Tag: politics

Oil Refineries Running at Full Speed

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

US oil refineries are running at full tilt as wars in the Middle East and Ukraine choke global supplies of fuels, increasing the risk of outages at a time when prices are already rising sharply.

Refineries across the US are running at 96 per cent of their capacity, with those in the Midwest and Rocky Mountains regions operating at 100 per cent, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Washington has released about 77 per cent of the 172mn barrels from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve that it pledged in March to use as a cushion for the supply shock from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and to keep prices low.

The SPR, which is held in underground salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana, has fallen to 311mn barrels, its lowest level since 1983. Its operational minimum, below which further withdrawals risk damaging infrastructure and disrupting pipeline operations, is estimated at 180mn to 200mn barrels, according to industry analysts. Source: Financial Times

I remember the OPEC oil embargo that hit the US back in the early 1970s. Long gas lines, even an odd and even lottery type ability to bet gas based on the days of the week. Oil prices quadrupled across the country. In this day and age of civil unrest over pronouns and other such nonsense, I can only imagine the chaos which would result from that type of situation now. This has always been the fear that the action in Iran could produce another oil shortage of immense proportions. Trump, you had them, now it MUST be finished to stabilize oil markets and bring economies back on line. Rh

Syrian President Meets With Trump

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

Once again the bromance between Trump and the Syrian President throws a monkey wrench into Israeli security. Trump desperately wants to be a statesman, but leaving Netanyahu alone to do what is best for Israel would be the proper call. Reposted from All Israel News. Rh

President Donald Trump asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove Israeli troops from Lebanon and Syria in a recent phone call, Axios reports.

“They don’t want you there. You should redeploy,” Trump reportedly told Netanyahu in a phone conversation last Thursday, according to a U.S. official who spoke with Axios.

According to Israel Hayom, Trump conveyed the Syrian demand for the withdrawal of IDF troops from its territory, but did not present it as an American demand.

The phone call between the two leaders came a day after Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey.

Read the full story 👇

https://allisraelnews.com/trump-tells-netanyahu-to-remove-israeli-troops-from-lebanon-syria-report

A New Political Party

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

For many years now, I have wished that we could have a third political party in the United States of America. A true conservative party that is espouses moral and traditional Christian values, as well as putting the people first. The tea party attempted to do that back a few years ago, but the establishment ruling class would have none of it.  TheRepublicans hated losing power and fought against it and it eventually failed. I understand the way our government is set up that a third-party really is almost impossible, however this new effort by Mr. Islamic sympathizer Tucker and MTG, as well as other haters of Israel , their party is doomed for failure. It will be nothing more than Israel and Christian bashing. NO thank you. 

What we need is a Christian conservative party in this country. As I said, one that has morally conservative values. The only problem with that is that Christians won’t support it. Many of them don’t want to be associated with anything “political”.  Many aren’t registered to begin with and with Pastors turning deaf and dumb on speaking from pulpits on moral issues. We have a problem. We are supposed to be  salt and light in a dark and wicked world. I believe that Jesus wants to be Lord over all  areas of life. That includes politics. The attitude of many pastors and churches is that we don’t do politics. What if the issues of the day are moral issues that are trying to invade the church with demonic doctrine. It’s time for the church to stand up and fight the good fight of faith outside the four walls of the church. In politics, absolutely.  Government touches every area of our life from jobs, education, taxes, and the week being of our citizens. Government was ordained and established by God.(Romans 13)  The idiocy of what the church does by ducking its head and hiding inside the four walls of a church, amounts to a moral failure.  All these moral issues are being discussed and voted on in the halls of Congress or in governors’ mansions across the country. So let’s just drop our heads and allow ungodliness to rule and reign.  I don’t think Jesus is happy that the church gives up the rulership of this country to evil people. We are never going to wipe out evil, nor do we wish a theocratic government, but a moral one is well within our reach.  

It’s too bad a third-party won’t work, and it is too bad that it can’t be a true conservative party. Whatever  in the world that Tucker Carlson is going to try to do is not going  conservative and it’s not going to be moral either.  It will be a far right anti-Israel.  After all that is all he condemns.  It will not have  moral values.  What it is, it’s a bunch of people that are really Libertarian Democrat lite.  That have decided to take their ball and find another court so they can play on, and tear this nation apart.

My oh my, God must be shaking his head and wondering, will they ever learn?  Rh

AI Zillionaires Are Starting to Get Scared as the Public Turns Against Them

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

Data centers “have become a proxy for the hate towards AI and the concentration and accumulation of wealth it’s creating.”

By Joe Wilkins

Published Jun 29, 2026 9:07 AM EDT

There’s no doubt that the broader public has turned against AI in a serious way. 

In the United States, a YouGov pol found that three-quarters of Americans think AI should be more heavily regulated, an anxiety shared across the political aisle, the Economist observed. The US populace is likewise increasingly fearful of the economic impacts of AI, especially as powerful tech companies pour money into state and federal elections.

As that anger boils over, people are increasingly channeling their frustration toward data centers — one of the few tangible points of leverage ordinary people have against an otherwise untouchable, trillion-dollar tech industry.

The world’s tech billionaires are taking notice, carving out distant island compounds and private jet fleets in case of revolution. Mark Cuban, who made his vast fortune during the dot-com boom and has publicly beefed with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, is now warning his fellow moguls that the public’s discontent runs far deeper than AI.

Cuban tweeted that “it’s time for everyone to realize that the fight against data centers has nothing to do with data centers. They have become a proxy for the hate towards AI and the concentration and accumulation of wealth it’s creating.”

Whether the public is really as unconcerned about soaring electricity prices, water shortages, and pollution, as Cuban makes it out to be remains to be seen — but at least, the billionaire class appears to be paying at least some degree of attention.

Evidently fearful that AI backlash could spiral into some kind of socialist revolt, the billionaire offered a laundry-list of ways the tech industry could placate the apparently witless public. These include donating billions of dollars to small towns and cities, extending an olive branch to artists and creative unions, and ignoring the temptation to hire famous people to endorse AI.

“If you don’t kiss the asses of the people that go to work every day, and are just trying to pay their bills, you will fall far, far short of the capacity you need to make your business work,” Cuban wrote.

AI is far more insidious than anyone knows. It is a forerunner to the anti-christ beast system seen in Daniel and Revelation. As a Christian I see it as further proof of Biblical Prophecy being played out. I fear what may become if AI is truly implemented, loss of freedoms, total control of everything and everywhere we go. It will be a bondage system, making slaves of the “common people”. I haven’t even mentioned loss of jobs and dependance on an AI government. Which will come. A world of the haves and the nave nots. Have you read the book 1984?? Time to dust it off. Rh

Entebbe

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

I remember this happening in real time. A different time where heroes still acted selflessly for their country. A daring raid, hostages saved and the bad guys put down. Courage is contagious, may we stand as strong for America as Israel has and will for their country. Enjoy the article taken from Koenig World Watch Daily. Rh

Entebbe

By Jim Fletcher

I will depart this week from the regular topics, because this weekend is the 50th anniversary of the famous Entebbe hostage rescue. It remains my favorite story, and one I call a modern Bible story.

I am honestly bothered that more people don’t know about it, or care about it. It is I believe the most electrifying hostage rescue of all time. I have a slight personal connection, which you’ll see. And, as we celebrated our Bicentennial in 1976, Israeli commandos were about to surprise the world. I remember it often and have read several books. The audacity of the entire operation is still totally astonishing.

On June 27, 1976, a French passenger jet refueled at Athens, headed for Paris. As soon as the plane got back in the air, terrorists stood up with guns. Two German (Baader-Meinhof Gang) and some from the PLFP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). They shocked everyone by ordering the plane south. Very far south. To that point, airplane hijackings had become popular, but the planes usually stayed close. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu helped thwart one in a daring operation in Israel in 1972. At the time, he was a member of the elite counter-terrorism force, Sayeret Matkal (General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, or, the Unit).

In ’76, terror gargoyles like Yasser Arafat were modifying their violent plans. This time, the plane was flown to Uganda, in the heart of Africa. An airport near the town of Entebbe was chosen, as it was under the control of dictator psychopath Idi Amin. At one time friendly to Israel, he had thrown in his lot with terrorists.

Fairly soon, all passengers not Jewish were freed. This was the first mistake by the goons, because valuable intelligence was gained by interviewing the freed passengers.

Universally, everyone understood that Israel could not mount a rescue operation. It was too far away. A mere 2,500 miles from Israel! That ruled out a rescue effort. Each evening, grave-looking news anchors speculated on the hostage situation. Israel had never negotiated with terrorists, so this was a unique moment. The pressure on the Israel cabinet, by hostage families, was enormous. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin finally announced they would negotiate. The lives of 105 people hung in the balance. The terrorists demanded the release of other terrorists held in European and Israeli jails.

An Israeli pilot, Joshua Shani, had a germ of an idea in his head. He shared it with some of the brass (Shimon Peres was then defense minister). His plan was to land transport planes at Entebbe, at night, as if they were passenger jets. In the end, that’s actually what they did.

It worked.

Israel stalled for time with diplomacy. The terrorists pushed the deadline out to Sunday morning, July 4. If Israel did not comply, the hostages would be murdered.

While Western journalists and politicians offered no solutions, four C-47 transport planes were circling Lake Victoria, next to the airport. At exactly midnight, July 4, they landed. One was a hospital plane, while the others held 200 commandos, including the Unit in the lead plane. Within five minutes, the critical part of the operation was over. The Unit drove a mile to the terminal building, eliminated the terrorists, and began loading stunned hostages onto rescue planes. They flew another eight hours back to Israel, to a cheering country that saw the planes overhead, back in Israeli airspace. All terrorists were eliminated, as was the Ugandan air force, so no one could follow.

In 2002, I interviewed two of the commandos that went to Entebbe, one a member of the famed Golani Brigade—Surin Hershko—and a member of the Unit that was the first one in the door. The second man said that the IDF had to have the element of surprise foremost. 

They did.

He said that as he burst through the front door (with his weapon, a megaphone to shout to hostages, and five kilos of explosives), “A German terrorist lying on the floor fired at me first—I felt bullets and glass go past my head and neck, but nothing hit me!” He then fired back, instantly killing the German. Another Unit member went in right behind him and fired to the left. Within seconds, all terrorists in the building were killed.

Hershko is one of my favorite people of all time. That night, he met a man and woman on the outside stairs; Surin was headed to the roof. A quick shot from the man’s revolver has left Surin as a quadriplegic these last 50 years. I met him at his lovely home in Tel Aviv (he’s a businessman) and a Korean assistant led me inside. The hour I spent with this hero is imprinted on my mind and heart.

I asked him why he had volunteered to go to Entebbe.

“The people were in danger,” he said matter-of-factly. He also said that if he had to, he’d go again. The rareness of his courage indicts most of the rest of us. While socialist thugs and know-nothing college students condemn Israel day and night, they are also protected—ironically—by Israel, which provides a serious obstacle for the gargoyles that practice terrorism. Surin breathes through a tube that allows him to speak. I felt very small in his presence.

These men are authentic heroes. 

I also had the privilege of knowing Prof. Benzion Netanyahu the last decade of his long life. The father of the three Netanyahu sons that all served in the Unit, he was a fascinating historian and political commentator that knew far more and was far wiser than most. His oldest son, Jonathan (Yoni) was the only IDF soldier killed at Entebbe. The cabinet, in approving such a dangerous operation, felt they would take 20 percent casualties. At least 40 men killed and wounded. Instead, they had one and one. Surin is a testament to that.

I spent several evenings with Benzion at his home in Jerusalem. He said that Yoni always jumped into the danger point. Yoni was unusually gifted and courageous. Shani remembers one day on base, talking to a fellow pilot. Yoni walked past them. Shani told his friend, “There goes the greatest fighter Israel has ever had.” Younger brothers Benjamin and Iddo also served. They collected Yoni’s letters to family and friends and produced the book, Self-Portrait of a Hero.

One evening, as I got up to leave, Benzion picked up a stack of photos from a table in the hallway. They were of the boys when they were young. One was of Yoni with his parents, and he was not much more than a toddler. A bust of this hero son sat in the family dining room, a few feet away.

I remember them all, all the time. 

As I lovingly remember the founding of my own remarkable country this weekend, I will also remember 50 years ago: a plane descending, landing, vehicles moving along the tarmac, headed for a terminal building.

Those heroic men are always emerging from vehicles, sprinting toward the defenseless and their temporary tormenters. 

Very temporary.

Today we live in a culture that is soft and passive. Placating evil.

But on the night of July 3,4, 1976 in Africa, something wondrous was unfolding. A team of Joshuas put their lives on the line to rescue people that didn’t know them. Their stories are so astonishing, at times I wonder if it really happened.

It did happen. What unfolded speaks to the eternality of the Jewish people, and of Israel.

Am Yisrael Chai!

You can pick up a copy of Entebbe Declassified here.

Who Do You Believe??

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

The future use of Iranian funds has long been one of the most politically sensitive issues surrounding any agreement with Tehran.

Who do you believe, that is the question. I am not calling Vance and Trump liars, but there is no way the Iranian regime is going to do what Vance said they would do.

