?Stop what you’re doing and watch this full exchange between Senator Josh Hawley and a “Dr” Hawley asks over a DOZEN times if men can get pregnant and she CAN’T ANSWER. She blanks, then gives word salads and excuses for why she won’t answer. This is the star testimony for… pic.twitter.com/Q59DDQCPJC — Libs of TikTok […]

by Joe Kovacs, The Liberty Daily: (WND News Center)—With Minneapolis, Minnesota, remaining Ground Zero for anti-ICE attacks in the wake of the killing of leftist activist Renee Good by an ICE officer last week, there are now reports that up to 70 city police officers are now seeking paid leave as morale is said to be at […]

from Moonbattery: Looks like Kamala Harris’s catastrophically awful choice for VP might be removed from office: Let’s not be too hard on Walz. He devoted his career to pure moonbattery, but he did do one thing right. Via WLT Report: [B]ack in 2020 he signed a new law that gave officers the right to use deadly […]

from Daniel Davis / Deep Dive: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

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Olympus. The Battle of the Giants, by Francisco Bayeu, 1767-8. Source: Museo del Prado, Madrid; with Dionysus riding a panther, mosaic floor from Pella, late 4th century BCE. Source: Archaeological Museum Pella   Nonnus of Panopolis was a Greek poet who wrote his primary work, the Dionysiaca, while living in the Roman Egyptian city of Alexandria in the 5th century CE. While Nonnus was from a Christian family and wrote a paraphrase of the Gospel of John, his magnum opus was an epic poem about the Greek god Dionysus (known as Bacchus to the Romans). The longest surviving poem from antiquity, the epic’s 48 books were composed in the then-archaic Homeric dialect and dactylic hexameter. Nonnus compiled myths about the god Dionysus, and is also the only surviving source of the god’s supposed mythical conquest of India. So, what does Nonnius tell us about Dionysus?   The Birth of Dionysus-Zagreus The Infant Bacchus, by Giovanni Bellini, 1505-1510. Source: National Gallery of Art, Washington   In his amalgamation of Dionysian mythology. It open with an invocation of the muses and a promise to sing the various episodes of Dionysus’ life in various forms.   Nonnus begins with the birth of the god. In his narrative, Dionysus experiences three separate births. The first of these is based on a story attributed to Orphic mythology and says that Dionysus is born to Zeus and his daughter, Persephone. Demeter, fearing that her daughter would be kidnapped and violated, hid Persephone in a cave. Demeter employs snakes as the guardians of Persephone, and it is in the guise of a snake that Zeus rapes his daughter. From this incestuous union, Persephone gives birth to the horned baby Zagreus.   Zagreus is the first manifestation of the God Dionysus in the epic poem. This name is typically used to refer to Dionysus as the son of Persephone. In a vengeful wrath, Hera urges the Titans to destroy the child. The Titans lure the baby god into a vulnerable position and subsequently dismember him.   Dionysus the Thrice Born Zeus and Semele, by Jacques Blanchard, 1632. Source: Dallas Museum of Art   In the second birth narrative, Zeus seduces a mortal Theban woman named Semele. Zeus visits the young woman’s bed, and together they conceive the second incarnation of Dionysus. Once more, Hera hatches a plan to sabotage Semele’s pregnancy. The goddess appears to Semele in disguise and convinces the woman to ask Zeus to appear to her in his divine form. Zeus gives in to Semele’s request and reveals his true form to the mortal. Unable to withstand the presence of divinity, Semele is immediately immolated by fire.   