Why does Norway put bar codes on all of its ships?
So they can Scandinavian.
*.*
My wife and other ladies in our parish, count church donations every Monday.
This week she came home early.
When I asked, "Why are you so early?"
She replied "Everyone showed up and we didn’t have anyone to talk about."
*.*
Q: How does a man know when his wife is losing interest?
A: When her favorite sexual position is next door.
*.*
A woman was in town on a shopping trip. She found the most perfect shoes in the first shop, and a beautiful dress in the second. She had just entered the third shop where everything had just been reduced fifty percent when her mobile phone rang. It was a female doctor notifying her that her husband had just been in a terrible car accident and was in critical condition in the ICU. The woman told the doctor to tell her husband that she'd be there as soon as possible.
When she hung up, she realized she was leaving what was shaping up to be her best day ever shopping in these boutiques, so she decided to just look in two or three more before heading to the hospital. Anyhow, she ended up shopping the rest of the morning, finishing her trip with a cup of coffee and a beautiful chocolate cake compliments of the last shop. She was jubilant. Then she remembered her husband. Feeling guilty, she dashed to the hospital.
She saw the doctor in the corridor and asked about her husband's condition. The lady doctor glared at her and shouted, "You went ahead and finished your shopping trip didn't you? I hope you're proud of yourself! While you were out for the past four hours enjoying yourself shopping, your husband has been languishing in the Intensive Care Unit! It's just as well you went ahead and finished, because it's likely be the last shopping trip you will ever make! For the rest of his life he will require round-the-clock care. And he will now be your responsibility!"
The woman felt so guilty she broke down and cried and cried. The lady doctor then laughed and said, "I'm just pulling your leg. He's dead. Show me what you bought.
*.*
Why does a chicken coop have two doors?
If it had four it would be a chicken sedan.
Quote of the Times;
“What is notable is that even with this record stimulus, China has kept its economy growing barely above the ‘official rate’. This tells us that the Chinese economy has reached or is very close to reaching the point of debt saturation, where households and corporations simply cannot absorb any more debt, and any new debt-issuance fails to stimulate the economy.” – Malinen
Link of the Times;
https://digg.com/2020/gaze-in-awe-at-the-highest-resolution-photo-of-the-suns-surface-ever
Issue of the Times;
John Kerry Claims Obama 'Never Had a Whiff of Scandal' So Let's Remind Him Of Some by Matt Margolis
A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
I keep thinking about the above quote whenever anyone claims that the Obama administration was scandal-free. How many more times are we going to hear people make this claim and see it go unchallenged?
During an interview on CNN on Friday, former Secretary of State John Kerry, who's in Iowa campaigning with Joe Biden, echoed the oft-repeated claim that the Obama-Biden administration lacked scandals.
"I believe Joe Biden is the only person who has the set of relationships around the world, who has had this unbelievable breadth of experience as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and then as vice president for eight years — and in an administration, by the way, which never had a whiff of scandal," Kerry said.
The claim went unchallenged.
This is the problem, absurd claims like that are made regularly by Obama loyalists and go unchallenged by the media.
I can't be silent, so once again I must list a bunch of Obama/Biden scandals so that the truth about the Obama-Biden administration's corruption doesn't get erased. Here are ten very real and very serious scandals that are far more than "a whiff."
10. The Senate seat for sale scandal
Before Obama even took office he was implicated in a scandal involving his soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich had hoped to get a cabinet position or ambassadorship in exchange for appointing an Obama-backed individual to replace him in the Senate. Obama’s top choice had been Valerie Jarrett, and he offered to appoint Jarrett “in exchange for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services in the President-elect’s cabinet,” but she eventually opted to follow Obama to the White House as his top advisor.
To sweep it under the rug, the Obama transition conducted an internal investigation to determine whether the president-elect had done anything illegal. Naturally, they claimed everything was above board. Their investigation allegedly “affirmed the public statements of the president-elect that he had no contact with the governor or his staff, and that the president-elect’s staff was not involved in inappropriate discussions with the governor or his staff over the selection of his successor as U.S. senator.” But, this claim contradicts both the criminal complaint against Blagojevich and numerous documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
9. The New Black Panther Party Voter-Intimidation Scandal
In May 2009, the government was on the verge of victory by default in 2008 voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party (NBPP), Attorney General Eric Holder inexplicably dropped the case in May 2009. When the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigated, the Obama-Biden administration refused to respond to requests from the commission and Congress and fought subpoenas. Federal attorneys were instructed not to cooperate with the investigation and then-Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez (the current chairman of the Democratic National Committee) lied under oath about who was involved in the decision to drop the case. If this wasn’t a scandal, why did the Obama-Biden administration obstruct the investigation?
8. The Illegal Firing of an Inspector General to Protect A Sex Predator
Also in 2009, Barack Obama illegally fired Gerald Walpin, the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service. Walpin’s only crime was that he was investigating Obama’s friend and donor, Kevin Johnson. Johnson had misused federal grant money for AmeriCorps by funneling it to his personal nonprofit group, paying for political activity, and using it to pay hush money to underage girls he’d sexually abused. When Walpin recommended charges against Johnson, Obama, in violation of federal law, fired him. An investigation by Congress into the illegal firing was met with stonewalling by the Obama White House, and the withholding of documents. The Obama White House also deliberately misled Congress about the reasons for the firing.
How exactly does breaking the law to fire an Inspector General in order to protect someone who sexually abused underage girls not count as a scandal?
7. The Green Energy loans scandal
More than fifty clean energy companies backed by the Obama-Biden administration went bankrupt or found themselves in major financial trouble. Is that not a scandal? Tell that to the taxpayers who footed the $80 billion for their “green economy” initiatives that went to companies that supported their campaign. The most well-known example of one of these companies that went belly-up was Solyndra. Solyndra received more than a half-billion-dollar loan despite the fact the Department of Energy (DOE) knew they were on the verge of bankruptcy.
Obama can't claim ignorance on this one because he and Joe Biden were both personally involved in the decision-making process to determine who got loans. Also, only companies that donated to their campaign (or other Democrats) got these green energy loans. Worse, the Obama administration stole proprietary technology from companies that weren't picked to give it to their cronies that were.
If this wasn’t a scandal, why did the Obama administration stonewall Congress's investigation of the matter? When House Republicans subpoenaed documents for their investigation, the Obama White House fired back by claiming their request would put an "unreasonable burden on the president's ability to meet his constitutional duties." Sure.
6. The Sestak job offer scandal
Barack Obama violated at least four federal laws back in 2010 by offering then-Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) a job in his administration in exchange for not challenging Arlen Specter for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Specter had recently switched from the GOP to the Democratic Party, and that switch was contingent on support from Obama. Obama’s then-spokesman Robert Gibbs wouldn’t confirm or deny that any offer was made, but was never asked if Obama would resign after Sestak made his bombshell allegation, even after months of the Obama White House stonewalling a congressional investigation. Nor did they ask after the Obama White House finally admitted that Sestak was indeed offered a federal job to stay out of the election, but only after Sestak defeated Specter in the primary. The media was quick to accept the White House version of events, including the “everybody does it” excuse, and they accepted the White House claim that nothing improper happened. Even Republicans lost interest in pursuing the story after Sestak was defeated in the general election by Republican Pat Toomey.
5. Obstructing Dozens of Inspectors General
Obstruction of justice was the standard operating procedure in the Obama administration from day one. In August 2014, 47 of 73 inspectors general wrote an open letter to Congress informing them that the Obama administration of obstructing investigations by not giving them full access to the information they needed to investigate properly. Such a letter was unprecedented, and the systemic corruption and obstruction of the inspectors general would have been considered an impeachable offense for almost any other president.
That letter should have resulted in the appointment of a special counsel… but Attorney General Eric Holder, who famously called himself Obama’s wingman, wasn’t going to let that happen. Neither Holder or Loretta Lynch, Obama’s second attorney general, ever appointed a special counsel, despite ample times when one should have been appointed. Obama didn’t just appoint attorneys general to lead the Justice Department, he appointed protectors to keep himself from being held accountable for corruption. The lack of outrage (thanks to lack of media attention to the scandal) emboldened the Obama administration to impose new restrictions on the investigative powers of inspectors general. Can you imagine President Trump trying to get away with that today?
4. The Fast & Furious cover-up scandal
The Obama administration sent two thousand firearms across the border to trace them to drug cartels and lost hundreds of them. That's pretty darn bad. But it got a whole lot worse when a border agent was killed with one of those guns. In response to this revelation, the Obama administration stonewalled and obstructed the investigation into what happened. Attorney General Eric Holder falsely claimed to not know about the operation, and Obama personally obstructed the investigation by claiming executive privilege over documents requested by Congress. Not a scandal? Really? Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress in a bipartisan vote, for obstructing the investigation. What more do you need to admit this was a scandal?
3. The Benghazi attack cover-up
The terror attack at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, not only threatened the Obama-Biden administration narrative that they’d been crippling al-Qaeda and making progress in the War on Terror, but it also threatened their re-election. So, they lied about it. They called it a spontaneous demonstration to hide the fact it was a pre-planned terror attack and that they were grossly incapable of defending themselves from such an attack. So, when Congress investigated, the Obama-Biden administration obstructed their investigation with vigor. They attempted to excuse their obstruction by saying they were launching an internal investigation, which was a complete joke because we know how their internal investigations go. State Department employees weren't allowed to testify, and Hillary Clinton deleted thousands of subpoenaed emails. That’s called obstruction of justice.
2. The IRS scandal
Amazingly, liberals still pretend the IRS improperly targeting conservative and Tea Party groups wasn't a scandal. Lois Lerner, the former director of the IRS Exempt Organizations division at the time, admitted it happened! Not only were tea party groups improperly targeted, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch, but the whole scheme was orchestrated out of Washington, D.C. There was also evidence of White House involvement. IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman was at the White House at least 157 times while the IRS was targeting tea party groups. Obama’s cabinet members didn’t even visit the White House that often. Some IRS employees even claimed that Obama himself requested the crackdown of tea party groups. There was certainly ample reason to suspect coordination with the White House. The IRS was also exchanging confidential taxpayer information with the White House the year Obama and Biden were re-elected.
1. The Iran Ransom scandal
A few short months after Obama had completed negotiations for the Iran Nuclear Deal, resulting in the lifting of sanctions and the unfreezing of billions in Iranian assets, the Obama administration made a shady payment to Iran of $400 million. The payment was made with foreign currency and done under the cover of night. The payment also coincided with the release of four hostages and was done completely in secret. Not even Congress knew about the payments or the hostage exchange. An investigation began, and, of course, it was met with obstruction by the Obama-Biden administration. Attorney General Loretta Lynch refused to answer questions from Congress about the payments. Details of the deal weren’t classified, but the Obama-Biden administration hid key documents at a secure site to make access difficult. If this wasn’t a scandal, why did they feel they had to hide information from Congress?
News of the Times;
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ill-straight-get-armed-second-bernie-organizer-loves-gulags-and-ready-fking-revolution
https://www.newsweek.com/mlk-niece-defends-trump-racism-accusations-absolutely-fake-1451717?
https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/judges-likely-torpedo-detroit-ban-religious-speech/
https://exodusglobalalliance.org/ishomosexualityhealthyp60.php
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/most-folks-who-have-never-been-to-iraq-think-of-the-kurds-as-some-noble-non-islamic-ally-well-theyre-a-bit-better-than-the-typical-islamic-but-not-a-hell-of-a-lot/
https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2020/01/california-throw-another-14-billion-homelessness-daniel-greenfield/
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/epic-trump-breaks-the-internet-after-he-tweets-picture-of-obama-scaling-trump-tower-with-binoculars/
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-22/could-the-changing-makeup-of-the-9th-circuit-end-california-exceptionalism
https://davidharrisjr.com/steven/white-house-rolls-out-new-rules-to-end-birth-tourism/
https://dailycaller.com/2016/06/27/german-authorities-find-weapons-of-war-during-raid-near-radical-mosque/?
Whiff?
Strongest?
What do you get when you cross a cow with an octopus?
A visit from the ethics committee and a withdrawal of funding.
*.*
George Lucas is renowned for his ability to re-release better, much-improved editions of
classic films. Everyone loves it when he changes beloved scenes and characters and adds CGI
characters to perfectly good scenes.
So, by popular demand, Lucas is applying his formidable skills to the Bible with a special
edition of Scripture. Among the many changes will be a scene where Malchus attacks Peter first,
justifying Peter's hacking off of the man's ear.
"I wanted to make Peter more of a morally good character and not so conflicted," Lucas said in
an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Some hardcore Bible nerds were offended by the changes, launching a viral "Peter Swung First"
campaign.
"This is not my Bible," said Bible geek Jim Calliper, creator of the #NotMyBible hashtag.
"There's no reason for Lucas to go meddling with that scene when it was perfect in the
originals." Fans have begun petitioning Lucas to reverse the changes, but the filmmaker has
purchased all Bible translations and vows never to release the "embarrassing" original cut
again.
Holy Bible: Special Edition will be released in time for Easter, followed by tens of thousands
of lucrative Bible tie-in merchandise.
*.*
Since television is abbreviated to TV, shouldn't we abbreviate telephone to TP.
Alimony is always having to say you're sorry
Behind every great idea was someone who hated it.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things money can't buy.
Personality is everything. Confidence is the rest.
The average man is the one who thinks he isn't.
Today is the last day of your life, so far.
No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.
People never grow up; they just learn how to act in public.
Anything good in life is illegal, immoral or long distance.
When men send flowers for no reason, there's a reason.
We ridicule the homeless, but we're the ones waking up to alarm clocks.
*.*
Why was the pig ejected from the softball game?
For playing dirty.
Why don't orphans play softball?
Because they don't know where home is.
What was a frog doing on the softball field?
Catching flies.
Why did Cinderella get kicked off the softball team?
Because she ran away from the ball.
Why is an umpire like an angry chicken?
They both have foul mouths.
Why do girls like softball?
It's the only sport played on a diamond.
What's the difference between a pick pocket and an umpire?
One steals watches and the other watches steals.
Did you hear the softball pun?
It will leave you in stitches.
*.*
To all the people who said I was crazy to sink all my money into green energy stocks, I have just one thing to say.
Can I sleep on your couch?
Quote of the Times;
Julius Caesar won the Gallic War in eight years. The Allies won World War II in six years. This pathetic collection of inept, corrupt, and mediocre perfumed princes haven't been able to defeat anyone since 1950. Except, of course, Grenada.
Link of the Times;
https://www.asiatimes.com/2020/01/article/how-fragile-is-irans-regime-2/
Issue of the Times;
Under Trump, America May Be Its Strongest Since the End of World War II by Bryan Preston
You won’t hear this from the media, but America under President Trump is doing well. Very well, in fact. A true read of the state of our union is simple: We’re strong and we’re getting stronger fast.
The labor participation rate is breaking records. Unemployment is at historic lows across all demographics. Wages are increasing, faster for those at the lower income levels than for those at the top. China has agreed to a historic trade deal. Congress (finally) passed the new US-Mexico-Canada trade deal which will create jobs across the continent. The stock market keeps breaking records despite impeachment. There’s almost too much good news to pack into one paragraph. It all points to growing American strength just a few years after President Barack Obama mused aloud about a “post-American world.”
At the end of the Second World War, the United States was by far the strongest nation on earth. In fact, it was the strongest nation ever. But the playing field was littered with craters.
Europe had been ravaged by war from one end of its continent to the other. Its major powers either lie in ruins (Germany, Italy, and France) or had expended vast sums to prosecute the war (Great Britain, the USSR) and lay in partial ruins. Cities in all of the major European countries were fractured and devastated, their manufacturing turned to wartime footing and then, if they were among the Axis Powers, crushed by allied might. In Asia, China and South Korea had yet to rise. Japan was as devastated as the major European powers.
The United States stood alone, relatively unscathed by the war, its manufacturing base which had been retooled for war now easily turned back to peacetime production. With millions of soldiers returning from overseas, its consumer economy could reach stride years before the rest of the world could get on its feet. It only made sense that as the world rebuilt - mostly with America footing the bill - the playing field would level out. We left military forces overseas after the war largely to keep nations with histories of fighting each other, from fighting each other yet again.
Fast forward through the Cold War and the United States became increasingly vulnerable as socialists made inroads and media and academia and as it became more dependent on foreign energy sources. The zenith of this vulnerability was the oil crisis of the early 1970s, when OPEC’s embargo led directly to shortages, rationing and severe recession in the US. That period also saw the United States lose the war in Vietnam and brush as close to socialism as it had during the Great Depression, when President Nixon imposed wage and price controls to attempt to stabilize the economy (it didn’t work, and contributed to the rise of “stagflation” under President Carter, who also had no solutions). Reagan undid much of the damage, only for Obama to hurt the economy later.
Fast forward again. The United States is now, for the first time in decades, energy independent. That doesn’t mean we buy no oil or gas from foreign sources. We still do. But we’ve diversified our foreign sources and we’re producing much more for ourselves. Where we once bought about 35% of our oil from the Middle East, we now buy less than 10%. Our foreign oil sources include Mexico, Africa and even Russia, but no single foreign source can strangle our economy or our military (Democrats imposing hard left anti-energy policies could). The US is now the world’s largest energy producer and a net exporter. Instead of depending on the unstable Middle East, we’re depending on North Dakota and Texas.
This changes everything.
Thursday, President Trump signed a $200 billion trade deal with China. This deal includes billions in energy exports from the US to China. China is our chief economic and military competitor. To the extent China depends on stable US energy is to the extent the probability of direct conflict with China decreases.
The US is now in a stronger position not just with regard to China, but also with the Middle East, with Russia and with Europe. Europe doesn’t even develop its own energy sources anymore, it is so in the grip of leftwing hysteria against fracking and fossil fuels. Russia lacks the technology to keep up with the United States. That’s why they fear American fracking and are very likely funding leftwing groups that attack fracking - as British billionaire Sir Christopher Hohn funds Extinction Rebellion. Americans are now inking deals to export natural gas with Eastern Europe and Saudi Arabia. Venezuela still has the largest proven oil reserves, but socialism is killing that country and keeping most of its oil off the market. Texas alone produces nearly five times Venezuela’s daily oil output now.
Not only are we stronger, our adversaries and competitors are mostly weaker. China is fractured and may crack permanently as Hong Kong and Taiwan reject its communist rule. Those two tiny offshoots are like water freezing in a crack in cement: The ice in the crack can break the block. Russia is increasingly unstable, and Putin’s move to solidify his grip on power may turn out to be the beginning of the slow-motion end for him. The killing of Iranian terrorist Gen. Qassam Suleimani did not trigger World War III despite the grave warnings from the foreign policy establishment and its press puppets. Japan is deploying forces to the Persian Gulf in a show of support for the US.
Handing the country to any of the Democrats running for president would be reckless. They would raise taxes to fund their socialist schemes and break our new energy dominance. That’s a recipe for economic disaster and weakens our national security. It’s what the Russians, among others, want. If you like the violent yellow vest riots in France, just let any of the Democrats take the White House.
News of the Times;
1. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/01/17/new-york-freed-7-5k-criminal-illegal-aliens-into-u-s-in-2019-including-convicted-murderers-sex-abusers/
2. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/11/huge-exclusive-bombshell-documents-released-by-ukrainian-general-prosecutors-office-reveal-millions-funneled-to-hunter-biden-and-the-john-kerry-family/
3. https://twitter.com/StevenM80605336/status/1211010132441731073
4. https://gatesofvienna.net/2019/12/raped-in-the-name-of-allah-and-the-koran-in-the-banlieues/
5. https://fee.org/articles/11-economic-stats-that-tell-venezuelas-story/
6. https://neonnettle.com/news/9009-iraqi-girls-as-young-as-9-sold-for-1-hour-long-pleasure-marriages-under-islamic-law
7. https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2020-1-14-a-little-sung-trump-administration-success-food-stamps
8. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/serial-anti-semitic-arsonist-and-obama-campaign-worker-is-released-from-nyc-jail-without-bail/
9. https://creepingsharia.tumblr.com/post/189983151641/north-dakota-man-beat-stepdaughter-with
10. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rms-titanic-evidence-fire-senan-molony-belfast-new-york-southampton-sink-april-1912-a7504236.html
11. https://news.yahoo.com/shattered-inside-the-secret-battle-to-save-americas-undercover-spies-in-the-digital-age-100029026.html
12. https://www.dailywire.com/news/lion-ted-unloads-missiles-fired-at-u-s-troops-by-iran-paid-for-by-the-billions-obama-gave-them
13. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/17/a_tale_of_two_whistleblowers_one_protected_one_not_142183.html
14. https://www.dailywire.com/news/warehouse-filled-with-hurricane-maria-supplies-discovered-years-later-in-puerto-rico
15. https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/13/how-a-russians-grocery-store-trip-in-1989-exposed-the-lie-of-socialism/
A visit from the ethics committee and a withdrawal of funding.
*.*
George Lucas is renowned for his ability to re-release better, much-improved editions of
classic films. Everyone loves it when he changes beloved scenes and characters and adds CGI
characters to perfectly good scenes.
So, by popular demand, Lucas is applying his formidable skills to the Bible with a special
edition of Scripture. Among the many changes will be a scene where Malchus attacks Peter first,
justifying Peter's hacking off of the man's ear.
"I wanted to make Peter more of a morally good character and not so conflicted," Lucas said in
an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Some hardcore Bible nerds were offended by the changes, launching a viral "Peter Swung First"
campaign.
"This is not my Bible," said Bible geek Jim Calliper, creator of the #NotMyBible hashtag.
"There's no reason for Lucas to go meddling with that scene when it was perfect in the
originals." Fans have begun petitioning Lucas to reverse the changes, but the filmmaker has
purchased all Bible translations and vows never to release the "embarrassing" original cut
again.
Holy Bible: Special Edition will be released in time for Easter, followed by tens of thousands
of lucrative Bible tie-in merchandise.
*.*
Since television is abbreviated to TV, shouldn't we abbreviate telephone to TP.
Alimony is always having to say you're sorry
Behind every great idea was someone who hated it.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things money can't buy.
Personality is everything. Confidence is the rest.
The average man is the one who thinks he isn't.
Today is the last day of your life, so far.
No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking questions.
People never grow up; they just learn how to act in public.
Anything good in life is illegal, immoral or long distance.
When men send flowers for no reason, there's a reason.
We ridicule the homeless, but we're the ones waking up to alarm clocks.
*.*
Why was the pig ejected from the softball game?
For playing dirty.
Why don't orphans play softball?
Because they don't know where home is.
What was a frog doing on the softball field?
Catching flies.
Why did Cinderella get kicked off the softball team?
Because she ran away from the ball.
Why is an umpire like an angry chicken?
They both have foul mouths.
Why do girls like softball?
It's the only sport played on a diamond.
What's the difference between a pick pocket and an umpire?
One steals watches and the other watches steals.
Did you hear the softball pun?
It will leave you in stitches.
*.*
To all the people who said I was crazy to sink all my money into green energy stocks, I have just one thing to say.
Can I sleep on your couch?
Quote of the Times;
Julius Caesar won the Gallic War in eight years. The Allies won World War II in six years. This pathetic collection of inept, corrupt, and mediocre perfumed princes haven't been able to defeat anyone since 1950. Except, of course, Grenada.
Link of the Times;
https://www.asiatimes.com/2020/01/article/how-fragile-is-irans-regime-2/
Issue of the Times;
Under Trump, America May Be Its Strongest Since the End of World War II by Bryan Preston
You won’t hear this from the media, but America under President Trump is doing well. Very well, in fact. A true read of the state of our union is simple: We’re strong and we’re getting stronger fast.
The labor participation rate is breaking records. Unemployment is at historic lows across all demographics. Wages are increasing, faster for those at the lower income levels than for those at the top. China has agreed to a historic trade deal. Congress (finally) passed the new US-Mexico-Canada trade deal which will create jobs across the continent. The stock market keeps breaking records despite impeachment. There’s almost too much good news to pack into one paragraph. It all points to growing American strength just a few years after President Barack Obama mused aloud about a “post-American world.”
At the end of the Second World War, the United States was by far the strongest nation on earth. In fact, it was the strongest nation ever. But the playing field was littered with craters.
Europe had been ravaged by war from one end of its continent to the other. Its major powers either lie in ruins (Germany, Italy, and France) or had expended vast sums to prosecute the war (Great Britain, the USSR) and lay in partial ruins. Cities in all of the major European countries were fractured and devastated, their manufacturing turned to wartime footing and then, if they were among the Axis Powers, crushed by allied might. In Asia, China and South Korea had yet to rise. Japan was as devastated as the major European powers.
The United States stood alone, relatively unscathed by the war, its manufacturing base which had been retooled for war now easily turned back to peacetime production. With millions of soldiers returning from overseas, its consumer economy could reach stride years before the rest of the world could get on its feet. It only made sense that as the world rebuilt - mostly with America footing the bill - the playing field would level out. We left military forces overseas after the war largely to keep nations with histories of fighting each other, from fighting each other yet again.
Fast forward through the Cold War and the United States became increasingly vulnerable as socialists made inroads and media and academia and as it became more dependent on foreign energy sources. The zenith of this vulnerability was the oil crisis of the early 1970s, when OPEC’s embargo led directly to shortages, rationing and severe recession in the US. That period also saw the United States lose the war in Vietnam and brush as close to socialism as it had during the Great Depression, when President Nixon imposed wage and price controls to attempt to stabilize the economy (it didn’t work, and contributed to the rise of “stagflation” under President Carter, who also had no solutions). Reagan undid much of the damage, only for Obama to hurt the economy later.
Fast forward again. The United States is now, for the first time in decades, energy independent. That doesn’t mean we buy no oil or gas from foreign sources. We still do. But we’ve diversified our foreign sources and we’re producing much more for ourselves. Where we once bought about 35% of our oil from the Middle East, we now buy less than 10%. Our foreign oil sources include Mexico, Africa and even Russia, but no single foreign source can strangle our economy or our military (Democrats imposing hard left anti-energy policies could). The US is now the world’s largest energy producer and a net exporter. Instead of depending on the unstable Middle East, we’re depending on North Dakota and Texas.
This changes everything.
Thursday, President Trump signed a $200 billion trade deal with China. This deal includes billions in energy exports from the US to China. China is our chief economic and military competitor. To the extent China depends on stable US energy is to the extent the probability of direct conflict with China decreases.
The US is now in a stronger position not just with regard to China, but also with the Middle East, with Russia and with Europe. Europe doesn’t even develop its own energy sources anymore, it is so in the grip of leftwing hysteria against fracking and fossil fuels. Russia lacks the technology to keep up with the United States. That’s why they fear American fracking and are very likely funding leftwing groups that attack fracking - as British billionaire Sir Christopher Hohn funds Extinction Rebellion. Americans are now inking deals to export natural gas with Eastern Europe and Saudi Arabia. Venezuela still has the largest proven oil reserves, but socialism is killing that country and keeping most of its oil off the market. Texas alone produces nearly five times Venezuela’s daily oil output now.
Not only are we stronger, our adversaries and competitors are mostly weaker. China is fractured and may crack permanently as Hong Kong and Taiwan reject its communist rule. Those two tiny offshoots are like water freezing in a crack in cement: The ice in the crack can break the block. Russia is increasingly unstable, and Putin’s move to solidify his grip on power may turn out to be the beginning of the slow-motion end for him. The killing of Iranian terrorist Gen. Qassam Suleimani did not trigger World War III despite the grave warnings from the foreign policy establishment and its press puppets. Japan is deploying forces to the Persian Gulf in a show of support for the US.
Handing the country to any of the Democrats running for president would be reckless. They would raise taxes to fund their socialist schemes and break our new energy dominance. That’s a recipe for economic disaster and weakens our national security. It’s what the Russians, among others, want. If you like the violent yellow vest riots in France, just let any of the Democrats take the White House.
News of the Times;
1. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/01/17/new-york-freed-7-5k-criminal-illegal-aliens-into-u-s-in-2019-including-convicted-murderers-sex-abusers/
2. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/11/huge-exclusive-bombshell-documents-released-by-ukrainian-general-prosecutors-office-reveal-millions-funneled-to-hunter-biden-and-the-john-kerry-family/
3. https://twitter.com/StevenM80605336/status/1211010132441731073
4. https://gatesofvienna.net/2019/12/raped-in-the-name-of-allah-and-the-koran-in-the-banlieues/
5. https://fee.org/articles/11-economic-stats-that-tell-venezuelas-story/
6. https://neonnettle.com/news/9009-iraqi-girls-as-young-as-9-sold-for-1-hour-long-pleasure-marriages-under-islamic-law
7. https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2020-1-14-a-little-sung-trump-administration-success-food-stamps
8. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/serial-anti-semitic-arsonist-and-obama-campaign-worker-is-released-from-nyc-jail-without-bail/
9. https://creepingsharia.tumblr.com/post/189983151641/north-dakota-man-beat-stepdaughter-with
10. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rms-titanic-evidence-fire-senan-molony-belfast-new-york-southampton-sink-april-1912-a7504236.html
11. https://news.yahoo.com/shattered-inside-the-secret-battle-to-save-americas-undercover-spies-in-the-digital-age-100029026.html
12. https://www.dailywire.com/news/lion-ted-unloads-missiles-fired-at-u-s-troops-by-iran-paid-for-by-the-billions-obama-gave-them
13. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/01/17/a_tale_of_two_whistleblowers_one_protected_one_not_142183.html
14. https://www.dailywire.com/news/warehouse-filled-with-hurricane-maria-supplies-discovered-years-later-in-puerto-rico
15. https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/13/how-a-russians-grocery-store-trip-in-1989-exposed-the-lie-of-socialism/
Budding?
Why do people hate getting up early in Athens?
Because Dawn is tough on Greece.
*.*
Two little boys were arguing.
"My father is better than your father!"
"No he's not!"
"My brother is better than your brother!"
"No he's not!"
"My mother is better than your mother!"
The second boy paused. "Well I guess you've got me there, my father says the same thing."
*.*
Some people are pretty upset that Felicity Huffman is out of prison after only 11 days. But remember, she has to spend the rest of her life living in that mansion and driving around her Mercedes as a felon.
Good news for people who wear glasses, you'll be seeing 2020.
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin threw out the first pitch for Game 3 of the 2019 World Series! Ironically, Houston didn't have any problems.
There's a new smart toilet that actually analyzes the human waste. Yeah, there are some just some jobs the machines can have.
A report says currency is regaining its popularity, especially with the 100 bill. I'm saving up to get one of my own, one of these days...
I, for one, long for the good old days. I really think we should stop texting and get back to just emailing each other.
Walmart is posting signs warning of a national shortage of dishwashing soap. Either stock up or stack up!
A report says 44% of consumers have expenses that exceed their income. I'm not very good at math, but that's almost a third of all Americans.
California has been ranked as the best state for outdoor activities. I'm going to have to assume firefighting are among the activities they have in mind.
*.*
DES MOINES, IA - After a Bernie Sanders organizer waxed poetic over the beauty of gulags and the need for reeducating the people, Sanders clarified that his gulags will actually be democratic gulags.
