Days before the 2022 midterm elections, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon brought criminal charges against an executive of an election software company, saying Konnech Corporation’s election worker management software, PollChief, sent data to China. But after the action attained praise from Donald Trump and other conservatives, the far-left Gascon dropped the charges, and arranged to pay the executive, Eugene Yu, $5 million. He also placed the deputy prosecutor who spearheaded the probe, Eric Neff, on leave for 18 months, implying that he had bungled the case. Neff has been gagged from discussing the case while he was on leave — an order which has now been lifted with the closure of the investigation into him. In an interview with The Daily Wire, he said his former employer’s claims just don’t add up. “The official story on my leave they would tell you is to sort out whether I bungled the investigation,” Neff said. “They can’t say that now because they cleared me. Especially after they paid one of the top law firms in the country to investigate me.” Neff said that after conservatives concerned with election integrity praised Gascon for pressing the case, the far-left DA felt compelled to do the opposite. The New York Times said the case provided “fodder for election deniers” despite the fact that it did not alleged that votes were changed. Yu’s arrest came the day after the New York Times mocked concern about Konnech Corporation as “conspiracy theories.” Gascon’s backtracking restored the narrative. The LA Times ran the headline for the story pushed to it by three anonymous sources: “L.A. prosecutor put on leave over questionable case sparked by election conspiracy theories.” Los Angeles went on to pay Yu $5 million, Neff says, “in order to create a media narrative that there was something wrong with the case.” Neff spoke before the board in his personal capacity, asking if the investigations were even complete, and if the county lawyers had read them and were familiar with the facts before approving the settlement. The board approved the payment without any public discussion. A lawyer for Yu said at the time that the charges were “utterly false” and that in addition to paying $5 million, LA had agreed “to publicly proclaim Mr. Yu’s innocence.” Neff, of course, was still bound by a gag order. The felony arrest warrant complaint said that although Konnech’s contract with LA required only Americans to have access to the data, “based on evidence recovered from a search warrant executed October 4, 2022,” employees sent personal identifying information of LA election workers to third-party developers based in China. On August 18, 2022, the papers said, “Luis Nabergoi, project manager for Konnech’s contract with the County of Los Angeles, confirmed via the messaging app DingTalk that any employee for Chinese contractors working on PollChief software had ‘superadministration’ privileges for all PollChief Clients. Mr. Nabergoi described the situation as a ‘huge security issue.'” Yu’s lawyer, Dean Pamphilis, did not return a request for comment from The Daily Wire asking whether these assertions were false, and how Los Angeles came to be persuaded of their falsity. Last month, Neff filed his own claim for damages, in which he says that after reviewing evidence that indicated that Konnech’s servers were resolving to a Chinese address, DA investigators “recovered several explosive pieces of evidence,” including statements from an employee who cooperated, and that “it was immediately clear that Konnech’s deception of LA County with regard to its practices with poll worker information was even worse than initially feared. Konnech was sending sensitive PII data to Chinese-owned and operated third-party contractors through Chinese-owned and operated messaging applications.” Neff’s grievance said that after Trump praised Gascon in October 2022, each manager up to Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Woo, the top non-elected prosecutor, reviewed the evidence, and approved the filing of a criminal complaint October 13. But in November, after the case continued to get attention from those perceived as conservative, management ordered the complaint dismissed, it said. Neff registered his objection in an email, saying that although prosecutors have discretion on what cases to bring, under California law “a prosecutor cannot use political gains as a basis for dismissing a prosecution.” Two days later, he was placed on “administrative leave pending an internal investigation.” Gascon announced the dismissal of the criminal case publicly on November 9, 2022, saying, “We are concerned about both the pace of the investigation and the potential bias in the presentation and investigation of the evidence… As a result, we have decided to ask the court to dismiss the current case, and alert the public in order to ensure transparency.” More than a year later, in March 2024, Neff “was informed that the investigation was completed and that no disciplinary actions would be taken against him” — though he was reassigned to a less desirable position. Gascon’s office did not return a request for comment from The Daily Wire, including which facts in the indictment were wrong, and how it could be that the case was so egregiously wrong that the defendant was paid millions of dollars yet Neff did not do anything warranting punishment. It is rare for prosecutors to pay lawsuit settlements to people who are charged with crimes even if the criminal cases brought against them are flimsy. In September 2022, Konnech sued the Texas-based group True the Vote, which has made allegations about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, for defamation and computer fraud, and claimed its accusations against Yu stemmed from “racism and xenophobia.” True the Vote said it played a “small role” in the LA case. In December 2022, Konnech employee Grant Bradley sued Yu and the firm, alleging that he “witnessed customer’s data (specifically poll watcher information) being made accessible to foreign nationals from China,” and that managers instructed him not to worry about it because “everyone” was using Chinese programmers. He also said Yu solicited him to violate campaign finance law by making a donation to a politician for which he would be reimbursed by Yu. The case was dismissed “with prejudice and without costs or fees” in February 2024, according to court records, suggesting a possible settlement.

