Democrats continue to beclown themselves by championing an alleged wife-beating illegal alien as disturbing new details reveal the reported MS-13 gangster and accused human trafficker is even more violent than originally reported. As a reminder, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is among a motley crew of Democrats diligently working...

One of Europe's most exciting new metal events taking place in one of Europe's best holiday spots? Hell yeah!

Inflation and gross domestic product are both down while investment in the United States surges. And we talk to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum about how the Trump administration is unleashing energy development one hundred days into the term. It’s Thursday, May 1, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Morning Wire is now available on video! You can watch today’s episode below:     If you’d rather listen to the show, it’s still available in audio wherever you get your podcasts. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:     Investments Surge, GDP Slips Topline: American investment is surging despite turmoil around Trump’s tariffs – and the GDP is slightly slipping. The GDP shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 200 points in response to that news. But if we dig into the numbers the data is mixed – and there are actually some significant positives. During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump and other administration officials challenged the media’s narrative about the economy, arguing that they are turning Biden’s economy around and that “core GDP” is on the rise. “I was very against everything Biden was doing in terms of the economy,” Trump said. “ But we took over his mess in so many different ways… despite what we were handed we turned them around.” White House trade advisor Peter Navarro broke down how the administration crunched the numbers. He said that a surge in imports and DOGE slashing government waste make the GDP look much lower on paper. “The markets need to look below the surface of that,” Navarro said. “We had a 22% increase in domestic investments. That is off the charts.” In that same cabinet meeting, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick laid out details about how another semiconductor company, which is the main chip supplier for Apple, is building a major manufacturing plant in Arizona. Trump also said he has gotten $8 trillion in new investments in the United States since taking office. Inflation slowed to its lowest rate since September, and consumer spending increased by $135 billion, or 0.7%. Much of that was Americans buying cars and other big-ticket items, partly to get ahead of Trump’s tariffs. Meanwhile, prices were static in March, and personal incomes rose by $116.8 billion, or 0.5%. Drill Baby Drill Topline: The Trump Administration is looking to break America’s reliance on Chinese natural resources by expanding domestic mining and drilling. The Department of the Interior oversees billions of acres of federal lands and waters and has the power to open up new land for mining and drilling operations. Under the Trump administration, it’s doing just that. This month, when China announced a ban on the export of several rare earth minerals, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that he would reverse President Biden’s so-called “war on mining” to ensure the United States could begin producing those minerals on its own.  “Obama, Biden, you know, their whole approach was we’re gonna shut down mining, we’re gonna shut down oil and gas development,” Burgum told The Daily Wire. “They really, I’m gonna say, crushed the mining industry, both the extraction of these resources, but also the processing of that…China was happy to have the rest of the Western world stop mining so that they could take control of the markets around these critical minerals, which we need for defense, for technology, for electronics, really for everything today in modern life depends on it. So now in the United States, we’ve gotta get back in the game.” Because President Trump made an emergency energy declaration, Secretary Burgum, who’s also the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council, was able to bypass regulations that typically result in years-long delays on new mining projects. Now, they’ll be approved within two weeks. Burgum told the Daily Wire that overregulation of the mining industry has driven business out of the U.S. — forcing us to be more reliant on countries like China. Burgum says that bringing mining back to the United States will be better for the global environment.  “We do it cleaner, better, safer, smarter and healthier here in the U.S. because when we attack these resource-based industries, we don’t reduce the demand. We just shift the supply overseas and they shift it to China, who might be extracting this from in the DRC in the middle of Africa. And they’re doing it without reclamation. They’re doing it with, sometimes, slave labor, prisoner labor. They’re doing it with no emissions control on what they’re doing. So it’s worse for the global environment. It helps our adversaries, it hurts our economy, and it’s horrible for national security.”   Trade War Hits U.S. Farmers Topline: President Trump continues to tout his trade policies as China makes quiet concessions, but also cancels significant U.S. agricultural orders. A report from Reuters published Wednesday says that China has created a list of U.S.-made products that will be exempt from its retaliatory 125% tariffs, in addition to other exemptions it has already made on pharmaceuticals, microchips, and aircraft engines. Behind the scenes, Beijing is apparently privately notifying companies about these latest exemptions – that’s obviously to preserve this posture that China will fight Trump on tariffs to the end.  Trump has said he’s in trade talks with China and that President Xi recently called him. China has denied it and is publicly putting on a bold face.  “Bowing to a bully is like drinking poison to quench thirst. It only deepens the crisis.” A widely disseminated Chinese propaganda video said earlier this week. “ Make no mistake, the U.S. will keep flip-flopping and playing hardball. But China will stand firm, no matter how hard the wind blows, no matter how clouds rage.” Last week, China made its largest cancellation of pork orders in five years, halting about 12,000 tons of U.S. pork. The nation has also significantly reduced its soybean order by 97% compared to two weeks ago. For some context, U.S. farmers export more than $176 billion in agricultural products a year. Nearly 10% of that is soybeans and pork for China.

Political commentator Mark Levin, who also serves on the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security advisory council, delivered a message from Jerusalem warning that the Trump administration must not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. Levin was in Israel for the two days of Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance), which honors the tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers, men and women, who gave their lives for the Jewish state, and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day), the following day. Standing in front of the Western wall, the retaining wall behind which is the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism and where the First and Second Temples stood, Levin pointed out that Jerusalem and Israel are sacred for both Jews and Christians, stating, “I’m standing here at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the Holy Land for Jews and Christians. That wall was breached by the Romans, and the Second Temple was burned to the ground. Jews survived.” “I want to make something very, very clear,” he declared. “The Iranian regime, Islamo-Nazi terrorist genocidal regime wants to get nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles, shoot at America one day, destroy this: the Holy Land of Jews and Christians.” “Let me tell you something, folks: we don’t get second chances with maniacs like this,” he warned. “So rather than them have nuclear bombs to attack us, why are we protecting their nuclear sites from our bombs? Explain that to me. So we’re going to have an EO (executive order), we’re gonna write it on paper, and they’re gonna say, ‘Y’know, we’re terrorists, we violate rules; we cut people’s throats, but we’re gonna honor the deal?’” “No. They’re not gonna honor any deal, especially if there’s some deal where President Trump is president and then he leaves office. What about the next regime or the regime after that?” he asked rhetorically. “This cannot be tolerated,” he asserted. “It’s bad enough that Communists have nuclear weapons, that fascists have nuclear weapons, but there’s not a terrorist country on the face of the earth that has a nuclear weapon. We must not usher it in.” “This cannot stand,” Levin warned. “And I say that as an American that’s concerned about what happened on 9/11 and then other times that we have been attacked by these terrorists, too. They’re here. They’re here. They’re in this part of the world. Right here.” “And now they’re vulnerable,” he stressed. “We’re gonna wait for their nuclear weapons and then wring our hands about it and say what are we gonna do about it? I don’t think so.” “America, it’s time to speak out,” he proclaimed. “It’s time to rise up. Stop the Iranian nukes. Now is the time. “ MARK AT THE WESTERN WALL IN JERUSALEM RIGHT NOW WARNING THE WORLD THAT IRAN MUST NEVER GET NUCLEAR WEAPONS PERIOD. pic.twitter.com/7IWUfyO1uF — Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) April 30, 2025 RELATED: The Temple Mount Is Judaism’s Holiest Site, And It Always Has Been. Here’s Everything You Need To Know.

Nicole Locke lives on a farm. She and her husband have several animals, including two dogs, numerous chickens, and an overprotective farm cat named Mark. When Nicole headed out for a walk up the road, Mark tried to tell her she didn’t belong there. He followed her, hollering at her to get back home. @lifewiththelockes #farmlife #cats ♬ original sound – nikole locke When Nicole hears him, she turns and starts recording as he runs after her. The farm cat’s vocal meows were sending a message of distress. His job is to protect her, and she was making it difficult by straying so far from home. She urges Mark to go home, but he adamantly refuses, continuing his tirade. Any cat owner knows that, despite their diminutive size, a cat feels like it is the Head of the Household. It is the only “hunter” and it must help its humans to survive. They bring tasty treats to share, sometimes still alive. A cat will always want to sleep near its human, and sometimes on top of them if allowed. They follow their humans everywhere, including to the bathroom. Heaven help a human if they close a door and leave their protector outside. When his video went viral, Mark insisted on reading all the wonderful comments. It tuckered the farm cat out, but he sent a message: @lifewiththelockes #Markthecat #catsoftiktok #cats #farmlife ♬ Happy Together – Weezer In answer to one of the comments, Nicole explained that Mark is a “cow cat” of unknown lineage. The family rescued him with five siblings after the kittens had been left out on the country road. There is no mention of where the other cats might be, but Mark is still with the Lockes. Follow lifewiththelockes on TikTok to enjoy any upcoming sequels to the “Misadventures of Mark.” Please share. You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Farm Cat Throws An Absolute Fit When Mom Goes For A Walk appeared first on InspireMore.

I’m a big believer in the importance of attitude. I consider it to be one of my most important portable preps, right up there with my brain. In this article, I’m going to share a common trap of thinking that could cause problems in our slow-burning SHTF that we live in today, but also in an all-out grab your BOB SHTF. It’s All or Nothing Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about: All or nothing thinking. It can freeze you, reduce your happiness, reinforce relentless perfectionism and suck the joy out of life. Technically speaking, it’s a cognitive distortion.  By definition, all-or-nothing thinking sees only the extremes. The glass isn’t half empty or half full: it’s gotta be full all the time or you’re a total failure, or it’s seen as having been empty for your whole darn life, and that’s never going to change.   Why Does Thought Matter? We are what we think. Through decades of meditation, if there is one benefit that I have gained, it is that I have learned to take responsibility for what is in my mind. Yes, every thought. If your mind is full of negativity, you are growing more brain pathways in that direction.  There is hope if someone has a tendency toward negative thinking. We now know that the brain can change and literally rewire itself in a new direction. Dr. David Hanscom emphasizes that we have a choice each and every day: to stay in old, painful ruts of repeated thoughts or lift ourselves out of that and be who we want to be each and every day.  Anyone reading this is like me, wanting to be as prepared as possible for whatever comes my way. I’m going to share a few thought-traps related to prepping and then some very basic things that someone can do to shift their thinking and get going when it’s most needed.  Thought Trap #1: My Preparedness Is My Gear When concerned about the apocalypse, it can be easy to focus on gear. There is a feeling of urgency that goes along with this: “If I have this firearm, with all that stopping power, then I will be safe and therefore I am safe now.” The danger of all-or-nothing thinking in this scenario is to focus only on the stuff you have. When a new item becomes available, you will need that, too. The feeling of missing out could lead to feeling like “I’m not prepared if I don’t have X.” or “We won’t make it if we don’t have Y at our bug out location.” What would happen if you were forced to run with only the clothes on your back? All or nothing thinking might lead you to conclude, “I won’t make it!” But that is right when you need a solid mind more than you ever have in your life. Thought Trap #2: Hell in a Handbasket I am the first one to admit that, yeah, things pretty much sucked during the pandemic and they haven’t exactly been great since. Another home on my road was condemned this week. Folks already living in poverty were forced to move in with relatives for now. Double-income families with children in our area are now using food banks. However, looking only at the negatives day in and day out will reinforce those brain pathways I was talking about earlier. In this slow rolling SHTF or a full-on one, if you only think you’re going to hell in a handbasket day in and day out, you aren’t helping your brain solve the problems in front of you. In fact, you’re harming your resiliency.  Hopelessness could lead to major depression right when you need your mental health the most.  Thought Trap #3: I Know Better Than…Well….Everyone! In this form of all-or-nothing thinking, you know it all and the rest of the plebes know, well, near to nothing. You may fit this description if you find yourself posting smug comments that reference your superior knowledge and/or gear.  If you know a lot more than others, I am happy for you! The thought trap here is that being overly confident in your knowledge may mean that you miss something that could help you.  That old woman who was selling cabbages by the roadside that you ignored? If you had talked to her for a while and listened, you might have found out about those caves in the hills that her father took her to when she was young. She also has a huge herb garden and grows two herbs known for stopping bleeding.  