Lightning Strikes Empire State Building, US Capitol Building And Washington Monument On New Year’s Eve

Almost simultaneously, the Empire State Building, The Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building were all struck by lightning, marking New Year’s Eve on an eventful 2024.

As if divine forces were trying to send a message, these cornerstones of US architecture felt the wrath. Of course, US Americans being what they are, they read into it all immediately. There was no way it could have been a coincidence. It was either a sign from above that the US was on the right path, or it was the beginning of the end.

There is a lot of rumor, speculation, and fear floating around the internet about it. The lightning strikes across the three buildings on New Year’s Eve were just the thing people needed to spice up their night.

(Read more from “Lightning Strikes Empire State Building, US Capitol Building And Washington Monument On New Year’s Eve” HERE)

WATCH: Doctor Delivers Prescription for Trump Haters Enraged Over Election Results

Dr. Marc Siegel, a contributor to Fox News, has delivered a prescription for those who hate President-elect Donald Trump, who believed he was a “Hitler,” who call him evil:

“I have a prescription for that. … Give the man a chance.”

Siegel made the comments this week on the show Outnumbered.

He offered his “prescription for Dems who won’t let go of the idea Trump is evil,” the report said.

Even now, a poll shows 40% of Democrats continue to be “stressed” about 2025 and the looming second term of Trump’s presidency. (Read more from “WATCH: Doctor Delivers Prescription for Trump Haters Enraged Over Election Results” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

What Does the 2024 Bible ‘Verse of the Year’ Reveal About Our Culture?

As the presidential election, economic instability, and foreign wars dominated headlines this year, a significant number of people appear to have turned to the Bible to comfort their anxiety.

YouVersion — the most popular Bible app in the world — named Philippians 4:6 the Bible “verse of the year” after users highlighted, bookmarked, and shared it more than any other verse in the Bible.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” the verse, written by the apostle Paul, says.

The words “prayer” and “peace” were the most searched terms in the app this year, reflecting the themes in the app’s top 10 most popular Bible verses. At Bible Gateway — a popular Bible website — the most popular New Testament chapter of 2024 was Philippians 4, yet more evidence that people are searching for comfort in a chaotic and disordered world. . .

Through October 2024, Bible sales had increased 22% compared to the same period in 2023. In the first 10 months of the year, Americans had purchased 13.7 million Bibles. At that pace, total sales for the entire year will far surpass 2023, when Americans purchased 14.2 million Bibles. . .

It’s easy to explain away the Bible sales boom as Americans looking to the word of God for hope and answers to their anxiety. I believe, however, that it reflects a growing realization that postmodern liberalism is a failed cultural experiment. (Read more from “What Does the 2024 Bible ‘Verse of the Year’ Reveal About Our Culture?” HERE)

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WATCH: Trump Trolls Democrats and News Media on Biggest Cover-up of 2024

President-elect Donald Trump is trolling Democrats and the legacy news media as 2024 comes to a close, posting a video compilation of network coverage of perhaps the biggest cover-up of the year: Joe Biden’s failing mental health.

Trump is apparently responding to comments by Jan Crawford of CBS News, who said this week on “Face the Nation” that Biden’s “obvious cognitive decline” was the most “under-covered and under-reported” story of 2024.

“It’s starting to emerge now that his advisers kind of managed his limitations, which has been reported in the Wall Street Journal, for four years, and yet he insisted that he could still run for president,” Crawford indicated.

“We should have much more forcefully questioned whether he was fit for office for another four years, which could have led to a primary for the Democrats.

“It could have changed the scope of the entire election.”

(Read more from “WATCH: Trump Trolls Democrats and News Media on Biggest Cover-up of 2024” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

2024’s Biggest Loser Was Barack Obama

As desperate, phony, and even dangerous of a campaign Democrats ran this year, and as embarrassing as the outcome was for all of them, nobody came out looking more pathetic than Barack Obama. From 2024’s vantage point, is there any way to look at his legacy but as a tragic blight on American history?