Not that many animals have pets of their own, but this bulldog somehow seems to have acquired a family of baby groundhogs! While living under a woman’s deck, these tiny critters became infatuated with her pooch, named Eggnog. They’ve been wistfully peering in at the dog through the window. Eggnog’s owner shared the cutest video of the animals staring at their new “mom.” In the clip, the bulldog was watching the baby groundhogs from her bed while they gathered on the steps outside. One of these creatures even looked like they were trying to figure out how to get inside the house! After watching the fuzzy brood for a while, Eggnog turned to give her mom a petulant look. Obviously, this pooch is not ready to take on that kind of responsibility! @eggnogthebulldog I want a DNA test…. #dogsoftiktok #funny #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Eggnog The Bulldog “When you have 6 baby groundhogs living under your deck and they think that your chubby dog is their mom…” wrote the owner over the footage. In the caption, she joked, “I want a DNA test…” Eggnog the bulldog is not ready to be a groundhog mom! Some commenters thought that the bulldog’s unhappy expression after viewing the baby groundhogs was too funny. Eggnog certainly didn’t seem to be a huge fan of being “adopted” by these creatures! “The look,” wrote one user. “No they are not mine uh.” “That side eye the dog gave,” said another. Screengrab from TikTok Based on other videos on her social media account, Eggnog is clearly used to being the baby of the family. Many of her posts feature the pampered pup wearing a cozy outfit and enjoying a snack on the couch. This bulldog isn’t quite prepared to give up her life of luxury in order to raise a bunch of groundhogs! Of course, if Eggnog doesn’t want these adorable little critters… can we take them home? You can find the source of this story’s featured image here. The post Bulldog Inadvertently “Adopts” Group Of Fluffy Baby Groundhogs appeared first on InspireMore.

She coulda just answered the question

A man in Mexico has died after contracting the first lab-confirmed human infection with H5N2 bird flu. It’s unclear how the man was exposed to the virus, but this type of avian flu has previously been found in poultry in the country. The risk to the general public is still considered to be low.The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed a report of a fatal human case of H5N2 influenza, filed by the Mexico International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Point (NFP) on May 23, 2024. The 59-year-old man was a resident of the State of Mexico and had been treated in hospital in Mexico City after developing symptoms including fever, shortness of breath, and diarrhea. He had been unwell previously and had multiple underlying conditions, including chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes, but had sought medical treatment for the new symptoms on April 24.PCR testing confirmed that he was suffering from influenza type A, but further testing by Mexican health authorities was required to confirm the subtype as H5N2.Influenza subtypes are categorized according to two surface proteins that pepper the outside of each virus particle. There’s hemagglutinin, responsible for the “H” number, and neuraminidase, which gives the “N” number. The swine flu pandemic of 2009 was caused by an H1N1 virus. Other rare subtypes circulate in pig or bird populations and very occasionally make the jump to humans.We’ve heard a lot recently about outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu across the United States and around the world, with wild birds, dairy cows, cats, and alpacas being just some of the species affected. There have been three reported human cases of H5N1 directly linked to outbreaks on dairy farms, but all three patients have recovered.H5N2 – the virus that infected the man in Mexico – is also an avian flu virus and has the same hemagglutinin type as H5N1, but a different neuraminidase protein. These two proteins help the virus invade cells and are targeted by the immune system as it races to build an antibody response.The WHO reports that no further cases have been detected so far. Seventeen of the man’s close contacts were monitored in hospital, and all tested negative for the flu and COVID-19 between May 27 and 28. Additionally, 12 of the patient’s neighbors have been tested, seven of whom have shown some symptoms. As of May 28, however, all 12 have tested negative for influenza A, influenza B, and COVID. There have been three outbreaks of H5N2 strains on poultry farms in Mexico this year. “Thus far, it has not been possible to establish if this human case is related to the recent poultry outbreaks,” the WHO explained.The Mexican government also said in a statement that there was no risk to the wider population.While the H5N2 virus is not the same as the H5N1 highly pathogenic influenza that’s currently hitting headlines, influenza expert Andrew Pekosz from Johns Hopkins University told Reuters that the case underscores the potential of H5 viruses to jump into other mammals.“So it continues to ring that warning bell that we should be very vigilant about monitoring for these infections, because every spillover is an opportunity for that virus to try to accumulate those mutations that make it better infect humans,” Pekosz said. 

