A girl with suspected autism was punished by a so-called National Serious Case Panel in the United Kingdom for asking a bearded transgender soccer opponent, “Are you a man?” the Telegraph reported.

The 17-year-old cried when the panel found her guilty of “discrimination” for her remarks during a match against a trans-inclusive team, the Telegraph added.

‘The FA has declared open season on women and girls in football with its disastrous policy, which means that no one can question a male player participating in a women’s game.’

The outlet — citing a previous report in Telegraph Sport — said it was the “latest case to cause outrage over the Football Association’s policy of allowing those born male to play in the women’s game.”

The girl’s county Football Association charged her with saying, “Are you a man?” as well as, “That’s a man,” and “Don’t come here again,” or similar comments, the Telegraph said.

She was banned for six matches, four of which were suspended, after a three-hour hearing last week during which she denied expressing transphobia at the “friendly” game in July, the outlet noted.

The girl also wept during a 30-minute grilling conducted via video conference, the Telegraph said, adding that she had been facing a ban of up to 12 games.

An individual on the call said the hearing was “farcical” and added that panel members repeatedly “misgendered” the alleged victim as “he,” the outlet reported, adding that the girl also was said to have been repeatedly asked, “How many LGBQT+ players do you have in your team?”

More from the Telegraph:

Her parents were outraged both by the hearing and the outcome, with her mother telling Telegraph Sport: “We’ve always taught our daughter to ask questions, and if she doesn’t feel comfortable or she doesn’t feel safe then she should go to somebody in charge and ask the question. In safeguarding training at places of work, you’re always told that you should question everything but she’s been told and effectively sanctioned by the FA for doing so. She asked, ‘Are you a man?’, and she admitted to that. The FA is essentially saying that no woman, when faced with what appears to be a male on the pitch, is entitled to ask a question.”

The girl’s plight had previously been cited by former FA chairman Lord Triesman, who wrote to the governing body’s current chair and chief executive last month to complain about its trans policy. The FA has continued to permit players born male to compete in female-only events, despite being urged in May by then-Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to adopt the “unambiguous position” of a ban.

The outlet noted that Fiona McAnena — director of campaigns at Sex Matters — told Telegraph Sport: “The FA has declared open season on women and girls in football with its disastrous policy, which means that no one can question a male player participating in a women’s game. Anyone who does could find themselves suspended just for asking. Disciplining women and girls for saying what they see plainly in front of them makes a mockery of the game. The FA’s new strategy for women’s and girls’ football is worthless as long as this transgender inclusion policy is in place. How can the FA talk about a commitment to true equality in community football while undermining the rights and safety of the very players it claims to be supporting?”

The girl was brought up on charges after the opposing team lodged a complaint through Kick It Out, which is English football’s anti-discrimination watchdog, the Telegraph said, adding that the trans player and the opposing team’s captain testified that the girl was persistently transphobic.

The outlet noted it has concealed the accused girl’s identity due to her age and because she’s “on the assessment pathway for autism.”

‘I raised a concern about the risk of serious injury as a 17-year-old girl playing against a biological male who was much larger than me and a very physical player, which was possibly a safety issue as I did not want to get dangerously injured right before the start of the new season.’

The girl admitted in a written statement submitted in her defense that she asked, “Are you a man?” to a player she described as having “a beard,” the Telegraph reported. She also admitted asking the referee for guidance about the player’s eligibility to participate in women’s football “given my concern for my safety after already suffering a number of overly physical challenges,” the outlet added.

However, the girl repeatedly denied her words constituted transphobia, the outlet said, adding that it is understood that the game’s referee heard nothing he deemed discriminatory.

More from the Telegraph:

The girl said in her written statement she had become “confused” about the participation of the trans player during the match in question as the latter “wore jewelry and sunglasses” and was not in opposition kit.

She added: “The moment the player clarified they were transgender (which I previously hadn’t considered), I respected their answer fully, dropped the situation and immediately shifted my focus back to the game before seeking guidance from the referee. At no point was my question meant to be hurtful or malicious as I only intended to seek clarity in an unfamiliar situation. Knowing now that the player was transgender, I understand that there were better ways to approach this question.”

The girl also said the opposing team’s captain accosted her during a water break, telling her that she shouldn’t have an issue with playing against a transgender opponent, the outlet added.

“I raised a concern about the risk of serious injury as a 17-year-old girl playing against a biological male who was much larger than me and a very physical player, which was possibly a safety issue as I did not want to get dangerously injured right before the start of the new season,” the girl said, according to the Telegraph. “Despite this, I made it clear that if the player met the eligibility criteria of the FA I would respect the rules and accept the risk involved in continuing to play the match. My safeguarding officer and the referee were both present for this conversation.”

The girl added that she was “truly disheartened that these allegations have been made against me,” the outlet reported, adding that she also said “I have always supported and respected the diversity within my team, including members who are in the LGBTQIA+ community.”

The Telegraph added that the girl’s mother said none of her daughter’s teammates had been approached to make statements ahead of an upcoming hearing but that they were “100 percent behind her.”

According to the outlet, the Football Association decided against publishing written reasons for the case.

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​Transgender agenda, Transgender athletes, Uk, Soccer, Biological males in women’s sports, Beard, Facial hair, Girl suspended, Teenage girl punished, National serious case panel, Woke culture, Freedom of speech, Orwellian, Trans inclusive, Sports 

This liturgy is designed for any time you step into the kitchen to make bread. You will notice the sections marked for a breath prayer and a collect — these are the places you can insert prayers specific to the season or the occasion you are baking for, or you can insert prayers of your own.

Mise en place

Begin by gathering your supplies: 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour and 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour; 1½ teaspoons kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast; 1½ cups room-temperature water; a three-quart mixing bowl; measuring cups and spoons; a bowl scraper; plastic wrap or a tea towel; a baking sheet, loaf pan, or Dutch oven; and, if you’d like, your Bible.

As you prepare your workspace, also prepare your heart and mind. Ask God to join you in this process of baking bread. Slowly breathe and meditate on these words:

Inhale: My soul finds rest

Exhale: in God alone.

Psalm 62:1

Mix

As you measure your ingredients, continue this meditative breathing. Feel the texture and temperature of each element between your fingers as you combine the dry ingredients together. Give thanks for the community of farmers, millers, and grocers who have brought these ingredients to your kitchen today. Give thanks for the bakers across generations who have passed down these traditions. And give thanks for the Christians who have clung to the closeness of Jesus in the baking and breaking of bread.

When the time comes to mix your dough, inhale and exhale with each line of the breath prayer of your choosing. Pour the water into the center of the well. With your fingers, slowly pull the flour bit by bit into the watery center. Thicken the water slowly, rubbing out dry clumps of flour that form. Contemplate how the substances transform within your hands. Continue mixing until all the flour has been hydrated.

Cover your mixture with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and step away to a silent place for half an hour to read, pray, or be still in God’s presence. As you do, pray:

God, may I trust that transformation takes place, even when my hands and heart are at rest.

Stretch and fold

Uncover your mixture once again and grip one side firmly in your hand. Stretch and fold and contemplate the change that has occurred: water flooding and softening the grain, bursting open its tightly wound but untapped strength. Stretch the side and fold it over the dough; rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat.

As you build both elasticity and strength, pray in this way:

Inhale: Oh God (stretch) who comes (fold)

Exhale: to us (stretch) in bread (fold),

Inhale: do not (stretch) let us (fold)

Exhale: go (stretch and fold).

Repeat four or more times, as needed, then cover your dough and let it rest for its long fermentation (8-18 hours). If you need to wait 24 hours or more before shaping, let the dough rest for four hours, then place it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake the loaf.

Shape

When your dough is ready for shaping, turn it onto the counter. Marvel at the beauty and strength of your dough, at the bubbles that signal new and growing life. Smell the scent of fermentation, tangy and a little bit sweet. As you divide, stretch, round, or fold, pray the words of the collect of your choosing.

When the dough enters its final 30-60 minute proof, relaxing into its newfound strength, repeat these words:

God just as I step away from this dough, asking the proteins to rest and the yeast to prove that it is still alive, I ask you to prove your continual steadfast love for me.

Bake

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425° (450° if using a sandwich pan or baking tray).

When your loaf is ready for baking, slide it into the preheated oven. If your oven door allows you to see inside, watch the dough rise, burp, then fall into shape. Pay attention to the smell that fills your kitchen in the minutes ahead. Find joy in the creativity of God, who made ingredients with the ability to change in this way and who gave humans the idea to combine them.

While the dough bakes, ask the Lord:

Creative God, where are you leading me in the minutes, days, and months ahead? Equip me for whatever changes are to come.

Eat

After your bread has cooled enough for you to eat, pick it up, breathe in its scent, and take in its beauty and nourishment. Let a smile form as you thank God for the ability to make something so delicious.

Let your eating be a prayer of its own, a sign of your gratitude to God as well as God’s good gift to you.

Adapted from “Bake & Pray” by Kendall Vanderslice. Copyright © 2024. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.

​Liturgy, Recipes, Baking, God, Prayer, Faith 

As Hank Hill would remind us, “If you respect the meat, the meat will respect you.” Whether you’re grilling, smoking, or reverse searing, each method can bring you closer to steak heaven. And in that world, Hank Hill reigns supreme.

Hank Hill is a Christian, an American, and a Texan — in that order. He’s a father, a husband, a propane salesman, and, above all, a disciple of steak.

Buy some bacon ends or other fat chunks, or at least some thick-cut. Chop it up, crisp it up, and put it aside for a steakhouse salad or brussels sprouts or what have you.

He’s the kind of conservative who understands that grilling is not just a way to cook; it’s a moral imperative.

I say this because apparently, “right-wingers are going crazy about meat.”

In Hank’s world, steak is sacred. Apologies to President Trump, but in Hank’s world, anyone wanting his ribeye well done is urged to take his barbaric palate elsewhere: “We ask them politely yet firmly to leave.”

That’s where our journey begins. We’re here to honor steak the way Hank would — with respect, reverence, and a flame. And while there are many ways to cook a ribeye, each method must hold true to the sacredness of beef.

So I talked to as many people as I could about the best ways to cook a ribeye. Let’s start with a fun one.

‘Nom Nom with the Guy Who Fought in Nam’

Josh Jennings is one of the funniest people alive. As a mutual friend put it, Jennings is one of the best creatives for coming up with comedy premises I’ve ever met.

Here’s his take on the revolutionary new way to cook a ribeye.

Joe Pappalardo, author/journalist

While researching an upcoming book about Judge Roy Bean and his brothers, science journalist Joe Pappalardo fell down a rabbit hole of research into the San Antonio street food of the era.

Cubed ribeye steak has become his go-to cut for making traditional Texas chili, with nods to the original San Antonio recipe of the mid-1800s.

The city’s late-night food scene was dominated by female entrepreneurs called “Chili Queens” who set up and tore down street restaurants in the city’s plazas every night. Like modern late-night greasy-spoon diners, they became one of the few places where every strata of San Antonio society commingled.

Staying faithful to the Chili Queen recipe requires using plenty of ancho chiles and cumin — and leaving out the beans. Simmer for as long as you can stand it.

If you’re in San Antonio these days, don’t look for the Chili Queens. The city’s health department shut them down, after nearly 100 years of overnight service, in the early 1940s.

Gaston Mooney, Blaze Media president

For the true steak aficionado, there’s smoking. Blaze Media President Gaston Mooney recommends a thick-cut ribeye, at least two inches, smoking it to 107°F before searing with compound butter. It’s an exercise in patience, one that pairs beautifully with a cold beer and, if you’re feeling fancy, a cigar.

In Argentina, the art of wood-fire grilling includes a unique hand-measuring technique. Grill masters hold their hands over the flames to judge readiness — five seconds and you’re good to go. Too hot? Pull back. Too cool? Wait it out. It’s primal, tactile, and rustic — everything Hank would appreciate.

Nathan Dahlstrom, author

I spoke with Nathan Dahlstrom about the wood-fire approach.

Nathan uses mesquite wood from his own property, grilling his ribeye the old-fashioned way. His process is simple but effective — there’s no thermometer involved, just the feel of the fire and the meat.

Grilling: Propane vs. charcoal

People claim that charcoal tastes better — Hank Hill himself was confronted by the time his wife and son developed a charcoal addiction. But it takes significantly longer and requires a more experienced hand. Whether you’re grilling with propane for speed or opting for the deeper flavor of charcoal, both methods can elevate your steak — so long as it’s not well done.

Lee Moore, Worth the Weight BBQ

This one uses mayo. It’s from Lee Moore, who runs Worth the Weight BBQ.

In 2014, Moore moved from Phoenix to Houston, where trips to famed BBQ joints like Corkscrew BBQ and Truth BBQ fueled his ambition to craft food of a similar caliber.

Starting out with a Traeger from Costco, Moore began understanding the nuances of time versus temperature in BBQ. However, seeking a richer smoke profile, he soon upgraded to a traditional offset smoker he found on Facebook Marketplace, and he discovered the artistry of cooking with real wood.

After a year of hands-on experimentation, Moore encountered Trey at Heirloom Pits and was captivated by his craftsmanship. This led to a leap into a 375-gallon offset — a true piece of art in BBQ equipment.

For Moore, this upgrade underscored that the tools are as essential to the process as the seasonings; just like salt or pepper, quality equipment can elevate the flavors in food. With no formal training beyond BBQ YouTube channels, Moore’s journey reflects the passion and learning that trial and error can foster, turning a backyard cook into a self-taught BBQ aficionado.

Christopher Bedford, Blaze Media senior politics editor

The incomparable Christopher Bedford came through with some recipe gold.

Buy some bacon ends or other fat chunks, or at least some thick-cut. Chop it up, crisp it up, and put it aside for a steakhouse salad or brussels sprouts or what have you.

Buy a bone-in ribeye thick enough to stand on its edge. Don’t forget: Bring your beef (or any meat, really) to room temp before you cook.

Decant your wine. Chill your martini glass. Salt your ribeye with good salt. You can add some garlic powder.

Cook it on its edge, fat down, for about five minutes on medium. Cast iron.

Now that the beef fat has melted into the bacon, put it on its side and cook 1-2 minutes per side, flipping often. Depending on your thickness, you’re looking at a 10+ minute cook, easy. Don’t be afraid. I use a ThermoPro after a while. Get that temperature right.

Baste it with a thick batch of rosemary in between turns, unless you’re topping with bone marrow or blue or something strong-tasting; then just spoon it to keep your flavors from competing.

Take it off 10 degrees before your desired temperature. Place it on the cutting board. Don’t move it for pictures. Don’t do anything to it besides dropping a piece of butter or marrow on it that you need to melt. Don’t even look at it. Ten minutes.
Then slice, platter, lightly flaky Maldon salt or something of similar quality.

Serve. Bask.

‘Unconventional’ methods

Blaze Media’s own Rob Eno swears by sous vide.

He jokes that it’s “pre-Biden” cooking, but the method is solid: slow-cooking the steak in water, sealed in plastic, before searing. For traditionalists, sous vide may sound sacrilegious, but it works. And, as Eno would say, “Don’t knock it till you try it.”

Or what about deep-fried ribeye? Yes, you read that right — deep-frying. Laura Gingrich describes a backyard deep-fried steak as reminiscent of those explosive Thanksgiving turkeys from a decade ago. It’s unconventional, but the end result is crispy, juicy, and indulgent.

Hear me out: A quality ribeye can even be enjoyed raw — think steak tartare. But we’ll save that discussion for another time.

While we’re on a tangent, I should mention that I also received feedback about steak sauce. American cattle rancher Shad Sullivan: “For a great steak, sauce is blasphemy! For a good steak, add a little salt. For overcooked cow leather … pass the A-1!!!!”

Shad’s wife disagrees: “A great steak needs no sauce, but sometimes I need some spice!”

