Sunday, April 25th open thread: ‘How Beautiful You Are’
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
Here is this week’s open thread. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates and you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
Here is The Cure performing “How Beautiful You Are” from 2007 after 20 years from being absent from the playlist. Enjoy:
“And in the road before us
Stood a weary grayish man
Who held a child upon his back
A small boy by the hand
The three of them were dressed in rags
And thinner than air
And all six eyes stared fixedly on you”
“The father’s eyes said “Beautiful!
How beautiful you are!”
The boy’s eyes said
“How beautiful!
She shimmers like a star!”
The child’s eyes uttered nothing
But a mute and utter joy
And filled my heart with shame for us
At the way we are”
Joe Biden’s climate plan would require Americans to cut 90% of red meat from their diet
Joe Biden’s climate plan, according to this story, is so draconian that it would force Americans to reduce their red meat intake so drastically they would be averaging eating only one hamburger a month worth of red meat per year. Here is more:
President Joe Biden’s ambitious plan to slash greenhouse emissions by 50 to 52 percent over the next decade could prompt sweeping changes that could affect how Americans eat, drive and heat their homes.
Biden announced the goal to cut emissions by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, at the start of a two-day climate summit on Thursday.
Americans may have to cut their red meat consumption by a whopping 90 percent and cut their consumption of other animal based foods in half.
Gradually making those changes by 2030 could see diet-related greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 50 percent, according to a study by Michigan University’s Center for Sustainable Systems.
To do that, it would require Americans to only consume about four pounds of red meat per year, or 0.18 ounces per day.
It equates to consuming roughly one average sized burger per month.
Just to be clear on this, that is an average of one burger per month total red meat, it is not one burger a month in addition to other red meat. Do you still think this agenda has anything to do with saving the planet? This is all about control…
Democrats sue to stop Arizona audit of 2020 election
At this point I am not sure what the people who are still challenging the election results are hoping to accomplish, no matter what happens the election is not going to be overturned. It reminds me of the birthers who thought once it was shown that Barack Obama was not born in America he would be removed from office, that was never going to happen either and it was all just a waste of time when people should have been focused on stopping his agenda instead.
Having said that however, I do find it interesting that the Democrats appear to be worried about what might be found out in the audit of the Arizona election results which is set to get underway shortly, so much so that they are suing to stop the audit. Here is more:
Why not just let the audit play out and allow the Republicans in Arizona to be distracted with something that means nothing while you work on your radical agenda? You would think the Democrats would welcome both the distraction and the opportunity to clear their names while embarrassing the Republicans for being on a wild goose chase, but instead they look as if the have something to hide after all…
Nancy Pelosi thanks George Floyd for ‘sacrificing his life’
The big news of the day was the verdict handed down against the police officer who was accused of murdering George Floyd. I am not going to get into the debate over whether or not this was the right decision because honestly I am the one person in America who has not seen one second of the video.
However I do feel the need to touch on Nancy Pelosi’s odd comments about this case earlier today. She actually thanked George Floyd for sacrificing his life in the cause of justice. Here is more:
So again, thank you George Floyd for sacrificing your life for justice. For being there to call out to your mom – how heartbreaking was that – call out for your mom ‘I can’t breathe’…
How sick is that!? She is happy that somebody died because it pushes forward her agenda! I am at a loss for words and honestly I am disgusted because our country is beyond repair.
Sunday, April 18th open thread: ‘American Idiot’
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
Here is this week’s open thread. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates and you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
Here is Green Day performing “American Idiot” live:
“Don’t wanna be an American idiot
Don’t want a nation under the new media
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind fuck America”
“Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alien nation
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay”
“Don’t want to be an American idiot
One nation controlled by the media
Information age of hysteria
It’s going out to idiot America”
Joe Biden to keep refugee cap at Trump levels
For four years the left claimed that Donald Trump’s decision to cap refugees at 15,000 was a racist, xenophobic policy and that there was not anything more un-American than stopping people from coming to America, especially those who are in danger. The left in general, and Joe Biden in particular, promised that the cap would be lifted when the Democrats won the Presidency.
But the promise to increase the refugee level did not stop after Joe Biden became President, in fact it was reported that he was set to raise the refugee cap to a total higher than it was under Barack Obama. However, something must have changed his mind along the way because it is now being reported that Joe Biden will keep the refugee level the same as it was under Donald Trump after all.
Another broken promise and needless to say some on the left are not happy. But even in their disappointment with this decision they are not stooping to the level of hyperbole and vitriol they used when Donald Trump was President. I do not hear the left calling Joe Biden a racist, a bigot, a nativist, or a xenophobe despite him carrying on the plans of a man who was called all of those things and more.
Democrats introduce bill to ban ‘high capacity’ magazines
It looks like the Democrats are beginning their gun control push. According to this story they are going to begin with a bill that will ban “high capacity” magazines. The first question which comes to mind is what do the Democrats consider to be a “high capacity” magazine?
Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) are pushing legislation to ban the sale and possession of ammunition magazines holding more than ten rounds.