In recent years skywatchers have been increasingly fascinated by the phenomenon known as STEVE, initially thought to be a type of aurora, but now recognized as being a sort of cousin. However, all STEVEs have been spotted before midnight – and not just because that is when amateurs are out taking photographs. A mirror image is expected between midnight and dawn, but has only now been found in a previously overlooked photograph from 2021, with the help of the European Space Agency’s Swarm satellites.The auroras of early May alerted more people than ever before to the wonders of space weather, thanks to phone cameras, social media and early alerts. In recent years, those same developments have helped scientists learn that solar activity triggers other sorts of phenomena high in the atmosphere. These tend to occur in association with auroras, and can easily be confused with them, but involve different mechanisms.Particular interest has focused on what was originally called Steve, now rebranded Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE). As we have come to understand STEVE’s causes, atmospheric physicists have concluded it should only be possible for STEVEs to occur before midnight, something matched in all observations. But does STEVE turn into a pumpkin at the witching hour, or is there a matching phenomenon before dawn?A search to settle that has revealed a series of image taken on December 28, 2021 from the  Ramfjordmoen Research Station, Norway, as well as some less clear ones nine years earlier.STEVEs are thought to be caused by streams of hot gas called sub-auroral ion drift (SAID). These move westward in the evening towards the now set Sun. After midnight the movement of the gas reverses, heading east in the direction of the future sunrise and is known as dawnside auroral polarization stream (DAPS). Both SAID and DAPS are triggered by solar coronal mass ejections, just as auroras are, which is why they occur together. The question was whether DAPS are sufficient to trigger counter-STEVEs, or if there is an asymmetry that prevents that occurring.Amateur skywatcher are likely to head to their beds by midnight, particularly in polar regions where the nights are cold. Many research cameras still use black and white, making it hard to distinguish auroral green from STEVE-like purple – but the Ramfjordmoen all-sky camera uses color, and doesn’t quit.Searching through archives of its observations, photographer Gabriel Arne Hofstra spotted two sets of images taken after midnight showing the STEVE’s tell-tale mauve coloring, next to classic green. Still, claiming to have identified a new phenomenon based on a handful of photographs over two nights might trigger the same response as a grainy image purporting to be Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Hofstra and colleagues knew they needed evidence these coincided with an eastward hot gas stream in the right location.The first signs of the not-STEVE showed up an hour and a half after midnight local time, lasting about 30 minutes.Image Credit: Ramfjordmoen Research StationThey checked the records of the European Space Agency’s three Swarm satellites, launched in 2013, and found two of them had been close enough to measure electric field conditions coinciding with the 2021 event. These revealed a current caused by a rapid eastward ion flow. The observed event differs from a STEVE in one way – it is closer to the pole than the true aurora, whereas STEVEs are at lower latitudes than simultaneous auroras. This makes the morning phenomenon even harder to catch.The path of the Swarm A and B satellites and the passage of electric charges they recorded.Image Credit: Nanjo, S., Hofstra, G.A., Shiokawa, K. et al./Earth, Planets and Space."As a scientist, collaborating with a photographer to uncover this new phenomenon has been a fantastic experience,” said Sota Nanjo of the University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo in a statement. “Our findings not only open new avenues in auroral physics, but also underscore the importance of continuous collaboration between scientists and photographers. Such efforts are particularly crucial in the coming years as solar activity approaches its peak, when we may encounter extraordinary phenomena.”The stunning show of May 10 has almost certainly inspired more people to chase sky lights, and presumably not all will be quitting on the dot of 12 (or even 1 am where daylight savings apply). In the process of photographing auroras, some may capture a brief accompanying purple arc.Clearly, we need a better name for this than counter-STEVE, however. EVE is the obvious choice, but might be too confusing for a morning phenomenon, even one first detected so close to Christmas. Perhaps we could really get on some people's nerves and call it ADAM.The findings are published open access in the journal Earth, Planets and Space.

