We used pet tranquilizer to help deal with the firework noise this year.
It worked so well, next year, we might get a pet!
*.*
Joey Chestnut downed 70.5 hot dogs to win the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island New York on Friday.
Not surprising, no one asked to have that remaining half hot dog.
*.*
Top 5 Signs It's REALLY Hot Outside:
Your shadow called in sick
Even mirages are sweating
Your weather app simply says, "Nope"
Birds are using potholders to land on power lines
The Ice Cream Truck melted
*.*
Scientists in New Zealand are attempting to genetically engineer a new version of the now extinct South Island giant moa bird, which stood 12-feet tall.
It could end up meaning even more leftovers than ever before at Thanksgiving.
*.*
My self-challenge this week: try to watch a movie or TV show that doesn't have Pedro Pascal in it.
Quote of the Times;
“All human institutions slide downwards like a landslide, unless they are perpetually forced upwards by criticism and reform.” - GK Chesterton
Link of the Times;
How the IPCC Buried the Medieval Warm Period:
https://irrationalfear.substack.com/p/how-the-ipcc-buried-the-medieval
Issue of the Times;
World’s ‘Highest IQ Holder’ Says He Believes “Jesus Christ is God, the Way, the Truth, and the Life” by Jim Hᴏft
Christ is King.
Dr. YoungHoon Kim, founder and president of the United Sigma Intelligence Association (USIA) and a South Korean scholar widely recognized as having the world’s highest recorded IQ—estimated at 276—has publicly affirmed his Christian faith.
On Wednesday, Dr. Kim posted on X:
As the world’s highest IQ record holder, I believe that Jesus Christ is God, the way and the truth and the life.
— YoungHoon Kim (@yhbryankimiq) June 18, 2025
According to a recent report in Human Events, Dr. Kim’s intelligence credentials have been validated by established bodies—such as the Official World Record, the World Memory Championships, and the World Memory Sports Council (in partnership with Guinness World Records).
Additionally, elite groups like the GIGA Society and Mensa reportedly confirm his IQ, lending further gravitas to his self reported figure.
My World’s Highest IQ certificate by Official World Record® and World Memory Championships & World Memory Sports Council, which is in official partnership with Guinness World Records. Thank you everyone for your trust in me.
– Highest IQ Man pic.twitter.com/itkwD9UrhQ
— YoungHoon Kim (@yhbryankimiq) February 20, 2025
More on his biography:
As of 2024, Dr. YoungHoon Kim established the world record title “The World’s Highest IQ Person Now” with IQ 276 verified by the Official World Record®, World Memory Championships and World Mind Sports Council, which is in official partnership with Guinness World Record. His record accreditation as having the world’s highest IQ comes from the World Memory Sports Council, World Memory Championships, World Speed Reading Championships, World Mind Mapping Championships, GIGA Society, Supertalent World Record & Supertalent of the World, Korea Masterpiece & Master Certification Committee, Challenge Korea Headquarters, Korea Best Record Institute, Korea Record Institute, World Genius Directory, Global Genius Registry, Esoteriq Society, Ultima Society & Nano Society. With perfect scores on various clinical and experimental high range intelligence tests, YoungHoon Kim’s high intelligence was verified by the GIGA Society (1/billion), Yale Clinical Neuroscientist PhD (1/10 million), Olympiq Society (1/3 million), Mega Society (1/million), Triple Nine Society (1/1000), and Mensa (1/50). In 2024, Dr. YoungHoon Kim was named as number one with the world’s highest IQ by Reader’s Digest, The Economist, CNN, CNBC, Us Weekly, Newsweek, etc., and he was recognized and interviewed as a South Korean with the world’s highest IQ by Arirang TV under South Korea Ministry of Culture.
According to Collin Rugg, YoungHoon Kim is citing quantum physics to support his belief in God and the existence of an afterlife.
YoungHoon Kim: I would like to share my idea—my thoughts—about the afterlife. I think our consciousness continues beyond death, definitely. Our consciousness is not just brain activity; it is something deeper. I think you believe this.
Science says that when the brain stops, our consciousness disappears. You believe this now. But quantum physics says that information never disappears—never. It only changes in form.
If our consciousness is quantum information, it may continue after the body is gone. For example, like computer data stored in the cloud, our consciousness may not be trapped in the brain. Quantum entanglement suggests that our consciousness is part of a bigger system beyond the physical world.
Some scientists and philosophers believe that our world may be a simulation created by a higher-dimensional being—which I believe. If this is true, then death is not the end, but a shift to another reality.
Just like a video game character disappears, but the player still exists, our consciousness may continue in a higher dimension like this.
Many people with near-death experiences say they saw their bodies from above or felt warm light and deep peace. They felt—yes, they say—they felt warm light and peace.
These experiences seem like moving from one system to another, I think.
If reality is part of something bigger, then death is not the end—but a transition, a shift to another reality. Science is growing now, and we are learning more about consciousness and reality. Our death is not destruction, but change and shift. Humanity will keep searching for the truth about what comes after—after life.
News of the Times;
RFK Jr. Unloads Disturbing Vaccine Secrets on Tucker:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/07/rfk-jr-unloads-disturbing-vaccine-secrets-tucker-surprises/
A Catholic Perspective on Christian Nationalism:
https://realclearcatholic.com/2022/07/25/a-catholic-perspective-on-christian-nationalism/
“F*ck Americans”:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/06/fck-americans-breaking-state-department-visa-specialist-fired/
Gay Couple Charged with Rape and Murder of Adopted Child:
https://nationalfile.com/infant-murder-adoption-scandal/
Shanghai Billionaire’s Chinese Communist Party Network Fuels America’s Anti-ICE Riots:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/06/exposed-shanghai-billionaires-chinese-communist-party-network-fuels/
$550 million USAID fraud scheme results in multiple convictions:
https://www.wnd.com/2025/06/550-million-usaid-fraud-scheme-results-multiple-convictions/
Outlaw Public Sector Unions:
https://amgreatness.com/2025/05/21/outlaw-public-sector-unions-2/
1 In 4 People In Germany Now Has Migrant Background:
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/1-4-people-germany-now-has-migrant-background-data-shows
Retired Navy Admiral Found Guilty of Bribery:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/retired-navy-admiral-found-guilty-bribery-attempted-award/
FBI 'Butchered' Probe, Lied About Congressional Baseball Shooter's Motives:
https://pjmedia.com/paula-bolyard/2025/05/06/shock-report-fbi-butchered-probe-lied-about-congressional-baseball-shooters-motives-n4939529
'Awakening a generation': Largest mass baptism in history?
https://www.wnd.com/2025/05/awakening-a-generation-largest-mass-baptism-in-history/
Teenagers With Mental Health Disorders Spend An Extra Hour On Social Media:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/teenagers-mental-health-disorders-spend-extra-hour-social-media
"I Can't Understand My Professor":
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/i-cant-understand-my-professor
‘Apparently, We Are at the Behest of the SPLC,’ FBI Staffer Wrote:
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/06/04/apparently-we-are-behest-splc-fbi-staffer-wrote-response-anti-catholic-memo/
King?
Ritual?
I still refuse to think that any Friday could be unlucky.
*.*
The World Cup is just a year away from coming to the United States.
For the world of soccer, it's the biggest event on the calendar.
For I.C.E. agents, it's their version of the Super Bowl.
*.*
16% of drivers have hit someone's mailbox.
In my defense, I was trying for my neighbor.
*.*
A lady dropped her handbag in the bustle of holiday shopping. An honest, little boy noticed her drop the handbag, so he picked it up and returned it to her. The lady looked into her handbag and commented, "Hmm... That's funny. When I lost my bag there was a $20 bill in it. Now there are twenty $1 bills."
The boy quickly replied, "That's right, lady. The last time I found a purse, the owner didn't have any change for a reward."
*.*
Johnny Depp is back in Hollywood, filming a new movie called, "Day Drinker."
Since they never asked for permission, I'm suing.
Quote of the Times;
“The World Health Organization is about as interested in world health as the arms industry is interested in world peace.” – Christine Anderson, Member of the European Parliament
Link of the Times;
'They laughed while they destroyed us':
https://www.wnd.com/2025/04/they-laughed-while-they-destroyed-us-agonizing-ordeal-of-one-j6er-at-the-hands-of-a-weaponized-fbi/
Issue of the Times;
From Torah to trauma: A Satanic child abuse scandal blows up in Israel by Dr. Mathew Maavak
There are crimes so profound that words fail to capture them. Last week, several survivors testified to the Israeli Knesset about just such a horror.
The story broke with an investigative report published by Israel Hayom, which unearthed a long-standing pattern of ritual sexual abuse, psychological manipulation, and spiritual desecration occurring not on the margins of society but from within its most sacred institutions. Survivors speak of torment that begins in early childhood and lasts decades, often committed under the guise of religious observance. It is not just a crime of the flesh. It is a theft of the soul.
Israeli children, some as young as infants, were subjected to methodical abuse masked in religious ritual. Survivors describe ceremonies invoking biblically-vilified deities, conducted by members of observant Jewish communities. As a survivor named Noga (all of the victims’ names are changed in the report) recalled: “The gods I remember are Baal Peor and Ashtoreth... our lord Peor and our lady Ashtoreth.” (Note: All these deities are categorically condemned in the Bible).
The culprits are not fringe radicals. These are individuals who keep kosher, celebrate the Sabbath, and adhere to the minutiae of Jewish law even as they engage in acts so depraved that they defy comprehension. Here is snippet from a survivor’s testimonies:
“I remember a pentagram on the floor, usually in red. When the ceremony was in the forest, the pentagram was marked with a hoe and surrounded by lit candles in a circle. The rabbi would bless…they would repetitively read Psalms, like ‘A Psalm of David, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ They told me ‘you are special, you are chosen’ and they would insert... I remember a palm branch, Hanukkah candles, a shofar.”
Some of these perpetrators are qualified to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah — a high privilege among observant Jews. Family members, most of whom may have once been victims themselves, are often the ones who hand over their little ones to these monsters.
Several rabbis’ names appeared repeatedly in survivor testimonies. Multiple complaints filed at different police stations across Israel were quickly nipped in the bud. Prosecutions leading to imprisonments are rare. Much like anywhere else on this planet. Have any elite members of the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile network – itself rumored to be a Mossad operation – been charged in any court of law? Have the victims been asked to identify the perpetrators of these wicked deeds during the trial of Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell?
A twisted safari for the elites
Ritual child sexual abuse is a twisted safari sport of sorts for the elite. It combines satanic predilections with congenital moral turpitude. It also serves as a rites de passage for entry into a very select club of global movers and shakers whose inclusivity is dependent on mutual blackmailability. They are motivated by self-preservation and the accumulation of wealth and power foremost even as they dish out copious servings of faux nationalism.
According to the Jerusalem Post, which followed up on the Hayom report, “doctors, educators, police officers, and past and present members of the Knesset were involved in these abuses.” With prominent members of the public engaging in such activities, do not expect justice to be served. Instead, expect international coordination of the most depraved kind, with the United Nations reporting an alarming rise in child trafficking worldwide. What are those entrusted to guard our borders doing? While the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency comes down hard on undocumented immigrants, the dismantling of major child trafficking networks has been sporadic at best.
Evidence – even if it amounts to thousands of files – will be swiftly buried or distorted. This was the case when US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel contradicted each other over the Epstein tapes. Elon Musk, on his part, alleged that President Donald Trump himself was “in the Epstein files.” Musk conveniently deleted the damning tweet a few days later. One cannot just open a Pandora’s Box involving the most powerful men on earth and expect things to die down.
MK-Ultra redux?
According to Rabbi Dr. Udi Furman, “ritual abuse occurs when a religious, political, or spiritual authority uses their position of power to manipulate victims’ belief systems and thereby control them.” But where does that control lead to? One only has to look up MK-Ultra.
MK-Ultra was a covert CIA program (1953–1973) designed to develop methods of mind control, interrogation resistance, and behavioral manipulation. Children were used in specific subprograms (e.g. Project Monarch, a rumored offshoot of MK-Ultra), often selected from vulnerable populations or foster systems. Sexual abuse, torture, and ritualistic elements were employed not merely for sadism, but for a purpose: to shatter the psyche of the child into dissociated identity fragments (commonly known now as Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly Multiple Personality Disorder). These fractured parts could allegedly be programmed with distinct “roles” (e.g. messenger, spy, seductress, pimp) for use in espionage, blackmail, or other covert operations. This is how the Ghislaine Maxwells of this world are forged.
The core idea was that through trauma-induced dissociation, an abuser could gain unprecedented access to the mind – sealing off traumatic memories, while implanting new behaviors or triggers without conscious awareness. Some survivors claim this created a form of “programmable human.”
Twofold crime
The goals of ritual child sex abuse are twofold: to violate the body and to distort the spiritual framework of victims. Children are indoctrinated into believing their suffering serves a divine purpose, replete with scriptural justifications.