"These aren't your regular, totalitarian, Soviet gulags - not that there's anything wrong with that - these are democratic gulags," he said in a clarifying speech. "We vote on the prison camps so it's not like a nasty dictatorship thing."
He then sent a memo to his staff reminding them that the gulags weren't supposed to be revealed until phase 2 of his plan.
Sanders was reportedly angered and disappointed at the staffer who let the cat out of the bag in a video released by Project Veritas.
"Remember, we start with promises of free stuff, then we throw everybody in the gulags once we're in office," an exasperated Sanders said to a group of his campaign volunteers gathered backstage at last night's debate. "It's a total bush league move to talk about the gulags, mass starvation, and millions of deaths before phase 2 kicks in."
The presidential candidate instructed his staffers to stick to talking points like free healthcare, free internet, free Krispy Kreme donuts, and to avoid any talk of the gulags the Sanders campaign has had elaborate plans drawn up for since the day Sanders announced his candidacy.
*.*
Top 5 Signs you Minimum Security Prison is a lot Tougher than People Think
No carbonated bottled water
Massage Therapist doesn't work on Thursdays
Boxed wine at Happy Hour
Strict no Ribeye on Steak Night. Only New York cuts.
The 70-inch TV in your cell is standard def.
Quote of the Times;
“This is not decay. This is organized destruction. Secularists and their allies have marshaled all the forces of mass communication, popular culture, the entertainment industry, and academia in an unremitting assault on religion & traditional values." - Attorney General Bill Barr
Link of the Times;
https://www.bitchute.com/video/LnxtLZAgXoAo/
Issue of the Times;
France, The "Budding Islamic Republic" by Guilio Meotti
"Five years after the killings at Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher, France has learned to live with the Islamist threat," wrote Yves Thréard, deputy editor at the daily newspaper Le Figaro.
"Not a month goes by... without a murderous attack with the cry of 'Allahu Akbar' taking place on our soil.... But what is the point of fighting the effects of Islamism if we do not tackle the origins of this ideology of death? On that front, however, denial continues to compete with naiveté. Nothing has changed in the last five years. On the contrary.
"In the name of diversity, non-discrimination and human rights, France has accepted a number of blows to its culture and history... Islamists are a hot-button issue. They continue the fight which, even without weapons, has all the allure of a war of civilizations. Is the famous 'Charlie spirit', which some people thought was blowing after the January 2015 attacks, just an illusion?"
France has been marking the fifth anniversary of the deadly jihadist attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which took place on January 7, 2015. Last month, French Senator Nathalie Goulet warned that more attacks were likely. "In France we have a serious problem and we need to do more to prevent extremists from acting. As it stands, there will be more attacks," said Goulet said.
There are believed to be 12,000 radical Islamists on France's terror watch-list, "however only a dozen are thought to be under 24-hour surveillance."
This week was marked by yet a new string of Islamist terror attacks: police injured a knife-wielding man on a street in the northeastern city of Metz, two days after a suspected Islamist radical in the Paris suburb of Villejuif stabbed a man to death, an act that prosecutors are treating as a terror attack. In both incidents, the assailants shouted "Allahu Akbar." This type of attack was dubbed "ordinary jihad" in a Le Figaro editorial this week.
On January 7, 2015, the cartoonists and journalists Cabu, Charb, Honoré, Tignous and Wolinski, the psychoanalyst Elsa Cayat, the economist Bernard Maris and the policeman Franck Brinsolaro fell under the bullets of the jihadist brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi. Charlie Hebdo's 2020 anniversary issue commemorated the massacre and slammed the "new gurus of monolithic thinking" who are trying to impose politically correct censorship.
The outburst of indignation of the French people, gathered in Paris for a massive demonstration on January 11, 2015, was not enough to awaken the spirit of resistance of the French leaders and elites against Islamism and its collaborators. "The seriousness of the Islamist political fact in France is strongly underestimated", says the lawyer Thibault de Montbrial, president France's Center for Internal Security Studies.
In a country that used to stand for freedom of expression, self-censorship is soaring.
"For the humorists in France, it's always easy to make fun of the Pope and the Catholics, it's always easy to make fun of Jews, it's always easy to make fun of Protestants," confesses a long-time Charlie Hebdo columnist, Patrick Pelloux. For Islam, it is not easy.
"We feel that this religion is scary. The word Islam is scary, and on that, the terrorists have won."
Submission is winning.
While French prisons have become a breeding ground for jihadists, the Islamization of the cities' suburbs, the banlieues, is proceeding full tilt. The weekly Le Point recently devoted a cover story to the "territories conquered by the Islamists." In many of these areas, violence rages; 1,500 cars were torched there on New Year's Eve. In recently published book, "Les territoires conquis de l'islamisme" ("The Territories Conquered by Islamism"), by Bernard Rougier, a professor at the University Sorbonne-Nouvelle and director of the Center for Arab and Oriental Studies, he explains that Islamism is an "hegemonic project", splintering working-class neighborhoods. These "ecosystems", he states, work on a "logic of rupture" of the French society, its values and institutions, and are built on mosques, bookstores, sport clubs and halal restaurants.
Hugo Micheron, a researcher at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, suggested that jihadists are comfortable in "territorial and community isolation". "Today," said the president of the Ministry of Education's Conseil supérieur des programmes, Souâd Ayada, "the visibility of Islam in France is saturated by the veil and the jihad".
While Islamist preachers and recruiters are out on the streets, seeking out the weak minds that will form the first line of their holy war, political Islam also forms electoral lists in France's suburbs. French President Emmanuel Macron opposed banning these political groups. "France is a budding Islamic republic," noted the Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal. In those "territories", he said, live many of the terrorists who attack France, from the Kouachi brothers of Charlie Hebdo to the jihadists who murdered scores of people at the Bataclan Theater.
Two populations who live "side by side" would soon find themselves "face to face", said Gérard Collomb, a former Minister of the Interior. He was right. Islamists are also housed inside public institutions.
Islamists have, in addition, recruited dozens of French soldiers and ex-servicemen who have converted to Islam. Many have come from commando units with expertise in handling weapons and explosives. France is turning into a "society of vigilance" in its fight against the "Hydra" of Islamist militancy, as Macron said.
In the five years since the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, which targeted freedom of expression, Islamists have been able to commit atrocities against targets such as a priest in a Catholic Church in Rouen; a national secular holiday (the Bastille Day attack in Nice); Jewish communities (from Paris to Toulouse), and ordinary people. Last October, an Islamist struck in one of France's most secure buildings: the monumental Paris Police headquarters near Notre Dame cathedral, where he murdered four of his colleagues. "This is a major turning point in Islamist terrorism", said Gilles Kepel, an expert on Middle East and jihadism.
"It is hard to believe that the police on which we rely to protect us and which is supposed to be our last rampart against terrorism, can itself be the victim of terrorism, with throats slit in the holy of holies of the Police Prefecture".
In the wake of the attack, seven police officers, "suspected of radicalization," had their guns confiscated.
"I have the impression that our immune defenses have collapsed and that Islamism is winning", says the French writer Pascal Bruckner.
"Its main demands have been met: nobody dares to publish caricatures of Mohammed anymore. Self-censorship prevails.... Hate is directed against those who resist obscuring information rather than against those who obscure it. Not to mention the psychiatrization of terrorism, in order better to exonerate Islam. If we had been told in the early 2000s that in 2020, around 20 French cartoonists and intellectuals would be under police protection, no one would have believed it. The threshold of servitude has increased."
Five years after the terrorist murders at Charlie Hebdo, free speech is less free in France. "No one today would publish the cartoons of Muhammad", said Philippe Val, the former editor of Charlie Hebdo, recently.
"For the past five years, I've been going to the police station every month or so to file a complaint about death threats, not insults, death threats", says Marika Bret, a journalist at Charlie Hebdo today.
In Paris, five years after the murders at Charlie Hebdo, there was a big march to protest not terrorism, but "Islamophobia". "Voltaire fades before Muhammad, and the Enlightenment before the Submission", wrote the author Éric Zemmour. And Qatar still freely finances the construction of French mosques.
In 2017, two years after Jews were murdered in a terrorist attack at a kosher supermarket in Paris, a Jewish woman, Sarah Halimi, was tortured and murdered in her Paris apartment by her neighbor, Kobili Traoré, who was yelling "Allahu Akbar." A court of appeals recently ruled that Traoré, because he had smoked cannabis, was "not criminally responsible" for his actions. As France's Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia said, it is a "license to kill Jews".
"Anti-Semitism today is so blatant that it would be difficult to hide it without falling into ridicule," said the historian Georges Bensoussan. "What is taboo is the anti-Semites" -- meaning that today, in France, it is taboo to say that Islamism is the most important source of anti-Semitism.
One week after the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo, in which nine of its staff members were killed and another four wounded, the magazine published a cover depicting the Prophet of Islam with a tear on his cheek, and saying: "Tout est Pardonné" ("All is forgiven") .
Five years later, all actually does seem to have been forgiven. Then, many proudly said, "I am Charlie". Most proved they were not.
News of the Times;
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/01/201_the_left_goes_over_the_edge.html
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/exclusive-twitter-caught-censoring-president-trumps-account-deleting-several-tweets-from-his-homepage/
https://thezman.com/wordpress/?p=15349
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/967609563535962112.html
https://write.as/dsf4khx3r1m1208f.md
https://www.fr24news.com/2020/01/france-1100-doctors-resign-en-masse.html
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/luongo-pelosis-coup-attempt-now-open-warfare-there-will-be-casualties
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/01/progressive_ecogroup_admits_it_renewable_energy_is_a_hoax_that_benefits_its_greenie_elmer_gantries_like_al_gore.html
https://www.unz.com/article/dispatches-from-the-race-war/
https://nypost.com/2020/01/02/team-trumps-big-blow-to-the-college-cartel/
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/wikileaks-papers-support-bush-claims-of-iran-role-in-iraqi-insurgency/
https://summit.news/2020/01/06/nearly-200-people-arrested-across-australia-for-deliberately-starting-bushfires/
https://www.infowars.com/epstein-network-still-up-operational-recruiting-young-girls/
https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/grooming-epidemic-almost-19000-children-idd-sexual-exploitation-victims-england/
https://truepundit.com/director-terry-gilliam-says-hes-tired-of-white-men-being-blamed-for-everything-that-is-wrong-with-the-world/
Because Dawn is tough on Greece.
*.*
Two little boys were arguing.
"My father is better than your father!"
"No he's not!"
"My brother is better than your brother!"
"No he's not!"
"My mother is better than your mother!"
The second boy paused. "Well I guess you've got me there, my father says the same thing."
*.*
Some people are pretty upset that Felicity Huffman is out of prison after only 11 days. But remember, she has to spend the rest of her life living in that mansion and driving around her Mercedes as a felon.
Good news for people who wear glasses, you'll be seeing 2020.
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin threw out the first pitch for Game 3 of the 2019 World Series! Ironically, Houston didn't have any problems.
There's a new smart toilet that actually analyzes the human waste. Yeah, there are some just some jobs the machines can have.
A report says currency is regaining its popularity, especially with the 100 bill. I'm saving up to get one of my own, one of these days...
I, for one, long for the good old days. I really think we should stop texting and get back to just emailing each other.
Walmart is posting signs warning of a national shortage of dishwashing soap. Either stock up or stack up!
A report says 44% of consumers have expenses that exceed their income. I'm not very good at math, but that's almost a third of all Americans.
California has been ranked as the best state for outdoor activities. I'm going to have to assume firefighting are among the activities they have in mind.
*.*
DES MOINES, IA - After a Bernie Sanders organizer waxed poetic over the beauty of gulags and the need for reeducating the people, Sanders clarified that his gulags will actually be democratic gulags.
"These aren't your regular, totalitarian, Soviet gulags - not that there's anything wrong with that - these are democratic gulags," he said in a clarifying speech. "We vote on the prison camps so it's not like a nasty dictatorship thing."
He then sent a memo to his staff reminding them that the gulags weren't supposed to be revealed until phase 2 of his plan.
Sanders was reportedly angered and disappointed at the staffer who let the cat out of the bag in a video released by Project Veritas.
"Remember, we start with promises of free stuff, then we throw everybody in the gulags once we're in office," an exasperated Sanders said to a group of his campaign volunteers gathered backstage at last night's debate. "It's a total bush league move to talk about the gulags, mass starvation, and millions of deaths before phase 2 kicks in."
The presidential candidate instructed his staffers to stick to talking points like free healthcare, free internet, free Krispy Kreme donuts, and to avoid any talk of the gulags the Sanders campaign has had elaborate plans drawn up for since the day Sanders announced his candidacy.
*.*
Top 5 Signs you Minimum Security Prison is a lot Tougher than People Think
No carbonated bottled water
Massage Therapist doesn't work on Thursdays
Boxed wine at Happy Hour
Strict no Ribeye on Steak Night. Only New York cuts.
The 70-inch TV in your cell is standard def.
Quote of the Times;
“This is not decay. This is organized destruction. Secularists and their allies have marshaled all the forces of mass communication, popular culture, the entertainment industry, and academia in an unremitting assault on religion & traditional values." - Attorney General Bill Barr
Link of the Times;
https://www.bitchute.com/video/LnxtLZAgXoAo/
Issue of the Times;
France, The "Budding Islamic Republic" by Guilio Meotti
"Five years after the killings at Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher, France has learned to live with the Islamist threat," wrote Yves Thréard, deputy editor at the daily newspaper Le Figaro.
"Not a month goes by... without a murderous attack with the cry of 'Allahu Akbar' taking place on our soil.... But what is the point of fighting the effects of Islamism if we do not tackle the origins of this ideology of death? On that front, however, denial continues to compete with naiveté. Nothing has changed in the last five years. On the contrary.
"In the name of diversity, non-discrimination and human rights, France has accepted a number of blows to its culture and history... Islamists are a hot-button issue. They continue the fight which, even without weapons, has all the allure of a war of civilizations. Is the famous 'Charlie spirit', which some people thought was blowing after the January 2015 attacks, just an illusion?"
France has been marking the fifth anniversary of the deadly jihadist attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which took place on January 7, 2015. Last month, French Senator Nathalie Goulet warned that more attacks were likely. "In France we have a serious problem and we need to do more to prevent extremists from acting. As it stands, there will be more attacks," said Goulet said.
There are believed to be 12,000 radical Islamists on France's terror watch-list, "however only a dozen are thought to be under 24-hour surveillance."
This week was marked by yet a new string of Islamist terror attacks: police injured a knife-wielding man on a street in the northeastern city of Metz, two days after a suspected Islamist radical in the Paris suburb of Villejuif stabbed a man to death, an act that prosecutors are treating as a terror attack. In both incidents, the assailants shouted "Allahu Akbar." This type of attack was dubbed "ordinary jihad" in a Le Figaro editorial this week.
On January 7, 2015, the cartoonists and journalists Cabu, Charb, Honoré, Tignous and Wolinski, the psychoanalyst Elsa Cayat, the economist Bernard Maris and the policeman Franck Brinsolaro fell under the bullets of the jihadist brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi. Charlie Hebdo's 2020 anniversary issue commemorated the massacre and slammed the "new gurus of monolithic thinking" who are trying to impose politically correct censorship.
The outburst of indignation of the French people, gathered in Paris for a massive demonstration on January 11, 2015, was not enough to awaken the spirit of resistance of the French leaders and elites against Islamism and its collaborators. "The seriousness of the Islamist political fact in France is strongly underestimated", says the lawyer Thibault de Montbrial, president France's Center for Internal Security Studies.
In a country that used to stand for freedom of expression, self-censorship is soaring.
"For the humorists in France, it's always easy to make fun of the Pope and the Catholics, it's always easy to make fun of Jews, it's always easy to make fun of Protestants," confesses a long-time Charlie Hebdo columnist, Patrick Pelloux. For Islam, it is not easy.
"We feel that this religion is scary. The word Islam is scary, and on that, the terrorists have won."
Submission is winning.
While French prisons have become a breeding ground for jihadists, the Islamization of the cities' suburbs, the banlieues, is proceeding full tilt. The weekly Le Point recently devoted a cover story to the "territories conquered by the Islamists." In many of these areas, violence rages; 1,500 cars were torched there on New Year's Eve. In recently published book, "Les territoires conquis de l'islamisme" ("The Territories Conquered by Islamism"), by Bernard Rougier, a professor at the University Sorbonne-Nouvelle and director of the Center for Arab and Oriental Studies, he explains that Islamism is an "hegemonic project", splintering working-class neighborhoods. These "ecosystems", he states, work on a "logic of rupture" of the French society, its values and institutions, and are built on mosques, bookstores, sport clubs and halal restaurants.
Hugo Micheron, a researcher at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, suggested that jihadists are comfortable in "territorial and community isolation". "Today," said the president of the Ministry of Education's Conseil supérieur des programmes, Souâd Ayada, "the visibility of Islam in France is saturated by the veil and the jihad".
While Islamist preachers and recruiters are out on the streets, seeking out the weak minds that will form the first line of their holy war, political Islam also forms electoral lists in France's suburbs. French President Emmanuel Macron opposed banning these political groups. "France is a budding Islamic republic," noted the Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal. In those "territories", he said, live many of the terrorists who attack France, from the Kouachi brothers of Charlie Hebdo to the jihadists who murdered scores of people at the Bataclan Theater.
Two populations who live "side by side" would soon find themselves "face to face", said Gérard Collomb, a former Minister of the Interior. He was right. Islamists are also housed inside public institutions.
Islamists have, in addition, recruited dozens of French soldiers and ex-servicemen who have converted to Islam. Many have come from commando units with expertise in handling weapons and explosives. France is turning into a "society of vigilance" in its fight against the "Hydra" of Islamist militancy, as Macron said.
In the five years since the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, which targeted freedom of expression, Islamists have been able to commit atrocities against targets such as a priest in a Catholic Church in Rouen; a national secular holiday (the Bastille Day attack in Nice); Jewish communities (from Paris to Toulouse), and ordinary people. Last October, an Islamist struck in one of France's most secure buildings: the monumental Paris Police headquarters near Notre Dame cathedral, where he murdered four of his colleagues. "This is a major turning point in Islamist terrorism", said Gilles Kepel, an expert on Middle East and jihadism.
"It is hard to believe that the police on which we rely to protect us and which is supposed to be our last rampart against terrorism, can itself be the victim of terrorism, with throats slit in the holy of holies of the Police Prefecture".
In the wake of the attack, seven police officers, "suspected of radicalization," had their guns confiscated.
"I have the impression that our immune defenses have collapsed and that Islamism is winning", says the French writer Pascal Bruckner.
"Its main demands have been met: nobody dares to publish caricatures of Mohammed anymore. Self-censorship prevails.... Hate is directed against those who resist obscuring information rather than against those who obscure it. Not to mention the psychiatrization of terrorism, in order better to exonerate Islam. If we had been told in the early 2000s that in 2020, around 20 French cartoonists and intellectuals would be under police protection, no one would have believed it. The threshold of servitude has increased."
Five years after the terrorist murders at Charlie Hebdo, free speech is less free in France. "No one today would publish the cartoons of Muhammad", said Philippe Val, the former editor of Charlie Hebdo, recently.
"For the past five years, I've been going to the police station every month or so to file a complaint about death threats, not insults, death threats", says Marika Bret, a journalist at Charlie Hebdo today.
In Paris, five years after the murders at Charlie Hebdo, there was a big march to protest not terrorism, but "Islamophobia". "Voltaire fades before Muhammad, and the Enlightenment before the Submission", wrote the author Éric Zemmour. And Qatar still freely finances the construction of French mosques.
In 2017, two years after Jews were murdered in a terrorist attack at a kosher supermarket in Paris, a Jewish woman, Sarah Halimi, was tortured and murdered in her Paris apartment by her neighbor, Kobili Traoré, who was yelling "Allahu Akbar." A court of appeals recently ruled that Traoré, because he had smoked cannabis, was "not criminally responsible" for his actions. As France's Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia said, it is a "license to kill Jews".
"Anti-Semitism today is so blatant that it would be difficult to hide it without falling into ridicule," said the historian Georges Bensoussan. "What is taboo is the anti-Semites" -- meaning that today, in France, it is taboo to say that Islamism is the most important source of anti-Semitism.
One week after the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo, in which nine of its staff members were killed and another four wounded, the magazine published a cover depicting the Prophet of Islam with a tear on his cheek, and saying: "Tout est Pardonné" ("All is forgiven") .
Five years later, all actually does seem to have been forgiven. Then, many proudly said, "I am Charlie". Most proved they were not.
News of the Times;
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/01/201_the_left_goes_over_the_edge.html
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/exclusive-twitter-caught-censoring-president-trumps-account-deleting-several-tweets-from-his-homepage/
https://thezman.com/wordpress/?p=15349
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/967609563535962112.html
https://write.as/dsf4khx3r1m1208f.md
https://www.fr24news.com/2020/01/france-1100-doctors-resign-en-masse.html
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/luongo-pelosis-coup-attempt-now-open-warfare-there-will-be-casualties
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/01/progressive_ecogroup_admits_it_renewable_energy_is_a_hoax_that_benefits_its_greenie_elmer_gantries_like_al_gore.html
https://www.unz.com/article/dispatches-from-the-race-war/
https://nypost.com/2020/01/02/team-trumps-big-blow-to-the-college-cartel/
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/wikileaks-papers-support-bush-claims-of-iran-role-in-iraqi-insurgency/
https://summit.news/2020/01/06/nearly-200-people-arrested-across-australia-for-deliberately-starting-bushfires/
https://www.infowars.com/epstein-network-still-up-operational-recruiting-young-girls/
https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/grooming-epidemic-almost-19000-children-idd-sexual-exploitation-victims-england/
https://truepundit.com/director-terry-gilliam-says-hes-tired-of-white-men-being-blamed-for-everything-that-is-wrong-with-the-world/
Reach?
Ever worry about the germs in the holes of bowling balls.
Nobody cleans those holes.
There are years of impacted pizza fingers in there. Taco fingers. Chicken fingers.
All kinds of fingers.....
I'm amazed those balls still have holes. Ever smell a bowling ball hole?
You think the balls are knocking down the pins?
You could be right or wrong, they could be passing out from all the smells.
Something to think about next time you go bowling.
*.*
An exhausted looking man dragged himself in to the Doctor's office.
"Doctor, there are dogs all over my neighborhood. They bark all day and all night, and I can't get a wink of sleep."
"I have good news for you," the doctor answered, rummaging through a drawer full of sample medications.
" Here are some new sleeping pills that work like a dream. A few of these and your trouble will be over."
"Great," the man answered, "I'll try anything. Let's give it a shot."
A few weeks later the man returned, looking worse than ever. "Doc, your plan is no good. I'm more tired than before!"
"I don't understand how that could be, said the doctor, shaking his head. "Those are the strongest pills on the market!"
"That may be true," answered the man wearily, "but I'm still up all night chasing those dogs and when I finally catch one it's hell getting him to swallow the pill!!!"
*.*
Classic:
A young Australian lad had been brought up on a remote sheep farm in the Outback. He had had a very sheltered life, and had never yet had a woman.
When his dad had to go to Brisbane for a few days on business, the lad persuaded him to take him with him. He went out on the town fascinated by the bright lights of the city, which he had never seen before.
After a while, he found himself in a disco, where he was picked up by the local bike, shall we say. She invited him back to her flat, and the lad couldn't believe his luck.
She sat him down in the lounge, gave him a drink, then disappeared into the bedroom, saying, "I'll just go and change into something more comfortable."
When she came back out, dressed in a sexy negligee, she stopped and looked around in amazement. The lad had removed all the furniture from the lounge and piled it in the kitchen, leaving the room completely bare.
"What you doing, Bruce?" asked the girl.
"Well," he said, "I must admit, Sheila, I've never done this before... but if it's anything like a kangaroo, we're gonna need all the space we can get!"
*.*
California is launching the first early warning earthquake app in the state. In California, you didn't just miss the last earthquake, you're just early for the next.
A Pakistani man unleashed his pet lion on an electrician coming to collect on a bill. Wow, imagine the size of that pet door.
A city in Virginia has made it against the law for anyone over the age of 13 to trick or treat. When Snickers are outlawed, only outlaws will have Snickers.
A company in Seattle (where else?) is developing a new type of coffee that is not made from beans. Synthetic coffee. May I be the first to say: Fake Brews!
There is outcry after an Amazon worker in Ohio had a heart attack at work and was not treated for 20 minutes. In Amazon's defense, it wasn't quite yet break time.
I gotta say, this Brexit thing is dragging on longer than a Brett Favre retirement.
In South Florida, a shoplifter went into a Total Wine and got out of the store with over $1,000 worth of Scotch stuffed down his pants. You'd think they would have heard a clink or two... ..
Mick Mulvaney says Donald Trump still considers himself in the hospitality business. Mostly because of all the people stealing the White House towels.
Police in Florida found three children and 245 animals in a home with "deplorable" conditions that included 90 mice and 65 rats. There were once some pigs in there, but they moved out because of the messiness.
There's a new app called Wowzer, that will try to match up fellow dog lovers. It would be much better for them to find love, rather than spend their whole life chasing their own tail.
I set my alarms extra early so I have enough time to lay there and be angry about having to get up so early.
The National Vending Machine Operators are promising that they will start putting healthier snacks in U.S. vending machines, starting January 1st. Only one question: who asked them to?
Look, you're just not that special if your nickname is "The Library Whisperer."
*.*
Aussie Culture - The Definitive Guide to being an Aussie
1. The bigger the hat, the smaller the farm.
2. The shorter the nickname, the more they like you.
3. Whether it's the opening of Parliament, or the launch of a new art gallery, there is no Australian event that cannot be improved by a sausage sizzle.
4. If the guy next to you is swearing like a wharfie he's probably a media billionaire. Or on the other hand, he may be a wharfie.
5. There is no food that cannot be improved by the application of tomato sauce.
6. On the beach, all Australians hide their keys and wallets by placing
them inside their sandshoes. No thief has ever worked this out.
7. Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the plastic milk crate.
8. All our best heroes are losers.
9. The alpha male in any group is he who takes the barbecue tongs from the hands of the host and blithely begins turning the snags.
10. It's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to hold.
11. If it can't be fixed with pantyhose and fencing wire, it's not worth fixing.
12. The most popular and widely praised family in any street is the one
that has the swimming pool.
13. It's considered better to be down on your luck than stuck up
14. The phrase "we've got a great lifestyle" means everyone in the family drinks too much.
15. If invited to a party, you should take cheap red wine and then spend all night drinking the host's beer. (Don't worry, he'll have catered for it).
16. The phrase "a simple picnic" is not known. You should take everything you own. If you don't need to make three trips back to the car, you're not trying.
17. Unless ethnic, you are not permitted to sit down in your front yard, or on your front porch. Pottering about, gardening or leaning on the fence acceptable. Just don't sit. That's what backyards are for.
Except in Queensland where sitting on the front porch to catch a cool breeze is quite OK
18. On picnics, the Esky is always too small, creating a food vs grog battle that can only ever be resolved by leaving the salad at home.
19. When on a country holiday, the neon sign advertising the motel's pool will always be slightly larger than the pool itself.
20. There comes a time in every Australian's life when he/she realises that the Aerogard is worse than the mozzies.
21. And, finally, the true test for immigration to Australia ...Potential new Aussies must pass the following test: Mowing a sloping lawn (at least 20 degree angle) in a pair of thongs, holding a VB while watching the cricket. If you can't pass that, chances are you will never be able to pass yourself off as a true Aussie.
Quote of the Times;
“The weight of the lie on my conscience was heavier than the value of the fame I'd gained from participating in this elaborate swindle. Two fake gender identities couldn't hide the truth of my biological reality. There is no third gender or third sex. Like me, intersex people are either male or female. Their condition is the result of a disorder of sexual development, and they need help and compassion.” – Shupe
Link of the Times;
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/what-is-love-actually-the-worlds-languages-describe-emotions-very-differently/ar-BBYciZP
Issue of the Times;
Europe: Anti-Christian Attacks Reach All-Time High In 2019 by Soeren Kern
Anti-Christian hostility is sweeping across Western Europe, where, during 2019, Christian churches and symbols were deliberately attacked day after day.
Gatestone Institute reviewed thousands of newspaper reports, police blotters, parliamentary inquiries, social media posts and specialized blogs from Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The research shows (see appendices below) that roughly 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were vandalized, looted or defaced in Europe during 2019 — which is on track to becoming a record year for anti-Christian sacrilege on the continent.
Violence against Christian sites is most widespread in France, where churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments are being vandalized, desecrated and burned at an average rate of three per day, according to government statistics. In Germany, attacks against Christian churches are occurring at an average rate of two per day, according to police blotters.
Attacks on Christian churches and symbols are also commonplace in Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The attacks overwhelmingly involve Roman Catholic sites and symbols, although in Germany, Protestant churches are also being targeted.
The perpetrators of anti-Christian attacks — which include acts of arson, defecation, desecration, looting, mockery, profanation, Satanism, theft, urination and vandalism — are rarely caught. When they are, police and media often censor information about their identities and ethnic backgrounds. Many suspects are said to have mental disorders; as a result, many anti-Christian attacks are not categorized as hate crimes.
In France and Germany, the spike in anti-Christian attacks dovetails with the recent mass immigration from the Muslim world. The lack of official statistics on perpetrators and motives makes it impossible to know precisely how many attacks can be attributed to Muslim anti-Christianism or the jihadist cause.
In Spain, by contrast, attacks against churches and crosses are overwhelmingly carried out by anarchists, radical feminists and other far-left activists, who appear to be striving for Christianity to be permanently removed from the public square.
The motives behind the anti-Christian attacks, which are often met with public indifference, seem to fall into four broad categories:
• Vandalism. Most attacks against Christian sites in Europe consist of acts of vandalism. These often lack explicit anti-Christian intent, but cross over into profanation and desecration when they target objects and symbols sacred to Christians. From a strictly legal perspective, such crimes are difficult to prosecute as hate crimes: according to the laws of most European countries, prosecutors must prove that the vandalism was specifically motivated by an animosity toward Christians or Christianity.
• Theft. Many attacks have financial motives. In France, Germany and elsewhere, thieves have stolen church bells, sacred metal objects and even drain pipes, apparently with the aim of selling those items to scrap dealers. In Britain, nearly half of all churches on the National Historical List for England have been ransacked. Many of the crimes are being attributed to highly organized gangs which use drones, online maps and global positioning systems first to identify their targets through aerial footage and then plot their own escape routes. The plunder is dominated by thefts of metal, with entire roofs being removed from historic places of worship, according to the heritage agency, Historic England.
• Politics. Some attacks, especially those against Roman Catholicism, which some radical feminists and radical secularists perceive to be a symbol of patriarchal power and authority, are political in nature. Such attacks include defacing churches and religious symbols with political graffiti, much of it anarchist or feminist in nature. In Geneva, Switzerland, for instance, the iconic International Monument to the Protestant Reformation, also known as the Reformation Wall, was vandalized with multi-colored paint forming a rainbow, a symbol of the LGBT groups.
