Good News Friday on Good Friday: 03/29/24 ......
March 29, 2024
Dear Patriots,
A week that gave us the devastating bridge collapse, not to mention numerous political assaults, may seem depressing.
But, we have found those bright lights of good news.
The real good news on this Good Friday is that we know we were eternally saved by the Resurrection of Jesus.
We wish you a Happy Easter.
He is risen.
1- Despite millions of dollars being pumped into this man’s campaign by the radical, far-left elites, no one is buying it.
Simon and Schuster withdraws contract for major book about Biden's presidency after lack of market interest
QUOTE: Publisher Simon and Schuster has terminated its contract with Alex Thompson, Axios’ national political correspondent, for a book centered on President Joe Biden's administration, signaling a challenging market for Biden-related literature.
The decision, revealed by two sources familiar with the matter to Daniel Lippman at Politico, comes amidst lackluster sales for books pertaining to Biden, in stark contrast to the success enjoyed by publications discussing President Donald Trump.
Thompson reacted to the news on X by confirming Politico's scoop and soliciting publishers.
Originally slated for release earlier this year, Thompson's proposed book promised a comprehensive exploration of Biden's presidency, boasting fresh insights gleaned from his extensive coverage of the White House transition. Thompson, renowned for his in-depth reporting on Biden's administration, chose not to offer comment to Politico, opting to quote tweet instead.
This development underscores a trend where Biden-themed books struggle to gain traction in the market.
2- We pray fervently that this comeback is realized.
Paul F. Petrick at Issues & Insights
Trump Could Pull Off The Greatest Political Comeback In American History
QUOTE: Having secured sufficient delegates to become the first thrice-nominated Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon and the only person to bear the GOP standard in three consecutive elections, Donald Trump moves closer to completing the greatest political comeback in American history.
A Trump triumph in November would far surpass any previous political rehabilitation, including Nixon’s 1968 victory. Despite the effortless manner in which Trump dispatched his intraparty rivals, the road to a Trump Restoration remains perilous. Not since Napoleon returned from Elba has the global establishment been so focused on the defeat of one man. Luckily for Trump, he is an authority on comebacks.
Trump was the closest thing to an independent president this country has seen. And boy, has he paid for it. Most politicians leave politics far wealthier than when they entered it. Not Trump. His net worth has fallen precipitously as his businesses have suffered sustained attacks by his adversaries. In one particularly vindictive act, congressional Democrats insisted that Trump’s companies be ineligible for aid from the Exchange Stabilization Fund under the CARES Act despite the devastation the pandemic wrought on the hospitality industry.
But it is not just Democrats who have it out for Trump. The establishment of both parties despise Trump because he threatens the status quo. If Franklin Roosevelt shook up politics with the New Deal and Harry Truman followed with the Fair Deal, then Trump is leading a political realignment called the Art of the Deal. It consists of an outright rejection of the bipartisan consensus on immigration, trade, and foreign policy, offering Americans what should have been offered to them upon victory in the Cold War – government in the national interest.
Fortunately, Trump is one politician who clearly is not in it for the money. Otherwise, he would have abandoned politics long ago. Trump even gave his entire $400,000/year salary as president back to the government. Despite going to great lengths to cultivate an aura of success, the true essence of the Trump story is coming back from adversity.
Having once categorized Manhattan real estate powerbrokers as among the “most vicious people in the world,” Trump now knows that his business rivals have nothing on his political opponents and the Department of Justice.
The reversal of fortune Trump pulled off a generation ago shows what he is capable of. But this time the stakes are considerably higher. If he wins, Trump will be more than a president. He will be a legend.
3- Elections have consequences. Electing Youngkin results in the protection of the Second Amendment.
Gov. Youngkin Vetoes Virginia Democrats’ ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban
QUOTE: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed Democrat lawmakers’ “assault weapons” ban on Tuesday, along with a number of other Democrat-backed gun controls.
