Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Easter Heroism: How Many Great Stories Did the Greatest History Launch? ~ Citing various examples from Dickens to J.R.R. Tolkien, Marvin Olasky discusses the ways in which Western literature has been influenced by the example of Jesus’ sacrificial love ~

Christ’s death on the cross offered healing to billions over the past 2,000 years — and it also inaugurated a different kind of storytelling. The hero no longer had to be a Hercules whose strength moved huge stones. He could be one who gave his life for another – and then God would roll away the stone.

 
How did Bernie Sanders make his money? A look at his wealth and assets ~ looks like capitalism has been very, very good to Bernie ~

According to (tax) returns, the Vermont senator’s adjusted gross income was $561,293 in 2018 and paid a 26 percent effective tax rate. In 2017, his adjusted gross income was $1,131,925.

 
Marijuana and Psychosis ~ More evidence that pot legalization is probably not the best of ideas ~

A just-published study in The Lancet involving, among others, researchers at King’s College London, compared 900 people who had been treated for psychosis with 1,200 people who had not. Sample participants were drawn from across Europe and Brazil […]
 
Both groups were surveyed on a host of factors, including their use of marijuana and other drugs. The study’s authors concluded that “people who smoked marijuana on a daily basis were three times more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis compared with people who never used the drug. For those who used high-potency marijuana daily, the risk jumped to nearly five times.”

 
A List of Sanctuary Cities and States ~ This compilation from the Center for Immigration Studies should come in handy for President Trump’s relocation of border crashers.
 
The Party May Be Over For Burning Man, Thanks To The Federal Government ~ The Bureau of Land Management is not thrilled with the annual paganfest’s economic and environmental impact on the Nevada desert ~

At first, the Burning Man organizers raged, vowing not to take BLM’s advice to heart — even though it seems they, themselves, solicited it — and refusing to adopt BLM’s recommendations, which included drive-up dumpsters at the entrance and exit to the festival, a temporary fence around the festival to keep garbage and other debris from blowing off into the desert, improvements to the festival’s water and sewage systems, and hiring independent security forces to keep Burning Man from becoming a target for terrorists.
 
Now, though, it seems Burning Man, which has been held in the same area of the Nevada desert since the mid-1980s, may be facing a crisis, and this year’s event could be the last.

 
Children as young as nine are talking about suicide in class, teachers’ survey reveals ~ This heartbreaking story is from the U.K., but similar trends have been noted in the U.S. ~

Children as young as nine are talking about suicide in class, a teachers’ survey has revealed as they warn that mental health issues are on the rise.
 
Four in five teachers said they have seen a rise in pupils experiencing mental health problems, according to a poll conducted by the National Education Union (NEU).

 
SPLC’s ‘Hate Group’ Accusation Outed As a Scam, More Than 60 Groups Considering Lawsuits ~ Might the SPLC may finally be forced to stop promoting hate? ~

The SPLC has dodged defamation lawsuits by claiming its “hate group” accusations are merely a matter of opinion, protected as free speech under the First Amendment. Yet demonstrably false statements leveled with malicious intent to destroy someone’s reputation constitute defamation, and these new admissions bolster a legal case against the smear factory, (Daniel Schmid, litigation counsel at the falsely accused Christian law firm Liberty Counsel) argued.

 
Irish Bacteria Could Stop Dangerous “Superbugs” ~ Science is continually discovering new ways that God has provided for our needs through the vast resources of His creation ~

Biomedical researchers have constantly been on the lookout for species (or strains) of bacteria that are antibiotic producers and can combat other multi-resistance bacteria. Recently a new strain of Streptomyces (a well-known antibiotic producer) has been discovered in the alkaline grassland soils of the Boho Highlands of Northern Ireland.5 Interestingly enough the area is noted in folk medicine for its healing properties. The newly-identified strain is called Streptomyces sp. Myrophorea. It’s important because it’s effective against four of the top six “superbugs” resistant to antibiotics, including the dreaded methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Researchers are seeing benefits of investigating traditional and folklore medicines.

 
NYTimes busts itself… Mount Rainier glacier melting not due to CO2 ~ Oops. Someone at the Times needs to fact-check their own previous issues.