On the morning of May 25, 2021, six students — accompanied by an 18-year-old and a 37-year-old mother — entered a classroom at Southern Guilford High School in North Carolina and began assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Authorities believe the attack stemmed from a bus stop fight the day before. The apparent "revenge effort" came to fruition when a student assembled friends with a plan to attack the girl the next day. 'You look at parents as the ones who are supposed to be giving the kid guidance as to how to handle these types of things, not encouraging it ... [and] in this case — a parent that went too far and participated with their child in clearly criminal behavior.' Video of the assault obtained by WGHP-TV shows the group surrounding the student and using their arms and legs to punch and kick her over and over again for several seconds. The victim reportedly suffered only minor injuries to her face before faculty, staff, and a school resource officer intervened. The Guilford County Sheriff's Office reportedly was planning to file misdemeanor assault and first-degree trespassing charges against the assailants. WGHP-TV added that "they may also be accused of inciting a riot." The fact that the mother of one of the attacking students participated in the assault was disturbing to authorities. "You look at parents as the ones who are supposed to be giving the kid guidance as to how to handle these types of things, not encouraging it ... [and] in this case — a parent that went too far and participated with their child in clearly criminal behavior," the school's resource officer, Capt. Brian Hall, told WFMY-TV. The following are 10 other times parents threatened or physically attacked teachers, school staff members — and even students. Mom brings son, 7, to bus stop to fight boy — then she beats up boy's 13-year-old brother who was protecting him, cops sayMemphis police said a 13-year-old boy and his 7-year-old brother were waiting at a bus stop to go to school on December 1, 2023, when 25-year-old Rniya Criss pulled up with her 7-year-old son, WHBQ-TV reported. Criss wanted her son to fight the 13-year-old boy's younger brother, police told the station. But the 13-year-old boy intervened and said “his brother wasn’t going to fight anyone,” the Charlotte Observer reported, citing police. In addition, police said Criss then hit the 13-year-old boy in the face, WHBQ reported. The victim said she also kicked him in the neck, WREG-TV reported. The victim soon fell to the ground, and he was left with a bruise on his eye and an injured neck, WHBQ added. Police told WMC-TV the victim's father flagged down an officer regarding his son being assaulted at a Douglass Middle School bus stop. According to the Observer, the family wanted to prosecute, adding that police said the siblings identified the woman from a lineup. A warrant was issued Dec. 8, the paper said, adding that records show she was arrested in February 2024 and booked in the Shelby County Jail on charges of assault-bodily harm and child abuse and neglect, jail records state. WHBQ said the charges are misdemeanors. Jail records indicated she posted a $5,000 bond.Dad enters HS classroom, confronts student for allegedly bothering his daughter; dad charged for making threats, assaultA New Jersey father was caught on video entering a Paulsboro High School classroom on March 11, 2024, and confronting a male student for allegedly bothering his daughter — and that dad, Aaron Thomas of Gibbstown, was charged with several offenses, including entering an unauthorized section of the school, threatening to punch and knock out a student, and assault for allegedly grabbing a second student’s arm and getting in his face. Parent banned from his daughter's elementary school after allegedly punching teacher during argument with principal over masking double standardThe incident took place on the first day of school in August 2021 at Sutter Creek Elementary School in California's Amador County Unified School District. The male parent noted that the principal and his daughter were wearing masks, but teachers were not. The parent confronted the principal about the mask disparity when a male teacher stepped in between them. That argument escalated until the parent allegedly punched the teacher. The teacher suffered bleeding, bruising, and cuts to his face and was taken to a hospital for treatment. It isn't clear if charges were pursued against the parent.Parents of fighting students actually enter Philly high school and get physically involved in the fracas, forcing hour-long lockdownCellphone video shared with WTXF-TV shows a girl grabbing another girl's hair as they throw punches and slam into lockers at Paul Robeson High School on Jan. 22, 2024. Officials with the School District of Philadelphia added to the station that several family members of the students came to the school and also became physically involved in the fighting, which forced the school to call police and the Office of School Safety. Officials also told WTXF that students were moved into classrooms and a lockdown lasted for about an hour.Mom sneaks into middle school with students, then repeatedly punches teacher in class, breaking her facial bones: AuthoritiesThe parent of a female student was able to get past Lincoln Middle School security on the morning of Feb. 16, 2024, because she's short, had a hood over her head, and appeared to be a student, Syracuse.com reported, citing Syracuse School Superintendent Anthony Davis. Police