On January 23, 2024, Breitbart News noted that Virginia Democrats were advancing an “assault weapons” ban.
On February 9, 2024, Breitbart News pointed out that the Virginia House Democrats “assault firearm” ban targeted semiautomatic centerfire pistols — like the 9mm or 45 ACP — if said pistols take a detachable magazine and have a threaded barrel.
Semiautomatic centerfire pistols are wildly popular among concealed carriers and target shooters. Some of the most popular semiautomatic centerfire pistols include the 9mm, 45 ACP, and 10mm, and a pistol chambered in any of those three rounds could have been banned in Virginia over a threaded barrel if Democrats got their way.
But Youngkin vetoed the “assault weapons” ban and Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted him saying in a statement, “The Constitution precludes the Commonwealth from prohibiting a broad category of firearms widely embraced for lawful purposes, such as self-defense. Despite this, certain members of the General Assembly have pursued legislation banning most contemporary semiautomatic firearms and specific ammunition-feeding devices.”
4- It is harder for the Fake News/Drive By Media, to get away with their propaganda.
'60 Minutes' Gets Caught Red-Handed After Interview With 'Misinformation Expert'
QUOTE: Leave it to "60 Minutes" to bring on the leader of a "misinformation research group" and then fail to disclose all the pertinent details of her background. The left-wing news program was caught red-handed when it was revealed that Kate Starbird isn't actually an unbiased arbiter of truth and fiction.
The background of this story involves the following interview, in which Starbird and "60 Minutes'" Lesley Stahl complain that X (formerly Twitter) wasn't at their beck and call to censor content they deem to be "misinformation."
To clarify, Community Notes on X is not run by the social media company itself. As the name suggests, users of the platform suggest notes, and only notes with enough consensus are placed on posts to add context or offer a correction. There is no system whereby self-proclaimed "misinformation researchers" get to "flag" posts and then have their commentary added on demand by the powers that be.
So is Starbird lying about the Community Notes system or is she just ignorant of how it works? Either way, the fact that she's complaining on "60 Minutes" about it as an "expert" does nothing for her credibility. Sure enough, it has now been revealed that Starbird is actually a Joe Biden donor who has received grants from his administration and worked with the DHS on censoring so-called "misinformation."
Shock of shocks, "60 Minutes" "forgot" to mention that in their report.
CBS’ “60 Minutes” failed to disclose that a prominent “misinformation” researcher it featured on its Sunday program received funding and collaborated with President Joe Biden’s administration.
University of Washington professor and researcher Kate Starbird was featured on the program about “misinformation” proliferating on social media. Starbird spearheaded a project that Biden’s National Science Foundation (NSF) granted $2.25 million in 2021, and the researcher collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by serving on an advisory committee under its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which CBS did not mention.
Far from an unbiased observer, Starbird is a hack who targets information she doesn't like and labels it "misinformation." Worse, she's receiving taxpayer money to do so while serving on DHS boards. "60 Minutes" didn't want that to be known, though, and instead made it seem as if Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who has criticized her, was unfairly targeting a random citizen.
The mainstream press wants to live in a dictatorship so badly. They just want it to be a dictatorship run by people they approve of. There is no role for "misinformation researchers" to censor online speech based on the words of faux "experts" like Starbird. Just as absurd is a show like "60 Minutes" pretending to be an authority despite its own history of spreading misinformation.
5- This is a positive article on a strong trend in education that is not political indoctrination.
Inside the New Wave of Old-School Education
QUOTE: Amid growing claims that schools indoctrinate students, ‘classical education’—which teaches kids to think critically and master old books—is making a comeback.
On a rainy evening last January, a group of girls in long, pleated skirts and boys in jackets and ties were sitting around a mahogany table in an old house discussing Homer’s The Iliad.