 
Notre Dame Fire: A Tremendous Gift to the French People ~ Firewall host Bill Whittle has a message for the non-elite French population ~

“You are not obligated to commit cultural suicide in order to atone for crimes that you did not commit […]
 
“Do not allow the politicians that are allowing your country to burn to the ground every single day to continue to use your kindness, your decency and your generosity against you in the pursuit of personal political power.”

Also see: THE ROOSTER of NOTRE DAME: Omen for Europe ~ Michael Matt of The Remnant comments on the tragedy and “the Holy Week symbolism of the French rooster, which the whole world saw plunge into the flames of Notre Dame.”
 

Virginia coach Tony Bennett says his faith in Christ is the ‘greatest truth’ he knows ~ This was from an interview almost 4 weeks before the Cavaliers won the NCAA championship. Priorities ~

“I have great things in my life — my love for my wife, my love for my family, my love for coaching, my love for basketball,” he said in 2014. “Those are wonderful things, but when you line them up in comparison to Christ and the relationship you have with Him, with what He’s done for you and with what He’s given you, they don’t compare. That’s the greatest truth I know.”

Laughter is God’s Rx, a prescription for your heart, immune system, pain, stress, mental acuity and more. So says an interesting article I read not long ago from Samaritan Ministries ~

In Proverbs 17:22 we are told, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
 
Nehemiah 8:10 says, “… the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
 
Modern science is confirming what the Bible has always told us. Laughter is good for what ails you.

 
So here are some laughing babies to get you started 😀 😀 😀
 

Laughter is a gift from God that can bring healing to our bodies and souls. In fact, it is prescribed in Ecclesiastes 8:15, which says, “I commend mirth.”

Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
Media Owes An Apology For Dividing Country With Collusion Hate ~ But don’t hold your breath. They wasted our time, our money and our patience ~

“[T]he American people… did not receive the full attention of their government while political points were being scored [and] were not told of important world events because they were crowded out of the news by the persistent insistence that Trump was working for Russia.” – Sharyl Attkisson
 
Americans also deserve an apology for the way that the aforementioned biased media coverage stoked the hate that turned us against one another.
 
For the past two years, while the media criticized the president for his alleged proliferation of intolerance and hatred, the media self-righteously spewed endless vitriol at the president and his supporters.

Related: The Media’s Russia ‘Bombshells’ Look Even Worse Now That Mueller Found No Collusion ~ The Daily Caller lists 16 different occasions that the mainstreams were gleefully convinced Trump was finally going down, while they cheered from the sidelines. Pathetic.
 

Muslim Asylum Seeker Imprisoned For Killing Wife Who Converted To Christianity ~ Religion-of-Peace strikes again ~

Iranian asylum seeker Dana Abdullah stabbed Avan Najmadiein, his estranged wife and 32-year-old mother of four, 50 times in October and left her to die after discovering that she refused to support his application to stay in the U.K., according to the BBC.
 
Abdullah, 35, returned illegally to the U.K. after being deported in 2013 for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and he previously threatened to kill his wife because she “dishonored” him by converting to Christianity, authorities said.

 
Coexist? California man threatens to kill First Baptist Dallas pastor ‘in the name of Allah’ ~

A federal grand jury returned a seven-count indictment Thursday against a California man accused of mailing threats across the country, including a letter to First Baptist Dallas threatening to assassinate pastor Robert Jeffress […]
 
“I will assassinate your pastor in the name of Allah,” said a portion of the letter quoted in federal court documents. “I will burn down Christian churches … this is a threat.”

 
Meanwhile, in France ~ Macron’s France: Average of Three Church Attacks Per Day

A report from the Central Criminal Intelligence Service (SCRC) of the gendarmerie noted that from 2016 to 2018 there had been thousands of cases of church vandalism, peaking in 2017 with 1,045 cases, Le Figaro reports […]
 
Last September, French authorities arrested a pair of Romanian migrants who were suspected to be behind a number of church thefts in both Paris and the suburbs of the city. The pair had allegedly stolen up to 70,000 euros worth of property.
 
Some have actively spoken out against the rise in anti-Christian acts in France, such as Cardinal Robert Sarah, who said: “They are the sad reflection of a sick civilisation that lets itself be swept away in the nets of evil. The bishops, priests, and the faithful must keep up their strength and courage.”