A press release on the legislation indicates it would also ban the importation and manufacture of said magazines and authorize “a buyback program for high capacity magazines using Byrne JAG grants.”
As many gun enthusiasts know most handguns, with the exception of revolvers and sub-compact and compact weapons, come with more than a 10 round magazine as a standard. This would basically make most handguns illegal. A ten round magazine is certainly not a “high capacity” magazine but this is what the Democrats do, they change the language by altering definitions over time until they have perfected the narrative.
Here is what one Democrat Tweeted earlier today:
High-capacity magazines aren’t used for sport or self-defense. They’re used in mass shootings b/c they maximize human casualties.
Again, you must remember what the definition of “high capacity” is according to this legislation and yes many of the weapons people carry for self defense will be outlawed under this draconian piece of legislation.
Democrats to unveil court-packing bill today
Ever since Donald Trump replaced Justice Ginsburg on the Supreme Court Democrats have been threatening to pack the highest court in the land if they won the Presidency. Well, they won the Presidency but all was quiet on the court-packing threat until last week when Joe Biden announced he was creating a commission to study the pros and cons of expanding the Supreme Court.
But apparently that announcement was not enough for the radical Democrats in the Congress because it turns out they had no intention of waiting for the findings of the commission, according to this story the Democrats will unveil a bill today to increase the number of Justices on the Supreme Court from 9 to 13. Here is more:
CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS PLAN to unveil legislation expanding the size of the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to three congressional sources familiar with the closely held measure.
The bill would add four seats to the high court, bringing the total to 13 from the current nine. The bill is led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, subcommittee Chair Hank Johnson, and first-term Rep. Mondaire Jones. In the Senate, the bill is being championed by Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
It is quite obvious the commission Joe Biden set up to study this possibility was just for show, the outcome was already decided upon and the only question remaining was how to get to the desired result, but now it turns out the most radical Democrats in the Congress have grown impatient and do not want to wait for a report whose results were predetermined and they are moving the plan forward.
The ride is about to get very bumpy…
Supreme Court rebukes the 9th Circuit Court over continually upholding COVID-19 church restrictions
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is the most overturned court in the nation and it looks as if the Supreme Court is getting sick and tired of having to hear the same basic case over and over again when it comes to State dictators trying to use COVID-19 as an excuse to trample on religious freedom.
For the fifth time the highest court in the land has had to reaffirm the unconstitutionality of restricting people’s access to worship during the pandemic and it looks like the Supreme Court’s patience is wearing thin. In addition to overturning the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling which upheld Herr Newsom’s ban on church the Supreme Court basically told the lower court that enough was enough. Here is more:
This is the fifth time the Court has summarily rejected the Ninth Circuit’s analysis of California’s COVID restrictions on religious exercise. See Harvest Rock Church v. Newsom, 592 U. S. ___ (2020); South Bay, 592 U. S. ___; Gish v. Newsom, 592 U. S. ___ (2021); Gateway City, 592 U. S. ___.
It is unsurprising that such litigants are entitled to relief. California’s Blueprint System contains myriad exceptions and accommodations for comparable activities, thus requiring the application of strict scrutiny.
And historically, strict scrutiny requires the State to further ‘interests of the highest order’ by means ‘narrowly tailored in pursuit of those interests.’ Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U. S. 520, 546 (1993) (internal quotation marks omitted). That standard ‘is not watered down’; it ‘really means what it says.’” Ibid. (quotation altered).
It means what is says! It is not up for interpretation. And here is more from the same decision:
The same impatience is clear throughout the decision, beginning with the first paragraph of the decision’s analysis: “The Ninth Circuit’s failure to grant an injunction pending appeal was erroneous. This Court’s decisions have made the following points clear.”
In other words, how many times do we have to tell you to stop it?! More still:
The majority then walked the Ninth Circuit through a Constitution 101 explanation of what the lower court should not require being reminded:
“First, government regulations are not neutral and generally applicable, and therefore trigger strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause, whenever they treat any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise … It is no answer that a State treats some comparable secular businesses or other activities as poorly as or even less favorably than the religious exercise at issue.”
“Second, whether two activities are comparable for purposes of the Free Exercise Clause must be judged against the asserted government interest that justifies the regulation at issue … Comparability is concerned with the risks various activities pose, not the reasons why people gather.”
I doubt this will have any impact on the 9th Circuit Court’s continued attack on the freedom of religion but it was still nice to see the Supreme Court try to send the lower court a message.
Hmmm…Joe Biden withholds aid from Ukraine
According to this story Joe Biden is withholding about $150 million in aid to Ukraine even though the Congress has already approved it. Here is more:
Joe Biden is withholding military aid from Ukraine that had already been approved by Congress in the face of Russian military maneuvers at its borders.
Biden will reportedly provide only $125 million to Ukraine this year, although Congress has already approved a $275 million package. White House officials said $150 million of that aid will be withheld until Ukraine conducts the reforms that Biden is asking for.
Of course the first thing that comes to mind is that time when Joe Biden was Vice-President and he threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine unless the country dropped an investigation into a company with ties to his son Hunter. It make you wonder what kind of trouble Hunter got himself into this time…
America's Watchtower 