said Lynzina Sutton, 31, then located a female teacher she was looking for, the outlet reported. District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told Syracuse.com that Sutton punched the teacher in the face multiple times, fracturing her nasal bone and maxillary spine bones and giving her a concussion. The teacher was released from a hospital, the outlet added. “These are injuries that you don’t often see in boxing matches, so they’re quite serious,” Fitzpatrick added to Syracuse.com. In a follow-up story, Syracuse.com said Sutton also is accused of threatening another teacher during the same incident and now faces a harassment charge and 11 counts of endangering the welfare of a child because students witnessed the assault.Dad gets in massive brawl with students on HS campus; conflicts between students and his sons apparently sparked fightingThe incident took place on May 3, 2022, at Arizona's Tucson High School, leading to the arrest of the father and a student. Much of the melee was caught on video, and conflicting stories about what led to the brawl were afoot. Willie Smith, 40, was called to the school to pick up his two sons, who were being sent home following an incident with another group of students, KOLD-TV reported, citing the interim complaint. School staff and safety officers told Smith that he and his sons should leave through a rear exit instead of through campus to avoid a confrontation, KOLD said, citing the document. But Smith said he didn’t feel they needed to do that since school staff didn't tell him his sons had done anything wrong to be sent home, the station said, citing the complaint. In addition, Smith allegedly told staff if the ongoing issue wasn't addressed, there would be a problem, the station reported. The document indicated that Smith said, “If it’s going down, it’s going down here,” KOLD reported, adding that officers said Smith was referring to his sons protecting themselves if they were provoked. Smith then took his sons through the courtyard during lunch, the station reported. While Smith and his sons walked through the courtyard, there was an exchange between students and Smith’s sons, and a fight broke out, KOLD said, citing the document, which also said Smith engaged in “mutual combat with a student.” Smith admitted to fighting with the student and claimed the student was assaulting his son, the station said, citing the complaint. Smith was arrested on a felony charge of disrupting an educational institute, Tucson police said, according to the station.'You talkin' s**t to my daughter?' Mom allegedly boards school bus, repeatedly punches 64-year-old driver, drags victim by her hairSurveillance video caught the moment when a mom allegedly boarded a school bus in Mesa, Arizona, asked the 64-year-old bus driver if she was "talkin' s**t" to her daughter," and then unleashed a flurry of punches on the driver — and even began dragging the screaming driver by her hair toward the bus exit. Police soon arrested 27-year-old Hermenegilda Marquez in connection with the April 11, 2024, incident, KSAZ-TV reported, adding that she's accused of aggravated assault on a school employee — a felony. Investigators stated that "the defendant was shown video of the attack on the bus and was told that because she was on video committing the assault, she would be charged with a felony, but she showed no emotion upon hearing this," KSAZ added.Mom 'barged' into 3rd-grade classroom, threatened and cursed out teacher, blocked door preventing teacher, students from leaving: ReportThe incident took place just after 8 a.m. on May 17, 2022, at Pyle Elementary School while the teacher was taking attendance, the Fresno Bee reported, citing a Fresno Teachers Association media release. The parent entered the school while campus gates were open, which allow a “free flow” of students heading to class, district spokesperson Diana Diaz told the paper. The parent and a teenage girl with her blocked the classroom door, preventing the teacher and her class from leaving the room while yelling and cursing at the teacher, the Bee said, citing the FTA statement. Another teacher overheard the disturbance and called police, who soon got the parent out of the school, the paper said. Dad faces charges after he allegedly took part in fight between his son and another studentKLAS-TV reported that the incident took place April 12, 2023, adjacent to Dell H. Robison Middle School in Las Vegas. Videos of the fight, which circulated on social media, show a man identified as Jose Montes, 39, in the middle of the fight surrounded by numerous students, the station said. The video appears to show the adult male kicking a student in the head, KLAS said, adding that the student is on the ground with his arms wrapped around his head to protect himself. Montes turned himself in at the Clark County Detention Center and was facing charges including child abuse and battery, the station said, adding that victim's mother said her son was recuperating with “concussion-like” symptoms after two trips to the hospital. About a week later, a judge ordered Montes released on electronic monitoring, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.Parent tears off female teacher's COVID mask during heated exchange amid school masking requirementsWhile it fell short of an out-and-out physical attack, the district superintendent deemed the incident an assault. The altercation, according to the Washington Post, took place during the first week of the 2021-22 school year in the Eanes Independent School District in Austin. Superintendent Tom Leonard said a "parent physically assaulted a teacher by ripping a mask off her face ..." and that "this type of behavior will not be tolerated in Eanes ISD. Our staff are on the front lines of this pandemic; let's give them some space and grace. Please, I am asking everyone to be kind ... do not fight mask wars in our schools." A district spokesperson said the incident wasn't reported to local police. Like Blaze News? 