5 Practical Ways to Take Up the Sword of the Spirit Daily

Ashley Olson and her husband, Willie, have been together since they were teenagers. When it finally came time for them to tie the knot, they forgo a traditional wedding for one at the courthouse. Their stay at a cheap motel that night was nothing fancy — their room didn’t even have a table or chairs for them to use while eating dinner. But that didn’t matter. Willie unfolded an ironing board, turning it into a makeshift table. Here, they celebrated their marriage with Taco Bell. Fast forward a decade and these two love birds are still crazy for each other. They also have two kiddos. Since their humble honeymoon, Ashley and Willie have gone on much fancier trips. Still, as timing would have it, they wouldn’t be doing anything special for their 10-year anniversary… or so Ashley thought. Turns out, Willie had quite the anniversary surprise up his sleeve. View this post on Instagram A post shared by NC Documentary Wedding Photographer (@ashleyolsonphoto) From Ashley’s perspective, she and the kids would be staying at her mom’s while Willie stayed home to do work-related things. Instead, he drives for hours to see her. His celebration plans? A Taco Bell dinner eaten off of an ironing board. Husband’s Anniversary Surprise Leaves His Wife of 10 Years Speechless In addition to the meal that perfectly recreates their wedding night, the two of them danced to their wedding song at the end of her parents’ pier. To say that Ashley was blown away would be an understatement. “I’m not an easy person to plan surprises for, so this was extra impressive. Tbh, I’m still in disbelief and still sobbing,” Ashley admits in the caption of her post. “10 years + 2 kids later this man still pursues me, still dates me, and still surprises me. Cheers to more DECADES + dinners on the ironing board!!!” You can find the source of this story’s featured image here! The post Husband Drives 5+ Hours To Surprise Wife On Anniversary With Humble Recreation Of Wedding Night appeared first on InspireMore.

Yeah, we're only two games in, but it's a fair question

Great White was formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band peaked with several albums during the mid-to-late 1980s, including the platinum-selling records Once Bitten (1987) and …Twice Shy (1989), and those albums’ singles “Rock Me” and “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” received considerable airplay through radio and MTV. They charted two Top 40 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” and “The Angel Song.” Great White continued to release new material into the 1990s and estimated they had sold around eight million records worldwide by 2008. The band is named after both the shark with The post Complete List Of Great White Band Members appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

While not as well known as its alligator cousins, the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) is a fascinating and fearsome inhabitant of the Amazon rainforest that will essentially eat anything it can get its jaws around. However, its place at the top of the food chain is constantly under threat from other large predators that share this habitat. How big do black caiman get?Growing up to 5 meters (16.4 feet), the black caiman is the largest member of the Alligatoridae family, which includes alligators, caimans, and their extinct relatives. The scales of black caiman are a dark green-tinged color that acts as camouflage in the murky waters of the Amazon at night.They inhabit parts of several countries in the Amazon Basin, including Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, and (possibly) Venezuela. In previous decades, the species was considered vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN Red List. Their downfall was illegal hunting. Not only were they hunted for meat, but also for their attractive skins that were sought-after by the fashion industry.Fortunately, it’s believed they have “undergone substantial recovery in several parts of its range,” although the IUCN still says more data about their conservation status is needed.           What do black caiman eat?A study in 2019 tagged 75 black caimans in French Guiana, hoping to get an insight into their wide, generalist diet. They found that the bulk of their diet was made up of fish, but they also consumed considerable amounts of water birds and mammals that strayed too close to the water’s edge. Though not listed in the study, this can include animals such as deer, peccaries, and tapirs.There is even evidence of them eating jaguars and anacondas, two other species often considered to be apex predators of the Amazon. Green anacondas, jaguars, and black caiman are effectively in a battle for the top spot of the food chain. While black caimans are known to eat anacondas, it’s not unusual for larger anacondas to prey on juvenile black caiman.          Black caiman human attacksHumans can be on the menu too when times get tough. One case report tells the story of an 11-year-old girl who was killed by a black caiman in Rondônia State, the Brazilian Amazon.Trigger warning: black caiman attacks sound utterly horrific. In February 2010, the girl was attacked by a 4.21-meter (13-foot) black caiman at around noon while bathing with her friends in a flooded area. Police and firefighters arrived at the scene, but the child and the animal couldn’t be found. It wasn't until around 8 pm that the caiman reemerged with the girl still in its jaws. The caiman was shot dead by seven shots and the child's body was recovered.“[A]lligators and other crocodilians come close to the victim using their camouflage ability, then attack suddenly and swallow small prey whole,” the study reads. “If the victim is a large animal, it is dragged into deep waters and drowned. When death occurs, the reptile holds the victim in the river bottom or the victim remains stuck in the mouth for some time (still submerged), waiting for the decomposition and softening of tissues. The reptile then disarticulates it with a rotary movement of the body, swallowing body segments whole as its teeth are not adapted for chewing,” it adds. 

