of the biggest untold stories of the last decade, robbing resources from the truly needy and eroding public trust in the integrity of our welfare programs,” Sam Adolphsen, vice president of executive affairs at FGA (Foundation for Government Accountability), said in a statement. “While the bad-actor food stamp retailers exposed in this GAO report are in part to blame, we must not lose sight of the accountability that falls upon the food stamp recipient willing to commit fraud and abuse the system.”

 
Why Omar’s views are dangerous ~ Ilhan Omar may be pushing the anti-Semitic envelope a bit too far – even for Democrats. The first-term representative from Minnesota accuses Israel of “hypnotizing the Jews,” supports the BDS movement, fund-raises for CAIR, and…

In 2016, Omar asked a federal judge for leniency against a Minnesota man who had pledged allegiance to ISIS. In the letter to the judge, she called efforts to put the man in prison for life “punitive” and blamed Americans for breeding extremism.

 
LGBTQ Sports Group Drops Martina Navratilova For Saying Transwomen Are Cheaters ~ How dare the former tennis great tell the truth about the physical differences between men and women ~

Because transwomen are actually men, and if they compete as women, they’re cheating. It’s all very biologically accurate when one looks at science, like the effects testosterone has on the human body. Nevertheless, if one dares question the transgender agenda, one should be prepared to have their entire life destroyed.

 
Protesters take over Border Patrol museum, deface pictures of fallen agents ~ Absolutely disgusting! ~

Dozens of demonstrators occupied and vandalized a privately owned U.S. Border Patrol museum near El Paso, Texas, over the weekend, according to the site’s top official.
 
Museum director David Ham told the Washington Examiner his staff and guests worried for their safety Saturday when a group of about 50 rowdy protesters entered the facility, defaced property, and refused to leave the grounds.
 
Protesters plastered dozens of images on pictures, glass, painted walls, mannequins, and vehicles throughout the building. They also posted the pictures on the faces of Border Patrol agents who died in the line of duty.

 
The mental and emotional benefits of healthier food: Study finds children who eat well are happier, have better self-esteem, are less likely to get bullied than their peers ~ Weirdly enough we instinctively knew this in the 50’s and 60’s, when most kids grew up in intact nuclear families, moms took the time to prepare healthy food, bullies weren’t ubiquitous, and childhood obesity was rare ~

The study found that diet quality and psychosocial well-being have a bidirectional (two-way) link in young children: Children who eat healthy food were found to be more stable socially, emotionally, and psychologically, over those who don’t eat healthy food. In addition to this, children who are mentally stable tend to eat healthier food than children who have social issues such as low self-esteem and experiences of being bullied.

 
Is Capitalism Based on Greed? ~ Michael J. Kruger discesses Jay W. Richard’s book “Money, Greed, and God:Why Capitalism is the Solution and Not the Problem” ~

Richards’ book (particularly chapter five) reminds us that capitalism is not opposed to Christian thinking, but actually is consistent with the Christian understanding of human nature. It recognizes the proper role of self-interest. It encourages freedom, not coercion. It recognizes people are fallen and sinful and channels bad behavior towards good ends. And it ends up providing more prosperity out of which people can give generously.

 
Networks Refuse to Cover Senate’s ‘No Russia Collusion’ Report ~ What media bias?

The same networks that spent 2,202 minutes of collective airtime to push the Russia Collusion Media-Hoax are refusing to cover the Senate Intelligence Committee bipartisan report, which found no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

 
MIT scientists are using lobsters to develop a new form of flexible body armor ~ Biomimetics. More copying from the Master Designer. It’s OK, He doesn’t mind ~

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard say the soft membrane covering the crustacean’s joints and abdomen — a material that is as tough as the industrial rubber used to make car tires and garden hoses — could guide the development of a new type of flexible body armor for humans, one designed to cover joints such as knees and elbows.

 
Teen builds working nuclear fusion reactor in Memphis home ~ Bet you’re glad your kid doesn’t have to compete against Jackson in the next school science fair ~

MEMPHIS, Tenn.- Some kids spend their time on social media, other kids spend their time playing video games. When it comes to 14-year-old Jackson Oswalt, his time is spent in a laboratory working on a nuclear fusion reactor.
 
The Memphis teen finished his reactor and achieved fusion at the age of 13. He’s regarded by experts as the youngest in America – maybe even the world – to accomplish it. Jackson built a steel machine made up of vacuums, pumps and chambers that is capable of smashing atoms together through force in a smoking hot plasma center that releases a burst of fusion energy. If you’ve ever wondered how the sun and other stars are powered, the process within Jackson’s nuclear fusion reactor is comparable.

Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Doctors took a baby girl from her mother’s womb, performed surgery, and put her back. This proves just how insane abortion is ~ It certainly does. Insane – and selfish ~

(UK)A mum-to-be has undergone a groundbreaking operation which saw her unborn baby removed from her womb for treatment – before being put back in. The astonishing procedure was done to treat Bethan Simpson’s child after tests revealed the infant had spina bifida.