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In January 2000, two American Episcopal priests traveled to Singapore to be consecrated as missionary bishops by the Anglican primates of Rwanda and Southeast Asia. The consecration was a reaction to the growing acceptance of homosexuality in the more liberal Episcopal church. My home parish, St. Gregory of Nyssa Church in San Francisco, exemplified this trend. As a sexually active gay man who aspired to the priesthood, I reasoned that these bishops and I were "enemies." So I did the Christian thing and prayed for them. Hell is being driven by one’s desires and fantasies and being told that to deny them is to deny the only joy there is, the joy that defines your whole being. St. Gregory’s church was big on praying for our enemies; you should have seen us on 9/11. 'Lord, have mercy' One Sunday I took my prayers public. I stood vested as a deacon in the morning liturgy and raised my hands upward, mentioning the two bishops by name and asking the congregation to pray that they receive God’s blessing and guidance. In essence this meant “if they’re wrong, God help them; if they’re right, God advance them," to which the congregation was meant to respond "Lord, have mercy." Before they could, a priest stepped forward to the middle of the room and loudly appended his own prayer to mine: “and for their conversion!” "Lord, have mercy," replied the congregation. In an extended email conversation among the liturgical staff after that event, it became evident that this priest (one of the two rectors of the church) thought my prayer misguided: They were wrong and we were right. No divine "guidance" was necessary. This priest had just come out himself and had obviously embraced the current gay orthodoxy: These two men wanted to send us all back to the dark ages, and we needed them to be enlightened. We were called to enlighten them. I was familiar with this view. Five or six years earlier, I'd had a conversation with my boss at the Episcopal Church Center in New York, where I was working as an administrative assistant. He was a gay man (he lived with his clergy "spouse") whose work brought him into regular contact with older, more traditional members of the church leadership. I asked him how we as gay Christians could make room for those who disagree with us. Shouldn't we as gay folks be less confrontational about our personal lives, so as to follow St. Paul's admonition not to scandalize each other? The answer was a clear “no.” There was no room for "homophobes" in the church. In the words of Barbara Harris, the first female bishop in the Episcopal church, “Let them go.” Or, “Goodbye and don’t let the door hit you on the way out." But I had begun to realize that this view conflicted with my desire to live as an orthodox (small "o") Christian. 'You are mad, you are not like us' My misgivings did not go unnoticed. A few months after the incident, the other rector of our parish asked me point-blank why I wanted to be in communion with those who didn’t want to be in communion with me. And why, for that matter, was I withdrawing from those who did want to be in communion with me? But to me it was clear that these old friends and familiar faces were the ones rejecting me. Not for my sexuality but rather for the liberal heresy of believing in the Bible and the created order of things, of believing in a bodily crucified and bodily resurrected Christ. Abba Anthony of Egypt once said: “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying: ‘You are mad, you are not like us.’” I was mad in their eyes. They merely wanted to help me be who I was. But the words of Fr. Alexander Schmemann came to mind: "Salvation is not only not identical with help, but is, in fact, opposed to it.” I managed to stay in the Episcopal Church until Easter 2002. In July of that year I was chrismated into the Orthodox Church. In August 2004 the Episcopal Church confirmed Gene Robinson as the first openly non-celibate gay man to serve as bishop. He would live in the bishop's residence with his sexual partner. This only confirmed my decision to walk away. I was far from alone: Hundreds of parishes left the church, eventually leading to schism within the Anglican Communion. And yet Canon Robinson downplayed the scandal this would cause. He went on CNN and predicted that his election would bring hundreds of people into a church that they now saw as welcoming and inclusive. I have to admit, part of me could see the appeal of his vision. The chance to attend a rite with one’s lover, to sit there and enjoy the music, to be told God loves you, and to hear a sermon about “green ecology” and “social justice” and “liberal politics” would be a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning, followed by coffee and maybe brunch with friends at some local eatery. We’d all go home and feel much more affirmed. And what's wrong with a little affirmation? 