In the final months of the campaign, Obama seemed to know the outcome of the election would say just as much about him as it would about Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or Donald Trump. And, like all realistic Democrats, he knew that the nominee he supported was on track to lose. His behavior in those days was nothing short of appalling.

Obama first stood by and said nothing when George Clooney, who I had no idea was Democrat royalty, announced in The New York Times that Biden should give up his reelection campaign, as if there was some obvious plan as to what the party would do in that event. Obama did nothing and said nothing as his former vice president was squeezed out, and then he offered what should go down in Democrat history as the most uncomfortable, underwhelming endorsement a former president has ever offered a subsequent nominee. Obama participated in a highly staged phone call with Harris and, with all the enthusiasm of a mortician, told her, “It appears that people feel very strongly that you need to be our nominee.”

It never got any better, and it climaxed in the shocking display of Obama belittling black men. Because he shared in their race (somewhat), Obama felt they should do as he said. “You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses,” he told them to their faces with his arms crossed and brow furrowed. “I’ve got a problem with that because part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly now — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president.” Obama literally wagged his finger to tell these grown men, “That’s not acceptable. This shouldn’t even be a question.”

If that weren’t crazed enough, he then trotted out wife Michelle to further nag male voters. “So fellas,” she said at a rally in Michigan, “before you cast your votes ask yourselves what side of history do you want to be on.” She said male “rage” is what could cost Democrats the election. “If we don’t get this election right,” she nagged, “your wife, your daughter, your mother — we as women will become collateral damage to your rage. So are you men prepared to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and tell them that you supported this assault on our safety?” (Can we get one of those overpaid consultants to advise women in politics that there’s nothing frank or authentic about referring to men as “fellas?”) (Read more from “2024’s Biggest Loser Was Barack Obama” HERE)

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Teachers Will No Longer Need to Pass Basic Reading, Writing and Math Test for Certification in This Blue State

A New Jersey law that removes a requirement for teachers to pass a reading, writing and mathematics test for certification will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

The law, Act 1669, was passed by Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy as part of the state’s 2025 budget in June in an effort to address a shortage of teachers in the state, according to the New Jersey Monitor. Individuals seeking an instructional certificate will no longer need to pass a “basic skills” test administered by the state’s Commissioner of Education.

“We need more teachers,” Democratic Sen. Jim Beach, who sponsored the bill, said according to the New Jersey Monitor. “This is the best way to get them.”

New Jersey is especially in need of math and science teachers, according to an annual report from the state’s education department.

Just months earlier, Murphy signed a similar bill into law that created an alternative pathway for teachers to sidestep the testing requirement. A powerful teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association, was a driving force behind the bill, calling the testing requirement “an unnecessary barrier to entering the profession.” Teachers in the state are paid an average of $81,102 annually, according to the National Education Association.

(Read more from “Teachers Will No Longer Need to Pass Basic Reading, Writing and Math Test for Certification in This Blue State” HERE)

Jimmy Carter, Former U.S. President, Dies Aged 100; How Trump Reacted to Carter’s Passing

By Townhall. Jimmy Carter passed away on Sunday at the age of 100. It was the longest post-presidencies in American history. Carter was also the oldest former president to ever live in American history. A few lived into their 90s; Carter’s predecessor, Gerald R. Ford, died at 93 in 2006. While not a successful presidency, Carter’s philanthropic activities and other forms of civil engagement is his real legacy. He lived a remarkable life (via NYT):

Jimmy Carter, who rose from Georgia farmland to become the 39th president of the United States on a promise of national healing after the wounds of Watergate and Vietnam, then lost the White House in a cauldron of economic turmoil at home and crisis in Iran, died on Sunday at his home in Plains, Ga. He was 100.

The Carter Center in Atlanta announced his death, which came nearly three months after Mr. Carter, already the longest-living president in American history, became the first former commander in chief to reach the century mark. Mr. Carter went into hospice care 22 months ago, but held on longer than even his family expected.

Tributes poured in from presidents, world leaders and many everyday people from around the world who admired not only Mr. Carter’s service during four years in the White House but his four decades of efforts since leaving office to fight disease, broker peace and provide for the poor. President Biden ordered a state funeral to be held and was expected to deliver a eulogy.