The unborn yet godly infant is then expelled from his mortal mother’s womb, which serves as Dionysus’ second birth in the narrative. The final birth comes after Zeus takes up his infant son and stitches him into his thigh. Once the baby is fully developed, Zeus experiences labor pains and gives birth to the god Dionysus.   Dionysian Mythology in the Epic Poem The Nurture of Bacchus, by Nicolas Poussin, 1628. Source: National Gallery, London   Besides the extensive birth narrative, the poet also includes various smaller and lesser-known myths about the god. Many of these myths involve the spreading of Dionysus’ cult to different parts of Greece, and acts of retribution by the god towards those who would resist him.   Nonnus also recounts stories of Dionysus’ childhood and adolescence. One example is the story of the god Dionysus’ friendship and love for the young Ampelus. Upon his sudden death, Dionysus mourns for the mortal and transforms him into a grapevine from which the god makes the first wine.   Dionysus Is Sent to India Thasian marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysus, c. 190 CE. Source: Walters Art Museum In the 13th book of the Dionysiaca, Dionysus is ordered by Zeus to prepare for war against the impious natives of India. Rhea, who had cared for Dionysus as a child, is ordered by the god to prepare troops for the conquest. In typical Homeric style, the epic poet provides the readers with a catalog of heroic and divine troops. The Dionysian army, made up of a large contingent of Bacchants or maenads, encounters the Indian troops led by one Astraeis.   The Indian army is annihilated by the Bacchic forces, but Dionysus takes pity on his foes. In sympathy, the god transforms the nearby lake of Astacid into wine. The Indians then quench their thirst in the lake and, tasting wine for the first time, they become inebriated and fall asleep. The unconscious Indian troops are then bound and imprisoned by Dionysus’ forces.   Dionysus and the Nymphs The Morning. The Dance of the Nymphs, by Jean-Baptiste Camille-Corot, 1850. Source: Musée d’Orsay, Paris   Nonnus offers an interesting digression on Dionysus’ interactions with the nymphs. The first of these appears in the 15th book of the Dionysiaca, and involves a woodland nymph named Nicaia. The virginal Nicaia is an attendant of the goddess Artemis. In one scene, she drinks from a river of wine, and the god Dionysus drugs the nymph. He then takes advantage of the unconscious woman and impregnates her. From this union, the god’s daughter, Telete, is born. Telete, whose name is linked to the Dionysiac mysteries, becomes one of her father’s attendants. When Nicaia is forced from her position as a companion of Artemis, Dionysus names the city of Nicaea in her honor.   Similarly, another nymph endures the same treatment in the final book of the poem. Aura, a Titaness in the service of Artemis, is also pursued and impregnated by Dionysus. However, rather than accepting her role as the mother of the god’s child, she refuses to accept her pregnancy. Aura continues to take part in activities with the other nymphs despite her compromised chastity.   Bacchus, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1598. Source: Uffizi Museum, Florence   Eventually, the nymph gives birth to twins. However, in her abject refusal of motherhood, she cannibalizes one of her own children. Her remaining son, Iacchos, is saved by Athena. Aura is then transformed into a spring. This is punishment for a separate incident when she taunted Artemis. Iacchos is another figure that features in the religious mysteries of Dionysus. His name is also used in connection with the Eleusinian mysteries.   Hera and Dionysus Dionysus riding a panther, mosaic floor in the ‘House of Dionysos’ at Pella, late 4th century BCE. Source: Archaeological Museum Pella   Throughout the narrative, the goddess Hera consistently attempts to hinder Dionysus’ efforts to be accepted as an Olympian. At his birth, she attempts to kill the child by setting the Titans against him and by convincing Semele to ask Zeus to appear in his true form. During Dionysus’ march to India, Hera encourages the Thracian king Lycurgus to fight the Bacchic troops passing through Arabia.   