Stoves and ovens

Top-tier steakhouses often use the broiler method. Mastro’s, for example, broils its steaks at 1,500°F and serves them on plates heated to 450°F. Snake-broiling, a hybrid of grilling and broiling, is another approach. First grill, then finish with a quick broil to create a perfect crust.

Pan-searing, especially in cast iron, is another tried-and-true method. The best steakhouses use a butter bath technique, basting with melted butter, garlic, and fresh herbs for that restaurant-quality finish.

If you want to impress someone without too much effort, Blaze News reporter Andrew Chapados suggests a simple technique: “Sear in an oven-safe pan on high for two minutes per side. Then add a tablespoon of butter and finish in the oven at 400°F for 10-12 minutes.”

Loren Poncia, Stemple Creek Ranch co-owner

Use a 1.5 inch thick ribeye. Set it out to room temp. Salt liberally.

Put on a grill or pan at low temperature, like 200-220 degrees, for about five minutes per side or until the center of the steak is 110 degrees.

Remove steak. Crank pan or grill to 500+ and cook steak for one minute on each side.

Reverse sear

This is the most popular response I got.

Home cooks everywhere have evolved their methods, and reverse searing is a testament to that. In the reverse sear, you cook low and slow in the oven till the steak reaches your preferred temperature, then sear in a hot pan on the stovetop to create the crust.

Blaze News staff writer Paul Sacca keeps it simple — season with salt and pepper, sear in olive oil, and baste with butter, smashed garlic, and thyme. It’s a method that can work for nearly any cut, and Hank would approve.

Andrew Patrick Nelson, film historian

I spoke with Andrew Patrick Nelson, the Western apostle himself. I wanted to know about John Wayne’s steak preferences.

Interestingly enough, the Duke was rumored to prefer his steaks well done. There are even Wayne-branded cookbooks, like “The Official John Wayne Guide to Grilling,” that seem to confirm his take on the art of steak. In “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” we witness the most famous steaks in Western film history — massive cuts where the only option for cooking is to “burn ’em!”

Of course, for those who prefer precision, reverse searing is a fine art. As Nelson told me, “For me, rare is the only option. Anything else and you might as well eat a hamburger instead.”

​Kevin ryan, Cooking, Steak, Ribeye, Grilling, Lifestyle, Red meat 

Donald Trump’s win means a lot of great things for America, and it also means there’s no shortage of liberals recording themselves crying.

And late night host Jimmy Kimmel just became one of them.

“Let’s be honest, it was a terrible night last night. It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrants who make this country go, for health care, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech,” Kimmel began.

“It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on social security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO,” he continued, as his eyes sparkled with tears and his voice began to tremble.

“For the truth and democracy and decency, and it was a terrible night for everyone who voted against him. And guess what? It was a bad night for everyone who voted for him too, you just don’t realize it,” he concluded.

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” is amused to say the least.

“He’s just a sad, sad man,” Rubin says, adding, “look at the poor sad man. All of the money, all of the fame, and you didn’t get what you want.”

Want more from Dave Rubin?

To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Camera phone, Video phone, Free, Video, Upload, Sharing, Youtube.com, The rubin report, Dave rubin, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Jimmy kimmel, Liberal tears, Leftist tears, Donald trump win, President donald trump, Election 2024, Liberal freakout, Liberal 

Some people love the verse, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). It’s on bracelets and bumper stickers. It’s on coffee mugs and wall art. Believers have often taken comfort from those words in Psalm 46. After all, God is the great rescuer, the ever-faithful provider, for his people.

Have you ever considered, though, that we might not be thinking of the right primary audience for those words in Psalm 46:10? What if the command — “Be still, and know that I am God” — isn’t spoken to believers?

Context and echoes

The opening line of Psalm 46 is a declaration that God is the refuge and strength for his people, a “very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). He’s the fortress, the high tower, the cleft in the rock. He’s the protector, the shield, the defender. Though circumstances are uncertain (46:2–3), and though nations rage (46:6), the people of God are stable and secure (46:1, 5).

The nations are not well. In Psalm 46:6, they “rage” and they “totter.” They’re unstable. The raging nations recall the scene in Psalm 2, where the nations “rage” and “plot in vain” against the Lord (Psalm 2:1–2). They rage like the dragon whom they serve (Revelation 12).

According to Psalm 2, what the nations needed to do was serve the Lord (Psalm 2:11). The kings needed to bow the knee and kiss the son (2:10, 12). The raging of the nations would not prevail over the Lord’s plan to install and exalt the one true king (2:4–6). This great king would inherit the nations (2:8).

When we read Psalm 46, we need to hear these echoes of Psalm 2.

These rebels should confess the truth of God’s unique and supreme existence and rule. There is no god like God and no god but God.

In the context of Psalm 46, there is upheaval all around. The cosmic chaos in 46:2–3 may figuratively depict the military and political threats that the people of God were facing.

The saints needed reassurance that earthly kingdoms would fall. The self-glory of this world’s rulers would fade under the bright light of divine glory, which the world’s true king would shine and embody. The people, and the city where the people dwelled, was secure because of the presence and power of God (Psalm 46:5, 7).

The primary audience

The final unit of Psalm 46 is 46:8–11. Let’s follow the logic of the verses.

In verse 8, we’re told to behold God’s works, which include desolations that he brings onto the earth. His judgments disrupt and overthrow the plans of his enemies. In verse 9, he breaks their bows and shatters their spears and burns their chariots. So much for their impressive weaponry! God’s supremacy is on display, and their human collusion and earthly strategies are a poor effort to undermine divine majesty.

In verse 10, God says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Now, who is God talking to? He is talking to his enemies. The raging nations are the primary audience of these words. These nations have tottered in their frailty, but that fact hasn’t stopped them from hating the reality of God’s rule.

So God says to the rebels, “Be still.” It’s a command to stop what they’re doing. It’s a command to lay down their broken weapons. It’s a command to relax their grips and their arms. They should stop their rebellion, their resistance — and they should, “Know that I am God.” These rebels should confess the truth of God’s unique and supreme existence and rule. There is no god like God and no god but God.

The rest of verse 10 is God’s declaration that he will be exalted among these nations. Though enemies on earth oppose him, he will be exalted in the earth nevertheless!

Psalm 46:10 gives us the words of God to the enemies of God: “Be still, and know that I am God.” The nations should call upon the Lord for mercy, and he will receive them. They should cease their raging and their rebellion. They should rejoice in his provision of salvation for them, for Christ has redeemed a people for himself from every tribe and tongue and nation.

This essay was originally published at Dr. Mitchell Chase’s Substack, Biblical Theology.

​Bible, Psalms, God, Christianity, Christians, Faith 

In recent weeks, the federal government has been criticized for allocating FEMA money to illegal aliens seeking shelter rather than saving it for Americans displaced by hurricanes. But Michiganders should know that their state government is doing the same thing.

The Michigan “Newcomer Rental Subsidy” gives Michigan taxpayers’ money to aliens to help pay for housing while Michiganders — like many Americans — struggle to pay for basic necessities such as groceries, housing, and gas.

Michigan should prioritize housing subsidies for US citizens first. Illegal aliens shouldn’t get housing subsidies at all.

The subsidy offers rental assistance of up to $500 per month for up to a year to immigrants, including illegal aliens.

The Office of Global Michigan defends this program, stating that “many refugees and other newcomers face critical housing challenges, and this program will increase access to better and more affordable housing opportunities.” While that may be true, thousands of Michiganders also face the same challenges. Who is helping them?

The homeless population in Michigan in 2024 is over 8,000 people, approximately 500 of whom are veterans. Yet homeless Michigan residents are not eligible for this rental subsidy. Yes, Michigan does have a program that provides “short-term residential care and treatment to eligible veterans,” but that program could be improved and expanded if the Newcomer Rental Subsidy wasn’t pulling precious time and resources away from citizens of Michigan who desperately need them.

