Important Takeaways:
- Beryl’s ‘Armageddon-like’ impact: Few buildings stand, power grid destroyed in Caribbean
- As Hurricane Beryl bore down on Jamaica on Wednesday, the islands in its wake were getting a clearer picture of the destruction the record-setting storm left behind in the southeastern Caribbean.
- “It is almost Armageddon-like, almost total damage or destruction of all buildings whether they be public buildings, homes or other private facilities,” said Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell after a helicopter survey on Tuesday. “Complete devastation and destruction of agriculture. Complete and total destruction of the natural environment; there is literally no vegetation left anywhere on the island of Carriacou.”
- It is now estimated that only 2% of the buildings and homes there survived — 98% have been destroyed or severely damaged.
- Beyond the immediate housing crisis, Mitchell said the electrical grid system and communication systems had been destroyed. “As of this moment, communication is still a major problem,” he said late Tuesday.
- Beryl remained a Category 4 on Wednesday as it headed toward Jamaica, which is currently under a state of emergency.
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Important Takeaways:
- Even with “the problems we have in this country” right now, “we are still a blessed nation,” Ed Vitagliano, executive vice president of the American Family Association
- “Countless millions are suffering around the world in a myriad of ways, not the least of which are in lives lived under dictatorship and oppression.”
- So “as we remember the blessings of liberty” during the holiday, he said, “let us also remember our responsibilities to maintain our own freedoms.”
- “In a firm reliance on Almighty God, let us obey the Lord, love one another and work to free our neighbors that all might prosper.”
- Franklin Graham told Fox News “It is always a privilege to commemorate our Independence Day with these tried and tested warriors who, along with their families, have sacrificed so much for our freedoms,” he said.
- “I thank God for them and for those who serve today to protect this nation.”
- “As we celebrate Independence Day, we must also remember where our freedom comes from: It comes from God.”
- “I thank Him for this great nation and our freedom from tyranny — and for His hand of mercy and blessing on it through the years,”
- “My prayer this July 4 is that we would turn to Him rather than turn farther away from Him.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Freedom is the most precious gift humanity will ever know. And freedom isn’t free. You have to be willing to fight for it.
- On this Fourth of July, I want to thank the American people for being true to their birthright, the Spirit of 1776, and wish them a happy and blessed Independence Day.
- Through thick and thin, for the past nine months, Israel has deeply appreciated vital American support.
- In these times of national crisis, as the people of Israel fight a seven-front war for our national survival against Iran and its terror proxies, it is heartening to know that far from standing alone, we have the support of the greatest democracy the world has ever known.
- Character is revealed in times of crisis. In the face of Hamas’s savagery on October 7, the people of Israel connected to the deepest foundations of our national being. As one, we rose to fight our enemies with the heroism, determination, and resilience that characterized our heroes from the days of Joshua and the Maccabees, passed down across time to the warriors of the modern State of Israel.
- What makes the US-Israel relationship a stellar duo
- America stands with Israel because Americans are similarly moved by the legacy of their forefathers. At their base, Israel and America are guided by the same twin insights. Freedom is the most precious gift humanity will ever know. And freedom isn’t free. You have to be willing to fight for it.
- Israelis saw on October 7 what it would mean if we ever lost our freedom. We understood this is not a war of choice but a war for survival.
- Americans saw the atrocities of October 7, and they understood the stakes as well, not just for Israel but for the free world as a whole. Israel, a peace-loving democracy and America’s closest ally in the Middle East, was invaded by an army of jihadists bent on annihilation and subjugation. The same forces attacked America on September 11. Standing with Israel came naturally and immediately for Americans. They understood that for this march of murder and tyranny to end, Israel must win this war.
- Tyrannical ayatollahs that rule Iran stand at the apex of the axis of jihad, murder, and war. They and their henchmen view Israel and the United States as their mortal enemies.
- The outcome of this war is not in question. Israel will remain true to our ancient and modern legacy. We will win this war. We are strengthened with the sure knowledge that as we move forward toward victory we will be supported by our great friend, the United States of America.
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Important Takeaways:
- Inside growing turmoil as Biden team struggles to calm post-debate storm
- President Joe Biden told a close ally that he doesn’t think he can salvage his campaign after his train wreck debate with Donald Trump last week.
- It is the first real sign that the president is considering dropping out of the race amid calls for a new candidate.
- The deciding factor, a key ally told The New York Times, could be Biden’s campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this weekend.