Dionysus escapes into the ocean, where he is comforted by Nereus, a sea-god. Lycurgus, spurred on by Hera, attacks the bacchants, but is nearly killed, before he is saved by Hera. As punishment for his crimes against the bacchants, Zeus transforms Lycurgus into a blind wanderer.   When Dionysus and his companions arrive in India, Hera orders the River Hydaspes to drown the Bacchic troops during their crossing. The river obeys and attempts to drown the Bacchants in a flood, but Dionysus punishes the river by setting its banks on fire. The Hydaspes eventually surrenders to the god.   The Arrival of Dionysus in Attica, by Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger, early 19th century. Source: Sotheby’s   Throughout Dionysus’ conquest of the east, Hera attempts to thwart any forward movement of his troops. The goddess even becomes the patron of the Indian king Deriades, aiding him in his defense of India. In the second half of the epic, the Indian king is once again spurred on to take up arms against the god and his contingent of bacchants.   Up until the 30th book, the main narrative is concerned with scenes from the battle between the Indians and the Bacchic army. Eventually, Dionysus massacres the Indian defenders, and Hera can no longer prevent the expansion of the god’s cult. Instead, she tries to attack Dionysus by other means.   The Madness of Dionysus A mosaic of Dionysus fighting the Indians, Tusculum, c. 4th century CE. Source: Palazzo Massimo, Rome   Hera enlists the help of a Fury named Megaira, whom she instructs to madden Dionysus, while Hera puts Zeus into a deep sleep. Megaira successfully drives Dionysus mad, and he disappears. During his absence, the Indian king Deriades and his son-in-law, Morpheus, successfully rout the bacchants. With their god still absent from the battlefield, some of Dionysus’ troops are driven into the city walls, where they are slaughtered by the Indians. The god Hermes, however, releases many of them from the city.   Zeus awakens to see what has happened during his slumber, and immediately orders Hera to release Dionysus from his madness. To do this, she must breastfeed him and anoint him with ambrosia, a sign of his adoption as her child. The battle between the bacchants and the Indians culminates in a duel between the god Dionysus and Deriades. Dionysus wounds the king and forces him to escape by jumping into the River Hydaspes, ending the war.   Dionysus’ Homecoming Olympus. The Battle of the Giants, by Francisco Bayeu, 1767-8. Source: Museo del Prado   While war is raging between the Indians and the bacchants, another conflict plays out on Mount Olympus, between the deities that sympathize with Dionysus and those that support the Indians. Hera defeats Artemis, but Athena, who sides with Dionysus, defeats Ares. Apollo confronts Poseidon, but both gods are calmed by Hermes to prevent any further conflict.   Once these individual duels are concluded, Dionysus makes his way back to Greece to take his place on Olympus. However, Hera, still enraged, enlists the help of the Giants to attack Dionysus. Dionysus once again emerges victorious, thwarting Hera’s final attempt to prevent his ascendance. The culmination of the epic poem is found in Dionysus’ final, unobstructed homecoming to Olympus, where he is enthroned as an Olympian god.   Despite the rich mythological content of the Dionysiaca, the poem is rarely studied. Some classicists claim that the work is mediocre and unoriginal in its subject matter, but others disagree. It is also valued as a pagan epic published during the rise of Christianity.

