Daniel’s Chiasmus and a Parallel in Our Day

First a seldom-told Bible story. And then something about our day.

engraving of Nebuchadnezzar gone mad, found here

Chiasmus in Daniel

I’ve been studying Daniel for a while. I’m not an accredited Bible scholar, just a reader. Some years ago I heard someone mention that some of the chapters of Daniel are a chiasmus. As I look at it, I believe that includes chapters 2-8.

A chiasmus is a literary structure in ancient Hebrew writings—such as the Old Testament—that have a mirroring shape. There’s an idea expressed, then another idea, and another until it has reached its end point. Then that point somewhat repeats, and goes back through the other ideas, ending with a sort of restatement of the first idea. If you have a, b, c, d, then you’d have d, c, b, a. I think it looks something like a sideways V, or a greater than sign: >. But it was thought to resemble an X, which is where the work comes from : chi = X 

Here’s an example from Psalm 3:7-8:

And this one is Isaiah 60:1-3:

A chiasmus can be short or long, simple or complex. The multiple chapters of Daniel make up the longest I have looked at. If you take the chapters as a whole, your “a” sections are chapter 2 and 7-8. Chapter 2 is about a dream about the powerful kingdoms from Nebuchadnezzar down through Rome, and ending in the multiple kingdoms that follow Rome from its fall up until the final days, which is also the meaning of Daniel’s dream in chapters 7-8.

The “b” sections are chapters 3 and 6, both about those who refuse to betray their God, suffer a death sentence, but are preserved. In chapter 3 these are the three brothers in the fiery furnace, and in chapter 6 it’s Daniel in the lion’s den.

The center “c” sections are chapters 4 and 5, both of which basically show that a proud ruler who refuses to honor the real God will see their downfall; they lack power to prevent it.

The thing what triggered my recent study of Daniel was hearing something about a chiasmus in general. (I think this was a video podcast with Jack Welch, who has spent decades studying and discovering chiasms in the Book of Mormon. But I can’t pinpoint which video. Nor was he referencing Daniel; that idea came from somewhere else long before.) Anyway, the idea is that the focal point is the central turning point. In other words, it’s the central point that is most important.

That isn’t obvious to me in the examples above (which I found here). But, assuming that’s true, the central point of this Daniel chiasmus is comprised of these two chapters in the middle that we hardly ever talk about.

In chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful Assyrian ruler who has taken the kingdom of Judah into captivity in Babylon, is a heathen ruler believing in many gods. But he does recognize that Daniel has the “spirit of the gods” in him, because of his ability to interpret dreams, and he makes him one of the principals in the kingdom, over the other advisors. Some believe it was Daniel’s teachings to these “wise men,” passed down through the ages, that gave the “wise men” the idea to look for the star to seek the Messiah many centuries later. (Or those New Testament wise men could have descended from people like Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, who descended from Abraham through is third wife, Keturah. Or they could have come from some scattered people from the northern kingdom of Israel, who were captured about 130 years before Daniel and his people were captured.)

So, Nebuchadnezzar honors Daniel, but he isn’t actually a convert. And there comes a point where he is hard-hearted and boastful. He has had a dream involving a tree cut down to the roots, which allows Daniel to warn him, but he doesn’t at that time repent. And, if I understand the story, not too long afterward he goes mad for some years (I think 7 years, or at least 7 periods of time). He’s like a wild man living among the cattle and eating grass. And then he comes to himself; he recognizes that he has no power of himself, but only what God grants. And, in his humbled state, he is returned to his throne.

Chapter 5 starts with Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, in the ruling position. He takes the temple vessels, which were captured and taken when they sacked the temple in Jerusalem. And he uses the holy vessels to serve wine to 1000 of his lords at a big, showy banquet. The result is, he sees the hand of a mighty being (probably God), writing on the wall. He’s frightened to his core; his legs are shaking. He can’t read the writing. So he goes through all his advisors—apparently Daniel had been somewhat retired under him—and none can give him the meaning of the writing. His wife calls to his attention that Daniel exists, and was much approved of by his father, and he should be able to read it.

So Daniel comes and does that. He tells Belshazzar the meaning of “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,” which is, “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.” “Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting.” “Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” He thanks Daniel for the interpretation. He might even consider doing something to prevent the prophecy from taking place. But that very night, Belshazzar is slain and Babylon falls. Darius of the Medes takes over ruling.

The walls of Babylon were 40-100 feet thick and 300 feet high, running about 14 miles in length on each side.   No one thought the city could be taken without a long, drawn-out siege. But the enemy had used a drainage canal, and diverted the water from it, so troops could enter the city using the canal as a passageway. The city actually was conquered in a day—which parallels the prophecy in Revelation for figurative Babylon to fall in a day (or maybe in only an hour, depending on which verse).

The city ended up being more free under Persian/Median rule, so the people were willing to accept the new rulers. And that was the end of the Assyrian empire’s rule.

 

Our Day

So, what does this have to do with news in our day? I don’t know. I’m just looking at patterns. The two parallel dreams in chapters 2 and 7-8 definitely tell us something of our day, since we’re post-Roman Empire, with many nations. So maybe there’s a pattern for us in this chiasmus.

That central point is that a ruler who rejects God and claims power in himself can be taken out of power at God’s will.

In Nebuchadnezzar, there was a powerful ruler—the most powerful in the known world at that time—who lost his mind. He was technically still the ruler, but the people were ashamed of him, and left him alone, apparently, in his madness, for years. We aren’t told in scripture who filled the leadership vacuum in his absence.

We also had a “ruler” of the most powerful nation on earth who lost his mind. Hmm.

One more parallel is that the empire that came in to rule—and to liberate—was headed by Cyrus (Darius of the Medes was subordinate to Cyrus of the Persians). Trump has frequently been compared to Cyrus, particularly related to the Abraham Accords. So maybe there is a scriptural parallel going on. 

The news lately has been that people on that side of the political aisle are finally admitting that Biden had lost his cognitive abilities. Jake Tapper has a book he co-authored coming out. He personally spent years covering up and even squelching questions about Biden’s decline. But now we’re supposed to see him as virtuous for his truth telling. Megyn Kelly did a thorough take-down of him, as he tried to skate by, claiming he didn’t know until that debate last June; she wasn’t having it. 

Tapper’s theme seems to be that Biden’s real fault was announcing that he was running for a second term, thus preventing the party from going through a primary process to choose a successor and have time to campaign for that person.

But that’s not the real problem. Not even close.

Those of us with basic observation skills saw Biden’s decline by 2019, and brought it up during the 2020 campaign (leaving aside the corruption that should have disqualified him). He was never capable of handling the presidency. So the obvious question is—and has been for all these years—who was running the country?

Over the years, Obama has been cited as a possibility. He hung around Washington, DC, after his presidency ended, which is unlike all past presidents. It was like he was never going to let go of power. And he had a lot of Deep State power still during Biden’s regime. Maybe he had a spare office in a basement somewhere.

There was also the likelihood of Jill Biden, playing the role of Woodrow Wilson’s wife, Edith, keeping her husband’s incapacity out of sight of his cabinet following his stroke. Edith Wilson had intended to have her husband run for reelection, and just keep him mostly hidden the whole time. Crazy! So when Jill Biden was doing that very thing, people had a historical precedent to compare her to. She did, according to reports, run cabinet meetings, along with Hunter Biden, on occasion, especially this past year. At least Edith Wilson had the finesse to claim she was just taking notes for her husband, and she would bring back his responses; she wasn’t just coming out and claiming authority she didn’t have, even though she was illegally wielding it. In that case the cabinet, of Wilson’s own party (the Democrats then as well) threatened to remove him if she didn’t stop the reelection campaign. In Biden’s case, the cabinet, at least those allowed to see him, seemed fine with the coverup.

Recently the more specific question of the autopen has come up. The purpose of the autopen is to put the president’s signature on proclamations, awards, honorary things that no one would object to. Never, until Obama, was an autopen used for official business like signing a law in his absence. But during his term one was used when he was in Hawaii when his signature was needed. It was for something that he clearly intended to sign, so that precedent was set. But we assume there was a fair amount of paper trail to prevent use of the autopen without his express consent.