It isn’t just the homeless who can’t find housing, either. The average cost of rent in Michigan has risen from $1,150 per month in 2020 to over $1,400 per month in 2024. The cost of homes has also increased exponentially over the last four years. In 2020, homes on average cost around $180,000 in Michigan, and in 2024 homes on average cost nearly $250,000. In a time of record inflation due to the devastating policies and spending of the Biden-Harris administration, Michigan is diverting its limited funds to provide relief for noncitizens before its own citizens.

However, even those sympathetic to refugees should remember that aliens with far less lawful immigration status than foreign nationals granted refugee protection are eligible for the rental subsidy. For example, aliens with a pending asylum application may apply for a housing subsidy.

Unfortunately, aliens frequently submit fraudulent asylum applications because they are free. Submitting provides them with other benefits, including a work authorization document and years living in the United States because of millions of backlogged cases in the immigration courts and at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Allowing mere asylum applicants, rather than requiring an alien to have been granted asylum beforehand, to receive this benefit is a clear waste of Michigan and U.S. taxpayer money.

Michigan also provides the housing subsidy to aliens the Biden-Harris administration unlawfully and unconstitutionally mass-paroled into the U.S. through defrauded programs. For example, USCIS found in a recent internal report that the administration approved thousands of parole sponsors in the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan parole programs without adequate vetting. This resulted in thousands of applications having fake Social Security numbers and nearly 20,000 applications having the same 100 physical addresses listed, among many other problems.

Michigan should prioritize housing subsidies for U.S. citizens first, then entirely lawful immigrants second. Illegal aliens shouldn’t be receiving housing subsidies at all.

At a time when Americans face record inflation and struggle to pay for housing and put food on the table, it is time for Michigan to stop putting noncitizens first.

​Illegal immigration, Illegal immigrants, Housing, Michigan, Rent, Subsidies, Opinion & analysis 

Some predators hide in plain sight, shocking those around them when their crimes are finally revealed. Others give off subtle — and not-so-subtle — clues that something is deeply amiss.

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, arrested on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges last week, falls squarely in the latter category.

Victims were reportedly subjected to horrific experiences, including being injected with liquid Viagra by men dressed in Abercrombie uniforms.

During his time at the helm of the iconic American brand, Jeffries pursued a relentlessly hyper-sexualized marketing strategy built around homoerotic imagery and a cult-like worship of half-naked teens.

As this fetishization of youthful innocence intensified, Jeffries’ face — like a reversal of Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray” — seemed to bear witness to his depravity. A nightmarish regimen of fillers and plastic surgery turned the blandly handsome executive into a grotesque parody of the ideal Abercrombie customer.

As one Reddit wag put it, “He looks like he was bobbing for apples in a bucket of bees.”

Epstein redux

The revelations surrounding Jeffries mirror the monstrous abuses of Jeffrey Epstein, with the former CEO reportedly using his power to orchestrate a calculated pattern of sexual exploitation. Like Epstein, Jeffries also had a private jet.

The indictment paints a grim picture. Specifically, an international sex trafficking ring as part of which Abercrombie’s brand was weaponized to lure and trap vulnerable young men, exploiting their ambitions with false promises of professional opportunities.

From 2008 to 2015, Jeffries, along with his partner Matthew Smith and employee James Jacobson, allegedly ran this operation with impunity all while exerting tight control over the company.

This was both a full-time operation and a depraved hobby.

Final sale

Witness accounts and legal filings describe a sordid quest for sexual gratification, with Jeffries and Smith luring young men with lavish trips to luxurious destinations in Europe, the Hamptons, and Morocco.

Once there, theses victims were reportedly subjected to horrific experiences, including being injected with liquid Viagra by men dressed in Abercrombie uniforms — agents of Jeffries who served more as enforcers than employees.

One Los Angeles man recounted being coerced into Jeffries’ hotel suite and enduring unwanted sexual advances that escalated to forced acts despite his repeated attempts to say no.

Jeffries headed Abercrombie from 1992 until 2014, turning it into one of the most successful clothing brands of the new millennium and generating massive profits for the company. Given the brazenness of Jeffries alleged behavior, the frantic efforts of current Abercrombie leadership to distance themselves from the scandal ring hollow.

It’s delusional to think Jeffries and his accomplices acted completely under the radar. His predatory actions were fueled by a culture of silence, sustained by a network of enablers who willfully ignored the abuse. As in Epstein’s case, powerful people could have intervened and stopped the abuse. They simply chose not to.

J Cruel

Jeffries’ control of Abercrombie extended far beyond the brand’s image. That he even dictated the attire and behavior of his private jet staff reveals a tyrant detached from reality, consumed by his own twisted desires.

Jeffries’ dictatorial rule went unchallenged for years — and no doubt would’ve continued had he continued to deliver. His downfall was not the result of a reckoning for his crimes but a response to declining sales and changing cultural attitudes that made his vision unsustainable.

But the issue, I suggest, goes far beyond Jeffries himself. This is a story of a brand culture that fostered tyranny and silenced dissent, one that thrived on reducing people to their body fat percentages.

Abercrombie’s entire aesthetic — a fixation on youth, beauty, and chiseled abs — was built on a foundation of control and exploitation. The implications of this culture are not isolated to one corrupt CEO but extend to an entire industry, where the commodification of innocence creates an environment ripe for abuse.

More precisely, the abuse of children.

Bait and Fitch

A recent Stop The Traffik report highlights the broader reality of the modeling industry, where hopes and dreams are weaponized by traffickers and predators.

In countries like Colombia, Ethiopia, and Russia, assurances of a glamorous lifestyle are used to bait young, impoverished individuals into exploitative situations. Promises of modeling careers quickly become coercive, trapping victims in cycles of manipulation and sexual exploitation.

The entire industry is run by multi-millionaires and billionaires, people with their own private security and private islands. People who, on the whole, play by a very different set of rules. Or no rules at all.

Dirty laundry

As we reflect on Abercrombie & Fitch’s dark legacy of sexualizing teens, it’s vital to remember that this culture was crafted by an immoral predator. Naturally, the company hopes you’ll forget. In fact, it’s banking on it.

Rather incredibly, retail analysts suggest the brand’s campaign to memory hole its sleazy past is working. Newer customers are too young to remember while older ones seem to have accepted Abercrombie’s reinvention into something more muted and mature.

But no amount of rebranding can erase the reality that Abercrombie didn’t just enable Mike Jeffries — it rewarded him handsomely. It wasn’t merely a matter of giving a platform to a possible psychopath (and I don’t use that term lightly); Abercrombie empowered and enriched him while turning a blind eye to his behavior.

For all its attempts to exorcise the memory of Jeffries, the company will forever be tied to a man whose degeneracy nearly destroyed it. The exploitation of kids wasn’t an accident — it was the business model. Jeffries was the architect, and Abercrombie was his enabler.

And that’s a legacy you can’t wash away.

​Abercrombie & fitch, Mike jeffries, Sex trafficking, Predators, Business, John mac ghlionn, Retail, Clothing, Lifestyle 

I’ve spent the last few days walking the streets and alleys of one of my favorite small rural villages in the Northwest. The coffee, the flowers, the food, the views, everything is made so beautiful by the hearts and hands of these local artists.

Perhaps the only things more ubiquitous than the thoughtful touches of creativity are the LGBTQ+ pride flags and signs proclaiming things like “everyone is loved here” and “this is a safe place.”

Really? Is everyone loved? Is everyone made more safe?

Amid all of this beauty, I find these messages strangely dissonant. Why? Because these signs aren’t loving to everyone, and they make some safe and others less safe. But the other side of these well-meaning messages is hidden. So we need to spotlight those being excluded and often injured by the ideology these messages are promoting. Pointing this out is important because the reason for the boldness with which shop owners and churches fly these flags betrays the fact they either don’t know or don’t care about the cruelty their “kindness” perpetrates on other parties.

Here are the five parties you choose to injure by flying your Pride flags.

Children

Celebrating LGBTQ+ pride is the practice of acting compassionate to some children while being cruel to others.

Children are hurt more than any other party by a culture that champions individual identities over family identities.

