The No-Fear Act

Today when I was looking up some COVID19 statistics at the CDC site, I noticed something at the bottom of the page called the "No-FEAR" Act. Have you heard of that? Trust me, President Trump hasn't removed all the ridiculous red tape and piles of useless paperwork in DC. "The Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 is a United States federal law that seeks to discourage federal managers and supervisors from engaging in unlawful discrimination and retaliation. It is popularly called the No-FEAR Act, and is also known as Public Law 107–174."

I'm not sure where the final total of these discrimination and retaliation reports goes, but every government department and agency seems to be required to fill them out. . . quarterly. Then annually, then compare them to the last 4 years (at least that's all I found so I was looking at annual totals from Obama years also). I didn't investigate in depth--only about 10 minutes. What I found out from the agencies I looked at is that it takes about 200 days to investigate a complaint (race, color, religion, reprisal, sex, PDA, national origin, equity pay, age, genetics (?), awards ). The biggest complaints seemed to be performance evaluations and non-sexual harassment. There were miniscule number of filings considering the size of some of the agencies, and in most cases there were zero findings of discrimination and retaliation. Maybe if you complain about your boss, the investigation and findings would be to get demoted to this awful job.

https://www.opm.gov/equal-employment-opportunity/no-fear-act/

https://www.cdc.gov/eeo/nofearact/index.htm

https://www.fema.gov/about/offices/equal-rights/no-fear-act

https://home.treasury.gov/footer/no-fear-act

The most detailed report was the Bureau of Consumer Financial  Protection which is awash in helpful and eye opening acronyms  https://home.treasury.gov/footer/no-fear-act

Joe Biden, the faithless Catholic

"In 1988, Biden ended his search for the presidency when it was discovered that, in reciting the story of his life, he had plagiarized a speech given by Neil Kinnock, the leader of the Labour Party in Britain. The late Bernard Nathanson quipped that the reason it took Biden so long to withdraw was that he was waiting to plagiarize the withdrawal statement of Ted Kennedy. "

"When [Joe Biden] was chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate, he worked closely with Ted Kennedy, and with malicious deceit, in defeating the nomination of Robert Bork. That led in turn to the nomination of Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy would lead a defection of Republican appointees in 1992 to block the overruling of Roe v Wade.

And after securing the right to abortion for another generation, he laid the groundwork for removing, from the laws, any adverse judgment on the homosexual life. (Romer v Evans, 1996, Lawrence v. Texas, 2003). With that, he installed the premises that led, step-by-step to same-sex marriage (Obergefehl v. Hodges, 2015)."

Hadley Arkes, The Catholic Thing, Nov. 3, 2020

Election Day, November 3, 2020

One the the best campaign speeches and promises I've read. And there's only one national candidate who even comes close, and even he falls short. Not in my life time have I known a humble person to run for President.  By Kevin DeYoung*

“What I’d love to hear from a presidential candidate some day:

If you vote for me, I won’t fight for you, I won’t take care of your family, and I won’t get you a job. You can depend on me to be fair and honest, but you should depend on a thousand other people to give your life meaning and joy.

I won’t run the economy or heal the planet. I can’t promise you your problems will go away. In fact, striving for utopia on earth has a really bad track record in history. Politics is about the art of the possible, so I will try to be wise in weighing tradeoffs and listening to the good counsel and insight of others.

Although we can be decent people, all of us can be pretty selfish deep down. That means government works best when it has checks and balances, when no one person or department or institution has too much power. That also means I don’t assume government is the best solution for all our problems. Government can do some really good things, but it can’t fill the void where family and community and church and school and the soccer club are supposed to be.

I’ll work hard to be fiscally responsible and to protect you and your stuff. I will look to Congress to write the laws, not me. I’m committed to being a person of humility and personal discipline, so that when the inevitable crisis comes—the things we don’t know are coming, like war, or recession, or a pandemic—I’ll be ready to lead with courage and common sense.

You should know that I take my faith in Jesus seriously, and it’s because I’m a Christian that I believe in the abiding importance of the First Amendment, not just for Christians but for all Americans.

So vote for me if you want someone who will work hard to serve the country, not to be the center of the country’s attention. I won’t be your parent, your pastor, or your best friend. But I’ll uphold the Constitution, try to set a virtuous example, and pursue liberty and justice for all. So help me God.

And I will abolish Daylight Savings.”

*Kevin DeYoung is an American Reformed Evangelical theologian and author. He is currently the senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church, in Matthews, North Carolina. The church he previously pastored, University Reformed Church, shifted to the Presbyterian Church in America in March 2015 after having been a member of the Reformed Church in America. DeYoung is a member of The Gospel Coalition Council, and he blogs for the ministry.

A nice story I saw on Facebook

Waiting in line to pay for groceries while maintaining a 6ft distance, this man cut in line.

He didn't appear to notice what he’d done. The person he skipped didn't say anything, just maintained the proper distance.

When it was time for the man to pay he reached in his back pocket and pulled out a small note pad.

He’d forgotten his wallet.

He looked a bit disappointed and embarrassed. The person he skipped stepped up and told the cashier they’d take care of his groceries. (Which only consisted of milk and cookies.)

He was more than grateful. He kindly thanked them and off the man went. Upon arrival to the register, the cashier asked: "He cut you off and you paid for his groceries.. Why??"

They calmly replied with a smile:

“I hope that if one day my Dad forgets his wallet, someone will step up and buy his milk and cookies.”

Kindness is a beautiful thing.

~From another page.

