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  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

Donald Trump Says US To Launch Land Action in Venezuela ‘Very Soon’

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President Trump should take the time and effort to read the 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) issued annually by the US DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (DEA) that provides drug-related intelligence to local law enforcement, health professionals, educators and law enforcement agencies!

1) Fentanyl has recently emerged as the currently illegal drug of choice with American consumers its a synthetic drug that is much easier to manufacture and transport, as compared to plant-based counterparts - heroin, cocaine, marijuana!

2) There is a genuine consensus fentanyl precursor chemicals come from China and India, then smuggled past the Mexican authorities employing multiple strategies - much of it is pressed into pill form to resemble legitimate medications entering the country!

3) Six drug cartels all centered in Mexico have been identified as operating clandestine labs responsible for combining the precursor chemicals into fentanyl - all have been designated as transnational criminal s and designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the US government!

4) The Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation Cartels CJNK) are the primary suppliers of fentanyl directed to the American market with the Northeast Cartel, New Michoacan Family, Gulf Cartel CDG) and United Cartel ( CU) supplying lesser amounts of these illegal drugs to the US consumer!

5) Tren de Arasua
A violent Venezuela founded in 2012/2013 which originated with a gang members in Tocoro Prison and are involved in human trafficking, smuggling Central and South migrants into the US, then extorting them to pay through prostitution and/or engaging in criminal activities - if caught results in their deportation!

6) Members of Tren de Arasua often worked for larger criminal organizations, engaged in assaults, robberies and contract killings - which proved to be an additional burden for law-abiding Venezuelans seeking citizenship!

7) Tren de Arasua also engaged in small scale drug trafficking, transporting drugs to supply local dealers and often.selling drugs at the street level!

8) Tren de Arassa was tolerated by the Mexican Cartels because it positioned itself as to never be in direct competition with the more powerful Mexican drug cartels - they are neither involved in importing precursor chemicals from China/India nor engaged in the manufacture of fentanyl in drug labs!

9)They refrained from exporting a variety of drugs to US to meet the demand and actually performed a necessary functions at the "grassroots"

THE 2025 NATIONAL DRUG ASSESSMENT, PUBLISHED BY A BRANCH OF THE US GOVERNMENT, MAKES NO MENTION OF VENEZUELA AS A SUPPLIER OF ILLEGAL DRUGS , INCLUDING FENTANYL, BEING SMUGGLED INTO THE USA!

IF THE US DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION IN ITS 2025 ASSESSMENT DOESN'T THINK VENEZUELA WARRANTS MENTION AS A NATION RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTRIBUTING TO AMERICAN'S DRUG PROBLEM, WHY ARE THESE BOATS BEING TARGETED BY THE US MILITARY!

THE MEXICAN CARTELS HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF ENGAGING IN VIOLENT "TURF WARS" IN AN EFFORT TO ELIMINATE THE COMPETITION AND INCREASE THEIR SHARE OF THE AMERICAN MARKET FOR ILLEGAL DRUGS"

IF THESE LARGE AND POWERFUL CARTELS WERE INTENT ON ELIMINATING THEIR MEXICAN RIVAL, IT IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT THEY WOULD TOLERATE A WEAKER CARTEL FROM VENEZUELA ENCROACHING ON THEIR ON THEIR TERRITORY!


https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/2025NationalDrugThreatAssessment.pdf as transporting

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UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in midtown Manhattan, law enforcement official says

Speaking of Miranda rights

Video shows Luigi Mangione says he didn't want to talk. Police kept asking questions

Although Mangione signaled he wasn't interested in speaking, police continued asking questions, and he continued answering, video showed. Nearly 20 minutes passed before police informed him of his right to remain silent.
From reading the article, I see absolutely NO problems with what the police did. Miranda does not have to be read during an initial investigation of this type. When making contact with an individual who is under suspicion, police are not required to advise a person of Miranda. They are trying to determine if a person was, is, or is about to be involved in crime. That does not require Miranda. Them talking to him for 20 minutes to figure this out is not excessive.

Secondly, depending on the laws of NY, the search of the back pack is probably legal, based upon two factors. Mangione told the officers there was a knife in his pack. Secondly, the pack was not searched until after the arrest, which makes it a search incident to arrest. In many states, if you are arrested LE may search you and anything you have in your possession as incident to arrest.

