America’s Decadent Government Plutocrats
Government waste worse than you thought: DOGE has been exposing ludicrous levels of federal bloat and corruption. See Andrew Miiller’s report below about how it is sinking America deeper and deeper underwater. Add this Daily Wire deep dive into the mix for a jaw-dropping peek into one of seven small federal agencies that President Trump ordered downsized or eliminated last Friday. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is supposed to help the economy by resolving disputes that threaten the free flow of commerce. In reality, it “seemed, quite clearly, to exist for the benefit of those on its payroll, and not much else.”
It is worse than your worst expectations. The Daily Wire called the department “a real-life caricature of all the excesses that the Department of Government Efficiency has alleged take place in government.” One top official went on an all-expenses paid “business” trip to Italy and Switzerland, where she conducted a business meeting—over video chat. Another “used a ‘recreation and reception fund’ to order champagne and $200 coasters for his office, and to purchase artwork painted by his wife.” Like decadent monarchs in a crumbling empire, officials adorned their halls with self-commissioned portraits, squandered public funds on endless indulgences, and offered lavish positions to unqualified friends and family.
Forget about being shut down—some of these people need to be in jail for embezzlement. Such revelations are maddening and embarrassing. DOGE is only scratching the surface, but everywhere it scratches, this is the kind of rot it finds. This, and the resistance it is encountering to its efforts, are signs of a “sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity,” as the Prophet Isaiah put it: “the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores.”
Trump to abolish the Department of Education: On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump complained that despite spending more per student than any nation in the world, America’s education system is a basement dweller in student performance. Not only is the DOE not doing its job, he said, it is full of “radicals, zealots and Marxists.”
This afternoon, the president plans to sign an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to take “all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the states.” Of course, abolishing a government department requires congressional approval. But this executive order will ensure that McMahon is working to ensure the department is ready for dissolution as soon as Congress gives the green light.
Axing the DOE will save the federal government $238 billion a year and ensure that states can decide for themselves whether or not to include radical gender ideology in their curriculum.
Germany reopens embassy in Syria today: The Bible’s prophecy of Syria aligning with Germany continues to advance. Germany closed its embassy in Damascus in 2012 because of the escalating civil war. Now, with Bashar Assad out and a Sunni government in power, Germany is working to add Syria to its growing list of emerging allies in the Middle East. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock oversaw the resumption of operations during a visit to Syria. A small diplomatic team is now stationed in Damascus to support Syria’s political transition and to monitor stability. Thus Germany aims to help shape Syria’s future. This is an extraordinary move given the extremist past and current leanings of this new government. Germany’s eagerness to ally with these extremists should be a warning to the world and to Israel in particular about Germany’s dangerous ambitions.
Another example of Germany’s willingness to overlook oppression and injustice perpetrated by a nominal ally involves Turkey:
Erdoğan arrests his main competitor: Yesterday, Turkish authorities detained Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, just days before he was to be nominated as presidential candidate for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). It sparked widespread protests in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities for what many see as a politically motivated crackdown to silence dissent. The CHP denounced the arrest as a “coup against our next president,” an attempt by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to eliminate a formidable threat before the 2028 presidential election.
Increasing authoritarianism has defined much of Erdoğan’s 22-year rule over Turkey. Since coming to power in 2003, Erdoğan has consolidated his control by eroding democratic institutions; expanding executive powers; jailing journalists, academics and political opponents, often on vague terrorism charges; and targeting the judiciary by arresting judges and prosecutors to ensure loyalty.
Yet Turkey is also part of the prophesied alliance that includes Germany and Syria. Thus it should come as no surprise that, despite increasingly egregious conduct from this NATO member, Germany continues to nurture the relationship.
Britain blocked from EU defense fund: Europe’s plan to loan EU member states up to €150 billion for military spending won’t benefit Britain. French leaders, including President Emmanuel Macron, have pushed for a “Buy European” approach, insisting that the money fund EU-based defense companies, not British weapons. Yesterday France blocked British defense companies from accessing the new defense fund.
Under Keir Starmer, the UK has been trying to cozy up to its European lovers, siding with them against America. How does France respond? By excluding Britain from its plans to strengthen the Continent. France will allow the funds to be spent on British-made weapons only if Britain signs a security pact with the EU. And it will only approve that if the UK gives French fishermen greater access to British waters.
It is a reminder of Herbert W. Armstrong’s warning to Britain, decades ago, that joining up with Europe would create serious long-term problems. Even after Brexit nearly a decade ago, those problems persist, yet foolish British leaders keep trying to make the relationship work.
An astonishing sweep of the celestial expanse: The Euclid Space Telescope released its first data batch yesterday. From just a week of observations, the European Space Agency’s telescope revealed 26 million galaxies across three deep fields covering 63 square degrees of sky—“equivalent to the area of over 300 times the full moon.” Still, this is less than 0.5 percent of Euclid’s planned six-year survey.
The James Webb Space Telescope enables us to zoom in deeply on one thing in space at a time. Euclid does the opposite, creating a broad view of the universe. It aims to create a 3-D map of one third of the sky, charting the locations of 1.5 billion galaxies and revealing large-scale galactic formations. Every time science has explored such a view, we’ve found everything far more organized and structured than expected.
The hope is that by charting the location and motion of these galaxies, we can better understand the forces that affect the motion of galaxies, especially dark matter and dark energy. There appears to be something holding galaxies together more tightly than merely the gravity of the stars—called “dark matter.” At the same time, there seems to be something pushing galaxies apart—“dark energy.” JWST data is raising major questions about dark matter, and it is increasingly clear that scientists don’t have a good picture of what is going on.
This project is capturing a dazzling cascade of celestial wonders from the depths of the universe. Here is a video of the findings. Here are some deep field images that you can zoom into for ages.
Scientists want to understand how galaxies “evolved” by random chance. Of course we can expect them to be surprised once again as the reality doesn’t conform to their models. The heavens declare the glory of God, and He is giving us this spectacular view to help us set our mind on our awesome universe potential.