30 GOOD THINGS PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DONE FOR AMERICA

August 21, 2020

Edited and condensed from Wayne Grudem http://www.waynegrudem.com/list-of-25-good-things-president-trump-has-done-for-america

• More extensive arguments can be found in books by Wayne Grudem,  Christian Ethics,¹ Politics According to the Bible,² and The Poverty of Nations.³

  1. Judges: Trump has appointed two Supreme Court justices, 53 federal appellate judges,⁴ and 146 District Court judges ⁵ (as well as two judges for the Court of International Trade⁶) who have been confirmed by the Senate so far. In addition, 64 more have been appointed and are awaiting Senate confirmation.⁷ All of them are committed to interpreting the Constitution and laws according to the original meaning of the words, rather than according to what a modern liberal judge thinks the law should have said.

  2. Historic tax cuts and deregulation: After eight years of high unemployment and meager growth under President Obama’s administration, the Trump tax cuts of 2017 and Trump’s extensive canceling of excessive government regulations on businesses have given a tremendous boost to the American economy. An estimated 25,000 pages of regulations have been canceled, resulting in a savings of $3,100 per household per year.¹¹ Another result of tax cuts combined with deregulation has been the addition of thousands of new jobs, so that unemployment (before the coronavirus crisis) fell to the lowest point in 50 years,¹² and unemployment among African-American and Hispanic workers was the lowest it has ever been in history.¹³

  4. Protecting unborn babies: Numerous executive orders have increasingly restricted government funding for abortions (such as the reinstatement of the Mexico City policy).¹⁵ On February 22, 2019, the Trump administration announced that it would not allow organizations that provide referrals for abortions to receive federal family-planning money, which implies a cut in funding for Planned Parenthood (the nation’s largest abortion provider) unless they perform abortions in a separate facility and not refer patients to it.¹⁶ And on May 2, 2019, the Trump administration’s Department Of Health And Human Services issued a new rule protecting healthcare workers who decline on the basis of conscience or religious conviction to participate in procedures such as abortion or assisted suicide.¹⁷ Trump was the first president ever to personally attend the pro-life March for Life in Washington, DC on January 24, 2020.¹⁸

  5. Expanding educational freedom: President Trump appointed Betsy DeVos, one of America’s leading advocates for greater school choice, to be Secretary of Education, resulting in rising supportfor charter schools, taxpayer-funded vouchers, and tax credits for private-school vouchers, programs aimed at expanding options for parents looking beyond traditional public schools as she brings attention to them.¹⁹

  6. Standing with Israel: Reversing President Obama’s repeated marginalization and shunning of Israel, President Trump has reaffirmed our commitment to support and defend Israel. He decisively moved the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.²⁰ He recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel.²¹ He has welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House several times and has repeatedly reaffirmed our support for Israel. I recently read in the Jerusalem Post a statement that Israel has never had a better friend in the White House than Donald Trump.²²

  7. Negotiating a historic agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates: On August 13, 2020, President Trump announced that Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had come to a historic agreement to establish full diplomatic relations between the two countries,²³ including the establishment of permanent embassies and the beginning of direct airline flights between the two countries. This is important because Dubai, the largest city in the UAE, is the leading financial center in the Middle East and plays a leading role in world air travel and tourism. The agreement will “strengthen regional checks on Iranian power.”²⁴ It also has the potential to set a pattern for future agreements establishing peaceful relations between Israel and other Arab countries in the Middle East.²⁵

  8. Actually building a border wall: President Trump has relentlessly battled against Democratic stonewalling and liberal federal judges to build an effective, secure border wall along more than 200 miles of our southern border, and it could possibly reach as much as 450 miles by the end of 2020.²⁶

  9. Comprehensive immigration reform proposals : President Trump has proposed and worked for sensible, comprehensive reform of our broken immigration system that would change our policy on legal immigration from a system based on extended family connections and randomness to a system based on merit, so that we prioritize admitting people who will be most likely to contribute positively to American society²⁷(as well as those who are escaping from genuine threats to their lives in their homelands).

  10. Religious freedom and freedom of conscience: President Trump’s administration has repeatedly and continually worked to defend religious freedom, and his Justice Department has defended religious freedom in numerous court cases, such as supporting the case of Colorado cake designer Jack Phillips at the Supreme Court (Phillips faced massive fines for politely declining to design a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding), ²⁸ and the right of faith-based organizations not to be forced to provide access to abortifacients through their health care plans, overturning the Obamacare HHS regulation that had forced them to do so.²⁹

  11. Withdrawing from Paris climate accord: President Trump wisely and decisively removed United States from the Paris climate accord, a radical environmentalist program which, according to a Heritage Foundation study, would have brought massive increases to US energy prices with no statistically significant benefit to the environment³¹. Doubling or tripling of US energy costs (as under the Paris climate accord, according to the Heritage Foundation) would have harmed the poor most of all as they spend the highest portion of their budgets on energy. In addition, it would have cost America more than 206,000 jobs by 2040. ³²

  12. Energy production and energy independence: President Trump gave approval to the Keystone pipeline,³³ the Dakota access pipeline,³⁴ and oil production from the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge,³⁵, a vast uninhabited region which could produce up to 20 percent of our petroleum needs.³⁶ His administration has also granted more permits for mining of oil, gas, and coal from federal lands. ³⁷ The result has been lower energy prices (which benefits everyone) and also US energy independence so that we are now becoming the leading exporter rather than a net importer of energy.³⁸

  13. Waterways of the US: The Trump administration’s decision to abandon the “waterways of the US” policy rightfully returned control of water on private lands to the owners of those lands, rather than the federal government seizing control over nearly all waterways in the United States.

  14. Halting the increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards: The Trump administration decision halted the Obama-imposed harsh annual increases in projected average miles per gallon required in new cars every year.⁴¹

  15. Defeating ISIS: President Trump gave our military forces the freedom to defeat ISIS and drive them out of large sections of Iraq and Syria, which they did.⁴² Under President Trump’s leadership, US military forces located and killed ISIS founder and terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Oct. 26-27, 2019.⁴³ President Trump also directed the killing of Iranian terrorist mastermind Qasem Soleimani on Jan. 2, 2020.⁴⁴

  16. Persuading European nations to pay more for NATO: President Trump has insisted that NATO countries start to pay their fair share of defense costs, and some NATO countries have responded by increasing their defense budgets. In 2017, five countries met the goal of spending 2% of their GDP on defense and that has now increased to nine according to the alliance’s latest budgetary data.