- They said of the president’s thinking: He knows if he has two more events like that, we’re in a different place.
- But Biden’s Deputy spokesperson Andrew Bates insisted in a post on X moments after the article went live that the reporting is ‘absolutely false.’ He complained the NYT only gave the team seven minutes to reply to a request for comment.
- White House chief of staff Jeff Zients is scheduled to hold an all-hands-on-deck staff call at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to pump up disillusioned staff and reassure them that Biden will remain the nominee.
- The president has been on the phone to lawmakers trying to shore up his support on Capitol Hill amid worries Republicans will take control of the House and Senate – along with the White House – in the upcoming elections, giving them unchecked power to run the country.
- Meanwhile, Jill Biden has been dispatched to the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Michigan to tout Biden’s accomplishments in the White House as polls show him trailing Donald Trump.
- Now a group of business leaders are calling for Joe Biden to step down for a replacement Democratic nominee.
- Leadership Now Project is the latest entity expressing it wants to see a different candidate on the ticket in 2024 other than the incumbent president after his disastrous debate performance.
- The group wrote in a statement responding to the debate: We have heard from many individuals who share our deep concerns about the present course but fear speaking out.
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Important Takeaways:
- California is hit by ‘dangerously high temperatures’ of up to 117F as 13,000 are evacuated from fierce wildfires and 90million are under heat alert across country
- California is sweltering under ‘dangerously high temperatures’, with the mercury set to rise to 117F and thousands of people evacuated as raging wildfires grip the state.
- The severe heat is only expected to get worse during the Fourth of July holiday week for parts of the United States, with nearly 90 million people placed under heat alerts across the country.
- The torrid conditions have been caused by a ridge of high pressure just off the West Coast and a separate ridge that spawned heat warnings and advisories from Kansas and Missouri to the Gulf Coast states, according to the National Weather Service.
- California’s capital, Sacramento, is under an excessive heat warning expected to last until Sunday night, with temperatures forecasted to reach between 105 degrees and 115 degrees (40.5 and 46.1 Celsius). Meanwhile, Palm Springs is set to see 117F.
- The heatwave has created perfect conditions for wildfires, with red flag fire warnings issued across the state, with pictures showing the blazes tearing through forests and homes leaving a trail of destruction.
- About 70 miles (113km) north of Sacramento, crews have been working in scorching conditions to battling a wildfire in Butte County that forced the evacuation of about 13,000 people in and around Oroville.
- The blaze, dubbed the Thompson Fire, broke out before noon yesterday and sent up a huge plume of smoke as it swiftly grew to more than 3 square miles (7.7 square kilometers) by evening, with zero containment.
- Firefighters lined roads, trying to keep the flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on the fast-moving blaze.
- California has had a spate of spring and early summer wildfires feeding on abundant grasses spawned by back-to-back wet winters. The largest current blaze, dubbed the Basin Fire, was 17% contained after charring more than 21 square miles (54 square kilometers) of the Sierra National Forest in eastern Fresno County since it was sparked June 26.
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Important Takeaways:
- Jamaica and the Cayman Islands are bracing for what could be a major blow from Hurricane Beryl.
- “Residents must take immediate precautions to protect themselves, their families and their properties,” the government of the Cayman Islands said in a news release Tuesday.
- The Category 4 storm is expected to strike Jamaica Wednesday, bringing life-threatening storm surge that could get 6 to 9 feet above normal tide levels. Flash floods and landslides are also a big concern.
- The storm killed at least four people in the Windward Islands and is reported to have “flattened” the island of Carriacou, Grenada. Damage assessment and emergency response is still underway there, as well as in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados.
- Three deaths in Venezuela are also being blamed on heavy rains and flooding as the storm passed by.
- Beryl already made history as the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record before weakening slightly to a Category 4 Tuesday afternoon.
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Important Takeaways:
- U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken admitted last week that the State Department is preparing to use artificial intelligence to “combat disinformation,” amidst a massive government-wide AI rollout that will involve the cooperation of Big Tech and other private-sector partners.
- At a speaking engagement streamed last week with the State Department’s chief data and AI officer, Matthew Graviss, Blinken gushed about the “extraordinary potential” and “extraordinary benefit” AI has on our society, and “how AI could be used to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals which are, for the most part, stalled.”