The saga of federal benefits fraud in Minnesota is still being told. Democrat Gov. Tim Walz dropping out of his bid for reelection to a third term is only the latest chapter.  Reports of fraud in child care operations, and the connection to Twin Cities’ Somali immigrants, go back almost a decade. But state politicians and the legacy media initially ignored or downplayed the story, probably because most of the perpetrators were from a minority that carries “intersectional” clout in woke circles and electoral clout for Democrats.  In 2025, the magazine County Highway reported in depth on the scam, followed by the City Journal, and finally even The New York Times. Walz, who has been in power for nearly eight years, tried to shift blame away from himself and from Somalis on to President Donald Trump and conservatives for noticing. It didn’t work.  But there’s an underlying story that is no less important: the much larger cost of absorbing millions of low-skilled immigrants. Back in 2016, George Borjas of Harvard wrote that, “the higher cost of all the services provided to immigrants and the lower taxes they pay (because they have lower earnings) inevitably implies that on a year-to-year basis immigration creates a fiscal hole of at least $50 billion.”  Because most Somali immigrants came to the U.S. as refugees or on family reunification visas thereafter, they are an interesting subset to examine. At a press conference, Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar said of her Somali constituents that “we have … become nurses and doctors and engineers.”  Some, but not many. From 2019 to 2023, the median Somali household in Minnesota had an income of $43,600, compared to a national median of $78,538. That means that they will qualify for many federal benefits available to citizens and some immigrants. In a 2024 report, Daniel Di Martino of the Manhattan Institute looked at the net lifetime fiscal impact of immigrants. Immigrants without a college education are a net fiscal burden of up to $400,000, DiMartino estimates, while “each immigrant under the age of 35 with a graduate degree reduces the budget deficit by over $1 million in net present value during his lifetime.”  Somali refugees fall more into the former category. According to a recent Center for Immigration Studies report, 58% of them do not speak English well, and 39% have no high school diploma. That translates into a heavy use of welfare programs.  Of Somali immigrant households with children, CIS reports, 89% use some kind of welfare—86% of such families are on Medicaid, compared to only 28% of Minnesota households headed by a native-born citizen. More than one in five Somali men of working age are unemployed. More than half of children in Somali-immigrant households are below the poverty line, compared with only 7.6% of those in native-headed homes. Studies in Europe have shown that, on average, immigrants from certain countries are net takers from the fiscal pot over their lifetime, while others are net givers.  In Denmark, the net fiscal contribution of the average native Dane over a lifetime is positive. In their working years, native Danes pay into the system more than they take. That’s the only way the fiscal equation can balance. But their average immigrant from the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and Pakistan never pays more to the government than they take in benefits.  From 2019 to 2023, the median Somali household in Minnesota had an income of $43,600, compared to a national median of $78,538. That means that they will qualify for many federal benefits available to citizens and some immigrants. A Finnish study had similar results. On average, people from Somalia and many other places were net lifetime losses. Mass migration was sold to Europeans as a solution to their plummeting fertility rate. To pay for wraparound socialist benefits, the thinking went, they needed to import millions of younger workers. Unfortunately, they weren’t getting the kinds of migrants who are net contributors.  The countries that produce the most economically desirable immigrants have low fertility and don’t export people. Meanwhile, emigrants from the countries whose populations are burgeoning and are on average a lifetime fiscal drain are the ones that do export people.  Liberals love to quote a line from Emma Lazarus’ poem on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” This is a sentimental expression from a 19th century context very different from today. Notice she doesn’t say yearning to eat free, sleep free, educate your kids free and get free healthcare, legal aid and a raft of other benefits unavailable in 1890. The Trump administration has lowered refugee numbers for fiscal year 2026 to 7,500. But a future president might choose to ramp up refugees and also open the spigots with other Biden-era tools to facilitate mass migration.  American voters need to understand that accepting refugees and low-skilled migrants means taxpayers write a check for hundreds of thousands of dollars to support them for life. Their children? Some will succeed and help balance the budget. Others will not. It will take generations to find out the long-term results of America’s mass migration binge.  But in the short-term, our fiscal hole will get much deeper, and the politics of refilling it will be impossible. Accepting the fiction that all migrants are the same, and that mass migration is always a net benefit to the receiving population, will leave us with a staggering bill we may never be able to pay.  Originally published in Fox News The post Why Refugee Flood Isn’t a Smart Policy appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Hey, you know those Somali immigrants who just stole a few billion dollars from taxpayers up in Minnesota? They're not going anywhere. Well, OK, maybe prison -- but likely for sentences that make slaps on the wrist look painful by comparison. And then they'll be back in the Minneapolis area,...

Morning came early for the Motul Hot Bike Tour Longriders. Some woke up bright-eyed and ready. Others, still shaking off […] The post Motul Hot Bike Tour Day 2 Recap: Phoenix To Grand Canyon Harley-Davidson appeared first on Hot Bike Magazine.