 
Pioneer GPS inventor laments the lost art of map reading ~ If the satellites ever go down they won’t be able to find their way out of a paper bag ~

Bradford Parkinson, the pioneer inventor of the navigation system relied upon by billions of people, said that he ‘worries’ about what impact its failure could have.

 
Angel Mom: Kamala Harris’ Staff Threatened to Call Police When Angel Families Visited Her Office ~ Just more evidence that leftists like Harris care more about illegals than regular American citizens ~

Harris and other elected Democrat lawmakers are “absolutely not” working on behalf of illegal alien crime victims, Maureen Maloney (whose 23 year-old son was killed by an illegal alien drunk driver) said, noting that she and other Angel Families have been unable to meet with Democrats about the immigration issue for years.

 
Not ‘All Americans’ Are ‘Proud That We Have More Women in the Workforce Than Ever Before’~ President Trump touted the increase in working women during the last week’s State of the Union address. It’s not necessarily a good thing ~

Whatever the reason, both the fact that there are more women in the workforce than ever before and the fact that Trump thought mentioning it would bring credit to his administration constitute a victory for the feminist left. Getting women to leave home for the workplace has been one of the central goals of modern feminism.

 
Hungary has a much better vision for society – strengthening families ~ Hungary’s abortion rate plummets as new family policies are brought in: No income taxes for women with 4 kids ~

Measures announced included waivers on personal income tax for women raising at least four children for the rest of their lives and subsidies for large families to buy larger cars. The ‘action plan’ also extended a loan program to help families with at least two children to buy homes. Every woman under 40 will also be eligible for a preferential loan when she first gets married.
 
The government has also said it will spend more on Hungary’s heathcare system and will create 21,000 creche places. In addition, grandparents will be eligible to receive a childcare fee if they look after young children instead of the parents, Orban said.

American progressives would never allow any innovative policies like this. Stronger familes man less dependence on government.

 
Washington State Implementing “Eco-Friendly” Accelerated Composting of Dead People, to Reduce Carbon Emissions ~ Next stop: Soylent Green ~

“Recomposition,” which will be the first law of its kind in the U.S. and possibly the world, has an output of about a cubic yard of soil, indistinguishable from other soil.

 
Student banned from passing out ‘Jesus Loves You’ valentines speaks out (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO) ~ No tolerance Jesus at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Wanting to keep alive a Valentine’s tradition started by her late mother, Olsen was informed by university officials that the religious valentines violated the school’s ban on soliciting, a term that implies the selling of something, which Olsen was not doing.

Judge dismisses wall lawsuit brought by butterfly conservationists, who vow to keep fighting ~ Because of course butterflies can’t fly over walls ~

Judge Richard Leon said the constitutional arguments made by the North American Butterfly Association didn’t hold up. The association’s flagship facility is a 100-acre wildlife center — the National Butterfly Center — just north of the US border in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
 
“Unfortunately for the Plaintiff, The Fourth Amendment offers little refuge for unenclosed land near one of the country’s external borders,” wrote the judge. He also said it was “preemptive” to claim that the government deprived the group of property.

New Bible translation technology by Wycliffe spreading Gospel faster than ever before ~ And bringing us nearer to the end times (Mark 13:10) ~

(T)his new technology fundamentally changes the role of Westerners coming into foreign lands to do Bible translation. Instead, the natives are increasingly able to take part in the process.
 
“And that’s the exciting thing that we’re seeing is this shift over the last seven to 10 years where nationals, indigenous people are wanting to do the work themselves. They are beginning to say instead of just us helping you white Westerners do this we want to do it, help us learn how to do it,” Hennum said.

 
And… my favorite tweet of the week (in response to the Amazon-pulls-out-of-New-York fiasco) ~

Amazon’s decision to flee NYC because of the liberal backlash is a warning to those pushing socialism: hostility to business is bad for your state. Texas is #1 for business and jobs because we promote opportunity not hostility. #txlege https://t.co/SwYiVWIqbu

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 14, 2019

Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Venezuela’s Maduro Entrenches With Hezbollah ~ In case you had any doubt which side is righteous. Terrorists-of-a-feather ~

As soon as President Donald Trump announced his support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, Hezbollah upped its rhetoric in favor of Maduro and condemned what it saw as an attempted coup planned by Washington […]
 
Hezbollah’s unwavering support is one thing, but what is arguably more concerning is Maduro’s backing of the Iranian-funded and trained Hezbollah, internationally recognized as a terror group. Maduro reportedly sent a letter to the terror organization expressing his thanks for Hezbollah’s unconditional support.

 
And then there’s the treasonous new congresswoman from Minnesota ~ Rep. Ilhan Omar backs Maduro regime, shares state-run propaganda on social media ~

The freshman congresswoman took exception this week to President Trump’s endorsement of Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela, even as the corrupt strongman Nicholas Maduro maintains that he is still in control. The U.S. president is joined by Canada and seven Latin American states in supporting Guaido over Maduro.
 