'I was in hell. I know what hell is.' The same sophisticated, modern thinking that has given us polyamory and unlimited, near-instantaneous access to pornography has also taught us that ancient cultures were horribly backward in their understanding of sex and sexuality. It is so painfully obvious that the aberration of Judeo-Christian ethics must be stopped that some folks will go so far as to imply that such morals are not part of the faith at all — and were never intended to be included in the “enlightened” teachings of Jesus. There is, however, another view: In 1956, Eugene Rose, a a 22-year-old gay man living in San Francisco, wrote a letter to a friend, which a 2001 article in Pomona College magazine quotes: … my mother has discovered, rather illegitimately (I shall tell you of it later) that I am homosexual; if you have not surmised the fact already, it is time you know of it. I have not quite been kicked out of the house, but I probably shall not return after September. My mother was quite hysterical, but my father persuaded her that I am only "sick." I have agreed to go to my friend’s psychiatrist in S.F., which I was rather interested in doing for other reasons, at parental expense.I suppose you have also surmised by now that I shall live this summer, and sleep, with a young man I love, and who loves me. The article goes on to recount Rose's conversion: It was Rose’s gay partner in San Francisco who introduced him to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. But while Rose was immersing himself in the mystique of ancient Orthodoxy, his partner, who had written a book about the Church, was losing interest in it. Soon the Church took Rose wholly, and he and his partner split up. A social doctrine adopted by the Council of Bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate last year describes homosexuality as “a sinful injury to human nature” to be “treated by sacraments, prayer, fasting, repentance and the reading of the Holy Scriptures.” Referring to his young adult years before he became fully involved in the Orthodox Church, Rose once said: “I was in hell. I know what hell is.” I was in hell. I know what hell is. I stand by those words of the man who became Fr. Seraphim. This hell is being driven by one’s hormones and believing that to deny them is unhealthy. Hell is being driven by one’s desires and fantasies and believing that to deny them is to deny the only joy there is, the joy that defines your whole being. Hell is a fine San Francisco morning standing in one’s bedroom while an orgy takes place in the hallway outside. Hell is a foggy San Francisco afternoon standing in a room full of men involved in various actions with each other — and somewhere a voice tells you it’s all wrong, but you don’t know what to do. Hell is a balmy evening on a back porch listening to ten gay men in the middle of the most liberal Episcopal diocese in the country insist that all churches are homophobic and evil. Hell is being told in a Sunday sermon that Jesus died in 1st-century Judea, that Jesus isn’t alive, that Jesus isn’t coming back, and that he would want you to “follow your bliss” to find the will of God in your life — all of this when you know now that your “bliss” makes you more depressed every time you indulge in it. Hell is a “Pride Parade” where no one looks at you, where no one returns your compliments, where no one bothers to notice you — on a day when egos are supposed to be full and fluffy, hell is having one’s ego bashed. Hell is knowing that at this point, someone reading this essay will say “Oh, he’s ugly and bitter, that’s all.” Hell is watching your friends die for the sake of their own freedom to damn themselves — and hearing them cry, “I didn’t do anything to deserve this. … God is hateful.” Hell is knowing that there is the slightest possibility that these “Jesus Seminar” folks and these other “new theologians” are wrong. That 2,000+ years of orthodox Christians are right: What if gay sex is evil? Hell is also standing next to those who end that conversation by saying, “Oh, shut up.” Hell is being told that all the Gospel is wrong — millennia of your brothers and sisters in the faith were wrong — that Jesus loves you just as you are and no change is required, we’ll just throw out everything that disagrees with that. Hell is being told that this nihilism and denial of any and all truth are exactly what the church is supposed to be — liberating us from outdated notions of sin and justice. Hell is finding out that no one really wants “a relationship,” no matter how much they want it blessed or accepted; rather just the ease of sex, the right to demand acceptance of their neighbors, and the ability to collect insurance. They’d also like it to be open, please, not monogamous, with a "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy and weekends free to “play around.” And don’t judge us, please. Hell is standing in the middle of the most gay-friendly city in the country — perhaps the world — and praying, please God, there must be something more than this. Or maybe hell is belonging to a church that just pats you on the head and says, “That’s OK, dear.” Hell welcomes you in from the cold by leaving all the windows and doors wide open and turning off the heat (too great a change can be a shock, you know). Hell is pretending that “we value every person and support a widely diverse community” means anything other than "we have no more concern for your soul than the local Denny's." By the grace of God, I escaped this hell. In this season of misguided "pride," my prayer is that those still suffering as I did find their way out as well.

