Some people in American politics say we are being affected by the growing impact of Christian nationalism.

In collaboration with the Brookings Institution, PRRI published a nationwide survey offering fresh and thorough assessments to gauge the percentage of Americans who either endorse or oppose Christian nationalist ideology.

The results follow for each of the 50 states, starting with the state with the LEAST support and ending with the state with the MOST support for Christian Nationalism.

#50 Oregon​

In Oregon, 62% of the population is Christian. 17% support Christian Nationalism, and among the white population, 22% are supporters.

#25 Iowa​

In Iowa, 82% of the population is Christian. 31% support Christian Nationalism, and among the white population, 33% are supporters.

#1 Mississippi​

In Mississippi, 85% of the population is Christian. 50% support Christian Nationalism, and among the white population, 52% are supporters.


Very surprised and disappointed that Iowa did not make the top 10.

We certainly can do better than #25 and work toward surpassing Mississippi as #1

Can you share personal experiences or stories from avid readers who eagerly anticipate each issue of Reader’s Digest? What measures does Reader’s Digest take to ensure seamless subscription services and address any delivery-related issues promptly? In what ways does Reader’s Digest engage with its audience and incorporate feedback to continually enhance its content offerings?

Smart guy.

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Elliot - do you have any idea who Iowa might be looking at in the portal?
Most portal QB's have been grabbed up, is this something where a current back up might see the opening at Iowa and decide now is time to go in the portal?

This article is mostly about the Gophers but illustrates the complete chaos of the NIL/transfer portal situation. I’m usually happy when other Big Ten teams lose their best players but now, with arguably our best player leaving, it feels closer to home. Teams are basically starting over every year. It’s ridiculous.

Gophers' losses mount: Pharrel Payne, Braeden Carrington, Isaiah Ihnen enter transfer portal​

The Gophers men's basketball team has seen three sophomores from Minnesota enter the transfer portal over two days.​

By Marcus Fuller Star Tribune
March 28, 2024 — 4:40pm

A surprise loss for Gophers men's basketball coach Ben Johnson came Thursday with sophomore big man Pharrel Payne officially entering the transfer portal. Within a few hours, sophomore Braeden Carrington and junior forward Isaiah Ihnen entered the portal, too.

Payne, a 6-9 Cottage Grove native, averaged 10 points, 6.1 rebounds and a team-best 1.4 blocks this season for the Gophers, who made a 10-win improvement in Johnson's third season.

Carrington, a 6-4 guard who was Minnesota Mr. Basketball at Park Center, took a break starting in December to address his mental health. He returned and averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds while playing a role as the team's top perimeter defender.

On Wednesday, Gophers sophomore forward Joshua Ola-Joseph was the first to enter the transfer portal. Ola-Joseph, Payne and Carrington were members of the U's 2022 recruiting class.

Ihnen, who missed two straight years with knee injuries, averaged 3.4 points in 11.1 minutes per game this season.

Progress this season for the Gophers wasn't enough to keep many of them invested in the program. Players talked to Johnson about their intent to transfer during meetings this week. The opportunity for more lucrative name, image and likeness opportunities was likely a factor in some of their decisions.

The Gophers (19-15) ended their season last Sunday with a 76-64 loss at Indiana State in the NIT second round. Payne finished with a team-best 16 points and eight rebounds in his last game. Carrington had two points in 25 minutes off the bench.

After the Big Ten tournament loss at Michigan State, Payne and Carrington both talked about their excitement over the Gophers' potential next season if most of the core players returned.

"I think it's important to keep the group together, so we can keep building on it," Payne told the Star Tribune at Target Center. "Imagine what we could do if we keep the group together for next year."

Carrington previously on the Gophers' potential: "I feel like if you keep us together, we're a top four team in the league. And we could possibly break into the top 25."

Starting point guard Elijah Hawkins said he would be back, but leading scorer Dawson Garcia and all-league freshman Cam Christie were among the players uncertain about their future. Since the end of the season, starting guard Mike Mitchell Jr.'s return is in limbo as well.

The Gophers are expected to have redshirt freshman Kadyn Betts back and possibly senior Parker Fox. But Payne's likely transfer leaves a big hole in the middle. The Gophers are hosting North Dakota State center Andrew Morgan on Thursday. They also add Alexandria high school senior Grayson Grove in the 2024 recruiting class.

