Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu formally nominates President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize

As gunfire tore through Chicago over the July Fourth weekend—leaving 55 shot and at least six dead—the city’s silence was deafening. While families mourn and streets run red, local leaders cling to the same broken promises that have turned America’s heartland into a battlefield of unchecked violence. Chicago’s Independence Day: A Grim Tradition of Violence Continues Every July Fourth, millions of Americans celebrate their independence, grill with family, and watch fireworks. In Chicago, tragically, the holiday is marked by a grim and predictable tradition of gun violence that city leaders seem powerless—or unwilling—to confront. This year was no different. From July 3 through July 6, the city was a battleground, with at least 55 people shot and six to eight killed in a spree of shootings that blanketed neighborhoods from River North to Little Village and the South and West Sides. The violence began with a mass drive-by shooting outside Artis Restaurant and Lounge, a River North club that’s no stranger to bloodshed, having witnessed a similar mass shooting in 2022. Four people died at that so-called “album release party” while 14 more were left wounded. The mayhem didn’t stop there: more drive-bys in Little Village, Back of the Yards, and California Avenue, plus a string of targeted killings that left entire families shattered and neighborhoods cowering indoors. Chicago’s leadership, as ever, responded with the usual chorus of “this doesn’t define us,” as if repeating it often enough would make it true. Mayor Brandon Johnson, facing mounting public outrage and pressure to deliver results, offered a statement about resilience. Police Superintendent Larry Snelling insisted the River North shooting was “targeted,” not random, as if that should reassure anyone who just wants to walk the streets without dodging bullets. Meanwhile, investigations drag on, and suspects remain at large, with most shootings unsolved and city leaders silent on any immediate changes to their failed approach. Chicago’s working families, already struggling with inflation and economic uncertainty, now must add personal safety to their growing list of worries. The city’s hospitals and emergency services are overwhelmed, forced to operate like makeshift trauma centers during every holiday weekend. City Leaders Double Down on Denial and Deflection After another deadly holiday weekend, the city’s response was as predictable as it was infuriating. Instead of confronting the hard truth—that years of leniency, handcuffed police, and “restorative justice” experiments have gutted public safety—officials chose, once again, to play damage control. Mayor Brandon Johnson pleaded that these events shouldn’t “define the city,” as if slogans substitute for safety. Police brass repeated that many incidents were gang-related or “targeted,” a tired talking point that only highlights their inability to prevent organized violence. There was no mention of concrete action, no commitment to more police on the streets, tougher prosecutions, or an end to the revolving door of catch-and-release justice. Instead, the message was clear: brace yourself for more of the same—this is your “new normal.” Thousands turned out in Chicago today—fired up, unbought, and unbossed. On Independence Day, they marched, chanted, and made damn sure their voices were heard. This is what people power looks like. Thank you, Chicago. You showed up and showed OUT.#DemsUnited pic.twitter.com/fCm2nlUwRh — Jennifer Get In Good Trouble (@TheJenniWren) July 4, 2025 Community organizations, meanwhile, are left holding the bag, trying to “interrupt violence” with programs that sound good in grant proposals but do little to stop the carnage. Local business owners, especially those running nightlife venues in hot zones like River North, face surging security costs, declining patronage, and the real possibility that one stray bullet will destroy everything they’ve built. Residents, especially on the South and West Sides, are left to wonder why their safety always comes last, sacrificed to political correctness and bureaucratic inertia. A City on Edge: The Real-World Costs of Failed Policy The price of this violence isn’t just measured in body counts. It’s the trauma carried by families who’ve lost loved ones, the neighborhoods emptied by fear, the businesses shuttered by economic fallout, and the steady erosion of public trust in government. Chicago’s national reputation—already battered—is in free fall, with tourists and investors deciding they’d rather take their chances elsewhere. Emergency rooms are stretched to the breaking point. The city’s budget groans under the weight of overtime for police and the endless cycle of crisis response. All the while, the same officials who campaign on “equity” and “investment” leave the most vulnerable to fend for themselves. The pattern is clear: as long as leadership refuses to admit the obvious—failed policies breed lawlessness—there can be no real change. Chicago celebrated Independence Day in the US according to local traditions. Al Capone style. Heavy fire from a passing car. 4 dead. 14 wounded. This is the kind of fireworks in honor of those not born, but killed on the eve of July 4. pic.twitter.com/Ve5apHpkG3 — Victor vicktop55 commentary (@vick55top) July 5, 2025 Chicago’s gun violence isn’t a mystery or a force of nature. It’s the direct result of years of bad decisions, ideological blinders, and an allergy to accountability. Until city leaders are willing to protect citizens and support law enforcement with real power, not just rhetoric, expect the next holiday weekend to bring another round of headlines, another round of mourning, and another round of excuses. The American people deserve better than this endless cycle of violence and denial. They deserve leaders who will fight for their safety, their families, and their freedom—no matter the political cost. Sources: ABC7 Chicago Block Club Chicago Wikipedia (2025 Chicago shooting) CBS Austin / Associated Press

Detractors (unbelievers) claim the Bible is full of contradictions, but because God cannot lie, neither can His Word.

This is what we need when we are stuck… a miracle! May you find the strength to go to the Lord once again and seek his will for your life. Let him do what only he can do.

'I just don't buy it'

Credit: Global NewsA powerful storm swept through central Alberta on Wednesday night. While no injuries were reported, one couple near Rich Valley captured something strange on video—a glowing blue orb hovering just a few hundred meters from their home. Ed and Melinda Pardy stepped onto their back porch around 7 p.m. to watch the storm, which brought intense lightning and even triggered tornado warnings. Then, after a particularly strong lightning strike, they noticed something strange. “After a rather vicious lightning strike, we saw a ball of fire kind of… about 20 feet above the ground,” Ed recalled. “And it kind of stayed there in a big round ball.” Melinda quickly grabbed her phone to record it. The footage shows a bright, bluish sphere lingering in the air before vanishing seconds later. “I was like, ‘What is that?’ It wasn’t even the colour of fire,” she said. “It was bluish in colour.” Ed described it as a “bright orb of blue light,” roughly three to six feet wide, moving slowly before disappearing with a small pop. Global News shared the video with Frank Florian, a space science expert at Edmonton’s TELUS World of Science. He called it “an incredible video” of something “very strange associated with severe weather conditions.” His best guess? Ball lightning—a rare and poorly understood phenomenon. Florian explained that lightning is essentially a burst of plasma—superheated gas—cutting through the sky. Normally, it flashes and vanishes in an instant. But sometimes, under the right conditions, the plasma lingers. “Lightning itself is a plasma,” he said. “You have an electrical path going through the sky from the cloud to the Earth… it superheats the air really, really quickly, and it creates a plasma.” When that plasma sticks around in a spherical shape, scientists call it ball lightning. These glowing orbs are rare and unpredictable. Some reports describe them floating through open windows or even bouncing along the ground before vanishing. Scientists still don’t fully understand ball lightning. Because it’s so rare, researchers struggle to study it—though some have tried recreating it in labs. The post Alberta Couple Films Rare Blue Ball Lightning During Severe Storm appeared first on Anomalien.com.

We regret to inform you that Univision joined the race to the bottom to attempt to blame the catastrophic Texas floods on the Trump administration and on DOGE. An exchange on the network’s morning Despierta América suggested to viewers that the alleged cuts “had an effect” on the deaths in Texas Hill Country. Watch as anchor Satcha Pretto and weekend anchor Felix de Bedout do the dance and plant the seed of Trump administration malfeasance in viewers’ minds: UNIVISION DESPIERTA AMERICA 7/7/25 7:05 AM SATCHA PRETTO: Felix, and we know there's controversy surrounding the Trump administration's cuts to the National Weather Service and also FEMA. Is it known whether they may or may not have had an effect on this tragedy? What are they saying in Texas? De Bedout proceeds to give Pretto a word salad answer wherein he neither answers nor refutes her question, therefore leaving it open for interpretation in the minds of viewers. Of course, this is total nonsense. As has been widely reported, the National Weather Service responded to the crisis with “surge staffing”, and issued multiple warnings in advance of the deadly flooding. None of this matters to the Trump-deranged Univision, which insists on politicizing a tragedy even as little girls are being dug out of the mud and from under debris. The stories of courage under the worst conditions are beginning to emerge and we are only now beginning to comprehend the staggering scope of human loss resulting from this flood. None of that matters beyond trying to score cheap political points off of a tragedy. Disgusting. Click “expand” to view the cited portion of the aforementioned report as aired on Univision’s Despierta América on Monday, July 7th, 2025: UNIVISION DESPIERTA AMERICA 7/7/25 7:05 AM SATCHA PRETTO: Felix, and we know there's controversy surrounding the Trump administration's cuts to the National Weather Service and also FEMA. Is it known whether they may or may not have had an effect on this tragedy? What are they saying in Texas? FELIX DE BEDOUT: That's the debate right now, and the president's words yesterday were a little, I don't know... disconcerting, because he was talking about President Biden's responsibilities, but he said it wasn't his fault. And we have to emphasize something I was mentioning to you. Natural tragedies, whoever the president is, are going to happen as expected - and what's needed is the necessary prevention so that the consequences aren't catastrophic, as has happened here. And here, although there were alerts, because in the area the alerts went off- and many people are wondering why no evacuation call was made. Several reasons were: it was very difficult to get so many people out in the middle of those conditions, but the questions are increasing, and this will have to be resolved as the days go by, especially so that if anything remains from this tragedy, it's that the lessons are learned and nothing like this happens again. PRETTO: And I hope not, Felix. Even one of the mayors in the area said they're used to this kind of flash flooding and thought it might be just another one. And we saw that wasn't the case. Felix de Bedout, thank you for bringing us this live report in Kerrville, Texas.