Under Biden, it’s hard to say whether any of his presidential signatures—even the real ones—were done intentionally. But with his severe decline—and image evidence shows this—many of his signatures were done by autopen. This could include all 6,000 of his end-of-term pardons. He was in St. Croix on vacation when a significant number were signed. There were other signatures when he was at the beach in Delaware (where he seemed to spend more time than at the White House).

President Trump has called for investigations into the legality of the autopen under these circumstances, possibly nullifying all those pardons. Investigations seem to be leading to the possibility that pardons were given in exchange for money.

tweet about Rep. Tim Burchett concerning
Biden staffers taking bribes for pardons

People on the inside were calling the “cabal” that was running the country the “politburo,” as in the old Soviet Union. Whatever it was, it was not democracy or constitutional leadership by a duly elected president.

Glenn Beck spent his Wednesday night special on this topic. He has a number of lists from various sources on who was taking it upon themselves to run our country according to their own agenda. And then he compared them. So we'll take a look at his chalkboard.

Glenn Beck's chalkboard on autopen use and coverup,
screenshot from here

To start with, to check their own thinking, they asked a couple of AI programs to list who—what positions—would be necessary to carry out a shadow presidency and keep it hidden. The first group consists of those who would be making decisions and actually using the autopen.

Group I—Decisions/Autopen

1.        Jeff Zeints/Ron Klain—both Biden’s Chief of Staff at different times

2.        Annie Tomasini—Deputy Chief of Staff

3.        Neera Tanden—Domestic Policy Advisor

4.        Jake Sullivan—National Security Advisor

Group II—Optics/Concealing

1.        Mike Donilon—Senior Advisor to Jill Biden

2.        Anthony Bernal—Jill Biden's Chief of Staff

3.        Ashley Williams—another Senior Advisor

4.        Steve Ricchetti—Counselor to the President

So that’s the starting point—speculation by AI and Glenn’s team. Then Glenn compares that to several others who has speculated.

Congressman James Comer, who says he intends to get to the bottom of this, suggests Neera Tanden, Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, and Ashley Williams. All four are among that total of eight.

He spoke with Lindy Li, a former Democratic fundraiser who got frustrated with the deceit and came out telling all. She gave two names: Jeff Zeints and Annie Tomasini. Both are in Group I.

Glenn looked at a January New York Times piece about the Biden White House deceit. That article names Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, Annie Tomasini, and Anthony Bernal. All four are among the total eight.

He looked at a Wall Street Journal article from December. That article names Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, Ron Klain, Annie Tomasini, and Jake Sullivan. All five are among the total eight. 

Anthony Bernal, Annie Tomasini, and Ashley Williams,
in a tweet by @amuseMay 28

In Jake Tapper's/Alex Thompson's book mentioned above, they list Mike Donilon, Ron Klain, Steve Ricchetti, and Bruce Reid, who was Biden’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. He’s the only one that didn’t already appear among the total of eight.

Additional speculation from David Sacks, President Trump's Financial Advisor and Crypto Czar, adds Senator Elizabeth Warren to the list of Biden controllers (clip shown here). And then there was an undercover video of David Hogg of the DNC, claiming that the main controller was Jill Biden's Chief of Staff Anthony Bernal, in concert with the First Lady (clip shown here). Bernal was on the list of eight; Warren was not, but she had a lot of influence from her position on the Finance Committee.

If you are naïve enough to assume they were just carrying out the will of the president, because they knew him so well and were so loyal to his agenda, then you’d have to explain why Ron Klain had multiple meetings in the White House with worldwide cabal leader Alex Soros. And Klain was also the go-between for the Squad (radical wing) and Biden. (Biden's personal corruption was less ideological.)

And, if ideological reasons for their usurpation weren’t enough, you could assume greed was an encourager. Donilon made $4 million on the failed Biden campaign (I don’t know how you make money on a failed campaign, but apparently he knows). Ricchetti had several family members employed by the Biden administration.

These names are speculation only at this point. Investigations—and then prosecutions—have to be done based on evidence. But if any of these individuals weren’t involved, how did they not know what was happening? And who else was conducting this illegal usurpation of power?

We could say, Behold the Beasts of Revelation. One group carries out the evil tyranny; the other group uses propaganda to make it appear powerful.

I don’t think the beasts are limited to our country’s government. But this is definitely a prime example.

And it falls in a day. Which specific day? You could name the June debate last year, when the nation saw what most of us had been seeing for half a decade, that Joe Biden was in mental decline. Or you could name the July 13^th day when God spared Donald Trump’s life in Butler, PA. I had written before that the end of the 42-month reign of the beast (Rev. 13:5) might be late July 2024, which turned out to be when Biden’s campaign ended, 42 months after his inauguration.

There’s more liberty now. But we haven’t fully recovered yet. It’s a tough job after that messy tyranny. I pray we get there soon.

If the scriptures are telling us something, it is that God is in control. And honoring Him is necessary for protection, because He can take down Babylon (another name for the beast, and the worldwide cabal, the whore of all the earth, etc.) in a day. 

The Senate Hearing on Corruption of Science and Health Agencies

I spent some time the other day listening to the three-hour Senate Hearing (and relistened again the day I get this written): “The Corruption of Science and Federal Health Agencies: How Health Officials Downplayed and Hid Myocarditis and Other Adverse Events Associated with the COVID-19 Vaccines.” The last time I wrote about a Senate hearing on COVID-19, I got censored. So we’ll see how this goes.

header for committee hearing video, screenshot from here

Here are some sources (more will be included in the text, plus footnotes mostly related to Dr. Thorp’s testimony):

·        This is the source, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs website, where you can view the entire hearing and also download opening statements. 

·        You can also watch it here on X. 

·        This is an excellent summary of the entire hearing: “COVID Vaccine ‘Safe and Effective’ Narrative Collapses on Camera” by The Vigilant Fox, on Substack, May 21, 2025. 

·        This is a story related to a study on high miscarriage rates, which I talk about in more detail below:  “Another Study Shows Higher Miscarriage Rate among Women Who Received COVID Vaccines” The Defender, Children’s Health Defense, May 5, 2025

·        This is another article about the Senate hearing: “This is Going to Be a Slog: Senate Hearing on Cover-Up of COVID Vaccine Risks Just the ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ Johnson Tells Committee," Science, Public Health Policy and the Law 

It was mainly ranking member Senator Blumenthal and Hawaii Governor Josh Green, MD, who were on the side of, “The vaccines saved lives,” and “Let’s make sure under no circumstances do we cause vaccine hesitancy.” And then there was Committee Chair Ron Johnson, with a line-up of doctors and scientists addressing mainly vaccine injuries: cardiologist and internist Dr. Peter McCullough; vascular researcher Dr. Jordan Vaughn; OB-GYN Dr. James Thorp; former neurosurgeon and now co-chair of REACT-19 Dr. Joel Wallskog; and attorney specializing in vaccine injury claims Aaron Siri.

They presented evidence that the myocarditis danger signal was available by late February 2021, just a couple of months after the vaccine rollout—but it was ignored. Officially, it was known to the CDC by April 2021, but the information was shared only with the “vaccine” makers, not with doctors or the public. Nor was the recommendation for myocarditis patients to avoid strenuous exercise (which means they especially endangered athletes who were required to get the injections in order to play their sports). 

Officially, this was the topic of the hearing. But they did bring up other injuries as well. And one got my attention.

Dr. James A. Thorp (OB-GYN) reported that the vaccine-induced miscarriage rate was much higher than reported. He said that the signal was hidden by combining those who had the vaccine in later trimesters (beyond when you would call a terminating event a miscarriage), whereas the strongest signal was with those getting the vaccine in the first trimester. He said that miscarriage rate was as high as the RU-486 abortifacient drug. 

Dr. James Thorp gives his opening testimony at the hearing

In his testimony, he says,

These entities falsely assured pregnant women that the vaccines were proven safe and essential for maternal, fetal, and newborn health, even though early evidence indicated quite the opposite[i]. Pregnancy itself was protective against COVID-19-related maternal mortality[ii].

The marketing (propaganda) approach had been to use pregnant women—the most vulnerable. If they could convince pregnant women that the injections were “safe and effective,” and necessary to protect their babies from a deadly virus—if pregnant women were convinced to get the injections, then the rest of the public would assume it was safe for them to take.