It was parents’ night at Chesterton Academy of St. James, a private school in Silicon Valley, the fertile crescent of innovation. And even though the ninth- and tenth-graders were working through a text that dates to the eighth century BCE, the lesson felt—as Big Tech likes to say—disruptive.
While this time-honored approach to education has fallen out of favor in recent decades—as many American schools have prioritized ideology and equal outcomes over excellence—it is now making a big comeback across the country. This is driven not only by parents’ growing realization of the old system’s academic failures but a sense that contemporary campus culture lacks much in the way of moral vision.
“If you are not given an education and the basic human skills of reading, writing, communicating, thinking, deliberating, you’re at mercy of being left in the dust; you’re being left where the animals are,” Greg Billion, Chesterton’s 32-year-old headmaster, told me. “We’re seeing that in the world: reason has been abolished, rational discourse has been abandoned. And that’s largely because our education system has failed to form people. The classical way of educating places a special emphasis on forming the faculties by which man can be free.”
Classical education revolves around the great-books tradition, which starts with ancient Greece and works its way through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment to the present. There are grammar, rhetoric, logic, composition, the Socratic method—the building blocks of a self-governing mind. It is meant to teach students how to argue and reason and wrestle with the greatest literary, philosophical, and scientific ideas of all time, and it seeks to protect kids from indoctrination of all stripes—including the critical race theory that has seeped into most schools, public and private.
6- We celebrate every election integrity win in every state.
‘Alabama Votes Are Not For Sale’: Gov. Ivey Signs Law Barring Third Parties From Trafficking Ballot Applications
QUOTE: Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation on Wednesday to prohibit the trafficking of absentee ballot applications in Alabama elections.
“Here in Alabama, we are committed to ensuring our elections are free and fair,” Ivey said in a statement. “Under my watch, there will be no funny business in Alabama elections.”
As my colleague Brianna Lyman previously explained, “ballot harvesting” is when “a third party, such as volunteers or paid workers, go to residences, nursing homes, and other locations to pick up completed ballots and drop them off at election offices or another designated drop-off location.” The strategy is often used by left-wing organizations to accrue Democrats an advantage over Republicans ahead of Election Day.
According to Ballotpedia, Alabama is the only state in the country where existing law explicitly requires the voter and no designated representative to return his or her mail-in ballot.
Secretary of State Wes Allen celebrated SB 1’s enactment, noting how the bill “signals to ballot harvesters that Alabama votes are not for sale.”
“Free and fair elections are the foundation of our constitutional republic,” Allen said. “The Alabama Legislature and Governor Ivey have made it clear that Alabama voters have the right to cast their own vote without undue influence.”
SB 1 took effect immediately upon Ivey signing it into law.
7- Another election battle won in Pennsylvania. They all add up.
Federal Court Makes Major Ruling on Ballot Verification in Pennsylvania
QUOTE: As a result of an appeal filed by the Republican National Committee, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 late Wednesday that mail-in ballots without dates or with unqualified dates cannot be counted in Pennsylvania elections.
"In the November 2020 and November 2022 elections, thousands of Pennsylvania mail-in voters did not comply with the date requirement. Some voters omitted the date altogether, others put shortened or obviously incorrect dates.
"The validity of enforcing the date requirement thus remained uncertain as a matter of federal law. But the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania soon settled the issue for state law purposes. It unanimously agreed the command in Pennsylvania’s Election Code that mail-in voters 'shall . . . date' the declaration was 'unambiguous and mandatory' as a matter of statutory interpretation; so omitting the date, or incorrectly dating the return envelope, 'render[s] a ballot invalid” under Pennsylvania law,' the ruling continues.
“This is a crucial victory for election integrity and voter confidence in the Keystone State and nationwide. Pennsylvanians deserve to feel confident in the security of their mail ballots, and this 3rd Circuit ruling roundly rejects unlawful left-wing attempts to count undated or incorrectly dated mail ballots. Republicans will continue to fight and win for election integrity in courts across the country ahead of the 2024 election," RNC Chairman Michael Whatley released in a statement.