The Big Ten had 10 of its 14 teams suffer losses to the transfer portal as of Thursday afternoon, including nine teams with at least three departures. Rutgers (6), Penn State (5), Michigan (4) and Nebraska (4) also had at least four players in the portal. Wisconsin's A.J. Storr, Iowa's Tony Perkins and Rutgers' Cliff Omoruyi were among the all-league players transferring.

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa -- A Little Sioux, Iowa, man is in custody on suspicion of beating another man to death in Harrison County.
Sebastin O'Brien, 22, was booked into the Harrison County Jail Sunday on a charge of first-degree murder. He's suspected of beating, kicking and hitting Douglas Manley with dresser drawers in Manley's rural Missouri Valley home.

According to court documents, O'Brien is suspected of crashing a pickup truck near Modale, Iowa, at approximately 4:30 p.m. Sunday. O'Brien was picked up by another man and driven to Modale, where the two got into a physical confrontation, which was reported to the Harrison County Sheriff's Office.




O’Brien
Provided by Harrison County Sheriff's Office

Deputies located O'Brien, who was intoxicated and combative and told them he had assaulted Manley, the pickup's owner. Deputies went to Manley's home and found blood smeared on the window of the front door, which appeared to have been forced open. Deputies entered the home and observed more blood and found Manley's body with blunt force facial and head injuries, court documents said.

​

During an interview with authorities, O'Brien said he and Manley had been living together in a camper near DeSoto Bend and had gone to Manley's house to move furniture. While moving the furniture, court documents said, the two got into a fight, and O'Brien said he punched, kicked and struck Manley with dresser drawers. He told investigators Manley had raped him earlier in the day and, in a call to his mother after his arrest, said Manley deserved to die because he had been molesting a female.
Manley's body was transported to the Iowa State Medical Examiner in Ankeny for an autopsy.
An investigation conducted by the sheriff's office, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Iowa State Patrol continues.

it will be interesting to see the turnout on sunny and cool spring day

outside of getting eyes on the new Aussie punter, not sure what else there is to check out

This is great for the American worker. Will help promote a better work environment. Non-disclosures will be way of protecting business.

Driving and dishing. Nailing 3's. Driving and pulling up for mid range jumpers. Easily beating defenders off the dribble. Impressive hops. My god, he even makes Mulvey look good.

Check this out & watch:

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In recent years, the short-term rental market, epitomized by platforms like Airbnb, has witnessed explosive growth, particularly in popular tourist destinations like South Florida. However, this seemingly lucrative trend is showing signs of a significant shift, with implications for both property investors and local communities.

According to real estate expert Michael Bordenaro, the availability of Airbnb listings in Broward County, Florida, surged by a staggering 71% between 2019 and 2023. Yet, despite the proliferation of listings, only 30% of them received bookings in the last 12 months.

This phenomenon points to a potential oversaturation of the short-term rental market, with implications for property owners and the broader housing market.

In response to the growing concerns surrounding short-term rentals, both the Florida Senate and House introduced bills aimed at empowering local governments to regulate these properties effectively. Senate Bill 280, for instance, proposes the establishment of vacation rental registration programs and the imposition of caps on maximum occupancy.

Such measures reflect a broader trend of municipalities seeking greater control over short-term rental activities to address community concerns, including noise disturbances and neighborhood disruption.

The oversaturation of the short-term rental market in South Florida raises questions about the sustainability of this investment model. Bordenaro suggests that the decline in revenues experienced by some Airbnb operators – up to 50% in oversaturated markets – reflects a broader economic reality.

Factors such as excessive supply, increased regulation, and changing consumer preferences contribute to the challenges faced by property investors in the short-term rental sector.

The proliferation of Airbnb listings has tangible implications for the broader housing market in South Florida. With thousands of properties removed from the rental and sale markets to accommodate short-term rentals, the availability of housing for long-term residents diminishes. This imbalance exacerbates housing shortages and drives up prices, posing challenges for individuals and families seeking affordable housing options in the region.

s regulatory scrutiny intensifies and market dynamics evolve, property investors must navigate a changing landscape characterized by increased oversight and shifting consumer preferences.

Adapting to these changes may involve diversifying investment strategies, exploring alternative rental models, or engaging in long-term rental markets to mitigate risks associated with short-term rentals.

People in the comments share their thoughts and experiences: “Short term rentals have gotten so expensive with their additional “fees” that actual hotels are a better deal.”