Even if they did distribute some of the money to be used for food, that would only allow them to divert other monies to re-claim their missile program or their nuclear ambitions.

If we give him the benefit of the doubt and say Vance truly believes the Iranians, it tells me he is a novice at best, and a fool at worst. Harsh words maybe, but accurate. So do we have a deal or is this just propaganda on both sides? Or are the Iranians lying, and if they are we need to continue the war.

One final note, in the Muslim faith they have a word to describe the act of deceiving or lying to a mon Muslim. It is called “Taqiyya.” You see the Islamist use their faith as military action, not as a true religion. So there we have it, whatever is finally agreed upon will never be what Iran will do. Guarantee that for a fact.

Forty-seven years of failure and now we are so close to total victory. Mr. President, finish the job. Demand complete and total surrender. On our terms. Rh

Epilogue: I will have more at another time on Vance, he has proven himself not ready for the big stage!

Update:

The regime doesn’t change its spots, and as Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out this past weekend, the regime in Tehran has, and will continue to be, the driving force behind Middle East terror and turmoil.

“Every problem in the Middle East tracks back to Iran,” Rubio stressed. “Hezbollah—Iran. Shia militias that are destroying and threatening Iraq—Iran. Hamas—Iran. The Houthis—Iran. Assad when he was in Syria—Iran. Everywhere you turn, they’re behind all of it.”

“They are a destabilizing, dangerous, evil force that had to be dealt with,” he emphasized. “They have to be weakened.” Quote from Secretary Marco Rubio

If We Forget Our Story, We Lose Our Identity

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

More than two decades ago, in 2004, Harvard professor Samuel Huntington warned in his book “Who Are We?” that America was facing a crisis of identity. He argued that a nation cannot remain united without a common culture, a common history, and a common understanding of itself. Remove those foundations, and a society inevitably fragments into competing tribes, interests, and identities.

Huntington pointed to the Anglo-Protestant Creed as the core of America’s unifying identity. He argued that America’s political institutions and civic ideals did not arise in a vacuum but were rooted in a culture shaped by Protestant Christianity. 

If Huntington identified the foundation of America’s shared identity, educator E.D. Hirsch explained how that identity was transmitted: through a common biblical literacy that provided Americans with a shared vocabulary, history, and moral framework. Without that shared knowledge, the cultural foundations of national identity inevitably begin to erode.

The Founding Fathers were immersed in biblical imagery. Benjamin Franklin famously proposed a national seal depicting Moses at the Red Sea. The Israelites’ exodus taught lessons about liberty, tyranny, divine providence, and national purpose.

The Bible shaped how Americans understood freedom, law, covenant, human dignity, and self-government. Even those who were not orthodox Christians were influenced by the biblical worldview that permeated colonial America.

But what happens when that biblical literacy disappears?

A nation that forgets its story loses its identity. And when a people lose their identity, they become fragmented. That is precisely what Huntington warned about. Americans increasingly identify themselves by race, class, political ideology, or special interest rather than by a common national story.

The consequences of this loss of historical memory extend beyond America’s understanding of itself. They also affect America’s understanding of one of the most important sources of its cultural inheritance: the Jewish people and the biblical story of Israel.

America’s affinity for the Jewish people did not begin with the modern State of Israel. For generations, Americans viewed Jewish history through the lens of Scripture and found in Israel’s story lessons about liberty, covenant, and national purpose.

As biblical literacy declines, Israel is increasingly viewed only through a contemporary political lens, ignoring its biblical and historical foundations. Meanwhile, anti-Semitism has risen across America and the West. Certainly, anti-Semitism has many causes. Yet it is difficult to ignore the connection between a society that no longer understands the Bible and one that increasingly misunderstands the Jewish people whose history fills its pages.

The rise of anti-Semitism and the weakening of support for Israel did not occur overnight. The ground was prepared over decades as biblical literacy declined, historical memory faded, and Americans became disconnected from the sources that once helped them understand both their own identity and the identity of the Jewish people.

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we have an opportunity not merely to commemorate our history but to recover it. We can rediscover the biblical foundations that shaped our nation and strengthen the shared identity Huntington warned was slipping away.

The Bible is not merely a religious text but one of the foundational documents of American civilization. To understand America, one must understand the Bible. And when that understanding is lost, we lose not only part of our history but part of our identity.

Originally published at The Washington Stand

Powerful and very timely, we have lost our bearings in America. Too many liberal politicians have wanted to be like Europe. Open borders and a lack of spiritual discernment will eventually make the U.S. a weakened version of itself. We must repent and return to the Almighty. Our Christian values must be reclaimed. Morality must be returned to the public square, as well as the pulpit. We are living on borrowed time, just one bad election and we will be doomed to mediocrity. Rh

Pray – Engage – Impact

           America’s Moral Divide

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

For decades Americans have debated politics.  But today, the deepest and most divisive divide is on morality itself.  We  used to argue about taxes, foreign policy, or the size of government.  But today it is on moral issues.

A newly released Gallup survey reveals a nation that is not merely disagreeing over politics but increasingly unable to agree on what is right and wrong. The results paint a picture of two Americas operating from entirely different moral frameworks, with Democrats and Republicans often holding views that appear almost irreconcilable.  

The numbers are startling.

According to Gallup, 73% of Democrats now view abortion as morally acceptable, compared to just 18% of Republicans.  60% of Dems say changing one’s gender is morally acceptable, while only 5% of Republicans agree.

Notice a trend, Democrats are fleeing from moral constraints while Republicans hold to a more traditional moral equivalency.  81% of Democrats consider gay or lesbian relationships morally acceptable, compared to 35% of Republicans.  47% of Democrats view pornography as morally acceptable versus just 19% of Republicans.  Unbelievable is the stat that over half Democrats consider sex between teenagers morally acceptable, while only a small fraction of Republicans agree.

This is not political disagreements, but a moral view of a nation.  Once we were not only a moral nation, but highly Christian.  Not any more, depravity is rampant throughout America.  My eye witness account of this divide occurred a couple of years ago.  In an extremely red county in a red state, a prominent city allowed a drag Queen in the park show to be allowed.  Many of us spoke against this travesty on two occasions before the city council, but to no avail.

I attempted to have a Faith and Family rally in the same city and the same park later that very year.  I was told that the council was not allowing any large groups in the park due to noise issues.  Funny, it was not an issue just two months before.  And my initial contact with the person in charge of the park saw no problem with the event.  The council quickly passed a noise ordinance, so no Christians need apply.  The county was red politically, but the small city had a democratic majority.  Moral divide exists in America even in small towns.

The divide comes when a nation no longer shares a moral code or outlook.  Democrats and Luciferian leftist wish to transform America into a proverbial Sodom & Gomorrah.  The division is so sharp that only a true move of God will ever get the two factions back together.  

America will never be destroyed from a foreign power, but it might be destroyed from within.  That my friends is exactly what is happening in our nation.  Hedonism is the rule of the day in many areas of our country.

Our fight today is not left vs. right, but right vs. wrong.  For Christians, the Gallup findings should not merely be viewed as political data.  They should serve as a spiritual wake-up call.  We as Americans are traveling in two distant and polar opposite moral directions.  

Can America survive?  Only if we right our moral division.  That only comes from a shift back to our Judeo-Christian values.  Prayer and repentance is our only recourse.  

Pray, Engage, and Impact!!

Our Trust Is In The Lord

~ Randy Harris ~ Leave a comment

Stepping back from the disastrous Iran deal, I turn my eyes toward the Lord. He is our sufficiency and in Him I trust. Disappointed and heart broken for all the Iranian lives that have been lost throughout the years with a radical Islamist regime in power.

I never thought Trump would be the one to fall on his knees and capitulate, but he did. Just a few days away from victory against Hamas and Iran, he stopped!, Why? The Bible says ‘can two walk together unless they are in agreement”. Was the Qatari money and the new Presidential plane just too much for a greedy old man with thoughts of grandeur in his heart? Maybe.

It is very interesting that only after a visit, which should have been postponed, to China did Trump seem ready for a deal at any cost. His rhetoric never did match what was happening on the ground. For those who thought DJT was playing three D chess, think again. He lost, America will survive of course, but the relationship with Israel may not, and that my friends is serious.

A learned man once said “Iran has never won a war, but has never lost a negotiation”. Well Mr. Trump your very own words stare back at you.

For those of us who study Bible prophecy, it is God who protects Israel, not the ranting of a prideful man. Yes one day when the next big war breaks out it could be the Ezekiel war of Chapter 38. Iran was never to be totally destroyed, but now, Israel and their God Jehovah must fight for them.

Please be in prayer as a new Middle East is forming. Not sure if America will like it, but it is our doing. Your legacy Mr. Trump that you are so fond of, just took a direct hit. You stand in a long line of failed Presidents when it comes to the MIddle East.

Final note who is out front leading the charge for this deal? Vance not Rubio, very telling. That my friends says it all. Rh