British police release details on suspects after ‘shocking’ train attack, update on victims
Multiple patients remain in life-threatening condition after a stabbing spree on a train in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire left 11 people wounded Saturday.
The poisoned stream of culture is flowing through our churches
On most days, the creek that runs behind our home in Montana looks like something out of a painting. The water tumbles over slick stones, swirls beneath the wooden bridge, and flashes like glass in the sunlight as it winds through the trees.
On hot afternoons, I take off my boots and stand in it awhile, letting the cold mountain water swirl around my feet. Even in August, it stays clear and shockingly cold — refreshing on hot, dusty feet. It looks so pure and inviting that you’d think you could cup your hands and drink from it.
The world’s water might soothe for a moment, but it can’t sustain. Only Christ, the living water, can cleanse, restore, and refresh a parched heart.
Yet I know better.
While helping a rancher move some cattle across the property, a few of them wandered down into that same creek. They lingered there, swishing tails and doing what cows do. The water still looked clear from a distance, but you certainly wouldn’t drink from it. Even a Supreme Court justice wouldn’t need a biologist to figure that out.
The water in that creek started high in the mountains, clean and cold. It was once pure, but animals do what animals do. People, though, take it further. We pollute on purpose. That’s not instinct; that’s sin.
We talk about free will, and we have it. But left to ourselves, we use it to wreck what was good. The culture isn’t just wandering into the water; it’s content to poison it, and sinners seem to care less about a polluted stream than cows do.
Downstream from belief
We’ve all heard that politics flows downstream from culture. But if you trace that current far enough, you’ll find that culture flows downstream from belief. Whatever people worship, they eventually legislate into law.
Today, we have ceased worshipping God. Instead, we bow before slogans, systems, and grievances that mollify us rather than giving worship to the one to whom it is due. From a distance, it all looks good — flowing with energy, language, and even a sense of virtue. But somewhere upstream, something has wandered into the water — or been poured into it.
Too often, the church is wading downstream, cup in hand, trying to stay “relevant” while drinking what has already been polluted. The poison is sin itself, the moral waste of self-worship that seeps in until it becomes part of the current.
When the church starts drinking downstream, the songs continue, the sermons sound familiar, and the branding shines. But the taste changes. Conviction weakens, holiness becomes optional, and relevance becomes everything. We echo the world’s vocabulary of identity and justice without the foundation of repentance and redemption. The message gets muddied, and we don’t even notice the shift.
And when that happens, the thirstiest suffer first. Those are the ones who come to church desperate for something real.
What really sticks
I’ve spent 40 years as a caregiver, and I’ve learned what real thirst feels like. When you’ve poured yourself out for years, almost any water looks good. You pray for strength, for truth, for something steady, and too often what comes back sounds like marketing. You sit in church and hear, “Claim your victory,” “Speak life,” or, “Step into your blessing,” and you wonder if anyone sees the wreckage you live with. Then, from another pulpit, you hear, “God understands,” “It’s not that bad,” or, “Everyone struggles.”
It sounds compassionate, but it isn’t. It’s corrosion.
The first slick of contamination began with the serpent questioning the Word of God, and all too many pulpits echo that same hiss today. They downplay sin, soften the edges, and serve up messages that keep people comfortable yet captive. They offer sympathy instead of repentance. That’s not grace; that’s decay.
Ornate and large pulpits don’t necessarily mean clean water. Visibility isn’t the same as vision. The purity of the message isn’t measured by the size of the platform of the one delivering it but by how faithfully it points upstream to Christ Himself.
Truth, the real kind, usually starts with one hard word: repent. It’s upstream, and it’s not easy to get there. But that’s where the water runs clean. Downstream, you’ll only find a little contamination, a little compromise, a little manure, and just enough to make you sick.
RELATED: Scripture or slogans — you have to choose
freedom007 via iStock/Getty Images
I’ve tested the various platitudes and slogans in the emergency room, ICU, and dark watches of the night more times than I can count. None of them hold up.
Here’s what does.
Only one water stays pure no matter who steps in it. It’s the same water that met a Samaritan woman at a well. It’s the same water Isaiah promised when he wrote, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” That’s the invitation — not just to the church, but to every soul that’s dry and staggering: Walk upstream.
Go upstream
When we drink deeply from that pure spring, holiness stops feeling like a burden and starts feeling like oxygen. It gives clarity instead of confusion, courage instead of compromise.