Information can come from varied sources. It’s great to be proud of your preps and resources. Are yours balanced with a listening attitude? Some Tips on the Path There are many ways to address all-or-nothing thinking. In terms of placing an emphasis on gear to the exclusion of other things, sitting down to do an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses in all areas of preparedness could help. What areas could you improve to support a no-gear scenario? Is there some knowledge that you could gain that would help you feel more confident no matter what the situation you face? This article has some interesting thoughts. In terms of feeling frozen into inaction by the overwhelming Hell-in-a-Handbasket feeling, I use a couple of approaches regularly. When I feel that everything is too big and I can’t do anything, I set my timer for 15 minutes and go out to do 15 minutes of something. By the time I’ve done 15 minutes, I almost ALWAYS feel like I can do more. It’s getting past that feeling of overwhelm that I need. Because these are tough times, I also work on my gratitude daily, focusing on what IS working in my life and what IS wonderful about today. That keeps my neural pathways growing in the right direction. Resiliency is the balm of SHTF. Finally, in terms of feeling that I know it all, whenever I start to get a bit too big for my britches, I love to talk to elders. They know stuff. They’ve lived through things I can’t imagine. I listen and ask questions.  I used to have difficulty admitting that I made mistakes or didn’t know something. I now am able to admit it and move on. When I am dismissive of a person and what they do or don’t know, I challenge myself to listen. By challenging my preconceptions, I have often learned valuable lessons. Some people don’t blow their own horns, but they know a sh*tload of stuff.  The Middle Way All-or-nothing thinking is a natural part of life, but we want to be aware of it so that it doesn’t handicap our preparedness. Can you relate to any of the thought traps listed? Do you have one you have seen in yourself or the preparedness community that you can share with us? Please tell us in the comments section. About Rowan Rowan O’Malley is a fourth-generation Irish American who loves all things green: plants (especially shamrocks), trees, herbs, and weeds! She challenges herself daily to live her best life and to be as fit, healthy, and prepared as possible. The post The Dangers of All or Nothing Thinking in Preparedness appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

JERUSALEM—Israel’s war with Hamas goes beyond land and borders; it’s a battle for “our common civilization, for our values,” a former Israeli envoy to the United States warns.   “The enemy we’re fighting against is an enemy that detests everything that you stand for, everything that we stand for,” Michael Oren, who served as Israeli ambassador to the U.S. during the Obama administration, told The Daily Signal following a Memorial Day commemoration event in Jerusalem on Tuesday.   More than 18 months have passed since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 men, women, and children hostage.   “And if that enemy wins, then the West, and America’s part of that West … will be in jeopardy,” Oren said. Oren served as the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. from 2009 to 2013, and is author of a number of books, including “Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East.”   Israel has, “at a cost of an immense amount of blood and treasure,” managed to “humble” Iran, “disintegrated” Syria, defeat Hezbollah, and nearly defeat Hamas, according to Oren. Now, as the U.S. engages in talks with Iran over its nuclear program, he is warning against snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.   Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, has now met with Iranian leaders three times in a series of talks over Iran’s nuclear program. A fourth round of talks is slated to take place in Rome on Saturday.    The only way America can “win” the negotiations with Iran is if “the entire nuclear program of Iran is dismantled,” Oren said.   “And in addition to that,” he added, “the ballistic system that Iran has developed that can reach central Europe now, [and] in another 10 years, it can reach Washington, D.C., that also has to be dismantled. And finally, Iran has to stop … its role as being the world’s largest state sponsor of terror.”   The U.S. designated Iran a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984.   The current tension across the Middle East can either “go to stability, it can go to peace, or it can go to further warfare,” Oren said. “It hangs in the balance.”    The post ‘West Will Be in Jeopardy’ If the ‘Enemy’ Wins Israel-Hamas War, Jerusalem’s Ex-Envoy to US Warns appeared first on The Daily Signal.