• Religion. Many attacks that appear to be religious or spiritual in nature reflect a deep-seated hostility toward Christianity. Such attacks include smearing feces on representations of Jesus Christ or statues of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Other attacks involve the defilement or theft of Communion wafers, which Roman Catholics believe are transformed into the real presence of Christ when consecrated. Some of these attacks may be the work of Satanists, who use the consecrated host in a ritual called the Black Mass.
Such attacks, especially on the essence of Roman Catholic beliefs, appear to be aimed at intimidating or harassing Catholics or preventing them from practicing their faith. These attacks, which do meet the definition of hate crimes, pose a direct threat to the freedom of religion in Europe, but prosecutions are rare.
Writing for the Spanish newspaper ABC, Juan Pedro Quiñonero, its Paris correspondent for more than 35 years, explained:
"The desecrations have an evident anti-Christian character. Drunk with fierce hatred, the vandals want to give their actions a clear anti-religious dimension. In recent months, anti-Semitic gangs have desecrated Jewish cemeteries, 'signing' their actions with swastikas. In the case of the desecration of Catholic churches, vandalism is not 'signed.' It speaks for itself: heinous mockeries of the figure of Christ on the cross and the desecration of high altars."
European media outlets, which often amplify attacks on Muslims, have tended to downplay malicious acts against Christians. The issue of anti-Christian vandalism was rarely reported by the European media until February 2019, when vandals attacked nine churches within the space of two weeks. The issue made headlines again in April 2019, when a suspicious fire gutted the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Since then, however, the European media are once again shrouding facts in silence.
The French newspaper Le Monde has disputed the government's use of the term "anti-Christian acts" and warned politicians not to "instrumentalize" the issue:
"More than a thousand acts a year, an average of three per day: the number is high, but what does it cover? Can we really speak of 'profanations' — a strong term — which implies an attack on the sacredness of a place of worship?
"Ideological motivations are in the minority: it is mainly about thefts and vandalism. The perpetrators often are minors."
Annie Genevard, a French MP for the center-right Republicans party, has called for a parliamentary investigation in order better to understand the nature and motivations of anti-Christian attacks. In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, she said:
"Recently, two terribly serious acts of vandalism were committed in symbolic places and shocked me greatly. A few days ago, the fire in the Church of Saint Sulpice, a church that houses remarkable works: there is nearly a million euros of damage and works are irretrievably lost! And some time ago, vandals broke into the Basilica of Saint Denis and damaged stained-glass windows and the organ. Saint Denis it is not only a place of Christian worship, it is the necropolis of the kings of France! It is a meeting place between our national history and our Christian roots. That one dares to attack this monument is really shocking not only for Christians but for many citizens, whatever their convictions. When an anti-Christian act is committed, we turn our backs on the history of France, which has an intimate connection with the Christian religion.
"To attack a Christian tomb or a church, whatever the motivation of the author, is a way to attack one part of our collective identity, because Christianity and its monuments have shaped our culture, our history and our landscapes. Seeking to destroy or damage Christian buildings is a way of 'wiping the slate clean' of the past. In an era where the most absolute cultural relativism reigns, it is all the more serious that some of our oldest and most valuable landmarks are endangered. A civilization that would deny and turn away from its past would be a civilization that would be lost. I think this is worrying, and there is a need for a strong political response."
In an interview with the Italian magazine Il Timone, the Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, Dominique Rey, said that the attacks against churches in Europe are taking place within the context of a European society marked by secularism, nihilism, hedonism, cultural and moral relativism, consumerism, and the widespread loss of the sense of the sacred. He noted:
"In the past, even those who said they were non-Christian lived in a cultural context marked by Christianity.... roots that have been abandoned by our culture and by our societies. Once the Christian roots, which were the common denominator, were removed, people turned to communitarianism, which led to a social fragmentation that is leading to a break. To find a common base of values and points of reference, Europe must restore centrality to its Christian roots....
"There is an evolution of acts of profanation against monuments, but also against the Catholic faith itself. In the past, even if one was not a Christian, the expression of the sacred was respected. We are facing a serious threat to the expression of religious freedom. Secularism must not be a rejection of the religious, but a principle of neutrality that gives everyone the freedom to express his faith.
"We are witnessing the convergence of laicism — conceived as secularism, which relegates the faithful only to the private sphere and where every religious denomination is banal or stigmatized — with the overwhelming emergence of Islam, which attacks the infidels and those who reject the Koran. On one hand, we are mocked by the media ... and on the other, there is the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism. These are two joint realities."
The French political analyst Jérôme Fourquet, in his book — French Archipelago: Birth of a Multiple and Divided Nation — shows how the de-Christianization of France is taking place within the context of mass migration from the Muslim world. He provides extensive statistical data — for instance, that less than 5% of French people regularly attend Mass on Sundays — to show that France's detachment from Christianity is so far-reaching that the country now is effectively "post-Christian." He writes:
"There is a growing de-Christianization, which is leading to the 'terminal phase' of the Catholic religion.... For hundreds of years the Catholic religion profoundly structured the collective conscience of French society. Today this society is the shadow of what it once was. A great civilizational change is underway."
Appendix I: Attacks on Christian Churches and Symbols in Europe in 2019
Gatestone Institute reviewed thousands of newspaper reports, police blotters, parliamentary inquiries, social media posts and specialized blogs from Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The research found that approximately 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were vandalized, burned, looted or defaced in Europe during 2019 — at more than five a day, a record year for anti-Christian hostility on the continent.
Suspicious Fires at Churches in Europe in 2019:
• December 15. Saint-Just-en-Bas, France. A suspicious fire destroyed the roof of the town's 15th century church. More than three dozen worshippers who were in the building when the fire broke out were evacuated. The church's roof had been renovated during the summer at a cost of €200,000 ($225,000).
• December 5, Lyon, France. An arsonist set fire to the doors of the Church of Saint-Georges.
• November 16. Buschhoven, Germany. Arsonists set fire to the Catholic Church of St. Katharina. It was the second arson attack on the church in as many weeks. Arsonists also set fire to a nearby Protestant church, the Versöhnungskirche.
• November 13. Chios, Greece. Arsonists set fire to three churches in the village of Chalkios: The attacks against the Agios Haralambos Church, the Church of Panagia and the Church Agios Petros and Pavlos were attributed to illegal migrants, who are being house at a migrant camp situated 500 meters from one of the churches.
• November 12. Éauze, France. Two 15-year-olds set fire to the Éauze Cathedral. The Gothic church, a national heritage site, sustained significant damage.
• November 8. Lleida, Spain. Arsonists set two fires inside the Church of Sant Joan.
• September 20. Olivenza, Spain. Arsonists set fire to the front doors of the Convent of San Juan de Dios. In August, the convent's chapel was defaced with graffiti.
• October 10. Naples, Italy. Arsonists set fire to the historic Basilica of San Giovanni Maggiore.
• September 10. Froncles, France. Arsonists set fire to the Church of Saint-Joseph.
• September 9. Witzenhausen, Germany. Arsonists tried to burn down Christuskirche, a Lutheran church.
• September 4. Wimbotsham, England. St. Mary the Virgin Church, an historic church in Wimbotsham, was gutted by a fire. The church, originally built in 1175, was "100% damaged" and all furniture was lost, including an altar table dating to 1638. "The history and heritage lost in this fire is irreplaceable and the costs of repairing the physical damage will be substantial," said Peter Aiers, of the Churches Conservation Trust. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
• August 30. Wildeshausen, Germany. Arsonists set fire to St. Peter Catholic Church, causing more than €100,000 ($112,000) in damage.
• August 21. Rheine-Schotthock, Germany. Arsonists tried to burn down St. Ludgeruskirche Catholic Church. Previously, thieves broke into the church on August 6.
• August 24. Saint-Amand-sur-Sèvre, France. A suspicious fire broke out at the church of Saint-Amand, which dates to the 11th century.
• July 30. Bad Schussenried, Germany. An arsonist set fire to a church in the Schussenried Abbey, a former monastery founded in 1183.
• July 29. Kippenheim, Germany. An arsonist set fire to hymnals in St. Mauritius Catholic Church.
• July 19. Hyvinkää, Finland. Arsonists set fire to the Old Church. The church was saved but an adjacent storage facility was completely destroyed.
• June 30. Bourg-Achard, France. Arsonists set fire to the organ at the Church of Saint-Lô. The organ was completely destroyed. On June 26, arsonists set fire to an altar cloth at the same church, which has now been closed.
• June 12. Vienna, Austria. Arsonists set fire to the Dominican Church of St. Rotunda. A tourist used holy water to put out the fire.
• June 1. Ankum, Germany. Arsonists set two fires simultaneously at St. Nicholas Church.
• May 24. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Holy Family Church in Ballymagroarty was set on fire and completely destroyed. CCTV footage showed a group of unidentified youths starting the fire.
• May 16. Nordhausen, Germany. Arsonists set fire to the historic St. Blasii church, originally built in the 12th century. The ante-chamber to the church was burned.
• April 21. Eyguières, France. A suspicious fire damaged the confessional of the Church of Notre Dame de Grace.
• April 15. Paris, France. A suspicious fire gutted the iconic 12th century Notre Dame Cathedral.
• April 19. Heek, Germany. Vandals attempted to set fire to a church in Nienborg.
• March 19. Senigallia, Italy. An arsonist tried — twice on the same day — to set fire to the Cathedral of San Pietro.
• March 17. Paris, France. A suspicious fire destroyed the entrance to the Church of Saint Sulpice, the second-largest church in Paris. Police said that the fire was not accidental.
• March 5. Skegness, England. St. Matthew's Church was damaged in an arson attack.
• February 21. Hellenthal, Germany. An arsonist set fire to the Trinitatis Lutheran Church. The church's roof was completely destroyed.
• January 29. Sainte-Foy-Lès-Lyon, France. A 40-year-old man with a long criminal record was arrested for trying to burn down the Church of Saint Foy. He was placed in a psychiatric ward.
• January 20, Almería, Spain. Arsonists attempted to burn down the hermitage of Torregarcía; arsonists previously tried to burn down the chapel on January 11.
• January 17. Grenoble, France. The Church of Saint Jacques was completely destroyed by fire. Only the bell tower was left standing. Police initially had concluded that the fire was an accident, caused by in an electric short circuit in the roof of the church. On October 8, however, Grenoble Prosecutor Eric Vaillant said that an anarchist group had deliberately started the fire, although the perpetrators had not yet been identified.
• January 10. Rovereto, Italy. Arsonists attempted to burn down the Church of Sant Rocco. The attack was believed to be a response to the church's opposition to abortion.
•
Attacks on Christian Historical Sites in Europe in 2019:
• December 5. Valdecilla, Spain. Vandals destroyed a 16th century stone cross at the Church of Solares-Valdecilla. A 14-year-old vandal broke his leg when part of the stone fell on him.
• November 4. Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France. Thieves rammed a car into the doors of the Cathedral of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and stole silverware, a monstrance, a chalice and liturgical garments from the 16th century. Mayor Hervé Lucbéreilh said: "It is a considerable loss. Some pieces are unique, like the monstrance of Saint Grat, and no insurance will replace them. The thieves were obviously connoisseurs...they only stole the most precious items which dated from the 16th century. Beyond the market value, the inhabitants find themselves amputated of part of their history and their heritage."
• October 16. Bois-de-Céné, France. Three teenagers were arrested for stealing relics from the Church of Bois-de-Céné, a national historical monument which dates to the 14th century.
• September 9. Seville, Spain. Vandals destroyed the historic Cross of the Inquisition at the City Hall. Mayor Juan Espadas condemned the "absolutely inexplicable vandal destruction" of a the "jewel" of Seville's heritage.
• August 19. Brue-Auriac, France. Thieves stole an 85-kg (187-pound) bronze church bell from a Romanesque chapel. Mayor André Rousselet said that he believed that the bell was melted, and the metal was sold, possibly yielding up to €500 ($560) for the thief.
• July 19. Ginasservis, France. Thieves stole two bells from two chapels in the village. The 80-kg bell of the Chapelle Saint-Damase dates from 1867; the 53-kg bell of the Chapelle des Pénitents dates from 1737. The latter chapel is classified as a national historic monument. Mayor Hervé Philibert said that the bells were carefully removed and that nothing was broken. He said that he believes that the purpose of the theft is "resale to a collector."
• February 27. Hochheim, Germany. Vandals ransacked the St. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, an iconic landmark built in 1730. In January 2016, the church was set on fire by an arsonist, causing more than half-a-million-euros in damage.
• February 26. Hanover, Germany. A burglar smashed the windows of the Kreuzkirche, a medieval church consecrated in 1333.
• February 23. Dublin, Ireland. A 36-year-old Dublin man, Brian Bridgeman desecrated several mummies at St. Michan's, a church that dates to 1095. He opened crypts in the church's vaults and twisted the head of a nun who had lived 400 years ago. He also decapitated an 800-year-old crusader and removed his head from the site. The skull was later found by police and returned to the church. Bridgeman, who was identified on CCTV and admitted guilt, was sentenced to 28 months in prison. "It's a sad day for the church and a sad day for humanity that someone would do such a thing," said Archdeacon David Pierpoint.
• February 5. Lavaur, France. Two teenagers desecrated the Cathedral of St. Alain, which dates to the 13th century. They then set fire to a nativity scene that was still in place from the Christmas holidays. The fire caused extensive smoke damage to the cathedral, which had just undergone a five-year, multi-million-euro renovation. The teenagers were identified through CCTV footage.
• January 18. Minden, Germany. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of St. Simeon's Lutheran Church, which was consecrated in 1214. In November 2018, the church was defaced with graffiti; in March 2017, vandals smashed a 19th century stained-glass window.
• January 10. Ripley, England: Thieves stole the lead roof of All Saints Church, which dates to 1390. During the course of the theft the thieves caused extensive damage to the stone parapet on the roof. The damage was estimated at tens of thousands of pounds.
•
Desecrations of Cemeteries in Europe in 2019:
• December 23. Villeroux, Belgium. More than a dozen graves at a local cemetery were desecrated. Gravestones were knocked over and crosses were smashed.
• December 14. Aron, France. Vandals desecrated 30 graves at a local cemetery. They smashed crosses, stole marble plates as well as a statue of Jesus Christ.
• November 30. Saint-Priest-la-Prugne, France. A local cemetery was ransacked.
• November 24. Buré, France. A local cemetery was desecrated. Gravestones were knocked over and crosses were smashed.
• October 27. Zabrze Helence, Poland. A total of 29 tombstones and 22 crosses were destroyed at the cemetery of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church.
• August 30. Vals-près-le-Puy, France. Tombstones were overturned in three different cemeteries in the town. Police said the attacks were not religiously motivated.
• July 21. North Jutland, Denmark. A 45-year-old man spray-painted the number '666' on 87 gravestones at Hadsund Cemetery.
• June 20. Evesham, England. Vandals defaced tombstones at St. Andrews Parish Church Cemetery with satanic graffiti. On June 16, vandals desecrated more than 100 graves at the same cemetery.
• February 14, Madrid, Spain. Gravestones were defaced at the cemetery of the Almudena Cathedral.
• February 6. Kamień Krajeński, Poland. Vandals ransacked a local cemetery. Tombstones were destroyed, crosses were knocked down and a statue of Jesus was destroyed.
•
Urination, Defecation and Exhibitionism at Christian Sites in Europe in 2019:
• November 20. Tarbes, France. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint-Jean. They broke open the doors, smashed statues and burned hymn books. They also urinated and defecated on the church floors and used Bibles and hymn books as toilet paper.
• October 27. Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre, France. Five teenagers vandalized a local church. They urinated on confessionals and holy water fonts and set fire to alter cloths and hymn books.
• August 28. Montefiascone, Italy. The Church of the Madonna dell'Arco was equipped with security cameras after vandals left excrement, vomit, condoms, cigarettes and beer cans scattered throughout the building. The church, which dates to 1796, has also been spray-painted with Satanist graffiti.
• August 25. Argenthal, Germany. An exhibitionist exposed himself to worshippers at a Catholic Mass.
• August 20. Giovo, Italy. The doors of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta di Verla were smeared with excrement.
• August 1. Crebio, Italy. The Church of Sant Antonio was desecrated with excrement that was smeared on the doors, walls and holy water fonts.
• July 26. Jaén, Spain. An 18-year-old man defecated in front of the altar of the Roman Catholic Santuario de la Fuensanta de Villanueva and then smeared his feces on a statue of Jesus Christ. The act was captured on CCTV.
• May 31. Lahntal-Caldern, Germany. Vandals broke into the Nikolaikirche, a Lutheran church, set fire to a Bible and a hymnal and left a pile of feces at the entranceway.
• May 17. Großholbach, Germany. Vandals ransacked the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, burned a Jesus statue and urinated on the pews. "This hurts," said Mayor Michael Kohlhass. "These are values that have simply been trampled upon."
• February 5. Nîmes, France. Vandals broke into the Notre Dame des Enfants church, forced open the tabernacle which houses the Eucharist, scattered consecrated hosts and spread excrement on the walls and inside and outside the church.
•
Anarcho-Feminist-Satanist and Politically-Motivated Attacks on Churches in Europe in 2019:
• December 5. Munich, Germany. Four churches in the Munich area were defaced with political graffiti.
• November 27. Mordelles, France. The Church of Saint-Pierre was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
• November 26. Rennes, France. November 26. Vandals defaced the Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle with Satanist graffiti.
• November 13. Segovia, Spain. November 13. The Church of San Agustín, which dates to the 16th century, was spray-painted with anarchist graffiti. An "anti-fascist" group called Yesca claimed responsibility for the vandalism.
• August 18. Singen, Germany. Vandals spray-painted Herz-Jesu Catholic Church with the number, "666."
• June 19. London, England. Vandals lit fires outside the doors of four churches in east London. At each church, occult symbols and messages including pentagrams, spirals, the number 666 and the word "hell" were etched into the doors.
• March 8. Madrid, Spain. The Church of Santa Mónica in Rivas Vaciamadrid was spray-painted with anti-Catholic and radical feminist graffiti to mark International Women's Day.
• March 8. Logroño, Spain. The Cathedral of Santa María de la Redonda was defaced with feminist propaganda.
• March 8. Seville, Spain. The Church of San Roque was defaced with anarcho-feminist graffiti.
• March 8. Valladolid, Spain. Radical feminists broke into the archbishopric of Valladolid.
• March 5. Reichstett, France. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of a Catholic church and painted "666" and "Satan" on the church walls.
• March 4. Alicante, Spain. Satanists performed an occultist ceremony in front of an evangelical church. They then defaced the entrance to the church with Satanist graffiti.
• February 22. Katowice, Poland. Four local chapels and churches were defaced with Satanist graffiti.
• January 31. Vendôme, France. Thieves broke into the Church of Madeleine and stole a wooden tabernacle containing a ciborium and consecrated hosts. "The consecrated hosts are sometimes used during black magic rituals," said Father Pierre Cabarat. "This theft is a profanation, an assault on the Christian community."
• January 16. Córdoba, Spain. The Santa Victoria de Córdoba Roman Catholic school was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
•
Attacks on Nativity Scenes in Europe in 2019:
• December 25. Ourense, Spain. A municipal nativity scene was damaged and a statue of the Christ Child was stolen. The same nativity scene was damaged on December 21.
• December 19. Dijon, France. A nativity scene at the Church of Notre-Dame was destroyed.
• December 18. Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, France. A municipal nativity scene was damaged. Mayor Marie-Thérèse Sikora said: "We are still a Judeo-Christian country. It is deplorable to attack a crib and decorations. We do this for the children, but this morning, they were devastated in front of the crib."
• December 17. Torrelavega, Spain. Vandals a municipal nativity scene was ransacked and a statue of the Christ Child was decapitated.
• December 16, Tárrega, Spain. Town councilors representing the far-left parties ERC and CUP dismantled the municipal nativity scene in order to "preserve the secular character" of the municipality.
• November 26, Vienna, Austria. A statue of the Christ Child was stolen twice from a nativity scene at a Christmas market in the Simmering district.
• January 1. Valencia, Spain. An historic nativity scene in Callosa de Segura was destroyed.
•
Islam-related Attacks on Christians and Christian Sites in Europe in 2019:
• December 6. Bandol, France. Vandals defaced with spray paint a memorial to Franco-Armenian friendship. The graffiti included the word "Turk." In a statement, the city said: "The mayor and the elected officials condemn with the utmost firmness this act which stains the memory of Armenians. Armenia was the victim of an atrocious genocide which resulted in more than a million victims between 1915 and 1916. France recognized this genocide in 2001."
• November 30. Marienthal, France. A 23-year-old man who claimed to be wearing a suicide vest ransacked a chapel adjacent to the Convent of Carmel of the Sacred Heart. Sister Donata, prioress of Carmel, explained: "A young man came to see us. He was calm. He asked to go to the chapel to pray, and there, at one point, madness took him. He started to ransack everything. He knocked over the crucifix and the statue of the Sacred Heart, which he damaged. He knocked down the candlesticks as well as the stalls. He chipped the altar. He attacked everything. Never has such a thing happened here." The Strasbourg public prosecutor's office requested a psychiatric assessment of the man, whose identity has not been made public.
• November 27. Trondheim, Norway. Four Muslim men threatened to kill a Christian street preacher unless he converted to Islam.
• September 6. Marseille, France. A teenager armed with a knife entered the La Pauline elementary school, stabbed the canteen manager, and shouted, "I am a Muslim. Today I am going to kill all Christians. 'Allahu Akbar!'" (Allah is greater [than your God!]).
• June 19. Graz, Austria. A 45-year-old Iraqi man set fire to four churches in the city.
• May 5. Toulouse, France. The Notre Dame du Taur church was defaced with the words, "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is greater [than your God]!")
• April 21. Rome, Italy. A Moroccan man stabbed a Georgian man for wearing a crucifix. "Italian Catholic Sh*t," the Moroccan shouted as he tried to cut the man's throat. The incident took place near Termini Station, the main railway station in Rome.
• April 17. Seville, Spain. A 23-year-old Moroccan jihadi plotted to attack Holy Week processions.
• April 1. Hendaye, France. Three Lebanese teenagers vandalized St. Vincent's nursery school. They ransacked eight classrooms, destroyed computers and covered the walls and floors with paint.
•
Appendix 2: Country-by-Country Attacks on Christian Churches and Symbols in Europe in 2019
1. France
The French government recorded 1,063 anti-Christian attacks in 2018, compared to 1,038 such attacks in 2017 and 949 in 2016. Overall, the number of attacks surged by 245% between 2008 and 2016, according to the Interior Ministry, which noted that attacks on Christian sites account for approximately 90% of all attacks on places of worship in France.
The trend shows no signs of abating. There were more than 1,000 anti-Christian attacks in France during 2019, according to data compiled by Daniel Hamiche, Editor-in-Chief of the blog, Observatory of Christianophobia. Hamiche has been an indefatigable chronicler of the destruction of Christian heritage in France. Gatestone Institute also consulted hundreds of national and local newspapers, as well as dozens of blogs, specialized websites and police blotters. Following are a few examples of anti-Christian attacks in 2019:
•
• Billy-sous-Mangiennes, December 20. Vandals destroyed the stained-glass windows at the Church of Saint-Loup.
• Aire-sur-l'Adour, December 19. A man set fire to an altar at the Cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Aire.
• Amiens, December 16. Vandals destroyed a statue of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes at the Amiens Cathedral.
• La Douze, December 11. Thieves stole copper pipes from the Church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens, a Gothic church dating to the 14th century.
• Châtillon-sur-Seine, December 4. Thieves broke into the Church of Saint-Nicolas.
• Rennes, November 24. Thieves broke into two churches on the same night: offering boxes were stolen at the Church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine and the Basilica of Saint-Sauveur.
• Avolsheim, November 23. Vandals defaced the grotto of the Church of Dompeter, one of the oldest churches in Alsace.
• Porto-Vecchio, November 21. Vandals desecrated an open-air oratory at the Church of San Ciprianu.
• Tournissan, November 16. Thieves ransacked the Church of Saint-Adrien. They then covered the site with bleach, apparently in an effort to erase traces of DNA.
• Marseille, November 9. Vandals defaced the Red Cross Mission Cross adjacent to the Church of Saint-Patrice. The cross was defaced a total of six times in 2019.
• Tonnay-Charente, November 9. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Etienne. Crosses were overturned, the tabernacle was broken, the hosts were scattered on the ground and the lunette containing a host for worship was stolen.
• Carentan-les-Marais, November 5. Vandals broke into the Church of Notre-Dame de Carentan. The same church was vandalized in July 2019.
• Clermont-Ferrand, October 21. Three teenagers ransacked the Church of Notre-Dame de Prospérité de Montferrand.
• Renazé, October 14. Thieves broke into the Church of Renazé and stole the tabernacle, which stores the consecrated hosts.
• Veynes, September 13. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Sauveur and stole the ciborium, a chalice used to hold consecrated communion wafers.
• Saint-Christol-de-Rodières, September 7. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint Christophe and stole the ciborium.
• Les Houches, August 24. Vandals broke into the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church and overturned pews, broke windows, destroyed a confessional booth and spray-painted anti-religious insults on the walls.
• Clermont, August 14. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Samson. Hosts were scattered and stolen, and the ciborium which contained them was also stolen.
• Compiègne, August 10. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint Éloi and stole the ciborium and other liturgical items.
• Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, July 17. A 44-year-old man was arrested for vandalizing several churches in the area. He decapitated religious statues, including one of Jesus, smashed stained-glass windows and destroyed paintings. Police discarded an "anti-Christian motif" because the man "operated alone, on impulse and without any real organization."
• Bois de Cené, April 4. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint-Etienne.
• Uffholtz, March 30. Vandals destroyed a crucifix.
• Péronne, March 27. A 40-year-old man was arrested for stealing at least 30 objects from the Church of Saint Jean Baptiste.
• Strasbourg, March 11. Vandals ransacked the Catholic Church of St. Louis de la Robertsau.
• Angoulême, March 9. Vandals ransacked the Hope & Life Evangelical Church and caused more than €10,000 ($11,000) in damage. The vandalism was aimed at "defiling, destroying and preventing worship services from taking place," according to Pastor Joseph Miall.
• Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, February 25. Vandals ransacked two churches: The Church of Saint-Gilles and the Church of Saint-Croix. They overturned statues and smashed stained-glass windows.
• Maisons-Laffitte, February 10. Vandals ransacked the Saint Nicolas church.
• Dijon, February 9. Vandals desecrated the Notre Dame church and stole the consecrated hosts.
• Houilles, February 4. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint Nicolas and destroyed a statue dating to the 19th century. It was the third attack at the church in ten days.
• Lusignan, February 3. Thieves broke into the Chapel of St. Anne, forced open the tabernacle and stole the ciborium. The consecrated hosts were strewn across the floor.
2. Germany
• Aue-Bad Schlema, December 25. A parish worker was stabbed to death when he tried to stop a fight between a Syrian and an Iranian migrant.
• Mettlach, December 23. Vandals ransacked the Church of Sankt Martin.
• Schwenningen, September 23. Vandals ransacked the St. Franziskus-Mariä Himmelfahrt Kirche, a Catholic church.
• Herxheim, September 13. Vandals damaged the front door of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church.
• Goch, September 12. Thieves forcibly ripped out and stole the copper water pipes from inside the walls of Maria Magdalena-Kirche, a Catholic church.
• Iserlohn, September 11. Thieves dismantled and stole the copper drainpipes of St. Gertrudis Kirche, a Catholic church.
• Coesfeld, September 11. Vandals broke into St. Lamberti Catholic Church and poured a strong-smelling liquid into the holy water font.
• Sulingen, September 9. Thieves broke into St. Nicolai-Kirche, a Lutheran church.
• Koblenz, September 9. Thieves broke into New Apostolic Church.
• Weilburg, September 8. Thieves broke into a church on Limburger Straße.
• Neustadt/Orla, September 8. Thieves broke into a church and stole property worth €1,000 ($1,120).
• Lahr, September 6. Thieves broke into Peter und Paul Kirche, a Roman Catholic church.
• Kusel, September 5. Vandals smashed the windows of a Protestant church.
• Kirchhatten, September 4. Vandals damaged property at St. Ansgari Church.
• Runkel, September 3. Vandals ransacked the Heilig Geist church.
• Eisenach, September 3. Vandals spray-painted a statue at St. Elisabeth Catholic Church.
• Gosheim, September 3. Vandals broke into Längenberg Chapel.
• Apolda, September 2. Thieves dismantled and stole the lightning rods and cables of St. Bonifatius Catholic Church.
• Velen-Ramsdorf, September 1. Vandals spray-painted the façade of St. Walburga Catholic Church.
• Pirmasens, August 31. Vandals ransacked Luther Church. The total damage is estimated at €5,000 ($5,600).
• Clingen, August 30. Thieves stole an outdoor pavilion from St. Gumbert Lutheran Church.
• Kevelaer-Winnekendonk, August 29. Thieves dismantled and stole copper pipes from St. Antonius Catholic Church.
• Mettmann, August 29. Thieves broke into St. Johannes Catholic Church.
• Stuttgart-Möhringen, August 25. Thieves broke into a church and kindergarten.
• Bochum, August 24. Thieves broke into St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.
• Altenhagen, August 21. Thieves broke into a Lutheran Church and tried to steal the organ pipes, apparently to sell them as scrap metal for cash.
• Ganderkesee, August 19. Thieves broke into St. Hedwig Catholic Church.
• Ostbevern, August 19. Vandals desecrated St. Ambrosius Catholic Church; vandals attacked the same church a day earlier.
• Bad Waldsee, August 18. Vandals spray-painted St. Peter Catholic Church with the words, "God is Dead."
• Herne, August 18. Thieves broke into Cranger Kirche, a Lutheran church.
• Kirchhundem, August 17. Vandals broke into the St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church.
• Greven-Reckenfeld, August 16. Vandals smashed the windows of St. Franziskus Catholic Church.
• Brakel, August 16. Vandals broke into St. Michael's Catholic Church.
• Bösensell, August 16. Thieves broke into a church and stole intercession letters from a mailbox.
• Rheine-Schotthock, August 6. Thieves broke into St. Ludgeruskirche Catholic Church.
• Lahn, August 13. A man broke into St. Martinus Catholic Church and tried to steal money.
• Gevelsberg, August 12. Thieves entered St. Engelbert Catholic Church and stole the tabernacle, a box holding consecrated hosts.
• Karlsruhe, August 12. A thief tried to steal money from donation boxes at St. Stephen's Catholic Church.
• Greiz, August 11. Vandals broke into the Gottesackerkirche.
• Zell im Wiesental, August 10. Thieves looted the Evangelical Church.
• Lauenbrück, July 31. Thieves broke into Martin-Luther-Kirchengemeinde, a Protestant church; they damaged windows and doors and stole donation money.
• Heiden, July 23. Vandals attacked St. Paulus Kirche, an evangelical church. They broke windows, spray-painted the walls and destroyed furniture.
• Lübbecke, July 5. Vandals broke into St. Nikolaus Lutheran Church. The church has been the target of repeated attacks and there are fears that the vandalism will escalate to the point that arsonists try to burn it down.
• Albstadt-Ebingen, June 9. Vandals ransacked a shrine at St. Joseph's Church.