  17. Protections against false accusation on college campuses: President Trump’s administration has restored many due process guidelines that universities must follow in processing title IX accusations of sexual assault on university campuses.⁴⁶

  18. Protecting freedom of speech on college campuses: President Trump issued an executive order giving more specific protections to freedom of speech on college campuses by threatening the loss of federal research dollars if they do not allow for free speech for all students and faculty members.

  19. Protecting boys’ and girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams: On February 22, 2017, President Trump directed the Department of Education to revoke the Obama-administration’s guidance letter that had directed schools to allow children who claim to be “transgender” to use the bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers of their choice, and to join sports teams of their choice, even when their choices differed from their biological sex.

  20. Negotiating new trade agreements that are more favorable to the United States: President Trump has negotiated new trade agreements with Mexico, Canada, and China, and all of them give more favorable treatment to the United States than the previous treaties did.⁴⁹

  21. Streamlining environmental reviews for major construction projects: In order to build a new section of highway, a new subway line, or a new gas pipeline, the necessary environmental impact statements have recently taken an average of 4.5 years, and many ran for six years or longer.⁵⁰ These delays massively increased construction costs and delayed relief for over-congested highways for many years. But on July 15, 2020, President Trump’s White House released new guidelines limiting environmental impact studies to two years and limiting less-extensive environmental assessments to one year.⁵¹

  22. Sending weapons to Ukraine: Whereas President Obama sent only humanitarian aid, President Trump authorized the selling of actual military equipment to Ukraine, including Javelin missiles which were necessary to defend against Russian aggression.⁵³

  23. Standing up to China and Russia: Trump has been the first president to decisively denounce China’s blatant practice of industrial espionage and bullying,⁵⁴ stealing of intellectual property,⁵⁵ and violating international copyright protections.⁵⁶ He has followed up with strong trade sanctions against China, ⁵⁷ an increased US naval presence in the South China Sea,⁵⁸ and the closing of the Chinese consulate in Houston, which was a center of Chinese espionage.⁵⁹ The Trump administration has closed several Russian consulates in the US and expelled over 60 Russian “diplomats” (espionage agents),⁶⁰ issued sanctions against several Russian officials,⁶¹ and persuaded several European nations to increase their defenses against potential Russian invasion.⁶²

  24. Withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal: President Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action, which would have allowed Iran to build a nuclear bomb within the next few years.⁶³

  25. A wise COVID-19 response: President Trump imposed strict restrictions on travel from China on January 31, 2020, long before other leaders recognized the danger of this coronavirus. Then, when the COVID-19 virus began to spread rapidly within the United States, the dominant media narrative was a fear that we would run out of hospital beds to care for the sick. President Trump immediately mobilized the military to construct huge new hospital facilities in New York City and elsewhere, and soon there were enough beds.⁶⁴

  Finally, the FDA has fast-tracked the trial and approval process for a vaccine,⁶⁶ and the federal government has made commitments to purchase millions of vaccines from various companies as soon as they are approved for widespread use.

  In addition, President Trump, working with Congress, quickly passed three coronavirus relief packages, with the result that millions of Americans continued to receive pay in spite of their workplaces being temporarily closed. ⁶⁹

  26. Reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs: On June 23, 2017, President Trump signed the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, which gave the Secretary of Veterans Affairs streamlined authority to fire unproductive employees and to appoint new medical directors at VA hospitals.⁷⁰

  27. Criminal justice reform: President Trump signed the First Step Act on December 21, 2018.This law gives judges more flexibility in reducing mandatory sentencing guidelines in individual cases, eliminates the “three strikes” requirement of life imprisonment for some offenses, improves opportunities for academic and vocational education within prisons, provides more support for the successful reentry of released prisoners into society, and requires prisoners to be placed in prisons near their place of primary residence where possible ⁷²

  28. Reducing prescription drug prices: on July 24, 2000, President Trump signed four executive orders aimed at reducing prescription drug prices.

  29. Protecting federal property from rioters: President Trump announced in Washington, DC that any destruction of federal statues and monuments would result in fines up to $10,000, and suddenly the attacks on these statues came to an abrupt halt.

  According to the 1807 Insurrection Act, the president has the legal authority to take any measures (including deploying federal troops or other law enforcement officials) necessary to suppress any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination or conspiracy, even without an invitation or permission from the governor of the state in which that federal property is located.

  In a further response to the violence threatening many of our cities, President Trump’s Department of Justice has now launched Operation Legend, in which over 1000 additional federal agents have been dispatched to work alongside local law enforcement officers in nine cities to apprehend the most violent instigators of these riots. They have now located and arrested 1485 suspects for violent crimes, including 90 homicides.⁷⁷

  30. Welcoming evangelical Christians into positions of influence:  President Trump has appointed a remarkably large number of evangelicals to high government offices. These include Vice President Mike Pence, Ben Carson (Secretary of Housing and Urban Development), Betsy DeVos (Secretary of Education), Rick Perry (former secretary of energy), Scott Pruitt (former administrator of Environmental Protection Agency), Dan Coats (former director of national intelligence), Mike Pompeo (Secretary of State), Russ Vought (Director of Office of Management and Budget), and Kayleigh McEnany (White House Press Secretary), and others.