Maybe NY doesn't allow this, I don't know. In my state LE absolutely would be allowed to search the pack after arrest if there was a weapon inside.
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B flat B♭

If you are convinced it's nonsense, tell us why - in your own words, please.

  • Earth's Curvature: Because the Earth is a sphere, an observer's horizon blocks from view the stars that are in the other hemisphere's sky. If you are far in the north, the southern part of the celestial sphere is below your horizon, and vice versa.
This is Utter Nonsense.

There is no curvature, the earth is not a sphere, the stars are different b/c it depends whether your in the north or the south & it's all due to perspective just as the sun is, in it's rising & setting.
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AI search says Adventists are the largest single denomination holding to Sola Scriptura

I loosened the search criteria a bit to ask the question this way, to eliminate the "single administrative body" restriction


AI Answer was unchanged
GPT will give answers based on your bias and not on facts. I asked the question, "If St. Cyril were alive today which denomination would he choose to join?" and I was told Lutheran. A friend of mine got Orthodox.
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Biblical Exegesis explanation and discussion

Have you examined the words usage in contemporaneous texts? What is your opinion based on?
There are several coeval authors that come to mind like Gregory of Nyssa that attacked the Arius heretical views using what he called inspired scriptures and divine words. Another one would be Tertullian defending the Trinity calling the scriptures the rule of faith. There is more but I’ll have to look at my studies when I get home.

When I replied to your post my answer was that both of us had read texts but had different opinions. So what is your opinion based on?
That says nothing about the meaning of pneumotheos.
I’m pretty sure that “true utterances of the Holy Spirit” qualifies nicely.
You may disagree, but it's clear that the ECFs didn't hold to a sola scriptura view, and the recognition of canonical rule is not the same thing as the Protestant tradition of the sui generis nature of the text that is wrapped up in the dominant theories of inspiration. Tradition isn't "on par" with Scripture, Scripture is embedded in tradition and cannot be separated from it. To treat them as distinct authorities is the road to error, because that leads to ahistorical eisgesis through bringing modern contexts to the text rather than treating them in their historical context.
We continue to disagree here. I consider Holy Scripture to stand on its own and above tradition. Many errors come from using tradition in the same level as Holy Scripture including the errors by the Pharisees of old that Jesus so eloquently defeated and newer heretical groups like the Mormons and JWs. The history, in fact, favors the uniqueness and sufficiency of scripture.
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Trump suggests he’ll release Jeffrey Epstein ‘client list’ if elected: ‘I’d have no problem with it’

Florida judge grants DOJ motion to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts

U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith – a Trump appointee – determined that the language of the recently-enacted Epstein Transparency Act "overrides" federal rules prohibiting the public disclosure of grand jury materials.

Smith is one of three federal judges asked by the DOJ to unseal grand jury materials in cases involving Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. Smith is the first to rule. Two judges in New York are expected to issue their decisions next week.
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Bill Gates Says Climate Change ‘Will Not Lead to Humanity’s Demise’

Oh, the new analysis says that? Gotcha.
Again, between 2014 and now a lot of progress has been made, which has lowered the expected warming.
The most accepted analysis is the IPCC roadmap.
  • Informative
Reactions: Landon Caeli
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Why Is It So Hard for Christians to Talk About Justice and Greed?

And many 'Christians' avoid discussions along those lines specifically, as one example.
I thought fear of McCarthyism which led to an unethical fear of loving all as self was no longer an influence. But I guess the will of man reigns over the will of God.
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Obama care collapsing.....

Democrats will force a Senate vote on a 3-year extension of Affordable Care Act funds

The legislation is all but guaranteed to fail next week due to widespread Republican opposition and become a key issue in the 2026 elections as insurance premiums rise.

“Republicans have one week to decide where they stand: Vote for this bill and bring health care costs down, or block this bill and send premiums skyrocketing,” Schumer said on the floor. “That’s what’s at stake when we vote next week. It’s going to be one of the most important votes we take.”

