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Jeff Shafer, Ukrainian atrocities, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and an Oberlin College court dcision… and more on today’s CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. This is Toby Sumpter. Today is Tuesday, April 5, 2022. 

Hale Institute Director Jeff Shafer on Sunday Special

https://fb.watch/cb7NOUgWIo/

11:03-13:00

The courts repudiating and severing rulings from created reality, and moving toward statist conceptions of all things… 

Idaho Family Policy Center: 

I wanted to let you all know about Idaho Family Policy Center. IFPC is currently the only explicitly Christian policy organization in Idaho politics. Toby Sumpter and Israel Waitman serve on the board, and the president is Blaine Conzatti, a member of our sister CREC church, Kings Congregation down in Meridian. Blaine and IFPC have been leading the efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, end abortion in Idaho, and protect children from the transgender agenda. Basically, Blaine is a really strategic voice in Idaho politics, and he represents many of our biblical and constitutional concerns in Boise. IFPC is a brand new ministry and as such is in significant need of donations to help fund it. I know we all have many commitments to other good ministries, but if you are particularly concerned about Idaho politics, this is one way you can have a very direct impact. Go to www.idahofamily.orgto learn more and make a donation.

https://www.thebulwark.com/the-bucha-atrocities-and-the-kremlin-apologists/

From the Bulwark: The gruesome discoveries in Bucha, Troyanets, and other Kyiv suburbs newly freed from Russian occupation have shifted the discourse on Russia’s war in Ukraine, putting the focus on Russian atrocities against the civilian population. By now the horrific photos and videos—bodies buried in mass graves or lying by the roadside, some victims with hands tied execution-style behind their backs—have been seen and shocked many around the world. Survivors’ harrowing accounts of rape, torture, looting and other war crimes by Russian forces are also emerging. Inevitably, there are also the skeptics warning about propaganda, fakes, and emotional reactions – of which there have been some. 

This is not the first time that atrocities and war crimes have been reported since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 23. On March 16, the Donetsk Regional Theater of Drama in Mariupol, where over a thousand people were sheltering—and “children” was written in large letters in the front and the back of the building—was bombed, leaving as many as 300 dead. The Russian state-owned media blamed Ukrainian extremists from Ukraine’s supposedly “neo-Nazi” Azov Regiment. 

The photos and videos of dead people lying in the road, or slumped at the wheels of the cars where they were shot. The mass graves, reportedly containing more than 400 bodies. Victims of mass executions, some with tied hands, strewn in the yard of an office building amidst garbage. A man’s half-naked bloodied body dumped into a cistern. More bodies in the basements of homes. An old woman in the front yard of her house showing journalists the body of her middle-aged daughter who’d been gunned down from a passing Russian tank, the unburied dead woman’s legs sticking out from under plastic sheeting after the boards that had covered the body were lifted to allow visiting officials to examine it. Accounts of four weeks of living hell that included rape at gunpoint, followed by beatings the marks of which could still be seen on the victim. It makes for almost unbearable reading and viewing. A man shot dead for being out past the 3 p.m. curfew because he was running to the hospital after his wife had gone into labor. A 60-year-old veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, shot dead because he refused to vacate his home.

Russia’s conduct in Ukraine fits its own definitions of terrorism. As originally enacted in 1994, Russia’s criminal code defined terrorism as “bombings, arson, and other acts causing a threat to human life, major property loss, and other negative consequences committed against public safety or with the aim of influencing decision-making of the government authorities.” The law was revised in 1997 to include reference to “the aim of spreading fear among the population.” It was revised again in 1998 and 2006, after which it defined an “act of terrorism” as “perpetrating an explosion, arson or other actions connected with intimidating the population” to influence public officials.

May God destroy Putin and end this war soon. 