“A US backed coup in Venezuela is not a solution to the dire issues they face,” Omar tweeted on Jan. 24. “Trump’s efforts to install a far right opposition will only incite violence and further destabilize the region. We must support Mexico, Uruguay & the Vatican’s efforts to facilitate a peaceful dialogue.”
 
For the record, Guaido is not “far right.” He is the leader of a legitimate party opposed to the corrupt, tyrannical Maduro regime and the elected president of Venezuela’s legislature. To describe him and his political backing as “far right” is to reveal a deep and willful ignorance.

 
Former NYT Executive Editor Denies Plagiarism Accusations ~ The irony in this story is doubly-delicious. First, Jill Abramson is from the NYT, that paragon of truth and enlightenment. Second, the title and topic of her book is now especially laughable ~

The former executive editor of the New York Times is denying accusations she plagiarized parts of her new book, “Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts.” 😀

 
Trump’s plan to improve healthcare, that everyone said wouldn’t work, is already working ~ Back in June the Trump administration instituted new rules allowing for health plan associations. Even the Washington Post now has to admit that they’re effective ~

“So far, it seems these plans could work exactly as his administration promised: By helping offer coverage options for middle-income families who are making too much to qualify for federal ACA subsidies but are still struggling to afford premiums,” (WaPo Asst. Editor & Opinions Contributor Robert Gebelhoff) concluded.

 
A Greater Wreck Than the Hesperus ~ Appropriating Longfellow’s tragic poem, JLH at the Gates of Vienna skewers Nancy Pelosi and her floundering California district ~

It was the Speaker, Nancy,
Who cruised the House’s aisles,
With lies upon her lips,
All covered up with smiles.
 
She’d gone from strength to strength,
Buoyed up by voter fraud.
Her funny little ways
Becoming downright odd.
 
Her city awash in culture,
And feces in its streets,
The rich and poor estranged,
And ne’er the twain should meet…

😀 Read the whole piece HERE.
 
Speaking of Nancy ~‘Slate’ Mocks Pelosi for Repeatedly Using Fake Bible Scripture ~ Oddly enough the leftist media actually does legitimate journalism on a leftist politician. #PigsFly ~

“It’s in there somewhere in some words or another, but certainly the spirit of it is there,” Pelosi said. “And that we all have a responsibility to act upon our beliefs and the dignity and worth of every person.”
 
The Slate reporter decided to ask two experts about Pelosi’s use of “scripture” and how she has used it for years basically unchallenged — until now.

 
Christian Bale Was Right to Thank Satan for the Inspiration Behind “Vice” ~ Bale played former Vice President Dick Cheney in the newly released comedy-drama, which is basically a pack of vicious distortions ~

Film critic Michael Medved writes “By classifying this pitch-dark film as a ‘comedy’ its producers cheerfully shrug off any sense of historical or artistic responsibility and, as Bale darkly suggests, serve Satan.”

 
Phil Robertson: America Has to Be Godly Again to Be Great Again ~ Breitbart recently interviewed the Duck Dynasty patriarch ~

Robertson’s new book is The Theft of America’s Soul: Blowing the Lid Off the Lies That Are Destroying Our Country. Marlow explained that chapters of the book focus on debunking lies and myths with a focus on God. Robertson shared with listeners some of his story of faith as a product of the 60s sexual revolution and rebellion against God to seeing the error of his ways at 28-years-old.[…]
 
Robertson pointed to the new crop of elected officials. “When the electorate goes depraved, what they do is they elect the depraved and the depraved begin to put forth policies on you where they kill your own child while they’re out of the womb,” he said.
 
He spoke of the new late-term abortion law in New York and the state Senate that cheered like they were at a ball game when they passed it. “They are championing the slaughter of their offspring,” said Robertson. “When a nation does that it doesn’t last much longer.”

‘Duck Dynasty’ stars help dozens of families with over $275K ~ The Robertson family puts their money where their faith is ~

Missy Robertson explained the powerful work she and her husband, Jase, are doing through their charity, the Mia Moo Fund, an organization they founded in 2014 to “assure that each and every child has a warm and bright smile.”
 
The Robertsons’ daughter Mia, 15, was born with a cleft lip and palate, and now they are trying to assist other families who face the same journey. The goal is to help these mothers and fathers navigate the complexities and pitfalls that often accompany these complex birth defects.

 
Penguins in Antarctica ~ As usual, climate alarmists issue predictions of doom, and a few years later reality intrudes. It’s inevitable. Their assumptions are always based on incomplete or faulty data. Antarctic penguins are all actually thriving ~

It would appear then that slightly increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide and temperature stasis over 20 years have done absolutely nothing to threaten the Penguins.

Freezing rain creates ‘ghost apples’ in West Michigan ~ The whimsical side of ice storms ~