The vote is the product of a promise that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., made to Democrats in discussions to end the record-long government shutdown last month. Thune reiterated Tuesday that the Senate will vote next week on any bill Democrats propose — but it will require 60 votes to pass, meaning at least 13 Republicans would need to support it.
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Bill Gates Says Climate Change ‘Will Not Lead to Humanity’s Demise’

Prior to the Paris Agreement the perspective was that we were heading for 4°C for 2100. If we want to get the target of 1.5°C there needs to be a reduction of 60 % CO2 for 2050 compared to 2019 and net zero for 2070.
Due to the massive roll out of renewables the most probable outcome is 2.7°C warming for 2100. Still very bad, but less catastrophic than 4°C.

The IPCC roadmap to 1.5°C warming: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC —
an optimistic not (though I don't know how realistic):
Oh, the new analysis says that? Gotcha.
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UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in midtown Manhattan, law enforcement official says

Speaking of Miranda rights

Video shows Luigi Mangione says he didn't want to talk. Police kept asking questions

Although Mangione signaled he wasn't interested in speaking, police continued asking questions, and he continued answering, video showed. Nearly 20 minutes passed before police informed him of his right to remain silent.
If he answered that is on him. The question is did you ask for his lawyer? That might make a difference.
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Fear, pain and hunger: The dire impact of shutting down USAID in Africa, leaving a vacuum for China and Russia

He's certainly not responsible for ALL the problems in Sudan, but he contributed to the humanitarian crisis by folding his arms and doing nothing about it. Food, doctors and medicine are desperately needed? That's why we were sending them some, until you stopped it, shouting AMERICA FIRST!
And now on the vacuum part:

Sudan offers Russia Red Sea base for 25 years in exchange for arms

Sudan's government has offered Russia its first naval base in Africa, in exchange for arms, as the military continues to battle the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a renegade militia that Moscow initially supported.

The agreement would see the establishment of a Russian naval base in the Red Sea's Port Sudan, or another facility, that would house 300 personnel and dock up to four naval vessels, including nuclear-powered ones, according to Sudanese officials speaking to The Wall Street Journal.
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UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in midtown Manhattan, law enforcement official says

I'm sure there's a few here who would be happy to see rubber hoses and car batteries brought back to the interrogation room.
No, not the interrogation room.

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Even if (more likely "when") Momdani becomes NYC Mayor studies show the richest New Yorkers will stay

‘There is no Mamdani effect’: Manhattan luxury home sales surge after mayoral election, undercutting predictions of doom and escape to Florida

In the aftermath of much well-heeled panic about a potential mass exodus of New York millionaires and billionaires following the election of Zohran Mamdani, the contrary is already happening, and Manhattan luxury apartment buyers are voting with their wallets.

Signed contracts for Manhattan homes costing $4 million or more rose to 176 in November, a 25% increase from October’s 141 deals, according to fresh data from brokerage Douglas Elliman and appraiser Miller Samuel. New signed contracts of more than $4 million increased at more than twice the rate of the overall market, the report noted.

Olshan Realty similarly noted an uptick in Manhattan luxury buyers. In its most recent market report, the firm said the 17 contracts signed in the last week of November for Manhattan homes over $4 million bested its 10-year Thanksgiving week average.
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Bill Gates Says Climate Change ‘Will Not Lead to Humanity’s Demise’

Squad" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is keeping silent on whether she still stands by her ten-year deadline for action laid out in the Green New Deal

Back when Ocasio-Cortez first introduced the Green New Deal in the House of Representatives in 2019, she framed climate change as an existential threat that required a ten-year intensity of sweeping changes in U.S. energy policy.

Prior to the Paris Agreement the perspective was that we were heading for 4°C for 2100. If we want to get the target of 1.5°C there needs to be a reduction of 60 % CO2 for 2050 compared to 2019 and net zero for 2070.
Due to the massive roll out of renewables the most probable outcome is 2.7°C warming for 2100. Still very bad, but less catastrophic than 4°C.