FLF Club Membership Plug: 

Are you an FLF club member? Because if not, you really should be. You could become a club member for as little as $5 per month. That’s a cup of coffee… You could also go as big as $100.00 per month, then you’re really cool…  the point is, it really is a blessing to us when you sign up as a club member. It’s huge for our long-term success, as we strive to become a world-wide Christian TV Network, that spreads the Lordship of Jesus, across the globe. So, if you’re not a club member yet, head on over to flfnetwork.com/membership… to sign up today. That’s flfnetwork.com/membership. 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-pick-ketanji-brown-jackson-moves-toward-confirmation-11649085652?mod=hp_lead_pos3

The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court on Monday, with the panel’s 11 Democrats supporting her and 11 Republicans opposed, underscoring the intense partisanship that has come to define the Supreme Court confirmation process. 

The tally was the first in a series of votes needed to advance Judge Jackson, the first Black woman to be nominated to the court, toward likely confirmation later this week. The tie forced another vote later Monday on the Senate floor, where a simple majority, or 51 votes, is needed to move her nomination forward. That vote is expected to succeed.

Such ties in committee are rare, in part because the majority party usually holds more seats on the committee than the minority. But the Senate is divided 50-50 between both parties, with Vice President Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaking vote. A power-sharing agreement reached last year between Senate leaders gave Republicans an equal number of seats to Democrats on every committee, while Democrats hold the chairmanships.

Once the full Senate votes to discharge Judge Jackson’s nomination Monday night, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) will set up another procedural vote for Thursday, followed by a final confirmation vote later Thursday or Friday, both at simple majority thresholds.

All 50 Democrats are expected to support Judge Jackson’s confirmation, along with at least one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

Two other Republicans considered possible votes for Judge Jackson are Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Their votes on discharging her nomination from committee Monday night will be closely watched, since they could reveal where they stand on her confirmation.

Since 1870, the Judiciary Committee typically has reported a favorable recommendation for confirmation if a majority of committee members support the nominee. The panel has favorably reported 77 Supreme Court nominations over the past century and a half, and 71 of those went on to be confirmed, according to the Congressional Research Service. Three nominees were reported to the Senate explicitly without recommendation, but went on to be confirmed anyway: two justices in the 19th century and Justice Clarence Thomas, who had been accused of sexual harassment, in 1991. Justice Thomas denied the allegations.

The committee didn’t vote Monday on whether to report Judge Jackson’s nomination favorably, unfavorably or without recommendation. Instead, the vote was on a motion simply to discharge her nomination from the committee and send it to the Senate floor.

If confirmed, Judge Jackson would fill the seat of Justice Stephen Breyer, who has said he intends to retire at the end of the term, in late June or early July.

There is no vacancy until he formally retires from the court and the president signs Judge Jackson’s commission, formally appointing her to the office.

https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/03/appeals-court-upholds-gibsons-bakery-massive-verdict-against-oberlin-college/?fbclid=IwAR2UOH5seeKTQxXV8BkLXFDkoyP0_Bazrpc6rNWIPe03lGe07N8wqsUqc98

A store clerk, a member of the Gibson family, caught an Oberlin black student shoplifting, a scuffle ensued that was joined by two other Oberlin black students. When the police arrived, they arrested the students who eventually pleaded guilty. But before that, the college officials and students accused the bakery of racial profiling, called a boycott, suspended Gibson’s business with the college, and organized protests outside the bakery.

At the protests, a flyer was handed out, according to witnesses who testified at trial, by Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo, who also handed out stacks of flyers for others to distribute. The flyers accused the Gibsons of a long history of racial profiling, including in the incident with these shoplifters. The Gibsons disputed that allegation and that they did anything wrong in this incident, and requested a public apology from the college in order to repair the reputational damage, but the college refused. (To this day it never has apologized.)