- He was referring to the United Nations Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development goals, which represent a globalist blueprint for a one-world totalitarian system. These goals include the gai-worshipping climate agenda, along with new restrictions on free speech, the freedom of movement, wealth transfers from rich to poor countries, and the digitization of humanity. Now Blinken is saying these goals could be jumpstarted by employing advanced artificial intelligence technologies
- Blinken bluntly stated the federal government’s intention to use AI for “media monitoring” and “using it to combat disinformation, one of the poisons of the international system today.”
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Important Takeaways:
- July 4 warning: FBI issues alert over attackers targeting holiday celebrations
- The security organizations say the biggest threats are lone offenders and small groups, who may have a larger agenda, and find large events such as holiday gatherings “attractive” targets, according to a bulletin.
- “The political environment of the country certainly doesn’t help,” Aaron Katersky, a security correspondent, told ABC News. “The police are being told by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to be on watch for these types of things that are notoriously difficult to guard against.”
- Katersky added that big cities including New York and San Francisco are likely potential targets.
- He added that citizens should proceed with caution, however they should not panic.
- According to the Gun Violence Archive, mass shootings on the Fourth of July have steadily increased over the past three years.
- The organization tallied a total 80 mass shootings that occurred over the past three years between July 1-7, according to Mark Bryant, the executive director of the nonprofit that tracks US shootings.
- The group defines a “mass shooting” as a shooting that kills or injures four or more people, not including the shooter.
- Last year, in 2023, there were 28 mass shootings over the July 4th week, followed by 27 in 2022 and 25 in 2021.
- The researchers found that days with high heat saw an 18 percent increase in violence among inmates.
- Hot weather increases body temperature, which in turn increases heart rate and blood pressure.
- Increased blood pressure and heart rate can lead to discomfort, which researchers say explains how high heat leads to increased anger and violence.
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Important Takeaways:
- We Live In A Day And Age Where Soundness Of Doctrine Is No Longer A Priority
- Imagine feeling sorry for a word. Doctrine is one of those words I always feel sorry for when I read it in the Bible—because people don’t like it. In Acts 2:42, the Greek word for doctrine means teaching or instruction.
- Yet I’ve heard believers say things like, “You know, it’s not about knowing doctrine. I’m not into doctrine. I’m just into loving Jesus.” It’s almost like their badge of spirituality. It sounds like they’re saying they are a cut above the rest of us, because they’re not into instruction. What a sad thing to say: “I’m not into good Bible teaching or truth. I just want to love Jesus.” But how will you love Him unless you are given good instruction on who He is and how to do it?
- The early church knew this and prioritized wisely: “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:42
- com defines steadfast as “fixed in direction…firm in purpose…unwavering.” How does that compare to “I’m not into doctrine”? Look at 2 Timothy 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” How can you rightly divide the Word of Truth unless you know the truth? And how can you know it unless you study it?
- Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).
- Here’s the reason I’m pressing this: We live in a day and age where Bible teaching—doctrine—is not tolerated, and people go to church and just want a spiritual pep rally. They want somebody to whip them up with a little exhortation and cool, clever phrases.
- There’s nothing wrong with exhortation. There’s nothing wrong with having an emotional experience of loving the Lord—but it cannot replace knowing the Word by the study of doctrine.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iran vows to back Hezbollah in fight with Israel as IRGC general renews threat of imminent missile strike
- Iran vowed on Tuesday to back the terrorist organization Hezbollah “by all means” against Israel if Jerusalem launches an offensive in neighboring Lebanon
- “All Lebanese people, Arab countries and members of the Axis of Resistance will support Lebanon against Israel,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “There would be a chance of expansion of the war to the whole region, in which all countries including Iran would become engaged.”
- “In that situation, we would have no choice, but to support Hezbollah by all means,” he added.
- Kharrazi noted that “the expansion of war is not in the interest of anyone – not Iran or the U.S.,” but his comments came just one day after a top Iranian commander said he was itching for the opportunity to levy more strikes against Israel
- Speaking to the families of Palestinians killed during the fight in the Gaza Strip on Monday, Brigadier General of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Amir Ali Hajizadeh said he is “hopeful” another strike will be carried out against Jerusalem following the first attack in April.
- “We are hopeful of the arrival of the opportunity for [conducting] Operation True Promise 2,” Hajizadeh said, according to Iranian-owned media outlet Mehr News Agency.
- The comments were in reference to the more than 300 drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles Tehran reportedly fired at Israel on April 14, the majority of which were stopped by Israeli and U.S. forces.
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