This is spiritual abuse in its most sophisticated and perverse form. In Israel, the perpetrators manipulate foundational concepts in the Torah to legitimize unspeakable acts. As Noga puts it: “To achieve the great correction, one must suffer, because suffering purifies and advances redemption.” In a macabre parody of mysticism, victims are told they are instruments in a holy mission. Sexual exploitation is reframed as divine service. Trauma becomes theology.
Just what happens when child sexual abuse is perpetrated under religious pretexts? The victims end up hating God. It is hard to overstate the gravity of this spiritual wound. Just as sexual abuse damages trust in people, spiritual injury robs a child of faith. This is why Jesus Christ – the divine embodiment of salvation and forgiveness itself – decreed that it is better for monsters who perpetrate such acts to be drowned by having a millstone hung around their necks (Matthew 18:6). One can heal a broken limb. One cannot easily heal a soul that has been taught to interpret rape as redemption.
This is also about calculated spiritual inversion. Good is called evil; suffering is called sanctity and Satan is celebrated instead of God. Sacred symbols are used to consecrate violence. Some of the ceremonies uncovered by Hayom included cross-dressing, incest, and group sexual acts within family units – all under the banner of spiritual transcendence. They blur boundaries between good and evil, between sexuality and love, and family.
Legal loopholes and enduring travesties
Israeli legal frameworks do address sexual abuse and human trafficking, but they are ill-equipped to prosecute spiritual abuse wrapped under religious performance. This is ostensibly the reason why survivor testimonies have not led to arrests.
In truth, this is part of a well-worn pattern: the same silence that once cloaked clerical abuse across every major religion now shields elite institutions, where power exists to protect itself. Israel is arguably a global epicenter for child sexual abuse and trafficking, and has even provided sanctuary to a number of high-profile pedophiles.
Within religious communities, there is a deep impulse to preserve the illusion of sanctity at the expense of truth and justice. As Orit Sulitzeanu, head of Israel’s Association of Rape Crisis Centers, observed: “The conspiracy of silence within religious society often prevents exposure of severe exploitation and abuse cases.”
Over time, these debauched collusions and derelictions of justice lead to terminal moral decay. Ever wondered why some Israeli soldiers commit acts that defy all norms of human decency, including war crimes that are perpetrated with chilling ease? They are the products of a society where the brutalization of children is disturbingly normalized. As adults, they project the trauma and violations they once endured onto the defenseless. The abused become the abusers. And so, the cycle of violence renews itself – again and again.
News of the Times;
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Says He Only Hires Blacks:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/chicago-mayor-brandon-johnson-says-he-only-hires/
Two Mexican Nationals Busted in Colorado With 180,000 Rounds of Ammunition:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/two-mexican-nationals-busted-colorado-180000-rounds-ammunition/
This is no longer immigration:
https://rmx.news/article/this-is-no-longer-immigration-this-is-displacement-for-the-first-time-muslim-students-outnumber-christians-in-viennas-schools/
Germany Is Revoking Gun Rights from AfD Supporters:
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-confiscation-afd-supporters-germany/
Ancient altar found in Guatemala jungle apparently used for sacrifices, "especially of children,":
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tikal-altar-guatemala-jungle-used-sacrifices-mayan-teotihuacan-cultures/
NASA axes ex-DEI chief:
https://nypost.com/2025/04/11/us-news/nasa-axes-ex-dei-chief-neela-rajendra-report/
Pope Francis Made the Roman Catholic Church Take a Massive Left Turn:
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2025/04/21/pope-francis-has-died-at-age-88-n4939080
Vox Day’s Socio-Sexual Hierarchy:
https://postcardsfromtheageofreason.com/2025/04/24/vox-days-ssh/
Washington Becomes 1st State To Recognize Islamic Holidays As State Holidays:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/creeping-sharia-washington-becomes-1st-state-recognize-islamic/
Crickets from the mainstream media…
https://revolver.news/2025/05/another-white-teen-brutally-attacked-by-thugs-crickets-from-the-mainstream-media/
Harriet Tubman probably didn't exist:
https://gab.com/NeonRevolt/posts/114626783717988889
Canada Wants to Euthanize Couple’s Daughter Because She Has Autism:
https://www.lifenews.com/2025/05/06/canada-wants-to-euthanize-familys-daughter-because-she-has-autism/
The Emerging Neomedieval Order:
https://bluevir.substack.com/p/emergence-of-the-neomedieval-order?triedRedirect=true
13-year-old girl attacked by grown man used jiu-jitsu skills:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/carmel-girl-jiu-jitsu-attacker
Eugenics and Planned Parenthood – Margaret Sanger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP7ZzV4Z338&t=102s
*.*
The World Cup is just a year away from coming to the United States.
For the world of soccer, it's the biggest event on the calendar.
For I.C.E. agents, it's their version of the Super Bowl.
*.*
16% of drivers have hit someone's mailbox.
In my defense, I was trying for my neighbor.
*.*
A lady dropped her handbag in the bustle of holiday shopping. An honest, little boy noticed her drop the handbag, so he picked it up and returned it to her. The lady looked into her handbag and commented, "Hmm... That's funny. When I lost my bag there was a $20 bill in it. Now there are twenty $1 bills."
The boy quickly replied, "That's right, lady. The last time I found a purse, the owner didn't have any change for a reward."
*.*
Johnny Depp is back in Hollywood, filming a new movie called, "Day Drinker."
Since they never asked for permission, I'm suing.
Quote of the Times;
“The World Health Organization is about as interested in world health as the arms industry is interested in world peace.” – Christine Anderson, Member of the European Parliament
Link of the Times;
'They laughed while they destroyed us':
https://www.wnd.com/2025/04/they-laughed-while-they-destroyed-us-agonizing-ordeal-of-one-j6er-at-the-hands-of-a-weaponized-fbi/
Issue of the Times;
From Torah to trauma: A Satanic child abuse scandal blows up in Israel by Dr. Mathew Maavak
There are crimes so profound that words fail to capture them. Last week, several survivors testified to the Israeli Knesset about just such a horror.
The story broke with an investigative report published by Israel Hayom, which unearthed a long-standing pattern of ritual sexual abuse, psychological manipulation, and spiritual desecration occurring not on the margins of society but from within its most sacred institutions. Survivors speak of torment that begins in early childhood and lasts decades, often committed under the guise of religious observance. It is not just a crime of the flesh. It is a theft of the soul.
Israeli children, some as young as infants, were subjected to methodical abuse masked in religious ritual. Survivors describe ceremonies invoking biblically-vilified deities, conducted by members of observant Jewish communities. As a survivor named Noga (all of the victims’ names are changed in the report) recalled: “The gods I remember are Baal Peor and Ashtoreth... our lord Peor and our lady Ashtoreth.” (Note: All these deities are categorically condemned in the Bible).
The culprits are not fringe radicals. These are individuals who keep kosher, celebrate the Sabbath, and adhere to the minutiae of Jewish law even as they engage in acts so depraved that they defy comprehension. Here is snippet from a survivor’s testimonies:
“I remember a pentagram on the floor, usually in red. When the ceremony was in the forest, the pentagram was marked with a hoe and surrounded by lit candles in a circle. The rabbi would bless…they would repetitively read Psalms, like ‘A Psalm of David, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.’ They told me ‘you are special, you are chosen’ and they would insert... I remember a palm branch, Hanukkah candles, a shofar.”
Some of these perpetrators are qualified to blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah — a high privilege among observant Jews. Family members, most of whom may have once been victims themselves, are often the ones who hand over their little ones to these monsters.
Several rabbis’ names appeared repeatedly in survivor testimonies. Multiple complaints filed at different police stations across Israel were quickly nipped in the bud. Prosecutions leading to imprisonments are rare. Much like anywhere else on this planet. Have any elite members of the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile network – itself rumored to be a Mossad operation – been charged in any court of law? Have the victims been asked to identify the perpetrators of these wicked deeds during the trial of Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell?
A twisted safari for the elites
Ritual child sexual abuse is a twisted safari sport of sorts for the elite. It combines satanic predilections with congenital moral turpitude. It also serves as a rites de passage for entry into a very select club of global movers and shakers whose inclusivity is dependent on mutual blackmailability. They are motivated by self-preservation and the accumulation of wealth and power foremost even as they dish out copious servings of faux nationalism.
According to the Jerusalem Post, which followed up on the Hayom report, “doctors, educators, police officers, and past and present members of the Knesset were involved in these abuses.” With prominent members of the public engaging in such activities, do not expect justice to be served. Instead, expect international coordination of the most depraved kind, with the United Nations reporting an alarming rise in child trafficking worldwide. What are those entrusted to guard our borders doing? While the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency comes down hard on undocumented immigrants, the dismantling of major child trafficking networks has been sporadic at best.
Evidence – even if it amounts to thousands of files – will be swiftly buried or distorted. This was the case when US Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel contradicted each other over the Epstein tapes. Elon Musk, on his part, alleged that President Donald Trump himself was “in the Epstein files.” Musk conveniently deleted the damning tweet a few days later. One cannot just open a Pandora’s Box involving the most powerful men on earth and expect things to die down.
MK-Ultra redux?
According to Rabbi Dr. Udi Furman, “ritual abuse occurs when a religious, political, or spiritual authority uses their position of power to manipulate victims’ belief systems and thereby control them.” But where does that control lead to? One only has to look up MK-Ultra.
MK-Ultra was a covert CIA program (1953–1973) designed to develop methods of mind control, interrogation resistance, and behavioral manipulation. Children were used in specific subprograms (e.g. Project Monarch, a rumored offshoot of MK-Ultra), often selected from vulnerable populations or foster systems. Sexual abuse, torture, and ritualistic elements were employed not merely for sadism, but for a purpose: to shatter the psyche of the child into dissociated identity fragments (commonly known now as Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly Multiple Personality Disorder). These fractured parts could allegedly be programmed with distinct “roles” (e.g. messenger, spy, seductress, pimp) for use in espionage, blackmail, or other covert operations. This is how the Ghislaine Maxwells of this world are forged.
The core idea was that through trauma-induced dissociation, an abuser could gain unprecedented access to the mind – sealing off traumatic memories, while implanting new behaviors or triggers without conscious awareness. Some survivors claim this created a form of “programmable human.”
Twofold crime
The goals of ritual child sex abuse are twofold: to violate the body and to distort the spiritual framework of victims. Children are indoctrinated into believing their suffering serves a divine purpose, replete with scriptural justifications.
This is spiritual abuse in its most sophisticated and perverse form. In Israel, the perpetrators manipulate foundational concepts in the Torah to legitimize unspeakable acts. As Noga puts it: “To achieve the great correction, one must suffer, because suffering purifies and advances redemption.” In a macabre parody of mysticism, victims are told they are instruments in a holy mission. Sexual exploitation is reframed as divine service. Trauma becomes theology.
Just what happens when child sexual abuse is perpetrated under religious pretexts? The victims end up hating God. It is hard to overstate the gravity of this spiritual wound. Just as sexual abuse damages trust in people, spiritual injury robs a child of faith. This is why Jesus Christ – the divine embodiment of salvation and forgiveness itself – decreed that it is better for monsters who perpetrate such acts to be drowned by having a millstone hung around their necks (Matthew 18:6). One can heal a broken limb. One cannot easily heal a soul that has been taught to interpret rape as redemption.
This is also about calculated spiritual inversion. Good is called evil; suffering is called sanctity and Satan is celebrated instead of God. Sacred symbols are used to consecrate violence. Some of the ceremonies uncovered by Hayom included cross-dressing, incest, and group sexual acts within family units – all under the banner of spiritual transcendence. They blur boundaries between good and evil, between sexuality and love, and family.
Legal loopholes and enduring travesties
Israeli legal frameworks do address sexual abuse and human trafficking, but they are ill-equipped to prosecute spiritual abuse wrapped under religious performance. This is ostensibly the reason why survivor testimonies have not led to arrests.
In truth, this is part of a well-worn pattern: the same silence that once cloaked clerical abuse across every major religion now shields elite institutions, where power exists to protect itself. Israel is arguably a global epicenter for child sexual abuse and trafficking, and has even provided sanctuary to a number of high-profile pedophiles.
Within religious communities, there is a deep impulse to preserve the illusion of sanctity at the expense of truth and justice. As Orit Sulitzeanu, head of Israel’s Association of Rape Crisis Centers, observed: “The conspiracy of silence within religious society often prevents exposure of severe exploitation and abuse cases.”
Over time, these debauched collusions and derelictions of justice lead to terminal moral decay. Ever wondered why some Israeli soldiers commit acts that defy all norms of human decency, including war crimes that are perpetrated with chilling ease? They are the products of a society where the brutalization of children is disturbingly normalized. As adults, they project the trauma and violations they once endured onto the defenseless. The abused become the abusers. And so, the cycle of violence renews itself – again and again.