8- Florida leaders are protecting American citizens and their property rights.
DeSantis signs law to crack down on squatters, empower police
QUOTE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis formally signed legislation into law Wednesday to ratchet up penalties against squatters and empower law enforcement to go after them.
The new law, which is set to go into effect on July 1 seeks to ensure property owners are no longer forced into lengthy and expensive court proceedings to remove squatters — individuals who inhabit property without the right to do so.
“We are putting an end to the squatters scam in Florida,” DeSantis proclaimed in a statement. “While other states are siding with the squatters, we are protecting property owners and punishing criminals looking to game the system.”
That bill, HB 621, cleared the state legislature with overwhelming support and works to shorten the process for clearing squatters.
Under the new policy, homeowners can simply file a complaint to local law enforcement, which can then immediately remove them if the individual is unlawfully on the property, the individual was told but refused to leave, and that individual is not tangled up in a tenant dispute.
In other words, if law enforcement shows up and squatters can’t produce the paperwork to prove they legitimately live there, officials can remove them quickly.
“Florida is once again leading the nation, this time in securing our state against squatters,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said.
“Biden has allowed millions of illegal immigrants to flood across the border. After video evidence of their plan to take over homes emerged, we’re ensuring Floridians are protected from this egregious and brazen scheme.”
9- We love older hymns. And we loved this history of the man who wrote many of them, patriot William Billings.
You may be blessed to sing one of his hymns on Easter Sunday.
Easter Anthem: "The Lord is risen indeed!”
You can hear this rousing hymn here.
The New England Psalm-Singer
QUOTE: William Billings, America’s foremost professional composer of hymns and ‘psalm-tunes,’ was integral to the American folk tradition.
Composer William Billings (1746–1800) wrote many of early America’s most treasured hymns. The multitalented artist was a singer, visionary psalmist, and leader among influential figures in colonial times. During his lengthy career, he wrote more than 300 songs. His comforting words and music would go on to become a vital piece of America’s historic folk music culture.
Born on Oct. 7, 1746 in Boston, Massachusetts, Billings was no stranger to difficulty early on. He only had vision in one eye and problems with his legs, which reportedly resulted in one eventually being amputated. Despite these life-altering realities, Billings dedicated his life to virtuous pursuits.
As a young man, he became a tanner and helped process leather for various goods. He also accepted a position in Stoughton, Massachusetts as a voice teacher. In between his various classes and work, he crafted his own compositions, molding hymns and psalms when he wasn’t helping his students. He viewed his time at the Stoughton music school as an opportunity to cultivate the entire community’s love of music. While there, he became the earliest recorded American to organize a church choir. It didn’t take long for church communities to incorporate his songs into their own books and worship services. By the 1790s, many of the country’s published psalm books contained at least one of Billings’s songs. The “New England Psalm-Singer” remained popular for many years, and it is known as the first collection of music penned solely by a native of American soil.
Not long after Billings’s music book debut, America declared independence from England. As the Revolutionary War got underway, soldiers used many of Billings’s songs as a comfort and spiritual reinforcement while fighting for freedom.
As a passionate patriot and supporter of American independence, he was good friends with many influential patriots, including Samuel Adams. As the fighting continued, he decided to do what he could to support the cause. He took several of his songs from his book collection and revised the lyrics, turning his hymns into military songs. Soldiers loved his new renditions, often singing them alongside their brothers during downtime at their camps. One song in particular, “Chester” was a favorite among soldiers, playing second fiddle only to the famous “Yankee Doodle” anthem. “Chester” became known as the first official war song of America and an unofficial American anthem. Billings’s ingenuity with his song revisions ushered in the military song.
An expert singer, sacred music composer, and dutiful teacher, Billings’s early contributions helped define American folk music culture. And his hymns written so long ago are still sung as messages of praise in churches across the country today.