Lee Ardis

Biden Appears To Swipe At Trump Over Kanye West Comments, But Jewish Leaders Praise Trump’s Pro-Israel Record

President Joe Biden took an apparent shot at his predecessor while condemning Kanye West’s anti-Semitic statements Friday, but Biden has been silent on anti-Jewish bigotry from members of his own party while many Jewish leaders deem Trump a friend of Israel.

West has been spouting anti-Semitic hate since an apparent dinner ambush of Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home two days before Thanksgiving. West, who brought a pair of uninvited guests known for their anti-Semitic views, followed up the dinner with interviews including a Thursday session with Alex Jones in which he lavished praise on Adolf Hitler. In condemning West’s comments, Biden appeared to accuse Trump of giving the spiraling rap and fashion mogul a forum, although he did not use his name.

“I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened,” Biden tweeted. “Hitler was a demonic figure. And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity.”

Trump, whose daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, are Orthodox Jews, has said he only agreed to meet with West because they have known each other for years and West appears to be in the throes of a meltdown that some believe was brought on by mental illness.

Biden had no such rebuke last year for the far-Left Democrat lawmakers known as “The Squad” when they accused Israel of imposing “apartheid” and committing acts of “terrorism” against Palestinians, The Times Of Israel reported. Those claims from Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Cori Bush (D-MO) prompted four Jewish House Democrats to write Biden seeking his response. If he offered one, it was never made public.

Trump, on the other hand, made no secret of his pro-Israel agenda during his presidency. Rabbi Dov Fischer, in a November 30 article in The American Spectator, praised Trump for a host of pro-Israel actions.

Outrage Ensues Over Balenciaga Using Young Children To Advertise Bondage Teddy Bear Purses

“A little girl as in 5-7 … is on a bed holding a Teddy bear dressed in bondage and fetish gear.”

Parents erupted in outrage over fashion brand Balenciaga using young children to advertise what one critic dubbed “bondage” teddy bear purses.

The high-end brand is known for its outrageous fashion and is often worn by celebrities like Kim Kardashian, model Bella Hadid, and actress Nicole Kidman.

“Has anyone else seen this? It’s on the main page of their website and is wildly inappropriate,” one person posted online to Mumsnet. “A little girl as in [aged] 5-7 … is on a bed holding a Teddy bear dressed in bondage and fetish gear. She also doesn’t look particularly happy. I don’t understand how a whole team of people presumably thought this was ok! It’s gross.”

“Bloody typical of Balenciaga,” another person reacted to the photos. “They shock to get attention for their overpriced rubbish. It’s like a social experiment on how ridiculous their products are but yet people buy the rubbish.”

“This though is disgusting and verging on depraved. What possessed the parents of this child to think this is any sort of normal I cannot fathom.”

There Is No War On Christmas — But There Is One On Thanksgiving

As America heads into the third Thanksgiving since the pandemic, a lot of things look like they’re back to normal: Families are gathering around the table together and travel is forecast to be at its highest level in decades. Even the anticipated turkey shortage didn’t materialize, according to the USDA. After three long years of socially distanced holidays, we’re back to merely worrying about whether Cousin Bob and Aunt Kim are going to ruin the feast by shouting at each other about politics. Perhaps we can entice them to debate side dishes instead.

Look closely, though, and there’s one thing that’s strikingly different from how Thanksgiving worked in the long-lost world of November 2019 — and it’s something to be grateful for: A lot of stores will actually close.

Back in the before times, one of the long-festering trends of the fourth weekend of November was the steady encroachment of that bigger holiday scheduled for December. Not long ago, Black Friday didn’t even have a name; by 2019, the signature kickoff event of the Christmas shopping season had bled into Thanksgiving itself.

Thus Walmart, Sears, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Michael’s all announced plans to open with special deals at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving night of 2019. By that point, Target, Best Buy, Macy’s and Kohl’s would already have been open for an hour. Upping the ante, Old Navy and GameStop opened at 3 p.m., and J.C. Penney unlocked the door at 2. A few big chains dispensed with the holiday altogether: Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s were open at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. KMart opened at 6:00 in the morning, before the sun had even risen on the United States’ great home-grown holiday.