That’s the call to the church and to every weary heart. Don’t drink what the world has trampled. Don’t settle for water that only looks clean from a distance. Polluted streams can’t quench the thirst of thirsty people.
The world’s water might soothe for a moment, even cool our weary feet, but it can’t sustain us. Only Christ, the living water, can cleanse, restore, and refresh a parched heart.
So go upstream. The source is still pure, and it’s still flowing.
The Last Time New York Hit Rock Bottom
Jonathan Mahler’s first book, the 2005 Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning, was a work of historical journalism that re-created the summer and fall of 1977. Mahler interweaved the story of the New York Yankees World Series-winning season with the chaotic events in the city that year, including the Son of Sam murders, the massive city-wide blackout that summer, and the free-for-all mayoral election that featured Ed Koch, Mario Cuomo, and Bella Abzug.
The post The Last Time New York Hit Rock Bottom appeared first on .
A Book So Bad It Shattered Liberals’ Faith in DEI
Karine Jean-Pierre can’t stop making history. Earlier this year, the former White House press secretary became the highest-ranking openly queer, French-born black woman with a hyphenated surname to publicly renounce the Democratic Party for being mean to Joe Biden. She is the only black female lesbian immigrant to publish a book about her time in the Biden administration. It is the worst political memoir ever written in the history of the English language.
The post A Book So Bad It Shattered Liberals’ Faith in DEI appeared first on .
Mark Levin reveals the leader he says could save Britain
Leftist policies have gutted Europe, with the U.K. and France serving as prime examples — once proud bastions of Western civilization, now barely recognizable as native cultures are systematically eroded under the guise of unchecked mass migration. Free speech is a relic of the past, crushed by tyrannical censors. Sky-high taxes strangle the working man, and suffocating bureaucratic overreach is the hallmark of these failing socialist regimes.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer sits at the helm of Britain’s descent into its dystopian nightmare.
“This is the guy that allowed these gang rapes by Pakistani immigrants of English girls that went on for years,” Mark Levin says, adding that under Starmer, “Crime is through the roof and mostly committed by recent immigrants” who are valued above natives.
England is a picture of what the United States was hurtling toward under Democratic rule. If Donald Trump hadn’t pulled our nation back from the cliff, Levin predicts we would’ve seen “the end” of America.
England needs its own Donald Trump now — a party that can effectively fight tyranny. Levin believes the Tories — the Conservative and Unionist Party — are the answer to Britain’s woes.
The party’s leader, Kemi Badenoch, is a woman Levin deeply respects and admires — a “superstar,” he calls her.
“She is brilliant. She is courageous. She is trying to defend Western culture and principles in Britain — the home of Western culture and principles,” he says.
He then plays a clip from Badenoch’s fiery parliamentary takedown of Keir Starmer’s weak-kneed Israel policy during a Middle East debate on October 14, during which she lambasted Labour’s appeasement of Hamas and vowed unyielding Tory solidarity with Israel’s fight against Islamist terror.
“The response from some in the West — the equivocation, the indulgence in whataboutery, and the drawing of false equivalence — shows how far moral clarity has eroded. And we have got a job to do here at home, Mr. Speaker, to fix this,” she fired.
She went on to praise President Trump for masterminding the Gaza ceasefire and condemned Starmer and his spineless Labour cronies for “rewarding terrorism” by recognizing Palestine sans hostage releases, for making “the wrong decisions time and again” that gutted Britain’s Middle East clout, and for their mealy-mouthed weakness that only emboldens Hamas butchers.
“She is fantastic,” Levin says.
“I hope she becomes prime minister,” he adds.
To hear more of his analysis, watch the clip above.
Want more from Mark Levin?
To enjoy more of “the Great One” — Mark Levin as you’ve never seen him before — subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Global chip dispute threatens auto production again!
The auto industry just can’t seem to get a break.
Just a few years out from COVID-era supply chain issues, a new computer chip shortage looms — and it’s threatening manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Germany’s auto industry lobbying group VDA warns that carmakers are days away from having to shut down production — with the crisis possibly spreading beyond Europe to the U.S. within weeks.
Automakers cannot simply switch suppliers overnight; qualifying new chips and redesigning vehicle modules take months.