• Esslingen, May 31. Thieves broke into the Osterfeldkirche, a Lutheran church in Berkheim, and stole property valued at €1,000 ($1,120).
• Löffingen, May 24. Vandals ransacked St. Michael's Catholic Church. They damaged or destroyed paintings, statues, the altar and the organ.
• Kronach, May 22. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on the doors of the Cristuskirche, a Lutheran church.
• Rudolstadt, May 7. Vandals spray-painted the walls of the Lutheran Stadtkirche.
• Winnweiler, May 6. Vandals broke into the Herz-Jesu-Kirche, a Roman Catholic church, built a campfire and defaced the walls.
• Hoxel, May 5. Vandals smashed a stained-glass window at a Roman Catholic chapel in Morbach-Hoxel.
• Bad Oldesloe, May 4. A thief broke into the Peter-Paul Lutheran Church stole an intricately-carved wooden cross valued at €5,000 ($5,600).
• Mannheim, April 29. Vandals ransacked the Liebfrauenkirche, a Roman Catholic church.
• Kirchberg, April 25. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on the doors of St. Margaret Lutheran Church.
• Wilhelmshaven, April 24. Vandals smashed nine windows in a downtown church.
• Ennepetal, April 20. Vandals smashed the windows of Herz-Jesu Roman Catholic Church.
• Dillenburg, April 14. Vandals ransacked the Herz-Jesu Roman Catholic Church.
• Ratingen-Hösel, April 11. Burglars broke into the Adolf-Clarenbach-Kirche, a Lutheran church, and physically removed the safe.
• Bremerhaven, April 8. A burglar broke into St. Mary's Catholic Church and stole several weeks' worth of donations.
• Oberschopfheim, April 7. Vandals destroyed the restrooms of the St. Leodegar Catholic Church.
• Münster, April 6. Vandals spray-painted the front door of a Roman Catholic church.
• Bösensell, April 5. Vandals ransacked the St.-Johannes-Kirche, a Roman Catholic church. The church has been the target of repeated attacks. "We do not want just to accept this anymore," a church member said.
• Hamburg, March 14. A swastika was spray-painted on the front door of the Kreuzkirche, a Lutheran church in the Wandsbeck district. State prosecutors launched a criminal investigation.
• Wenden, March 11. Vandals ransacked the St. Elisabeth of Schönau Roman Catholic Church.
• Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, February 24. Vandals damaged the St. Ursula Roman Catholic Church.
• Kaiserslautern, February 2. The Christuskirche Lutheran Church was defaced with graffiti.
3. Ireland
• Dublin, November 11. Vandals desecrated the Star of the Sea Carmelite Nuns monastery in Malahide. They broke into the monastery in broad daylight, spray-painted a chapel with graffiti and shouted offensive slurs against the nuns.
• Longford, August 1. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of St. Michael's, the oldest serving Catholic church building in the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. This was the second attack on the church in two years.
• Clonmel, July 30. The Holy Year Cross, a Catholic holy site in Tipperary, was spray-painted with swastikas days before an annual pilgrimage. This is not the first time the site was attacked in the days running up to the annual pilgrimage; in 2011 someone vandalized the altar and burned statues.
• Dundalk, July 21. Several people were injured when a man drove a car at high speed into a crowd of people at St. Patrick's Cemetery. The man was charged with reckless driving.
• Thurles, June 27. Vandals decapitated a marble statue of Archbishop Patrick Leahy outside the Cathedral of the Assumption, where the archbishop was buried in 1875. Thurles Police Superintendent Pat Murphy said that the statue is "a piece of the fabric of Thurles" and appealed to the public for information related to the attack.
4. Italy
• Scorrano, November 18. A thief broke into the Church of the Transfiguration and stole a collection box as well as a gold necklace from a statue of Mary. He then urinated on the altar. The crime was captured on CCTV.
• Comacchio, September 9. Vandals destroyed donation boxes at the Church of the Blessed Virgin of Sorrows. No money was taken.
• Ceriano Laghetto, August 25. Vandals broke into the shrine of the Madonna del Santo Rosario and spray-painted a painting depicting Jesus and Mary.
• Naples, August 23. Vandals damaged a statue of San Gennaro at the Church of Santa Croce.
• Lecco, June 29. Vandals destroyed the outdoor lights of the Monumental Cemetery.
• Lecco, June 3. Vandals uprooted crosses at Monte Magnodeno.
• Montebelluna, May 25. The Church of Santa Maria in Colle was defaced with graffiti. The church was previously defaced with graffiti in April.
• Santorso, May 17. Vandals spray-painted the front of the Church of Sant Orso. They were filmed by CCTV and two individuals, aged 27 and 17, were subsequently arrested after they boasted about the crime on social media.
• Orvieto, May 12. The Church of San Giovenale, which dates to the year 1004, was defaced with blasphemous graffiti.
• Narni, May 5. The Church of San Girolamo was ransacked by vandals who threw down a large statue of Jesus and damaged sacred books.
• Cesena, April 28. The church of the Istituto Lugaresi was ransacked during a scuffle between two Romanians who were drunk. "Two immigrants entered the church 'Dei Lugaresi,' reducing it to this state," said Massimo Bitonci, representative of the Lega party. "There are no words to describe so much barbarism."
• Sasso della Vecchia, April 23. Vandals destroyed an iconic statue of Mary and Jesus.
• Trieste, April 21. A man entered the Church of San Giovanni on Easter Sunday, took a communion wafer and began cursing Roman Catholicism.
• Naples, April 8. An arsonist tried to set fire to an evangelical church. The attack was captured on CCTV.
• San Fior, April 5. Vandals ransacked the sacristy of the church of San Fior. Three Romanians were arrested in connection with the crime.
• Calolziocorte, March 27. Vandals damaged the walls of an old church in Sala.
• Montevaccino, February 20. The Church of San Leonardo was damaged by vandals who broke crosses, statues and windows.
• San Fior, February 19. Vandals defaced the walls of the Church of Castello Roganzuolo.
• Rome, February 12. Vandals destroyed a marble plaque of the Martin Luther square. The square was named in 2015 in recognition of the role that the Protestant reformer played both in the church and in European culture. "We lament this act of vandalism, which shows the lack of values we breath and the climate of deterioration in which we live," said Leonardo de Chirico of the Italian Evangelical Alliance.
• Farra di Soligo, February 6. The Chapel of San Michele was ransacked by vandals who broke open the iron gate and smashed statues.
5. United Kingdom
In Northern Ireland, churches and cemeteries are attacked, on average, every other day, according to police statistics obtained in August 2019 under the Freedom of Information Act. A total of 445 crimes were recorded as criminal damage to religious buildings, churchyards or cemeteries across Northern Ireland's 11 policing districts during the last three years, according to data obtained by Christian Action Research and Education (Care NI) from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Incidents in 2019 include:
• Abertridwr, September 16. Vandals damaged the Church of St. Ilan Eglwysilan, which dates to the year 1188.
• Hamble, September 4. Vandals destroyed a fence at St. Andrew's, a 900-year-old church.
• Ebbw Vale, August 30. Vandals broke into Christ Church.
• Ballyclare, August 23. Unidentified vandals destroyed a large section of the wooden walls of Ballyclare Free Presbyterian Church. Several of the church's windows were smashed in a separate incident in late December. The church has been attacked four times during the past year.
• Glasgow, August 21. Vandals ransacked Carnwadric Church of Scotland.
• Kimberley, August 11. Vandals smashed windows of Holy Trinity Church.
• Scarborough, August 13. Thieves broke into the Church of the Holy Nativity, stole items from inside the building and spray-painted the steps.
• Liverpool, August 3. Vandals defaced St. Oswald King & Martyr Catholic Church with graffiti and smashed windows.
• Tamworth, June 14. Vandals defaced St. Editha's Church, one of the oldest churches in the West Midlands, with anti-Christian graffiti. Among the messages scrawled were, "God has failed," "Deliver us to evil," and "Lucifer runs this capitalist ruin." Church warden Dawn Perry said: "We are totally shocked, saddened and angered by this."
• South Cerney, June 12. Vandals smashed a stained-glass window at All Hallows Church.
• Sussex, May 9. Vandals destroyed an historic lychgate at St. John the Evangelist Church in Copthorne.
• Glasgow, April 29. A bus stop in front of Holy Family Parish Church in Mossend in North Lanarkshire was defaced with anti-Catholic graffiti. On 26 March, vandals smashed the windows of Holy Family Primary School, which is next door to the church.
• Glasgow, April 28. St. Simon's Catholic Church was ransacked by vandals in a daytime attack. Police said that there was significant damage to the inside of the church, including damage to the altar area of the church as well as to a shrine which has been in the church since the 1940 and caters to the Polish parishioners who attend mass in their native language.
• Bacup, April 26. Vandals ransacked St. Saviour's Church. The historic building was defaced with graffiti, the stained-glass windows were smashed, and its organ was stripped bare.
• Willesden, April 21. Vandals destroyed the windows of Elim Pentecostal Church on Easter Sunday.
• Belfast, April 21. Sacred Heart Church in Ballyclare was vandalized with paint on Easter Sunday. Police, who described the incident as a hate crime, arrested a 26-year-old man who was later released on bail.
• Bath, February 16. Vandals toppled a one-ton stone sculpture of loaves and fishes at St. Philip and St. James' Church.
• West Midlands, January 16. More than a dozen churches received anonymous letters threatening attacks. "Stop all your services straight away," warned one letter sent to a church in Sheffield. "If you don't your church will be petrol bombed while in service. Continue behind closed doors and your congregation members will be stabbed one by one. Blood on your hands. You have been warned."
• Cirencester, January 13. Burglars smashed stained-glass windows and stole the collection box at Cirencester Parish Church.
6. Spain
• Granada, December 12. The Church of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
• Barcelona, November 27. A Roman Catholic seminary was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
• Zaragoza, November 16. Vandals ransacked the Chapel of the Santo Sepulcro de Tauste and set fire to a statue of Jesus.
• Madrid, November 11. The Church of Santa Catalina de Alejandría was spray-painted with Satanist graffiti.
• Zamora, October 28. The Church of San Esteban, which dates to the 11th century, was defaced with graffiti.
• Seville, October 28. The Basilica de la Macarena was defaced with graffiti.
• Valencia, October 24. The Church of San Nicolás was defaced with graffiti.
• Madrid, October 21. The Cathedral de la Almudena and several other churches in the capital were defaced with graffiti.
• Barcelona, October 18. The Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario was defaced with political graffiti.
• Barcelona, October 14. The Church of San Juan Bautista de Gracia was defaced with Satanist graffiti.
• Córdoba, October 5. Vandals desecrated the Chapel of Rosa de Montilla.
• Cuenca, October 1. Thieves broke into the Church of La Concepción de Casas de Fernando Alonso and stole the tabernacle.
• Madrid, September 27. The Church of San Miguel de Fuencarral was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
• Carbonero, September 6. Vandals overturned large granite bollards in front of the Church of San Juan Bautista.
• Almería, August 31. The Church of Santiago Apóstol was defaced with graffiti.
• Cambrils, July 25. A man repeatedly defaced the Church of Sant Pere with graffiti. He was arrested when police observed him carrying paint and walking toward the church.
• Guadalajara, July 20. Vandals broke into the Church of Santiago Apostle and stole the consecrated host.
• Castellón, July 18. The Cross of the Fallen was defaced with graffiti.
• Buelna, July 17. The Cross of the Fallen, a monument in the town center, was defaced with anti-religious and pro-Communist graffiti.
• Salamanca, July 16. The historic Church of San Marcos was defaced with paint.
• San Cristóbal de La Laguna, June 21. Vandals defaced several churches with graffiti.
• Soria, June 23. Vandals damaged the Chapel of San Bartolomé, a 12th Century Romanesque church that is currently undergoing renovations.
• Córdoba, May 31. Thieves broke into a Roman Catholic fraternity and stole gold crowns from several statues.
• Málaga, May 24. Vandals broke into a Roman Catholic fraternity and defaced a statue of Jesus with spray paint.
• Almería, April 21. A Roman Catholic fraternity was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
• Segovia, April 18. Vandals threw eggs on a Holy Week procession.
• Andújar, April 16. Vandals broke off the legs of a historic stone statue known as Cristo del Altozano de Santiago.
• Orense, April 14. On Palm Sunday, a Catholic church in Meside was defaced with far-left anti-religious graffiti.
• Tavernes de la Valldigna, April 1. Vandals defaced the Church of St Pere with anarchist graffiti.
• Madrid, March 29. Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena removed all references to Christianity from the city's Holy Week celebrations. "We seek to transcend the immediate significance of Holy Week to delve into the timeless feeling and universal emotions that this period of recollection arouses," according to the City Hall.
• Seville, March 19. Two women broke into the sacristy of the Church of San Julián and then left the building wearing vestments used by priests to officiate the mass. The incident was captured on CCTV.
• Málaga, March 13. Vandals broke into the Sagrada Familia chapel in El Copo.
• Santiago de Compostela, March 12. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a World Heritage Site, was defaced with anti-religious graffiti. The cathedral was previously defaced in August 2018; the cost of removing the graffiti exceeded €10,000 ($11,200).
• Málaga, March 11. Thieves broke into the Holy Trinity of Antequera church and stole the consecrated host, the sacred bread used in the Roman Catholic Mass.
• Madrid, March 10. Vandals caused significant damage to the Parish of San Rafael Arnáiz in Sanchinarro. They also stole the consecrated host.
• Ávila, March 10. Vandals defaced the Chapel of the Risen One.
• Barcelona, March 8. The entrance to a Christian radio station was spray-painted with anti-religious graffiti.
• Córdoba, March 6. Arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail against the Parish of San Miguel. The wick was burned but the device did not explode.
• Camargo, March 5. A cross was defaced with anarchist and Communist graffiti.
• Gijón, March 2. Vandals destroyed a marble railing in the Church of San José.
• Jaén, February 18. Vandals broke into the Parish of Santa Isabel and stole the consecrated host.
• Seville, February 11. Vandals spray-painted the Church of San Martin with the words, "The only church that illuminates is the one that burns."
• Ávila, February 10. Vandals spray-painted two Roman Catholic churches with anti-religious, pro-anarchist graffiti.
• Cimadevilla, February 7. Vandals defaced the Church of San Juan Bautista with graffiti.
• Córdoba, January 30. The Trinidad Roman Catholic school in Vistalegre was defaced with anti-religious graffiti.
• Vigo, January 22. Two youths broke into a chapel at Álvaro Cunqueiro Hospital and stole the consecrated host.
• Pasaia, January 22. Vandals threw a Jesus statue into the town's harbor.
• Almería, January 20. Arsonists attempted to burn down the hermitage of Torregarcía; arsonists previously tried to burn down the chapel on January 11.
• Ondarroa, January 14. Basque separatists destroyed a large cross raised by the Franco regime in 1958 to honor "the children of Ondarroa who heroically gave their lives for God and Spain."
• Soria, January 4. The Church of Santa María la Mayor was spray-painted with graffiti.
• Córdoba, January 2. Vandals destroyed a cross commemorating the Spanish Civil War at a cemetery in Puente Genil.
Appendix 3: Select Commentary and Reflections on Church Attacks in Europe in 2019
• December 18, Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, France: "We are still a Judeo-Christian country. It is deplorable to attack a nativity scene and decorations. We do this for the children, but this morning, they were devastated in front of the crib." — Marie-Thérèse Sikora, Mayor of Saint-Éloy-les-Mines.
• November 21, Porto-Vecchio, Italy: "This attack reflects a deep lack of respect in a sacred place. It is not normal to degrade a statue of piety in this way. This should not happen in Corsica, a Christian land." — Frédéric Constant, Priest, Church of San Ciprianu, Porto-Vecchio.
• November 21, Tarbes, France: "The desecration of the Church of Saint Jean in Tarbes takes place in a continuum of a devastating number of abominations of chapels and churches. There is hardly a day when we do not learn of such facts, illustrating an unprecedented increase since the French Revolution of anti-Catholic hatred in France." — The general alliance against racism and for the respect of French and Christian identity (AGRIF).
• November 16, Zaragoza, Spain: "This has been an attack on a religious and cultural symbol of our people. It is not a simple act of vandalism. It is a place where our ancestors, family and friends have met for centuries." — Miguel Angel Francés Carbonel, Mayor of Tauste.
• November 16, Zaragoza, Spain: "This time it was not a robbery, it was evil. On other occasions they came to steal but today it was to destroy." — Javier Francés, Custodian, Chapel of the Santo Sepulcro de Tauste.
• November 9, Tonnay-Charente, France: "This attack is an expression of hatred against Christ and his Church, a manifestation of violence, cowardice and stupidity." — Monsignor Georges Colomb, Bishop of La Rochelle and Saintes.
• November 4, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France: "These serious incivilities and this total lack of respect for a sacred heritage are increasing in France. This raises deep concerns about the civilizational values that characterize our society." — Monsignor Marc Aillet, Bishop of Bayonne.
• August 20, Giovo, Italy. "It is clear that anyone who has performed such an act does not know our values. Such contempt for this place, a religious symbol of yesterday and today that embodies the sensitivity of our people, discredits those who have done this by acting in the shadows, in the illusion that darkness can hide from its own cowardice." — Michael Moser, local resident.
• August 14, Clermont, France: "As Catholic Christians, this new event saddens us more, insofar as it suggests that people make churches a target to satisfy their addiction or to appease their greed." — Monsignor Jacques Raymond Germain Benoit-Gonnin, Bishop of Beauvais, Senlis and Noyon.
• August 10, Compiègne, France: "The most essential issue for us is that the tabernacle was forced open, and that the Blessed Sacrament, the presence of Christ was touched and stolen. This is a profanation for us." — Julien Serey, Communications Director, Diocese of Oise.
• August 1, Longford, Ireland: "Let there be no ambiguity, this is not a victimless crime. Vandalism of this kind is profoundly disrespectful to people of faith and to places of worship. It is threatening and distressing. In a truly pluralist society these examples of vandalism are of concern to our whole community." — Bishop Francis Duffy.
• May 21, Madrid, Spain: "It is very worrying that, year after year, attacks against churches increase. This can cause fear in believers when they go to pray or practice their faith. Religious freedom is the acid test of human rights. A democracy like ours cannot allow such a high number of attacks on religious freedom to occur. Religious freedom is a person's most intimate right because it involves the conscience." — María García, President, Observatory for Religious Freedom (Observatorio para la Libertad Religiosa y de Conciencia, OLRC).
• May 24, Belfast, Northern Ireland: "All attacks on property are to be condemned, but the deliberate targeting of a church is particularly heinous. Apart from the obvious danger to life, attacks on churches cause a special revulsion because of their historical role in providing sanctuary and a normally safe place for worship.... This was not only an attack on a church, but as a peace-hungry society, this was an attack on all of us." — The Belfast Telegraph.
• May 17, Großholbach, Germany: "This hurts. These are values that have simply been trampled upon." — Michael Kohlhass, Mayor of Großholbach .
• April 4, Bois de Cené, France: "I condemn with the utmost firmness the degradations committed in the church of Bois-de-Céné. They are absolutely unbearable. Whether malicious or anti-Christian, such acts deeply hurt believers who have the right to be able to freely live their faith. Places of worship are places of meditation. Those who profane them at the same time attack secularism which allows 'those who believe in heaven and those who do not believe' to live together with respect for freedom of conscience." — Yves Auvinet, President of the Departmental Council of Bois de Cené.
• April 2, Paris, France: "The Church has occupied a very important place in French society for so long that some people do not want to pay attention to the attacks of which it is the victim." — Jérôme Fourquet, Director of Opinion, Ifop polling agency.
• April 2, Paris, France: "Christians, hostages of the war of civilizations in the Middle East, are part of that which rages quietly in our regions." — Elisabeth Lévy, Editor-in-Chief, Causeur magazine.
• March 23, Leoben, Austria: "This was no simple act of vandalism. It was spiritual anarchism. It is evil. They urinated at the altar and poured out the holy water. This was a manifestation of their attitude toward the church." — Markus Plöbst, Parish Priest, Stadtpfarrkirche Leoben.
• March 11, Strasbourg, France: "This lack of respect for the sacred in our society is very disturbing." —Alain Fontanel, Deputy Mayor of Strasbourg.
• March 5, Reichstett, France: "It's a question of respect for religious buildings. On Halloween the Protestant church was targeted, and now it's the Catholic church. It's an attack on the freedom of worship." — Georges Schuler, Mayor of Reichstett.
• February 25, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, France: "It is the moral prejudice that is important, that is to say that it was an attack on the place of worship, an attack on religion, in a somewhat complicated context in France. Therefore, effectively, the moral prejudice is much more important than financial harm." — François Blanchet, Mayor of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.
• February 11, Ávila, Spain: "These acts of vandalism threaten first of all the heritage of our city," said in a statement. Above all, however, they threaten respect and religious freedom, recognized and protected in the Constitution, and that must be the guarantor of a healthy and free peaceful coexistence in Spanish society." — Bishopric of Ávila.
• February 10, Maisons-Laffitte, France: "This vandalism is an attack on the freedom of worship because it is attacking what is at the heart of belief." — Jean-Jacques Brot, Prefect, Yvelines department.
• February 5, Lavaur, France: "God will forgive, I will not. I expect justice, an exemplary sanction for these acts of Christianophobia that have upset and outraged the people of Lavaur and, well beyond this, the French who are proud of their religious and cultural heritage." — Bernard Carayon, Mayor of Lavaur.
• January 17, Grenoble, France: "This criminal action is an attack on freedom of conscience, freedom of worship, and the value of coexistence," — Bishop of Grenoble-Vienne, Guy de Kerimel.
• January 10, Rovereto, Italy: "Expressing one's thoughts with violence and arrogance by damaging the symbols and property of others is always wrong. In a democracy there are other ways to express one's ideas. Whoever set fire to the entrance of the church of San Rocco is the enemy of dialogue and peaceful debate." — Maurizio Fugatti, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento.
News of the Times;
1. https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/grooming-epidemic-almost-19000-children-idd-sexual-exploitation-victims-england/
2. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/10/american_thinkers_scoop_on_trump_getting_port_of_long_beach_out_of_chicom_hands_getting_noticed.html
3. https://www.unz.com/tsaker/new-weapons-and-the-new-tactics-which-they-make-possible-three-examples/
4. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2396760/How-Comanche-Indians-butchered-babies-roasted-enemies-alive.html
5. https://www.theunshackled.net/recourse/the-left-hate-you/
6. https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-teacher-training-program-used-across-the-u-s-is-hostile-to-whites?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro
7. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/breaking-activist-massachusetts-judge-who-helped-twice-deported-illegal-alien-evade-ice-arrest-indicted/
8. https://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2020/01/trump-calls-iranian-bluff.html
9. https://www.thecollegefix.com/trumps-new-executive-orders-ban-guidance-practice-that-enabled-obamas-title-ix-kangaroo-courts/
10. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/29/rolling-stone-rape-story-uva-five-years
11. https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/boys-are-stupid-girls-are-awesome-most-tv-shows-movies-today
12. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/11/04/trumps_true_crime_he_made_people_laugh_at_congress_141643.html
13. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/12/the_mass_murder_that_didnt_happen_because_texans_are_smarter_than_new_yorkers_californians_and_progressives_everywhere.html
14. https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/12/31/iranian-militia-leader-who-led-raid-u-s-embassy-baghdad-previously-visited-obama-white-house/
15. https://reformationcharlotte.org/2020/01/08/pro-choice-activist-posts-online-he-heavily-promotes-the-march-for-life-we-torched-his-suv-today/
Nobody cleans those holes.
There are years of impacted pizza fingers in there. Taco fingers. Chicken fingers.
All kinds of fingers.....
I'm amazed those balls still have holes. Ever smell a bowling ball hole?
You think the balls are knocking down the pins?
You could be right or wrong, they could be passing out from all the smells.
Something to think about next time you go bowling.
*.*
An exhausted looking man dragged himself in to the Doctor's office.
"Doctor, there are dogs all over my neighborhood. They bark all day and all night, and I can't get a wink of sleep."
"I have good news for you," the doctor answered, rummaging through a drawer full of sample medications.
" Here are some new sleeping pills that work like a dream. A few of these and your trouble will be over."
"Great," the man answered, "I'll try anything. Let's give it a shot."
A few weeks later the man returned, looking worse than ever. "Doc, your plan is no good. I'm more tired than before!"
"I don't understand how that could be, said the doctor, shaking his head. "Those are the strongest pills on the market!"
"That may be true," answered the man wearily, "but I'm still up all night chasing those dogs and when I finally catch one it's hell getting him to swallow the pill!!!"
*.*
Classic:
A young Australian lad had been brought up on a remote sheep farm in the Outback. He had had a very sheltered life, and had never yet had a woman.
When his dad had to go to Brisbane for a few days on business, the lad persuaded him to take him with him. He went out on the town fascinated by the bright lights of the city, which he had never seen before.
After a while, he found himself in a disco, where he was picked up by the local bike, shall we say. She invited him back to her flat, and the lad couldn't believe his luck.
She sat him down in the lounge, gave him a drink, then disappeared into the bedroom, saying, "I'll just go and change into something more comfortable."
When she came back out, dressed in a sexy negligee, she stopped and looked around in amazement. The lad had removed all the furniture from the lounge and piled it in the kitchen, leaving the room completely bare.
"What you doing, Bruce?" asked the girl.
"Well," he said, "I must admit, Sheila, I've never done this before... but if it's anything like a kangaroo, we're gonna need all the space we can get!"
*.*
California is launching the first early warning earthquake app in the state. In California, you didn't just miss the last earthquake, you're just early for the next.
A Pakistani man unleashed his pet lion on an electrician coming to collect on a bill. Wow, imagine the size of that pet door.
A city in Virginia has made it against the law for anyone over the age of 13 to trick or treat. When Snickers are outlawed, only outlaws will have Snickers.
A company in Seattle (where else?) is developing a new type of coffee that is not made from beans. Synthetic coffee. May I be the first to say: Fake Brews!
There is outcry after an Amazon worker in Ohio had a heart attack at work and was not treated for 20 minutes. In Amazon's defense, it wasn't quite yet break time.
I gotta say, this Brexit thing is dragging on longer than a Brett Favre retirement.
In South Florida, a shoplifter went into a Total Wine and got out of the store with over $1,000 worth of Scotch stuffed down his pants. You'd think they would have heard a clink or two... ..
Mick Mulvaney says Donald Trump still considers himself in the hospitality business. Mostly because of all the people stealing the White House towels.
Police in Florida found three children and 245 animals in a home with "deplorable" conditions that included 90 mice and 65 rats. There were once some pigs in there, but they moved out because of the messiness.
There's a new app called Wowzer, that will try to match up fellow dog lovers. It would be much better for them to find love, rather than spend their whole life chasing their own tail.
I set my alarms extra early so I have enough time to lay there and be angry about having to get up so early.
The National Vending Machine Operators are promising that they will start putting healthier snacks in U.S. vending machines, starting January 1st. Only one question: who asked them to?
Look, you're just not that special if your nickname is "The Library Whisperer."
*.*
Aussie Culture - The Definitive Guide to being an Aussie
1. The bigger the hat, the smaller the farm.
2. The shorter the nickname, the more they like you.
3. Whether it's the opening of Parliament, or the launch of a new art gallery, there is no Australian event that cannot be improved by a sausage sizzle.
4. If the guy next to you is swearing like a wharfie he's probably a media billionaire. Or on the other hand, he may be a wharfie.
5. There is no food that cannot be improved by the application of tomato sauce.
6. On the beach, all Australians hide their keys and wallets by placing
them inside their sandshoes. No thief has ever worked this out.
7. Industrial design knows of no article more useful than the plastic milk crate.
8. All our best heroes are losers.
9. The alpha male in any group is he who takes the barbecue tongs from the hands of the host and blithely begins turning the snags.
10. It's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to hold.
11. If it can't be fixed with pantyhose and fencing wire, it's not worth fixing.
12. The most popular and widely praised family in any street is the one
that has the swimming pool.
13. It's considered better to be down on your luck than stuck up
14. The phrase "we've got a great lifestyle" means everyone in the family drinks too much.
15. If invited to a party, you should take cheap red wine and then spend all night drinking the host's beer. (Don't worry, he'll have catered for it).
16. The phrase "a simple picnic" is not known. You should take everything you own. If you don't need to make three trips back to the car, you're not trying.
17. Unless ethnic, you are not permitted to sit down in your front yard, or on your front porch. Pottering about, gardening or leaning on the fence acceptable. Just don't sit. That's what backyards are for.
Except in Queensland where sitting on the front porch to catch a cool breeze is quite OK
18. On picnics, the Esky is always too small, creating a food vs grog battle that can only ever be resolved by leaving the salad at home.
19. When on a country holiday, the neon sign advertising the motel's pool will always be slightly larger than the pool itself.
20. There comes a time in every Australian's life when he/she realises that the Aerogard is worse than the mozzies.
21. And, finally, the true test for immigration to Australia ...Potential new Aussies must pass the following test: Mowing a sloping lawn (at least 20 degree angle) in a pair of thongs, holding a VB while watching the cricket. If you can't pass that, chances are you will never be able to pass yourself off as a true Aussie.
Quote of the Times;
“The weight of the lie on my conscience was heavier than the value of the fame I'd gained from participating in this elaborate swindle. Two fake gender identities couldn't hide the truth of my biological reality. There is no third gender or third sex. Like me, intersex people are either male or female. Their condition is the result of a disorder of sexual development, and they need help and compassion.” – Shupe
Link of the Times;
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/what-is-love-actually-the-worlds-languages-describe-emotions-very-differently/ar-BBYciZP
Issue of the Times;
Europe: Anti-Christian Attacks Reach All-Time High In 2019 by Soeren Kern
Anti-Christian hostility is sweeping across Western Europe, where, during 2019, Christian churches and symbols were deliberately attacked day after day.
Gatestone Institute reviewed thousands of newspaper reports, police blotters, parliamentary inquiries, social media posts and specialized blogs from Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The research shows (see appendices below) that roughly 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were vandalized, looted or defaced in Europe during 2019 — which is on track to becoming a record year for anti-Christian sacrilege on the continent.
Violence against Christian sites is most widespread in France, where churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments are being vandalized, desecrated and burned at an average rate of three per day, according to government statistics. In Germany, attacks against Christian churches are occurring at an average rate of two per day, according to police blotters.
Attacks on Christian churches and symbols are also commonplace in Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The attacks overwhelmingly involve Roman Catholic sites and symbols, although in Germany, Protestant churches are also being targeted.
The perpetrators of anti-Christian attacks — which include acts of arson, defecation, desecration, looting, mockery, profanation, Satanism, theft, urination and vandalism — are rarely caught. When they are, police and media often censor information about their identities and ethnic backgrounds. Many suspects are said to have mental disorders; as a result, many anti-Christian attacks are not categorized as hate crimes.
In France and Germany, the spike in anti-Christian attacks dovetails with the recent mass immigration from the Muslim world. The lack of official statistics on perpetrators and motives makes it impossible to know precisely how many attacks can be attributed to Muslim anti-Christianism or the jihadist cause.