Based on the actions of college officials in conveying and promoting the defamatory accusations, a lawsuit was filed, resulting in massive verdicts for the owners of the bakery, David Gibson and his father, Allyn Gibson. Legal Insurrection was the only national media outlet to have someone in the courtroom reporting, including when the verdicts came down:

On November 10, 2020, the Court heard oral argument on (1) the appeal by Oberlin College and Dean of Students Meredith Raimando seeking to overturn the compensatory and punitive damage awards totalling, after reduction under Ohio tort reform law, $25 million, plus over $6 million in attorney’s fees, bringing the judgment to over $32 million, and (2) the cross-appeal by Gibson’s Bakery and two members of the Gibson family (including the widow of the late David Gibson) seeking to restore the full $33 million punitive damages award, arguing the tort reform reduction was unconstitutional, which would add back about $15 million to the judgment.

As satisfying as this must be to the Gibson family, it also must be bittersweet because the two lead plaintiffs and the patriarchs of the family did not live to see the appeals court verdict:

David Gibson of Gibson’s Bakery has passed away. (November 16, 2019)

“Grandpa” Allyn W. Gibson of Gibson’s Bakery Passes Away At Age 93 (February 14, 2022)

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 42: As The Hart About the Falter

https://www.christkirk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/06-Psalm-42-As-The-Hart-About-To.mp3

Play: 3:55-5:28

Amen.

This is Toby Sumpter with CrossPolitic News. Remember you can always find the links to our news stories and these psalms at crosspolitic dot com – just click on the daily news brief and follow the links. Or find them on our App: just search “Fight Laugh Feast” in your favorite app store and never miss a show. If this content is helpful to you, would you please consider becoming a Fight Laugh Feast Club Member? We are trying to build a cancel-proof media platform, and we need your help. Join today and get a discount at the Fight Laugh Feast conference in Knoxville, TN and have a great day. 

With the world in upheaval it seems like very few things matter as much as Christian community. When it comes to the call to be a “city on a hill”, what does that look like for local churches and how can we best position ourselves when the pressure of the State starts closing in from all sides?

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Hi this is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Monday, April 4th, 2022. Today, we’ll go through the Final Four, as a lead in for the NCAA Championship game tonight between North Carolina and Kansas, a transgender cyclist getting booted from a women’s championship, after the female competitors threatened to boycott, more of that please… and Elon Musk, buys a huge stake in Twitter! Good news. 

But first, the world in which we live is moving towards total techno tyranny at an incredible rate. This tyranny includes spying, censorship, data theft all through electronic means. Iron Apples is a small cybersecurity consultancy firm seeking to give churches, organizations, businesses, schools and individuals the education, resources and tools needed to be able to circumvent techno tyranny. Over the next year, Iron Apples will be hosting a series of virtual meetings to inform, educate and equip attendees with actual solutions to the problem we find ourselves in. Visit ironapples.com, and click events, in the bottom right corner of their site, to sign up today! That’s ironapples.com. 

Elon Musk Takes 9.2% Stake in Twitter After Hinting at Shake-Up

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-takes-9-2-102640581.html

Twitter shares surged as much as 27% after Musk’s purchase was revealed Monday in a regulatory filing. The gain marked the stock’s biggest intraday increase since its first day of trading following the company’s 2013 initial public offering. The stake is worth about $2.89 billion, based on Friday’s market close.

Musk polled his more than 80 million followers on Twitter last month, asking them whether the company adheres to the principles of free speech. After more than 70% said no, he asked whether a new platform was needed and said he was giving serious thought to starting his own.

Musk has been one of the biggest personalities on Twitter and has regularly run into trouble on the platform. The Tesla chief executive officer is currently seeking to exit a 2018 deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that put controls in place related to his tweeting about the electric-car maker.

The announcement will be yet a test for new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who replaced Jack Dorsey after he unexpectedly resigned in November. Agrawal vowed to increase accountability, make decisions faster and to improve product execution. The company set ambitious goals for growth including increasing annual revenue to $7.5 billion and getting to 315 million daily users by the end of 2023.