News of the Times;
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson Says He Only Hires Blacks:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/chicago-mayor-brandon-johnson-says-he-only-hires/
Two Mexican Nationals Busted in Colorado With 180,000 Rounds of Ammunition:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/two-mexican-nationals-busted-colorado-180000-rounds-ammunition/
This is no longer immigration:
https://rmx.news/article/this-is-no-longer-immigration-this-is-displacement-for-the-first-time-muslim-students-outnumber-christians-in-viennas-schools/
Germany Is Revoking Gun Rights from AfD Supporters:
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-confiscation-afd-supporters-germany/
Ancient altar found in Guatemala jungle apparently used for sacrifices, "especially of children,":
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tikal-altar-guatemala-jungle-used-sacrifices-mayan-teotihuacan-cultures/
NASA axes ex-DEI chief:
https://nypost.com/2025/04/11/us-news/nasa-axes-ex-dei-chief-neela-rajendra-report/
Pope Francis Made the Roman Catholic Church Take a Massive Left Turn:
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2025/04/21/pope-francis-has-died-at-age-88-n4939080
Vox Day’s Socio-Sexual Hierarchy:
https://postcardsfromtheageofreason.com/2025/04/24/vox-days-ssh/
Washington Becomes 1st State To Recognize Islamic Holidays As State Holidays:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/creeping-sharia-washington-becomes-1st-state-recognize-islamic/
Crickets from the mainstream media…
https://revolver.news/2025/05/another-white-teen-brutally-attacked-by-thugs-crickets-from-the-mainstream-media/
Harriet Tubman probably didn't exist:
https://gab.com/NeonRevolt/posts/114626783717988889
Canada Wants to Euthanize Couple’s Daughter Because She Has Autism:
https://www.lifenews.com/2025/05/06/canada-wants-to-euthanize-familys-daughter-because-she-has-autism/
The Emerging Neomedieval Order:
https://bluevir.substack.com/p/emergence-of-the-neomedieval-order?triedRedirect=true
13-year-old girl attacked by grown man used jiu-jitsu skills:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/carmel-girl-jiu-jitsu-attacker
Eugenics and Planned Parenthood – Margaret Sanger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP7ZzV4Z338&t=102s
Passion?
Spider: Why are you terrified of me?
Me: Well, the reasons I had are now all replaced by the fact that you can talk.
*.*
Where does Christmas come before Easter?
The dictionary!
*.*
The famous Olympic skier Picabo (pronounced Peek-A-Boo) Street is not just an athlete, she is a nurse. She currently works at the Intensive Care Unit of a large metropolitan hospital.
She is not permitted to answer the telephone, however, as it caused simply too much confusion when she would answer the phone and say,
"Picabo, ICU..."
*.*
President Trump is now 6-foot 3-inches, weighing 224 pounds and 4.8% body fat.
We may lose him to the NFL draft.
*.*
What's the best way to make Easter easier?
Put an "i" where the "t" is.
Quote of the Times;
"Ten years ago it would be unthinkable that El Salvador would be considered safer than Sweden. But now that has happened. Malmö is now ranked as dangerous as Baghdad. There has been almost daily bombing attacks in Sweden. Something went very wrong in my home country." - @PeterSweden7
Link of the Times;
Tulsi Gabbard Exposes Alarming Biden-Era 'Domestic Terrorism' Strategy:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tulsi-gabbard-exposes-alarming-biden-era-domestic-terrorism-strategy
Issue of the Times;
The Passion of the Christian by David Kupelian
"And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
– Mark 8:34-37
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
– Luke 9:23
"And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."
– Matthew 10:38
Every Easter, many dazzlingly eloquent words are written and spoken about Christ's "Passion" – a singular historical event, graphically portrayed in films like "The Passion of the Christ," "Jesus of Nazareth" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told." That these screen depictions serve to powerfully rekindle many believers' gratitude for what Jesus endured for their sake is undeniable. But I wonder, how often does that appreciation for Christ's sacrifice ignite a fire in the belly of believers to "take up the cross" themselves?
But first things first. What in the world does "taking up your cross" really mean?
'I die daily'
In ages past, Christians dwelt a lot more on the concept of taking up the "cross" than they do these days. Today, the phrase "it's my cross to bear" is usually a self-congratulatory reference to the fact that we have to put up with a vexing medical condition, or a child in trouble with the law, or perhaps an overbearing, live-in mother-in-law.
Admonitions from the pulpit may not shed much more light. Oh sure, a well-intentioned minister will reverently read one of the scriptures cited above on "taking up the cross," and he might even briefly plug the ideal of self-denial. But too often this amounts to a polite nod to a notion that seems both archaic and almost irrelevant, or at least unattainable, and the pastor just moves on to more pleasant topics – like how grateful we are for Christ's death and resurrection.
It wasn't always so. Throughout past centuries, Christian philosophers and mystics dwelt at length on the crucial, life-and-death need for repentance, resignation, "mortification," the "crucifixion" of sin in man, and the "death of the carnal man" or of "the creaturely self" and so on.
The Apostle Paul said it most powerfully and succinctly when he wrote: "I die daily."
Unfortunately, much of what has been written in more contemplative eras about this inner transformation of man is highly poetic and allegorical – an attempt to use mere words to chart the narrow path that connects man's lowly estate with God's heavenly one. Although such archaic language may be profound, it's probably insufficient for Christians today, buffeted as we are on the outside by a voracious and atheistic secular culture, and on the inside by what is increasingly a simplistic and far less rigorous Christianity than that embraced by our forefathers.
Please allow me to take a stab at this, from a somewhat different angle – this command from Jesus Christ that each of His followers "take up his cross daily."
Killing the creature
What exactly is this "creaturely self" that Christian thinkers throughout the centuries have so colorfully warned we must "slay" or "crucify" if we're to inherit the Kingdom of God?
It's self-evident that we're all born with a troublesome nature called "pride." Basically, pride is the part of us that wants to be like God. It loves being praised, quickly puffs up with angry judgment over the real or perceived wrongs of others – and as a rule is oblivious to its own faults. Moreover, you can think of pride as a "life form" – a living, breathing "something" which, like any other life form or "creature," can be fed or starved. When it's fed, it grows and enlarges; when it is starved, it diminishes and dies – daily.
As our pride – our "sin self" – diminishes and dies through obedience to God, the direct result is that our good side, our true God-centered character and identity, enlarges.
We're not talking about matters of dogma here. Nor is this just a matter of outward behaviors and "works." So please don't e-mail me with arguments about "faith vs. works." This is about real change – about transformation – the mystical heart of the true Christian life, about "dying to the world." Not an archaic, poetic and hopelessly idealistic notion, but the very heartbeat of our everyday life, as we deal with stresses and problems ("trials and tribulations") in our lives.
Of course – and this is something of a divine paradox – as Christians, we know we can't save ourselves, and yet we are most definitely called to obedience. So, let's not slough off our responsibility to "die daily" by comfortably presuming on the unending mercy of God. His mercy is unending, indeed, but also balanced with justice, and these two seemingly contradictory qualities work together mysteriously and wonderfully toward our redemption, but only in the truly sincere human soul that doesn't tempt God.
A different kind of love
To understand what "taking up the cross" means, we have to understand why Jesus Himself had to suffer.
More pointedly, if our loving God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent – which He is – why then did His own Son have to be tortured and executed? Countless people throughout the ages have asked, "If God is love, why would he require his own son to endure such torture and death?" Indeed, many have judged God, concluding: "I could never worship a god like that."
Although we say "God is love," we don't really know what either one is, do we? "God" is beyond our comprehension – like understanding infinity. And "love" – well, we use that word to describe our "strong feelings" for anything and everything we're attracted to.
Let's talk about real love.
There's one element present in almost every authentic manifestation of real love among us human beings. And that is – are you ready for this? – suffering. From the ultimate expression of love – "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend" – to the simple act of being patient with others, love implies forbearance, longsuffering and kindness in the midst of problems.
Here's how Webster defines "patience": "the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain without complaint, loss of temper, or anger."
Certainly, Jesus' words as he was dying on the cross – "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" – are the kindest, most patient words ever spoken.
Thus, patience is nothing less than the basic "cell" or building block of love for each other. The very idea of being patient implies suffering with grace. The recipient of your patience – say, your spouse or child – experiences that patience as love, just as they experience your impatience as a lack of love.
Still, why is love inextricably tied to suffering?
Just think: God is the architect of an awesome expanding universe involving heavenly bodies and distances and speeds and temperatures beyond human comprehension, as well as of a never-ending microscopic cosmos of orbiting particles and universes within universes, all too small for human eyes or minds to conceive. And yet, there's one thing the Creator of all couldn't just … create out of thin air. And that's love.
Oh sure, He loves us. But I'm talking about our love for Him and for each other – fulfilling Jesus' two greatest commandments. The only way God could "create" loving children was for us to have a choice: a choice to love Him, or to be our own god – literally, a choice to make something more important than our own lives, well-being and comfort – a choice to love, in other words – and to be able to demonstrate that love, which involves suffering.
After all, if I compel you to "love me," is it real love? Of course not. Love always involves a choice.
Jesus' teaching that there's no greater love than laying down your life for a friend doesn't only mean that you have to be willing to die for someone else by jumping into a lake to save them, or taking a bullet meant for them. Remember, Paul said, "I die daily." It's a different kind of "death" that's being called for. You have to be willing to let your pride-self die – for the sake of your "neighbor" – and particularly, for your family's well being.
Small example: If someone puts you down or treats you in a cruel or unjust way and you become angry and upset, you've simply failed to find God's love in that moment and to extend it to the offending person. All of us have fallen for this temptation over and over – I know I have many times. But if we are genuinely patient – that is, if we suffer the cruelty with grace, and resist the temptation to puff up with anger because our pride was offended – we can then respond to the other person with the energy and spirit of God's love.
So do I need to be a martyr?
Do an Internet search on the phrase "Take up your cross" and you'll discover sermon after sermon on the necessity of being willing to be tortured and executed for Christ.
"Are you living with a martyr's attitude, that is, willing to suffer and/or die for the cause of Christ?" asks one sermon on the topic. "We are to be Jesus' present-day martyrs, as millions in the past literally were proven to be by giving their lives for the cause of Christ."
Others regard the "take up your cross" reference as a call to the celibate, monastic life.
And of course there are lots of references to the conflict between man's "natural will" and God's will, and how they are at war with each other.
Indeed, "taking up the cross" has always been a common sermon topic. Most typically, listeners are admonished to visit the sick, feed the poor, put their spouse's desires ahead of their own, tithe and volunteer time for church work, and the like. And while these are all fine actions to take, the problem is, one can do all of them and still remain the same faithless, resentful, doubtful, guilt-ridden, but heavily compensated "nice" person. Worse, the approval and adulation we receive from others for our "good works" often serves to further blind us from seeing and repenting of our well-concealed sinful nature.
The point is, we're not so much in need of a behavior change as we are of a nature change. The "cross" Christ prescribes for us is an instrument of death. But just as He died to bring life, we are supposed to "die" to sin that we may share His life.
All of which boils down to this: The real "cross" we have to bear is that we have a fallen nature, which we need to understand and relate to properly — which allows God to change us.
Let's start with an obvious example – sex. Men in particular are born with a sexual nature that needs to be restrained. If not, men would want to express this drive virtually all of the time. Obviously, men need to control this "animal nature" or "creaturely self."
Likewise, what if somebody wrongs you so egregiously that you have an impulse to do him bodily harm? You better restrain that impulse too, right?
So much for the obvious. How about something more subtle?
Let's say we suffer from envious thoughts. To covet is to break one of the 10 Commandments. So how do we deal with these troublesome feelings? How do we "restrain" them? Certainly not by wallowing in them and indulging them. But also not by repressing them, or attempting to manufacture "good" thoughts and feelings in their place. The Christian answer might be to pray, but what form of prayer? Try this out: If you notice envious thoughts, just observe them – honestly, sincerely, without escaping or trying to change them or making excuses for them or justifying them or getting upset over them. Just see what you see, with poise and dignity – and quietly, wordlessly, cry inwardly to God for help. He will.
This is true transparency, which is resignation of your will to His. It calls forth the very process of regeneration, imperceptible though it may be to us.
Put another way, "dying" to the world is like fasting – but not from food. The real "fast" God desires is that we fast from evil thoughts, from anger, from envy, from lust, from greed and so on. He wants us to abstain from being irritated by provocations, from becoming impatient and angry toward others, from temptation of all sorts.
The truth is, we're never closer to God than when we're just plain quiet and still, aware of all of our defects in each precious moment, looking at ourselves first and foremost, without judgment or worry, and having quiet faith that God is there with us and that He will help us.
Shortly before His Passion and death, Jesus gave his disciples what He called "a new commandment" – namely, "That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." Of course, since He had previously brought forth the Old Testament commandments to love God "with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6:5) and to "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Leviticus 19:18), how was this Last Supper commandment then "new"?
It was new because He was raising the bar to a higher standard. He was now asking us to love one another as He loved us.
We are supposed to live the way Jesus lived, and to suffer the way He suffered. (I said, the way he suffered – with love for each other through obedience to the Father – though obviously not to the extent He suffered.) And, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that does not mean only sharing the Gospel of Christ's atoning death and resurrection with as many people as possible. We are called to a still higher standard – to live as He lived – or maybe to put it more aptly, to love as He loved.
Love and logic
In the classic story of "Ben-Hur," Judah, long-consumed by hatred and a desire for revenge against Masala for falsely condemning him as a galley slave and imprisoning his mother and sister, now lepers, witnesses the crucifixion of Jesus.
In the final unforgettable scene, Judah tells his betrothed Esther: "Almost the minute He died, I heard Him say, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'
Esther, amazed, responds in a whisper: "Even then …"
"Even then," echoes Judah. "And I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand."
The real Passion of Christ must connect directly with our own internal programming and strengthen our own spirit, as it did in the story of "Ben-Hur." We too must die the death God has prescribed for us – the death of pride, the ancient compulsion to be our own god – that we may share the true life He prepared for us, and which His Son purchased so dearly for us.
One of the main reasons I'm a Christian is simply because it makes so much sense to me. If God wanted to demonstrate His love for mankind, how else could He do it? Go ahead, tell me! What could He do to demonstrate the depth of His love? Make mountains of pomegranates for everyone? Give everyone a great job and a big house and three luxury cars? Give us everything our proud little heart’s desire?
No, if God wanted to demonstrate His love for us, and at the same time provide us with the perfect, ultimate example of real love for our fellow man, what could be a more perfect expression of love than the willing suffering and death of His Son – Who while dying asked God to forgive His tormentors? The sheer beauty, logic and power of it is transcendent. If you're looking for love in this loveless world, that's it.
I know some will be offended by this message, as though by even mentioning and holding up the standard Jesus clearly demanded of His followers, I am somehow denying the sufficiency of His substitutionary death for all mankind.
But you see, there's something really wrong with today's Christianity. Over 70 percent of Americans consider themselves Christians, but our country's government, laws, culture and institutions, from its education system to its entertainment industry – are increasingly and overtly hostile to Christianity. Even Christian families all too often are falling apart. Clearly, we're missing something big.
So, can you handle a little tough love? Here it is: Just continually telling each other about Jesus' death and resurrection is not enough. It's not what He taught. Jesus didn't say, "Just talk about me and you'll be saved." Rather, He said: "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) And "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." (John 15:10) And "… he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13 KJV)
So, while as Christians during the Easter season we reflect on the Messiah's suffering and sacrifice, the question is: What are we willing to suffer and sacrifice? Can we face our own sinfulness? It's the one enemy most of us don't really want to confront.
To take up our cross – to "lose our life" for His sake so that we "shall save it" – we need to repent. And we cannot repent without looking in the mirror and honestly facing the sin in our minds and hearts. To stand transparent before God so He can heal us through understanding and repentance may be as hard as watching Jesus being scourged and crucified, but watch it we must.
God honors the sincere soul who, with quiet dignity, simply faces the darkness within and repents. This is the heartbeat of our life, without which there is no real life. Each of us has this moment-to-moment choice to make, whether to defend, excuse and enlarge our sinful, hell-bent nature, or whether to pick up our cross, deny our (wrong) self, and follow Jesus – first to death, and then to life.
News of the Times;
Another Fed Op?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/another-fed-op-former-cia-officer-says-ryan/
Harvard University: The Ivy League teaching remedial math:
https://nypost.com/2025/04/05/opinion/harvard-univ-the-ivy-league-teaching-remedial-math/
UConn med school drops mandatory ‘DEI-infused’ Hippocratic Oath:
https://www.thecollegefix.com/uconn-med-school-drops-mandatory-dei-infused-hippocratic-oath/
This Nonprofit Got $22 Million in Government Grants to Teach Kids About Sex Toys:
https://www.city-journal.org/article/center-for-innovative-public-health-research-minors-sex-toys-federal-funding
Woke, DEI-Obsessed Navy Vice Admiral Who Allegedly Refused to Put Up Trump’s Portrait:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/woke-dei-obsessed-navy-vice-admiral-who-allegedly/
Republicans pause Florida bill that gives stiffer penalties to cop killers because it might:
https://notthebee.com/article/pathetic-supermajority-republican-legislators-in-fl-pause-a-bill-to-impose-stiffer-penalties-to-cop-killers-because-it-might-disproportionally-affect-black-people-
USAID paid Czech groups to ‘wage war’ against Russia:
https://www.rt.com/news/615422-usaid-czech-novotny-interview/
Molestation and Murder of a 13-Year-Old Boy Unmasked as Illegal Alien:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/california-soccer-coach-charged-molestation-murder-13-year/
Ten Environmentalist Myths:
https://amgreatness.com/2025/04/09/ten-environmentalist-myths/
How Deep the Fraud:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/04/how-deep-the-fraud.php
China Fires Child Slaves:
https://www.thewashingtonwick.com/post/08apr25b
U.K. Educators Rewrite History to Include Gender Ideology:
https://pjmedia.com/sarah-anderson/2025/04/11/warning-uk-educators-rewrite-history-to-include-gender-ideology-nonsense-n4938818
High Tax + High Welfare + Low Defence = European Good Life Threatened by Trump:
https://hotair.com/headlines/2025/04/11/high-tax-high-welfare-low-defence-european-good-life-threatened-by-trump-n3801683
Democrat Massachusetts Lawmaker Arrested on Federal Fraud Charges:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/democrat-massachusetts-lawmaker-arrested-federal-fraud-charges-stunning/
Decriminalize Shoplifting = “Food Deserts”:
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=55965
Me: Well, the reasons I had are now all replaced by the fact that you can talk.
*.*
Where does Christmas come before Easter?
The dictionary!
*.*
The famous Olympic skier Picabo (pronounced Peek-A-Boo) Street is not just an athlete, she is a nurse. She currently works at the Intensive Care Unit of a large metropolitan hospital.
She is not permitted to answer the telephone, however, as it caused simply too much confusion when she would answer the phone and say,
"Picabo, ICU..."
*.*
President Trump is now 6-foot 3-inches, weighing 224 pounds and 4.8% body fat.
We may lose him to the NFL draft.
*.*
What's the best way to make Easter easier?
Put an "i" where the "t" is.
Quote of the Times;
"Ten years ago it would be unthinkable that El Salvador would be considered safer than Sweden. But now that has happened. Malmö is now ranked as dangerous as Baghdad. There has been almost daily bombing attacks in Sweden. Something went very wrong in my home country." - @PeterSweden7
Link of the Times;
Tulsi Gabbard Exposes Alarming Biden-Era 'Domestic Terrorism' Strategy:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tulsi-gabbard-exposes-alarming-biden-era-domestic-terrorism-strategy
Issue of the Times;
The Passion of the Christian by David Kupelian
"And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
– Mark 8:34-37
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
– Luke 9:23
"And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."
– Matthew 10:38
Every Easter, many dazzlingly eloquent words are written and spoken about Christ's "Passion" – a singular historical event, graphically portrayed in films like "The Passion of the Christ," "Jesus of Nazareth" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told." That these screen depictions serve to powerfully rekindle many believers' gratitude for what Jesus endured for their sake is undeniable. But I wonder, how often does that appreciation for Christ's sacrifice ignite a fire in the belly of believers to "take up the cross" themselves?
But first things first. What in the world does "taking up your cross" really mean?
'I die daily'
In ages past, Christians dwelt a lot more on the concept of taking up the "cross" than they do these days. Today, the phrase "it's my cross to bear" is usually a self-congratulatory reference to the fact that we have to put up with a vexing medical condition, or a child in trouble with the law, or perhaps an overbearing, live-in mother-in-law.
Admonitions from the pulpit may not shed much more light. Oh sure, a well-intentioned minister will reverently read one of the scriptures cited above on "taking up the cross," and he might even briefly plug the ideal of self-denial. But too often this amounts to a polite nod to a notion that seems both archaic and almost irrelevant, or at least unattainable, and the pastor just moves on to more pleasant topics – like how grateful we are for Christ's death and resurrection.
It wasn't always so. Throughout past centuries, Christian philosophers and mystics dwelt at length on the crucial, life-and-death need for repentance, resignation, "mortification," the "crucifixion" of sin in man, and the "death of the carnal man" or of "the creaturely self" and so on.
The Apostle Paul said it most powerfully and succinctly when he wrote: "I die daily."
Unfortunately, much of what has been written in more contemplative eras about this inner transformation of man is highly poetic and allegorical – an attempt to use mere words to chart the narrow path that connects man's lowly estate with God's heavenly one. Although such archaic language may be profound, it's probably insufficient for Christians today, buffeted as we are on the outside by a voracious and atheistic secular culture, and on the inside by what is increasingly a simplistic and far less rigorous Christianity than that embraced by our forefathers.
Please allow me to take a stab at this, from a somewhat different angle – this command from Jesus Christ that each of His followers "take up his cross daily."
Killing the creature
What exactly is this "creaturely self" that Christian thinkers throughout the centuries have so colorfully warned we must "slay" or "crucify" if we're to inherit the Kingdom of God?
It's self-evident that we're all born with a troublesome nature called "pride." Basically, pride is the part of us that wants to be like God. It loves being praised, quickly puffs up with angry judgment over the real or perceived wrongs of others – and as a rule is oblivious to its own faults. Moreover, you can think of pride as a "life form" – a living, breathing "something" which, like any other life form or "creature," can be fed or starved. When it's fed, it grows and enlarges; when it is starved, it diminishes and dies – daily.
As our pride – our "sin self" – diminishes and dies through obedience to God, the direct result is that our good side, our true God-centered character and identity, enlarges.
We're not talking about matters of dogma here. Nor is this just a matter of outward behaviors and "works." So please don't e-mail me with arguments about "faith vs. works." This is about real change – about transformation – the mystical heart of the true Christian life, about "dying to the world." Not an archaic, poetic and hopelessly idealistic notion, but the very heartbeat of our everyday life, as we deal with stresses and problems ("trials and tribulations") in our lives.
Of course – and this is something of a divine paradox – as Christians, we know we can't save ourselves, and yet we are most definitely called to obedience. So, let's not slough off our responsibility to "die daily" by comfortably presuming on the unending mercy of God. His mercy is unending, indeed, but also balanced with justice, and these two seemingly contradictory qualities work together mysteriously and wonderfully toward our redemption, but only in the truly sincere human soul that doesn't tempt God.
A different kind of love
To understand what "taking up the cross" means, we have to understand why Jesus Himself had to suffer.
More pointedly, if our loving God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent – which He is – why then did His own Son have to be tortured and executed? Countless people throughout the ages have asked, "If God is love, why would he require his own son to endure such torture and death?" Indeed, many have judged God, concluding: "I could never worship a god like that."
Although we say "God is love," we don't really know what either one is, do we? "God" is beyond our comprehension – like understanding infinity. And "love" – well, we use that word to describe our "strong feelings" for anything and everything we're attracted to.
Let's talk about real love.
There's one element present in almost every authentic manifestation of real love among us human beings. And that is – are you ready for this? – suffering. From the ultimate expression of love – "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend" – to the simple act of being patient with others, love implies forbearance, longsuffering and kindness in the midst of problems.
Here's how Webster defines "patience": "the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain without complaint, loss of temper, or anger."
Certainly, Jesus' words as he was dying on the cross – "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" – are the kindest, most patient words ever spoken.
Thus, patience is nothing less than the basic "cell" or building block of love for each other. The very idea of being patient implies suffering with grace. The recipient of your patience – say, your spouse or child – experiences that patience as love, just as they experience your impatience as a lack of love.
Still, why is love inextricably tied to suffering?
Just think: God is the architect of an awesome expanding universe involving heavenly bodies and distances and speeds and temperatures beyond human comprehension, as well as of a never-ending microscopic cosmos of orbiting particles and universes within universes, all too small for human eyes or minds to conceive. And yet, there's one thing the Creator of all couldn't just … create out of thin air. And that's love.
Oh sure, He loves us. But I'm talking about our love for Him and for each other – fulfilling Jesus' two greatest commandments. The only way God could "create" loving children was for us to have a choice: a choice to love Him, or to be our own god – literally, a choice to make something more important than our own lives, well-being and comfort – a choice to love, in other words – and to be able to demonstrate that love, which involves suffering.
After all, if I compel you to "love me," is it real love? Of course not. Love always involves a choice.
Jesus' teaching that there's no greater love than laying down your life for a friend doesn't only mean that you have to be willing to die for someone else by jumping into a lake to save them, or taking a bullet meant for them. Remember, Paul said, "I die daily." It's a different kind of "death" that's being called for. You have to be willing to let your pride-self die – for the sake of your "neighbor" – and particularly, for your family's well being.
Small example: If someone puts you down or treats you in a cruel or unjust way and you become angry and upset, you've simply failed to find God's love in that moment and to extend it to the offending person. All of us have fallen for this temptation over and over – I know I have many times. But if we are genuinely patient – that is, if we suffer the cruelty with grace, and resist the temptation to puff up with anger because our pride was offended – we can then respond to the other person with the energy and spirit of God's love.
So do I need to be a martyr?