  In addition, he has frequently welcomed evangelical pastors and other leaders to the White House, for both public and private conversations. ⁷⁸

  The context: refusing to waiver in the face of the most biased reporting in American history: These 30 good actions have all been accomplished in spite of a remarkably hostile national media. The Media Research Center analyzed all the evaluative statements made by reporters, anchors, and nonpartisan sources (such as experts or voters but not people identified as Democrats or Republicans) during June and July of 2020 on “World News Tonight “ ( ABC), “Evening News” (CBS), and “NBC Nightly News” (NBC). They counted 34 positive evaluative statements made about President Trump and 634 negative statements during those two months. By contrast, there were eight positive statements and four negative evaluative statements about Biden during the same time period. (Biden had become the presumptive Democratic nominee on April 8 when Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign.)

  These numbers indicate that, for every time that viewers heard a negative evaluation of Biden, they heard 158 negative evaluations of Trump. For every positive statement they heard about Trump, they heard 18 negative statements. . .

  Research director Rich Noyes at the Media Research Center was quoted as saying, “I have been studying the news media and elections for more than 35 years. Trust me – there has never been anything like it.” He called this “the most biased presidential campaign coverage in modern media history.”⁷⁹

  Wayne Grudem is Distinguished Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies at Phoenix Seminary in Arizona.

  The views expressed in this article represent the views of the author and should not be understood to represent the position of Phoenix Seminary.

  1 Wayne Grudem, Christian Ethics (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018).

  2 Wayne Grudem, Politics According to the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010).

  3 Wayne Grudem and Barry Asmus, The Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution (Wheaton: Crossway, 2015).

  4 Carrie Campbell Severino, “200 Judges: A Milestone for President Trump,” USA Today, June 25, 2020 https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/06/25/donald-trump-200th-court-appointment-milestone-column/3250922001/ (Retrieved July 21, 2020)

  5 Sara Reynolds, “Senate confirms Cronan to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York,”

  https://news.ballotpedia.org/2020/08/07/senate-confirms-cronan-to-u-s-district-court-for-the-southern-district-of-new-york/ (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  6 Carlie Porterfield, “Trump Confirms 200^th Judge, The Most In a First Term Since Carter,” Forbes, June 24, 2020 https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2020/06/24/trump-confirms-200th-judge-the-most-in-a-first-term-since-carter/#137989677781 (Retrieved July 21, 2020)

  7“Current Federal Judicial Vacancies,” Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/Current_federal_judicial_vacancies (Retrieved July 21, 2020) There are currently 36 nominees awaiting a hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee. There are currently 12 nominees awaiting a committee vote in the appropriate U.S. Senate committee. There are currently 16 nominees awaiting a confirmation vote in the full U.S. Senate.

  8 Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue No. 18-1195, Decided June 30, 2020 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-1195_g314.pdf (Retrieved July 21, 2020)

  9 O Lady of Guadalupe v. Morrissey-Berru and St. James School v. Biel, No. 19-267, Decided July 8, 2020 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-267_1an2.pdf (Retrieved July 21, 2020)

  10 Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, No. 19-431, Decided July 8, 2020 https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-431_5i36.pdf (Retrieved July 21, 2020)

  11 Lucas Manfriedi, “Trump Unveils Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule,” Fox Business, July 16, 2020 https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/trump-unveils-safer-affordable-fuel-efficient-vehicles-rule (Retrieved August 20, 2020)

  12 Catherine Thorbecke, “Unemployment Rate Falls to Lowest Level in 50 Years,” ABCNews.com, October 4, 2019 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/unemployment-rate-falls-lowest-level-50-years/story?id=66058946 (Retrieved July 21, 2020)

  13Maggie Fitzgerald, “Black and Hispanic Unemployment is at a Record Low,” CNBC.com, October 4, 2019 https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/04/black-and-hispanic-unemployment-is-at-a-record-low.html

  14 See “U.S. Military Spending/Defense Budget 1960-2020,” MacroTrends, https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/military-spending-defense-budget (Retrieved July 22, 2020) and “DOD Releases Fiscal Year 2020 Budget,” U.S. Department of Defense, https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/1782623/dod-releases-fiscal-year-2020-budget-proposal/ (Retrieved July 22, 2020)

  15 Ramesh Ponnuru, “Donald Trump’s Pro-Life Presidency,” National Review, February 6, 2020 https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2020/02/24/donald-trumps-pro-life-presidency/#slide-1 (Retrieved July 22, 2020)

  16 “Trump Administration Blocks Funds for Planned Parenthood and Others over Abortion Referrals,” New York Times, February 22, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/health/trump-defunds-planned-parenthood.html (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  17 “New HHS Rule Protects Pro-Life Healthcare Workers,” Christianity Today, May 2, 2019 https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/january/hhs-division-conscience-protections-prolife-abortion-trump.html (Retrieved July 24, 2020) See also, “White House Unveils Rule to Protect Health Workers’ Religious, Moral Beliefs,” Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2019 https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-unveils-rules-to-protect-health-workers-religious-moral-beliefs-11556816255 (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  18 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-47th-annual-march-life/ (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  19 Valerie Richardson, “DeVos touts rising support for school choice, charter schools as families seek ‘more control,” Washington Times, August 21, 2019 https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/21/betsy-devos-touts-rising-support-for-school-choice/ (Retrieved July 22, 2020)

  20 Alex Pappas, “Trump Officially Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital, Orders Embassy to Move for U.S.,” Fox News, December 6, 2017 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-officially-recognizes-jerusalem-as-israels-capital-orders-embassy-move-for-us (Retrieved July 22, 2020)

  21 Natasha Turek, “Trump Officially Recognized Israel’s Annexation of Golan Heights, Here ‘s What it Means,” CNBC.com, March 27, 2019 https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/27/trump-officially-recognized-israels-annexation-of-golan-heights.html (Retrieved July 22, 2020)

  22 Mike Evans, “Israel’s Greatest Friend Sits in the White House,” The Jerusalem Post, May 29, 2019 https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Israels-greatest-friend-sits-in-the-White-House-591063 (Retrieved July 22, 2020)

  23Deirdre Shesgreen, John Fritze, Michael Collins, David Jackson, “Trump announces Israel and United Arab Emirates will formalize diplomatic ties in potentially historic deal,” USA Today, August 14, 2020