 
Unfortunately, anti-Christian sentiment is growing right here in America ~ Yale Law School Yanks Stipends From Students Who Work For Christian Firms ~ More collegiate intolerance in the name of tolerance. Yale is punishing conservatives (Yale Federalist Society) for having the nerve to invite…

… an attorney from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a prominent Christian legal group, to speak about the Masterpiece Cakeshop case […]
 
Yale has already caved to one progressive demand by restricting financial support for conservative students. Who is to say that the school will not cave again and start denying admission to conservative applicants? There were certainly calls among the student body to do so. Progressive students are attempting to shrink the Overton Window of reasonable public discourse, and Yale seems all too willing to comply.

 
Baltimore Auditor Quits After Officials Pressured Her To Cook The Books ~ Wow. Good to know there’s at least public official in that city with some integrity! ~

The Baltimore Brew has learned that Baltimore City auditor Audrey Askew resigned from her post after officials told her to cook the books.
 
The numbers in question are federal grants to city agencies as well as cash and investments, which Askew pressed officials for a “qualified” opinion to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).

 
We Have A Crisis Of Civics. Start Teaching The Constitution In Elementary School ~ I honestly don’t believe people who don’t understand and appreciate how our form of government is supposed to function should even be allowed to vote. There, I said it.

If conservatives, who properly cherish the unique governing structure that the U.S. Constitution provides, wish to have any sincere hope for salvaging the republic from a century of sustained leftist assault, then it is indispensable that we work to turn the tide on the crisis of civics afflicting the nation. With anti-free speech activists wreaking havoc on public universities — where the First Amendment governs — across the nation, it is abundantly obvious that pro-Constitution education must begin far, far sooner than when 18-year-old freshmen first set foot on campus. There is no compelling reason not to begin civics education as early as elementary school.

 
Second Child Sex Offender Unmasked at Drag Queen Story Time ~ Seems to be a bit of “intersectionality” between drag queens and pedophiles ~

According to local MassResistance leader Tracy Shannon, a drag performer with many aliases has sexually assaulted children and publicly recounted his history as a transgender dominatrix and prostitute for hire. His name has been redacted here because he was allegedly convicted for sexual assault against children at age 16, so his record has been sealed.

Related: Organizers announce they’re abandoning Houston “Drag Queen Story Hour” after MassResistance exposé

 
Catholic Priests Burn Harry Potter Books in Poland ~ A bit drastic, but ~

Fr. Chad Ripperger, FSSP, a theologian and exorcist in the United States, has said “the spells in the [Harry Potter] books [apparently] are actual spells,” and that many of the names in the books reportedly are the names of actual demons expelled during real exorcisms.
 
“So, I tell people, avoid it” the books, he said. “All the other exorcists I know that are experienced, are very clear, stay away from it.”

 
Trump Foe Turkey’s Erdogan Loses Big in Local Elections ~ Finally some good news out of Turkey. Lori Lowenthal Marcus at SaraACarter.com provides a good recap of what’s been happening in that country for the last several years ~

Local elections took place in Turkey on Sunday (March 31st). There was a stunning change in the political landscape which bodes well for Turkey’s citizens, for U.S. relations with Turkey and maybe even for the rest of the world.

 
Stephen Moore’s Nomination to Federal Reserve Board Challenges Beltway Groupthink ~ John Fund explains why Stephen Moore is an excellent Trump pick by for the Federal Reserve Board ~

Moore would be an “independent” voice challenging the Fed bureaucracy. He has certainly not kowtowed to it in the past, as so many bankers have. “Donald Trump wanted to drain the swamp. The Fed is the swamp,” Moore has said.

 
Stellar Superflare Reminder: Our Sun Is Special ~ Our sun does not behave like similar stars in the observable universe. Maybe that’s because it was uniquely created by God?

Astronomer Galen Gisler (Los Alamos National Laboratory), who was interviewed for the New Scientist article, said, “I think a consensus is emerging that our Sun is extraordinarily stable.”3 Astronomer Donald Brownlee concurs: “People say the Sun is a typical star…That’s not true…. Almost all environments in the universe are terrible for life. It’s only Garden of Eden places like Earth where it can exist.”