Do an Internet search on the phrase "Take up your cross" and you'll discover sermon after sermon on the necessity of being willing to be tortured and executed for Christ.
"Are you living with a martyr's attitude, that is, willing to suffer and/or die for the cause of Christ?" asks one sermon on the topic. "We are to be Jesus' present-day martyrs, as millions in the past literally were proven to be by giving their lives for the cause of Christ."
Others regard the "take up your cross" reference as a call to the celibate, monastic life.
And of course there are lots of references to the conflict between man's "natural will" and God's will, and how they are at war with each other.
Indeed, "taking up the cross" has always been a common sermon topic. Most typically, listeners are admonished to visit the sick, feed the poor, put their spouse's desires ahead of their own, tithe and volunteer time for church work, and the like. And while these are all fine actions to take, the problem is, one can do all of them and still remain the same faithless, resentful, doubtful, guilt-ridden, but heavily compensated "nice" person. Worse, the approval and adulation we receive from others for our "good works" often serves to further blind us from seeing and repenting of our well-concealed sinful nature.
The point is, we're not so much in need of a behavior change as we are of a nature change. The "cross" Christ prescribes for us is an instrument of death. But just as He died to bring life, we are supposed to "die" to sin that we may share His life.
All of which boils down to this: The real "cross" we have to bear is that we have a fallen nature, which we need to understand and relate to properly — which allows God to change us.
Let's start with an obvious example – sex. Men in particular are born with a sexual nature that needs to be restrained. If not, men would want to express this drive virtually all of the time. Obviously, men need to control this "animal nature" or "creaturely self."
Likewise, what if somebody wrongs you so egregiously that you have an impulse to do him bodily harm? You better restrain that impulse too, right?
So much for the obvious. How about something more subtle?
Let's say we suffer from envious thoughts. To covet is to break one of the 10 Commandments. So how do we deal with these troublesome feelings? How do we "restrain" them? Certainly not by wallowing in them and indulging them. But also not by repressing them, or attempting to manufacture "good" thoughts and feelings in their place. The Christian answer might be to pray, but what form of prayer? Try this out: If you notice envious thoughts, just observe them – honestly, sincerely, without escaping or trying to change them or making excuses for them or justifying them or getting upset over them. Just see what you see, with poise and dignity – and quietly, wordlessly, cry inwardly to God for help. He will.
This is true transparency, which is resignation of your will to His. It calls forth the very process of regeneration, imperceptible though it may be to us.
Put another way, "dying" to the world is like fasting – but not from food. The real "fast" God desires is that we fast from evil thoughts, from anger, from envy, from lust, from greed and so on. He wants us to abstain from being irritated by provocations, from becoming impatient and angry toward others, from temptation of all sorts.
The truth is, we're never closer to God than when we're just plain quiet and still, aware of all of our defects in each precious moment, looking at ourselves first and foremost, without judgment or worry, and having quiet faith that God is there with us and that He will help us.
Shortly before His Passion and death, Jesus gave his disciples what He called "a new commandment" – namely, "That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." Of course, since He had previously brought forth the Old Testament commandments to love God "with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6:5) and to "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Leviticus 19:18), how was this Last Supper commandment then "new"?
It was new because He was raising the bar to a higher standard. He was now asking us to love one another as He loved us.
We are supposed to live the way Jesus lived, and to suffer the way He suffered. (I said, the way he suffered – with love for each other through obedience to the Father – though obviously not to the extent He suffered.) And, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that does not mean only sharing the Gospel of Christ's atoning death and resurrection with as many people as possible. We are called to a still higher standard – to live as He lived – or maybe to put it more aptly, to love as He loved.
Love and logic
In the classic story of "Ben-Hur," Judah, long-consumed by hatred and a desire for revenge against Masala for falsely condemning him as a galley slave and imprisoning his mother and sister, now lepers, witnesses the crucifixion of Jesus.
In the final unforgettable scene, Judah tells his betrothed Esther: "Almost the minute He died, I heard Him say, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'
Esther, amazed, responds in a whisper: "Even then …"
"Even then," echoes Judah. "And I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand."
The real Passion of Christ must connect directly with our own internal programming and strengthen our own spirit, as it did in the story of "Ben-Hur." We too must die the death God has prescribed for us – the death of pride, the ancient compulsion to be our own god – that we may share the true life He prepared for us, and which His Son purchased so dearly for us.
One of the main reasons I'm a Christian is simply because it makes so much sense to me. If God wanted to demonstrate His love for mankind, how else could He do it? Go ahead, tell me! What could He do to demonstrate the depth of His love? Make mountains of pomegranates for everyone? Give everyone a great job and a big house and three luxury cars? Give us everything our proud little heart’s desire?
No, if God wanted to demonstrate His love for us, and at the same time provide us with the perfect, ultimate example of real love for our fellow man, what could be a more perfect expression of love than the willing suffering and death of His Son – Who while dying asked God to forgive His tormentors? The sheer beauty, logic and power of it is transcendent. If you're looking for love in this loveless world, that's it.
I know some will be offended by this message, as though by even mentioning and holding up the standard Jesus clearly demanded of His followers, I am somehow denying the sufficiency of His substitutionary death for all mankind.
But you see, there's something really wrong with today's Christianity. Over 70 percent of Americans consider themselves Christians, but our country's government, laws, culture and institutions, from its education system to its entertainment industry – are increasingly and overtly hostile to Christianity. Even Christian families all too often are falling apart. Clearly, we're missing something big.
So, can you handle a little tough love? Here it is: Just continually telling each other about Jesus' death and resurrection is not enough. It's not what He taught. Jesus didn't say, "Just talk about me and you'll be saved." Rather, He said: "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) And "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." (John 15:10) And "… he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13 KJV)
So, while as Christians during the Easter season we reflect on the Messiah's suffering and sacrifice, the question is: What are we willing to suffer and sacrifice? Can we face our own sinfulness? It's the one enemy most of us don't really want to confront.
To take up our cross – to "lose our life" for His sake so that we "shall save it" – we need to repent. And we cannot repent without looking in the mirror and honestly facing the sin in our minds and hearts. To stand transparent before God so He can heal us through understanding and repentance may be as hard as watching Jesus being scourged and crucified, but watch it we must.
God honors the sincere soul who, with quiet dignity, simply faces the darkness within and repents. This is the heartbeat of our life, without which there is no real life. Each of us has this moment-to-moment choice to make, whether to defend, excuse and enlarge our sinful, hell-bent nature, or whether to pick up our cross, deny our (wrong) self, and follow Jesus – first to death, and then to life.
News of the Times;
Another Fed Op?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/another-fed-op-former-cia-officer-says-ryan/
Harvard University: The Ivy League teaching remedial math:
https://nypost.com/2025/04/05/opinion/harvard-univ-the-ivy-league-teaching-remedial-math/
UConn med school drops mandatory ‘DEI-infused’ Hippocratic Oath:
https://www.thecollegefix.com/uconn-med-school-drops-mandatory-dei-infused-hippocratic-oath/
This Nonprofit Got $22 Million in Government Grants to Teach Kids About Sex Toys:
https://www.city-journal.org/article/center-for-innovative-public-health-research-minors-sex-toys-federal-funding
Woke, DEI-Obsessed Navy Vice Admiral Who Allegedly Refused to Put Up Trump’s Portrait:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/woke-dei-obsessed-navy-vice-admiral-who-allegedly/
Republicans pause Florida bill that gives stiffer penalties to cop killers because it might:
https://notthebee.com/article/pathetic-supermajority-republican-legislators-in-fl-pause-a-bill-to-impose-stiffer-penalties-to-cop-killers-because-it-might-disproportionally-affect-black-people-
USAID paid Czech groups to ‘wage war’ against Russia:
https://www.rt.com/news/615422-usaid-czech-novotny-interview/
Molestation and Murder of a 13-Year-Old Boy Unmasked as Illegal Alien:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/california-soccer-coach-charged-molestation-murder-13-year/
Ten Environmentalist Myths:
https://amgreatness.com/2025/04/09/ten-environmentalist-myths/
How Deep the Fraud:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/04/how-deep-the-fraud.php
China Fires Child Slaves:
https://www.thewashingtonwick.com/post/08apr25b
U.K. Educators Rewrite History to Include Gender Ideology:
https://pjmedia.com/sarah-anderson/2025/04/11/warning-uk-educators-rewrite-history-to-include-gender-ideology-nonsense-n4938818
High Tax + High Welfare + Low Defence = European Good Life Threatened by Trump:
https://hotair.com/headlines/2025/04/11/high-tax-high-welfare-low-defence-european-good-life-threatened-by-trump-n3801683
Democrat Massachusetts Lawmaker Arrested on Federal Fraud Charges:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/democrat-massachusetts-lawmaker-arrested-federal-fraud-charges-stunning/
Decriminalize Shoplifting = “Food Deserts”:
https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=55965
Escalator?
I sat in my hair stylist's chair and said, “Make me look sexy!”
She then got drunk.
*.*
How many telemarketers does it take to change a light bulb?
Only one, but they have to do it while you're eating dinner.
*.*
Eight-year-old Sally brought her report card home from school. Her marks were good…mostly A’s and a couple of B’s.
However, her teacher had written across the bottom: "Sally is a smart little girl, but she has one fault. She talks too much in school. I have an idea I am going to try, which I think may break her of the habit."
Sally’s dad signed her report card, putting a note on the back: "Please let me know if your idea works on Sally because I would like to try it out on her mother."
*.*
Q: How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: It’s actually 12: One to screw it in, one to excoriate men for creating the need for illumination, one to blame men for inventing such a faulty means of illumination, one to suggest the whole “screwing” bit to be too “rape-like”, one to deconstruct the lightbulb itself as being phallic, one to blame men for not changing the bulb, one to blame men for trying to change the bulb instead of letting a woman do it, one to blame men for creating a society that discourages women from changing light bulbs, one to blame men for creating a society where women change too many light bulbs, one to advocate that lightbulb changers should have wage parity with electricians, one to alert the media that women are now “out-light bulbing” men, and one to just sit there taking pictures for her blog for photo-evidence that men are unnecessary.
*.*
A mother walks into her own bedroom and is surprised to catch her 10 year old daughter reading her diary. Startled, she just stands there.
"You were right mom," says the daughter. "Reading is fun."
Quote of the Times;
“The irony of the unelected Eurocrats who hate democracy, hate their own people, hate Christianity, criminalize free speech, and rule over their subjected people as the puppets of Clown World calling themselves “the free world” is satanic inversion at its most obvious.” - vox day
Link of the Times;
Commandant’s Professional Reading List (Foundational):
https://www.mca-marines.org/resource/commandants-professional-reading-list/
Issue of the Times;
The Great Transition by TheZMan https://thezman.com/wordpress/
Last week, Trump stunned the world by following through on what he has been promising since he came down the escalator in 2015. He imposed across-the-board tariffs on every country in the world—except Russia. The reason Russia was excluded is that they are already sanctioned to the maximum. The tariff knob does not go past one hundred, so they were not on the list. Every other country was hit with a tariff, even Israel, which should cause some people to rethink things.
This set off the Great Trump Stock Market Crash, which promises to continue this week as the rest of the world responds to the new world order. The old trading models no longer work, so the default fallback in these conditions is cash. The quants were working feverishly last week to update their models in order to find the bargains that will inevitably be sitting there, waiting for the lucky. The smart money thinks the floor is a twenty percent correction, followed by stability.
The yesterday men and the crazies are sure this is the Great Depression, because their history of the world starts in the 1930s. It is a stylized history, such that every modern event can be jammed into the 1930s, the 1960s, or the 1980s. Since they are sure Trump is secretly Hitler, this must be the 1930s—even though we have witnessed many stock market corrections in the last thirty years. The COVID crash, the mortgage bubble, and the dot-com bubble are easy examples.
In reality, what we are seeing is the long-overdue return to normalcy, where American economic policy is aimed at benefiting the American people, rather than abstract concepts from economics departments. If Canada has tariffs on American goods, then the United States should have tariffs on Canadian goods—unless it can be shown that the American people benefit in some way from the imbalance. The same is true for every other country in the world.
One of the weird things about decades of American trade policy is that it has created the same sense of entitlement as government racial policy. Just as nonwhites think they are entitled to be near white people without conditions, the world thinks it has a right to access the American market without conditions. This is most obvious in Europe, which has taken this lopsided arrangement for granted. They have also assumed they are entitled to American defense, while doing nothing in return.
The logic behind this arrangement has always been nonsense—but people love to believe in nonsense, especially their own. We see this with the free trade crowd, who are claiming tariffs will only harm the American people. If that were true, then the rest of the world should have been miserable for the last thirty years. Further, if that were true, then the rest of the world now has a chance to usher in a golden age for their people by eliminating their tariffs instead of raising them.
The truth of the matter is that all economic policy is about trade-offs—especially in global trade. This is why it is called trade, rather than “free.” Having a tariff-free relationship with Canada could make sense if the Canadian government could be trusted, as the American and Canadian economies are so similar. The same is not true for Mexico or Bangladesh. Trade is never just about money—it is also about culture and the national interests of the trading countries.