Flying these flags is a signal that the movement that says your sexuality is the place from which you form your deepest identity is deeply anti-family. The United States has now surpassed Sweden as the country
with more single-parent households than any country in the world. The other thing that the U.S. and Sweden have in common (along with all the other top countries where family bonds dissolve most frequently) is these places are where hyper-individualism is being most aggressively embraced.

Stop disrespecting the gift of life given to you by your ancestors and celebrate continuing your family line — not ending it.

Children growing up without both a mother and father are at an enormous disadvantage. But even researchers who have most documented this fact refuse to draw the obvious connection between hyper-individualism and the refusal to create a culture that encourages children to find their identity in their family over their sexuality.

A culture championing hedonistic sexuality and the primacy of sexual identity may seem momentarily safer for someone wishing to explore alternative sexual identities. But it is decidedly neither safer nor more loving for countless millions of children affected by the weakening of the family that is the inevitable result.

Your ancestors

Every person you meet is part of a family line so resilient, so resourceful, so powerful that it stretches back unbroken to the very beginning of the human race.

Did thousands of your ancestors persevere through countless unremembered sacrifices in order for their descendants — at a time when we enjoy more peace and safety than they could ever have dreamed — to choose to end their family lines forever?

This alone is reason not to be
proud of LGBTQ+ identities.

Challenges like same-sex attraction make the tragedy of ending a resilient family line more likely, but this is not something to celebrate. Stop disrespecting the gift of life given to you by your ancestors and celebrate continuing your family line — not ending it.

Your descendants

Much of our suffering is caused by our shortsighted forefathers, and we return the favor by ignoring how our decisions impact our descendants. Break this cycle in your generation.

I once read that when a Jewish child dies before having children, the family mourns not only the loss of that child but the 10,000 descendants of that child who now will never be born.

This, of course, is true at the death of any child. But today, instead of mourning the loss of descendants, we celebrate identities that make cutting off a person’s future descendants some kind of accomplishment.

The covenant of marriage

“It’s just a piece of paper …” No, a wedding is an act of covenant-making before God. This is a brilliant idea that gives stability to entire civilizations. We diminish its significance at our own peril.

The reason for the narrow sexual ethic in Scripture is to create a culture that promotes multigenerational families. One man and one woman for life is the only sexual ethic worth celebrating.

The reason we throw a party when a couple has stayed faithfully married for 50 years is that something remarkable has been genuinely accomplished, not just for that couple or for that couple’s family, but for society as a whole. Now that’s a flag worth flying.

The next time you see a business or church proclaiming their compassion, understand the real trade-off of cruelty they are celebrating as well.

Instead, today, we celebrate the bravery of people publicly championing their desires at the expense of others. Our culture refuses to face the fact that every time we loosen the biblical sexual ethic, we weaken the marriage covenant at the core of the family for future generations, and our grandchildren will pay the price.

The marriage covenant has never been weaker, starting with no-fault divorce and culminating in the redefinition of marriage to include alternative arrangements. We don’t see the cultural cruelty being unleashed by our supposed compassion because it launches a slow-moving disease that will be most fully experienced by those not yet born.

God

“As followers of Jesus, our allegiance is to the King, and His kingdom is our priority. Submitting to Christ as King is an act of worship.” —Bailey Gillespie

Last but not least: Any follower of Jesus believes that this world was designed for a purpose by an all-knowing, all-loving God.

These flags have become a growing symbol of conquest. They represent an alternate kingdom. They say, “We have dethroned Jesus and now worship the idol of self.”

God never makes someone LGBTQ+ — this is a false identity category created by a culture determined to free itself from the purpose behind its design. Yes, some struggle more than others to live in the design of the Creator, but we don’t celebrate the decision to give in to the wrong side of that struggle. We should have genuine compassion for these challenges without encouraging a lifestyle of sin along with all of the inevitable consequences that result.

So the next time you see a business or church proclaiming their “compassion,” understand the real trade-off of cruelty they are celebrating as well.

We become what we celebrate, and today it takes wisdom and courage to stand up to the collective blindness to injuries and corruption being unleashed by this ideology.

This essay was adapted from an article originally published at Jeremy Pryor’s Substack.

​Lgbtq agenda, Lqbt, Lgbtq, Christianity, God, Christians, Faith 

The Great Replacement theory is often dismissed as a tinfoil-hat-wearing fever dream, a fringe notion that only the most paranoid could entertain.

Yet in Ireland, it is playing out in real time, driven by policies that explicitly aim to replace the native population with an influx of foreign-born residents.

As an Irishman, I write this with a mixture of anger and absolute sadness. A truly wonderful country full of truly wonderful people is being destroyed, and the elites are enjoying every second of it.

Far from being a wild conspiracy, this demographic transformation is a stated goal of the Ireland 2040 plan, which seeks to integrate massive numbers of migrants into a small island nation, eroding its traditional identity and social fabric. The elites are giving the Irish a glimpse of their future, and it’s nothing short of grim.

Critics, begone!

Irish-born Canadian Stefan Molyneux — long ago unpersoned by the mainstream media for “white supremacy” and other offenses — tried to raise the alarm some five years ago, only to have YouTube promptly ban his video. It still survives in places online, allowing you to take in his calm, careful argument against the initiative … if you dare.

The rationale provided for the 2040 plan is riddled with fallacies. The supposed inevitability of a growing, diversifying population is nothing more than propaganda. Population growth is portrayed as an unstoppable force, akin to natural phenomena like aging or the changing of the seasons.

In reality, this is a man-made phenomenon, a social construct pretending to be something organic. The Irish government’s claim that by 2040, the island will be home to millions more people, is treated as a foregone conclusion.

But this outcome is far from inevitable. It is the direct consequence of policies that prioritize open borders and mass migration over the preservation of cultural identity and social cohesion. Yes, demographic decline is a concern. But who we’re letting in is a far bigger concern. The government seems fixated on issues of quantity; elected leaders should instead be obsessing over the quality of people entering the land they are paid to protect.

Selling a fantasy

The economic argument for mass immigration falls flat under scrutiny. Politicians sell the public on the fantasy that immigrants from the third world will seamlessly integrate, fill labor gaps, and support an aging population. However, this narrative ignores stark differences in academic qualifications, cultural practices, overall work ethic, and the fact that many struggle to speak basic English.

Believing that large numbers of people from regions with vastly different cultural and economic backgrounds will immediately become tax-paying, productive members of society is not only unrealistic but delusional. Moreover, it’s dangerous. It creates a permanent underclass, with associated increases in crime and social unrest.

It’s not about xenophobia or prejudice; it’s about recognizing that nature, evolution, and/or divine design have shaped different groups for different environments, much like how wolves and dogs have adapted to their specific habitats. An Aboriginal would struggle to adapt to life in a modern Western city just as much as an urbanite would fail to thrive in the harsh Australian outback.

Just like the Biden administration, the Irish government uses deceptive language to mask its eagerness to embrace diversity at all costs. When officials speak of social cohesion and sustainability (a term that means everything and absolutely nothing), what they’re really endorsing is a future where traditional Irish communities are replaced by multicultural enclaves.

This transformation is being portrayed as something beyond the control of the people, an unavoidable reality of globalization. But history shows that immigration patterns can and have been controlled. Ireland existed for thousands of years without being swamped by third world migration. What has changed is not the inevitability of population growth but the willingness of the government to undermine its own culture in the name of diversity.

Dublin or Durban?

As Molyneux shows, the parallels with Africa serve to illustrate a number of important points. Moving people from the third world to first-world countries is not a solution; it is a transfer of problems from one region to another. The carbon footprint of a Somali arriving in Dublin skyrockets compared to what it would be if they stayed in their native village. The notion that immigration somehow benefits the environment is a clever bait-and-switch. It is a pernicious plan that sacrifices cultural preservation and social stability at the altar of radical egalitarianism.

The Ireland 2040 document is filled with vague bureaucratic platitudes about sustainable growth, environmental management, and community development. Yet, nowhere in its many pages is there a real plan to preserve what makes Ireland unique. Instead, the plan involves diluting the native population and creating a new society in which diversity is celebrated as an end in itself, regardless of the consequences. The influx of foreigners is not just a policy choice; it is a cultural bulldozer, demolishing centuries of history in a matter of decades.