Thorp referred to a much-cited Shimabukuro study[iii], showing a 12.6% miscarriage rate, which is high but not too extraordinary. But he explains what the raw data actually show:

The authors claimed a miscarriage rate of 12.6%, but the raw data revealed an 82% miscarriage rate in women vaccinated during the first trimester. This is consistent with the 81% miscarriage rate noted in the Pfizer 5.3.6 post-market data and is discussed in detail below. These figures mirror the effects of chemical abortion drugs such as RU-486.

Further down in his report, he shares additional Pfizer’s findings[iv] (from Pfizer’s p. 12):

·        A miscarriage rate of 81% (26 out of 32 cases, with 238 out of 270 cases lacking followup),

•           A five-fold increase in stillbirth rates—from an expected 5.8 per 1,000 to 31 per 1,000 (1 in 32),

•           An eight-fold increase in neonatal death rates—from an expected 3.9 per 1,000 to 31 per 1,000 (1 in 32),

•           There is a 13% incidence (17 out of 133 cases) of breastfeeding complications among newborns whose mothers received the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy.

He adds this note: “Pfizer and the FDA sought to withhold the release of these post-market adverse event analyses for 55 to 75 years[v] [vi].” Any claims that they were transparent and/or making a concerted effort to inform doctors and the public are belied by that effort to withhold.

Thorp talks about the dangers of mRNA injections possibly altering the human genome—not just a multi-generational catastrophe, but a permanent altering. The damage would affect humankind forever. He says, “A strong case can be made that pushing novel COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy is the most significant ethical breach in the history of medicine[vii] [viii].”

In a hearing where the ethical breaches include hiding damage to hearts, particularly in young people who were not at risk from the disease; blood clots; knowingly lying about the injections staying at the injection site when they were designed to cross organ barriers throughout the body; ignoring deaths and adverse events that were closely linked to the injections—including autopsy proof of cause of death being the injections; the censoring of truth and data. And we could add the discrimination against and removal of availability of effective drugs and treatments.

I don’t know how to measure which ethical breach is the worst in the history of medicine, but it’s very likely you could get a top five or ten just from the response to COVID-19. I believe you could summarize it as: A disease that was bad but treatable was made into a major catastrophe by a politicized public health response that was exactly opposite to what would have protected public health.

image found here

While we’re on Dr. Thorp’s testimony, he adds a July 2023 study[ix] by Pfizer reporting adverse events for babies after birth (whose mothers got the “vaccine”):

1.        A 100% increase in low Apgar scores (indicating depressed newborns).

2.        A substantial increase in meconium aspiration syndrome.

3.        An 80% increase in neonatal jaundice.

4.        A 70% increase in congenital malformations.

5.        A 220% increase in atrial septal defects.

6.        A substantial increase in fetal growth restriction.

7.        A 200% increase in congenital nevi.

8.        A 310% increase in congenital anomalies with developmental delays at 6 months of age.

Let’s add the reminder here that the COVID-19 disease did not kill young people. No healthy young children died. Very few had more than typical cold or flu symptoms, which they recovered from without medical intervention. Nor were they known to be spreading the illness to more vulnerable adults. So these adverse outcomes for babies, weighed against the “benefits,” show strong reasons for not vaccinating pregnant women, and thus vaccinating their pre-born children; and indeed show strong reasons for not vaccinating anyone but the most vulnerable (which we might argue against as well).

The dissenting opinions, mainly from Senator Blumenthal and Hawaii Governor Green, claim that we know the vaccines (a term they insist on using) saved millions upon millions of lives. The “study” they cite is actually a blog post by someone who used a mathematical model. It is difficult to show a negative—what would have happened in alternate circumstances. That’s what double-blind placebo studies are designed to do. Nor do these two address why the vaccine would have done more good than the various treatments available—which Dr. McCullough suggests all worked.

What they do talk about is the recent measles outbreak, which started in Samoa in 2019, and has spread to Texas and a couple dozen other states. Dr. Green claimed he held children as they died of measles in Samoa, which was heartbreaking. They were attempting to blame RFK Jr and his organization for talking people out of getting vaccinated in Samoa. This followed an incident in which two children died following getting MMR shots when the nurses (who were prosecuted) used the wrong reagent, thus accidentally poisoning the children. This was at a time—as in the US—when the disease was considered eliminated (different from worldwide eradication). That meant risk of getting the disease was low, and risk of death from the disease was, as always, around 14/1000 cases (it’s less in the US). Considering that there are other risks from vaccines, it seems to me that this was reasonable information to provide to parents. It did result in the lowering of vaccination rates from 75% to around 40%, going into the outbreak. Note that some measles cases also occurred in vaccinated individuals.

What they were trying to do was conflate MMR vaccines with the COVID-19 injections—which were originally touted as necessary to prevent contraction and spread of COVID-19 but which did neither. In other words, they’re willing to lie to you about the efficacy and safety of the mRNA injections in order to maintain confidence in other vaccines. They do not, by the way, touch on the growth from 3 injections (which included MMR) in early childhood to 70+ injections today.

So, getting back to that bombshell about the COVID-19 “vaccines” being on par with abortifacient drugs…

I had been aware of higher than normal miscarriage rates; I had known personally at least one case (who had been glad to take the vaccine, because of her fear; my background opinion, which I didn’t express to her, was that the vaccine caused the miscarriage). The tragedy, as we see it now, is that millions of pregnant women worldwide, gladly anticipating their babies, unknowingly aborted them. I do not blame them; they were manipulated and had no evil intent. I blame those who used them; may God deal with them justly (and possibly more mercifully than I would).

I had been concerned that the vaccine might be causing infertility into the future. That can happen, depending on the damage caused by the spike protein in the individual patient, some of which would exist beyond a single pregnancy. But I’m glad to say the one I knew has since had a successful pregnancy. That concern about the altering of the human genome still looms, however.

I’m going to move into the Revelation 13 beasts talk again. This is, at least, a way to think about what’s happening, metaphorically and/or in reality.

from the Dürer Apocalypse woodcut "The Beast with the Lamb's Horns
and the Beast with Seven Heads," this segment found here

As a refresher, there’s a dragon (evil itself, or Satan) that wields power over two beasts. The first is a beast rising out of the sea—which means it extends to many nations—and it has many heads and crowns, or authorities. Other names are the Worldwide Cabal, the Whore of All the Earth, the Deep State, the Great and Abominable Church (corrupt belief system), or the Anti-Christ (which, in my opinion describes this beast, not a yet-to-be-identified powerful individual). And then there’s the land beast, a false-speaking ram with the roar of a lion. I call it the propaganda beast. It upholds and, through illusion (deception), seems to give substance to the sea beast.

That pandemic must have seemed like such a coup for the dragon and his beasts. So much death. So much fear. So much distrust. So much damage to humanity. Imagine what a delight that must have been for C. S. Lewis’s Screwtape and Wormwood (minor devils in The Screwtape Letters).

Death and injury themselves would have been a goal for these beasts. But a particular goal is to ruin family.

In this pandemic, the beasts were able to close churches and temples (temporarily), close schools (in some cases up to two school years without in-person classes, thus setting back the education of a generation of children), causing irreparable economic destruction, fear and distrust galore (including traumatizing children needlessly), affecting development with those stupid ineffective masks that covered faces and harmed breathing, and now we learn wiped out a partial generation through miscarriage and infant death, and affected major portions of the survivors.

And that was just the pandemic. Every detail of the LGBTQ agenda is designed to lead children away from happy, healthy families and toward infertile debauchery. Again, this is not hatred toward groups of people, for whom I recommend Reintegrative Therapy to deal with whatever trauma caused them to dissociate from their sex; it is the desire to prevent spreading that trauma to vulnerable children.

Those beasts are big and powerful. But we are identifying them, and standing up against them with truth where we can. That is our duty, even though we don’t feel powerful against such foes. But our God is a much mightier God than that dragon and his beasts. If you read to the end of the story in Revelation, you know those puny entities that seem so powerful now will be eradicated like a weak virus subject to disinfection by sunlight.

Hosanna! It means God rescue us. Any time now would be a good time.