Musk posted a cryptic meme in December after Twitter announced that Agrawal was taking over from Dorsey as Twitter’s CEO. It depicted Agrawal as Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and Dorsey as a Soviet secret police head being shoved into water.

It’s unclear what Musk is planning with his stake. The filing with the SEC shows that the date of the event that triggered the disclosure was March 14. The type of form used often indicates the investor isn’t seeking to acquire control of a company, or to influence who controls it.

Hey, all I know is, I’m happy Musk is involved. 

Shifting gears here, This year our national conference is in Knoxville, TN October 6th-8th. The theme of this year’s conference is Lies, Propaganda, Storytelling and the Serrated Edge. Satan is the father of lies, and the mother of those lies is a government who has rejected God. We have especially been lied to these last two years, and the COVIDpanic has been one of the central mechanisms that our government has used to lie to us and to grab more power. Because Christians have not been reading their bibles, we are susceptible to lies and weak in our ability to fight these lies. God has given us His word to fight Satan and his lies, and we need to recover all of God’s word, its serrated edge and all. Mark your calendars for October 6th-8th, as we fight, laugh and feast with fellowship, beer and Psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers, hanging with our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and more. Early bird tickets will be available starting in the middle of March. 

https://www.dailywire.com/news/transgender-cyclist-booted-from-womens-championship-after-female-competitors-threaten-boycott?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dwbrand

Transgender Cyclist Booted From Women’s Championship After Female Competitors Threaten Boycott

A biologically male cyclist who now identifies as female was barred from competing in a women’s championship race this weekend, following threats of boycott from female competitors.

Emily Bridges, who formerly competed against men as Zach Bridges, was cut from the women’s British National Omnium Championship on Saturday.

This would have been Bridges’ first race against women. The athlete only began hormone therapy last year, according to the BBC. 

Bridges was determined “ineligible” to compete by the UCI, cycling’s governing body, after women threatened to boycott the race.

“Bridges – who set a national junior men’s record over 25 miles in 2018 – had been due to compete against several British Olympians, including Dame Laura Kenny, in her first race in the women’s category,” The Guardian reported. “However the UCI ruled the 21-year-old, who began hormone therapy last year to reduce his testosterone levels, was currently not compliant with its regulations as he is still registered as a male cyclist – and therefore cannot compete as a woman until her male UCI ID expires.”

The Guardian noted that the UCI’s decision “came amid a growing backlash from within the sport, with the Guardian understanding that a number of female riders were talking about boycotting the event in Derby because they felt that Bridges, who was on the Great Britain Academy programme as a male rider until being dropped in 2020, had an unfair advantage.”

The BBC noted that the UCI can bar Bridges from cycling against women even if the athlete meets “eligibility criteria,” in an effort to “protect health and safety” and “guarantee fair and meaningful competition that displays and rewards the fundamental values and meaning of the sport.”

Good… more of this please! 

Now, onto the Final Four. Over the weekend, Kansas took on Villanova, and for the first time in history, Duke took on North Carolina in the NCAA tournament… how did it go? Let’s take a look with today’s Final Four recap. First, with Kansas and Villanova. 

https://youtu.be/985DiLrp7qE -Kansas vs. Villanova Highlights

Ochai Agbaji got things going for the Jayhawks with his opening three pointer, more from him later.  (Use 0:05-0:15)

I said more from him later, well here he is again, Agbaji, splashes the corner three, putting Kansas up by 11, early in the first half. (Use 0:15-0:23)

Later on in the first half, Agbaji becomes the facilitator to the BIG MAN, David Mccormack, who jams it home, giving Kansas a 15-point lead. (Use 0:24-0:31)

Fast forward to the second half, Nova is trying to make it more interesting as they have it cut to 8 here, but Agbaji strikes again from deep! Agbaji hit 6-three pointers on the night, and 21 points overall. (Use 0:58-1:05) 