Today, Ireland looks a lot like Africa. Literally. The streets of Dublin resemble the streets of Durban. The people are not being asked whether they want this; they are being told it is happening, whether they like it or not.

The dismissal of concerns about the loss of social cohesion as mere racism reveals the extent to which the discourse has been manipulated. True racism lies in the refusal to acknowledge the legitimate fears of those who see their communities transformed before their eyes. It lies in the sneering disregard for the cultural heritage of a people who fought for their independence, only to find it threatened again, this time not by foreign armies but by native-born lawmakers.

Godless globalism

Ireland does not need to become a multicultural experiment at the behest of an administrative aristocracy more interested in global accolades than in the welfare of its own citizens.

As an Irishman, I write this with a mixture of anger and absolute sadness. A truly wonderful country full of truly wonderful people is being destroyed, and the elites are enjoying every second of it. They’re dismantling what it means to be Irish, all for the approval of the beasts in Brussels, most of whom will will never set foot in the communities they’ve helped destroy.

This is not progress; it’s a betrayal. The Irish spirit — once fierce, unbreakable — is being suffocated under the weight of policies designed to strip it bare. We are not just losing our identity; we are having it stolen from us, and those responsible are laughing as they do it. All the while, the Irish citizens — good, decent people like my mother and father — are left to watch in heartbreak as the country they cherished morphs into something truly horrific.

​Ireland, Great replacement, Immigration, John mac ghlionn, Africa, Migrants, Migrant crisis, The rape of europa 

As an orange sun rises over a deeply reddened nation, the woke left isn’t out, but it most certainly is down.

And while millions of Americans played a part, responsibility for the death of the woke regime rests in a small set of hands.

Neither conservatism, libertarianism, nor any other -ism killed the woke vibe.

Tech did.

As the woke regime intended to permanently transform America and the American people by spiritually commanding and controlling tech, this fact bears close examination.

If we’re going to move as fast as we need to to make America great again, that means looking, like all the other digital powers in the world must look, toward our deepest spiritual foundations. That’s still Christianity.

Looking for revenge, the left will be tempted to turn on tech instead of trying to take it back over. This is a deadly mistake: Neither our tools nor those who know how to make them are Americans’ enemy.

But some on the right will now be tempted to build a civil religion to the god of tech. This too is a fatal error. Our tools and tool-makers must not become worshiped idols.

Finding the harmonious middle way begins with a look at just how tech beat woke.

Consider one illuminating post-election post from venture capitalist Katherine Boyle. “Silicon Valley doesn’t trust experts,” she says, “because the game changes too fast to weight experience over other factors. In accelerating realignments, ‘the gold standard’ experts and OGs often don’t have an advantage.”

Grasp this, and the events of the past five years snap into focus.

Back when the most powerful technology was the TV, the organized left seized the commanding heights of the culture with an intellectual revolution.

It was easy to do. The academic old guard, which all but worshiped the technology of old books, couldn’t beat back the postmodern swarm that proclaimed the death of the world the printing press made. And the people, who had long since stopped kneeling at the altar of the book, were now, as David Bowie sang, “hooked to the silver screen,” seeing in televisual tech proof that other peoples’ fantasies were more true than their own reality.

Then digital seized the commanding heights of technology — disenchanting the cult of the book as well as the cult of the video.

That sea of change didn’t just put the established experts on the back foot. Instead of simply forcing them to play catch-up, it transformed the psychological and social environment that they thought they had mastered.

Suddenly, the value of intellectual expertise itself began to plummet. The awesome sweep and scope of digital returned humanity to the ultimate questions about who we are and why.

Questions that demanded a return to our deepest memories about the ultimate answers and from whence they came.

Even the heights of expert intellectual experience couldn’t speak to these matters with authority people could trust. Suddenly, people thirsted for expert spiritual experience — not the fun and fantastic simulation thereof that poured forth in gross excess from the likes of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Walt Disney.

The civilizational game had changed.

Yet the ruling left wasn’t stupid. Already at the elite level, those on the left had had the chance to react first, and their gambit to shift the ground of the legitimacy of their power from intellectual to spiritual authority unfolded swiftly. Enter “wokeness,” which rebranded intellectual authorities as spiritual ones.

This grand switch-up responded to the thirst for spiritual authority unleashed by digital tech by enforcing a new vision where the smartest didn’t deserve to rule because of their mental merit but because of their purity of heart. The priestly caste of the woke church had a good four years to execute on this crash program.

But instead of soaring, on election night, it crashed. And while the nationwide groundswell of support for Trump obviously played a huge role, the decisive factor was the decision of a handful of technologists led by Elon Musk to bet everything they had against the woke regime. Without them, it’s all too easy to see how Trump and his supporters wouldn’t have been able to defeat the entrenched Borg using Kamala Harris as its latest skin suit.

That’s true going forward, too. The regime still has many lawfare options to derail Trump before the Inauguration, and the main obstacle to their success is Musk’s willingness to spend on flooding the zone with maximally aggressive legal defenses of the popular majority that swept Trump back to power.

That’s why so many on the right — especially given how many notional conservatives have proven so wimpy and ineffectual over the past four-plus years — will be so tempted to make tech their god-emperor in all but name (and perhaps in name, too!).

Yet that, as the neckbeards like to say, ain’t it, chief. An innovation-forward culture may feel like a huge acceleration today, but it’s actually a return to the moral norm of Americans being and feeling comfortable, competent, and confident taking charge of their tools and toolmaking. Long ago, Alexis de Tocqueville taught that the key to Americans ranging so freely and fruitfully across the frontier of human endeavor was the firm anchor of their hearts in humble devotion to God: the fixed, secure point that enabled us to survive and thrive in a world where all was in motion. That’s us today — except now more than ever, we need to restore that fixed point.

That requires spiritual authorities Americans both recognize and can trust — not false priests of an HR-hoe goddess or of some inscrutable cyber deity.

If we’re going to move as fast as we need to to make America great again, that means looking, like all the other digital powers in the world must look, toward our deepest spiritual foundations. That’s still Christianity — not for the sake of establishing an unconstitutional theocracy, but for ensuring our country keeps its head among our its achievements by doing the humble work of the heart.

Game on.

​James poulos zero hour, James poulos, Tech, Technology elon musk donald trump, Technology, Musk x, Big tech censorship, Big tech 

Ivy League universities, particularly Harvard and Columbia, have faced a crisis since October 2023, when both institutions revealed themselves as places where blatant anti-Semitism openly flourishes. Amid the anti-Semitic uprisings on campus, the presidents of both schools also faced academic plagiarism charges. Alumni and donors, who expected more from the schools’ leaders and did not share the apparent tolerance for Jew-hatred, have stopped contributing financially.

As reputational and financial damage mounted, Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned in disgrace last January, and Columbia President Minouche Shafik followed in August.

Despite an endowment exceeding $50 billion, Harvard had to expedite bond offerings earlier this year to quickly raise $1.6 billion in cash.

But with those poison Ivies still trying to find a way to balance a hollow commitment to “tolerance” with appeasement of the widespread anti-Semitism demanded by much of their faculty and student body, donors remain repelled, and fundraising continues to struggle.

In early October, Harvard’s new president, Alan Garber, teased that some very bad financial news was about to be revealed for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2024. The Harvard Crimson reported Garber as stating, “Some of the new commitments have been disappointing compared to past years.” In discussing the passion of alumni who are concerned about the current culture and events at Harvard, Garber added, “They’ve been quite vocal.”

The bad news came out a week later. The Harvard Crimson reported:

Harvard’s fundraising crisis now has a price tag: $151 million. Total philanthropic contributions fell by 14 percent in fiscal year 2024 as several billionaire donors publicly severed ties with Harvard over its response to campus antisemitism. The $151 million decline marks one of the most significant year-over-year drops in donations in the past decade.