Of course, what we are seeing is not really about trade so much as it is about getting the American financial house in order. Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary and architect of the Trump economic policy, has made this clear. Normalizing American trade relations is just one arrow. Another is the mass reorganization of government that kicked off in January. For the first time in the life of anyone reading this, the size and scope of government will be reduced.
Another arrow is the changes in the tax code that are slowly working their way through both houses of Congress. The Senate passed its version of spending and tax cuts, so now it is on to the House. What is shaping up is a two-pronged approach: one is to put into law the cuts made by the DOGE boys, and the other is a radical revamping of the tax code to reflect the new economic approach. Removing taxes on tips and overtime, for example, is part of the Senate model.
What we are seeing is the most radical alteration to the American economic model since the 1980s. The reason for it is that the old model is unsustainable. As Bessent pointed out, there is a limit to borrowing. For a long time, the American model relied on creating unlimited credit money in the banking system and massive federal borrowing. We have reached the limits of this model. Now, that model threatens the integrity of the American economy, so changes must be made.
More important are the changes in how we think and talk about the economy. For the longest time, the economy has been treated as a god. Americans were expected to tolerate anything to please it. If the economy demanded Haitian cannibals in your town, you had to accept it. If the economy demanded that the quality of your hand tools decline, you just lived with it. If the economy required you to work two jobs to make ends meet, then you did it. The economy was a remorseless god.
This sort of thinking makes sense to an alien overclass that sees the United States as an opportunity to be exploited. It does not make sense if the ruling elite feels a connection and obligation to the people. Shifting from the old transactional model of economics to a nationalistic model requires a new language. Simply pointing at a graph that trends upward is no longer enough. The political class will now have to possess some economic literacy.
It is too soon to know if these changes can make it through Congress. The winners under the old exploitative model will not go quietly. No one knows if the American public will tolerate the pain that must come with the transition. It is not all bad news, though, so the pain may be limited. Energy costs are falling—crude is under sixty dollars a barrel. This could tame inflation enough for the Fed to cut rates. Low taxes and cheap energy will go a long way toward cushioning the transition.
In the end, Bessent is correct. America cannot continue to create credit in the financial system and borrow trillions to hire government workers. We either have an orderly transition back to a normal economy, or we have a disorderly transition. The name for that is collapse—and that is vastly worse than a stock market correction. This is the reason the economic elites are backing this move. They know that the people who suffer the most from failure are the elites.
News of the Times;
Man fakes anti-Semitic stabbing:
https://www.mlive.com/news/2020/01/man-fakes-anti-semitic-stabbing-outside-michigan-synagogue.html
Rabbi Who Spread False Hamas Rape Claims Arrested for Child Molestation:
https://qudsnen.co/dallas-rabbi-who-spread-false-hamas-rape-claims-arrested-for-child-molestation/
Restaurant chain Hooters files for bankruptcy:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/restaurant-chain-hooters-files-for-bankruptcy/ar-AA1C2g1G
Our World of Universal Deceit:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/04/no_author/our-world-of-universal-deceit/
Musk warns of ‘real massacre’ in Western Europe:
https://www.rt.com/news/615297-musk-eu-migration-terrorism/
Islamist Found Guilty of Hate Crime in Bomb Scare Plot Targeting Christian Churches:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/islamist-found-guilty-hate-crime-bomb-scare-plot/
Minnesota food bank CEO steps down as legislators question her $721K salary:
https://alphanews.org/minnesota-food-bank-ceo-steps-down-as-legislators-question-her-721k-salary/
55% Of Self-Identified Leftists Say Killing Trump Is Justifiable:
https://thefederalist.com/2025/04/07/survey-55-of-self-identified-leftists-say-killing-trump-is-justifiable/
Discovery of ancient garden beneath Jesus’ burial site:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/discovery-of-ancient-garden-beneath-jesus-burial-site-backs-up-biblical-account/ar-AA1C9YPM
EU must strip Hungary of voting rights:
https://www.rt.com/news/615280-eu-strip-hungary-voting-rights/
Remote Access Backdoor Discovered in Chinese Robot Dog:
https://cyberinsider.com/remote-access-backdoor-discovered-in-chinese-robot-dog-unitree-go1/
Social Media Explodes as Trump Drops Hilarious New Word:
https://www.rvmnews.com/2025/04/social-media-explodes-as-trump-drops-hilarious-new-word-panican/
In the Shadow of Alfred the Great:
https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/in-the-shadow-of-alfred-the-great
Germany Wants Its Gold Back!
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/04/alasdair-macleod/germany-wants-its-gold-back/
Chinese People Weren't Supposed to Know About This:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Fucm9Bk0E
She then got drunk.
*.*
How many telemarketers does it take to change a light bulb?
Only one, but they have to do it while you're eating dinner.
*.*
Eight-year-old Sally brought her report card home from school. Her marks were good…mostly A’s and a couple of B’s.
However, her teacher had written across the bottom: "Sally is a smart little girl, but she has one fault. She talks too much in school. I have an idea I am going to try, which I think may break her of the habit."
Sally’s dad signed her report card, putting a note on the back: "Please let me know if your idea works on Sally because I would like to try it out on her mother."
*.*
Q: How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: It’s actually 12: One to screw it in, one to excoriate men for creating the need for illumination, one to blame men for inventing such a faulty means of illumination, one to suggest the whole “screwing” bit to be too “rape-like”, one to deconstruct the lightbulb itself as being phallic, one to blame men for not changing the bulb, one to blame men for trying to change the bulb instead of letting a woman do it, one to blame men for creating a society that discourages women from changing light bulbs, one to blame men for creating a society where women change too many light bulbs, one to advocate that lightbulb changers should have wage parity with electricians, one to alert the media that women are now “out-light bulbing” men, and one to just sit there taking pictures for her blog for photo-evidence that men are unnecessary.
*.*
A mother walks into her own bedroom and is surprised to catch her 10 year old daughter reading her diary. Startled, she just stands there.
"You were right mom," says the daughter. "Reading is fun."
Quote of the Times;
“The irony of the unelected Eurocrats who hate democracy, hate their own people, hate Christianity, criminalize free speech, and rule over their subjected people as the puppets of Clown World calling themselves “the free world” is satanic inversion at its most obvious.” - vox day
Link of the Times;
Commandant’s Professional Reading List (Foundational):
https://www.mca-marines.org/resource/commandants-professional-reading-list/
Issue of the Times;
The Great Transition by TheZMan https://thezman.com/wordpress/
Last week, Trump stunned the world by following through on what he has been promising since he came down the escalator in 2015. He imposed across-the-board tariffs on every country in the world—except Russia. The reason Russia was excluded is that they are already sanctioned to the maximum. The tariff knob does not go past one hundred, so they were not on the list. Every other country was hit with a tariff, even Israel, which should cause some people to rethink things.
This set off the Great Trump Stock Market Crash, which promises to continue this week as the rest of the world responds to the new world order. The old trading models no longer work, so the default fallback in these conditions is cash. The quants were working feverishly last week to update their models in order to find the bargains that will inevitably be sitting there, waiting for the lucky. The smart money thinks the floor is a twenty percent correction, followed by stability.
The yesterday men and the crazies are sure this is the Great Depression, because their history of the world starts in the 1930s. It is a stylized history, such that every modern event can be jammed into the 1930s, the 1960s, or the 1980s. Since they are sure Trump is secretly Hitler, this must be the 1930s—even though we have witnessed many stock market corrections in the last thirty years. The COVID crash, the mortgage bubble, and the dot-com bubble are easy examples.
In reality, what we are seeing is the long-overdue return to normalcy, where American economic policy is aimed at benefiting the American people, rather than abstract concepts from economics departments. If Canada has tariffs on American goods, then the United States should have tariffs on Canadian goods—unless it can be shown that the American people benefit in some way from the imbalance. The same is true for every other country in the world.
One of the weird things about decades of American trade policy is that it has created the same sense of entitlement as government racial policy. Just as nonwhites think they are entitled to be near white people without conditions, the world thinks it has a right to access the American market without conditions. This is most obvious in Europe, which has taken this lopsided arrangement for granted. They have also assumed they are entitled to American defense, while doing nothing in return.
The logic behind this arrangement has always been nonsense—but people love to believe in nonsense, especially their own. We see this with the free trade crowd, who are claiming tariffs will only harm the American people. If that were true, then the rest of the world should have been miserable for the last thirty years. Further, if that were true, then the rest of the world now has a chance to usher in a golden age for their people by eliminating their tariffs instead of raising them.
The truth of the matter is that all economic policy is about trade-offs—especially in global trade. This is why it is called trade, rather than “free.” Having a tariff-free relationship with Canada could make sense if the Canadian government could be trusted, as the American and Canadian economies are so similar. The same is not true for Mexico or Bangladesh. Trade is never just about money—it is also about culture and the national interests of the trading countries.
Of course, what we are seeing is not really about trade so much as it is about getting the American financial house in order. Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary and architect of the Trump economic policy, has made this clear. Normalizing American trade relations is just one arrow. Another is the mass reorganization of government that kicked off in January. For the first time in the life of anyone reading this, the size and scope of government will be reduced.
Another arrow is the changes in the tax code that are slowly working their way through both houses of Congress. The Senate passed its version of spending and tax cuts, so now it is on to the House. What is shaping up is a two-pronged approach: one is to put into law the cuts made by the DOGE boys, and the other is a radical revamping of the tax code to reflect the new economic approach. Removing taxes on tips and overtime, for example, is part of the Senate model.
What we are seeing is the most radical alteration to the American economic model since the 1980s. The reason for it is that the old model is unsustainable. As Bessent pointed out, there is a limit to borrowing. For a long time, the American model relied on creating unlimited credit money in the banking system and massive federal borrowing. We have reached the limits of this model. Now, that model threatens the integrity of the American economy, so changes must be made.
More important are the changes in how we think and talk about the economy. For the longest time, the economy has been treated as a god. Americans were expected to tolerate anything to please it. If the economy demanded Haitian cannibals in your town, you had to accept it. If the economy demanded that the quality of your hand tools decline, you just lived with it. If the economy required you to work two jobs to make ends meet, then you did it. The economy was a remorseless god.
This sort of thinking makes sense to an alien overclass that sees the United States as an opportunity to be exploited. It does not make sense if the ruling elite feels a connection and obligation to the people. Shifting from the old transactional model of economics to a nationalistic model requires a new language. Simply pointing at a graph that trends upward is no longer enough. The political class will now have to possess some economic literacy.
It is too soon to know if these changes can make it through Congress. The winners under the old exploitative model will not go quietly. No one knows if the American public will tolerate the pain that must come with the transition. It is not all bad news, though, so the pain may be limited. Energy costs are falling—crude is under sixty dollars a barrel. This could tame inflation enough for the Fed to cut rates. Low taxes and cheap energy will go a long way toward cushioning the transition.
In the end, Bessent is correct. America cannot continue to create credit in the financial system and borrow trillions to hire government workers. We either have an orderly transition back to a normal economy, or we have a disorderly transition. The name for that is collapse—and that is vastly worse than a stock market correction. This is the reason the economic elites are backing this move. They know that the people who suffer the most from failure are the elites.
News of the Times;
Man fakes anti-Semitic stabbing:
https://www.mlive.com/news/2020/01/man-fakes-anti-semitic-stabbing-outside-michigan-synagogue.html
Rabbi Who Spread False Hamas Rape Claims Arrested for Child Molestation:
https://qudsnen.co/dallas-rabbi-who-spread-false-hamas-rape-claims-arrested-for-child-molestation/
Restaurant chain Hooters files for bankruptcy:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/restaurant-chain-hooters-files-for-bankruptcy/ar-AA1C2g1G
Our World of Universal Deceit:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/04/no_author/our-world-of-universal-deceit/
Musk warns of ‘real massacre’ in Western Europe:
https://www.rt.com/news/615297-musk-eu-migration-terrorism/
Islamist Found Guilty of Hate Crime in Bomb Scare Plot Targeting Christian Churches:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/islamist-found-guilty-hate-crime-bomb-scare-plot/
Minnesota food bank CEO steps down as legislators question her $721K salary:
https://alphanews.org/minnesota-food-bank-ceo-steps-down-as-legislators-question-her-721k-salary/
55% Of Self-Identified Leftists Say Killing Trump Is Justifiable:
https://thefederalist.com/2025/04/07/survey-55-of-self-identified-leftists-say-killing-trump-is-justifiable/
Discovery of ancient garden beneath Jesus’ burial site:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/discovery-of-ancient-garden-beneath-jesus-burial-site-backs-up-biblical-account/ar-AA1C9YPM
EU must strip Hungary of voting rights:
https://www.rt.com/news/615280-eu-strip-hungary-voting-rights/
Remote Access Backdoor Discovered in Chinese Robot Dog:
https://cyberinsider.com/remote-access-backdoor-discovered-in-chinese-robot-dog-unitree-go1/
Social Media Explodes as Trump Drops Hilarious New Word:
https://www.rvmnews.com/2025/04/social-media-explodes-as-trump-drops-hilarious-new-word-panican/
In the Shadow of Alfred the Great:
https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/in-the-shadow-of-alfred-the-great
Germany Wants Its Gold Back!