  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/13/trump-israel-united-arab-emirates-agree-establish-diplomatic-ties/3364243001/

  24 “Trump’s Mid-East Breakthrough,” The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2020 https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-mideast- -11597360774?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1.(Retrieved August 18, 2020

  25 Ibid.

  26 Adam Shaw, “Trump Tours Wall as Construction Hits 200 Mile Mark, Says Southern Border Has ‘Never Been More Secure,’” Fox News.com, June 23, 2020 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-wall-200-mile-mark-southern-border (Retrieved July 22, 2020)

  27 James Carafano, “Trump’s Immigration Wins – Despite Opposition, Here’s How He Produced Real Results,” Fox News.com, June 23, 2020 https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trump-immigration-wins-produced-real-results-james-carafano (Retrieved July 22, 2020)

  28 Stoyan Zaimov, “Trump Administration Motions to Argue on Behalf of Jack Phillips in Supreme Court Gay Wedding Cake Case,” The Christian Post, October 27, 2017,https://www.christianpost.com/news/trump-admin-motions-to-argue-on-behalf-of-jack-phillips-in-supreme-court-gay-wedding-cake-case.html (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  29 Robert Pear, “Trump Administration Rolls Back Birth Control Mandate,” New York Times, October 6, 2017 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/us/politics/trump-contraception-birth-control.html (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  30 Office of the Attorney General, Memorandum for All Executive Departments and Agencies, Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty, October 6, 2017https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1001891/download?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery (Retrieved August 21, 2020). See also https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-stands-religious-freedom-united-states/

  31 Kevin Dayaratna, Nicolas Loris and David Kreutzer, “Consequences of Paris Protocol “ Devastating Economic Costs, Essentially Zero Environmental Benefits,” The Heritage Foundation, April 13, 2016 https://www.heritage.org/environment/report/consequences-paris-protocol-devastating-economic-costs-essentially-zero (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  32 Ibid.

  33 Matthew Brown, “Trump Administration Approves Keystone Pipeline on U.S.Land,” ABCNews.com, January 22, 2020 https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/trump-administration-approve-keystone-pipeline-us-land-68456805 (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  34 Courtney Norris, “Trump Signs Order to Advance Keystone XL and Dakota Pipelines, PBS.com,January 23, 2017 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-signs-order-advance-keystone-xl-dakota-pipelines (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  35 “Interior Opens More of Alaska Reserve to Oil Development,” Associated Press, June 25, 2020 accessed at https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Interior-opens-more-of-Alaska-reserve-to-oil-15367331.php (Retrieved July 23, 2020). See also https://www.wsj.com/articles/interior-secretary-to-approve-oil-drilling-in-alaska-s-arctic-refuge-11597667400?mod=hp_lead_pos11.

  36 “Trans-Alaskan Pipeline History,” https://aoghs.org/transportation/trans-alaska-pipeline/ (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  37 “Trump Administration Scores Big on Energy from Public Lands,’ Institute for Energy Research, January 10, 2020 https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/fossil-fuels/gas-and-oil/trump-administration-scores-big-on-energy-from-public-lands/ (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  38 Jude Clemente, “The U.S. is Becoming the World’s Largest Oil and Natural Gas Exporter,” Forbes, March 22, 2020 https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2020/03/22/the-us-is-becoming-the-worlds-largest-oil-and-natural-gas-exporter/#66e5c1fb5cb2 (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  39 Stephanie Ebbs, “Trump Administration Removes Federal Protections from Streams, Wetlands,” ABCNews.com January 23, 2020 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-administration-removes-federal-protections-streams-wetlands/story?id=68463935 (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  40 “New Clean Water Rule Provides Clarity, Certainty to Farmers and Ranchers,” https://www.fb.org/newsroom/new-clean-water-rule-provides-clarity-certainty-to-farmers-and-ranchers (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  41 Ledyard King, “Trump Administration Scraps Obama Fuel efficiency Standard, Opts for Laxer Rule,” USA Today.com, March 31, 2020 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/31/trump-eases-up-obama-era-fuel-efficiencies-rules-cars-trucks/5093923002/ (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  42 Deb Reichmann, “Trump Says ISIS Territory in Syria Nearly Eliminated,” Military Times, March 20, 2019 https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2019/03/20/trump-says-isis-territory-in-syria-nearly-eliminated/ (Retrieved July 23, 2000)

  43 Remarks by President Trump on the Death of ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, October 27, 2019

  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-death-isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi/

  44 Remarks by President Trump on the Killing of Qasem Soleimani, January 3, 2020

  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-killing-qasem-soleimani/

  45 Niail McCarthy, “NATO Defense Expenditure,” Statista.com, December 3, 2019 https://www.statista.com/chart/14636/defense-expenditures-of-nato-countries/ (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  46 David French, “Just How Easy Should It Be to Destroy a Young Man’s Life?” National Review, January 30, 2019 https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/just-how-easy-should-it-be-to-destroy-a-young-mans-life/ (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  47 Adam Shaw, “Trump Signs Executive Order to Promote Free Speech on College Campuses,” Fox News.com, March 21, 2019 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-signs-executive-order-to-promote-free-speech-on-college-campuses (Retrieved July 23, 2020). For examples, see http://centerforacademicfreedom.org/

  48 Adam Liptak, “Supreme Court Revives Transgender Ban on Military Service,” New York Times, January 22, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/us/politics/transgender-ban-military-supreme-court.html (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  49 Sabrina Rodriguez, Trump’s North American Trade Deal Starts Now: Here’s what to expect.” Politico.com, July 1, 2020 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/01/trump-usmca-trade-346296 (Retrieved July 23, 2020) and Michael Collins, et al., “What’s in Trump’s ‘Phase One’ Trade Agreement with China?” USA Today, January 16, 2020 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/15/trump-trade-agreement-china-what-in-phase-one-agreement/4434624002/ (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  50 Reid Frazier, “Trump Administration Finalizing Rollback of Rules for Landmark Environmental Law,” July 15, 2020 https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2020/07/15/trump-administration-finalizing-rollback-of-rules-for-landmark-environmental-law/ (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  51 Timothy Puko, “Trump to Put New Environmental Rules into Force,” Wall Street Journal, July 15, 2020 https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-to-put-new-environmental-review-rules-into-force-11594832858 (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  52 Ibid.