This year, by contrast, most, but not all, of the big chains will remain closed for business — forgoing the opportunity to have customers make the late local news by storming the aisles, but in the process allowing their employees to actually spend the holiday observing a holiday.

Mormon Church calls radical same-sex ‘marriage’ bill the ‘best way forward’

While the church said its doctrine on marriage ‘is well known and will remain unchanged,’ it believes the radical so-called Respect for Marriage Act ‘is the best way forward.’

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, long seen as a bulwark for conservative family values, sent out shockwaves Tuesday when it gave its support for radical legislation currently before Congress that would enshrine gay “marriage” into federal law. The affirmation comes despite the church’s previous moves to fight LGBT infiltration in the culture.

The LDS made the declaration in a Tuesday statement published on its official website.

According to the statement, while the church’s doctrine “related to marriage between a man and a woman is well known and will remain unchanged,” it believes the so-called Respect for Marriage Act protecting homosexual unions under federal law “is the best way forward.”

If passed by Congress, the legislation would federally codify a radical redefinition marriage at odds with all major religions. Catholic bishops, including San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas — along with leading conservative organizations — have warned the measure would pave the way for discrimination against Christians and others who support the traditional understanding of marriage.

As LifeSiteNews has reported, bipartisan carveouts for religious liberty have focused solely protecting religious nonprofits from being compelled to solemnize or celebrate a same-sex “marriage” opposed with that group’s religious beliefs. Notably lacking is any language shielding Christians or other people of faith who simply reject homosexual unions as a form of “marriage.”

The Crazy Mystical Impulses Sending Putin Wild in Ukraine

If you suspect that Vladimir Putin’s decision-making process is above the creed of superstition and mythical creatures, you should know that there are psychologists, intelligence agency analysts and a jailed Yakutsk wizard out there who would beg to differ.

“Putin and his entourage take the spirit world very seriously,” says a Kremlin official who requested anonymity to ensure his security, navigating what some insiders maintain is the Russian president’s Twilight Zone. “It’s not a big leap of faith for a Russian to think Putin will do what’s necessary to destroy anyone looking to exorcize the imaginary demons who they believe give him power.”

The question is, do you believe that primal evil spirits, concocted to panic delusory serfs, have entranced the 70-year-old Putin into slaughtering Ukrainians and threatening nuclear war against the West?

Anna Moroz, who’s spent a decade counseling Russian emigres mystified about how to accustom themselves to the West’s secular ways, is about as certain of it as any clinical psychologist can be under the circumstances.

“Legendary stories play a formidable role in our national psychology and are without doubt animating Putin’s actions in Ukraine,” the Russian-born Moroz explains, speaking to The Daily Beast under an assumed name for fear of reprisals. “The technical term is paradoxical thinking, but I certainly don’t believe reports that the man-snake Koschei Bessmertny is advising Putin from a grotto beneath the Kremlin.”

Laos Pastor Likely Tortured, Killed for Spreading Christianity

Local police and Christian authorities in Laos jointly believe that a Christian pastor was tortured and killed for spreading Christianity and converting villagers to the Christian faith.

According to a report by Christian Headlines, investigators discovered the body of Pastor Seetoud in October with visible signs of torture. The pastor was known to minister in Laos’ Khammouane Province, where his church was.

Details of the Incident
The same report disclosed that Pastor Seetoud was supposed to minister to Christians in the village of Thakhek on Oct. 20. The village is at least 100 kilometers away from his house in Done Keo village in Khammouane Province’s Nakai District.

When the pastor did not arrive at the meeting place three hours after his supposed arrival, 20 people began looking for him.

The search team reportedly went to a mountain pass close to Don Keo village but failed to locate the pastor. They also visited a local hospital to look for Pastor Seetoud, but he was not there.

Following the failed attempts to locate him, the search party secured CCTV footage from a local store in Nakai the following day. The footage showed the pastor leaving a gas canister, which he intended to retrieve afterward.

Christians are attacked in Bethlehem. A rabbi calls on Israel to intervene

“You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt. EXODUS 23:9 (THE ISRAEL BIBLE)

A series of attacks targeting Christians and Christian sites in the Bethlehem area has many faith leaders deeply concerned. The persecution is threatening the existence of the oldest Christian community in the world.