In Spain, by contrast, attacks against churches and crosses are overwhelmingly carried out by anarchists, radical feminists and other far-left activists, who appear to be striving for Christianity to be permanently removed from the public square.
The motives behind the anti-Christian attacks, which are often met with public indifference, seem to fall into four broad categories:
• Vandalism. Most attacks against Christian sites in Europe consist of acts of vandalism. These often lack explicit anti-Christian intent, but cross over into profanation and desecration when they target objects and symbols sacred to Christians. From a strictly legal perspective, such crimes are difficult to prosecute as hate crimes: according to the laws of most European countries, prosecutors must prove that the vandalism was specifically motivated by an animosity toward Christians or Christianity.
• Theft. Many attacks have financial motives. In France, Germany and elsewhere, thieves have stolen church bells, sacred metal objects and even drain pipes, apparently with the aim of selling those items to scrap dealers. In Britain, nearly half of all churches on the National Historical List for England have been ransacked. Many of the crimes are being attributed to highly organized gangs which use drones, online maps and global positioning systems first to identify their targets through aerial footage and then plot their own escape routes. The plunder is dominated by thefts of metal, with entire roofs being removed from historic places of worship, according to the heritage agency, Historic England.
• Politics. Some attacks, especially those against Roman Catholicism, which some radical feminists and radical secularists perceive to be a symbol of patriarchal power and authority, are political in nature. Such attacks include defacing churches and religious symbols with political graffiti, much of it anarchist or feminist in nature. In Geneva, Switzerland, for instance, the iconic International Monument to the Protestant Reformation, also known as the Reformation Wall, was vandalized with multi-colored paint forming a rainbow, a symbol of the LGBT groups.
• Religion. Many attacks that appear to be religious or spiritual in nature reflect a deep-seated hostility toward Christianity. Such attacks include smearing feces on representations of Jesus Christ or statues of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Other attacks involve the defilement or theft of Communion wafers, which Roman Catholics believe are transformed into the real presence of Christ when consecrated. Some of these attacks may be the work of Satanists, who use the consecrated host in a ritual called the Black Mass.
Such attacks, especially on the essence of Roman Catholic beliefs, appear to be aimed at intimidating or harassing Catholics or preventing them from practicing their faith. These attacks, which do meet the definition of hate crimes, pose a direct threat to the freedom of religion in Europe, but prosecutions are rare.
Writing for the Spanish newspaper ABC, Juan Pedro Quiñonero, its Paris correspondent for more than 35 years, explained:
"The desecrations have an evident anti-Christian character. Drunk with fierce hatred, the vandals want to give their actions a clear anti-religious dimension. In recent months, anti-Semitic gangs have desecrated Jewish cemeteries, 'signing' their actions with swastikas. In the case of the desecration of Catholic churches, vandalism is not 'signed.' It speaks for itself: heinous mockeries of the figure of Christ on the cross and the desecration of high altars."
European media outlets, which often amplify attacks on Muslims, have tended to downplay malicious acts against Christians. The issue of anti-Christian vandalism was rarely reported by the European media until February 2019, when vandals attacked nine churches within the space of two weeks. The issue made headlines again in April 2019, when a suspicious fire gutted the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Since then, however, the European media are once again shrouding facts in silence.
The French newspaper Le Monde has disputed the government's use of the term "anti-Christian acts" and warned politicians not to "instrumentalize" the issue:
"More than a thousand acts a year, an average of three per day: the number is high, but what does it cover? Can we really speak of 'profanations' — a strong term — which implies an attack on the sacredness of a place of worship?
"Ideological motivations are in the minority: it is mainly about thefts and vandalism. The perpetrators often are minors."
Annie Genevard, a French MP for the center-right Republicans party, has called for a parliamentary investigation in order better to understand the nature and motivations of anti-Christian attacks. In an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, she said:
"Recently, two terribly serious acts of vandalism were committed in symbolic places and shocked me greatly. A few days ago, the fire in the Church of Saint Sulpice, a church that houses remarkable works: there is nearly a million euros of damage and works are irretrievably lost! And some time ago, vandals broke into the Basilica of Saint Denis and damaged stained-glass windows and the organ. Saint Denis it is not only a place of Christian worship, it is the necropolis of the kings of France! It is a meeting place between our national history and our Christian roots. That one dares to attack this monument is really shocking not only for Christians but for many citizens, whatever their convictions. When an anti-Christian act is committed, we turn our backs on the history of France, which has an intimate connection with the Christian religion.
"To attack a Christian tomb or a church, whatever the motivation of the author, is a way to attack one part of our collective identity, because Christianity and its monuments have shaped our culture, our history and our landscapes. Seeking to destroy or damage Christian buildings is a way of 'wiping the slate clean' of the past. In an era where the most absolute cultural relativism reigns, it is all the more serious that some of our oldest and most valuable landmarks are endangered. A civilization that would deny and turn away from its past would be a civilization that would be lost. I think this is worrying, and there is a need for a strong political response."
In an interview with the Italian magazine Il Timone, the Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, Dominique Rey, said that the attacks against churches in Europe are taking place within the context of a European society marked by secularism, nihilism, hedonism, cultural and moral relativism, consumerism, and the widespread loss of the sense of the sacred. He noted:
"In the past, even those who said they were non-Christian lived in a cultural context marked by Christianity.... roots that have been abandoned by our culture and by our societies. Once the Christian roots, which were the common denominator, were removed, people turned to communitarianism, which led to a social fragmentation that is leading to a break. To find a common base of values and points of reference, Europe must restore centrality to its Christian roots....
"There is an evolution of acts of profanation against monuments, but also against the Catholic faith itself. In the past, even if one was not a Christian, the expression of the sacred was respected. We are facing a serious threat to the expression of religious freedom. Secularism must not be a rejection of the religious, but a principle of neutrality that gives everyone the freedom to express his faith.
"We are witnessing the convergence of laicism — conceived as secularism, which relegates the faithful only to the private sphere and where every religious denomination is banal or stigmatized — with the overwhelming emergence of Islam, which attacks the infidels and those who reject the Koran. On one hand, we are mocked by the media ... and on the other, there is the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism. These are two joint realities."
The French political analyst Jérôme Fourquet, in his book — French Archipelago: Birth of a Multiple and Divided Nation — shows how the de-Christianization of France is taking place within the context of mass migration from the Muslim world. He provides extensive statistical data — for instance, that less than 5% of French people regularly attend Mass on Sundays — to show that France's detachment from Christianity is so far-reaching that the country now is effectively "post-Christian." He writes:
"There is a growing de-Christianization, which is leading to the 'terminal phase' of the Catholic religion.... For hundreds of years the Catholic religion profoundly structured the collective conscience of French society. Today this society is the shadow of what it once was. A great civilizational change is underway."
Appendix I: Attacks on Christian Churches and Symbols in Europe in 2019
Gatestone Institute reviewed thousands of newspaper reports, police blotters, parliamentary inquiries, social media posts and specialized blogs from Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The research found that approximately 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were vandalized, burned, looted or defaced in Europe during 2019 — at more than five a day, a record year for anti-Christian hostility on the continent.
Suspicious Fires at Churches in Europe in 2019:
• December 15. Saint-Just-en-Bas, France. A suspicious fire destroyed the roof of the town's 15th century church. More than three dozen worshippers who were in the building when the fire broke out were evacuated. The church's roof had been renovated during the summer at a cost of €200,000 ($225,000).
• December 5, Lyon, France. An arsonist set fire to the doors of the Church of Saint-Georges.
• November 16. Buschhoven, Germany. Arsonists set fire to the Catholic Church of St. Katharina. It was the second arson attack on the church in as many weeks. Arsonists also set fire to a nearby Protestant church, the Versöhnungskirche.
• November 13. Chios, Greece. Arsonists set fire to three churches in the village of Chalkios: The attacks against the Agios Haralambos Church, the Church of Panagia and the Church Agios Petros and Pavlos were attributed to illegal migrants, who are being house at a migrant camp situated 500 meters from one of the churches.
• November 12. Éauze, France. Two 15-year-olds set fire to the Éauze Cathedral. The Gothic church, a national heritage site, sustained significant damage.
• November 8. Lleida, Spain. Arsonists set two fires inside the Church of Sant Joan.
• September 20. Olivenza, Spain. Arsonists set fire to the front doors of the Convent of San Juan de Dios. In August, the convent's chapel was defaced with graffiti.
• October 10. Naples, Italy. Arsonists set fire to the historic Basilica of San Giovanni Maggiore.
• September 10. Froncles, France. Arsonists set fire to the Church of Saint-Joseph.
• September 9. Witzenhausen, Germany. Arsonists tried to burn down Christuskirche, a Lutheran church.
• September 4. Wimbotsham, England. St. Mary the Virgin Church, an historic church in Wimbotsham, was gutted by a fire. The church, originally built in 1175, was "100% damaged" and all furniture was lost, including an altar table dating to 1638. "The history and heritage lost in this fire is irreplaceable and the costs of repairing the physical damage will be substantial," said Peter Aiers, of the Churches Conservation Trust. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
• August 30. Wildeshausen, Germany. Arsonists set fire to St. Peter Catholic Church, causing more than €100,000 ($112,000) in damage.
• August 21. Rheine-Schotthock, Germany. Arsonists tried to burn down St. Ludgeruskirche Catholic Church. Previously, thieves broke into the church on August 6.
• August 24. Saint-Amand-sur-Sèvre, France. A suspicious fire broke out at the church of Saint-Amand, which dates to the 11th century.
• July 30. Bad Schussenried, Germany. An arsonist set fire to a church in the Schussenried Abbey, a former monastery founded in 1183.
• July 29. Kippenheim, Germany. An arsonist set fire to hymnals in St. Mauritius Catholic Church.
• July 19. Hyvinkää, Finland. Arsonists set fire to the Old Church. The church was saved but an adjacent storage facility was completely destroyed.
• June 30. Bourg-Achard, France. Arsonists set fire to the organ at the Church of Saint-Lô. The organ was completely destroyed. On June 26, arsonists set fire to an altar cloth at the same church, which has now been closed.
• June 12. Vienna, Austria. Arsonists set fire to the Dominican Church of St. Rotunda. A tourist used holy water to put out the fire.
• June 1. Ankum, Germany. Arsonists set two fires simultaneously at St. Nicholas Church.
• May 24. Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Holy Family Church in Ballymagroarty was set on fire and completely destroyed. CCTV footage showed a group of unidentified youths starting the fire.
• May 16. Nordhausen, Germany. Arsonists set fire to the historic St. Blasii church, originally built in the 12th century. The ante-chamber to the church was burned.
• April 21. Eyguières, France. A suspicious fire damaged the confessional of the Church of Notre Dame de Grace.
• April 15. Paris, France. A suspicious fire gutted the iconic 12th century Notre Dame Cathedral.
• April 19. Heek, Germany. Vandals attempted to set fire to a church in Nienborg.
• March 19. Senigallia, Italy. An arsonist tried — twice on the same day — to set fire to the Cathedral of San Pietro.
• March 17. Paris, France. A suspicious fire destroyed the entrance to the Church of Saint Sulpice, the second-largest church in Paris. Police said that the fire was not accidental.
• March 5. Skegness, England. St. Matthew's Church was damaged in an arson attack.
• February 21. Hellenthal, Germany. An arsonist set fire to the Trinitatis Lutheran Church. The church's roof was completely destroyed.
• January 29. Sainte-Foy-Lès-Lyon, France. A 40-year-old man with a long criminal record was arrested for trying to burn down the Church of Saint Foy. He was placed in a psychiatric ward.
• January 20, Almería, Spain. Arsonists attempted to burn down the hermitage of Torregarcía; arsonists previously tried to burn down the chapel on January 11.
• January 17. Grenoble, France. The Church of Saint Jacques was completely destroyed by fire. Only the bell tower was left standing. Police initially had concluded that the fire was an accident, caused by in an electric short circuit in the roof of the church. On October 8, however, Grenoble Prosecutor Eric Vaillant said that an anarchist group had deliberately started the fire, although the perpetrators had not yet been identified.
• January 10. Rovereto, Italy. Arsonists attempted to burn down the Church of Sant Rocco. The attack was believed to be a response to the church's opposition to abortion.
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Attacks on Christian Historical Sites in Europe in 2019:
• December 5. Valdecilla, Spain. Vandals destroyed a 16th century stone cross at the Church of Solares-Valdecilla. A 14-year-old vandal broke his leg when part of the stone fell on him.
• November 4. Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France. Thieves rammed a car into the doors of the Cathedral of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and stole silverware, a monstrance, a chalice and liturgical garments from the 16th century. Mayor Hervé Lucbéreilh said: "It is a considerable loss. Some pieces are unique, like the monstrance of Saint Grat, and no insurance will replace them. The thieves were obviously connoisseurs...they only stole the most precious items which dated from the 16th century. Beyond the market value, the inhabitants find themselves amputated of part of their history and their heritage."
• October 16. Bois-de-Céné, France. Three teenagers were arrested for stealing relics from the Church of Bois-de-Céné, a national historical monument which dates to the 14th century.
• September 9. Seville, Spain. Vandals destroyed the historic Cross of the Inquisition at the City Hall. Mayor Juan Espadas condemned the "absolutely inexplicable vandal destruction" of a the "jewel" of Seville's heritage.
• August 19. Brue-Auriac, France. Thieves stole an 85-kg (187-pound) bronze church bell from a Romanesque chapel. Mayor André Rousselet said that he believed that the bell was melted, and the metal was sold, possibly yielding up to €500 ($560) for the thief.
• July 19. Ginasservis, France. Thieves stole two bells from two chapels in the village. The 80-kg bell of the Chapelle Saint-Damase dates from 1867; the 53-kg bell of the Chapelle des Pénitents dates from 1737. The latter chapel is classified as a national historic monument. Mayor Hervé Philibert said that the bells were carefully removed and that nothing was broken. He said that he believes that the purpose of the theft is "resale to a collector."
• February 27. Hochheim, Germany. Vandals ransacked the St. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, an iconic landmark built in 1730. In January 2016, the church was set on fire by an arsonist, causing more than half-a-million-euros in damage.
• February 26. Hanover, Germany. A burglar smashed the windows of the Kreuzkirche, a medieval church consecrated in 1333.
• February 23. Dublin, Ireland. A 36-year-old Dublin man, Brian Bridgeman desecrated several mummies at St. Michan's, a church that dates to 1095. He opened crypts in the church's vaults and twisted the head of a nun who had lived 400 years ago. He also decapitated an 800-year-old crusader and removed his head from the site. The skull was later found by police and returned to the church. Bridgeman, who was identified on CCTV and admitted guilt, was sentenced to 28 months in prison. "It's a sad day for the church and a sad day for humanity that someone would do such a thing," said Archdeacon David Pierpoint.
• February 5. Lavaur, France. Two teenagers desecrated the Cathedral of St. Alain, which dates to the 13th century. They then set fire to a nativity scene that was still in place from the Christmas holidays. The fire caused extensive smoke damage to the cathedral, which had just undergone a five-year, multi-million-euro renovation. The teenagers were identified through CCTV footage.
• January 18. Minden, Germany. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of St. Simeon's Lutheran Church, which was consecrated in 1214. In November 2018, the church was defaced with graffiti; in March 2017, vandals smashed a 19th century stained-glass window.
• January 10. Ripley, England: Thieves stole the lead roof of All Saints Church, which dates to 1390. During the course of the theft the thieves caused extensive damage to the stone parapet on the roof. The damage was estimated at tens of thousands of pounds.
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Desecrations of Cemeteries in Europe in 2019:
• December 23. Villeroux, Belgium. More than a dozen graves at a local cemetery were desecrated. Gravestones were knocked over and crosses were smashed.
• December 14. Aron, France. Vandals desecrated 30 graves at a local cemetery. They smashed crosses, stole marble plates as well as a statue of Jesus Christ.
• November 30. Saint-Priest-la-Prugne, France. A local cemetery was ransacked.
• November 24. Buré, France. A local cemetery was desecrated. Gravestones were knocked over and crosses were smashed.
• October 27. Zabrze Helence, Poland. A total of 29 tombstones and 22 crosses were destroyed at the cemetery of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church.
• August 30. Vals-près-le-Puy, France. Tombstones were overturned in three different cemeteries in the town. Police said the attacks were not religiously motivated.
• July 21. North Jutland, Denmark. A 45-year-old man spray-painted the number '666' on 87 gravestones at Hadsund Cemetery.
• June 20. Evesham, England. Vandals defaced tombstones at St. Andrews Parish Church Cemetery with satanic graffiti. On June 16, vandals desecrated more than 100 graves at the same cemetery.
• February 14, Madrid, Spain. Gravestones were defaced at the cemetery of the Almudena Cathedral.
• February 6. Kamień Krajeński, Poland. Vandals ransacked a local cemetery. Tombstones were destroyed, crosses were knocked down and a statue of Jesus was destroyed.
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Urination, Defecation and Exhibitionism at Christian Sites in Europe in 2019:
• November 20. Tarbes, France. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint-Jean. They broke open the doors, smashed statues and burned hymn books. They also urinated and defecated on the church floors and used Bibles and hymn books as toilet paper.
• October 27. Moncoutant-sur-Sèvre, France. Five teenagers vandalized a local church. They urinated on confessionals and holy water fonts and set fire to alter cloths and hymn books.
• August 28. Montefiascone, Italy. The Church of the Madonna dell'Arco was equipped with security cameras after vandals left excrement, vomit, condoms, cigarettes and beer cans scattered throughout the building. The church, which dates to 1796, has also been spray-painted with Satanist graffiti.
• August 25. Argenthal, Germany. An exhibitionist exposed himself to worshippers at a Catholic Mass.
• August 20. Giovo, Italy. The doors of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta di Verla were smeared with excrement.
• August 1. Crebio, Italy. The Church of Sant Antonio was desecrated with excrement that was smeared on the doors, walls and holy water fonts.
• July 26. Jaén, Spain. An 18-year-old man defecated in front of the altar of the Roman Catholic Santuario de la Fuensanta de Villanueva and then smeared his feces on a statue of Jesus Christ. The act was captured on CCTV.
• May 31. Lahntal-Caldern, Germany. Vandals broke into the Nikolaikirche, a Lutheran church, set fire to a Bible and a hymnal and left a pile of feces at the entranceway.
• May 17. Großholbach, Germany. Vandals ransacked the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, burned a Jesus statue and urinated on the pews. "This hurts," said Mayor Michael Kohlhass. "These are values that have simply been trampled upon."
• February 5. Nîmes, France. Vandals broke into the Notre Dame des Enfants church, forced open the tabernacle which houses the Eucharist, scattered consecrated hosts and spread excrement on the walls and inside and outside the church.
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Anarcho-Feminist-Satanist and Politically-Motivated Attacks on Churches in Europe in 2019:
• December 5. Munich, Germany. Four churches in the Munich area were defaced with political graffiti.
• November 27. Mordelles, France. The Church of Saint-Pierre was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
• November 26. Rennes, France. November 26. Vandals defaced the Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle with Satanist graffiti.
• November 13. Segovia, Spain. November 13. The Church of San Agustín, which dates to the 16th century, was spray-painted with anarchist graffiti. An "anti-fascist" group called Yesca claimed responsibility for the vandalism.
• August 18. Singen, Germany. Vandals spray-painted Herz-Jesu Catholic Church with the number, "666."
• June 19. London, England. Vandals lit fires outside the doors of four churches in east London. At each church, occult symbols and messages including pentagrams, spirals, the number 666 and the word "hell" were etched into the doors.
• March 8. Madrid, Spain. The Church of Santa Mónica in Rivas Vaciamadrid was spray-painted with anti-Catholic and radical feminist graffiti to mark International Women's Day.
• March 8. Logroño, Spain. The Cathedral of Santa María de la Redonda was defaced with feminist propaganda.
• March 8. Seville, Spain. The Church of San Roque was defaced with anarcho-feminist graffiti.
• March 8. Valladolid, Spain. Radical feminists broke into the archbishopric of Valladolid.
• March 5. Reichstett, France. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of a Catholic church and painted "666" and "Satan" on the church walls.
• March 4. Alicante, Spain. Satanists performed an occultist ceremony in front of an evangelical church. They then defaced the entrance to the church with Satanist graffiti.
• February 22. Katowice, Poland. Four local chapels and churches were defaced with Satanist graffiti.
• January 31. Vendôme, France. Thieves broke into the Church of Madeleine and stole a wooden tabernacle containing a ciborium and consecrated hosts. "The consecrated hosts are sometimes used during black magic rituals," said Father Pierre Cabarat. "This theft is a profanation, an assault on the Christian community."
• January 16. Córdoba, Spain. The Santa Victoria de Córdoba Roman Catholic school was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
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Attacks on Nativity Scenes in Europe in 2019:
• December 25. Ourense, Spain. A municipal nativity scene was damaged and a statue of the Christ Child was stolen. The same nativity scene was damaged on December 21.
• December 19. Dijon, France. A nativity scene at the Church of Notre-Dame was destroyed.
• December 18. Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, France. A municipal nativity scene was damaged. Mayor Marie-Thérèse Sikora said: "We are still a Judeo-Christian country. It is deplorable to attack a crib and decorations. We do this for the children, but this morning, they were devastated in front of the crib."
• December 17. Torrelavega, Spain. Vandals a municipal nativity scene was ransacked and a statue of the Christ Child was decapitated.
• December 16, Tárrega, Spain. Town councilors representing the far-left parties ERC and CUP dismantled the municipal nativity scene in order to "preserve the secular character" of the municipality.
• November 26, Vienna, Austria. A statue of the Christ Child was stolen twice from a nativity scene at a Christmas market in the Simmering district.
• January 1. Valencia, Spain. An historic nativity scene in Callosa de Segura was destroyed.
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Islam-related Attacks on Christians and Christian Sites in Europe in 2019:
• December 6. Bandol, France. Vandals defaced with spray paint a memorial to Franco-Armenian friendship. The graffiti included the word "Turk." In a statement, the city said: "The mayor and the elected officials condemn with the utmost firmness this act which stains the memory of Armenians. Armenia was the victim of an atrocious genocide which resulted in more than a million victims between 1915 and 1916. France recognized this genocide in 2001."
• November 30. Marienthal, France. A 23-year-old man who claimed to be wearing a suicide vest ransacked a chapel adjacent to the Convent of Carmel of the Sacred Heart. Sister Donata, prioress of Carmel, explained: "A young man came to see us. He was calm. He asked to go to the chapel to pray, and there, at one point, madness took him. He started to ransack everything. He knocked over the crucifix and the statue of the Sacred Heart, which he damaged. He knocked down the candlesticks as well as the stalls. He chipped the altar. He attacked everything. Never has such a thing happened here." The Strasbourg public prosecutor's office requested a psychiatric assessment of the man, whose identity has not been made public.
• November 27. Trondheim, Norway. Four Muslim men threatened to kill a Christian street preacher unless he converted to Islam.
• September 6. Marseille, France. A teenager armed with a knife entered the La Pauline elementary school, stabbed the canteen manager, and shouted, "I am a Muslim. Today I am going to kill all Christians. 'Allahu Akbar!'" (Allah is greater [than your God!]).
• June 19. Graz, Austria. A 45-year-old Iraqi man set fire to four churches in the city.
• May 5. Toulouse, France. The Notre Dame du Taur church was defaced with the words, "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is greater [than your God]!")
• April 21. Rome, Italy. A Moroccan man stabbed a Georgian man for wearing a crucifix. "Italian Catholic Sh*t," the Moroccan shouted as he tried to cut the man's throat. The incident took place near Termini Station, the main railway station in Rome.
• April 17. Seville, Spain. A 23-year-old Moroccan jihadi plotted to attack Holy Week processions.
• April 1. Hendaye, France. Three Lebanese teenagers vandalized St. Vincent's nursery school. They ransacked eight classrooms, destroyed computers and covered the walls and floors with paint.
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Appendix 2: Country-by-Country Attacks on Christian Churches and Symbols in Europe in 2019
1. France
The French government recorded 1,063 anti-Christian attacks in 2018, compared to 1,038 such attacks in 2017 and 949 in 2016. Overall, the number of attacks surged by 245% between 2008 and 2016, according to the Interior Ministry, which noted that attacks on Christian sites account for approximately 90% of all attacks on places of worship in France.
The trend shows no signs of abating. There were more than 1,000 anti-Christian attacks in France during 2019, according to data compiled by Daniel Hamiche, Editor-in-Chief of the blog, Observatory of Christianophobia. Hamiche has been an indefatigable chronicler of the destruction of Christian heritage in France. Gatestone Institute also consulted hundreds of national and local newspapers, as well as dozens of blogs, specialized websites and police blotters. Following are a few examples of anti-Christian attacks in 2019:
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• Billy-sous-Mangiennes, December 20. Vandals destroyed the stained-glass windows at the Church of Saint-Loup.
• Aire-sur-l'Adour, December 19. A man set fire to an altar at the Cathedral of Saint-Jean-Baptiste d'Aire.
• Amiens, December 16. Vandals destroyed a statue of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes at the Amiens Cathedral.
• La Douze, December 11. Thieves stole copper pipes from the Church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens, a Gothic church dating to the 14th century.
• Châtillon-sur-Seine, December 4. Thieves broke into the Church of Saint-Nicolas.
• Rennes, November 24. Thieves broke into two churches on the same night: offering boxes were stolen at the Church of Notre-Dame-en-Saint-Melaine and the Basilica of Saint-Sauveur.
• Avolsheim, November 23. Vandals defaced the grotto of the Church of Dompeter, one of the oldest churches in Alsace.
• Porto-Vecchio, November 21. Vandals desecrated an open-air oratory at the Church of San Ciprianu.
• Tournissan, November 16. Thieves ransacked the Church of Saint-Adrien. They then covered the site with bleach, apparently in an effort to erase traces of DNA.
• Marseille, November 9. Vandals defaced the Red Cross Mission Cross adjacent to the Church of Saint-Patrice. The cross was defaced a total of six times in 2019.
• Tonnay-Charente, November 9. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Etienne. Crosses were overturned, the tabernacle was broken, the hosts were scattered on the ground and the lunette containing a host for worship was stolen.
• Carentan-les-Marais, November 5. Vandals broke into the Church of Notre-Dame de Carentan. The same church was vandalized in July 2019.
• Clermont-Ferrand, October 21. Three teenagers ransacked the Church of Notre-Dame de Prospérité de Montferrand.
• Renazé, October 14. Thieves broke into the Church of Renazé and stole the tabernacle, which stores the consecrated hosts.
• Veynes, September 13. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Sauveur and stole the ciborium, a chalice used to hold consecrated communion wafers.
• Saint-Christol-de-Rodières, September 7. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint Christophe and stole the ciborium.
• Les Houches, August 24. Vandals broke into the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church and overturned pews, broke windows, destroyed a confessional booth and spray-painted anti-religious insults on the walls.
• Clermont, August 14. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint-Samson. Hosts were scattered and stolen, and the ciborium which contained them was also stolen.
• Compiègne, August 10. Vandals desecrated the Church of Saint Éloi and stole the ciborium and other liturgical items.
• Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, July 17. A 44-year-old man was arrested for vandalizing several churches in the area. He decapitated religious statues, including one of Jesus, smashed stained-glass windows and destroyed paintings. Police discarded an "anti-Christian motif" because the man "operated alone, on impulse and without any real organization."
• Bois de Cené, April 4. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint-Etienne.
• Uffholtz, March 30. Vandals destroyed a crucifix.
• Péronne, March 27. A 40-year-old man was arrested for stealing at least 30 objects from the Church of Saint Jean Baptiste.
• Strasbourg, March 11. Vandals ransacked the Catholic Church of St. Louis de la Robertsau.
• Angoulême, March 9. Vandals ransacked the Hope & Life Evangelical Church and caused more than €10,000 ($11,000) in damage. The vandalism was aimed at "defiling, destroying and preventing worship services from taking place," according to Pastor Joseph Miall.
• Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, February 25. Vandals ransacked two churches: The Church of Saint-Gilles and the Church of Saint-Croix. They overturned statues and smashed stained-glass windows.
• Maisons-Laffitte, February 10. Vandals ransacked the Saint Nicolas church.
• Dijon, February 9. Vandals desecrated the Notre Dame church and stole the consecrated hosts.
• Houilles, February 4. Vandals ransacked the Church of Saint Nicolas and destroyed a statue dating to the 19th century. It was the third attack at the church in ten days.
• Lusignan, February 3. Thieves broke into the Chapel of St. Anne, forced open the tabernacle and stole the ciborium. The consecrated hosts were strewn across the floor.
2. Germany
• Aue-Bad Schlema, December 25. A parish worker was stabbed to death when he tried to stop a fight between a Syrian and an Iranian migrant.
• Mettlach, December 23. Vandals ransacked the Church of Sankt Martin.
• Schwenningen, September 23. Vandals ransacked the St. Franziskus-Mariä Himmelfahrt Kirche, a Catholic church.
• Herxheim, September 13. Vandals damaged the front door of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church.
• Goch, September 12. Thieves forcibly ripped out and stole the copper water pipes from inside the walls of Maria Magdalena-Kirche, a Catholic church.
• Iserlohn, September 11. Thieves dismantled and stole the copper drainpipes of St. Gertrudis Kirche, a Catholic church.
• Coesfeld, September 11. Vandals broke into St. Lamberti Catholic Church and poured a strong-smelling liquid into the holy water font.
• Sulingen, September 9. Thieves broke into St. Nicolai-Kirche, a Lutheran church.
• Koblenz, September 9. Thieves broke into New Apostolic Church.
• Weilburg, September 8. Thieves broke into a church on Limburger Straße.
• Neustadt/Orla, September 8. Thieves broke into a church and stole property worth €1,000 ($1,120).
• Lahr, September 6. Thieves broke into Peter und Paul Kirche, a Roman Catholic church.
• Kusel, September 5. Vandals smashed the windows of a Protestant church.
• Kirchhatten, September 4. Vandals damaged property at St. Ansgari Church.
• Runkel, September 3. Vandals ransacked the Heilig Geist church.
• Eisenach, September 3. Vandals spray-painted a statue at St. Elisabeth Catholic Church.
• Gosheim, September 3. Vandals broke into Längenberg Chapel.
• Apolda, September 2. Thieves dismantled and stole the lightning rods and cables of St. Bonifatius Catholic Church.
• Velen-Ramsdorf, September 1. Vandals spray-painted the façade of St. Walburga Catholic Church.
• Pirmasens, August 31. Vandals ransacked Luther Church. The total damage is estimated at €5,000 ($5,600).
• Clingen, August 30. Thieves stole an outdoor pavilion from St. Gumbert Lutheran Church.
• Kevelaer-Winnekendonk, August 29. Thieves dismantled and stole copper pipes from St. Antonius Catholic Church.
• Mettmann, August 29. Thieves broke into St. Johannes Catholic Church.
• Stuttgart-Möhringen, August 25. Thieves broke into a church and kindergarten.
• Bochum, August 24. Thieves broke into St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.