The IPCC roadmap to 1.5°C warming: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC —
an optimistic not (though I don't know how realistic):
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Trump Says US Will Permanently Pause Migration From 'Third World Countries'

Trump's calls for “remigration,” a form of ethnic cleansing, echo Nick Fuentes' calls to roll back immigration

On November 27, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” adding, “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.” Trump’s latest comments come after the Department of Homeland Security publicly called for immigrants to “remigrate,” Trump’s State Department announced the opening of an “Office of Remigration” in April [see below], and Trump pledged during his 2024 presidential campaign to “revoke deportation immunity, suspend refugee resettlement, and return Kamala’s illegal migrants to their home countries (also known as remigration).”

Fuentes has also celebrated right-wing media figures and politicians who have embraced the idea of an end to all immigration or even remigration, boasting in June that “I've never seen the right wing so angry and so explicitly against mass migration, so close to expressing their disdain in racial terms. ... the groypers have won. It's just not even a question at this point.”

In reaction to Trump's Truth Social post about “reverse migration,” Fuentes said that “this is awesome,” and he also called it a “great post,” saying it’s “funny, hilarious, incisive, witty, direct.”

See also:

According to a post about the summit on the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism’s website, “Remigration is rooted in the thoroughly de-bunked white supremacist ‘Great Replacement’ conspiracy theory, which purports a planned ‘replacement’ of white people by politicians and other ‘elites.’ Jews are often targeted as driving this ‘plan.’”

They continued: “Remigration is a series of policy proposals, drafted by Austrian Identitarian and former neo-Nazi Martin Sellner, to end the so-called ‘replacement’ by purging the continent of non-white people and eliminating all forms of multiculturalism. The goal is to make countries ‘European again.’”

US State Department set to launch Office of Remigration

... which will “provide a policy platform for interagency coordination with DHS and other agencies on removals/repatriations, and for intra-agency policy work to advance the President’s immigration agenda.” There will also be offices of International Migration/Repatriation and Refugee Processing.
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B flat B♭

Why We See Different Stars - Utter Nonsence
  • Earth's Curvature: Because the Earth is a sphere, an observer's horizon blocks from view the stars that are in the other hemisphere's sky. If you are far in the north, the southern part of the celestial sphere is below your horizon, and vice versa.
This is Utter Nonsense.
WHY is it?
No, don't spend the next hour searching for a YouTube video to explain it. If you are convinced it's nonsense, tell us why - in your own words, please. What makes it nonsense and what data/pictures have you got to prove it?

I suspect that a summary of your position would be, "this is nonsense because my beliefs, and Dean Odle, say that it is."
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UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in midtown Manhattan, law enforcement official says

Speaking of Miranda rights

Video shows Luigi Mangione says he didn't want to talk. Police kept asking questions

Although Mangione signaled he wasn't interested in speaking, police continued asking questions, and he continued answering, video showed. Nearly 20 minutes passed before police informed him of his right to remain silent.
Whoops
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Now does everyone understand why the "right to refuse illegal orders" video was made?

Latest reporting says the designated terrorist drug dealers climbed back into the boat . They were not clinging to life in the water and murdered in cold blood. The goal was to sink the boat of drugs . If the first missile failed to accomplish that goal the second strike was warranted. It appears those brave drug terrorist chose to go down with their boat load of drugs. Everyone knows a brave Captain of a boat will go down with the ship if necessary. Those that support those that trafficking drugs that kill thousands should take a look at themselves and find another cross to die on.
This is a cartoonish take on the situation…what choice did the “crew” have after their boat had sustained such damage?


You’re riding in your boat, (same as it ever was), then there’s an explosion and you’re in the water and the boat has stopped.
You will not know what had just happened. All that you know is that there was an explosion and now you’re concerned for your continued existence.
  • Agree
Reactions: BassLine
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U.S. Bishops’ full statement on immigration and opposing mass deportation released

Irish Star on Republican attacks on the bishops' message. (via MSN)

Mainly so I can quote this bit from Pentagon journalist Laura Loomer, who seems to be simultaneously supporting and opposing antisemitism on the right, with a dash of nostalgia for the anti-Catholic Klan.

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Why Is It So Hard for Christians to Talk About Justice and Greed?

Can you give examples of exactly what aspects of justice you’re referring to because I’m not aware of Christians avoiding the topic in general.
Sure. One example has to do with the poor. Many label calls to help those who are poor, or born at an economic disadvantage, as "social justice". And many 'Christians' avoid discussions along those lines specifically, as one example.
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