Another commenter agrees: “I started staying in Airbnbs because they were cheaper than a hotel. That’s no longer the case. With Airbnbs now rivaling (if not surpassing) hotel prices, I might as well pay for the predictability and convenience of a hotel chain.”

One person added: “I have large duplexes on the road behind me that had mostly gone Airbnb. Could always count on anything from reasonably loud music too all out loud parties from Thursday to Saturday. They’re not allowed in Oakland Park, Fl which is basically inside Ft Lauderdale. It was a $500 fine but they were charging $2500 for the weekend so $500 is nothing. This is per side. That place, along with most others are now for sale. Obnoxiously stupid price, but for sale. It’s so much nicer now.”
The rise and potential decline of Airbnb in South Florida underscore the complex interplay between economic trends, regulatory frameworks, and housing market dynamics.

While short-term rentals have offered opportunities for property investors and travelers alike, their proliferation has raised concerns about community impacts and housing affordability. Moving forward, stakeholders must collaborate to strike a balance between fostering economic growth, protecting community interests, and ensuring housing accessibility for all residents.

What are your thoughts? Is the proliferation of empty Airbnb listings indicative of a broader economic downturn in South Florida?

What impact will increased regulation of short-term rentals have on the local housing market and economy? Are Airbnb investors facing a rude awakening as oversaturation leads to plummeting revenues?

Still on the run in Portland.

Does Iowa try and make a run at him!

Long-time University of Iowa football radio analyst Ed Podolak is transitioning out of his role as color commentator.

“I have decided that this is a good time for me to step back from my role as color commentator for the Hawkeye football radio broadcasts,” Podolak said in a release. “I believe there is no greater honor than to be part of the Iowa Hawkeye Football team. I have loved watching these young men and coaches compete for the past 42 years. Sharing my perspective for the incredible Hawkeye fans from coast to coast has been a thrill.”

Podolak has been a part of nearly 500 Hawkeye football games as a radio analyst, spanning 42 seasons.


Podolak will take on a new role that consists of providing analysis during the pregame shows and on podcasts.

“I have said it often across 27 years that Ed Podolak is the best I've ever worked with in the broadcast booth,” said play by play voice Gary Dolphin in a release. “One of the game's great competitors, Ed's ability to explain plays was unparalleled. Football mentalities of all ages understood and enjoyed the humor each Saturday. I look forward to Eddie's continued involvement on game day."

Godspeed Deacon! A great Hawkeye! This seems like a fanbase portal entry.

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Now just need the QC to start a team so we can kick your ass in women's football.

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The Donald at is criminal trial. What the hell magats. DJT goining to fade away as fast as he showed.

Our longtime receptionist retired at the end of last year, and a new younger receptionist was hired. She is the daughter of someone who has been here for about 20 years. She has lately started burning incense at the front counter, and the CFO, and CIO, and HR all seem to be okay with it, but it stinks like my older brothers room when he'd smoke pot.

Bidens plans will destroy the American Auto Industry, throwing thousands into unemployment and as Trump said earlier last week it will result in a blood bath for the auto industry.

The Biden administration is expected this week to finalize highly anticipated regulations targeting gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions, considered the tip of the spear in its efforts to electrify the transportation sector.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is slated to issue the final rulemaking — which officials have boasted will incentivize greater adoption of electric vehicles (EV), but which opponents have criticized as a de facto mandate — as soon as Wednesday, industry sources told Fox News Digital. The regulations, a key part of President Biden's climate agenda, would ultimately force automakers to more rapidly expand electric options in their fleets beginning in a matter of years.

"It certainly won't do anything to improve human health. It won't do anything to reduce pollution," American Energy Institute president and CEO Jason Isaac, who has researched the EV market, told Fox News Digital in an interview. "We've proven in this country that we're already a world leader in clean air. All it's going to continue to do is push the costs of electric vehicles on to purchasers of internal combustion engine vehicles."

"This is purely being done for campaign reasons — to really appease the leftist large donor base that are the climate alarmists that are driving this movement towards really what is a forced energy transition, which is just increasing the cost of everything," Isaac added.
Overall, under the proposal, which EPA unveiled in April 2023 and will go into effect in 2027, the White House projected that 67% of new sedan, crossover, SUV and light truck purchases would be electric by 2032. In addition, up to 50% of bus and garbage truck, 35% of short-haul freight tractor and 25% of long-haul freight tractor purchases could also be electric by then.