---

[i] Lin X, Botros B, Hanna M, Gurzenda E, Manzano De Mejia C, Chavez M, Hanna N, "Transplacental transmission of the COVID-19 vaccine messenger RNA: evidence from placental, maternal and cord blood analyses postvaccination", American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2024), doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2024.01.022 https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002 9378(24)00063-2/fulltext (Accessed 11/11/2024) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2024.01.022

[ii] Thorp JA, Benavides A, Thorp MM, McDyer DC, Biss KO, Threet JA, McCullough PA. “Are Covid-19 Vaccines in Pregnancy as Safe and Effective as the Medical Industrial Complex Claim? Part I.” Science, Public Health Policy and the Law. Volume 6, February 8, 2025. https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/are-covid-19-vaccines-in-pregnancy-as-safe-and-effective as-the-medical-industrial-complex-claim-part-i/

[iii] Shimabukuro TT, Kim SY, Myers TR, Moro PL. et al. “Preliminary Findings of mRNA Covid 19 Vaccine Safety in Pregnant Persons.” April 21, 2021, N Engl J Med 2021;384:2273-2282. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM0a2104983 (Accessed 6/29/2024) https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2104983

[iv] Pfizer phase 2/3 clinical trial. “Study NCT04754594 to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, and Immunogenicity of BNT162b2 Against Covid-19 in Healthy pregnant Women 18 Years of Age and Older.” Submitted Date: July, 14, 2023 (v21). Study Start date February 16, 2021 and Study Completion date: July 15

[v] Celia Farber. Court-Ordered Pfizer Documents They Tried To Have Sealed For 55 years Show 1223 Deaths, 158,000 Adverse Events in 90 Days post EUA Release. The Most Shocking Document Release Of The Last 100 years. December 5, 2021. https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/court-ordered-pfizer-documents-they  (Accessed 6/25/2024)

[vi] Michelle Maluske. CTV News. 'Data is power': Experts weigh-in on court-ordered release of Pfizer vaccine documents. March 11, 2022. https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/data-is-power-experts weigh-in-on-court-ordered-release-of-pfizer-vaccine-documents-1.5816089 (Accessed 11/11/2024)

[vii] Maggie M Thorp JD. Jim Thorp MD. “Experimental, Untested Genetic Biotechnology Administered in Pregnancy: An Egregious Breach of Bioethics.”  America Out Loud November 12, 2022. 

[viii] Maggie Thorp JD, Jim Thorp MD. “A call for Immediate Moratorium on the use of COVID19 Vaccines in pregnant women.” March 3, 2024. America Out Loud https://www.americaoutloud.news/a-call-for-immediate-moratorium-on-the-use-of-covid-19vaccines-in-pregnant-women/

[ix] July 2023 Pfizer's: “Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial in Pregnant Women, COVID-19 vaccine versus Placebo”

Develop a Taste for Truth

Why do good people believe different things to be true? And, therefore, how do you know what is really true?

Those are age-old questions, still worth asking.

I recently read a book (actually listened to the audio version from the library, so I don’t have access to it for quotes): Collective Illusions, by Todd Rose. The author uses research and examples to show that what we believe, and how we perceive things, has more to do with social pressure than we realize.

book cover image from Amazon

He makes some good points. But I found that every example he uses that wasn’t politically neutral was from the point of view of a leftist/progressive. He was talking about how we censor ourselves to avoid social backlash, which is sometimes real. His example was a single, obscure statement that got backlash from, I guess, a Trump supporter, and that explains why he and so many of his friends feared saying anything about the subject online. It may have had to do with COVID shots; I can’t remember.

But he fails to recognize that there was actual censorship, cancelling, lives ruined for those who disagreed with the party line about such things. I’ve been censored. People I know personally have been censored. Many many online sources I listen to have been censored. “Going against community standards” could mean anything from suggesting ivermectin could be useful to showing footage of J6 with people being welcomed into the capitol where they peacefully walked through and exited without incident; or pointing out that “summer of love” riots, which were not mostly peaceful, were staged and paid for and not organic; or saying that men cannot get pregnant.

In other words, the author of a book encouraging us to recognize where our bias comes from, so we can better understand one another and come to know the truth, is unaware of his social biases and fails to overcome them, even while he tells us he knows what to do about them.

I listened to a podcast last week about how our beliefs come more from gut feelings than from reason and logic. The context was religious faith, as in leaving or coming to faith. But I think the concepts can be extrapolated further to truth in general. The interview is with Dr. Jeffrey Thayne, a psychologist and professor at BYU-Idaho, on the podcast Let’s Get Real with Stephen Jones. 

Thayne refers to a metaphor from a Jonathan Haidt book with an elephant and a rider. The rider is ostensibly in control, sitting up on top. But in reality, the rider goes where the elephant goes; the elephant has the power to obey or ignore the direction of the rider. The rider metaphorically represents the brain, while the elephant represents the gut, or the heart—the feelings of a person. It’s the feelings that have the real power.

Thayne gives some examples; this one was memorable: say he goes to the fridge to get the ingredients for his morning smoothie, but he’s out of berries, peaches, bananas—all the regular things. But he does have some leftover pizza. So he tosses that in the blender and makes himself a delicious breakfast smoothie. And Jones has a visible “gross” reaction: disgust—just as you probably did reading it here. But Thayne says he can give all the reasoning. The ingredients are the same for the pizza whether solid or in the smoothie; and the pizza gets essentially turned into a smoothie in your mouth by the time you swallow it. The nutrients are the same. It’s reasonable. And yet, you’re still going to find it disgusting.

However, there are some things that start out disgusting to you, but with repeated exposure become acceptable, and you even develop a taste for them. Avocadoes. Hot chili. Maybe black coffee (I’m not a coffee drinker, but it appears to me that no one starts out liking it). Smoking (again, never tried it, but secondhand smoke is pretty disgusting). There’s no reason I shouldn’t like honeydew melon, and yet it hasn’t been worth developing a taste for. I suppose, though, that I could develop a taste if I put effort into it.

The same principles might apply to social behavior or moral behavior. This week, as the P Diddy trial is underway, the defense seems to be saying, “Even though you might find his lifestyle disgusting and immoral, what you’re judging him on is whether he broke the law.” I do find his lifestyle disgusting and immoral. But the ostensible reason for the trial was the blackmail and human trafficking, which may or may not be among the racketeering charges. So I fear his defense might work in this specific case.

Testimony from one of the witnesses seems to say she did a lot of things that were disgusting to her, because she wanted something—connection to the famous guy who was telling her he would help her career, or that he loved her if she did whatever pleased him. Some of those disgusting things were so far beyond acceptable that it’s hard to imagine someone—even under threat of being beaten—would give in and do them. Drugs seem to have been useful to make the disgust tolerable. As did a pre-existing willingness to do many immoral acts of a somewhat lesser nature.

Grooming is a methodical process used by pedophiles and human traffickers to get a victim to accept things they wouldn’t have otherwise accepted—until they are captured and enslaved.

In therapy for irrational fears, an effective approach is to desensitize by repeated exposure. Someone with a fear of snakes could start out being willing to see a photo. Then a distant caged snake. Then a caged snake up closer. Then a snake being handled distantly by a handler. Then being closer to the snake and handler. Then getting close enough to touch the handled snake. Then possibly actually touching it. Then a longer touch. Maybe getting all the way to handling the snake itself. But at least getting over the irrational fear of being in the same vicinity. This could take several sessions, or it could be accomplished in a matter of hours.

On some scale, maybe we are all being groomed to accept things we shouldn’t. There are things that we found shocking even a couple of decades ago that seem tamer today. Movie depictions of sex outside of marriage today are a far cry from the separate beds in the old I Love Lucy sitcom of a married couple. We don’t want to be prudish, so we label ourselves tolerant; that’s a social pressure.

There’s the Alexander Pope poem you’ve probably heard:

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”

― Alexander Pope

I admit that I have become somewhat numb to portrayals of sex outside of marriage in media. When I was young, Dr. Zhivago was shocking to me. I still prefer my entertainment clean, but I find that I accept more than possibly I should (when it’s hinted at, not actually shown), because the characters don’t have the same beliefs as I do. But really, it’s more a matter of lack of options—and more often now than when I was younger, I opt out of entertainment rather than accept it. Maybe that’s a matter of no time for entertainment more than intentionality on my part. So am I vulnerable to accepting too much sin in the world around me?