“To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning — the good life — study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith and humility,” Mr. Biden, the first Democratic senator to endorse Mr. Carter’s long-shot 1976 bid for the presidency, said in a statement. “He showed that we are great nation because we are a good people.”

(Read more from “How Trump Reacted to Jimmy Carter’s Passing” HERE)

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Jimmy Carter, Former U.S. President, Dies Aged 100

By BBC. Former US President Jimmy Carter has died aged 100, the centre he founded has confirmed.

The former peanut farmer lived longer than any president in history and celebrated his 100th birthday in October.

The Carter Center, which advocates for democracy and human rights around the world, said he died on Sunday afternoon at his home in Plains, Georgia.

The Democrat served as president from 1977 to 1981, a period beset by economic and diplomatic crises. (Read more from “Jimmy Carter, Former U.S. President, Dies Aged 100” HERE)

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‘Treacherous’: Trump Slams ‘Dumbest’ Political Decision Made in Years

President-elect Donald Trump is demanding Democrats take a vote on the U.S. debt ceiling immediately, saying the extension of the ceiling is “one of the dumbest political decisions made in years.”

In a statement Sunday evening on Truth Social, Trump indicated:

“The extension of the Debt Ceiling by a previous Speaker of the House, a good man and a friend of mine, from this past September of the Biden Administration, to June of the Trump Administration, will go down as one of the dumbest political decisions made in years.

“There was no reason to do it – NOTHING WAS GAINED, and we got nothing for it – A major reason why that Speakership was lost. (Read more from “‘Treacherous’: Trump Slams ‘Dumbest’ Political Decision Made in Years” HERE)

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Disturbing Find Uncovered in Search for Hikers Missing on a Hunt for ‘Bigfoot’

Two men from Portland died searching for Sasquatch during Christmas week, according to officials.

Around 1 a.m. on Christmas Day, Skamania County Communications Center received a report from a family member of two people who were searching for Sasquatch and were missing after they had planned to return home on Dec. 24, according to the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).

A “flock camera,” also known as a license plate reader, located the men’s car off of Oklahoma Road, near Willard, Washington, SCSO said.

Over three days, search and rescue resources, including more than 60 volunteers, canines, drones and ground search teams and a U.S. Coast Guard air asset searched for the men.

“After a grueling, three-day search over difficult terrain and harsh weather conditions, the 59-year-old male and 37-year-old-male, both from Portland, Oregon, who were reported missing/endangered were located, deceased, in a heavily wooded area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest,” the sheriff’s office said on Facebook. (Read more from “Disturbing Find Uncovered in Search for Hikers Missing on a Hunt for ‘Bigfoot’” HERE)

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Eat This Food as a Late-Night Snack if You Have Trouble Sleeping — It’s Full of Melatonin and Magnesium

You’re having trouble sleeping — have you considered turning your insomnia into insom-nom-nom-nom-nia?

Sleep can be hard to come by in the winter because exposure to less sunlight can significantly disrupt internal clocks. There are several ways to restore restful sleep — try maintaining a consistent slumber schedule, basking in morning light and practicing relaxation.

Certain bedtime snacks can also help you catch z’s. Brain health researcher Marc Milstein, author of “The Age-Proof Brain: New Strategies to Improve Memory, Protect Immunity, and Fight Off Dementia,” said “a few simple tweaks” to your nighttime nosh routine can improve your trips to Sleepy Town.

One of his suggestions is a mash made in heaven — oatmeal.

“Oatmeal is something that is a complex carbohydrate — doesn’t cause blood sugar to shoot up or drop,” Milstein explained on Instagram.

Oatmeal boasts the hormone melatonin, which promotes sleep, fiber and protein, which significantly contribute to feelings of fullness, and magnesium, which relaxes the muscles. (Read more from “Eat This Food as a Late-Night Snack if You Have Trouble Sleeping — It’s Full of Melatonin and Magnesium” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr