Please share our story! Liberty is not merely the absence of coercion but a learned skill and a habit of self-governance that requires active participation and responsibility.  This is the central…

The Department of Homeland Security has unveiled a new naturalization study guide that removes diversity-themed language and emphasizes unity and loyalty to the United States.President Donald Trump’s…

Border encounters drop to historic lows as detention releases cease under new enforcement measures. By yourNEWS Media Newsroom The Trump administration has reported an unprecedented four-month stretch…

Please share our story! During President Trump’s recent visit to the UK, Britain signed a $1 billion, five-year defence software deal with dominant AI player Palantir. This “strategic partnership”,…

Thousands agather at State Farm Stadium on Sunday for a memorial honoring Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed earlier this month.A public memorial service for Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old…

Katzensymphonie – buy the print A few hundred years after the invention of the cat organ, in 1868 Austrian artist Moritz von Schwind (21 January 1804 – 8 February 1871) created his own music for cats, the Katzensymphonie. In the Katzensymphonie (1868), cats roll and climb over the musical score. The name is a play on words – Katzenmusik is a German term used to describe unpleasant noise. Moritz von Schwind was known primarily for his paintings of scenes from legends and for his many illustrations of popular folktales, but he was highly influenced by music, especially that of his compatriot Franz Schubert (1797–1828). As the Met notes, “Music became for Schwind an intrinsic element of his pictorial world. In 1853-55 he painted the contest of the minstrels from Richard Wagner’s Tannhiiuser on the walls of Wartburg Castle where it had taken place in 1207. His last fresco cycle in the Vienna Opera House was dedicated to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Magic Flute.”   Moritz von Schwind, c. 1860. Die Schwarzen Katzen The Katzensymphonie was a gift for the Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) to mark his new role as director of Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik. Schwind and Joachim were members of Die Schwarzen Katzen (The Black Cats), a society founded by the singer Amalie Joachim, and Bernhard and Luise Scholz in 1862. Membership of the group was only for people “who, through ‘cat-like behaviour’, made themselves worthy of such noble wine”. One rule stated: “Uncat-like speech or actions shall be duly punished before the Chapter, and any member who opposes this shall be expelled from the order.”   “The muscles of man and cat compare favorably, indicating common origins.”- 1952. – Print. The group’s name and that aforesaid rule hark back to an incident that supposedly occurred in the cellar of the Mayntzer winery in Zell, Germany, around 1862. Well into the 20th century, it was customary throughout the Moselle region to sell off the cellar stock in barrels. According to the story, three wine merchants from Aachen were close to concluding negotiations in one cellar. After lengthy tastings, three barrels were shortlisted, but they couldn’t agree on one as the best. The winemaker’s sister, accompanied by a black house cat, entered the cellar to offer a snack to help the buyers make their choice. When the winery owner once again tried to insert the tasting tube into one of the three barrels, the cat leapt on top of it and lashed out at him and anyone else who tried to take a drop. The merchants had to admit defeat to the black cat and, without further tasting, bought the wine the cat had defended and which they had long recognised as the best.   Play The Katzensymphonie For Me Schwind sent a photograph of his sheet music to the German pastor and poet Edward Mörike (8 September 1804 – 4 June 1875) on January 19, 1869, with an accompanying letter that notes Joachim’s inability to play the Wagnerian Katzensymphonie: “I have become a musician, a musician of the future in the second higher degree. Away with the old, stiff, dry staff! Outdated, outdated, outdated stuff — I need a new, spiritualized, lively means of expression for my new, unimagined thoughts — whether it’s sounds, images or the devil knows what, it doesn’t matter — I have achieved the unbelievable. The enclosed sonata, dedicated to Mr Joachim, is a telling proof. He confesses that he is incapable of playing it — this wizard on the violin! Incidentally, it can be noted that Joachim and I belong to the famous Order of the Black Cat and that it was this inconspicuous occasion – that brought about this giant leap in music.” Your can buy a print of the Katzensymphonie in the shop. The post Sheet Music For Cats And Their Lovers : Moritz von Schwind’s Katzensymphonie, 1868 appeared first on Flashbak.

Irish rap group Kneecap have been banned from entering Canada ahead of their tour of the country on the grounds of alleged “hate speech” and “glorification of terrorism.” “Recently the rap group Kneecap has engaged in actions and made statements that are contrary to Canadian values and laws that have caused deep alarm to our government,” Parliamentary Secretary for Combatting Crime Vince Gasparro said in a video announcing the ban Friday morning.

from The National Pulse: ❓WHAT HAPPENED: Four people were charged in connection with a child-smuggling operation involving unaccompanied minors, sedated with marijuana gummies, being brought from Juárez, Mexico, into the United States. ?WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mexican nationals Susana Guadian, Daniel Guadian, their daughter Dianne Guadian (a U.S. citizen), and Manuel Valenzuela, a legal U.S. resident living in […]

The debut albums that shaped the 70s

When I was a child, my Grandma Ruth’s house was dark and disorganized. Piles of papers teetered here and there, and old wood furniture was pushed against the walls. Grandma seemed stressed and not very happy. Her Christianity was legalistic and scary to me. But fast forward a decade, and she was full of joy. Her house was still disheveled, but it had a brightness to it that welcomed guests. Her anxiety was replaced with thankfulness, and she loved others deeply from the heart. When you were with her, you knew her attention and affection were focused on you. She became a woman known for wise counsel and prayer. Do you struggle with anxiety? Is your home lacking in joy? Are you living the Christian life out of duty and not delight? My grandmother wasn’t a super-saint. The Holy Spirit used the ordinary means of grace—Bible reading, gathering with the saints, and persevering in suffering—to make her into an extraordinary work of grace. If you’re a believer, you have access to the same Spirit and the same means of grace as Grandma Ruth. Read the Bible John Piper picked up his Bible at the recent Cross Conference and said, “You cannot overestimate the importance of this book in your life!” This is because God’s Word gives us all the knowledge we need for trusting the Lord and living the Christian life. That knowledge is more profound than dos and don’ts. The Spirit bears witness to Jesus in the Bible. In it, we know him. There we see Jesus truly: “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). Grandma Ruth was transformed over time by her well-worn Bible, the sword of the Spirit. Even with five children and full-time work, she prayed and read her Bible every morning. Her light was often on at night as she wrestled through a difficult passage or worked on memorizing a text. As she stayed in the Word, her confidence and joy in the Lord increased. She delighted in Scripture because it convinced her of God’s grace and power to fight every sin. Her love for the Bible was evident in the constant way she eagerly spoke to us about what she was learning about God. Picking up your Bible in the morning may seem unremarkable, but the Spirit makes us more like Jesus as we prayerfully immerse ourselves in God’s Word. Consistent time in Scripture does extraordinary work in our hearts over time. Gather with the Saints Transformation into the image of Christ means “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”—the fruit of the Spirit increasing (Gal. 5:22–23). This fruit is cultivated in community. Consistent time in Scripture does extraordinary work in our hearts over time. As we hear God’s Word read and preached, and as we pray, sing, and speak the Scripture to one another, the soil of our hearts is nourished. As we serve and care for others and navigate conflict, our vines are pruned. We “keep in step with the Spirit” as we walk the Christian life together (v. 25). His work is a community project. Church was nonnegotiable with Grandma. She gathered with the saints at every opportunity and was committed to younger women in her church. One woman came to me at grandma’s funeral and said she’d been a struggling young mother until Grandma took her under her wing. Grandma showed her how to prioritize God’s Word and prayer in her life and family. Grandma’s mentoring had made all the difference in her life. Going to church might seem unexceptional, but the Spirit uses the church in the lives of normal believers to shape them into extraordinary displays of Christ. When we regularly gather with the saints, our focus remains on Jesus and on loving his people. Persevere in Suffering Recently, I heard a pastor say, “We graduate from the school of suffering when we enter into glory.” The Spirit ushers us there, and before we arrive, he gives us trials to reorient our hearts toward the things of heaven. The Christian can rejoice in her suffering, for it “produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3–4). The Spirit intercedes for us and shows Christ’s power in our weakness as we persevere. Grandma Ruth persevered through many trials: cancer, poverty, widowhood. Life was often hard, but she steadily increased in joy. When the signs of dementia showed up, she asked for prayer—not for healing but that she’d never forget “her Jesus.” And she never did. Suffering had caused her to treasure Christ above all. She held on to that treasure to the end. Affliction may seem like something to avoid (and I don’t suggest you go looking for it), but the Spirit uses it to bring the extraordinary fruit of righteousness and peace from our ordinary lives. Everyday Grace Sanctification is a work of the Spirit through the day-to-day application of God’s abundant grace in Bible reading, gathering with the saints, and persevering through suffering. Grandma Ruth was transformed into an extraordinary woman by the ordinary work of the Spirit in her life. She meditated on and memorized God’s Word. She committed herself to faithful church attendance and talked to others about Jesus. She trusted in God’s promises and took her struggles to the Lord. The Spirit replaced her legalistic tendencies with joy as she understood she was deeply loved by the Father and forever united to the Son. Suffering had caused her to treasure Christ above all. She held on to that treasure to the end. The same Spirit who worked in my grandmother’s heart dwells in every Christian. He helps us in our weakness and conforms us to Christ’s image so that as our bodies wrinkle and our hair goes gray, “our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). So take hold of the means of grace, walking by the Spirit, and take comfort that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). You may be ordinary today, but you’ll be an extraordinary work of grace on that day.