  53 “U.S. Approves Ukraine’s Purchase of 150 Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles,” The Defense Post, October 3, 2019, https://www.thedefensepost.com/2019/10/03/us-approves-ukraine-javelin-anti-tank-missile-sale/ (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  54 Ben Shapiro, “Trump is Right on the China Threat,” RealClearPolitics.com, August 28, 2019 https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/08/28/trump_is_right_on_the_china_threat_141108.html (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  55 Sherisse Pham, “How Much Has the U.S. Lost from China’s IP Theft?” CNN.com, March 23, 2018 https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/23/technology/china-us-trump-tariffs-ip-theft/index.html (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  56 Roslyn Layton, “China Expert Applauds Trump’s Hardline on China, Says Congress, CEOs, and Media Need to Do More,” Forbes, July 18, 2019 https://www.forbes.com/sites/roslynlayton/2019/07/18/china-expert-applauds-trumps-hard-line-on-china-says-congress-ceos-and-media-need-to-do-more/#454a7e912f35 (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  57 Numerous examples must recent being: Tyler Olson, “Trump Administration Adds 11 Companies to Sanctions List Over Uighur Oppression, Fox News.com, July 14, 2020 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-administration-adds-11-companies-to-sanctions-list-over-uighur-oppression (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  58 Mark Moore, “U.S. Increasing Naval Presence in South China Sea as Check on China,” New York Post, July 6, 2020 https://nypost.com/2020/07/06/us-increasing-naval-presence-in-south-china-sea-as-check-on-china/ (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  59 Ken Moritsugu and Matthew Lee, “U.S. Orders China to Close its Consulate in Houston,” ABCNews.com, July 22, 2020 https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/china-us-orders-close-consulate-houston-71914064 (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  60 Laurel Wamsley, “U.S. Expels 60 Russian Officials, Closes Consulate in Seattle,”NPR.org, March 26, 2018 https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/26/596966272/us-expels-dozens-of-russian-diplomats-closes-consulate-in-seattle (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  61Morgan Chalfant, “Trump Administration Rolls Out New Sanctions over Russian Occupation,” The Hill.com, January 29, 2020 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/480541-trump-administration-rolls-out-new-sanctions-over-russian-occupation (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  62 David Reid, “European Defense Spending to Hit 300 Billion by 2021 as Experts Say Trump’s Pressure is Paying Off,” CNBC.com, November 1, 2019 https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/01/european-defense-spending-to-hit-300-billion-by-2021-analysts-say.html (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  63Mark Landler, “Trump Abandons Iran Nuclear Deal He Long Scorned, New York Times, May 8, 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-nuclear-deal.html

  64J, Edward Moreno, “Trump Says 1,000 Additional Military Personnel to Deploy to New York City,” TheHill.com, April 4, 2020 https://thehill.com/policy/defense/491184-trump-says-1000-additional-military-personnel-to-deploy-to-ny (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  65 Nick Givas, “Trump Cheers America’s Production of Ventilators, Sending Them to other Countries Hit Hard by Coronavirus,” FoxNews.com, April 22, 2020 https://www.foxnews.com/us/trump-cheers-americas-production-of-ventilators-sending-them-to-other-countries-hit-hard-by (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  66“FDA gives “Fast Track” status to two Covid-19 vaccine candidates,” CNN.com, July 13, 2020 https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-07-13-20-intl/h_c2d2dc29df464c97045d523f6a6cbd29 (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  67 Stuart Thompson, “How Long Will a Vaccine Really Take?” New York Times, April 30, 2020 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/30/opinion/coronavirus-covid-vaccine.html

  (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  68 Tommy Beer, “Coronavirus Vaccine Begins Final Phase of Testing in the U.S.” Forbes.com, July 27, 2020 https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/07/27/coronavirus-vaccine-begins-final-phase-of-testing-in-the-us/#342aa814566f (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  69 Grace Segers, “Senate Approves $484 Billion Coronavirus Relief Package, Boosting Small Business Loans,”CBSNews.com, April 22, 2020 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-coronavirus-relief-bill-paycheck-protection-program-small-business-loans/ (Retrieved July 24, 2020) and Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes, “Here’s what’s in the $2 trillion stimulus package — and what’s next,” Politico.com, March 25, 2020

  https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/25/whats-in-stimulus-package-coronavirus-149282 (Retrieved July 24, 2020)

  70 Remarks by President Trump at Signing of the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, June 23. 2017

  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements breakthrough /remarks-president-trump-signing-veterans-accountability-whistleblower-protection-act/ (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  71 Joe Davidson, “VA fires more than 500 feds under Trump, even before new accountability law,” The Washington Post, July 9, 2017

  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/07/10/va-fires-more-than-500-feds-under-trump-even-before-new-accountability-law/ (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  72President Donald J. Trump Has Championed Reforms That Are Providing Hope to Forgotten Americans, February 20, 2020