There has been a marked uptick in religiously motivated attacks by Palestinian Muslims on Christians in Bethlehem. Just over two weeks ago, a Muslim man was accused of harassing young Christian women at a Forefathers Orthodox Church in Beit Sahour near the city of Bethlehem. Soon after, the church was attacked by a large mob of Palestinian men who hurled rocks at the building while congregants cowered inside. Several of the congregants were injured in the attack.

The Palestinian Authority, responsible for security in the area, did nothing.

In October, unidentified gunmen shot at the Christian-owned Bethlehem Hotel after a video on social media associated the hotel with a display that included cardboard cutouts of a Star of David and a Menorah. The video showed the display in the conference room of the hotel which also included cardboard cutouts of sheep and a wine chalice that had been set up by Filipino guests. The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism ordered the closure of the hall, claiming the hotel was preparing for a Jewish festival.

No arrests were made in connection with the shooting.

Perhaps the greatest shock to the community came in April when the Palestinian evangelical pastor, Johnny Shahwan, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority security forces on charges of “promoting normalization” with Israel. The arrest came after Shahwan appeared in a photo alongside Rabbi Yehuda Glick, a former member of the Knesset. After the photo of the pastor and rabbi appeared on social media, unidentified gunmen fired shots at the center. The pastor was held for 40 days and his ministry was shut down, purportedly for his own protection.

Indonesia earthquake: Search for survivors as death toll soars

Rescuers in Indonesia have continued their efforts to find survivors trapped after Monday’s earthquake in West Java.

The latest official figures say 271 people were killed – many of them children – and are 40 still missing. Hundreds of others were injured.

Damaged roads and the vast size of the affected area are making it difficult to locate and help victims.

Aprizal Mulyadi was at school when the quake hit, and was trapped after “the room collapsed”.

The 14-year-old said his “legs were buried under the rubble”, but he was pulled to safety by his friend Zulfikar, who later died after himself becoming trapped.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said on Tuesday that 22,000 houses had been damaged, and that more than 58,000 people had taken shelter in several locations in the region.

The 5.6 magnitude quake struck a mountainous region the previous day, causing landslides that buried entire villages near the West Java town of Cianjur.

‘We Are Living In A Dystopian Future:’ San Francisco Police Introduce Policy Granting Robots A License To Kill

San Francisco authorities proposed a new “dystopian” policy heading for approval next week that would license department robots to kill suspects who threaten the lives of citizens and police officers in the crime-ridden city.

San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) drafted the blueprint for officers to use its military-style weapons, which includes 17 remote-controlled robots available in its inventory that are typically used for defusing bombs or surveilling areas too difficult for authorities to access.

“Robots will only be used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available to SFPD,” the policy reads.

The proposal also authorizes authorities to use the robots for “training and simulations, criminal apprehensions, critical incidents, exigent circumstances, executing a warrant or during suspicious device assessments.”

SFPD Officer Eve Laokwansathitaya told The Verge the department has always had the ability to use lethal force when a suspect threatens the lives of officers or members of the public after all other force options are unavailable.

Tucker Carlson: Could a Lie Have Gotten Millions of Americans Killed?

Not since the pre-Glasnost days, when mutually assured nuclear destruction between the Soviet Union and the United States was the only logical way a shooting war between the two superpowers would end, has the world teetered so close to the brink of atomic conflict.

In the early days of the Ukraine war, Russian President Vladimir Putin put his nuclear forces on high alert — seldom a good sign. It was even worse when U.S. President Joe Biden began talking about “Armageddon.”

“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Biden told a Democratic Party fundraiser last month.

Needless to say, that tends to put a fellow on edge. And, when a missile lands in Polish territory — Poland being a NATO ally — things start to get hairy. That’s especially true when early reports seemed to indicate it was a Russian missile.

We’re now almost certain it wasn’t. The missile in question is only operated by the Ukrainians, which means it was likely an accident that occurred while fending off a Russian attack. The Ukrainians aren’t admitting responsibility, however.