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/04/alasdair-macleod/germany-wants-its-gold-back/
Chinese People Weren't Supposed to Know About This:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Fucm9Bk0E
Derkins?
How many jazz musicians does it take to change a light bulb?
...a one two a one two three four.
*.*
Just seen a burglar kicking his own door in.
I yelled, “What are you doing!”
He said: “Working from home.”
*.*
"We have your son," said the kidnapper.
"I don't have a son," says the woman.
"Then who just asked for warm milk and made us cut the crust off his sandwiches?"
"Oh God, you have my husband."
*.*
The longer my wife and I are married, the more annoying she says I am, and the more crime TV she's watching.
Those two can't be related.
*.*
Coffee, you're on the bench.
Alcohol: Suit up!
Quote of the Times;
Edward Griffin succinctly explains what the Federal Reserve System actually is: "It's a cartel. It's not a government agency, it has the appearance of it being a government agency. They went to great lengths to give it that facade... In it's essence, It's a cartel... They got together. They drew up the rules and regulations for their own industry.. To self regulate their own industry.. It's what cartels do. And then they sent it to congress and they took off the label off the top that said 'banking cartel' and they erased that and they said 'Federal Reserve Act.' Congress passed it into law. And that's why we think it's a government agency it's because if you don't obey the rules that they set down for their own industry you go to prison."
Link of the Times;
"Give Us Back Our F**king Money" - How Washington Stole Everything:
https://elizabethnickson.substack.com/p/give-us-back-our-fuing-money-how
Issue of the Times;
Calvin vs. Susie by Alan Schmidt
My boys love Calvin and Hobbes, and throughout the day the household is inundated with dialogue lifted from the pages of the complete collection they ravenously read. As a dad who has warm memories of childhood reading these comic collections, seeing such a treasure being passed down fills my heart.
For those who have no soul, Calvin and Hobbes was a famous daily comic written by Bill Watterson in the 1980’s and 90’s. It follows the adventures of Calvin and his imaginary friend, Hobbes, a stuffed tiger and they make up adventures for themselves and work through everyday life as a kid. It’s universally beloved to this day, probably largely because the artist refused to license his creation to anyone for the sake of artistic integrity, keeping the purity of the comic intact, well, other than the peeing Calvin decal. This isn’t to say everyone shares the same opinion. I recently had a conversation with a woman about the relative virtues of the comic.
"Everything he does is immoral! Nothing in there teaches proper morals or virtue." She exclaimed.
Of course, it's true he acts like a rambunctious troublemaker throughout the comic, but the idea there was no redeeming qualities or virtues in his actions flummoxed me. Didn't he show a zest for life? Didn't his wild antics give vitality and spirit to his existence? Wasn't his often justifiable rebellion against authority figures something to be admired? Wasn't his wild imagination in the face of stifling conformity a good lesson in life?
As much as I tried to argue these points, all she could see was a wild kid who caused trouble to those around him, showed little empathy for others feelings, and immersed himself in violent and whimsical fantasies. She was at a loss how such behavior could mold him into a strong and capable man later in life. It was only a few days later that I realized where the disconnect was.
She was Susie Derkins.
This isn't meant as an insult. In the same way it's not an insult to say a gazelle has no understanding of the mind of a lion, or the peasant farmer will never understand the mind of a steppe warrior, the disconnect between their natural states is too vast. The brilliance in Watterson’s writing was to avoid turning her into simply a straight character or an annoying shrew, but creating a real foil the reader can also sympathize with. Girls like Susie can be wonderful additions to a society, and can also create the most repressive longhouse known to man when surrounded with like-minded people, where it becomes a battle to who can conform to authority the most for a pat on the head.
Susie has more of the qualities modern culture desires. She is an obsessive rule-follower, academic, follows all the social mores, and has aspirations to enter a respectable profession. Her only wish is to fit into the current mold of wider society. In the future, she will be a useful, though unimaginative cog in the wider culture. In itself, there is nothing wrong with this, and people like this often act like the glue that makes a community function. She's a genuinely caring person who simply wants to fit into the society she finds herself in. If she lived in a bizarro world where children got accolades in creating the perfect snowball, having the most overactive imagination, or knowing all there is to know about dinosaurs, she would spend her time trying to out-Calvin Calvin. She would never surpass Calvin, of course, since Susie relies on outside accolades to find her way, while for Calvin it’s in his veins.
We can contrast Susie with his babysitter, Rosalyn, a typical teenage mean-girl. She's selfish, cold, and uncaring for those outside her circle. She only babysits for the money, and there is none of the female warmth for children you would like to see. Her interest is only in bleeding Calvin's parents dry of cash. It's no coincidence the one time she tries to work a compromise with him when she volunteers to play Calvinball she has the happiest time with him. He accepts with adorable enthusiasm, as she is likely the only other person who ever offered to play. In the end, she has the easiest babysitting job she ever had, and finally gets the best of him, and actually seems to have fun. One would hope this episode made her see kids like Calvin in a new light as she enters adulthood. Even Rosalyn shows character development, and one can’t help but get the feeling she had fun.
Calvin, in contrast, has no fitting role in the world yet. He has an imaginary friend because his mind is worlds apart from all of his peers. His aspirations are wild and borderline megalomaniacal, and he spends his time in school dreaming of flying fighter jets, getting into life-or-death battles with distant aliens, or simply planning a convoluted scheme to get back at his enemies. His eyes are raw, unfiltered, seeing a land full of possibilities. As grandiose and impractical as his seven-year-old thoughts are, he sees potential in everything he encounters, eschewing any customary wisdom in favor of seeing hours of adventure in a small creek or even a simple cardboard box. It’s only a boy like Calvin who can be innovative enough to stash away a snowball in the freezer until the middle of summer to pelt Susie with, and in the heat of the moment miss her.
While the comic seems like a light and cheery look into childhood, there are very dark undertones. Like the main character in “Adventure Time” doesn’t realize he lives in a nuclear wasteland, “Calvin and Hobbes” is set in a world that has no place for a rambunctious boy. There’s an inherent loneliness permeating the comic from the title on, that Calvin only has an imaginary friend who understands what makes him tick.
Calvin never comes across a figure that can channel his energies toward finding his way in the world. Another recurring character, the bully Moe, is bigger, stronger, and dumber, and only serves to beat him instead of giving comradery. His teacher, Mrs. Wormwood, checked out of creating any sense of wonder in her classroom long ago and is going through the motions. She wants conformity, placing it even above learning. His mother doesn't understand the energetic boy she bore, though she loves him, and his father prefers to play games with his head and joke as opposed to being a true mentor.
Not that Calvin's dad detached as much as failed to expand outside his own comfort zone. He tries to teach him to ride a bike to share his own love of riding, but Calvin is dismissive. He tries to teach Calvin the joys of camping, but can't connect in that way. It's not that he doesn't try, but that he's as clueless as his wife about how his own child sees the world. One gets the idea that while it's implied he had a wild youth, he settled down as a patent lawyer and forgot what it was like to be a child. There’s the gentle touch that his parents, even if they rant in frustration as parents do, they genuinely love their kid, as seen when they rescue Hobbes a couple times from being lost forever. For all their flaws, a lot of children would kill to have parents like Calvin’s.
The most tragic episode in the comic happened when Calvin joined the school baseball team and the coach, who had little care for any of the kids and seeing Calvin had no clue how to play, simply put him in right field to get him out of the way. Unbeknownst to Calvin, his team finished defense and were set to bat, but he stayed in the outfield because he didn't know what to do. Then one of his teammates hit a fly ball, which Calvin caught to his great pride, until his teammates lambasted him for causing an out on his own team.
Calvin then went to his coach and sheepishly said he didn't want to play anymore, to which the coach said "okay, quitter." Calvin clearly had skill in catching that fly ball, and the coach crushed him without mercy. Mrs. Wormwood didn’t have the faculties to mentor Calvin, but that coach did. One gets the idea the school system has chewed up and spit out the adults running it to the extent they no longer see children, but pests that create work.
Susie Derkins, on the other hand, has the world catered to her sensibilities. She loves school because she loves the accolades she receives from authority figures. Her aspirations, whether they are having kids or being a girl-boss, are catered to and considered mature. Whenever she gets harassed by Calvin, authority figures immediately swoop in to defend her. It's not her fault the world she was born into gave her more advantages and comfort, and there's nothing wrong with her taking advantage of it. She’s just in a protective bubble, and has no understanding of what is required to keep her small world turning.
In a way, the comic showed the stark realities of being a young boy trying to find his way. He is surrounded by types like Susie Derkins, who can't help but be Susie Derkins. The real failure happens in the men who should have been there for him, channeling his energies toward finding a place in the world, and pushing back against the busybodies and scolds who want him to act more like a pliable, conformist little girl.
There is a strong separation between the worlds that are conducive to these two personalities, which largely personifies how people make their way in the world. Before the age of one size fits all hyper-efficiency and panopticon-level surveillance, both would thrive. Elders understood that giving rambunctious children room for adventure that channels into productive ends later in life, whether it be the military, exploration, or entrepreneurism. Most admins once understood they didn't ask about hazing rituals to enter a group as long as it didn't get out of hand. They once knew to turn a blind eye to whatever partying the boys were doing in the woods as long as they drove sober. They once understood the balance between being socially acceptable and stifling the passion and energy of young men who will become the next great leaders.
We live in a one-size-fits-all world designed to cater to the Susies of the world, and then act surprised when people who don't fit that mold can't function. Putting the Susies in charge, tragically, contrary to giving them fulfillment, have made them miserable along with everyone else. Deep down, the Susies of the world don't want to live in their own strict, conformist world, but the exciting wonderland of Calvin.
In the comic Susie is always curious to know what Calvin is planning, and even invites her to her parties. One would think that she would avoid a boy who threw water balloons and snowballs at her with malicious glee, but she comes back for more. As much as she hates getting picked on by Calvin, and regardless of how much he makes her life frustrating, she gets drawn into his world. Like someone who watches the vast wilderness outside the prim and proper village, she can’t help but be curious about what lies out there, and what strange and untamed adventures await. She’s not a person who can forge a path on her own, though. She needs Calvin for that.
Whenever they play, Susie insists on quaint and domestic settings, dealing with events she thinks mature adults deal with, whether it be a doctor’s visit or a new baby. She’s practicing for her foreseen role in life, while Calvin grows frustrated with the inanities of the scenarios, consistently making their games go completely off the rails and leaving both angry and dejected. The truth is Calvin needs Susie too. Those are the mundane aspects of civilization that he will eventually need to protect if he wants to become a man.
Despite all their fighting, the Calvin and Susies of the world need each other for culture to thrive, and we need to find a way to make it happen.
News of the Times;
Trump Starts Undoing JFK’s Worst Mistake:
https://issuesinsights.com/2025/04/01/trump-starts-undoing-jfks-worst-mistake/
West Point disbands 12 student groups:
https://www.thecollegefix.com/west-point-disbands-12-student-groups-following-trumps-dei-executive-order/
Jury finds CNN liable for $5 million in damages in defamation trial:
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/jury-finds-cnn-liable-5-million-defamation-trial-against-us-navy-veteran
US Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicles Never Passed Required Armor Testing:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-armys-joint-light-tactical-vehicles-never-passed-required-armor-testing
Report Your Family For Wrong Think:
https://reclaimthenet.org/germany-advice-compass-conspiracy-theories-reporting
Women Talk More Than Men After All:
https://www.sciencealert.com/women-talk-more-than-men-after-all-and-by-quite-a-lot
Armed police raid home, seizing electronic devices over a meme insulting to migrants:
https://jihadwatch.org/2025/02/germany-armed-police-raid-home-seizing-electronic-devices-over-a-meme-insulting-to-migrants
Italy Hands Out 110% Free Home Renovations:
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/italy-hands-out-110-free-home-renovations-guess-what-happened
Corrupt Utah Judge Freed Fire Chief Charged with Child Exploitation; Now Both Arrested:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/03/utah-judge-freed-fire-chief-charged-child-exploitation/
Coast Guard Stops Boat Packed with Mexican, Chinese Illegal Aliens:
https://www.rvmnews.com/2025/02/coast-guard-stops-boat-packed-with-mexican-chinese-illegal-aliens-near-u-s-shores-watch/
Dr. Birx Admits Young and Healthy People Didn’t Need COVID Vaccine:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/02/dr-birx-admits-young-and-healthy-people-didnt-need-covid-vaccine/
Why is YouTube boosting anti-US, pro-Chinese communist propaganda?
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5155350-youtube-promoting-pro-china/
Gab refuses request to identify user:
https://www.noticer.news/gab-refuses-australian-government-request/
National Diversity Council Files for Bankruptcy — Employees Stole Millions:
https://www.cf.org/news/national-diversity-council-files-for-bankruptcy-employees-stole-millions/
Chinese Drugs Are Flooding the World: ??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGE393xias
...a one two a one two three four.