I’m a big believer in the importance of attitude. I consider it to be one of my most important portable preps, right up there with my brain. In this article, I’m going to share a common trap of thinking that could cause problems in our slow-burning SHTF that we live in today, but also in an all-out grab your BOB SHTF. It’s All or Nothing Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about: All or nothing thinking. It can freeze you, reduce your happiness, reinforce relentless perfectionism and suck the joy out of life. Technically speaking, it’s a cognitive distortion.  By definition, all-or-nothing thinking sees only the extremes. The glass isn’t half empty or half full: it’s gotta be full all the time or you’re a total failure, or it’s seen as having been empty for your whole darn life, and that’s never going to change.   Why Does Thought Matter? We are what we think. Through decades of meditation, if there is one benefit that I have gained, it is that I have learned to take responsibility for what is in my mind. Yes, every thought. If your mind is full of negativity, you are growing more brain pathways in that direction.  There is hope if someone has a tendency toward negative thinking. We now know that the brain can change and literally rewire itself in a new direction. Dr. David Hanscom emphasizes that we have a choice each and every day: to stay in old, painful ruts of repeated thoughts or lift ourselves out of that and be who we want to be each and every day.  Anyone reading this is like me, wanting to be as prepared as possible for whatever comes my way. I’m going to share a few thought-traps related to prepping and then some very basic things that someone can do to shift their thinking and get going when it’s most needed.  Thought Trap #1: My Preparedness Is My Gear When concerned about the apocalypse, it can be easy to focus on gear. There is a feeling of urgency that goes along with this: “If I have this firearm, with all that stopping power, then I will be safe and therefore I am safe now.” The danger of all-or-nothing thinking in this scenario is to focus only on the stuff you have. When a new item becomes available, you will need that, too. The feeling of missing out could lead to feeling like “I’m not prepared if I don’t have X.” or “We won’t make it if we don’t have Y at our bug out location.” What would happen if you were forced to run with only the clothes on your back? All or nothing thinking might lead you to conclude, “I won’t make it!” But that is right when you need a solid mind more than you ever have in your life. Thought Trap #2: Hell in a Handbasket I am the first one to admit that, yeah, things pretty much sucked during the pandemic and they haven’t exactly been great since. Another home on my road was condemned this week. Folks already living in poverty were forced to move in with relatives for now. Double-income families with children in our area are now using food banks. However, looking only at the negatives day in and day out will reinforce those brain pathways I was talking about earlier. In this slow rolling SHTF or a full-on one, if you only think you’re going to hell in a handbasket day in and day out, you aren’t helping your brain solve the problems in front of you. In fact, you’re harming your resiliency.  Hopelessness could lead to major depression right when you need your mental health the most.  Thought Trap #3: I Know Better Than…Well….Everyone! In this form of all-or-nothing thinking, you know it all and the rest of the plebes know, well, near to nothing. You may fit this description if you find yourself posting smug comments that reference your superior knowledge and/or gear.  If you know a lot more than others, I am happy for you! The thought trap here is that being overly confident in your knowledge may mean that you miss something that could help you.  That old woman who was selling cabbages by the roadside that you ignored? If you had talked to her for a while and listened, you might have found out about those caves in the hills that her father took her to when she was young. She also has a huge herb garden and grows two herbs known for stopping bleeding.  Information can come from varied sources. It’s great to be proud of your preps and resources. Are yours balanced with a listening attitude? Some Tips on the Path There are many ways to address all-or-nothing thinking. In terms of placing an emphasis on gear to the exclusion of other things, sitting down to do an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses in all areas of preparedness could help. What areas could you improve to support a no-gear scenario? Is there some knowledge that you could gain that would help you feel more confident no matter what the situation you face? This article has some interesting thoughts. In terms of feeling frozen into inaction by the overwhelming Hell-in-a-Handbasket feeling, I use a couple of approaches regularly. When I feel that everything is too big and I can’t do anything, I set my timer for 15 minutes and go out to do 15 minutes of something. By the time I’ve done 15 minutes, I almost ALWAYS feel like I can do more. It’s getting past that feeling of overwhelm that I need. Because these are tough times, I also work on my gratitude daily, focusing on what IS working in my life and what IS wonderful about today. That keeps my neural pathways growing in the right direction. Resiliency is the balm of SHTF. Finally, in terms of feeling that I know it all, whenever I start to get a bit too big for my britches, I love to talk to elders. They know stuff. They’ve lived through things I can’t imagine. I listen and ask questions.  I used to have difficulty admitting that I made mistakes or didn’t know something. I now am able to admit it and move on. When I am dismissive of a person and what they do or don’t know, I challenge myself to listen. By challenging my preconceptions, I have often learned valuable lessons. Some people don’t blow their own horns, but they know a sh*tload of stuff.  The Middle Way All-or-nothing thinking is a natural part of life, but we want to be aware of it so that it doesn’t handicap our preparedness. Can you relate to any of the thought traps listed? Do you have one you have seen in yourself or the preparedness community that you can share with us? Please tell us in the comments section. About Rowan Rowan O’Malley is a fourth-generation Irish American who loves all things green: plants (especially shamrocks), trees, herbs, and weeds! She challenges herself daily to live her best life and to be as fit, healthy, and prepared as possible. The post The Dangers of All or Nothing Thinking in Preparedness appeared first on The Organic Prepper.