Then half-way through the second half, Kansas by 10, gets the ball inside to the big man, Mccormack, who SENDS IT IN WITH AUTHORITY, MY GOODNESS. Mccormack would finish with 25 points, a season high… but those points were easily the highlight of the night. (Use 1:16-1:25) 

But Nova, not done yet! As they get it inside to Jermaine Samuels, who uses his strength to get the AND ONE. The Wildcats cut it to 6 with just over 6 minutes to go! (Use 1:36-1:46) 

Kansas would respond IMMEDIATELY, as they went inside once again to Mccormack, who gets another tough basket to go… keeping a cushion between themselves and the trailing wildcats. (Use 1:47-1:57)

Then finally, late in the second half, Kansas would go on to put the nail in the coffin, as Christian Brown, knocked down a three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring… Brown would have 10 points in the second half alone, and Kansas, goes on to win, 81-65. (Use 1:58-2:10) 

It’s worth mentioning that the last time Kansas beat Villanova in the tournament, they went on to win the NCAA Championship back in 2008. 

North Carolina vs Duke - Game Highlights | Final Four | April 2, 2022 March Madness

Now, onto the other Final Four game, Duke, versus North Carolina… Coach K’s last game, and the first time the two schools met in the NCAA tournament in their storied programs’ respective histories. 

This game was close the entire way, as Paolo Banchero, gets a nice outlet pass, and jams it home… Duke goes on top 17-16 early in the first half. (Use 0:39-0:47)

Fast forward to one minute remaining in the first, UNC forces the turn over, and converts in transition, with the pretty move by Caleb Love, Love would lead all scorers for the Tarheels with 28 points. What a game for him. (Use 0:47-0:56). 

Just before the break on the other end of the court, Jeremy Roach gets the bucket, and the foul! Duke would go into halftime with a 37-34 lead. (Use 0:56-1:04) 

Second half now, Banchero gets the ball from a pick & pop, pump fakes it, and drives inside, slamming it home… The 6’10 forward had 20 points on the night. (Use 1:05-1:13).

North Carolina would respond however, FROM DEEP. Hand down, man down. A tough shot right there from Caleb Love, cutting Duke’s lead back down to 1. Use (1:13-1:21). 

Then, North Carolina’s ball movement carves up Duke’s defense like a Christmas ham, and Caleb Love, once again takes advantage, with a pretty scoop & score over a MUCH taller defender. The Tarheels go up by 1. (Use 1:56-2:03) 

On the other end, Bancherro, tips the ball back out from the miss, and Duke’s Wendell Moore DELIVERS. Moore had 10 points on the night. Duke goes up by 1 late in the game.  (Use 2:04-2:13). 

Then, with just 30 seconds left, perhaps the shot of the night from Caleb Love, top of the key, BANG… That would give the Tarheels a CRUCIAL 4-pt cushion. Then on the other end, Roach goes from half court, in for the quick lay-up, cutting North Carolina’s lead back to two. (2:14-2:27).

The Tarheels would convert 1 free throw on the other end, making the lead just 3, Duke needs a three here…which then lead to a contreversial call… as Duke’s Trevor Keels drives inside and gets fouled, and the basket’s GOOD!!! Or is it? No! The refs wave it off and instead, Keels goes to the line, for two shots… Keels misses the second free throw, and North Carolina grabs the board, securing their spot, in the NCAA Championship game. North Carolina wins it. 81-77. Use (2:27-2:47)

A shame that coach K goes out that way, as he ends his coaching tenure at Duke, with a 50-50 record against North Carolina… but on the other side, coach Hubert Davis of the Tarheels is an outspoken Christian. Not a bad start for the first-year head coach, leading your team to the NCAA Championship game. You can watch the championship game tonight on TBS at 9:20PM EST. Kansas vs North Carolina, should be a good one. 

That’s going to do it for this CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. If you liked the show, share it. If you’re a business owner or CEO, who wants to partner with CrossPolitic, email me, at [email protected]. Have a great rest of your day, and Lord bless.