How long did it take society to go from “marriage is between a man and a woman” to “of course gays should be allowed to marry”? I never got there. Marriage is a particular thing with a specific meaning; it is not physically possible for gay people to be married, by the original, millennia-old definition. The new definition didn’t even exist until this century—and officially here in America for just a decade. And yet I am in a minority today; even holding that opinion is considered bigoted, homophobic, and all the epithets. From my viewpoint, it does not mean that I hate gay people; it means that I understand something differently, based on what I believe God has declared, and I’m not willing to develop a taste for what society says I must.

I don’t know why I am not swayed when so many around me are, even among those who are like-minded in many other ways. I don’t feel special or brave; maybe I’m just stubborn. Or maybe I have sought out reasons that align with my beliefs. One thing I do not do, as it would be fruitless, is to argue about it online. I do post my opinions here, but people who even find my opinion can take it or leave it; I don’t contend and attack.

Stephen Jones, left, with Dr. Jeffrey Thayne,
screenshot from here

Thayne points out that people are pretty much never swayed to think like you by rational arguments online. What sways people is “regular exposure to people who think like you, developing friends with people who think like you.” This could explain why people who exit the Democrat party and come to associate with Republicans find themselves picking up conservative ideas pretty quickly; they surround themselves with people having those ideas, and feel welcomed among them—finding them unlike the stereotype of racist angry people the previous group had portrayed them as.

But there has to be something that triggers the exit from the original group in the first place. Was it having just enough exposure to the other side to develop a taste for it? Or was it a growing distaste for being on a side with ideas and actions that didn’t align with their own?

It’s like being in a dining social club that only enjoys Indian food, and one day you say, “I admit I don’t really like Indian food.” So you go elsewhere and find a taste for Tex-Mex or smoked BBQ, and wonder how you’d let yourself miss that for so long.

OK, so this shows that gut feelings (or heart) move us more than logic and reasoning. And yet, there’s got to be a place in the search for truth for logic and reasoning, right? “Come now, and let us reason together,” as the scriptures tell us [Isaiah 1:18]. Yes. For strengthening a belief you are leaning toward because of your feelings. For aligning your mind with your heart, you could say. The more you do that, the more you’re going to trust your feelings when they come up against opposition.

Here’s one piece of advice Dr. Thayne suggests that I think makes a whole lot of sense: pray that truth and righteousness will be delicious to you, so you’ll recognize and embrace them.

Developing a taste for truth and righteousness might be one of the most valuable spiritual gifts—up there with healing and discernment. I do seek for truth. I do find it delicious, satisfying, when I find it. I pray that I will always be blessed with that gift; I intend to live in a way that makes it likely. For the sake of our world, I pray that everyone develops a taste for truth and righteousness.

The First 100 Days Cabinet Report

I listened to the Cabinet meeting celebrating the first 100 days of this administration. And I felt like that was worth preserving. If only those people I know who are so worried about the chaos, and feel like they just can’t take four years of it—if they could listen in to the calm, reassuring, action-oriented, capable people surrounding our very action-oriented President, they would wonder what chaos it was they were worrying about. To those of us aware of the chaos of the past four years, a meeting like this is so soothing to the soul. One thing you can notice is that there is a total lack of authoritarian dictatorship; it is about rule of law, common sense, the Constitution, and returning power to the people.

Vice President JD Vance addresses the President at the 100-day Cabinet Meeting,
Robert Gouveia in corner of screen, screenshot from here

I listened to it on Robert Gouveia’s podcast, and I think the meeting was underway by the time he joined us in. I believe we missed Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, going by the lineup starting to the left of the President. We joined the livestream in the last few seconds of Department of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins.

Each of them was mostly going through a list of accomplishments from those first 100 days, and I thought maybe I’d just go through it and bullet point those accomplishments. It is yet another time I think something will be simpler and quicker than it is. This was about an hour and a quarter (like I said, it was underway, and also I don’t include President Trump’s comments after going around the table). Each one took from 3-5 minutes, maybe a couple were longer.

I used the online transcript as a starting point at least. But what I did is still longer and more detailed than I intended. They don’t exactly talk in bullet points, but I still wanted to capture what they said.

So, read, or skim, or scroll to what interests you. But at least this is here for a record so we can look back on what this historic first 100 days entailed. I’ve included the time stamps for each one’s starting point. I started out just writing bullet points, but later got in a rhythm of just notetaking, mostly using full sentences, and mostly their own words. The list of cabinet members is on Wikipedia with links to their photos.

 

Department of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins [1:53]

·        Hospitals getting workforce they need.

·        Suicidality down.

·        Sec Def helped transition them out of military.

 

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer  [2:15]

·        Reordering of global trade, as it hasn’t happened since the end of WWII.

·        Global tariffs, no retaliation except China.

·        Dozens of countries have come to negotiate, including written offers.

 

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (within the day was removed from that position and made Ambassador to the UN) [3:50]  

·        Over 40 Americans being held hostage have come home.

·        Many terrorists no longer threatening our homeland.

o   Including person responsible for Abbey Gate bombing that killed 13 (prosecution underway).

o   Pulling together many agencies as a team.

·        Revitalizing shipyards, Cyber, Space.

 

CIA Director John Ratcliffe [5:40]

·        President’s priorities:

o   advance peace.

o   end war.

o   take terrorists off the battlefield.

o   keep illicit drugs out.

·        Profound positive impact (can’t be detailed publicly).

o   Americans safer.

·        CIA provided intelligence that led to apprehension of Abbey Gate bomber.

·        Negotiated and secured release of Americans: Mark Fogle, Cassinia Karolina.

o   President forgets about no Americans being held unfairly and unjustly.

·        Reorient CIA to core mission; eliminate politicization.

 

Director of Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought  [7:30]

·        Involved in budget bills, President’s priorities are reflected in reconciliation.

o   Work of entire cabinet on budget.

·        Sending rescission bills on things Elon (DOGE) has found.

·        Deregulatory Agenda goal: ten removed for every one regulation added.

·        Stopped $200 Billion costs to American families by stopping Biden regulatory agenda.

o   $2000 per family.

·        We think, if we hit 10:1 goal, we’ll hit $900 Billion in savings.

·        Example story: Barry Sterner, Townstone, accused of redlining and disparate impact; ruined his life; we overturned.

o   Agencies are using their enforcement discretion, with backing of President.

President comments: the one Big Beautiful Bill, John has been amazing, and Mike Johnson. Would mean a 58% tax hike if Democrats block it, and other bad things. If successful, will be the biggest tax cut in American history.

·        Doing great on the bill—making a ton of progress.

o   Your stuff is in there.

o   Border resources.

o   Tax cuts the President ran on.

o   Get people back into the workforce.

 

Chief of Staff Susie Wiles  [11:25]

·        Unparalleled congratulations to everyone.

·        It hasn’t gone unnoticed.

 

HUD Secretary Scott Turner  [12:30]

·        Cutting red tape and bureaucracy.

·        Restoring local control for builders and developers.

·        Took down the affirmatively furthering fair housing rule—

o   zone tax from Washington.

o   Washington is no longer picking winners and losers.

·        No more prioritizing illegal aliens over the American people.

o   HUD funding goes only to citizens.

o   We have 9 million people living in subsidized housing.

o   59% of illegal aliens get some form of welfare program—costing US taxpayers $42 B/year—reason for making this change to citizens only.

·        To make more affordable housing, have signed partnership with Secretary Bergam at DOI to use underutilized federal lands on which to build affordable housing.

·        Have restored biological truth in sports.

o   Took down the equal access rule at HUD to ensure that women’s shelters will be for biological women only.

·        With help of DOGE, have identified over $2B in savings.

o   $260M of that was in contracts now ended.

o   $4M was DEI contracts now ended.

o   $1.9B has been sent back to Treasury.

 

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins  [15:30]

·        Price of eggs is down.

·        Have been focused on cost of groceries—significant decrease.

·        Massive issue with Mexico on water getting to farmers along the border for decades.

o   Thanks to President’s involvement, and Secretary Rubio’s Deputy Secretary, we have the best deal in history on that issue.

·        Energy: with Secretary Bergam and his partner Secretary Wright, Agriculture is a big piece:

o   Timber, minerals, biofuels.

·        Farmers were hurting under Biden 30% increase in cost of doing business.

o   At end of Trump’s first term, we had zero dollar trade deficit with agricultural products.

o   Biden caused a $50B deficit—didn’t make an effort.

o   Congress passed $10B for farmers.

o   USDA moved it fastest in history, so farmers could plant their crops.

o   Recipients not based on color of skin or other ways.