The donor crisis at Columbia has worsened. The university held its annual Giving Day event this fall, but donations dropped 29% from the previous Giving Day in 2022. (Due to campus turmoil over the university community’s support of Hamas’ October 2023 terror attack, there was no Giving Day in 2023.)

The Columbia Spectator laid out the bad news:

Columbia held its 12th annual Giving Day on Tuesday, raising a total of $21,362,592 after a one-year hiatus, a 28.8 percent decline in funds compared to 2022’s record-breaking year.

As the University grapples with a donor crisis—born out of concerns regarding campus protests—this year saw a 27.9 percent drop in the number of gifts, falling from 19,229 in 2022 to 13,870, the lowest since 2015. This year is the first that the total monetary amount of donations has declined from the previous Giving Day since the event’s inception in 2012.

Viewed over a two-year span, the situation at Columbia is simply catastrophic. The university raised $58 million combined in 2021 and 2022. But over 2023 and 2024, the combined total plummeted to just $21 million. The $38 million decrease in biennial giving represents a 64% decline.

Amid declining contributions, it seems both schools are facing a liquidity squeeze.

Despite an endowment exceeding $50 billion, Harvard had to expedite bond offerings earlier this year to quickly raise $1.6 billion in cash. The university raised $750 million in taxable bonds through Goldman Sachs and received approval from Massachusetts to issue up to $2 billion in state tax-exempt bonds. However, investor demand only supported $735 million of those state bonds, leaving Harvard more than $100 million short of its $1.6 billion goal.

Having contributions fall off further in the meantime can’t be helping Harvard’s cash crunch.

Published reports indicate that Harvard’s endowment is only about 20% in liquid assets (cash, stocks, bonds) with about 40% invested in private equity, about 30% in hedge funds, and 10% in real estate and other illiquid assets.

Several months ago, billionaire Bill Ackman noted that Harvard’s budgeting and endowment management rely on certain assumptions about alumni donations. These assumptions didn’t account for the possibility of a donor revolt and the steep decline in current-year cash gifts. Ackman speculated that Harvard’s need for quick cash to make up for lost donations led to the recent bond offerings, especially given the current high-interest rate environment.

Journalist Ira Stoll revealed that much of the cash Harvard raised was used to pay off maturing debt issued at lower interest rates and to roll over some short-term debt.

I don’t know enough to question the legitimacy of Harvard’s illiquid investments, but it is reasonable to question the “investment strategy” of Harvard’s famous endowment if it is so illiquid that even with several years lead time to prepare for bond maturity, its other investment assets cannot get converted into cash to pay off maturing bonds, thus requiring new, higher-interest debt. If an investment cannot ultimately be converted to cash, how does it have a value?

Columbia University also announced a few weeks ago that it too was hitting the bond market for a cash infusion. Columbia is seeking to raise about $500 million with this new debt, despite having an endowment valued at around $15 billion.

The Ivy League schools, especially Harvard and Columbia, have exhausted their reputational capital, and now they are exhausting their working capital. They have shown themselves to be morally and ethically bankrupt. If their liquidity problems can’t be rectified, and if donors have permanently slashed their recurring cash lifelines, perhaps financial bankruptcy is also in the offing for Harvard and Columbia. It would be a long time coming.

​Harvard, Columbia, Columbia protests, Donations, Boycotts, October 7, Anti-semitism, Claudine gay, Minouche shafik, Opinion & analysis 

Thirty-one days before winning the presidency Tuesday, Donald Trump looked out at the field of chanting people in Butler, Pennsylvania. Three months earlier, he had stood at that same spot and nearly lost his life in an assassination attempt.

The crowd gathered in hushed reverence, hanging on his words as he described the moment with an almost prophetic tone.

Dark MAGA is often labeled as sinister. Rather, it’s an ironic acceptance of the villain label: ‘If the bad guys are claiming to be good, I guess we have to pretend to be bad.’

“For 16 harrowing seconds during the gunfire, time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper’s perch, not so far away. But by the hand of providence and the grace of God, that villain did not succeed in his goal.”

Trump’s words struck a chord that night, underscoring resilience, faith, and a belief in something beyond mere politics. This wasn’t just a rally; it was one more victory for a movement that confounds the establishment.

Dark MAGA is emerging as the peculiar future of American politics, carrying a strange, dark energy that both intrigues and unsettles.

I’ve been to Trump rallies for the past nine years, and there is no experience quite like it. These events are part carnival, part cultural revolt, part wild yet neighborly party.

In Butler, there was silence and “Ave Maria.” The occasion held a sacred power, like an ordained victory.

The New York Times mocked it.

In that moment, the MAGA hat wasn’t just a symbol; it was an invocation, a shared ritual. And here was Elon Musk. Rocket man, robot builder, Twitter king, Cybertruck mastermind, campaigning for Donald Trump.

But in true Musk fashion, he sprinted out in the black MAGA hat, presumably his own invention. In this historic moment, his official coming-out as a Trump guy, he said, “I’m Dark MAGA.”

Dark MAGA fashion

While Dark MAGA has carved out its own look, the establishment scrambles to manufacture a relatable image, touting camo hats and forced smiles and ghoulish laughs. They hate shovels and apartments. Their inauthenticity is obvious, reptilian. They are the establishment. This shape-shifting is a tactic, a mechanism of control.

To them, Dark MAGA is a nuisance, a hindrance. They unleash their media goons more often, more openly.

A Washington Post fashion critic told NPR that the white supremacists co-opted the MAGA hat and it began “to represent a lot of really dark forces.”

In 2019, when the entire media bullied Nick Sandmann, CNN described MAGA hats as “a potent symbol of racism.” The Los Angeles Times went with MAGA hats “share a certain unfortunate DNA” with blackface. In 2020, the New York Times suggested that MAGA hats might soon become relics of a “lost cause,” representing a “threat” that could return, a movement lurking just beneath the surface.

In 2021, researchers determined that “in addition to racial resentment … white nationalism increased willingness to wear a MAGA hat.”

Evil cursive

Yet for Dark MAGA, the MAGA hat isn’t a threat to be contained but a symbol of defiance. It’s a challenge to the establishment, an unapologetic refusal to blend in, like Musk’s bold choice of an all-black MAGA hat with Gothic cursive at a Madison Square Garden.

Multiple news outlets offered this playful choice of font as “proof” that the rally was in fact a Nazi uprising. Hunter S. Thompson would be ashamed at the way Rolling Stone called the Madison Square Garden rally “a hate-filled takeover,” disguised in plain sight.

Yet Dark MAGA leans into the mischaracterizations. Its symbols aren’t sinister; they are a tongue-in-cheek response to the establishment’s hysteria. The elite press calls Dark MAGAns “dark forces,” and they wear it as a title.

But even Joe Biden can’t resist the MAGA hat allure.

Dark Brandon

Meme culture thrives in anonymity, beyond the reach of mainstream narratives, and Dark MAGA’s shadowy memes are no different. Yet the left-leaning establishment cheered on memes like “Dark Brandon,” depicting a “dark” Joe Biden in a positive light.

Dark MAGA is often labeled as sinister. Rather, it’s an ironic acceptance of the villain label: “If the bad guys are claiming to be good, I guess we have to pretend to be bad.”

The political philosophy underpinning Dark MAGA aligns with Nick Land’s “Dark Enlightenment,” a critique of democratic systems that pits power retention against meaningful action.

Land, an enigmatic philosopher, argues that democracy’s structural stagnation drives its leaders to make shortsighted choices to keep themselves in power.

Dark MAGA, whether directly or indirectly, channels this ethos. Dark MAGA is tired of a political machine that rewards complacency, of an elite that speaks of “good intentions” while silencing dissent. If the establishment claims the moral high ground, Dark MAGA is happy to be the contrarian force shaking things up.

The Dark MAGA rebellion

Dark MAGA has tapped into a deep-seated frustration, a feeling of disillusionment with politics as usual. It speaks for the “people” — the lowercase “p” people whom the establishment ignores.

Dark MAGAns argue that real change won’t come from reforms made to appease voters. It’ll come from breaking the machine itself, minimizing the influence of entrenched bureaucracies that cling to power.