An oral antidote to acute alcohol intoxication has been developed and tested successfully on mice. The hydrogel is engineered using a milk protein that’s a by-product of cheese manufacturing, and it breaks down alcohol in the body without generating the usual toxic waste products.In many communities, alcohol has historically played an important part in celebrations, rituals, and social occasions. While there’s evidence that its use is on the decline in younger generations, data from 2016 showed that in the US, 71.7 percent of people aged 15 or over had consumed alcohol within the preceding 12 months. Vietnam topped the global stakes at 99.4 percent, closely followed by Luxembourg at 91.8 percent.While many can fit alcohol consumption into their lifestyles with no problems, there’s also no denying the negative impact it can have. The World Health Organization estimates that 3 million deaths each year can be attributed to harmful alcohol use.One issue is that we don’t really have great treatments for acute alcohol intoxication. The ones we do have typically offer only temporary symptom relief and may lead to the buildup of toxic acetaldehyde that can cause organ damage.   An international collaboration led by scientists at ETH Zurich and China Agricultural University is looking to change all that. They’ve developed a protein-based hydrogel that quickly and harmlessly breaks down alcohol before it enters the bloodstream.“The gel shifts the breakdown of alcohol from the liver to the digestive tract. In contrast to when alcohol is metabolized in the liver, no harmful acetaldehyde is produced as an intermediate product,” said study author Professor Raffaele Mezzenga in a statement.The innovative gel is produced from whey, a by-product of cheesemaking. Boiling the whey for several hours produces long fibrils of beta-lactoglobulin protein, which can be induced to crosslink and form a gel through the addition of salt and water. Gels work well for applications like this because they are digested slowly, but it still needed something to break down the alcohol.“We immersed the fibrils in an iron bath, so to speak, so that they can react effectively with the alcohol and convert it into acetic acid,” explained first author Jiaqi Su. If you think it’s beginning to sound like the formula for some ancient alchemical potion, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The final special ingredient? Gold.Gold is not digested by the body, so can hang around in the stomach or intestines for longer to do its job. It reacts with glucose to produce small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which then triggers the all-important reaction between iron and alcohol. The result of this cascade of reactions is that the alcohol is converted to harmless acetic acid without ever reaching the liver.To test their invention, the researchers enlisted two groups of mice. Some were given just one dose of alcohol (acute), while others were given it regularly over 10 days (chronic), alongside prophylactic doses of the gel.In the acute group, the gel led to a 40 percent drop in their blood alcohol levels after 30 minutes compared with control animals. This went up to 56 percent after 5 hours, and tests indicated their livers were functioning better and they had less toxic acetaldehyde buildup.In the chronic group, the gel appeared to have long-lasting positive effects beyond simply reducing blood alcohol levels – the mice lost less weight and maintained better liver, spleen, and intestinal function.If you’re thinking you’d like to get your hands on this sorcery before your next big social event, we hear you, but you’re going to have to wait a little longer. The team has applied for a patent for their product and it will still need clinical testing before it can be used in humans, but one major hurdle has at least been overcome – we know that whey proteins are edible.Still, Professor Mezzenga explained that this is not a magic bullet for all the ill effects of a booze binge. It only helps reduce the amount of alcohol getting into the bloodstream, so it can’t do anything once that’s happened and acute alcohol poisoning has set in.“It’s healthier not to drink alcohol at all,” Mezzenga said. “However, the gel could be of particular interest to people who don’t want to give up alcohol completely, but don’t want to put a strain on their bodies and aren’t actively seeking the effects of alcohol.”The study is published in Nature Nanotechnology.