• Altenhagen, August 21. Thieves broke into a Lutheran Church and tried to steal the organ pipes, apparently to sell them as scrap metal for cash.
• Ganderkesee, August 19. Thieves broke into St. Hedwig Catholic Church.
• Ostbevern, August 19. Vandals desecrated St. Ambrosius Catholic Church; vandals attacked the same church a day earlier.
• Bad Waldsee, August 18. Vandals spray-painted St. Peter Catholic Church with the words, "God is Dead."
• Herne, August 18. Thieves broke into Cranger Kirche, a Lutheran church.
• Kirchhundem, August 17. Vandals broke into the St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church.
• Greven-Reckenfeld, August 16. Vandals smashed the windows of St. Franziskus Catholic Church.
• Brakel, August 16. Vandals broke into St. Michael's Catholic Church.
• Bösensell, August 16. Thieves broke into a church and stole intercession letters from a mailbox.
• Rheine-Schotthock, August 6. Thieves broke into St. Ludgeruskirche Catholic Church.
• Lahn, August 13. A man broke into St. Martinus Catholic Church and tried to steal money.
• Gevelsberg, August 12. Thieves entered St. Engelbert Catholic Church and stole the tabernacle, a box holding consecrated hosts.
• Karlsruhe, August 12. A thief tried to steal money from donation boxes at St. Stephen's Catholic Church.
• Greiz, August 11. Vandals broke into the Gottesackerkirche.
• Zell im Wiesental, August 10. Thieves looted the Evangelical Church.
• Lauenbrück, July 31. Thieves broke into Martin-Luther-Kirchengemeinde, a Protestant church; they damaged windows and doors and stole donation money.
• Heiden, July 23. Vandals attacked St. Paulus Kirche, an evangelical church. They broke windows, spray-painted the walls and destroyed furniture.
• Lübbecke, July 5. Vandals broke into St. Nikolaus Lutheran Church. The church has been the target of repeated attacks and there are fears that the vandalism will escalate to the point that arsonists try to burn it down.
• Albstadt-Ebingen, June 9. Vandals ransacked a shrine at St. Joseph's Church.
• Esslingen, May 31. Thieves broke into the Osterfeldkirche, a Lutheran church in Berkheim, and stole property valued at €1,000 ($1,120).
• Löffingen, May 24. Vandals ransacked St. Michael's Catholic Church. They damaged or destroyed paintings, statues, the altar and the organ.
• Kronach, May 22. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on the doors of the Cristuskirche, a Lutheran church.
• Rudolstadt, May 7. Vandals spray-painted the walls of the Lutheran Stadtkirche.
• Winnweiler, May 6. Vandals broke into the Herz-Jesu-Kirche, a Roman Catholic church, built a campfire and defaced the walls.
• Hoxel, May 5. Vandals smashed a stained-glass window at a Roman Catholic chapel in Morbach-Hoxel.
• Bad Oldesloe, May 4. A thief broke into the Peter-Paul Lutheran Church stole an intricately-carved wooden cross valued at €5,000 ($5,600).
• Mannheim, April 29. Vandals ransacked the Liebfrauenkirche, a Roman Catholic church.
• Kirchberg, April 25. Vandals spray-painted graffiti on the doors of St. Margaret Lutheran Church.
• Wilhelmshaven, April 24. Vandals smashed nine windows in a downtown church.
• Ennepetal, April 20. Vandals smashed the windows of Herz-Jesu Roman Catholic Church.
• Dillenburg, April 14. Vandals ransacked the Herz-Jesu Roman Catholic Church.
• Ratingen-Hösel, April 11. Burglars broke into the Adolf-Clarenbach-Kirche, a Lutheran church, and physically removed the safe.
• Bremerhaven, April 8. A burglar broke into St. Mary's Catholic Church and stole several weeks' worth of donations.
• Oberschopfheim, April 7. Vandals destroyed the restrooms of the St. Leodegar Catholic Church.
• Münster, April 6. Vandals spray-painted the front door of a Roman Catholic church.
• Bösensell, April 5. Vandals ransacked the St.-Johannes-Kirche, a Roman Catholic church. The church has been the target of repeated attacks. "We do not want just to accept this anymore," a church member said.
• Hamburg, March 14. A swastika was spray-painted on the front door of the Kreuzkirche, a Lutheran church in the Wandsbeck district. State prosecutors launched a criminal investigation.
• Wenden, March 11. Vandals ransacked the St. Elisabeth of Schönau Roman Catholic Church.
• Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, February 24. Vandals damaged the St. Ursula Roman Catholic Church.
• Kaiserslautern, February 2. The Christuskirche Lutheran Church was defaced with graffiti.
3. Ireland
• Dublin, November 11. Vandals desecrated the Star of the Sea Carmelite Nuns monastery in Malahide. They broke into the monastery in broad daylight, spray-painted a chapel with graffiti and shouted offensive slurs against the nuns.
• Longford, August 1. Vandals smashed the stained-glass windows of St. Michael's, the oldest serving Catholic church building in the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. This was the second attack on the church in two years.
• Clonmel, July 30. The Holy Year Cross, a Catholic holy site in Tipperary, was spray-painted with swastikas days before an annual pilgrimage. This is not the first time the site was attacked in the days running up to the annual pilgrimage; in 2011 someone vandalized the altar and burned statues.
• Dundalk, July 21. Several people were injured when a man drove a car at high speed into a crowd of people at St. Patrick's Cemetery. The man was charged with reckless driving.
• Thurles, June 27. Vandals decapitated a marble statue of Archbishop Patrick Leahy outside the Cathedral of the Assumption, where the archbishop was buried in 1875. Thurles Police Superintendent Pat Murphy said that the statue is "a piece of the fabric of Thurles" and appealed to the public for information related to the attack.
4. Italy
• Scorrano, November 18. A thief broke into the Church of the Transfiguration and stole a collection box as well as a gold necklace from a statue of Mary. He then urinated on the altar. The crime was captured on CCTV.
• Comacchio, September 9. Vandals destroyed donation boxes at the Church of the Blessed Virgin of Sorrows. No money was taken.
• Ceriano Laghetto, August 25. Vandals broke into the shrine of the Madonna del Santo Rosario and spray-painted a painting depicting Jesus and Mary.
• Naples, August 23. Vandals damaged a statue of San Gennaro at the Church of Santa Croce.
• Lecco, June 29. Vandals destroyed the outdoor lights of the Monumental Cemetery.
• Lecco, June 3. Vandals uprooted crosses at Monte Magnodeno.
• Montebelluna, May 25. The Church of Santa Maria in Colle was defaced with graffiti. The church was previously defaced with graffiti in April.
• Santorso, May 17. Vandals spray-painted the front of the Church of Sant Orso. They were filmed by CCTV and two individuals, aged 27 and 17, were subsequently arrested after they boasted about the crime on social media.
• Orvieto, May 12. The Church of San Giovenale, which dates to the year 1004, was defaced with blasphemous graffiti.
• Narni, May 5. The Church of San Girolamo was ransacked by vandals who threw down a large statue of Jesus and damaged sacred books.
• Cesena, April 28. The church of the Istituto Lugaresi was ransacked during a scuffle between two Romanians who were drunk. "Two immigrants entered the church 'Dei Lugaresi,' reducing it to this state," said Massimo Bitonci, representative of the Lega party. "There are no words to describe so much barbarism."
• Sasso della Vecchia, April 23. Vandals destroyed an iconic statue of Mary and Jesus.
• Trieste, April 21. A man entered the Church of San Giovanni on Easter Sunday, took a communion wafer and began cursing Roman Catholicism.
• Naples, April 8. An arsonist tried to set fire to an evangelical church. The attack was captured on CCTV.
• San Fior, April 5. Vandals ransacked the sacristy of the church of San Fior. Three Romanians were arrested in connection with the crime.
• Calolziocorte, March 27. Vandals damaged the walls of an old church in Sala.
• Montevaccino, February 20. The Church of San Leonardo was damaged by vandals who broke crosses, statues and windows.
• San Fior, February 19. Vandals defaced the walls of the Church of Castello Roganzuolo.
• Rome, February 12. Vandals destroyed a marble plaque of the Martin Luther square. The square was named in 2015 in recognition of the role that the Protestant reformer played both in the church and in European culture. "We lament this act of vandalism, which shows the lack of values we breath and the climate of deterioration in which we live," said Leonardo de Chirico of the Italian Evangelical Alliance.
• Farra di Soligo, February 6. The Chapel of San Michele was ransacked by vandals who broke open the iron gate and smashed statues.
5. United Kingdom
In Northern Ireland, churches and cemeteries are attacked, on average, every other day, according to police statistics obtained in August 2019 under the Freedom of Information Act. A total of 445 crimes were recorded as criminal damage to religious buildings, churchyards or cemeteries across Northern Ireland's 11 policing districts during the last three years, according to data obtained by Christian Action Research and Education (Care NI) from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Incidents in 2019 include:
• Abertridwr, September 16. Vandals damaged the Church of St. Ilan Eglwysilan, which dates to the year 1188.
• Hamble, September 4. Vandals destroyed a fence at St. Andrew's, a 900-year-old church.
• Ebbw Vale, August 30. Vandals broke into Christ Church.
• Ballyclare, August 23. Unidentified vandals destroyed a large section of the wooden walls of Ballyclare Free Presbyterian Church. Several of the church's windows were smashed in a separate incident in late December. The church has been attacked four times during the past year.
• Glasgow, August 21. Vandals ransacked Carnwadric Church of Scotland.
• Kimberley, August 11. Vandals smashed windows of Holy Trinity Church.
• Scarborough, August 13. Thieves broke into the Church of the Holy Nativity, stole items from inside the building and spray-painted the steps.
• Liverpool, August 3. Vandals defaced St. Oswald King & Martyr Catholic Church with graffiti and smashed windows.
• Tamworth, June 14. Vandals defaced St. Editha's Church, one of the oldest churches in the West Midlands, with anti-Christian graffiti. Among the messages scrawled were, "God has failed," "Deliver us to evil," and "Lucifer runs this capitalist ruin." Church warden Dawn Perry said: "We are totally shocked, saddened and angered by this."
• South Cerney, June 12. Vandals smashed a stained-glass window at All Hallows Church.
• Sussex, May 9. Vandals destroyed an historic lychgate at St. John the Evangelist Church in Copthorne.
• Glasgow, April 29. A bus stop in front of Holy Family Parish Church in Mossend in North Lanarkshire was defaced with anti-Catholic graffiti. On 26 March, vandals smashed the windows of Holy Family Primary School, which is next door to the church.
• Glasgow, April 28. St. Simon's Catholic Church was ransacked by vandals in a daytime attack. Police said that there was significant damage to the inside of the church, including damage to the altar area of the church as well as to a shrine which has been in the church since the 1940 and caters to the Polish parishioners who attend mass in their native language.
• Bacup, April 26. Vandals ransacked St. Saviour's Church. The historic building was defaced with graffiti, the stained-glass windows were smashed, and its organ was stripped bare.
• Willesden, April 21. Vandals destroyed the windows of Elim Pentecostal Church on Easter Sunday.
• Belfast, April 21. Sacred Heart Church in Ballyclare was vandalized with paint on Easter Sunday. Police, who described the incident as a hate crime, arrested a 26-year-old man who was later released on bail.
• Bath, February 16. Vandals toppled a one-ton stone sculpture of loaves and fishes at St. Philip and St. James' Church.
• West Midlands, January 16. More than a dozen churches received anonymous letters threatening attacks. "Stop all your services straight away," warned one letter sent to a church in Sheffield. "If you don't your church will be petrol bombed while in service. Continue behind closed doors and your congregation members will be stabbed one by one. Blood on your hands. You have been warned."
• Cirencester, January 13. Burglars smashed stained-glass windows and stole the collection box at Cirencester Parish Church.
6. Spain
• Granada, December 12. The Church of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
• Barcelona, November 27. A Roman Catholic seminary was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
• Zaragoza, November 16. Vandals ransacked the Chapel of the Santo Sepulcro de Tauste and set fire to a statue of Jesus.
• Madrid, November 11. The Church of Santa Catalina de Alejandría was spray-painted with Satanist graffiti.
• Zamora, October 28. The Church of San Esteban, which dates to the 11th century, was defaced with graffiti.
• Seville, October 28. The Basilica de la Macarena was defaced with graffiti.
• Valencia, October 24. The Church of San Nicolás was defaced with graffiti.
• Madrid, October 21. The Cathedral de la Almudena and several other churches in the capital were defaced with graffiti.
• Barcelona, October 18. The Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario was defaced with political graffiti.
• Barcelona, October 14. The Church of San Juan Bautista de Gracia was defaced with Satanist graffiti.
• Córdoba, October 5. Vandals desecrated the Chapel of Rosa de Montilla.
• Cuenca, October 1. Thieves broke into the Church of La Concepción de Casas de Fernando Alonso and stole the tabernacle.
• Madrid, September 27. The Church of San Miguel de Fuencarral was spray-painted with anti-Catholic graffiti.
• Carbonero, September 6. Vandals overturned large granite bollards in front of the Church of San Juan Bautista.
• Almería, August 31. The Church of Santiago Apóstol was defaced with graffiti.
• Cambrils, July 25. A man repeatedly defaced the Church of Sant Pere with graffiti. He was arrested when police observed him carrying paint and walking toward the church.
• Guadalajara, July 20. Vandals broke into the Church of Santiago Apostle and stole the consecrated host.
• Castellón, July 18. The Cross of the Fallen was defaced with graffiti.
• Buelna, July 17. The Cross of the Fallen, a monument in the town center, was defaced with anti-religious and pro-Communist graffiti.
• Salamanca, July 16. The historic Church of San Marcos was defaced with paint.
• San Cristóbal de La Laguna, June 21. Vandals defaced several churches with graffiti.
• Soria, June 23. Vandals damaged the Chapel of San Bartolomé, a 12th Century Romanesque church that is currently undergoing renovations.
• Córdoba, May 31. Thieves broke into a Roman Catholic fraternity and stole gold crowns from several statues.
• Málaga, May 24. Vandals broke into a Roman Catholic fraternity and defaced a statue of Jesus with spray paint.
• Almería, April 21. A Roman Catholic fraternity was defaced with anarchist graffiti.
• Segovia, April 18. Vandals threw eggs on a Holy Week procession.
• Andújar, April 16. Vandals broke off the legs of a historic stone statue known as Cristo del Altozano de Santiago.
• Orense, April 14. On Palm Sunday, a Catholic church in Meside was defaced with far-left anti-religious graffiti.
• Tavernes de la Valldigna, April 1. Vandals defaced the Church of St Pere with anarchist graffiti.
• Madrid, March 29. Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena removed all references to Christianity from the city's Holy Week celebrations. "We seek to transcend the immediate significance of Holy Week to delve into the timeless feeling and universal emotions that this period of recollection arouses," according to the City Hall.
• Seville, March 19. Two women broke into the sacristy of the Church of San Julián and then left the building wearing vestments used by priests to officiate the mass. The incident was captured on CCTV.
• Málaga, March 13. Vandals broke into the Sagrada Familia chapel in El Copo.
• Santiago de Compostela, March 12. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, a World Heritage Site, was defaced with anti-religious graffiti. The cathedral was previously defaced in August 2018; the cost of removing the graffiti exceeded €10,000 ($11,200).
• Málaga, March 11. Thieves broke into the Holy Trinity of Antequera church and stole the consecrated host, the sacred bread used in the Roman Catholic Mass.
• Madrid, March 10. Vandals caused significant damage to the Parish of San Rafael Arnáiz in Sanchinarro. They also stole the consecrated host.
• Ávila, March 10. Vandals defaced the Chapel of the Risen One.
• Barcelona, March 8. The entrance to a Christian radio station was spray-painted with anti-religious graffiti.
• Córdoba, March 6. Arsonists threw a Molotov cocktail against the Parish of San Miguel. The wick was burned but the device did not explode.
• Camargo, March 5. A cross was defaced with anarchist and Communist graffiti.
• Gijón, March 2. Vandals destroyed a marble railing in the Church of San José.
• Jaén, February 18. Vandals broke into the Parish of Santa Isabel and stole the consecrated host.
• Seville, February 11. Vandals spray-painted the Church of San Martin with the words, "The only church that illuminates is the one that burns."
• Ávila, February 10. Vandals spray-painted two Roman Catholic churches with anti-religious, pro-anarchist graffiti.
• Cimadevilla, February 7. Vandals defaced the Church of San Juan Bautista with graffiti.
• Córdoba, January 30. The Trinidad Roman Catholic school in Vistalegre was defaced with anti-religious graffiti.
• Vigo, January 22. Two youths broke into a chapel at Álvaro Cunqueiro Hospital and stole the consecrated host.
• Pasaia, January 22. Vandals threw a Jesus statue into the town's harbor.
• Almería, January 20. Arsonists attempted to burn down the hermitage of Torregarcía; arsonists previously tried to burn down the chapel on January 11.
• Ondarroa, January 14. Basque separatists destroyed a large cross raised by the Franco regime in 1958 to honor "the children of Ondarroa who heroically gave their lives for God and Spain."
• Soria, January 4. The Church of Santa María la Mayor was spray-painted with graffiti.
• Córdoba, January 2. Vandals destroyed a cross commemorating the Spanish Civil War at a cemetery in Puente Genil.
Appendix 3: Select Commentary and Reflections on Church Attacks in Europe in 2019
• December 18, Saint-Éloy-les-Mines, France: "We are still a Judeo-Christian country. It is deplorable to attack a nativity scene and decorations. We do this for the children, but this morning, they were devastated in front of the crib." — Marie-Thérèse Sikora, Mayor of Saint-Éloy-les-Mines.
• November 21, Porto-Vecchio, Italy: "This attack reflects a deep lack of respect in a sacred place. It is not normal to degrade a statue of piety in this way. This should not happen in Corsica, a Christian land." — Frédéric Constant, Priest, Church of San Ciprianu, Porto-Vecchio.
• November 21, Tarbes, France: "The desecration of the Church of Saint Jean in Tarbes takes place in a continuum of a devastating number of abominations of chapels and churches. There is hardly a day when we do not learn of such facts, illustrating an unprecedented increase since the French Revolution of anti-Catholic hatred in France." — The general alliance against racism and for the respect of French and Christian identity (AGRIF).
• November 16, Zaragoza, Spain: "This has been an attack on a religious and cultural symbol of our people. It is not a simple act of vandalism. It is a place where our ancestors, family and friends have met for centuries." — Miguel Angel Francés Carbonel, Mayor of Tauste.
• November 16, Zaragoza, Spain: "This time it was not a robbery, it was evil. On other occasions they came to steal but today it was to destroy." — Javier Francés, Custodian, Chapel of the Santo Sepulcro de Tauste.
• November 9, Tonnay-Charente, France: "This attack is an expression of hatred against Christ and his Church, a manifestation of violence, cowardice and stupidity." — Monsignor Georges Colomb, Bishop of La Rochelle and Saintes.
• November 4, Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France: "These serious incivilities and this total lack of respect for a sacred heritage are increasing in France. This raises deep concerns about the civilizational values that characterize our society." — Monsignor Marc Aillet, Bishop of Bayonne.
• August 20, Giovo, Italy. "It is clear that anyone who has performed such an act does not know our values. Such contempt for this place, a religious symbol of yesterday and today that embodies the sensitivity of our people, discredits those who have done this by acting in the shadows, in the illusion that darkness can hide from its own cowardice." — Michael Moser, local resident.
• August 14, Clermont, France: "As Catholic Christians, this new event saddens us more, insofar as it suggests that people make churches a target to satisfy their addiction or to appease their greed." — Monsignor Jacques Raymond Germain Benoit-Gonnin, Bishop of Beauvais, Senlis and Noyon.
• August 10, Compiègne, France: "The most essential issue for us is that the tabernacle was forced open, and that the Blessed Sacrament, the presence of Christ was touched and stolen. This is a profanation for us." — Julien Serey, Communications Director, Diocese of Oise.
• August 1, Longford, Ireland: "Let there be no ambiguity, this is not a victimless crime. Vandalism of this kind is profoundly disrespectful to people of faith and to places of worship. It is threatening and distressing. In a truly pluralist society these examples of vandalism are of concern to our whole community." — Bishop Francis Duffy.
• May 21, Madrid, Spain: "It is very worrying that, year after year, attacks against churches increase. This can cause fear in believers when they go to pray or practice their faith. Religious freedom is the acid test of human rights. A democracy like ours cannot allow such a high number of attacks on religious freedom to occur. Religious freedom is a person's most intimate right because it involves the conscience." — María García, President, Observatory for Religious Freedom (Observatorio para la Libertad Religiosa y de Conciencia, OLRC).
• May 24, Belfast, Northern Ireland: "All attacks on property are to be condemned, but the deliberate targeting of a church is particularly heinous. Apart from the obvious danger to life, attacks on churches cause a special revulsion because of their historical role in providing sanctuary and a normally safe place for worship.... This was not only an attack on a church, but as a peace-hungry society, this was an attack on all of us." — The Belfast Telegraph.
• May 17, Großholbach, Germany: "This hurts. These are values that have simply been trampled upon." — Michael Kohlhass, Mayor of Großholbach .
• April 4, Bois de Cené, France: "I condemn with the utmost firmness the degradations committed in the church of Bois-de-Céné. They are absolutely unbearable. Whether malicious or anti-Christian, such acts deeply hurt believers who have the right to be able to freely live their faith. Places of worship are places of meditation. Those who profane them at the same time attack secularism which allows 'those who believe in heaven and those who do not believe' to live together with respect for freedom of conscience." — Yves Auvinet, President of the Departmental Council of Bois de Cené.
• April 2, Paris, France: "The Church has occupied a very important place in French society for so long that some people do not want to pay attention to the attacks of which it is the victim." — Jérôme Fourquet, Director of Opinion, Ifop polling agency.
• April 2, Paris, France: "Christians, hostages of the war of civilizations in the Middle East, are part of that which rages quietly in our regions." — Elisabeth Lévy, Editor-in-Chief, Causeur magazine.
• March 23, Leoben, Austria: "This was no simple act of vandalism. It was spiritual anarchism. It is evil. They urinated at the altar and poured out the holy water. This was a manifestation of their attitude toward the church." — Markus Plöbst, Parish Priest, Stadtpfarrkirche Leoben.
• March 11, Strasbourg, France: "This lack of respect for the sacred in our society is very disturbing." —Alain Fontanel, Deputy Mayor of Strasbourg.
• March 5, Reichstett, France: "It's a question of respect for religious buildings. On Halloween the Protestant church was targeted, and now it's the Catholic church. It's an attack on the freedom of worship." — Georges Schuler, Mayor of Reichstett.
• February 25, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, France: "It is the moral prejudice that is important, that is to say that it was an attack on the place of worship, an attack on religion, in a somewhat complicated context in France. Therefore, effectively, the moral prejudice is much more important than financial harm." — François Blanchet, Mayor of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.
• February 11, Ávila, Spain: "These acts of vandalism threaten first of all the heritage of our city," said in a statement. Above all, however, they threaten respect and religious freedom, recognized and protected in the Constitution, and that must be the guarantor of a healthy and free peaceful coexistence in Spanish society." — Bishopric of Ávila.
• February 10, Maisons-Laffitte, France: "This vandalism is an attack on the freedom of worship because it is attacking what is at the heart of belief." — Jean-Jacques Brot, Prefect, Yvelines department.
• February 5, Lavaur, France: "God will forgive, I will not. I expect justice, an exemplary sanction for these acts of Christianophobia that have upset and outraged the people of Lavaur and, well beyond this, the French who are proud of their religious and cultural heritage." — Bernard Carayon, Mayor of Lavaur.
• January 17, Grenoble, France: "This criminal action is an attack on freedom of conscience, freedom of worship, and the value of coexistence," — Bishop of Grenoble-Vienne, Guy de Kerimel.
• January 10, Rovereto, Italy: "Expressing one's thoughts with violence and arrogance by damaging the symbols and property of others is always wrong. In a democracy there are other ways to express one's ideas. Whoever set fire to the entrance of the church of San Rocco is the enemy of dialogue and peaceful debate." — Maurizio Fugatti, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento.
News of the Times;
1. https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/grooming-epidemic-almost-19000-children-idd-sexual-exploitation-victims-england/
2. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/10/american_thinkers_scoop_on_trump_getting_port_of_long_beach_out_of_chicom_hands_getting_noticed.html
3. https://www.unz.com/tsaker/new-weapons-and-the-new-tactics-which-they-make-possible-three-examples/
4. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2396760/How-Comanche-Indians-butchered-babies-roasted-enemies-alive.html
5. https://www.theunshackled.net/recourse/the-left-hate-you/
6. https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-teacher-training-program-used-across-the-u-s-is-hostile-to-whites?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro
7. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/04/breaking-activist-massachusetts-judge-who-helped-twice-deported-illegal-alien-evade-ice-arrest-indicted/
8. https://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2020/01/trump-calls-iranian-bluff.html
9. https://www.thecollegefix.com/trumps-new-executive-orders-ban-guidance-practice-that-enabled-obamas-title-ix-kangaroo-courts/
10. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/29/rolling-stone-rape-story-uva-five-years
11. https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/boys-are-stupid-girls-are-awesome-most-tv-shows-movies-today
12. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/11/04/trumps_true_crime_he_made_people_laugh_at_congress_141643.html
13. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/12/the_mass_murder_that_didnt_happen_because_texans_are_smarter_than_new_yorkers_californians_and_progressives_everywhere.html
14. https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2019/12/31/iranian-militia-leader-who-led-raid-u-s-embassy-baghdad-previously-visited-obama-white-house/
15. https://reformationcharlotte.org/2020/01/08/pro-choice-activist-posts-online-he-heavily-promotes-the-march-for-life-we-torched-his-suv-today/
Promises?
Sister Mary walks into the Mother Superiors office and confesses "I have been having sex with the new Minister at St. Judes, what shall I do for penance?"
The Mother Superior says "first you can suck a lemon"
"Oh" says Sister Mary "will that make me holy again"
"No" says the Mother Superior "but it will take that contented smirk of your face"
*.*
Mayor Pete has been getting some heat.
I don't know if you saw this.
He attended a big fundraiser in Napa at a winery with a, quote, "wine cave."
And everybody was so mad that he did this.
But why would you be mad about a wine cave?
It celebrates the two things Democrats are known for, whining and caving.
*.*
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American state department has come up with an ingenious plan to solve China's democratic protest problems and make our nation great again in one fell swoop.
Through some great negotiating on the part of Donald Trump, we've struck a deal to trade all of our country's Communists for Hong Kong's democratic protesters.
After the deal was made, the military began rounding up the Communists---who didn't complain, as they're all for an authoritarian state---and putting them in cargo planes. They were then flown across the Pacific Ocean and dropped off in Hong Kong before the democratic protesters in China were loaded up into the now-empty planes and flown back to America.
"This is the best deal, maybe ever," said Trump. "We'll get rid of some wackos on the left, my buddy Xi will be happy with his new commie followers, and we'll gain some great new citizens who will be really appreciative to me and never complain about anything. Greatest deal in the history of deals."
*.*
An old man goes to the doctor for his yearly physical, his wife tagging along. When the doctor enters the examination room, he tells the old man, "I need a urine sample, a stool sample and a sperm sample."
The old man, being hard of hearing, looks at his wife and yells: "WHAT?"
"What did he say? What's he want?"
His wife yells back, "He needs your underwear."
*.*
Q: How do you get the gender-studies major off your porch?
A: Pay for the pizza.
Quote of the Times;
Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth. That works 99 percent of the time. If no one has asked you for help or assistance, stop trying to give it to them. If no one has asked you about something, stop trying to teach, help, criticize, or otherwise talk to them about it.
Link of the Times;
https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/infuriates-swamp-trump/
Issue of the Times;
Trump List Shows 319 Results and Promises Kept In Three Years by Paul Bedard
“We are making America stronger, prouder, and greater than ever before.” – President Donald J. Trump
PROMOTING ECONOMIC PROSPERITY FOR ALL: President Trump’s pro-growth policies have led to an economic boom that is lifting up Americans of all backgrounds.
• Since President Trump’s election, more than 7 million jobs have been added to the economy.
• For the first time on record there are more job openings than unemployed Americans.
o There are more than 7 million job openings, outnumbering job seekers by more than 1 million.
o Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job, empowering more Americans with rewarding careers.
• This year, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level in half a century.
o The unemployment rate has remained at or below 4 percent for the past 21 months.
o The unemployment rate for women reached its lowest rate in 65 years under President Trump.
• Under President Trump, jobless claims hit their lowest level in half a century.
• The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population is the lowest on record.
• American workers of all backgrounds are thriving under President Trump.
o The unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma have all reached record lows under President Trump.
• The booming economy is putting more money in Americans’ pockets.
o Wages are growing at their fastest rate in a decade, with year-over-year wage gains exceeding 3 percent for the first time since 2009.
o November 2019 marked the 16th consecutive month that wages rose at an annual rate of at or over 3 percent.
o Median household income surpassed $63,000 in 2018 – the highest level on record.
• President Trump’s policies are helping forgotten Americans across the country prosper, driving down income inequality.
o Wages are rising fastest for low-income workers.
o Middle-class and low-income workers are enjoying faster wage growth than high- earners.
o When measured as the share of income earned by the top 20 percent, income inequality fell in 2018 by the largest amount in over a decade.
• Americans are being lifted out of poverty as a result of today’s booming economy.
o Since President Trump took office, over 2.4 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty.
o Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans have reached record lows.
o Since President Trump’s election, nearly 7 million Americans have been lifted off of food stamps.
• Americans are coming off of the sidelines and back into the workforce.
o The prime age labor force has grown by 2.1 million under President Trump.
o In the third quarter of 2019, 73.7 percent of workers entering employment came from
out of the labor force rather than from unemployment, the highest share since the series began in 1990.
• President Trump’s pro-growth policies are helping businesses of all sizes thrive like never before.
o Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018 and remains historically high.
o The DOW, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all repeatedly notched record highs under President Trump.
• President Trump is following through on his promise to revitalize American manufacturing, with more than a half million manufacturing jobs added since the election.
• President Trump has prioritized workforce development to ensure American workers are prepared to fill high quality jobs.
o The President has worked to expand apprenticeship programs, helping Americans gain hands-on training and experience with no student debt.
o Since President Trump took office, over 660,000 apprentices have been hired across the country.
o President Trump established the National Council for the American Worker, tasked with developing a workforce strategy for the jobs of the future.
o Over 370 companies have signed the President’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” pledging to provide more than 14.4 million employment and training opportunities.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing Cyber Workforce Development to ensure that we have the most skilled cyber workforce of the 21st century.
• President Trump signed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act in 2017 – the largest tax reform package in history.
o More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.
o $1 trillion has poured back into the country from overseas since the President’s tax cuts.
• President Trump is revitalizing distressed communities through Opportunity Zones, which encourage investment and growth in underserved communities.
o More than 8,760 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones.
o The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council has taken more than 175 actions to encourage investment and promote growth within Opportunity Zones.
o The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council is engaging all levels of government to identify best practices and assist leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in using the Opportunity Zone incentive to revitalize low-income communities.
