#I thought about lca for 3 seconds

[nightshadowhawk]

The usual

[holyathome]

LIVING...Doing All God Wants You to Do

part 2 of 2: A Girl Named BEXTER05

In the last entry, I shared about how God took me through a metamorphosis and I received a "name change" to Bexter05 with a new perspective on being all God wants me to be. In part two, I'll be sharing about doing all God wants me to do! And, at the end, you'll be able to see where your kids can be on their journey, as well.

After being dubbed with a new name, and prior to leaving my time in Colorado, I had a meeting with one of my professors, Roc Bottomly. Now, prior to this, I'd never had an experience where someone prayed over me and had a prophetic vision...and what happened next set me on the course to do "All God wants me to do"! When I walked into his office, I had a plan of what I wanted to do - stay in Colorado and continue writing for the childrens' magazine where I was interning. When I left his office...that plan was off the table.

When Roc finished praying with me, he pulled out a sheet of paper and drew gazelles leaping (personally, it made no sense to me...). He went on to explain that he sensed that God wanted me to go back home, because He had a mission for me there, which would lead to the next thing and the next thing and through it all I would find Joy in the missions. I was a bit perplexed, but decided to be obedient. And what happened next placed me on a trajectory I'd never dreamed, but one that would place me on a journey to do "All God wants me to do"; definitely nowhere near where I'd envisioned!

1.) I went home as Bexter05...suddenly feeling a nudge to go deeper with my faith and faith education...

2.) Shortly thereafter, I received a call to be the communications coordinator for a stewardship project at my home church - a season during which I found much joy...

3.) Was accepted to Asbury Theological Seminary following the nudge to go deeper...another season of much joy...

4.) This led to the opportunity for my first cross-cultural mission trip to Costa Rica...another season of much joy...

5.) That trip led me to the desire to go on another cross-cultural mission to Kenya (to which I traveled 13 times)...another season of much joy...I might add that I always said I never wanted to go to Africa, yet that was prior to me doing all God wants me to do!

6.) I felt God leading me to stick around at the Seminary for a second Masters in Christian Education (I also said I didn't want to do Christian Education, because I wanted to do something different than my parents...God had another plan)...and again, a season of great joy...

7.) And, God opened the door for me to be the Chaplain at LCA (I always thought I'd work with adults, not children...God again had another plan!)...and this season of JOY continues each day!

8.) God is still revealing new things to me, but that's a story for another day. :)

The thing I've learned is, no matter what I envision for my life...God's ideas of what He wants me to do are often things that have brought me much more joy than what I planned - just like Roc's vision of the leaping gazelles.

And...bonus - God even took me to the land of leaping gazelles (not once, but 13 times!) - I'd take that as confirmation that His trajectory for my life is one filled with Joy as I continue to serve Him!

My friend Ellen (at the time my professor) and me along with a gazelle we saw (how cool is God?) on our safari day.

For this entry, you can see the progression of what you can help your kids come to understand about LIVING to DO ALL GOD WANTS THEM TO DO - see Chart below for your child's age grouping.

AGES 0-4:

God wants you to go to church

God wants you to obey your parents

God wants you to learn to share your things with others

AGES 5-6:

God wants you to spend time with other Christians

God wants you to help others and be kind to them

God wants you to share and take good care of everything He gives you

God wants you to learn His Story and begin to memorize it, hold it in your heart, and live it

AGES 7-9:

God wants you to build relationships are special and important

God wants you to learn about Him and encourage other people to follow Jesus

God wants you to begin to understand and exhibit making right and wrong choices

God wants you to share your faith

AGES 10-12:

God wants you to commit your life to Him

God wants you to choose His way because you love Him and want to be like Jesus

God wants you to learn to follow the Holy Spirit's leading

God wants you to be a part of a church community and find your place in the body of Christ

God wants you to talk to Him

God has a plan and purpose for you to do want He's created you to do

#holyathome #lcafamilydiscipleship #lca2324 #chefsprinklesatwork

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Bullet points adapted from Teaching Kids About God by John Trent, Rick Osborne, & Kurt Bruner Disclaimer: These are my reflections and not necessarily meant to express the views of Lexington Christian Academy.

[starrysupercell]

Imagine not moving to main because of seeing something and immediately thinking of a ship. Bingo thing, LCA (or Nelle or Scene stealers) <3 and if ya wanna get really out of context, then bad timeline duo >:3 I'm not asking for the wives, but Para too *wink*

THE BIG ONES RIGHT OFF THE BAT HUH XD

Bad Timeline Coworkers bad timeline coworkers bad timeline cowo--

No context for anyone but us XD I think about them so much though.......... (pretend I marked the *clenches fist* box too thanks) because there's so much symbolism with them it hurts.