·        Canceled $6B in contracts based on DOGE recommendations.

o   A lot were DEI-related studies.

o   No more racism in pest management.

·        Major restructuring at USDA—downsizing and putting aligning to put farmers first.

·        Food Stamps—largest welfare program and supplemental nutrition.

o   Working with Secretary Kennedy (HHS).

o   Assuring that Food Stamp recipients receive access to nutritious foods, where we’re facing and obesity crisis and chronic disease crisis.

·        Working with Secretary Noem to end lawfare against farmers and ranchers.

o   Example: Maude family, ranchers in South Dakota, prosecuted and threatened with jail time by Biden administration over a dispute over a fence line (in place since 1910)—all charges now dropped.

§  Thanks to DOJ for dropping charges.

o   Regulation through prosecution is no more.

 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent  [21:00]

·        First 100 days were for peace deals, trade deals, and tax deals.

·        Next 100 days will be for harvesting results of leadership.

o   Energy costs have plummeted.

o   Mortgage rates are down.

o   Food costs are moving lower.

·        America is on the verge of becoming an AI superpower.

·        We were barbelled: high-tech and finance on one end, natural resources and particularly energy on the other.

o   You are filling in the middle with precision manufacturing.

o   We’ll be bringing that manufacturing back with good trade policies and good tax policies.

·        DOGE at Treasury and the IRS, tech support and efficiency have increased.

o   IRS revenues are up.

o   The IT update that began in 1990 will be finished during this term.

·        Trade, taxes, and deregulation—the One Big Beautiful Bill.

o   Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune have done a great job, with President as closer on many of their members.

·        Economic security is national security; national security is economic security. And it’s never been better—we’re rebuilding it.

·        At IMF and World Bank conferences last week—America First does not mean America alone.

o   Under Trump it means leadership.

 

Vice President JD Vance  [23:15]

·        In his 40 years of life, we went from world’s manufacturing superpower to dependent on China for things we need.

·        We went from the proudest military in the world to not meeting our recruiting goals.

o   With President and Secretary of Defense Hegseth, we have people breaking down the doors to join the military.

·        We went from bipartisan consensus on border policy to allowing 20 million to enter illegally and run roughshod, causing crime, stressing the welfare system.

·        In these 100 days we have started to reverse every one of these negative trends.

·        The media attacks this administration as chaotic because they are solving problems.

·        President is actually doing the things he promised the American people he would do.

·        Vance calls out the media for instead covering the legal deportation of an MS-13 gang member.

o   Media hasn’t yet learned the lessons of the last 40 years.

 

Department of Justice, Attorney General Pam Bondi  [26:13]

·        Directive: Make America safe.

·        Defending over 200 lawsuits filed against the President, over 50 injunctions, multiple cases in front of the Supreme Court.

·        Also representing everyone in this room to prevent US Marshalls from arresting you.

·        Yesterday, DEA told her President has removed handcuffs from their agents.

·        Have seized more that 22 million fentanyl pills, 3,400 kilos of fentanyl in this 100 days.

o   Saving 258 million lives of those who think they’re taking Tylenol, Aderall, or Xanax that is laced with fentanyl.

·        14,500 guns off the streets; 651,000 rounds of ammo.

o   That’s up 151% from 2024.

·        Now seeking the death penalty in cases.

·        Terrorism: going after arsonists.

o   Tesla arsonists—have arrested 9 in 7 jurisdictions.

o   No negotiations; 20 years in prison.

o   Also arsonists of Governor’s mansion in PA.

o   ISIS terrorists: we got one in New York.

o   October 7 task force.

·        Broke up human trafficking ring by Sinaloa cartel.

·        1,000 pounds of methamphetamines, and 20,000 molly pills.

o   Choice of young people at clubs and bars, but fake with fentanyl.

o   20,000 lives saved.

·        Brought back 29 cartel members from Mexico at President’s direction.

o   One killed Kiki Camareno, a DEA agent, in 1985.

o   Thanks to many in this room working together, the families have justice.

·        Going after antisemitism.

·        No more DEI; no more weaponization.

o   Have rescinded 200 policies.

 

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer  [30:01]

·        Good collaboration among cabinet members, agency heads; in contact daily.

o   Example: yesterday speaking to Farm Bureau of Texas; I’m not the Ag Secretary, but it affects labor.

·        Working with Secretaries Lutnick and McMahon on education and workforce investments, as asked.

o   Having negotiated repatriation of companies and investments, we will need workforce to build back the economy.

·        Have kicked off 50-state tour by end of the year; five states toured so far.

o   Talking to workforce, talking to companies about what the market demand it.

o   What do they need, when do they need it, and how fast can I get these apprenticeships.

o   Lofty goal of 1 million apprenticeships; so far 80,000 since January.

·        Illegal immigration: have put states on notice that if they reward illegal immigrants with unemployment benefits as a handout, they lose federal funding.

o   All 50 governors have been warned.

·        Eliminated discriminatory DEI offices.

o   Especially office of Federal Contract Compliance programs;

o   most contracts were focused on DEI compliance.

·        $4.4 Billion in unspent COVID funds returned to the Treasury through the CARES Act.

·        Saved $250 Million by cancelling America-last contracts.

o   Examples: for transparency and accountability for Uzbekistan cotton industry.

o   Thanks to DOGE for uncovering the fraud that we’re seeing.

·        Executive order for preparing Americans for high-paying skilled trade jobs of the future.

·        Efficiency continues: out of our department’s 14,000 federal employees, 3,000 have taken the DRP.

o   We offered it again; over 21% have taken it.

o   We’ll keep our critical workforce (including OSHA) to make sure our workers stay safe.

 

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright  [33:46]

·        You ran on unleashing American energy. 100 days have shown tremendous impacts.

·        Oil, gasoline, and diesel prices are lowest in years.

o   Because of messaging that we’re pro-energy.

o   Market understands that supply is easier to grow.

·        Besides more affordable energy, we need a lot more energy.

o   For AI, a new emerging critical industry that’s very energy intensive.

o   America must be leader in AI.

o   Without this administration, energy would not be there for us to win AI race.

·        Reshoring of manufacturing—trillions of dollars will come back to us to make chips, steel, automobiles, and to make AI—all industries we had outsourced.

o   Only possible with way more American energy.

o   We have resources and capitalists; we need to stop standing in the way.

o   Enable them, not subsidize them, to enable them to invest American money and to create American jobs here.

·        Balance in trade—second largest export is liquified natural gas.

o   In a few years it will be our largest export.

o   18 months ago Biden administration decided to stop issuing permits for LNG terminals.

o   LNG is a great competitive advantage, huge trade driver, ready to go.

o   Poland (just returned from) thrilled America is back in business, and rest of Europe can get off of Russian energy—can enable their own economic growth with secure, reliable, affordable energy from the US.

·        Witnessed signing ceremony for a deal between two American companies to build large nuclear power plant in Poland, first of this design in Europe.

o   First of many; other nations want to get American technology and partner with us.

o   Message to them: unleashing energy is the way to make your society safer, more prosperous, and more free.

o   Climate alarmism doesn’t do anything to help environment, but it does impoverish people and reduce security of nation, and makes nation weaker.

·        Unleashing consumer products that Americans want to buy that Biden was making illegal

o   Example from Georgia: tankless natural gas water heaters.

o   Return of common sense is incredibly welcome.

·        With help of DOGE, we’re going to deliver all of this with less people, less money, less taxpayer burden.

o   Not smaller departments and smaller services; better, more thoughtful services done more efficiently—the way you’d run a business with fiscal house in order.

 

Homeland Security Kristi Noem  [38:00]

·        Border is 99.99% safe, under control.

o   Completely reversed the situation.

o   Border Patrol agents in El Paso (told her yesterday) are completely impacted by how things changed in a year—put up comparative photos of chaos and violence now quelled.

o   Peaceful; people who do business between US and Mexico are coming, following the law—because of what Border Patrol has been empowered to do.

·        Recruitment is through the roof.

o   ICE agents recognize they can do their job.

o   Coast Guard recruitment up 20% in the last 60 days.

o   Coast Guard repositioned to focus on border and drug interdiction.

o   As we’ve secured the border, cartels have gone to the water.

o   Coast Guard in last two months has taken into custody over 126 tons of cocaine, millions of doses of fentanyl.