• The President is ensuring that America is prepared to lead the world in the industries of the future, by promoting American leadership in emerging technologies like 5G and AI.
o The Administration named artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G, among other emerging technologies, as national research and development priorities.
o President Trump launched the American AI Initiative to invest in AI research, unleash innovation, and build the American workforce of the future.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order that established a new advisory committee of industry and academic leaders to advise the government on its quantum activities.
• President Trump has made supporting working families a priority of his Administration.
o President Trump signed legislation securing historic levels of funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, helping low-income families access child care.
o During his Joint Address to Congress and each State of the Union Address, the President called on Congress to pass a nationwide paid family leave plan.
o The President signed into law 12-weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.
o President Trump’s tax reforms provided a new tax credit to incentivize businesses to offer paid family leave to their employees.
o The President’s historic tax reforms doubled the child tax credit, benefitting nearly 40 million American families with an average of over $2,200 dollars in 2019.
LIFTING THE BURDEN OF OVERREGULATION: President Trump’s historic deregulation efforts are driving economic growth, cutting unnecessary costs, and increasing transparency.
• President Trump has delivered on, and far exceeded, his promise to slash two existing regulations for every new regulation.
o Since taking office, President Trump has rolled back nearly 8 regulations for every new significant one.
• The Trump Administration’s deregulatory efforts have slashed regulatory costs by more than
$50 billion.
• In the coming years, the average American household is projected to see an income gain of
$3,100 per year thanks to President Trump’s historic regulatory reform.
• Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.
• President Trump signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that are expected to result in a
$40 billion increase in annual real incomes.
• President Trump established the Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation.
o This initiative is working to reduce outdated regulations at the State, local, and tribal levels, advance occupational licensing reform, and align Federal and State regulation.
• The President signed legislation eliminating regulatory barriers that made offering retirement benefits difficult for small businesses.
• The President took action to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans from administrative abuse.
o This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to guard against secretive or unlawful interpretations of rules and prevent Americans from being hit with unfair and unexpected penalties.
• President Trump has followed through on his promise to repeal the Obama-era Waters of the United States Rule, lifting a burden off American farmers.
• President Trump ended the previous Administration’s war on coal.
o President Trump signed legislation repealing the harmful Obama-era Stream Protection Rule.
o President Trump replaced the overreaching Obama-era Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which respects States’ rights and promotes economic growth while lowering power-sector CO2 emissions.
• In 2017, the President announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, which would have killed millions of American jobs.
• The Administration has worked to undo the Obama-era fuel economy regulations by proposing the SAFE Vehicles Rule to lower the cost of new and safer cars.
• President Trump helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.
• President Trump established the White House Council on Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing Development to bring down the costs of housing across the country.
• The President’s deregulatory actions are removing government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.
• In 2017, President Trump corrected Obama Administration overreach by right-sizing Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
FIGHTING FOR FAIRER TRADE: President Trump is negotiating better trade deals for the American people after years of our country being taken advantage of.
• President Trump negotiated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) to replace the outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
o USMCA includes tremendous wins for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers, generating over $68 billion in economic activity and creating 176,000 new jobs.
• President Trump negotiated two tremendous deals with Japan to boost America’s agricultural and digital trade with the world’s third largest economy.
o Thanks to President Trump’s efforts, Japan will open its market to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural exports.
o The President’s negotiations will boost the already approximately $40 billion worth of digital trade between our two countries.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to renegotiate the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, providing a boost to American auto exports.
o These efforts doubled the number of American autos that can be exported to South Korea using United States safety standards.
• President Trump reached a historic phase one trade agreement with China that will begin rebalancing our two countries’ trade relationship.
o As a result of President Trump’s leadership, China has agreed to structural reforms in areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.
o China will be making substantial purchases of American agricultural products, marking a monumental win for American farmers.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
• President Trump achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union to work together towards zero tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and subsidies on certain goods.
• President Trump has worked to prepare for post-Brexit trade and made Congress aware of his intent to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK).
• President Trump imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our vital industries and support our national security.
• President Trump imposed tariffs to protect American-made washing machines and solar products that were hurt by import surges.
• The United States scored an historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union (UPU), whose outdated policies were undermining American interests and workers.
• President Trump has expanded markets for American farmers to export their goods worldwide, for example:
o The European Union has opened up to more American beef and increased imports of American soybeans.
o China lifted its ban on American poultry and opened up to American beef.
o South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs and agreed to provide market access for the greatest, guaranteed volume of American rice.
• The Trump Administration has authorized a total of $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices.
SECURING THE BORDER: President Trump has taken historic steps to confront the crisis on our Nation’s borders and protect American communities.
• President Trump is following through on his promise to build a wall on our southern border.
o The Administration expects to have approximately 450 miles of new border wall by the end of 2020.
• The President struck new agreements with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to help stop the flood of illegal immigration.
o The President worked with Mexico to ensure they would improve their border security.
o The United States is working with Mexico and others in the region to dismantle the human smuggling networks that profit from human misery and fuel the border crisis by exploiting vulnerable populations.
o The Administration negotiated agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to stem the surge of aliens arriving at our border.
o President Trump negotiated the Migrant Protection Protocols, requiring certain migrants to wait in Mexico during their immigration proceedings instead of allowing them to disappear into our country.
• Thanks to the President’s swift action, border apprehensions fell by more than 70 percent from May – the peak of the crisis – to November.
• The Trump Administration is stopping deadly drugs and violent criminals from flowing across our borders and into our communities.
o Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized more than 163,000 pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl at the southern border in FY 2019.
o The United States Coast Guard seized more than 458,000 pounds of cocaine at sea in FY 2019 and referred nearly 400 suspected drug smugglers for prosecution.
o U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized over 1.4 million pounds of narcotics and made more than 12,000 narcotic- related arrests in FY 2019.
o Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 50,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and over 2,700 kilograms of fentanyl in FY 2019.
o CBP apprehended 976 alien gang members in FY 2019, including 464 aliens affiliated with MS-13.
o ICE HSI made over 4,000 arrests of gang members in FY 2019, including over 450 arrests of MS-13 members.
RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW: President Trump is upholding the rule of law, restoring integrity to our asylum system, and promoting immigrant self-sufficiency.
• President Trump released an immigration plan to fully secure our border, modernize our laws, and promote an immigration system based on merit.
• President Trump is working to combat the abuse of our asylum system that drives illegal immigration.
o The Administration took action to close the Flores Settlement Agreement loophole and ensure alien families can be kept together through their proceedings.
o The President released an order that makes aliens ineligible for asylum if they passed through another country in transit to our border and did not apply for asylum in that country first.
• Since taking office, President Trump has stepped up enforcement to ensure there are consequences for breaking our laws.
o In FY 2019, the Department of Justice prosecuted a record breaking number of immigration related crimes.
o ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 143,099 aliens in FY 2019, 86 percent of whom had criminal records.
o ICE ERO removed more than 267,000 illegal aliens from the United States in FY 2019.
• The Trump Administration is cracking down on sanctuary cities and increasing cooperation at the local level on immigration enforcement.
o The Administration has more than doubled the number of jurisdictions participating in the 287(g) program, enhancing local cooperation on immigration enforcement.
• The Administration took action to protect taxpayers by ensuring that aliens wishing to enter or remain in our country are able to support themselves and not rely on public benefits.
• The President issued a proclamation to ensure immigrants admitted to America do not burden our healthcare system.
• The President has taken action to reduce nonimmigrant visa overstays, a problem that undermines the rule of law, impacts public safety, and strains resources needed for the border.
• President Trump made our country safer by ordering the enhanced vetting of individuals attempting to come to America from countries that do not meet our security standards.
• The President is taking a responsible approach to refugee admissions, prioritizing refugee resettlement in jurisdictions where both State and local governments consent to receive them.
o This order is designed to ensure that refugees are placed in an environment where they will have the best opportunity to succeed in their new homes.
CREATING SAFER COMMUNITIES: President Trump’s policies are supporting our brave law enforcement officers and making America’s communities safer.
• Violent crime fell in 2017 and 2018, after rising during each of the two years prior to President Trump taking office.
o Since 2016, the violent crime rate in America has fallen nearly 5 percent and the murder rate has decreased by over 7 percent.
• President Trump signed the First Step Act into law, making our criminal justice system fairer for all while making our communities safer.
• President Trump has promoted second-chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment, all while making our communities safer.
o The Department of Education is expanding an initiative that allows individuals in Federal and State prisons to receive Pell Grants to better prepare themselves for the workforce.
o The Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work” Initiative to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.
o The Department of Labor awarded $2.2 million to states to expand the use of fidelity bonds, which underwrite companies that hire former prisoners.
• President Trump has revitalized Project Safe Neighborhoods, bringing together Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement officials to develop solutions to violent crime.
• The President is standing up for our Nation’s law enforcement officers, ensuring they have the support they need to keep our communities safe.
o The President established a new commission to evaluate best practices for recruiting, training, and supporting law enforcement officers.
o The Administration has made available hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement.
o President Trump has signed an Executive Order to help prevent violence against law enforcement officers.
o The President also signed legislation permanently funding the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, aiding our Nation’s brave first responders.
• The President has taken action to combat the scourge of hate crimes and anti-Semitism rising in America.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order making it clear that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism.
o The Administration launched a centralized website to educate the public about hate crimes and encourage reporting.
o Since January 2017, the Civil Rights division at the DOJ has obtained 14 convictions in cases involving attacks or threats against places of worship.
• The President signed the Fix NICS Act to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
• President Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act and created a Commission on School Safety to examine ways to make our schools safer.
• The Trump Administration is fighting to end the egregious crime of human trafficking.
o In FY 2019, ICE HSI arrested 2,197 criminals associated with human trafficking and identified 428 victims.
o The President signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which tightened criteria for whether countries are meeting standards for eliminating trafficking.
• President Trump established a task force to help combat the tragedy of missing or murdered Native American women and girls.
ADVANCING AMERICA’S INTERESTS ABROAD: President Trump is putting America first and advancing our interests across the world.
• President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is countering Iran’s influence and pressuring the corrupt regime to abandon its malign activities.
o The President removed the United States from the horrible, one-sided Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed all sanctions that were lifted by the deal.
o In response to Iran’s aggression and gross human rights violations, the President authorized crippling sanctions on the regime’s leadership, including the Supreme Leader.
o President Trump is working to vigorously enforce all sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue.
• President Trump has held two historic summits with North Korea and earlier this year became the first President to cross the DMZ into North Korea.
o The Administration has maintained tough sanctions on North Korea while negotiations have taken place.
• Since taking office, President Trump has taken historic steps to support and defend our cherished ally Israel.
o This year, President Trump acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law.
o The President made good on his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and move the United States Embassy there.
o The President removed the United States from the United Nations (U.N.) Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias.
• President Trump has successfully urged North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members to increase their defense spending and to focus on modern priorities.
o NATO Allies will increase defense spending by $130 billion by the end of next year.
• The Administration has worked to reform and streamline the U.N., cutting spending and making the organization more efficient.
• Earlier this year, the President took action to protect our Second Amendment rights by announcing the United States will not join the misguided Arms Trade Treaty.
• President Trump has promoted democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere and imposed heavy sanctions on the regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
• The President reversed the previous Administration’s disastrous Cuba policy.
o President Trump has enacted a new policy aimed at stopping any revenues from reaching the Cuban military or intelligence services, imposed stricter travel restrictions, and reaffirmed the focus ensuring the Cuban regime does not profit from U.S. dollars.
o Earlier this year, the Trump Administration put a cap on remittances to Cuba.
o President Trump is enabling Americans to file lawsuits against persons and entities that traffic in property confiscated by the Cuban regime, the first time that these kind of claims have been available for Americans under the Helms-Burton Act.
• President Trump has stood with the democratically elected National Assembly and the Venezuelan people and worked to cut off the financial resources of the Maduro regime.
o President Trump recognized Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela and rallied an international coalition of 58 countries to support him.
o Earlier this year, President Trump blocked all property of the Venezuelan Government in the jurisdiction of the United States.
o President Trump has sanctioned key sectors of the Venezuelan economy exploited by the regime, including the oil and gold sectors.
o The Administration sanctioned Maduro’s key financial lifelines, including the Venezuelan Central Bank, the Venezuelan Development Bank, and Petroleos de Venezuela.
• The Trump Administration has secured the release of Americans unjustly imprisoned abroad, including Kevin King, Xiyue Wang, Danny Burch, and more.
• The President and his Administration have worked to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, promoting new investments and expanding American partnerships.
• The President negotiated the return from Finland of approximately 600 tribal ancestral remains and other sacred objects for the American Indian and Pueblo communities from which they came.
• The Trump Administration released an economic plan to empower the Palestinian people and enhance Palestinian governance through private investment.
• The President created the first-ever whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment through his Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
• In June of 2019, the President released the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, which focuses on increasing women’s participation to prevent and resolve conflicts.
REBUILDING OUR NATION’S DEFENSE: President Trump is investing in our military and ensuring our forces are able to defend against any and all threats.
• President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2020, authorizing a historic $738 billion in defense spending.
o President Trump continued to invest in rebuilding our military, after signing legislation to provide for $700 billion in defense spending in FY18 and $716 billion in FY19.
• President Trump signed a 3.1% pay raise for our troops, the largest increase in a decade.
• The President signed legislation establishing the Space Force as a new branch of the Armed Forces, the first new branch since 1947.
• The United States Space Command was relaunched in August 2019.
• The President is modernizing and recapitalizing our nuclear forces and missile defenses to ensure they continue to serve as a strong deterrent.
• The President upgraded our cyber defenses by elevating the Cyber Command into a major warfighting command and reducing burdensome procedural restrictions on cyber operations.
• President Trump is protecting America’s defense-industrial base, directing the first whole-of- government assessment of our manufacturing and defense supply chains since the 1950s.
• Under the President’s leadership, the United States is taking the fight to terrorists all around the globe.
o ISIS’ territorial caliphate has been defeated and all territory recaptured in Iraq and Syria.
o The United States has brought Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder of ISIS, to justice.
• The President has taken decisive military action to punish the Assad regime in Syria for the barbaric use of chemical weapons on its own people.
• The President also authorized sanctions against those tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.
o
o HONORING OUR VETERANS: President Trump is standing up for America’s veterans by ensuring they receive the proper care and support they deserve.
• President Trump signed the VA MISSION Act, revolutionizing the VA system, increasing choice, and providing quality care for our veterans.
o This legislation reformed and expanded many of the existing programs to give veterans improved access to healthcare providers and offered entirely new options such as allowing veterans to get urgent care in their local communities.
o The VA MISSION Act put veterans at the center of their healthcare decisions, not bureaucracy.
• The Trump Administration has expanded veterans’ ability to access telehealth services, including through the “Anywhere to Anywhere” VA health care initiative.
• President Trump has brought accountability to the VA, as promised.
o President Trump signed the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to ensure VA employees are held responsible for poor performance.
o Over 8,000 VA employees have been relieved of their duties at the VA since the beginning of the Administration.
• Veterans are seeing an improvement in quality of care under President Trump.
o In the last year, the VA saw its highest patient experience ratings in history.
o The Veterans of Foreign Wars found in its annual survey that more than 90 percent of respondents would recommend VA care to other veterans.
• President Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 to expedite the veteran appeals process.
• The Administration is working to seamlessly align the VA’s and DoD’s electronic health records.
o This new electronic health record system is on pace to launch next year in select areas.
• Under President Trump, the VA launched a new tool that provides veterans with online access to average wait times and quality-of-care data.
• Just as he promised, President Trump opened up a 24/7 White House VA Hotline to provide veterans access to help at all times.
• President Trump has committed his Administration to addressing the horrible tragedy of veteran suicide.
o President Trump signed the PREVENTS Initiative, which created a task force to develop a revolutionary roadmap to tackle the problem of veteran suicide.
o President Trump signed an executive order to improve access to suicide prevention resources for veterans.
• President Trump is expanding educational resources, promoting economic opportunity, and making sure our veterans have the support they need when they return home.
o This year, the veteran unemployment rate reached its lowest level since 2000.
o President Trump signed an executive order that paves the way for veterans to more easily join the Merchant Marine, providing quality job opportunities.
o President Trump signed the Forever GI Bill, allowing veterans to use their educational benefits at any point in their lives.
o President Trump expedited the process of discharging Federal student loan debt for our Nation’s totally and permanently disabled veterans.
o President Trump signed the HAVEN Act to ensure that veterans who’ve declared bankruptcy don’t lose their disability payments.
• President Trump signed legislation providing a pathway for Alaska Natives who served in Vietnam to receive the land allotments to which they are legally entitled.
COMBATING THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Trump has made battling the opioid crisis a top priority for his Administration, and the results couldn’t be clearer.
• President Trump brought attention to the opioid crisis by declaring it a nationwide public health emergency.
• To address the many factors fueling the drug crisis, President Trump launched an Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand.
• Thanks to the President’s efforts, landmark new Federal funding and resources have been dedicated to help end this crisis.
• President Trump signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest and most comprehensive piece of legislation to combat the opioid crisis in history.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nearly $9 billion over 2016 to 2019 in grants to address the opioid crisis and improve access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services in partnership with State and local officials.
• Nearly $1 billion in grants were recently awarded for the HEAL Initiative to support development of scientific solutions to help prevent and treat addiction.
• President Trump announced a Safer Prescriber Plan that seeks to decrease the amount of opioids prescription fills by one third within three years.
o From January 2017 to September 2019, the total amount of opioids prescriptions filled in America dropped by 31%.
• This year, the President launched FindTreatment.gov, a newly designed website that makes it easier to find substance abuse treatment locations.
• The President implemented new efforts to educate Americans about the dangers of opioid misuse.
o These efforts include an ad campaign on youth opioid abuse that reached 58 percent of young adults in America.
• President Trump and his Administration aggressively worked to cut off the flow of deadly drugs into our communities.
o In FY 2019, ICE HSI seized 12,466 pounds of opioids including 3,688 pounds of fentanyl, an increase of 35% from FY 2018.
o The Administration shut down the country’s biggest Darknet distributer of drugs, seizing enough fentanyl to kill 105,000 Americans in the process.
o Under President Trump, a DOJ strike force charged more than 65 defendants collectively responsible for distributing over 45 million opioid pills.
o The Administration has brought kingpin designations against traffickers operating in China, India, Mexico and more who have played a role in the epidemic in America.
o The Administration secured the first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl traffickers.
o This year, President Trump convinced China to enact strict regulations to control the production and sale of all types of fentanyl.
• Evidence suggests that President Trump’s efforts are making a real difference across the Nation.
o Preliminary data shows overdose deaths fell nationwide in 2018 for the first time in decades.
o Many of the hardest hit states – including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia – saw drug overdose deaths drop in 2018.
o Since 2016, there has been a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of Americans receiving medication-assisted treatment.
PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST: President Trump is working hard to give Americans better quality care at a lower cost.
• The Administration is delivering quality healthcare and promoting innovative treatment options for American patients.
o Earlier this year, President Trump signed an order to protect and improve Medicare for our seniors, encouraging even more competition and promoting innovative benefits.
o President Trump signed and implemented the Right to Try Act, which has expanded treatment options for terminally ill patients.
o The President has taken action to combat childhood cancer, initiating an effort to provide $500 million over the next decade to improve pediatric cancer research.
o The President signed legislation providing an additional $1 billion in Alzheimer’s disease research funding.
o The Administration launched a plan to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America in the next decade.
o President Trump took action to increase the availability of organs for patients in need of transplants and provide more treatment options and improve care for patients suffering from kidney disease.
o The President signed an order to modernize the influenza vaccine.
• The Administration is making healthcare more affordable and transparent.
o The Administration is requiring hospitals to make their prices negotiated with insurers publicly and easily available online.
o The President is working to expand Association Health Plans, which would make it easier for employers to join together and offer more affordable health coverage to their employees.
o President Trump extended access to short-term, limited-duration health plans, giving Americans more flexibility to choose plans that suit their needs.
o The Administration expanded the use of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Now, HRAs allow employers to help their employees pay for the cost of insurance that they select in the individual market.
o The Administration has successfully worked to reduce Medicare Advantage and Part D premiums to their lowest in years.
o The Administration has improved access to health savings accounts for individuals with chronic conditions.
o The President has worked to reduce the burden felt by Americans due to Obamacare and eliminated Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty.
o President Trump released legislative principles to end surprise medical billing and is working with Congress to give patients the control they deserve.
• President Trump is following through on his pledge to combat high drug prices.
o President Trump released a blueprint to reduce drug prices and expand affordability for American patients.
o The Administration’s efforts to lower drug prices led to the largest year-over-year decrease in drug prices ever recorded.
o The President has advanced efforts to import prescription drugs from Canada in partnership with several states, including Florida and Colorado.
o The President launched an initiative to stop global freeloading in the drug market, proposing a new way for Medicare to pay for certain drugs based on prices other developed nations pay.
o The President signed legislation to end pharmacy gag clauses, which prevented pharmacists from letting patients know when it would be cheaper to buy drugs without their insurance.
o
o SAFEGUARDING LIFE AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: President Trump has made it a priority of his Administration to uphold the sanctity of life and safeguard religious liberty for all.
• President Trump is unequivocally committed to protecting the sanctity of every human life.
o The Administration issued a rule preventing Title X family planning funds from supporting the abortion industry.
o President Trump has called on Congress to end late-term abortions.
o The Trump Administration cut all funding to the U.N. population fund, due to the fund’s support for coercive abortion and forced sterilization.
o HHS rescinded an Obama-era guidance that prevented states from taking certain actions against abortion providers.
o President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy in 2017, ensuring that taxpayer money is not used to fund abortion globally.
o The President has taken action to end federal research using fetal tissue from abortions.
• President Trump is protecting healthcare entities and individuals’ conscience rights—ensuring that no medical professional is forced to participate in an abortion in violation of their beliefs.
• The Administration provided relief to American employers like Little Sisters of the Poor, protecting them from being forced to provide coverage that violate their conscience.
• President Trump has taken unprecedented action to support the fundamental right to religious freedom.
o In 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.
o In 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order upholding religious liberty and the right to engage in religious speech.
o The Department of Justice created a Religious Liberty Task Force in 2018.
o The Trump Administration continues to vigorously defend religious liberty in the courts at every opportunity.
o President Trump reversed the Obama-era policy that prevented the government from providing disaster relief to religious organizations.
o The Administration is preserving a space for faith-based adoption and foster care providers to continue to serve their communities consistent with their beliefs.
o The Administration reduced burdensome barriers to Native Americans being able to keep spiritually and culturally significant eagle feathers found on their tribal lands.
o The Administration has allowed greater flexibility for Federal employees to take time off work for religious reasons.
• The Trump Administration has stood up for religious liberty around the world.
o The Administration has partnered with local and faith-based organizations to provide assistance to religious minorities persecuted in Iraq.
o President Trump hosted the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom at the 2019 U.N. General Assembly, calling on global and business leaders to bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith.
o The Administration dedicated $25 million to protect religious freedom, religious sites and relics.
o The State Department has hosted two Religious Freedom Ministerials, with the 2019 Ministerial becoming the largest religious freedom event of its kind in the world.
o In 2019, the Administration imposed restrictions on certain Chinese officials, internal security units, and companies for their complicity in the persecution of Uighur Muslims and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
o
o TRANSFORMING THE COURTS: President Trump is transforming the Federal judiciary by appointing a historic number of Federal judges who will interpret the Constitution as written.
• Working with the Senate, President Trump has now had 187 judicial nominees confirmed to the Federal bench.
o President Trump’s remaking of the judiciary is only accelerating with 103 Federal judges confirmed in 2019, more than 2017 and 2018 combined.
• The President named Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, fulfilling his promise to appoint justices who will uphold the constitution as written.
• President Trump has appointed 50 Circuit Court judges – more than any other President at this point in their Administrations.
o More than a quarter of all active Circuit Court judges were appointed by President Trump.
o The average age of Trump-appointed circuit judges is less than 50 years old, ensuring that these qualified jurists will continue to have an impact for decades to come.
• President Trump has flipped the Second, Third, and Eleventh Circuits from Democrat-appointed majorities to Republican-appointed majorities.
USHERING IN AN ERA OF ENERGY DOMINANCE: President Trump’s policies are ushering in a new era of American energy dominance.
• President Trump has rolled back the burdensome regulations of the past Administration and implemented policies that are unleashing American energy.
• The United States is the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world.
• American oil production reached its highest level in history in 2019.
o The United States became a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products in September 2019, the first time this has occurred since records began in 1973.
• Natural gas production is projected to set a record high in 2019, marking the third consecutive year of record production.
• President Trump is opening up more access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to promote energy independence.
o Department of the Interior energy revenues soared in fiscal year FY 2019, nearly doubling since FY 2016 to $12 billion.
o Applications to drill on public lands have increased by 300 percent since FY 2016, and the time it takes to complete these permits has dropped by half.
o President Trump signed legislation to open up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.
• President Trump is promoting energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.
o This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to streamline processes holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure, like pipelines.
o In 2017, the Administration took action to approve the Dakota Access pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline.
o The Administration issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will export American petroleum products to Mexico.
o The Administration has streamlined Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal permitting.
o In 2019, the Department of Energy granted 11 new long-term LNG export approvals.
• American energy exports have reached historic highs.
o LNG exports have increased by 247% since 2017, hitting record highs in 2019 and are projected to continue increasing next year.
o In 2017, the United States became a net natural gas exporter for the first time in 60 years.
o The United States has exported LNG to five continents and 37 countries, marking 19 additional countries from the beginning of the Trump Administration.
• President Trump strengthened America’s domestic energy production and supported our Nation’s farmers by approving year-round E-15.
• President Trump worked to ensure greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
• President Trump has promoted domestic energy production and economic growth while working to ensure Americans have access to safe drinking water and a clean environment. o The United States environmental record is one of the strongest in the world and America
continues to make environmental progress in clean air and clean water.
o Under President Trump’s leadership, the EPA took action to protect vulnerable Americans from lead exposure by proposing changes to the Lead and Copper rule.
o Under President Trump’s leadership, in FY 2019 the EPA completed cleanup on the most superfund sites on the National Priority List in 18 years.
o Emissions of all criteria pollutants dropped between 2016 and 2018.
PROMOTING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY: President Trump is working to ensure all Americans have access to quality education.
• President Trump signed into law a modernization of our country’s career and technical education system to ensure more Americans have access to high-quality vocational education.
• This year, the Administration proposed Education Freedom Scholarships to expand education options for students of all economic backgrounds.
o This plan will invest up to $5 billion in students through a tax credit for donations for state-based, locally-controlled scholarships.
• President Trump is expanding education and training opportunities for incarcerated individuals to learn how to make a living before their release.
• The President signed legislation reauthorizing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program.
• Thanks to President Trump’s historic tax reform, parents can now withdraw up to $10,000 tax- free per year from 529 education savings plans to cover K-12 tuition costs.
• President Trump has made supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) a priority of his Administration.
o President Trump signed the Farm Bill that included more than $100 million dollars for scholarships, research, and centers of excellence at HBCU land-grant institutions.
o The Administration has enabled faith-based HBCUs to enjoy equal access to Federal support.
o President Trump signed legislation providing $255 million dollars of permanent annual funding for HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions.
News of the Times;
1. https://www.ibtimes.com/google-could-no-longer-use-tax-loopholes-avoid-paying-taxes-2020-2893758?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true
2. https://nypost.com/2020/01/01/hate-crime-suspect-tiffany-harris-finally-kept-in-custody-after-three-arrests/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
3. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-hunter-biden-paternity-case-mysteriously-recuses-hours-after-new-allegations-filed
4. https://www.nas.org/blogs/statement/nas-commends-president-trumps-executive-orders-no-more-law-by-dear-colleague-letter
5. https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-more-than-a-thousand-christians-have-been-killed-this-year-in-nigeria?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro
6. https://www.unz.com/article/how-the-pro-war-left-fell-for-the-kurds-in-syria/
7. https://bigleaguepolitics.com/reminder-president-obama-gave-guns-to-mexican-cartels-who-used-them-to-murder-of-border-agent-brian-terry-didnt-get-impeached/
8. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/12/will-a-white-supremacist-please-step-forward.php
9. https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/12/26/professional-hacker-reveals-car-industry-spies-drivers/
10. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/child-sex-predator-arrests-rise-by-18-to-3-771-in-fiscal-2019
The Mother Superior says "first you can suck a lemon"
"Oh" says Sister Mary "will that make me holy again"
"No" says the Mother Superior "but it will take that contented smirk of your face"
*.*
Mayor Pete has been getting some heat.
I don't know if you saw this.
He attended a big fundraiser in Napa at a winery with a, quote, "wine cave."
And everybody was so mad that he did this.
But why would you be mad about a wine cave?
It celebrates the two things Democrats are known for, whining and caving.
*.*
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American state department has come up with an ingenious plan to solve China's democratic protest problems and make our nation great again in one fell swoop.
Through some great negotiating on the part of Donald Trump, we've struck a deal to trade all of our country's Communists for Hong Kong's democratic protesters.
After the deal was made, the military began rounding up the Communists---who didn't complain, as they're all for an authoritarian state---and putting them in cargo planes. They were then flown across the Pacific Ocean and dropped off in Hong Kong before the democratic protesters in China were loaded up into the now-empty planes and flown back to America.
"This is the best deal, maybe ever," said Trump. "We'll get rid of some wackos on the left, my buddy Xi will be happy with his new commie followers, and we'll gain some great new citizens who will be really appreciative to me and never complain about anything. Greatest deal in the history of deals."
*.*
An old man goes to the doctor for his yearly physical, his wife tagging along. When the doctor enters the examination room, he tells the old man, "I need a urine sample, a stool sample and a sperm sample."
The old man, being hard of hearing, looks at his wife and yells: "WHAT?"
"What did he say? What's he want?"
His wife yells back, "He needs your underwear."
*.*
Q: How do you get the gender-studies major off your porch?
A: Pay for the pizza.
Quote of the Times;
Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth. That works 99 percent of the time. If no one has asked you for help or assistance, stop trying to give it to them. If no one has asked you about something, stop trying to teach, help, criticize, or otherwise talk to them about it.
Link of the Times;
https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/infuriates-swamp-trump/
Issue of the Times;
Trump List Shows 319 Results and Promises Kept In Three Years by Paul Bedard
“We are making America stronger, prouder, and greater than ever before.” – President Donald J. Trump
PROMOTING ECONOMIC PROSPERITY FOR ALL: President Trump’s pro-growth policies have led to an economic boom that is lifting up Americans of all backgrounds.
• Since President Trump’s election, more than 7 million jobs have been added to the economy.
• For the first time on record there are more job openings than unemployed Americans.
o There are more than 7 million job openings, outnumbering job seekers by more than 1 million.
o Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job, empowering more Americans with rewarding careers.
• This year, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level in half a century.
o The unemployment rate has remained at or below 4 percent for the past 21 months.
o The unemployment rate for women reached its lowest rate in 65 years under President Trump.
• Under President Trump, jobless claims hit their lowest level in half a century.