Since original/canon Coworkers are designed so well in regards to each other, CW!Colette and GL!Edgar are just 👌👌👌👌👌 fhsids so perfect.

They help each other so much and trauma dump but skfjdjwr Bestie, they commit crimes.

I want the world for them but also they need to chill /pos /lh 🖤💝

LCA! 🎬📸💰

Nani: Red

Lola: Green

Belle: the other one

They became a thing because of ME, except I haven't properly discussed them in public (tumblr) just on discord. XD

Fluff is for Nelle because they're soft, and of COURSE Scene Stealers/Belladonna make each other worse.

NANI deserves better :( but its okay because I'll just have to write things for her.

The rivals one is that AU 👁

The angst one is that other AU >:) (the superhero one, but she no spoilers)

I'll be honest and say Nani and Lola need some time to develop their side of the relationship. But imo it's also cute <3 because on their own, Lola would defintely be "oh! She's cute!" And try to win her favor. Nani... isn't really impressed at first because of her attitude. It'd probably be a sweet, slow burn.

Para the beloved wives 💕

Idk why other people started shipping them but I remember I watched the brawl stars animations, and in Mortis' Mortuary, Tara was dancing, and in Barley's Last Call, Piper was dancing and I thought "What if they danced..... together? 😳" and it's all uphill from there.

Anyway, I'm glad that Tiper is popular but I think Para is a better ship name because it sounds cuter. <3 in before my second account name lore shhhh

Their aesthetics are great somehow?? Like okay one, they have matching colored outfits. And then we have Misfortune Tara who just 👀👀 with a Baker old timey gal???

A Princess and her Mystical girlfriend??? I feel like I'm not explaining myself right but I'm just looking at them, tbh. 💜💙

[vedj-f-bekuesu]

2019 in Retrospect

2019 has been fairly quiet, so I decided to start off this year by looking back on it. I’ll be dividing it by main fandoms/characters/ships because this year there were actually some new ones. That hasn’t been the case since, like, 2013. 

Sonic the Hedgehog

It was an...alright year for Sonic. TSR was fine but too light on content, Mario and Sonic Tokyo felt like a step down from Mario and Sonic Rio but was still alright, and I have not played SEGA Heroes (and haven’t bothered with the Chao in Space short). Lowest spot for me was the IDW comic; the Zombot arc has had one interesting story so far, but the rest has had either bad writing (primarily aimed at Shadow’s turn) or it’s just been wallowing in its bleakness in a way even Shadow the Game didn’t. Then again, I find zombie stories uninteresting to begin with, so no duh I’m not interested in a Sonic take on it. 

Chaotix kind of mirror that. Vector’s managed to get a good showing in, batting 3 for 3 on the game front, and having a key role in two of them. And like I said before, the Chaotix have genuinely had the most interesting stories within the Zombot arc, although with Vector and Charmy turned this may become more limited. Speaking of though, Espio and Charmy have had weaker presences. Espio managed to get into all three games in some form but to a lesser extent (one just by name), and Charmy was really left behind. 

As for Vecpio, it’s been pretty bare for canon material stuff. Espio got mentioned in TSR as contributing the report that reveals Dodon Pa’s true role (with him and Vector being the key to making everyone shut up about him being suspicious, proving they’re best as a team). And Mario and Sonic Tokyo has something if you headcanon some stuff; when Vector talks about the medals, Espio is the first person you’re directed to. Nothing is said by Vector about Espio in text, but you can implicate that Espio was chosen first because of his strong link to Vector, being the first one Vector would trust to compete at a gold level. Other than that? Dry. And with no announcements for Sonic games in 2020, this may just continue. 

Crash Bandicoot

On the reverse side, we have Crash Bandicoot having a really strong year. CTR:NF came out (which is a remake of my favourite Crash game) and has been doing gangbusters. On top of this, it has been going out of its way to revive pretty much every dead character in the franchise, to the point that we have RIlla Roo back in the fold (something I genuinely didn’t think would happen 19 years beforehand). 