  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-championed-reforms-providing-hope-forgotten-americans/ (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  73 “Congress Didn’t Act on Prescription Drug Prices. So President Trump Did,”

  https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/congress-didnt-act-on-prescription-drug-prices-so-president-trump-did/ (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  74 Dom Calicchio, “Minneapolis Third Precinct Police Station Set on Fire After Rioters Break In,” FoxNews.com, May 28, 2020 (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  75 Anna Giratelli, “US courthouse in Portland would have been ‘burned to the ground’ if not for DHS: CBP commissioner,” Washington Examiner, August 10, 2020 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/us-courthouse-in-portland-would-have-been-burned-to-the-ground-if-not-for-dhs-morgan (Retrieved August 18, 2020) and Caitlin McFall, “Oregon State Police to No Longer Protect Federal Courthouse at Center of Riots,” FoxNews.com, April 14, 2020
  https://www.foxnews.com/us/oregon-state-police-discontinue-protection-federal-courthouse (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  76Jack L. Rozdilsky Heriberto Urby Jr., “Yes, Donald Trump Can Send Federal Troops Into States (No Permission Needed),” The National Interest, June 5, 2020 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/yes-donald-trump-can-send-federal-troops-states-no-permission-needed-160566 (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  77 Katie Pavlich, “Boom: Operation Legend Takes Dozens of Killers off the Streets, Tracks down Thousands of Fugitives,” Townhall.com, August 19, 2020 https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2020/08/19/ag-barr-makes-huge-announcement-on-operation-legend-n2574657

  78 There are many examples including Caleb Parke, “Evangelical Leaders Gather to Pray for Trump at White House, Blasting Impeachment Effort,” Fox News.com, October 30, 2019 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-pastors-pray-white-house (Retrieved July 23, 2020)

  79 Brian Flood, “Evening Newscasts 150 Times More Negative Toward Trump Than Biden, Study Says,” Fox News.com, August 17, 2020

  https://www.foxnews.com/media/evening-newscasts-150-times-more-negative-trump (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  80 “President News Conferences,” https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/presidential-news-conferences (Retrieved August 18, 2020)

  ©2020 Wayne Grudem

Election nears. Pray like the country depends on you, because it does.

Lord, guide us with Your Spirit of discernment and truth. Help us navigate these issues with your grace.

Lord, protect this election from fraud, corruption, and chaos. We pray for truth to be revealed and peace to prevail.

Father in heaven, help us to maintain justice and to do what is right in Your eyes. Isaiah 56:1 Protect our nation and heal our land.

From Intercessors for America. https://ifapray.org/blog/

Jack Maxton Chevrolet is now Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet

 Our son Phil worked for many years at Jack Maxton Chevrolet just north of the home where we went for dinner last night. He was manager of the Quick Serve and had seen it through the construction of the new building before he resigned in 2018.  When we passed it on Rt. 161 last night we noticed it is now Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet.  We asked our  hosts about it, and they said it had changed hands about 2 months ago. So I looked it up and found the article in an August paper.

"Wahlberg's latest acquisition is Jack Maxton Chevrolet, 700 E. Dublin-Granville Road in Worthington. The location will be renamed Mark Wahlberg Chevrolet of Worthington and is positioned on 10 acres with 60,000 square feet of showroom, service and parts space. The dealership has 40 service bays.

"The people of Columbus have been good to us," Wahlberg said in a statement. "This latest acquisition just strengthens our roots and deepens our bond with the market."

The Maxton dealership is the second Chevrolet franchise for Wahlberg, making the Mark Wahlberg Auto Group the largest Chevy dealer in Columbus."

 https://www.thisweeknews.com/story/news/2020/08/08/mark-wahlberg-buys-worthingtons-jack-maxton-chevrolet-his-fourth-dealership-in-central-ohio/42193363/

The doodle notebook

 I bought a 2021 calendar with full pages for each day, and thought it would make a nice "gratitude" notebook.  However, the notebook I was using (purchased by my daughter in 2009 for my birthday) was about to run out in early November.  Yesterday I saw at Marc's a smallish notebook on a shelf where it didn't belong, so I asked about the price.  $.99.  Just my price.  So I bought it, thinking I could finish out the year with it--no great loss if I didn't use the whole thing.  When I opened it today, to start using it tomorrow, I found that it has doodles every third page.  So I'll waste fewer pages than I thought, since I don't think I'll be doodling. I'll use it November 1 - December 31, and then start the 2021 notebook. 

  

With the lockdown for the pandemic, somedays it is difficult to write down three things I'm grateful for that happened the day before. However, October 30, was an easy one.  Our friends the Cranes invited us and Bruce and Marty (we used to be in a couples group with all of them) for dinner at their home, which is on a small lake created by a railroad company back in the 19th century.  It's called Hidden Lake, I think because we certainly never knew it was there until we met the Cranes about 15 years ago. At one time it was on the outskirts of Columbus, and a fishing club owned it.  A few people built small fishing shacks for summer use.  Over the years, beautiful homes replaced the little fishing "resort." The lots are long and narrow, and you can hardly see the homes or the lake from the main road. 

 Before dinner Rod made fresh onion rings in a cooker in their marvelous garage.  It may be the cleanest garage I'd ever seen--and Bob keeps a very clean garage.  In the garage was the Chris Craft wooden boat Rod has restored.  The night was chilly so the doors were open, and we all ate hot, fresh onion rings as our pre-dinner treat.  Off their family room they have a 3 season room, all windows, that overlooks the little lake, and we could hear the trains going by.  Judi served sliced steak on a salad bed of lettuce, onions and grilled peppers. For dessert she served warm apple pie with a crumb topping and cinnamon ice cream. 

After dinner we gathered in the family room with a fire in the fireplace. Truly a lovely evening with a lot to be thankful for.  Good friends, good food, good home.  And I didn't have to do any of the preparation! Yes, a lovely evening with much gratitude even during the horrible year, 2020.

About those tax increases you’ve been promised

Biden says he won't be raising taxes if you earn under $400,000. He's counting on your poor public schooling, hoping you won't understand that by rescinding the Trump tax cuts, you and everyone has an automatic tax increase. He also hopes you believe corporations and businesses won't raise the prices on goods and services when the government raises taxes on their profits. Each widget and wire in the product and manufacture will go up with his tax increase that is passed along to you. If you didn't learn it in school, you should have learned in the University of Hard Knocks

https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/president_bidens_economic_agenda_hassett.pdf

Testing transmissibility of SARS CoV-2 in ferrets

This may possibly have some actual research on SARS CoV-2 and masks. Ferrets.