*.*
Just seen a burglar kicking his own door in.
I yelled, “What are you doing!”
He said: “Working from home.”
*.*
"We have your son," said the kidnapper.
"I don't have a son," says the woman.
"Then who just asked for warm milk and made us cut the crust off his sandwiches?"
"Oh God, you have my husband."
*.*
The longer my wife and I are married, the more annoying she says I am, and the more crime TV she's watching.
Those two can't be related.
*.*
Coffee, you're on the bench.
Alcohol: Suit up!
Quote of the Times;
Edward Griffin succinctly explains what the Federal Reserve System actually is: "It's a cartel. It's not a government agency, it has the appearance of it being a government agency. They went to great lengths to give it that facade... In it's essence, It's a cartel... They got together. They drew up the rules and regulations for their own industry.. To self regulate their own industry.. It's what cartels do. And then they sent it to congress and they took off the label off the top that said 'banking cartel' and they erased that and they said 'Federal Reserve Act.' Congress passed it into law. And that's why we think it's a government agency it's because if you don't obey the rules that they set down for their own industry you go to prison."
Link of the Times;
"Give Us Back Our F**king Money" - How Washington Stole Everything:
https://elizabethnickson.substack.com/p/give-us-back-our-fuing-money-how
Issue of the Times;
Calvin vs. Susie by Alan Schmidt
My boys love Calvin and Hobbes, and throughout the day the household is inundated with dialogue lifted from the pages of the complete collection they ravenously read. As a dad who has warm memories of childhood reading these comic collections, seeing such a treasure being passed down fills my heart.
For those who have no soul, Calvin and Hobbes was a famous daily comic written by Bill Watterson in the 1980’s and 90’s. It follows the adventures of Calvin and his imaginary friend, Hobbes, a stuffed tiger and they make up adventures for themselves and work through everyday life as a kid. It’s universally beloved to this day, probably largely because the artist refused to license his creation to anyone for the sake of artistic integrity, keeping the purity of the comic intact, well, other than the peeing Calvin decal. This isn’t to say everyone shares the same opinion. I recently had a conversation with a woman about the relative virtues of the comic.
"Everything he does is immoral! Nothing in there teaches proper morals or virtue." She exclaimed.
Of course, it's true he acts like a rambunctious troublemaker throughout the comic, but the idea there was no redeeming qualities or virtues in his actions flummoxed me. Didn't he show a zest for life? Didn't his wild antics give vitality and spirit to his existence? Wasn't his often justifiable rebellion against authority figures something to be admired? Wasn't his wild imagination in the face of stifling conformity a good lesson in life?
As much as I tried to argue these points, all she could see was a wild kid who caused trouble to those around him, showed little empathy for others feelings, and immersed himself in violent and whimsical fantasies. She was at a loss how such behavior could mold him into a strong and capable man later in life. It was only a few days later that I realized where the disconnect was.
She was Susie Derkins.
This isn't meant as an insult. In the same way it's not an insult to say a gazelle has no understanding of the mind of a lion, or the peasant farmer will never understand the mind of a steppe warrior, the disconnect between their natural states is too vast. The brilliance in Watterson’s writing was to avoid turning her into simply a straight character or an annoying shrew, but creating a real foil the reader can also sympathize with. Girls like Susie can be wonderful additions to a society, and can also create the most repressive longhouse known to man when surrounded with like-minded people, where it becomes a battle to who can conform to authority the most for a pat on the head.
Susie has more of the qualities modern culture desires. She is an obsessive rule-follower, academic, follows all the social mores, and has aspirations to enter a respectable profession. Her only wish is to fit into the current mold of wider society. In the future, she will be a useful, though unimaginative cog in the wider culture. In itself, there is nothing wrong with this, and people like this often act like the glue that makes a community function. She's a genuinely caring person who simply wants to fit into the society she finds herself in. If she lived in a bizarro world where children got accolades in creating the perfect snowball, having the most overactive imagination, or knowing all there is to know about dinosaurs, she would spend her time trying to out-Calvin Calvin. She would never surpass Calvin, of course, since Susie relies on outside accolades to find her way, while for Calvin it’s in his veins.
We can contrast Susie with his babysitter, Rosalyn, a typical teenage mean-girl. She's selfish, cold, and uncaring for those outside her circle. She only babysits for the money, and there is none of the female warmth for children you would like to see. Her interest is only in bleeding Calvin's parents dry of cash. It's no coincidence the one time she tries to work a compromise with him when she volunteers to play Calvinball she has the happiest time with him. He accepts with adorable enthusiasm, as she is likely the only other person who ever offered to play. In the end, she has the easiest babysitting job she ever had, and finally gets the best of him, and actually seems to have fun. One would hope this episode made her see kids like Calvin in a new light as she enters adulthood. Even Rosalyn shows character development, and one can’t help but get the feeling she had fun.
Calvin, in contrast, has no fitting role in the world yet. He has an imaginary friend because his mind is worlds apart from all of his peers. His aspirations are wild and borderline megalomaniacal, and he spends his time in school dreaming of flying fighter jets, getting into life-or-death battles with distant aliens, or simply planning a convoluted scheme to get back at his enemies. His eyes are raw, unfiltered, seeing a land full of possibilities. As grandiose and impractical as his seven-year-old thoughts are, he sees potential in everything he encounters, eschewing any customary wisdom in favor of seeing hours of adventure in a small creek or even a simple cardboard box. It’s only a boy like Calvin who can be innovative enough to stash away a snowball in the freezer until the middle of summer to pelt Susie with, and in the heat of the moment miss her.
While the comic seems like a light and cheery look into childhood, there are very dark undertones. Like the main character in “Adventure Time” doesn’t realize he lives in a nuclear wasteland, “Calvin and Hobbes” is set in a world that has no place for a rambunctious boy. There’s an inherent loneliness permeating the comic from the title on, that Calvin only has an imaginary friend who understands what makes him tick.
Calvin never comes across a figure that can channel his energies toward finding his way in the world. Another recurring character, the bully Moe, is bigger, stronger, and dumber, and only serves to beat him instead of giving comradery. His teacher, Mrs. Wormwood, checked out of creating any sense of wonder in her classroom long ago and is going through the motions. She wants conformity, placing it even above learning. His mother doesn't understand the energetic boy she bore, though she loves him, and his father prefers to play games with his head and joke as opposed to being a true mentor.
Not that Calvin's dad detached as much as failed to expand outside his own comfort zone. He tries to teach him to ride a bike to share his own love of riding, but Calvin is dismissive. He tries to teach Calvin the joys of camping, but can't connect in that way. It's not that he doesn't try, but that he's as clueless as his wife about how his own child sees the world. One gets the idea that while it's implied he had a wild youth, he settled down as a patent lawyer and forgot what it was like to be a child. There’s the gentle touch that his parents, even if they rant in frustration as parents do, they genuinely love their kid, as seen when they rescue Hobbes a couple times from being lost forever. For all their flaws, a lot of children would kill to have parents like Calvin’s.
The most tragic episode in the comic happened when Calvin joined the school baseball team and the coach, who had little care for any of the kids and seeing Calvin had no clue how to play, simply put him in right field to get him out of the way. Unbeknownst to Calvin, his team finished defense and were set to bat, but he stayed in the outfield because he didn't know what to do. Then one of his teammates hit a fly ball, which Calvin caught to his great pride, until his teammates lambasted him for causing an out on his own team.
Calvin then went to his coach and sheepishly said he didn't want to play anymore, to which the coach said "okay, quitter." Calvin clearly had skill in catching that fly ball, and the coach crushed him without mercy. Mrs. Wormwood didn’t have the faculties to mentor Calvin, but that coach did. One gets the idea the school system has chewed up and spit out the adults running it to the extent they no longer see children, but pests that create work.
Susie Derkins, on the other hand, has the world catered to her sensibilities. She loves school because she loves the accolades she receives from authority figures. Her aspirations, whether they are having kids or being a girl-boss, are catered to and considered mature. Whenever she gets harassed by Calvin, authority figures immediately swoop in to defend her. It's not her fault the world she was born into gave her more advantages and comfort, and there's nothing wrong with her taking advantage of it. She’s just in a protective bubble, and has no understanding of what is required to keep her small world turning.
In a way, the comic showed the stark realities of being a young boy trying to find his way. He is surrounded by types like Susie Derkins, who can't help but be Susie Derkins. The real failure happens in the men who should have been there for him, channeling his energies toward finding a place in the world, and pushing back against the busybodies and scolds who want him to act more like a pliable, conformist little girl.
There is a strong separation between the worlds that are conducive to these two personalities, which largely personifies how people make their way in the world. Before the age of one size fits all hyper-efficiency and panopticon-level surveillance, both would thrive. Elders understood that giving rambunctious children room for adventure that channels into productive ends later in life, whether it be the military, exploration, or entrepreneurism. Most admins once understood they didn't ask about hazing rituals to enter a group as long as it didn't get out of hand. They once knew to turn a blind eye to whatever partying the boys were doing in the woods as long as they drove sober. They once understood the balance between being socially acceptable and stifling the passion and energy of young men who will become the next great leaders.
We live in a one-size-fits-all world designed to cater to the Susies of the world, and then act surprised when people who don't fit that mold can't function. Putting the Susies in charge, tragically, contrary to giving them fulfillment, have made them miserable along with everyone else. Deep down, the Susies of the world don't want to live in their own strict, conformist world, but the exciting wonderland of Calvin.
In the comic Susie is always curious to know what Calvin is planning, and even invites her to her parties. One would think that she would avoid a boy who threw water balloons and snowballs at her with malicious glee, but she comes back for more. As much as she hates getting picked on by Calvin, and regardless of how much he makes her life frustrating, she gets drawn into his world. Like someone who watches the vast wilderness outside the prim and proper village, she can’t help but be curious about what lies out there, and what strange and untamed adventures await. She’s not a person who can forge a path on her own, though. She needs Calvin for that.
Whenever they play, Susie insists on quaint and domestic settings, dealing with events she thinks mature adults deal with, whether it be a doctor’s visit or a new baby. She’s practicing for her foreseen role in life, while Calvin grows frustrated with the inanities of the scenarios, consistently making their games go completely off the rails and leaving both angry and dejected. The truth is Calvin needs Susie too. Those are the mundane aspects of civilization that he will eventually need to protect if he wants to become a man.
Despite all their fighting, the Calvin and Susies of the world need each other for culture to thrive, and we need to find a way to make it happen.
News of the Times;
Trump Starts Undoing JFK’s Worst Mistake:
https://issuesinsights.com/2025/04/01/trump-starts-undoing-jfks-worst-mistake/
West Point disbands 12 student groups:
https://www.thecollegefix.com/west-point-disbands-12-student-groups-following-trumps-dei-executive-order/
Jury finds CNN liable for $5 million in damages in defamation trial:
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/jury-finds-cnn-liable-5-million-defamation-trial-against-us-navy-veteran
US Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicles Never Passed Required Armor Testing:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-armys-joint-light-tactical-vehicles-never-passed-required-armor-testing
Report Your Family For Wrong Think:
https://reclaimthenet.org/germany-advice-compass-conspiracy-theories-reporting
Women Talk More Than Men After All:
https://www.sciencealert.com/women-talk-more-than-men-after-all-and-by-quite-a-lot
Armed police raid home, seizing electronic devices over a meme insulting to migrants:
https://jihadwatch.org/2025/02/germany-armed-police-raid-home-seizing-electronic-devices-over-a-meme-insulting-to-migrants
Italy Hands Out 110% Free Home Renovations:
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/italy-hands-out-110-free-home-renovations-guess-what-happened
Corrupt Utah Judge Freed Fire Chief Charged with Child Exploitation; Now Both Arrested:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/03/utah-judge-freed-fire-chief-charged-child-exploitation/
Coast Guard Stops Boat Packed with Mexican, Chinese Illegal Aliens:
https://www.rvmnews.com/2025/02/coast-guard-stops-boat-packed-with-mexican-chinese-illegal-aliens-near-u-s-shores-watch/
Dr. Birx Admits Young and Healthy People Didn’t Need COVID Vaccine:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/02/dr-birx-admits-young-and-healthy-people-didnt-need-covid-vaccine/
Why is YouTube boosting anti-US, pro-Chinese communist propaganda?
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5155350-youtube-promoting-pro-china/
Gab refuses request to identify user:
https://www.noticer.news/gab-refuses-australian-government-request/
National Diversity Council Files for Bankruptcy — Employees Stole Millions:
https://www.cf.org/news/national-diversity-council-files-for-bankruptcy-employees-stole-millions/
Chinese Drugs Are Flooding the World: ??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGE393xias
Several animals were savagely beaten in the making of this page, including but not limited to; kittens, rabbits, zebu, skunks, puppies, and platypus. Also several monkeys where force fed crack to improve their typing skills.
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.
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.