On May 14, Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker gave the commencement address at Benedictine College, a Catholic school in Kansas. Within 48 hours, the media elites were ablaze with outrage. There’s a “growing uproar,” warned NBC’s Hoda Kotb. A Catholic speaker talked about Catholic issues to Catholic graduates. But the Butker critics who aren’t Catholics pulled out little snippets they could not abide. First, they hated that Butker paid tribute to his wife Isabelle for making him successful, for assuming “one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.” That is like a curse word to the feminists. They can’t allow the notion that children might benefit from having a parent in the home. He said to the female graduates that “some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” He didn’t say they shouldn’t have careers. He did suggest that many women – especially Catholic women – put motherhood first. Butker also inflamed the Left with a brief allusion to “the deadly-sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it.” None of us should have pride in our sins, but the libertine left is allergic to the entire concept of sorrow for sin. Personally, this was my favorite political passage: “Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I'm sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.” Lapsed Catholics and non-Catholics have no grasp of how the Catholic Church defines “scandal.” Catholics like Joe Biden, who aggressively support the exact opposite of church teachings, confuse both religious and non-religious people about what Catholics are called to believe -- like abortion is by its nature a deadly sin. But simplistic reporters don’t want anyone calling Biden a phony, any more than they want you to proclaim he's a divider, not a uniter. Jonathan Beane, the chief “diversity” officer of the NFL, put out a statement that “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger." It never stops being comical to tout “inclusion” when you’re telling a conservative Catholic to shut up about “Pride Month.” One can never dissent from the “diversity and inclusion” cops, who blatantly imply only the leftist side of the cultural debate defines their most precious words. Bobby Burack at Outkick pointed out that the NFL had no public statement of objection for Butker’s Kansas City teammate Rashee Rice, who was recently arrested on eight felony charges concerning a hit-and-run accident “while drag-racing his Lamborghini at 119 mph on a Dallas highway.” Reckless Rice is also under investigation for allegedly punching a photographer at a nightclub in Dallas, “leaving the accuser with noticeable swelling in his face.” The NFL has no comment.   Butker’s speech predictably prompted a Change.org petition calling for him to be fired by the Chiefs. Once again, it’s the Left that claims conservatives will “end democracy” and crush freedom of speech, while they demonstrate their absolute intolerance of an opposing point of view.  They can't achieve true "progress" until dissenters are heckled and banned.

After infiltrating UCLA's pro-Palestinian encampment, comedian Leo Dottavio said that the majority of participants were uninformed white women who were looking for their next "midweek adventure" and mostly just hanging out. Dottavio has traveled the across the United States visiting liberal colleges, towns, and even Appalachia. He and fellow YouTuber/comic Danny Mullen often search out protests surrounding topical news stories and find themselves quickly getting into trouble when they question the official narrative at any given political event. While their adventures often see them accosted by progressive leftists, the pair have made many less partisan stops including at the United States-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, and even events at Brigham Young University in Utah. Powering through an arrest while investigating a drug crisis, and even helping save a woman who overdosed in San Francisco, there has seldom been an event that Dottavio has shied away from. Dottavio and Mullen investigated a pro-Palestinian protest at the UCLA campus and were looking to determine whether the event was sincere or just another liberal hangout/soon-to-be autonomous homeless encampment. The duo attempted to bring their own tent into the official occupying area, which was was blocked off by cardboard, posterboard signs, and a progressive version of a Praetorian Guard. Despite trying to keep the comedians out, the protest had to deal with Dottavio breaking the picket line by running through the middle of the encampment with a football. The comedians, who said they are about 6’3", didn’t face any physical intimidation during the daytime. But at night, Mullen was physically threatened multiple times on video before being ushered off of the campus by masked thugs while police were busy clearing out the most crowded areas. 'Get on a f***ing plane and go to Gaza. You want to live this? You are that dedicated to this cause? Go help them out.' Getting an up-close, firsthand look at the event was quite revealing to Dottavio, though. "The attire and the scarves people are wearing at the protest would make you think that a lot of the protesters are Palestinian. But after standing less than 10 feet away from these people, I would say that maybe 5% or less looked like they could be Palestinian or Middle Eastern." "What I’m trying to say is that it was white women," he clarified. "It was 90% white women with edgy haircuts. They didn't seem like Palestinians at all. It seemed like a group of people that maybe just want to hang out." Dottavio elaborated, saying that the protest mimicked many of the protests he had been to before. It mostly consisted of people who had no real interest in the political messaging of the event but were