When Keith Czika learned the brass-instrument factory where he had worked for nearly 18 years was closing and his job was headed to China, the 62-year-old Ohioan focused on what he saw as a source of leverage: the plant's ultimate owner, billionaire investor John Paulson, a close ally of President Donald Trump.
The Iran war is risking America's global security ties and damaging its reputation, especially among the world's Muslims, according to a set of State Department cables obtained by POLITICO. The cables, dated Wednesday, described the fallout of the war for America's standing in three countries in different parts of the world: Bahrain, Azerbaijan and Indonesia. U.S. diplomats at embassies in the countries' capitals painted damning portraits of an America under siege in multiple media spheres by pro-Iranian actors that are exceptionally agile in the digital space.
Across the country, Evangelicals are facing a moral dilemma -- is supporting government actions in line with their religious beliefs? The answer shows a rift in Evangelical communities, as government officials like Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth use scripture to justify war and deportation.
President Trump had something urgent to address while flying back to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago estate on a recent Sunday. It wasn't the Iran war, nor the partial government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding. He was focused on a monumental issue of a different kind, hoisting artist renderings of the $400 million White House ballroom he's building, complete with hand-carved "top-of-the-line" Corinthian columns.
An ICE agent who was part of the federal immigration surge in Minnesota earlier this year was charged with felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, a Minnesota prosecutor announced Thursday. read more
@#4 ... Stephen Stills ...
Another tune of his that sticks in my mind ...
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Find the Cost of Freedom (Live)
www.youtube.com
A song for those soldiers who went off to fight in the Vietnam war ...
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Be Not Too Hard (1974)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
Be not too hard for life is short
And nothing is given to man
Be not too hard if he's sold or bought
For he must do the best he can
Be not too hard when he blindly dies
Fighting for things he does not own
Be not too hard when he tells lies
Or if his heart is sometimes stone
Be not too hard for soon he'll die
Often no wiser than he began
Be not too hard for life is short
And nothing is given to man
...
... Evangelicals are facing a moral dilemma -- is supporting government actions in line with their religious beliefs? ...
How Christian Nationalism Affects Views on Immigration
prri.org
... According to PRRI's 2025 American Values Atlas, one-third of Americans qualify as Christian nationalism Adherents (12%) or Sympathizers (21%), compared with two-thirds who qualify as Skeptics (36%) or Rejecters (27%).[1]
Previous PRRI research on Christian nationalism also finds that support for Christian nationalist ideology correlates with holding more extreme views about immigrants and immigration policy.
However, among those who qualify as Christian nationalists, these views differ drastically by race. ...
New Order - True Faith (1987)
www.youtube.com
A song where the lyrics have been changed for radio ...
en.wikipedia.org(song)#Composition
...
The original lyrics included a verse that read "Now that we've grown up together/They're all taking drugs with me". Hague convinced Bernard Sumner to change the latter line to "They're afraid of what they see" because he was worried that otherwise it would not get played on the radio. When performing the song live, the band have usually used the original line.[8]
During a live performance in 1993 in Reading, Sumner replaced the first lines of the second verse with the lyrics "When I was a very small boy, Michael Jackson played with me. Now that we've grown up together, he's playing with my willy."[9] This was a topical reference to the allegations of sexual abuse against the singer. ...
At one point in my career, my manager sent a link to this song to everyone who reported to him, quoting the opening lines... "I feel so extraordinary, Something's got a hold on me."
I sent him a private email telling him the drug-oriented history of the song and the other versions of it.
I'll just say that his response was less than optimum for my career. ...
First Lady Trump's view of Pres Trump?
Tuff Darts - (Your Love Is Like) Nuclear Waste (1977)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
I'd rather crawl through poison ivy, or grab high tension wires,
cut my legs off at the knees, or set my self on fire.
Than have to feel your charms closing in around me,
or feel your slimy kisses covering my body.
Your love is like a nuclear waste
Your body is a danger to the human race
They should stamp contaminated
right across your face
Your love is like a nuclear waste
I'd rather stick my tongue into a fan
Drink ex-lax slacks all day long
I'll have to chew on razor blades
or give head to King Kong
But to have to be between the
sheets with you for any time
I'll have to feel your scaly
flesh moving onto mine
Your love is like a nuclear waste
Your body is a danger to the human race
It should stamp contaminated
right across your face
...
Colourfield - Castles In The Air (1985)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
genius.com