"The study comes weeks after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that the novel coronavirus can spread via aerosols. The agency updated its guidelines to include airborne transmission in mid-September, but removed the language the next day. If the virus were found to spread among people predominantly through aerosols, Marr says, that would carry practical implications for recommendations of types of masks and ventilation systems best suited to filter out airborne particles.'

In other words, recommendations for masks haven't been based on science. This may help with that.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/ferret-study-reinforces-role-of-aerosols-in-sars-cov-2-spread-68094?

I think this was a very clever, but very small test using SARS CoV-2 (2019) SARS (2003) and H1N1 (2009). Their transmissibility differs, and it really doesn't have anything to do with who was president of the United States when the virus appeared. Some viruses like SARS and MERS have had death rates up to 50% yet have disappeared quickly. There was no way to know at the beginning. Again, nothing to do with who was president, or who the science advisors were. That's all politics. When Democrats say that, remember, it's politics and they want to elect Biden. When the science disagrees, that's just science. Picking those you wish to believe may be more politics than science.

Our new Justice, Amy Coney Barrett

The latest misinformed and evil word from the left is that the Constitution is a racist document. Therefore, Judge Barrett being a textualist or originalist (follows the original meaning) is a racist. The Democrats are out of their minds. They must now pack the nine member court to "save" the country. When they get done, there will be nothing to save. The behavior of the Democrat senators during the Barrett confirmation hearings was bizarre. The President nominates, the senate confirms. Period. The president's term isn't 3 years, it's 4. Obama nominated a judge in his final year, and the Senate refused to hold the hearing process, which was their right. If Obama had had a Democrat controlled Senate, his nominee would have been approved and every whine and lie we've heard from Democrats would have been drowned out by their dance band and party. And we would have had one more judge making decisions on her "lived experience" rather than law.

My regret is that the Republican Senators let this drag out when they could have just confirmed--they already knew everything about her. They risked a last minute Borking or Kavanaugh abuse side show and we would have lost a fine judge. We didn't need another reality show of Democrats behaving badly.

A very spiritual Sunday

 Yesterday I attended two different church services, and one political gathering that opened with prayer and closed with the Doxology.  I was so tired I went to bed at 8 p.m. and slept until 4 a.m.  That's rare for me.  

I started with the 7:30 Mass at St. Andrew about 2 miles away.  I enjoyed the beautiful music, all the scripture--Psalm, Epistle, Gospel, the Nicene creed, and The Lord's Prayer.  I don't remember what the Homily was about--they are usually quite short. Then at 9:30 I went to Grace Fellowship which is about a mile north of our home, on the same street. Very friendly, young congregation.  Someone met me in the parking lot and walked me into church, explaining a little history since I told him it was my first visit.  Then when I noticed his nametag I realized I'd met him several times at Panera's where I use to go for coffee in the morning. Despite their friendliness and commitment to Christ and the Gospel, I won't go back.  Like a lot of churches with a young congregations, it was an assault on my ears and eyes. I was prepared for the noise, because our son used to play in a praise band. This was much, much louder, and since I'm on a heart rhythm drug that can be dangerous as one's heart tries to work with the thuds and booms. The light was a surprise.  It was in the dark.  All the nice windows (stained glass from the previous denomination that owned the building) are covered with darkening drapes, and sound absorbing objects are between windows (didn't do much). When the sermon started (video from Pickerington, Ohio Grace Fellowship church), the lights came up a little so one could take notes.  There were maybe 8-10 narrow columns of light in the front behind the large video screen.  When I blinked, each column would expand to about four.  It was very distracting. So my ears hurt and my eyes burned. That's not a worship experience, but it is a sensory experience which young adults may enjoy.  I still have my good hearing.  I was one of maybe 3 people people over 60. 

In the afternoon from 2-4:30 (ran long) I went to a friend's home with about 10 other like minded Trump supporters from my church.  There was one woman we all met for the first time, the founder of WomenFightingForAmerica.com.  Since our church has been on lockdown since April, it was really good to see people I hadn't seen in 6 months. The guest from Florida and our host talked a lot about what is at stake in this campaign--particularly religious freedom--but others talked about their concerns about our community which has been moving from red to purple to blue these last 2-3 elections, our schools which are buying into Critical Race Theory, the plans the left has for riots in DC after the election, regardless of how it turns out, and the squishiness of some evangelical churches and organizations. Very little was said about Trump because we don't see this as a race between Trump and Biden, but between two different philosophies and sets of values.

An amazing woman, Amy Coney Barrett

I knew a lot of amazing women when I was growing up. My grandmothers and aunts (Bessie, Leanor, Marian, Gladys, Lois, Dorothy, Muriel, Mary) mothers of friends (Esther, Millie, Rita, Rosalie, Ada, Hazel, Lois, Vivian and others with faces in my memory, but not their names). School teachers, nurses, businesses owners, farmers) and the mothers who were there for us when we burst through the door after school. And, of course, my own mom, the brightest star in my galaxy of women. But I don't think we ever imagined such a talented jurist, a woman on the Supreme Court, mother of 7, like Amy Coney Barrett. I'm glad I lived long enough to see it.

  

I can hardly recognize my country

It's unbelievable. About half the country is hoping against hope that the death count increases, that the vaccines will prove to be ineffective, that new therapeutic measures will not be developed, that the hopes and dreams of small business owners will be dashed with another lockdown, that the numbers will show an economic depression rather than have the unemployment numbers go down and investments and sales go up, and that everyone from small children with chaotic school schedules to the elderly afraid to leave their homes can be constantly living in fear.

Yes, half the country hates President Trump that much they are willing to destroy it.