looking to fit in. "It seemed like it’s what they do, or their way to have a midweek adventure, like they are just looking for anything that's kind of fun," he remembered. "It was mostly white women. I would say it was 90% uninformed white women. It seemed like it was anyone that doesn't like America wanted to be there. You’ll get ACAB ['All cops are bastards'], Antifa, and then you see white women trying to hang out with their buddies." Danny Mullen is an absolute legend for this. The campus occupiers have no idea how to respond to his trolling. — (@) Dottavio's acumen on political movements at the collegiate level should not be looked down upon. He has spent untold hours at dozens of protests, often finding himself in some of the most progressive environments available. None seemed more progressive than Evergreen State College, the school that was infamous for holding a "day of absence," which had students request that no white people be present for a day in 2017. Dottavio and Mullen have visited the campus multiple times and were shocked at how easily they were accepted when disguising themselves as literal communists. "We knew that we could easily infiltrate Evergreen State College again. The last time we went there, the more anti-Semitic we were, the more we were accepted." Just one example from their visit was a student telling their crew that his hope was "that God himself" could "strike a great blow against Israel." "The befuddling thing at the Palestine protests and the colleges, though … what happened to Ukraine? There have been so many deaths there, but why don’t they care about that?" Dottavio asked. "Of course the only solution to that is get on a f***ing plane and go to Gaza. You want to live this? You are that dedicated to this cause? Go help them out, I would respect that. That’s what they need." When asked what he thinks a college education is offering young Americans in 2024, Dottavio didn't have much hope for any students who find themselves occupied by various protests. "The people being churned out by some of the Ivy League schools do not turn out to be productive because of the way the world works, because they're so easily manipulated." The 38-year-old said that he thought there are so many other topics that young activists could be focused on, including human or child trafficking. He described America's issues as "a long list," but those that should be higher in priority aren't getting the attention from college students that they deserve. The border guard incident In January 2024, Dottavio and Mullen traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border with an adult film star and were shocked when a U.S. Border Patrol agent exposed his genitalia to the group, both in person and with pictures and on his phone. While near border town Jacumba Hot Springs, California, the hosts were approached by what appeared to be an official Border Patrol vehicle. "We were there just to make some YouTube content and learn more about the border crisis," Mullen told Blaze News at the time. "But yes, that was a real border agent and he showed us his penis both on his phone and in person." "Once he heard that Holly [Day] made adult films, it seemed like he wanted to prove to us that he was worthy of being in the industry as well," Mullen added. The border agent is then seen showing his phone to the adult actress while saying "I'm not that big, but ..." "Oh, it's his penis!" Day said while looking at the agent's phone screen. Customs and Border Protection told the Washington Examiner that an investigation was ongoing. 'Money has to be backing all these decisions, so what is the line? Maybe there is some nefarious organization like BlackRock giving money behind the scenes.' "It was really like a cartoon character," Dottavio recalled. "As soon as we showed up with a porn star, the guy really seemed to go into a trance. He then took the opportunity to show his penis." "I don’t think he wanted to work there any more. He probably fantasizes every day about doing something different. Obviously, he's probably not the kind of guy you want working at the border." “That guy, he wanted to free himself," Dottavio poetically prophesied. "As soon as that fly went down, he was free." Getting canceled and woke sports Consistently telling jokes and selling tickets has worked out well for Dottavio, who also acts and has appeared in an international spot for Little Caesar's. There have been at least a couple of bumps, however, as is expected when a comedian doesn't believe in self-censorship. "We did have a show canceled when Danny made a joke on our podcast about jokingly cutting a fat girl in half with a samurai sword. A venue just canceled our show after that." One failed petition later, and Dottavio learned that the L.A. comedy scene isn't as easily as offended as people might imagine. "Anything that's said at an open mic at a Los Angeles comedy is significantly worse than that," he explained. "The culture of Los Angeles has always been that if you’re going to a comedy club, you can't be offended." Despite being in a liberal stronghold, "you might hear something that's going to offend you," and you have to deal with it. "You'll probably come across a microaggression, too," he added. Dottavio, who played baseball in college, also spoke on prevailing wokeness in professional sports. Particularly, the comedian is a big fan of the UFC and baseball, which he admitted are "actually not that woke." But when presented with the NHL or NBA, Dottavio said that he believes "it's usually up to the fan individually" to decide when he or she wants to pull their support. "I would say I would be less inclined to blow a bunch of money at the stadium if I knew my money was going to some ridiculous cause or woke points." Understanding that there may be a father and son who may just want to avoid any political messaging, Dottavio wasn't too harsh with his stance. He said that if he found out there was dark money involved in messaging, he probably wouldn't support it. “Money has to be backing all these decisions, so what is the line? Maybe there is some nefarious organization like BlackRock giving money behind the scenes. At the end of the day as a fan, you have to give as much money as you are comfortable with," he said. Dottavio concluded by saying that he plans on continuing to do his podcast, "The Leo & Danny Show," and making the type of videos he is famous for. "It's like an adventure, like Frodo Baggins going towards Mordor." However, Dottavio did admit that he more than likely is not Frodo in his story. "Yes, it probably would be Danny." Dottavio has over 100,000 followers on Instagram. Like Blaze News? 