The White House said the proposal, which represents the most aggressive proposal of its kind ever proposed, would "accelerate the clean vehicle transition" and reduce oil imports by 20 billion barrels. Biden and climate activists have taken aim at the transportation sector over its high emissions profile — it alone produces roughly 29% of America's greenhouse gas emissions, federal data shows.

"President Biden has been clear since 2020 that he intends to use his federal agencies, and the State of California, to eliminate sales of new gas cars," American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers president and CEO Chet Thompson, whose group has advocated against EPA's tailpipe regulations, told Fox News Digital in a written statement.

"While multiple administration policies push us toward this end, the EPA's passenger vehicle standards will do most of the damage on their own — requiring approximately 70% of new car sales to be electric in less than eight years," Thompson said. "This policy is bad for consumers, the economy and national security. It will sacrifice our hard-won U.S. energy strength for even greater dependence on China and the EV battery and mineral supply chain China controls."

He added that, for consumers, EPA's regulations will "feel like a ban" and vastly restrict both their access to, and ability to afford, new gas cars, trucks, SUVs and traditional hybrids. Thompson further warned the EPA doesn't include any "offramp" in its proposal in the event that U.S. charging and power infrastructure isn't ready for such a rapid electrification of cars.

According to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry group that represents major automakers, 9.3% of total car purchases in the U.S. last year were electric or plug-in hybrid, up from 7% in 2022. That uptick was driven largely by purchases in California and urban areas where the majority of EV purchases are made.

At the same time, EVs remain far more expensive than traditional gas-powered cars. Even factoring in generous federal and state subsidies, the average cost of an EV is about $52,500 while the average subcompact car costs $24,000.

In a memo crafted by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation late last week and reviewed by Fox News Digital, though, the group emphasized that loosening tailpipe emissions rules in the early years of the proposal would allow for companies to meet federal goals.

"Think of the upcoming rule like a six-year curve with higher electrification targets every year. Pay close attention to the administration’s EV adjustments in the earlier years. That’s the story," the group wrote.

The group also raised a number of questions related to how EPA will factor in plug-in hybrids, which it said consumers favor, but which EPA neglected to include in its April 2023 proposal. And it urged EPA to issue the regulations in coordination with other federal agencies, such as the Department of Energy and Department of Transportation, which are expected to finalize their own rules impacting the EV transition.

And EPA's regulations this week are likely to garner significant pushback from lawmakers who have already unleashed a number of efforts to curb the federal government's authority on the issue. In December, the House voted 221-197, with five Democrats joining 216 Republicans, to pass a resolution nixing the EPA's proposal, but that bill has yet to receive a Senate vote.


"President Biden has made his intentions clear," Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, recently told Fox News Digital. "He would rather force American families — who are already facing financial hardship under the weight of inflation spurred by trillions in wasteful government spending — to buy electric vehicles to advance his Green New Deal agenda than allow folks to choose the best car or truck for their families, businesses, and farms at an affordable price."

EPA didn't respond to a request for comment, but said in February that it is committed to finalizing a tailpipe standard that is "readily achievable, secures reductions in dangerous air and climate pollution and ensures economic benefits for families."

Is there a god?