• The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population is the lowest on record.
• American workers of all backgrounds are thriving under President Trump.
o The unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma have all reached record lows under President Trump.
• The booming economy is putting more money in Americans’ pockets.
o Wages are growing at their fastest rate in a decade, with year-over-year wage gains exceeding 3 percent for the first time since 2009.
o November 2019 marked the 16th consecutive month that wages rose at an annual rate of at or over 3 percent.
o Median household income surpassed $63,000 in 2018 – the highest level on record.
• President Trump’s policies are helping forgotten Americans across the country prosper, driving down income inequality.
o Wages are rising fastest for low-income workers.
o Middle-class and low-income workers are enjoying faster wage growth than high- earners.
o When measured as the share of income earned by the top 20 percent, income inequality fell in 2018 by the largest amount in over a decade.
• Americans are being lifted out of poverty as a result of today’s booming economy.
o Since President Trump took office, over 2.4 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty.
o Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans have reached record lows.
o Since President Trump’s election, nearly 7 million Americans have been lifted off of food stamps.
• Americans are coming off of the sidelines and back into the workforce.
o The prime age labor force has grown by 2.1 million under President Trump.
o In the third quarter of 2019, 73.7 percent of workers entering employment came from
out of the labor force rather than from unemployment, the highest share since the series began in 1990.
• President Trump’s pro-growth policies are helping businesses of all sizes thrive like never before.
o Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018 and remains historically high.
o The DOW, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all repeatedly notched record highs under President Trump.
• President Trump is following through on his promise to revitalize American manufacturing, with more than a half million manufacturing jobs added since the election.
• President Trump has prioritized workforce development to ensure American workers are prepared to fill high quality jobs.
o The President has worked to expand apprenticeship programs, helping Americans gain hands-on training and experience with no student debt.
o Since President Trump took office, over 660,000 apprentices have been hired across the country.
o President Trump established the National Council for the American Worker, tasked with developing a workforce strategy for the jobs of the future.
o Over 370 companies have signed the President’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” pledging to provide more than 14.4 million employment and training opportunities.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing Cyber Workforce Development to ensure that we have the most skilled cyber workforce of the 21st century.
• President Trump signed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act in 2017 – the largest tax reform package in history.
o More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.
o $1 trillion has poured back into the country from overseas since the President’s tax cuts.
• President Trump is revitalizing distressed communities through Opportunity Zones, which encourage investment and growth in underserved communities.
o More than 8,760 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones.
o The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council has taken more than 175 actions to encourage investment and promote growth within Opportunity Zones.
o The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council is engaging all levels of government to identify best practices and assist leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in using the Opportunity Zone incentive to revitalize low-income communities.
• The President is ensuring that America is prepared to lead the world in the industries of the future, by promoting American leadership in emerging technologies like 5G and AI.
o The Administration named artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G, among other emerging technologies, as national research and development priorities.
o President Trump launched the American AI Initiative to invest in AI research, unleash innovation, and build the American workforce of the future.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order that established a new advisory committee of industry and academic leaders to advise the government on its quantum activities.
• President Trump has made supporting working families a priority of his Administration.
o President Trump signed legislation securing historic levels of funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, helping low-income families access child care.
o During his Joint Address to Congress and each State of the Union Address, the President called on Congress to pass a nationwide paid family leave plan.
o The President signed into law 12-weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.
o President Trump’s tax reforms provided a new tax credit to incentivize businesses to offer paid family leave to their employees.
o The President’s historic tax reforms doubled the child tax credit, benefitting nearly 40 million American families with an average of over $2,200 dollars in 2019.
LIFTING THE BURDEN OF OVERREGULATION: President Trump’s historic deregulation efforts are driving economic growth, cutting unnecessary costs, and increasing transparency.
• President Trump has delivered on, and far exceeded, his promise to slash two existing regulations for every new regulation.
o Since taking office, President Trump has rolled back nearly 8 regulations for every new significant one.
• The Trump Administration’s deregulatory efforts have slashed regulatory costs by more than
$50 billion.
• In the coming years, the average American household is projected to see an income gain of
$3,100 per year thanks to President Trump’s historic regulatory reform.
• Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.
• President Trump signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that are expected to result in a
$40 billion increase in annual real incomes.
• President Trump established the Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation.
o This initiative is working to reduce outdated regulations at the State, local, and tribal levels, advance occupational licensing reform, and align Federal and State regulation.
• The President signed legislation eliminating regulatory barriers that made offering retirement benefits difficult for small businesses.
• The President took action to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans from administrative abuse.
o This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to guard against secretive or unlawful interpretations of rules and prevent Americans from being hit with unfair and unexpected penalties.
• President Trump has followed through on his promise to repeal the Obama-era Waters of the United States Rule, lifting a burden off American farmers.
• President Trump ended the previous Administration’s war on coal.
o President Trump signed legislation repealing the harmful Obama-era Stream Protection Rule.
o President Trump replaced the overreaching Obama-era Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which respects States’ rights and promotes economic growth while lowering power-sector CO2 emissions.
• In 2017, the President announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, which would have killed millions of American jobs.
• The Administration has worked to undo the Obama-era fuel economy regulations by proposing the SAFE Vehicles Rule to lower the cost of new and safer cars.
• President Trump helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.
• President Trump established the White House Council on Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing Development to bring down the costs of housing across the country.
• The President’s deregulatory actions are removing government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.
• In 2017, President Trump corrected Obama Administration overreach by right-sizing Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
FIGHTING FOR FAIRER TRADE: President Trump is negotiating better trade deals for the American people after years of our country being taken advantage of.
• President Trump negotiated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) to replace the outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
o USMCA includes tremendous wins for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers, generating over $68 billion in economic activity and creating 176,000 new jobs.
• President Trump negotiated two tremendous deals with Japan to boost America’s agricultural and digital trade with the world’s third largest economy.
o Thanks to President Trump’s efforts, Japan will open its market to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural exports.
o The President’s negotiations will boost the already approximately $40 billion worth of digital trade between our two countries.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to renegotiate the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, providing a boost to American auto exports.
o These efforts doubled the number of American autos that can be exported to South Korea using United States safety standards.
• President Trump reached a historic phase one trade agreement with China that will begin rebalancing our two countries’ trade relationship.
o As a result of President Trump’s leadership, China has agreed to structural reforms in areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.
o China will be making substantial purchases of American agricultural products, marking a monumental win for American farmers.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
• President Trump achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union to work together towards zero tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and subsidies on certain goods.
• President Trump has worked to prepare for post-Brexit trade and made Congress aware of his intent to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK).
• President Trump imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our vital industries and support our national security.
• President Trump imposed tariffs to protect American-made washing machines and solar products that were hurt by import surges.
• The United States scored an historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union (UPU), whose outdated policies were undermining American interests and workers.
• President Trump has expanded markets for American farmers to export their goods worldwide, for example:
o The European Union has opened up to more American beef and increased imports of American soybeans.
o China lifted its ban on American poultry and opened up to American beef.
o South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs and agreed to provide market access for the greatest, guaranteed volume of American rice.
• The Trump Administration has authorized a total of $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices.
SECURING THE BORDER: President Trump has taken historic steps to confront the crisis on our Nation’s borders and protect American communities.
• President Trump is following through on his promise to build a wall on our southern border.
o The Administration expects to have approximately 450 miles of new border wall by the end of 2020.
• The President struck new agreements with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to help stop the flood of illegal immigration.
o The President worked with Mexico to ensure they would improve their border security.
o The United States is working with Mexico and others in the region to dismantle the human smuggling networks that profit from human misery and fuel the border crisis by exploiting vulnerable populations.
o The Administration negotiated agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to stem the surge of aliens arriving at our border.
o President Trump negotiated the Migrant Protection Protocols, requiring certain migrants to wait in Mexico during their immigration proceedings instead of allowing them to disappear into our country.
• Thanks to the President’s swift action, border apprehensions fell by more than 70 percent from May – the peak of the crisis – to November.
• The Trump Administration is stopping deadly drugs and violent criminals from flowing across our borders and into our communities.
o Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized more than 163,000 pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl at the southern border in FY 2019.
o The United States Coast Guard seized more than 458,000 pounds of cocaine at sea in FY 2019 and referred nearly 400 suspected drug smugglers for prosecution.
o U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized over 1.4 million pounds of narcotics and made more than 12,000 narcotic- related arrests in FY 2019.
o Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 50,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and over 2,700 kilograms of fentanyl in FY 2019.
o CBP apprehended 976 alien gang members in FY 2019, including 464 aliens affiliated with MS-13.
o ICE HSI made over 4,000 arrests of gang members in FY 2019, including over 450 arrests of MS-13 members.
RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW: President Trump is upholding the rule of law, restoring integrity to our asylum system, and promoting immigrant self-sufficiency.
• President Trump released an immigration plan to fully secure our border, modernize our laws, and promote an immigration system based on merit.
• President Trump is working to combat the abuse of our asylum system that drives illegal immigration.
o The Administration took action to close the Flores Settlement Agreement loophole and ensure alien families can be kept together through their proceedings.
o The President released an order that makes aliens ineligible for asylum if they passed through another country in transit to our border and did not apply for asylum in that country first.
• Since taking office, President Trump has stepped up enforcement to ensure there are consequences for breaking our laws.
o In FY 2019, the Department of Justice prosecuted a record breaking number of immigration related crimes.
o ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 143,099 aliens in FY 2019, 86 percent of whom had criminal records.
o ICE ERO removed more than 267,000 illegal aliens from the United States in FY 2019.
• The Trump Administration is cracking down on sanctuary cities and increasing cooperation at the local level on immigration enforcement.
o The Administration has more than doubled the number of jurisdictions participating in the 287(g) program, enhancing local cooperation on immigration enforcement.
• The Administration took action to protect taxpayers by ensuring that aliens wishing to enter or remain in our country are able to support themselves and not rely on public benefits.
• The President issued a proclamation to ensure immigrants admitted to America do not burden our healthcare system.
• The President has taken action to reduce nonimmigrant visa overstays, a problem that undermines the rule of law, impacts public safety, and strains resources needed for the border.
• President Trump made our country safer by ordering the enhanced vetting of individuals attempting to come to America from countries that do not meet our security standards.
• The President is taking a responsible approach to refugee admissions, prioritizing refugee resettlement in jurisdictions where both State and local governments consent to receive them.
o This order is designed to ensure that refugees are placed in an environment where they will have the best opportunity to succeed in their new homes.
CREATING SAFER COMMUNITIES: President Trump’s policies are supporting our brave law enforcement officers and making America’s communities safer.
• Violent crime fell in 2017 and 2018, after rising during each of the two years prior to President Trump taking office.
o Since 2016, the violent crime rate in America has fallen nearly 5 percent and the murder rate has decreased by over 7 percent.
• President Trump signed the First Step Act into law, making our criminal justice system fairer for all while making our communities safer.
• President Trump has promoted second-chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment, all while making our communities safer.
o The Department of Education is expanding an initiative that allows individuals in Federal and State prisons to receive Pell Grants to better prepare themselves for the workforce.
o The Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work” Initiative to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.
o The Department of Labor awarded $2.2 million to states to expand the use of fidelity bonds, which underwrite companies that hire former prisoners.
• President Trump has revitalized Project Safe Neighborhoods, bringing together Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement officials to develop solutions to violent crime.
• The President is standing up for our Nation’s law enforcement officers, ensuring they have the support they need to keep our communities safe.
o The President established a new commission to evaluate best practices for recruiting, training, and supporting law enforcement officers.
o The Administration has made available hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement.
o President Trump has signed an Executive Order to help prevent violence against law enforcement officers.
o The President also signed legislation permanently funding the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, aiding our Nation’s brave first responders.
• The President has taken action to combat the scourge of hate crimes and anti-Semitism rising in America.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order making it clear that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism.
o The Administration launched a centralized website to educate the public about hate crimes and encourage reporting.
o Since January 2017, the Civil Rights division at the DOJ has obtained 14 convictions in cases involving attacks or threats against places of worship.
• The President signed the Fix NICS Act to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
• President Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act and created a Commission on School Safety to examine ways to make our schools safer.
• The Trump Administration is fighting to end the egregious crime of human trafficking.
o In FY 2019, ICE HSI arrested 2,197 criminals associated with human trafficking and identified 428 victims.
o The President signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which tightened criteria for whether countries are meeting standards for eliminating trafficking.
• President Trump established a task force to help combat the tragedy of missing or murdered Native American women and girls.
ADVANCING AMERICA’S INTERESTS ABROAD: President Trump is putting America first and advancing our interests across the world.
• President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is countering Iran’s influence and pressuring the corrupt regime to abandon its malign activities.
o The President removed the United States from the horrible, one-sided Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed all sanctions that were lifted by the deal.
o In response to Iran’s aggression and gross human rights violations, the President authorized crippling sanctions on the regime’s leadership, including the Supreme Leader.
o President Trump is working to vigorously enforce all sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue.
• President Trump has held two historic summits with North Korea and earlier this year became the first President to cross the DMZ into North Korea.
o The Administration has maintained tough sanctions on North Korea while negotiations have taken place.
• Since taking office, President Trump has taken historic steps to support and defend our cherished ally Israel.
o This year, President Trump acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law.
o The President made good on his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and move the United States Embassy there.
o The President removed the United States from the United Nations (U.N.) Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias.
• President Trump has successfully urged North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members to increase their defense spending and to focus on modern priorities.
o NATO Allies will increase defense spending by $130 billion by the end of next year.
• The Administration has worked to reform and streamline the U.N., cutting spending and making the organization more efficient.
• Earlier this year, the President took action to protect our Second Amendment rights by announcing the United States will not join the misguided Arms Trade Treaty.
• President Trump has promoted democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere and imposed heavy sanctions on the regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
• The President reversed the previous Administration’s disastrous Cuba policy.
o President Trump has enacted a new policy aimed at stopping any revenues from reaching the Cuban military or intelligence services, imposed stricter travel restrictions, and reaffirmed the focus ensuring the Cuban regime does not profit from U.S. dollars.
o Earlier this year, the Trump Administration put a cap on remittances to Cuba.
o President Trump is enabling Americans to file lawsuits against persons and entities that traffic in property confiscated by the Cuban regime, the first time that these kind of claims have been available for Americans under the Helms-Burton Act.
• President Trump has stood with the democratically elected National Assembly and the Venezuelan people and worked to cut off the financial resources of the Maduro regime.
o President Trump recognized Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela and rallied an international coalition of 58 countries to support him.
o Earlier this year, President Trump blocked all property of the Venezuelan Government in the jurisdiction of the United States.
o President Trump has sanctioned key sectors of the Venezuelan economy exploited by the regime, including the oil and gold sectors.
o The Administration sanctioned Maduro’s key financial lifelines, including the Venezuelan Central Bank, the Venezuelan Development Bank, and Petroleos de Venezuela.
• The Trump Administration has secured the release of Americans unjustly imprisoned abroad, including Kevin King, Xiyue Wang, Danny Burch, and more.
• The President and his Administration have worked to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, promoting new investments and expanding American partnerships.
• The President negotiated the return from Finland of approximately 600 tribal ancestral remains and other sacred objects for the American Indian and Pueblo communities from which they came.
• The Trump Administration released an economic plan to empower the Palestinian people and enhance Palestinian governance through private investment.
• The President created the first-ever whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment through his Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
• In June of 2019, the President released the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, which focuses on increasing women’s participation to prevent and resolve conflicts.
REBUILDING OUR NATION’S DEFENSE: President Trump is investing in our military and ensuring our forces are able to defend against any and all threats.
• President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2020, authorizing a historic $738 billion in defense spending.
o President Trump continued to invest in rebuilding our military, after signing legislation to provide for $700 billion in defense spending in FY18 and $716 billion in FY19.
• President Trump signed a 3.1% pay raise for our troops, the largest increase in a decade.
• The President signed legislation establishing the Space Force as a new branch of the Armed Forces, the first new branch since 1947.
• The United States Space Command was relaunched in August 2019.
• The President is modernizing and recapitalizing our nuclear forces and missile defenses to ensure they continue to serve as a strong deterrent.
• The President upgraded our cyber defenses by elevating the Cyber Command into a major warfighting command and reducing burdensome procedural restrictions on cyber operations.
• President Trump is protecting America’s defense-industrial base, directing the first whole-of- government assessment of our manufacturing and defense supply chains since the 1950s.
• Under the President’s leadership, the United States is taking the fight to terrorists all around the globe.
o ISIS’ territorial caliphate has been defeated and all territory recaptured in Iraq and Syria.
o The United States has brought Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder of ISIS, to justice.
• The President has taken decisive military action to punish the Assad regime in Syria for the barbaric use of chemical weapons on its own people.
• The President also authorized sanctions against those tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.
o
o HONORING OUR VETERANS: President Trump is standing up for America’s veterans by ensuring they receive the proper care and support they deserve.
• President Trump signed the VA MISSION Act, revolutionizing the VA system, increasing choice, and providing quality care for our veterans.
o This legislation reformed and expanded many of the existing programs to give veterans improved access to healthcare providers and offered entirely new options such as allowing veterans to get urgent care in their local communities.
o The VA MISSION Act put veterans at the center of their healthcare decisions, not bureaucracy.
• The Trump Administration has expanded veterans’ ability to access telehealth services, including through the “Anywhere to Anywhere” VA health care initiative.
• President Trump has brought accountability to the VA, as promised.
o President Trump signed the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to ensure VA employees are held responsible for poor performance.
o Over 8,000 VA employees have been relieved of their duties at the VA since the beginning of the Administration.
• Veterans are seeing an improvement in quality of care under President Trump.
o In the last year, the VA saw its highest patient experience ratings in history.
o The Veterans of Foreign Wars found in its annual survey that more than 90 percent of respondents would recommend VA care to other veterans.
• President Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 to expedite the veteran appeals process.
• The Administration is working to seamlessly align the VA’s and DoD’s electronic health records.
o This new electronic health record system is on pace to launch next year in select areas.
• Under President Trump, the VA launched a new tool that provides veterans with online access to average wait times and quality-of-care data.
• Just as he promised, President Trump opened up a 24/7 White House VA Hotline to provide veterans access to help at all times.
• President Trump has committed his Administration to addressing the horrible tragedy of veteran suicide.
o President Trump signed the PREVENTS Initiative, which created a task force to develop a revolutionary roadmap to tackle the problem of veteran suicide.
o President Trump signed an executive order to improve access to suicide prevention resources for veterans.
• President Trump is expanding educational resources, promoting economic opportunity, and making sure our veterans have the support they need when they return home.
o This year, the veteran unemployment rate reached its lowest level since 2000.
o President Trump signed an executive order that paves the way for veterans to more easily join the Merchant Marine, providing quality job opportunities.
o President Trump signed the Forever GI Bill, allowing veterans to use their educational benefits at any point in their lives.
o President Trump expedited the process of discharging Federal student loan debt for our Nation’s totally and permanently disabled veterans.
o President Trump signed the HAVEN Act to ensure that veterans who’ve declared bankruptcy don’t lose their disability payments.
• President Trump signed legislation providing a pathway for Alaska Natives who served in Vietnam to receive the land allotments to which they are legally entitled.
COMBATING THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Trump has made battling the opioid crisis a top priority for his Administration, and the results couldn’t be clearer.
• President Trump brought attention to the opioid crisis by declaring it a nationwide public health emergency.
• To address the many factors fueling the drug crisis, President Trump launched an Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand.
• Thanks to the President’s efforts, landmark new Federal funding and resources have been dedicated to help end this crisis.
• President Trump signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest and most comprehensive piece of legislation to combat the opioid crisis in history.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nearly $9 billion over 2016 to 2019 in grants to address the opioid crisis and improve access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services in partnership with State and local officials.
• Nearly $1 billion in grants were recently awarded for the HEAL Initiative to support development of scientific solutions to help prevent and treat addiction.
• President Trump announced a Safer Prescriber Plan that seeks to decrease the amount of opioids prescription fills by one third within three years.
o From January 2017 to September 2019, the total amount of opioids prescriptions filled in America dropped by 31%.
• This year, the President launched FindTreatment.gov, a newly designed website that makes it easier to find substance abuse treatment locations.
• The President implemented new efforts to educate Americans about the dangers of opioid misuse.
o These efforts include an ad campaign on youth opioid abuse that reached 58 percent of young adults in America.
• President Trump and his Administration aggressively worked to cut off the flow of deadly drugs into our communities.
o In FY 2019, ICE HSI seized 12,466 pounds of opioids including 3,688 pounds of fentanyl, an increase of 35% from FY 2018.
o The Administration shut down the country’s biggest Darknet distributer of drugs, seizing enough fentanyl to kill 105,000 Americans in the process.
o Under President Trump, a DOJ strike force charged more than 65 defendants collectively responsible for distributing over 45 million opioid pills.
o The Administration has brought kingpin designations against traffickers operating in China, India, Mexico and more who have played a role in the epidemic in America.
o The Administration secured the first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl traffickers.
o This year, President Trump convinced China to enact strict regulations to control the production and sale of all types of fentanyl.
• Evidence suggests that President Trump’s efforts are making a real difference across the Nation.
o Preliminary data shows overdose deaths fell nationwide in 2018 for the first time in decades.
o Many of the hardest hit states – including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia – saw drug overdose deaths drop in 2018.
o Since 2016, there has been a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of Americans receiving medication-assisted treatment.
PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST: President Trump is working hard to give Americans better quality care at a lower cost.
• The Administration is delivering quality healthcare and promoting innovative treatment options for American patients.
o Earlier this year, President Trump signed an order to protect and improve Medicare for our seniors, encouraging even more competition and promoting innovative benefits.
o President Trump signed and implemented the Right to Try Act, which has expanded treatment options for terminally ill patients.
o The President has taken action to combat childhood cancer, initiating an effort to provide $500 million over the next decade to improve pediatric cancer research.
o The President signed legislation providing an additional $1 billion in Alzheimer’s disease research funding.
o The Administration launched a plan to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America in the next decade.
o President Trump took action to increase the availability of organs for patients in need of transplants and provide more treatment options and improve care for patients suffering from kidney disease.
o The President signed an order to modernize the influenza vaccine.
• The Administration is making healthcare more affordable and transparent.
o The Administration is requiring hospitals to make their prices negotiated with insurers publicly and easily available online.
o The President is working to expand Association Health Plans, which would make it easier for employers to join together and offer more affordable health coverage to their employees.
o President Trump extended access to short-term, limited-duration health plans, giving Americans more flexibility to choose plans that suit their needs.
o The Administration expanded the use of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Now, HRAs allow employers to help their employees pay for the cost of insurance that they select in the individual market.
o The Administration has successfully worked to reduce Medicare Advantage and Part D premiums to their lowest in years.
o The Administration has improved access to health savings accounts for individuals with chronic conditions.
o The President has worked to reduce the burden felt by Americans due to Obamacare and eliminated Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty.
o President Trump released legislative principles to end surprise medical billing and is working with Congress to give patients the control they deserve.
• President Trump is following through on his pledge to combat high drug prices.
o President Trump released a blueprint to reduce drug prices and expand affordability for American patients.
o The Administration’s efforts to lower drug prices led to the largest year-over-year decrease in drug prices ever recorded.
o The President has advanced efforts to import prescription drugs from Canada in partnership with several states, including Florida and Colorado.
o The President launched an initiative to stop global freeloading in the drug market, proposing a new way for Medicare to pay for certain drugs based on prices other developed nations pay.
o The President signed legislation to end pharmacy gag clauses, which prevented pharmacists from letting patients know when it would be cheaper to buy drugs without their insurance.
o
o SAFEGUARDING LIFE AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: President Trump has made it a priority of his Administration to uphold the sanctity of life and safeguard religious liberty for all.
• President Trump is unequivocally committed to protecting the sanctity of every human life.
o The Administration issued a rule preventing Title X family planning funds from supporting the abortion industry.
o President Trump has called on Congress to end late-term abortions.
o The Trump Administration cut all funding to the U.N. population fund, due to the fund’s support for coercive abortion and forced sterilization.
o HHS rescinded an Obama-era guidance that prevented states from taking certain actions against abortion providers.
o President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy in 2017, ensuring that taxpayer money is not used to fund abortion globally.
o The President has taken action to end federal research using fetal tissue from abortions.
• President Trump is protecting healthcare entities and individuals’ conscience rights—ensuring that no medical professional is forced to participate in an abortion in violation of their beliefs.
• The Administration provided relief to American employers like Little Sisters of the Poor, protecting them from being forced to provide coverage that violate their conscience.
• President Trump has taken unprecedented action to support the fundamental right to religious freedom.
o In 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.
o In 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order upholding religious liberty and the right to engage in religious speech.
o The Department of Justice created a Religious Liberty Task Force in 2018.
o The Trump Administration continues to vigorously defend religious liberty in the courts at every opportunity.
o President Trump reversed the Obama-era policy that prevented the government from providing disaster relief to religious organizations.
o The Administration is preserving a space for faith-based adoption and foster care providers to continue to serve their communities consistent with their beliefs.
o The Administration reduced burdensome barriers to Native Americans being able to keep spiritually and culturally significant eagle feathers found on their tribal lands.
o The Administration has allowed greater flexibility for Federal employees to take time off work for religious reasons.
• The Trump Administration has stood up for religious liberty around the world.
o The Administration has partnered with local and faith-based organizations to provide assistance to religious minorities persecuted in Iraq.
o President Trump hosted the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom at the 2019 U.N. General Assembly, calling on global and business leaders to bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith.
o The Administration dedicated $25 million to protect religious freedom, religious sites and relics.
o The State Department has hosted two Religious Freedom Ministerials, with the 2019 Ministerial becoming the largest religious freedom event of its kind in the world.
o In 2019, the Administration imposed restrictions on certain Chinese officials, internal security units, and companies for their complicity in the persecution of Uighur Muslims and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
o
o TRANSFORMING THE COURTS: President Trump is transforming the Federal judiciary by appointing a historic number of Federal judges who will interpret the Constitution as written.
• Working with the Senate, President Trump has now had 187 judicial nominees confirmed to the Federal bench.
o President Trump’s remaking of the judiciary is only accelerating with 103 Federal judges confirmed in 2019, more than 2017 and 2018 combined.
• The President named Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, fulfilling his promise to appoint justices who will uphold the constitution as written.
• President Trump has appointed 50 Circuit Court judges – more than any other President at this point in their Administrations.
o More than a quarter of all active Circuit Court judges were appointed by President Trump.
o The average age of Trump-appointed circuit judges is less than 50 years old, ensuring that these qualified jurists will continue to have an impact for decades to come.
• President Trump has flipped the Second, Third, and Eleventh Circuits from Democrat-appointed majorities to Republican-appointed majorities.
USHERING IN AN ERA OF ENERGY DOMINANCE: President Trump’s policies are ushering in a new era of American energy dominance.
• President Trump has rolled back the burdensome regulations of the past Administration and implemented policies that are unleashing American energy.
• The United States is the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world.
• American oil production reached its highest level in history in 2019.
o The United States became a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products in September 2019, the first time this has occurred since records began in 1973.
• Natural gas production is projected to set a record high in 2019, marking the third consecutive year of record production.
• President Trump is opening up more access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to promote energy independence.
o Department of the Interior energy revenues soared in fiscal year FY 2019, nearly doubling since FY 2016 to $12 billion.
o Applications to drill on public lands have increased by 300 percent since FY 2016, and the time it takes to complete these permits has dropped by half.
o President Trump signed legislation to open up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.
• President Trump is promoting energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.
o This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to streamline processes holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure, like pipelines.
o In 2017, the Administration took action to approve the Dakota Access pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline.
o The Administration issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will export American petroleum products to Mexico.
o The Administration has streamlined Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal permitting.
o In 2019, the Department of Energy granted 11 new long-term LNG export approvals.
• American energy exports have reached historic highs.
o LNG exports have increased by 247% since 2017, hitting record highs in 2019 and are projected to continue increasing next year.
o In 2017, the United States became a net natural gas exporter for the first time in 60 years.
o The United States has exported LNG to five continents and 37 countries, marking 19 additional countries from the beginning of the Trump Administration.
• President Trump strengthened America’s domestic energy production and supported our Nation’s farmers by approving year-round E-15.
• President Trump worked to ensure greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
• President Trump has promoted domestic energy production and economic growth while working to ensure Americans have access to safe drinking water and a clean environment. o The United States environmental record is one of the strongest in the world and America
continues to make environmental progress in clean air and clean water.
o Under President Trump’s leadership, the EPA took action to protect vulnerable Americans from lead exposure by proposing changes to the Lead and Copper rule.
o Under President Trump’s leadership, in FY 2019 the EPA completed cleanup on the most superfund sites on the National Priority List in 18 years.
o Emissions of all criteria pollutants dropped between 2016 and 2018.
PROMOTING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY: President Trump is working to ensure all Americans have access to quality education.
• President Trump signed into law a modernization of our country’s career and technical education system to ensure more Americans have access to high-quality vocational education.
• This year, the Administration proposed Education Freedom Scholarships to expand education options for students of all economic backgrounds.
o This plan will invest up to $5 billion in students through a tax credit for donations for state-based, locally-controlled scholarships.
• President Trump is expanding education and training opportunities for incarcerated individuals to learn how to make a living before their release.
• The President signed legislation reauthorizing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program.
• Thanks to President Trump’s historic tax reform, parents can now withdraw up to $10,000 tax- free per year from 529 education savings plans to cover K-12 tuition costs.
• President Trump has made supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) a priority of his Administration.
o President Trump signed the Farm Bill that included more than $100 million dollars for scholarships, research, and centers of excellence at HBCU land-grant institutions.
o The Administration has enabled faith-based HBCUs to enjoy equal access to Federal support.
o President Trump signed legislation providing $255 million dollars of permanent annual funding for HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions.
News of the Times;
1. https://www.ibtimes.com/google-could-no-longer-use-tax-loopholes-avoid-paying-taxes-2020-2893758?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true
2. https://nypost.com/2020/01/01/hate-crime-suspect-tiffany-harris-finally-kept-in-custody-after-three-arrests/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
3. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-hunter-biden-paternity-case-mysteriously-recuses-hours-after-new-allegations-filed
4. https://www.nas.org/blogs/statement/nas-commends-president-trumps-executive-orders-no-more-law-by-dear-colleague-letter
5. https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-more-than-a-thousand-christians-have-been-killed-this-year-in-nigeria?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro
6. https://www.unz.com/article/how-the-pro-war-left-fell-for-the-kurds-in-syria/
7. https://bigleaguepolitics.com/reminder-president-obama-gave-guns-to-mexican-cartels-who-used-them-to-murder-of-border-agent-brian-terry-didnt-get-impeached/
8. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/12/will-a-white-supremacist-please-step-forward.php
9. https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/12/26/professional-hacker-reveals-car-industry-spies-drivers/
10. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/child-sex-predator-arrests-rise-by-18-to-3-771-in-fiscal-2019
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And someone shot a duck.
An Images & Ideas, Inc. Service.
No Vegans were harmed in the making of this site. We're looking for a new provider.