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Cowards, feminists, and leftists love to talk about “gun violence.” They avoid uttering a disparaging word about the Crips, the Bloods, the Gangster Disciples, the Vice Lords, or any of the other fatherless lunatics who turn neighborhoods into shooting galleries. A gun has never pulled a trigger. It’s safe to demonize and publicly criticize guns. They’re harmless.On the other hand, a ton of statistical evidence shows boys and men raised in broken homes are 10 or 20 times more likely to get involved in violent criminal behavior. Cowards, feminists, and leftists fear gangs. That’s why they talk about “gun violence” rather than “gang violence.” Gang members have a propensity to harm people. I bring this up because, in a speech to Benedictine College graduates, NFL kicker Harrison Butker connected the dots on violent crime and broken American families. His speech triggered leftists. They want Butker canceled. They started a petition asking the Kansas City Chiefs to release him from the team. Here’s an example of the kind of things Butker said during his 20-minute commencement speech to an audience of young Catholics. People like Shannon Watts stop the pursuit of truth. She forces us to live in the same fantasy world she dwells in. “To the gentlemen here today, part of what plagues society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities,” Butker said. “As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation."“Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the U.S., and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates as well. Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men.”This statement, among several others, triggered Shannon Watts, a gun violence prevention activist and the founder of Moms Demand Action. Watts took to X to rip Butker. “Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s speech at Benedictine College railed against abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, LGBTQ+, and liberated women,” Watts wrote, “but it did not mention the gun violence that killed a fan at the Super Bowl parade. Gun extremism is part of the religion.”Watts is a suburban white woman. She’s scared of gangs. Being a leftist and a Buddhist, she’s likely scared of black men and of being accused of racism. Fear controls her. She values her personal safety and career advancement well above speaking the truth. Many American men have joined women like Watts in valuing safety and career advancement over the truth. Men have been emasculated and think like women. That explains all the talk about “gun violence.” Guns are a soft target. Again, they don’t pull triggers. Criticizing guns requires zero courage. It allows you to sound tough while actually being soft. I responded to Watts’ tweet and spelled out her lack of courage, her cosplay. She responded back to me with distortions and lies. “The shooters were teen boys,” she explained. “Much easier to call them gang members than children who were given easy access to guns by lawmakers who are mostly white men.”Watts is scared. She’s afraid of gangs, and she’s afraid of Black Lives Matter, woke cancel culture. Lawmakers did not give the shooters access to guns. Other criminals did that. A 23-year-old, a 20-year-old, an 18-year-old, and a 15-year-old were charged with firing weapons at the Chiefs Super Bowl parade. Lyndell Mays, 23, Terry Young, 20, and Dominic Miller, 18, were charged with second-degree murder. The unnamed 15-year-old was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. Shannon Watts prefers to attack the people (white lawmakers) and objects (guns) she does not fear. She fears Lyndell Mays, Terry Young, and Dominic Miller, so she pretends to not know their names. She fears their associates. She fears the gang culture that disciples Mays, Young, and Miller. And she benefits from the feminist-driven, baby-mama culture that produces the violence that permeates urban America.Watts’ behavior is cowardly. The cowardice of feminists and leftists prevents us from properly addressing the collateral damage that accompanies cultures plagued by broken families. People like Watts stop the discussion and pursuit of truth. She forces us to live in the same fantasy world she dwells in. In her world, guns are more harmful than broken families. In her world, Harrison Butker is a bad guy, and Lyndell Mays is an innocent toddler forced to kill by racist, white lawmakers.Irrational fear infringes on freedom. We’re surrendering our freedom because people who value safety over freedom have too much power. We’re building a society that caters to unmarried feminists. Harrison Butker is right. Man and woman are meant for the sacred covenant of biblical marriage. A society that de-emphasizes marriage between man and woman will devolve into violent, unsustainable chaos. Butker espoused common sense. The fact that his statements have been deemed controversial is proof of lethal delusion.