Here’s the issue: A Dutch chip maker called Nexperia got bought out by a Chinese company called Wingtech. The Trump administration then warned the Dutch that the Chinese were planning to move technology and production out of the Netherlands to China, so the Dutch government seized control of the company in September. China retaliated by prohibiting exports of Nexperia components that are made in China.
Voila: a brand new chip shortage.
Going Dutch
Nexperia may not produce the most advanced semiconductors, but it’s an essential, high-volume provider of automotive chips that control electronic systems in modern vehicles. Without them, automakers cannot assemble cars efficiently.
On September 30, the Dutch government invoked emergency powers to take control of Nexperia, citing concerns about technology transfer to the company’s Chinese parent, Wingtech. This action followed months of U.S. pressure, including adding Wingtech to the U.S. Entity List (thus requiring a special license for an American company wanting to trade with it) and extending export control restrictions to subsidiaries owned at least 50% by China.
Dutch officials described the intervention as a defensive step to protect European technological assets and maintain supply-chain security. While day-to-day operations have been left to the Chinese owners, strategic decisions now fall under government oversight.
China calls
On October 4, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued export controls prohibiting Nexperia China and its subcontractors from exporting certain finished components and sub-assemblies. Automakers immediately expressed concern.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association warned that production could be significantly disrupted. In the U.S., the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing nearly all major automakers including General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Hyundai, urged a quick resolution.
“If the shipment of automotive chips doesn’t resume — quickly — it’s going to disrupt auto production in the U.S. and many other countries and have a spillover effect in other industries,” said CEO John Bozzella.
Supply-chain sequel
Modern vehicles rely heavily on electronics. Even models without luxury infotainment systems use Nexperia chips for electronic control units, powertrain management, safety systems, and more.
The disruption illustrates the fragility of the global supply chain. Automakers cannot simply switch suppliers overnight; qualifying new chips and redesigning vehicle modules take months. Even a small interruption can cascade, causing production delays, increased costs, or halted assembly lines.
Volkswagen and BMW reported that European production has not yet been impacted but said they were actively evaluating supply risks. In the U.S., exposure grows daily as plants rely on components sourced through European operations or shared supplier networks. Japan and other countries are already preparing for the negative impact.
Chips are down
The disruption could lead to short-term production slowdowns, with car plants in Europe, Japan, Korea, and potentially the U.S. reducing shifts, delaying vehicle launches, or postponing deliveries.
The need to find alternative suppliers, expedite shipping, or re-engineer components will increase costs, potentially raising vehicle prices for consumers.
Automakers are also likely to accelerate supply-chain restructuring, diversifying suppliers, resourcing production domestically, or redesigning vehicles to rely less on single-source components. If chip availability remains constrained, vehicles may arrive with fewer options or higher prices, impacting both buyers and dealers. This will not help a hurting industry.
Slow learners?
The Nexperia dispute highlights a growing reality: Automakers are navigating a geopolitical minefield. Governments increasingly treat technology and component supply as strategic assets, and decisions made halfway across the world can ripple through production lines almost instantly. It seems like the last chip shortage didn’t teach too many lessons.
Automakers must now consider geopolitical risk in procurement decisions, diversify suppliers, and maintain contingency stock. For consumers, vehicle availability, pricing, and features can be affected by forces far beyond local dealerships. Just like the last chip shortage, dealers raised prices to offset lack of supply and high demand.
In a world where electronics are as essential to cars as engines, supply-chain resilience is no longer optional — it’s critical. The Nexperia dispute is a warning sign, and for the auto industry, the stakes could not be higher.
Signal No.1 up in 9 areas as Tino intensifies into severe tropical storm
Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 1 was hoisted over nine areas Tropical Storm Tino intensified into a severe tropical tropical storm on Sunday afternoon, the state weather bureau PAGASA said.
UAAP: FEU snaps Adamson win streak in OT thriller
Far Eastern University bounced back at the expense of streaking Adamson University, pulling off a 73-70 overtime victory in the UAAP Season 88 men”s basketball tournament.
PH banks tokenizing cards to integrate with Apple Pay, Google Pay
Philippine banks are working to tokenize their cards, a key step toward integrating with technology service providers Apple Pay and Google Pay, a top official of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said.
Ahtisa Manalo receives warm welcome in Thailand as she begins Miss Universe journey
Ahtisa Manalo is now in Thailand for Miss Universe 2025 and she received a warm welcome from pageant fans.