The sandy beaches of Normandy, France, were a hellscape 80 years ago today. The ocean had literally turned red from the blood of Allied soldiers being torn to pieces by defenders of the Wehrmacht. But American soldiers clawed their way forward, paying for every inch of ground. On D-Day, these young men assaulted Adolf Hitler’s Atlantic Wall with devotion to their country and no concern for themselves. Thousands gave their lives to liberate Western Europe from one of the greatest evils the world has ever seen, and the bodies of those brave men still rest in France today. By 2021, four times as many veterans of the post-9/11 wars had been lost to suicide as to the wars themselves. The veterans who returned home after World War II rightly received a hero’s welcome. Beyond that immediate adulation, nearly an entire generation of American men had a common bond and unspoken friendship on which they could rely. Implicit support systems for veterans organically sprang up and complemented existing organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and new efforts like the G.I. Bill of 1944. It wasn’t easy readjusting to civilian life — some never could — but society worked to ensure as many veterans as possible could move on from the trauma of war. The same could not be said of those who fought in Vietnam two decades later. They were greeted by hostile crowds full of misdirected anger. Our veterans were jeered at and spat upon. There was no nationwide culture of appreciation for their sacrifice nor the same institutions to support these veterans as they were reacclimating to civilian life. Drug use and suicides became widespread among Vietnam veterans as they struggled to make sense of the horrors they witnessed and reconcile why so many of their countrymen were so ungrateful. The post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq shed new light on the phenomenon of post-traumatic stress disorder, particularly as veterans returning home from the Middle East were increasingly found to be suicidal and struggling to adjust to life stateside. But our institutions were slow to recognize the problem and even slower to act. A 2013 Department of Veteran Affairs study found that our servicemen and women were taking their own lives at a rate of 22 veterans — not per year, but every single day. In a little more than an hour, another American who sacrificed for his country was dead by his own hand. While the deaths overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq were mournful, they were but a fraction of the waves of suicides that those conflicts induced once soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines arrived back home. By 2021, four times as many veterans of the post-9/11 wars had been lost to suicide as to the wars themselves. America went from tending to her veterans to ignoring them as they slipped away into opioid addiction, isolation, and bankruptcy. This happened because the institutions, both public and private, that supported them became eroded over time. In fairness, many phenomenal private charities that grew up in recent years are working hard to reverse this trend by thoroughly taking care of as many veterans as possible. They are truly saving lives. But our public institutions leave much to be desired, especially in addressing veterans’ financial challenges, long wait times for medical treatment, and insufficient mental health support. It’s long past time that we, as a society, rectify this injustice. On the 70th anniversary of D-Day, I spoke in Sainte-Mère-Église alongside Dr. Claude Gatignol, a former French Parliament member, near the church where John Steele, portrayed in “The Longest Day,” witnessed the horrors below. As the national anthems of the Allied countries played, the crowd sang America’s "Star-Spangled Banner" with fervent belief and respect. When the French national anthem followed, the entire square erupted in a loud, unified voice. Tears of pride streamed down our cheeks as we nodded to each other, knowing this was how it should be. This powerful display of unity and pride, etched forever in my memory, exemplifies the enduring spirit and sacrifices of our forebears. In moments like these, we are reminded of the profound cost of freedom and the shared values that bind us together. This is how it should always be. As we look back 80 years on D-Day and remember those who gave the last full measure of devotion, we must honor the memory of the fallen by looking after their brothers. These are not brothers of blood, but brothers in arms — a bond that extends across time. We owe it to our veterans to provide them with all the support they need. No more excuses. Let us honor the memory of those we’ve lost by taking care of those we still have.