·        Aliens being deported.

o   Refuting the lie that Biden deported more people—they counted everyone processed and let into the country as a deportation.

o   Trump administration has deported over 250 known terrorists, thousands of foreign terrorist organization members and gang members, hundreds of thousands of people here illegally.

·        Have collected $30 Billion in tariffs through CBP.

·        Have collected hundreds of millions in fines and penalties from visa overstays.

·        Thank Pete Hegseth’s leadership at DoD and Marco Rubio for diplomacy in getting us travel documents into these countries.

o   Mexico has come to the table, will accept a lot more people we send back to that country.

o   President of Mexico said she turned around over half a million people in Mexico before they reached our border.

§  We should be able to count those as additional deportations; they would have otherwise come into our country.

§  People never came here because they got the message.

·        And Tom Homan’s a great border czar; he’s hardcore.

 

Small Business Administration Kelly Loeffler  [41:30]

·        34 million small businesses make up 99% of all businesses in this nation.

·        Main Street is open for business again; they’re thriving.

·        We’re putting out a record 26,000 new loans in first 100 days.

o   That’s 2,000 small businesses a week receiving funding.

·        That investment creates two our of every three new jobs.

·        The jobs economy is back; manufacturing is back.

o   38% increase in manufacturing loans so far.

o   1,500 manufacturing loans in first 100 days.

·        Startups increased by 54% in first 100 days.

·        Businesses under 5 people increased 95%.

·        On a manufacturing tour; have met with 250 manufacturers.

o   On factory floor, people thank you for fighting for their jobs and industries.

o   Pharmaceuticals to aerospace to food—all the essentials American needs to be independent and strong.

·        Announcing tomorrow (May 1) that we’re upsizing our manufacturing loans to make sure that economic engine continues.

o   Because 98% of all manufacturers are small businesses.

o   It’s not the intersection of technology and manufacturing.

o   What they can create for our war fighters, for our aerospace, for pharmaceuticals with less than 300-500 employees, sometimes less than 100 employees.

§  Example from Georgia: machines Iron Dome defense for Israel with less than 50 employees.

·        Thank Elon Musk, DOGE, for $3 Billion in cuts from contracts; that’s $3 Billion less burden on American families.

Cabinet Meeting view from end of table, from Elon Musk's point of view,
Robert Gouveia in corner of screen, screenshot from here

 

DOGE Elon Musk [44:30]

·        The American people voted for secure borders, safe cities, and sensible spending; that’s what they’ve gotten.

·        In first 100 days, more accomplished than in any administration.

o   This portends well for the rest of the administration.

·        $150 Billion saved so far.

o   (President adds) a lot being worked on; that number could be doubled or tripled.

 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard [46:30]

·        Focused leadership on delivering the mandate to the American people.

o   Cabinet has been empowered to deliver that mandate.

·        Ending weaponization and politicization of the intelligence community.

·        Building a lean and agile intelligence community to deliver promise of safety to the American people—safety, security, and freedom.

·        Because of designation of cartels as terrorist organizations have prioritized National Counterterrorism Center to focus on terrorists and gang members attempting to enter the country through both legal and illegal means, and to seek out those already here.

o   Working with AG’s team at DEA to get these in our system, to stop them at the border.

o   Turning names over to Department of Homeland Security and FBI to find those already here in our country.

o   The other day found 700 illegal aliens who had ties to MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and the Sinaloa cartel.

o   Just yesterday our NCTC identified 600 with ties to other terrorists that illegally claimed asylum under Biden administration were paroled here within our borders.

·        Like too many government organizations, the ODNI has become bloated with waste and abuse.

o   Have done some immediate steps. We’re doing more.

o   Already the ODNI is 25% smaller and leaner than when she began in office.

o   We shut down the DEI Office as soon as given the order.

§  We have shut down (this morning) a Human Capital Office.

§  We discovered this was a slush fund for DEI initiatives.

§  Will save $150 Million.

o   We have an additional $2.6 Billion in savings from ending contracts that do nothing to secure our national security interests.

·        Holding Deep State accountable, ending politicization and weaponization of the intelligence community.

o   This week sent 3 criminal referrals for illegal and unauthorized leaks to the media of classified information.

o   We have 11 more under investigation.

o   We have revoked 67 security clearances, at President’s directive.

o   We continue to declassify documents—already JFK assassination, more coming for RFK, and MLK assassinations.

o   Continue investigations into election interference, illegal abuses of FISA, Crossfire Hurricane, and others.

·        Bringing about the transparency and accountability the American people deserve.

 

Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin  [50:30]

·        Under Biden’s EPA, the Green New Deal was raging.

o   Billions of tax dollars were burned; we saw industries suffocate.

·        Under Trump’s EPA, the Green New Deal is dead.

o   We can both protect the environment and grow the economy.

·        13 pages listing accomplishments of first 100 days, including 100 environmental accomplishments at the Trump EPA.

o   Released to the media this morning (April 30).

·        Every day Trump is in office there will be a major environmental accomplishment.

·        We’re launching what is the largest deregulation action in history of the country.

o   We’re going to be giving our Director of the OMB a whole lot of work, because we inherited a big mess.

·        With help of DOGE we have cancelled $22 Billion in grants.

·        While we’re here celebrating, the House is voting on Congressional Review Act bills.

o   Considering EPA waivers given to California tailpipe emissions, where CA set their own standard; there should be one national standard, which House is voting on today.

·        Personal note: today is last day he serves in US Army. In 27 years, this is the best national security team ever assembled to back our soldiers.

o   And President deeply committed to ending foreign wars instead of starting new ones.

 

Department of Education Linda McMahon [54:00]

·        Have never worked so hard to fire myself.

·        Department of Education now 50% fewer through our RIP program.

o   Have closed a lot of district offices, consolidated..

o   Fewer working more efficiently

·        Meeting with commissioners of education from every state and territories.

o   They are thrilled to have more control over their education, and less red tape and regulation preventing them from making improvements.

·        We’ll see test scores go up—it will take a bit of time.

·        In higher education, we have restored proper enforcement of Title IX protections to schools.

o   Example: Columbia and other universities had Title IX and Title VI infractions—enforcements moving along; they’re making changes, making campuses safer again.

·        Antisemitism was out of control; we’re correcting that.

o   Example: Harvard, you removed funding. They’re suing, claiming it’s a First Amendment right, but it’s a civil rights safety issue.

o   117 violations of big universities like Harvard, not reporting foreign money as required by law.

§  Until they comply, they’re not getting any more grants from Homeland Security.

·        With Pam Bondi’s help, and task force we’ve formed with HHS and GSA and other agencies, we’ll make sure our campuses are safe.

·        We’re putting back into place collecting on delinquent student loans.

o   Since March 2020 there has been no effort to collect these loans.

o   On May 5 a letter goes out informing people that collection is beginning again; they can go online to learn how to restructure payments.

o   When in default they can’t buy a house or get a car loan, so it’s helpful to them as well.

o   There’s been a $60 Billion increase in student loan debt since 2020; in total we have almost $1.7 Trillion in student loan debt.

o   Appreciate help of Scott Bessent (Treasury).

·        As she’s firing herself, she would like President to be known as the Education. President because of the best practices systems that we want to put in every state to incorporate AI.

o   Training entrepreneurs and business leaders—we need infrastructure in place.

o   Elevate education so every student has access to excellent education.

 

Health & Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr  [59:40]

·        Over past 100 days we are already making America healthy again.

·        Last week we announced a ban on 9 petroleum based synthetic food dyes.

·        Within two months we’re going to ban the worst two of them.

·        Working with Secretary Rollins on dietary guidelines.

o   Biden administration gave us 453 pages of unreadable of the same politicized science that put Fruit Loops at the top of the food pyramid.

o   We’re using real science, gold standard science.

o   We have until this summer to do it—we have until December to do it, but we are working very fast to get it done by end of summer.

§  In time to drive dramatic changes in school lunch programs over the next school year.

·        Also working with Secretary Rollins on SNAP.

o   Take sodas and candy off the food stamp program; 10% of food stamps go to SNAP.

·        Thanks that President is both business friendly and willing to stand up to powerful businesses.

o   Soda industry person tried claiming SNAP wasn’t supposed to be about nutrition, when confronted with lack of nutrition in sodas. Response was “SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition.”