Dark MAGA’s cynicism is rooted in the belief that meaningful progress has to begin with a clean slate, free from the elite’s self-preserving grasp. As Land critiques academia’s failure to understand capitalism’s unstoppable drive, Dark MAGA critiques a political class oblivious to the needs of the people.

The armor of God

Dark MAGA doesn’t see itself simply as a political insurgency. Its struggle goes beyond party lines; it’s a spiritual battle, a war against what MAGAns see as a darkness that threatens the soul of the nation. This isn’t merely about policies or power; it’s a deeper, more primal fight against forces they believe are actively working to dismantle truth and goodness. In their eyes, their opponents aren’t just political adversaries but “principalities and powers,” as the apostle Paul described, rulers of darkness that go beyond ideology (Ephesians 6:12).

For Dark MAGA, righteous politics is inseparable from Christianity. Without faith as a foundation, society will drift toward chaos. The Bible warns of angels cast into “chains of darkness” (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6), a reminder to Dark MAGA that the stakes are cosmic.

The world is teetering on the edge of disorder, held steady only by the cross. In Thessalonians, Paul calls believers “children of the light.” Dark MAGA sees itself as that light, ready to endure even as the world seems to spiral into darkness.

Dark MAGA has proven that the “light of the body” (Luke 11:33) can only shine when the eye is fixed on truth, love, and goodness.

Luke Reichwalker

Dark MAGA doesn’t fear the darkness — it thrives in it, carrying a light of its own that MAGAns believe will outlast the decaying structures around them. For them, this isn’t about a temporary political gain. It’s a battle for the soul of the nation, a fight against the world’s spiritual malaise. In that darkness, they carry the light, refusing to let it fade.

Back when Trump first won the presidency in 2016, I was on a college campus, where hard-left activism dominated. Some classmates, reveling in their self-assigned roles as the “rebel force,” asked each person whether: “Rebel force or dark side?” My Trump-supporting friend and I exchanged a look and answered with a smirk: “If you’re rebels, that makes us the dark side.”

​Bulter, Donald trump, Elon musk, Kevin ryan, Pennsylvania, Trump assassination attempt, Dark maga 

Republicans have no choice but to face their mandate head-on. The moment has arrived, and this time it must count.

They must keep their promises. Conservatives can’t afford to become complacent once the election fervor fades. This time, we must verify rather than just trust. This time must be different.

Addressing illegal immigration doesn’t require new legislation — it’s already illegal.

Democrats threw everything at Trump — over 90 indictments, censorship efforts, and unprecedented campaign spending against him. Yet Trump won every competitive state, gained ground in blue states, secured at least 53 Senate seats, and held the House. Despite Trump’s unpopularity with swing voters, the public voted for a shift in policy, not personality. That’s why those policies must change. No more excuses.

While conservatives must develop a vision across a host of issues, certain immediate red lines must be drawn to prevent the cycle of electoral success followed by policy failure that has plagued the party for decades.

Personnel is policy: The first policy focus must be personnel, as everything flows from the top aides and agency heads. In the coming days, we’ll hear names suggested for various positions — some promising, others concerning. Trump has welcomed many wealthy, non-traditional conservatives into his circle. Building a coalition is valuable, but some of these individuals don’t share core conservative values on key issues.

For example, many of them hold socially liberal views and support immigration expansion. Conservatives must speak out early and often if Trump decides to appoint some of these people to roles that conflict with his promises to his base. Some of them might be better suited to other roles. For instance, a person who supports U.S. involvement in Ukraine should be kept away from foreign affairs posts but might be solid on immigration.

By ensuring that personnel align with conservative principles, Trump and the party can maintain integrity and follow through on campaign promises.

Trump also must immediately announce his intention to request the resignation of every career bureaucrat on day one. He’ll have the most political capital at the start of his term, so he should act swiftly to remove those who may hinder his agenda. Delay will only make the job more difficult down the line.

No lame-duck session: Historically, Republicans have deflated post-election momentum with unproductive lame-duck sessions in December. Trump should urge Congress to pass a clean continuing budget resolution through spring, allowing him to cut spending and defund bad programs immediately rather than waiting for the next fiscal year. No other transformational bills should be considered during this time.

Rescind and impound unspent funding: Republicans now own inflation, and the only way to shift its trajectory is by cutting spending. The most straightforward solution is to target the hundreds of billions in unspent funds from the Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Act. Trump can impound this funding without congressional approval. He must clearly communicate to Americans that reducing spending is the only path out of stagflation, starting with unused Biden-era program funds.

Repeal the Green New Deal: As GOP lobbyists prepare to repeat the betrayal seen during the Obamacare repeal, pushing to retain subsidies for ineffective energy programs, Trump must commit to a full repeal of the Green New Deal and related legislation in the spring budget reconciliation bill. He must use all his political capital, influence, and the bully pulpit to rally Republicans around the most aggressive budget reconciliation package, which is the one annual opportunity to bypass the filibuster.

Leverage must-pass bills: Trump will likely lack the votes to enact sweeping changes through stand-alone legislation, so he must use his veto power on “must-pass” bills — such as budget and program reauthorization bills — as leverage for reforms. Farm bills, welfare reauthorization, agency reauthorization (including the FBI), and defense reauthorization bills should not pass GOP-controlled chambers without significant reforms. Where possible, welfare, agriculture, and education programs should be devolved to the states, even if done in a budget-neutral way.

Reform health care (the right way this time): Many reforms championed by RFK Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement can be done through executive action. Trump can direct Health and Human Services agencies to shift away from a mass vaccination agenda, publish accurate data on food, vaccines, and toxins, and address regulatory capture within these agencies. However, to truly tackle budgetary and chronic illness issues, the payment model for health care needs a total overhaul.

A practical goal would be to use every waiver under Obamacare to allow states to offer insurance plans independent of the costly regulatory structure that inflates catastrophic insurance premiums. This would enable individuals to access direct primary care with emergency coverage, fostering a parallel health care system rooted in independent-minded doctors and eliminating the costly middlemen that have driven up expenses and making our people sicker compared to other developed nations.

On a related note, wouldn’t Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo make a great HHS secretary?

Fulfill the immigration mandate: Polls consistently show that the public is frustrated with the influx of illegal immigration. Trump even won Hispanic male voters outright for Republicans, a first in modern history. The good news is that addressing illegal immigration doesn’t require new legislation — it’s already illegal. Trump can immediately shut down the incentives for illegal immigration by using his authority under section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to suspend immigration in the national interest. He should also empower states to enforce immigration law.

As for legal immigration, the last thing we need is an increase. The trouble is that some billionaires close to Trump are pushing for increased legal immigration, but conservatives must insist on a pause. The United States cannot continue to flood every industry’s labor market with foreign workers. After Biden’s 10-million-man invasion, the country needs a cooling-off period. While some adjustments may require legislation, Trump should avoid pushing any increase in legal immigration as a trade-off for border enforcement. He already has the authority he needs to enforce these changes.

Demand better Senate leadership: Senators John Thune (R-N.D.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) do not align with our values, mindset, or strategic vision for leading the Senate. Trump must lean in heavily for a clean break from the past to ensure the majority leader isn’t just a younger version of Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

We must stay firm on these basic expectations to avoid repeating the cycle of failure. However, our goals and strategies must also be realistic. Even with significant political capital, the Republican Party remains fractured, and narrow majorities will often limit our ability to enact the changes we want. In a divided country, Republicans frequently yield to special interests and cower out of concern over losing their power.

This is why, even as we develop a federal agenda, we must maximize efforts in red states where Democrats have little chance of taking control. Many reforms need to happen at the state level, so much of our federal agenda should focus on empowering states with greater flexibility.

God does not grant us these opportunities too often, and we can’t afford to waste them. This time must be different.

​Maga, Donald trump, 2024 presidential election, Congress, Personnel, Lame duck congress, Illegal immigration, Green new deal, Health care, Maha, Rfk jr., Spending, John thune, John cornyn, Mitch mcconnell, Senate, Opinion & analysis