By Michelle Goldberg
Opinion Columnist
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Should the blessed day ever arrive when Donald Trump is sent to federal prison, only one of his acolytes has earned the right to share his cell: George Santos, who on Friday became the sixth person in history to be expelled from the House of Representatives, more than seven months after he was first charged with crimes including fraud and money laundering. (He’s pleaded not guilty.) A clout-chasing con man obsessed with celebrity, driven into politics not by ideology but by vanity and the promise of proximity to rich marks, Santos is a pure product of Trump’s Republican Party. “At nearly every opportunity, he placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law and ethical principles,” said a House Ethics Committee report about Santos released last month. He’s a true child of the MAGA movement.
That movement is multifaceted, and different politicians represent different strains: There’s the dour, conspiracy-poisoned suburban grievance of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the gun-loving rural evangelicalism of Lauren Boebert, the overt white nationalism of Paul Gosar and the frat boy sleaze of Matt Gaetz. But no one embodies Trump’s fame-obsessed sociopathic emptiness like Santos. He’s heir to Trump’s sybaritic nihilism, high-kitsch absurdity and impregnable brazenness.
Other politicians embody the sinister, cruel and disgusting aspects of Trumpism. Santos incarnates its venal and ridiculous side, the part rooted in reality TV and get-rich-quick schemes. As Mark Chiusano reports in his excellently timed new book about Santos, “The Fabulist,” if the now ex-congressman showed much interest in politics before 2016, we don’t have a record of it; his heroes were pop divas like Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga and the “Real Housewives” star Bethenny Frankel. “But by 2016,” writes Chiusano, “he had found a new role model who brought celebrity glitz and gossip to civics: Donald Trump.”
Perhaps the reason a critical mass of Republicans finally jettisoned Santos is that he was too embarrassing a reflection of the values of the party’s de facto leader. That’s certainly why I, for one, am going to miss him. A gay man and, reportedly, a former drag queen in a party consumed by homophobia and a pseudopopulist accused of bilking his campaign donors to pay for Botox, Hermès shopping trips and the adult entertainment website OnlyFans, Santos distilled the Trump movement’s lurid hypocrisy to great comic effect. In a world overflowing with tragedy, he’s a farce.
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It’s not just his grift and vanity that made Santos such a perfect avatar of the MAGA ethos. Even more significant was the defiance he showed as his flagrant wrongdoing was revealed and the way that defiance endeared him to some of Trump’s most avid supporters. In December 2022, after Santos was elected but before he took office, The New York Times reported that he’d lied about his education, purported career in finance, family wealth and charitable endeavors and that he’d been charged in Brazil with using stolen checks. Santos’s response was, as Chiusano writes, to “post through it,” making a great show of shamelessness both online and in real life.

Much of the MAGAverse loved it. Greene became a loyal friend. As New York magazine’s Shawn McCreesh reported in March, at a Manhattan birthday party for the Breitbart editor Emma-Jo Morris, Santos was “the ‘It’ girl. His wrists are bedizened with bling from Hermès and Cartier, and fawning fans line up for selfies.” A month later, The Intercept’s Daniel Boguslaw described Santos being feted at a bar in Washington: “A milieu of young conservatives, operatives and House staffers were assembling to howl in the next-gen model of Donald Trump’s societal wrecking ball, and the name on everybody’s lips was George Santos.” A hard-core MAGA group called Washington, D.C. Young Republicans posted about Santos’s “inspirational remarks” at that event, including his insistence that his enemies will have to “drag my cold, dead body” out of Congress. Gosar chimed in with an admiring response: “Based.”
Adam Serwer famously wrote that, when it comes to Trump, “the cruelty is the point,” but maybe the criminality is as well. Rule breaking is key to Trump’s transgressive appeal; it situates him as above the strictures that govern lesser men while creating a permission structure for his followers to release their own inhibitions. That’s a big part of the reason his multiple indictments appeared to only solidify his Republican support. Sure, some of his backers probably identified with his epic persecution complex, but that alone doesn’t explain the worshipful enthusiasm among some of his fans for his mug shot. (“He looks hard,” gushed the Fox News host Jesse Watters.) Rather, many people on the right thrill to displays of impunity from people who share their politics. In the late 1960s and 1970s, the left-wing counterculture lionized outlaws like the Hells Angels for their rebellion against a hated establishment. Today, as Santos’s rise to iconic status demonstrates, a similar antinomianism has taken hold among alienated conservatives.
Of course, the devotion of part of the right-wing demimonde was not, in the end, enough to save Santos. More than half of the House Republican caucus, and most of its leaders, stood by the disgraced swindler, and Greene called his expulsion “shameful,” but unlike Trump, Santos never amassed nearly enough power to force Republican institutionalists to swallow their disgust with him. Besides, as the Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett — who voted against expulsion — said of voters in his district, “People don’t like the fact he’s gay.”

​

While he may not be a congressman anymore, Santos has said he’s not done with public life. At a news conference on Thursday morning, he said he plans to be involved in the 2024 presidential race: “I won’t rest until I see Donald Trump back in the White House.” Hopefully, he’ll pop up on the campaign trail before his trial begins next September. No one deserves to be a Trump surrogate more.

It seems like it's birthday season. I know so many birthdays this week.

My birthday is on Wednesday.

I'll be 41 years old.

In Australia they are trying to censor video of a Muslim teen stabbing an Iraqi emigre bishop (in Australia).

X has censored the video for Australian IPs, but the Australian government is demanding that it be censored entirely across the globe.

Is this bonkers, or just the next step?