·        38% of our kids are diabetic or pre-diabetic.

o   We’ve been paying at both ends: for food-like substances that make them diabetic, and then for medical treatments.

o   We’re going bankrupt pay a trillion dollars a year for metabolic dysfunction.

·        In last two weeks have visited Arizona, Utah, West Virginia, and Indiana—all have applied for SNAP waivers—thanks to Brooke Rollins, they’ve applied.

·        Supplemental fluoride: Utah is first state to ban supplemental fluoride.

o   Yesterday Florida passed ban on supplemental fluoride.

o   Working with Governor DiSantis to help change federal fluoride regulations.

o   We’re looking at the science now.

§  In August the National Toxicity Program, an arm of NIH, did a meta review of all science on fluoride and found a direct inverse correlation between fluoride exposure and low IQ in children; the more you get, the stupider you are.

§  We need smart and healthy kids in this country; we’re going to get there.

·        We’re reviewing standards: we have 10,000 ingredients in our foods; Europeans only have 400 ingredients. These are chemicals we know nothing about.

o   We’re going to stop that process and make companies either get rid of them or label them.

·        We’ve launched Operation Stork Speed for infants, to ensure we have high-quality milk for children.

·        We have launched the autism study, at President’s direction.

o   By September we’ll have some of the first answers.

o   Within 6 months after that we should have definitive answer on autism.

o   We should also know about the etiology of a whole array of autoimmune diseases that are epidemic in our children.

·        We have ended HHS as the principal vector in this country for child trafficking and sex slavery.

o   During the Biden administration, HHS became a collaborator in child trafficking and sex slavery.

o   We have ended that and are very aggressively trying to find 300,000 children lost by the Biden administration.

·        We have ended funding to gender mutilation surgeries and other gender dysphoria practices.

·        Thanks to Elon Musk and DOGE, we have saved $67 Billion at our agency without compromising any critical programs.

·        100 busiest days of my life, and most exciting and rewarding. Next 100 days we’re going to do much more.

 

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum  [1:05:30]

·        President declared national energy emergency; this was essential because it signaled a 180-degree change from dangerous Biden administration policies.

o   Those policies were based on climate ideology.

o   They were the root cause of inflation in this country and wars abroad, and manufacturing disappearing from our country.

o   Without energy security, we can’t have national security.

·        Because of that declaration and dozens of executive orders, America is back in the energy business.

o   Signal has been sent around the world. Capital is flowing in; smart money is coming to this country.

·        You’ve given us a chance to win the AI arms race against China.

o   China, a formidable competitor, opened up 94 gigawatts of coal in the last year.

§  More than California and New York combined.

·        We’ve had past administrations (Biden) that were running away under this climate ideology; this President has embraced base load power in this country.

o   Stood in the East Room with the President, surrounded by coal miners, and President called it “Big Beautiful Coal.”

o   Coal resources just on public lands estimated at $8 Trillion; that was all going to be taken off the balance sheet by Biden; now we’re back in the business.

§  He was recently 1800 feet underground in an Alabama metallurgical coal mine—needed to produce steel; this would have been a mining operation shut down under Biden.

·        We’re doing leasing public lands appropriately and by law.

o   for oil & gas,

o   for timber with Brooke Rollins,

o   we’re leasing for grazing,

o   for critical minerals.

o   We’re bringing in revenue and jobs.

·        We’re treating our natural resources like the American balance sheet they are; America’s resources are the 700 million acres of surface that’s public, and 700 million of subsurface, and 2.5 billion offshore.

o   They contain all we need to have self-sufficient supply chains.

·        We’re focused deeply on critical minerals.

o   The Biden administration put us in a real predicament.

o   Of the top 20 critical and rare earth minerals we need for defense and industry, China’s controlling 86% of the refining for that.

o   So we are running at warp speed to put us back in business.

·        The border: 41% of the southern border is in the Department of the Interior.

o   We’ve got a few more percent with Brooke Rollins with timber and the forest service.

o   That has been a risk area. Biden wasn’t enforcing the border, and certainly not of public lands.

·        In 1907 Roosevelt created the Roosevelt Reservation, a 60-foot strip that goes from Texas to the Pacific Ocean, because he wanted to thwart smuggling.

o   We have human trafficking and fentanyl trafficking.

o   This mostly unused authority has been given to us to transfer.

o   So we are transferring authority to work with Kristi Noem and Pete Hegseth, so they can detain and assist with the military.

o   He can confirm that enthusiasm and morale at the border are 100% opposite of when he and Kristi went down to the border as governors.

o   People say please thank President Trump.

·        Last week we renamed a US wildlife refuge on the Pacific coast in honor of Jocelyn Nungare, who lost her life to illegal Venezuelan gang members.

o   Her mother, Alexis, and grandmother and great-grandmother were at the ceremony, and they say thank you.

o   We’re saying every 12-year-old child in America should be safe in their own communities.

·        Appreciate the President’s fearlessness to take on issues other presidents would not touch.

o   Streamlining and right-sizing government.

o   Taking on issues at the border.

o   Embracing the power we need to win the Ans (?? Possibly AI or arms) race.

o   All of us can sprint, because the President is running ahead.

 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio  [1:12:00]

·        First, this team. The President deserves credit for assembling this great team—talented individuals that work well together.

·        Second, action.

o   Past presidents would say we need to do something, and then would do a study, and a study on the study. By the time they got to it, it was too late, or somebody had forgotten it.

o   But in this administration it’s moving in the direction—because you know why you were elected.

o   The American people elected you.

o   He used to say things were measured in days and weeks; now they’re measured in hours and minutes.

·        Foreign policy:

o   This president inherited 30 years of foreign policy based on what was good for the world, global community.

o   This President is making policy based on what is good for America.

o   Rubio was appointed and confirmed to be the United States Department of State, not the Global Department of State.

·        Our foreign policy is guided by three things:

o   Does it make America stronger, safer, or richer?

o   If something doesn’t do one of those things, and hopefully all of those things, we’re not doing it.

·        DOGE has been consulting, helping us. We had been funding some crazy stuff.

o   Example: puppet shows in foreign countries—doesn’t make us stronger, safer, or more prosperous.

·        We have reorganized the Department of State.

o   We had offices within offices within offices that we didn’t know they existed themselves.

o   Reorganized in a way to empower our ambassadors and our regional bureaus—to do what they signed up to do.

§  We have a great team of ambassadors.

o   We had an office within the Department of State whose job it was to censor Americans.

§  At least one person at this table today had a dossier in that building.

§  Of social media posts that identified them as purveyors of disinformation.

§  We will turn these dossiers over to the individuals.

§  They did this against American citizens, when we know the best way to combat disinformation is with free speech and transparency.

§  We’re not going to have an office that does that.

·        We have told other countries, if you want good relations with the United States, you need to take back your people who are here illegally.

o   We’ve had historic cooperation.

o   We are unapologetically and actively searching for other countries—not just El Salvador—to take people from third countries, some of the most despicable people, as a favor the us.

§  A way to become safer, to get rid of perverts, pedophiles, child rapists, get them out of our country.

·        We have stopped giving student visas to people who are coming here to burn down universities, take over libraries, harass people, and create disruption.

o   And we’ve taken away the student visas of people come here to do that.

o   14 countries I’ve traveled to in 14 weeks tell me that’s what they would do too.

·        Good news: we’re going to have the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Club Cup, and then we’re going to have the Olympics.

o   We need a good Consular Affairs Bureau.

§  We have talented people, but will infuse technology, with help of our consultants (DOGE) to be able to grant millions of people coming to this country with improved customer service.

o   A year and a half ago we had a meltdown under Biden; you couldn’t get a passport.

§  In March we processed 2.78 million American passports—historic, largest month ever.

§  Good momentum to do this with visas.

·        Want to acknowledge Steve Woodcock—doing work he doesn’t have to do, leaving a good life in Miami, has no personal agenda.

·        Want to acknowledge Mr. Boulos as well for work on peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda; we hope this will lead to a lasting peace.

·        47 wrongfully detained Americans have been returned to the United States.

 

For anyone scrolling down this far, I will add that it has been my frequent prayer for some time that God will guide and direct good leaders to help make things right. I believe we see some good leaders in that room, around that table, worth praying for. And I believe they’re in the business of making things right in America, as our Constitution promises.