Skipping straight to the shipping for this, I wouldn’t have imagined it for Crash ever, but there’s actually some in-game material for me to latch onto for DingodileXKomodo Joe! Dingodile has been pushed into a more jovial character since N-Sane Trilogy, being even more doubled down on in CTR:NF. However, for the past 20 years Komodo Joe has managed to avoid being given traits closer to Espio. This game finally catches up to him, and does it hard. Seriously, his character took a hard turn for the stoic badass Espio did after Heroes, and when did Joe ever use Martial Arts magic ever? Aside from making that dynamic naturally more matching, Slide Coliseum joins in the fun with the visual upgrade. It has holographic projections of a trophy girl repping a couple of racers dancing each, and guess who the devs felt could be paired up for how they go together rhythmically? That’s right, my reptile boys. Man. 

Super Mario Bros

What a weak year for Mario for me. What Mario got for new games this year were Luigi’s Mansion 3 (which I’ve not played), Mario Maker 2 (which isn’t new story content and doesn’t interest me in the slightest), Yoshi’s Crafted World (which I forgot was a thing) and Mario Kart Tour/Dr Mario World (which...um). 

Because of this set-up, Bowser hardly got anything to do so he’s really been on the backburner. Considering how he’s been pushed in the rest of the decade that’s saying something. In fact, the most character stuff he got was in Mario and Sonic Tokyo, and even that was mostly just alright (I think Bowser Jr got the best deal out of that).

Spyro the Dragon

Spyro was alright, but this one’s more understandable. With 2018 being the big year for Spyro’s return, 2019 was a rest for the little guy. That being said it wasn’t completely quiet; Spyro Reignited Trilogy finally got its port on the Switch, and to tie in with that Spyro got an appearance in CTR:NF. 

Because of the latter point, Gnasty Gnorc got a surprisingly strong year. Not only having more people learn about his glow-up in SRT, but bringing over that petty and angry character to CTR:NF. Seriously, his bit in the grand prix intro video is great, and he has more lines in his racing quips than any other game. 

OK KO

I don’t think I made a post about OK KO on Tumblr (or maybe I did one, I can’t remember). But I did manage to get into this just before it got cancelled so there’s that. 

I maintain that the Sonic crossover (aka the first thing I really knew about OK KO) didn’t give me a good impression of the show.It just seemed like “here’s the Sonic and Eggman dynamic but with more cartoon shenanigans*” and it spent more time making endless Sonic references. While some were deeper cuts which actually were impressive, most were references I could see in pretty much any Sonic-referencing material. It wasn’t until I decided to look up more info on Lord Boxman sometime after because I wanted to check if N.Gin was an influence that I found out the plot of the actual show (crossover notwithstanding) was pretty nuts and way more up my alley. 

Speaking of, there’s Voxman. Whereas other ships on here I have to dig through material to construct nuggets from them, this was literally in the text. And why not, they have a good dynamic and are usually the most fun to watch bounce off each other. And I still like the fact that if KO and Lord Boxman were the Sonic and Eggman parallel, the story ends with Eggman becoming Sonic’s stepfather. Let’s see IDW tell a story like that, it’d be better than the Zombot stuff. 

*I think that was the point but still. 

LEGO

Man I wouldn’t have thought they would have remade LEGO Racers but the one they made this year was gre--

Okay no, this year basically reignited another flame that I thought was snuffed out like 16 years ago. For a brief history of me and LEGO, when I was six I had a freestyle box which I used to make an elemental superhero persona. I played with this until I was 11. Before then, my sister got some LEGO Harry Potter sets (which we still have in the loft), I played LEGO Racers a lot (and wasn’t very good at it), and I owned two random other LEGO sets (the trike from Life on Mars and Lava from RoboRIders). 

After that, I only dabbled in LEGO when there was a Sonic set done for LEGO Dimensions. I did try to play more into it, but it was really prone to crashing in certain worlds so I eventually got frustrated enough to stop playing it. Sometime in the interim though my sister started enjoying LEGO films without me knowing, so when February came around I was dragged to see LEGO Movie 2 when all I wanted to see in 2019 was Toy Story 4. Dad insisted on it since we rarely have family outings. In retrospect; 

LEGO Movie 2 hit me in a way a piece of media hasn’t for years, or even decades. It’s shot up to be my third-favourite film of all time. And it’s revealed to me that LEGO is shockingly good at making endearing characters. So much so that breaking it down (pun not intended) has to be done by theme.

LEGO Movie: Part of the reason why I didn’t get into LEGO earlier was because I did see LEGO Movie back in 2014 when my sister was given it on DVD (she wasn’t into LEGO then) and I wasn’t impressed with it. In retrospect, I can appreciate what it did more, and I bring it up because it’s what makes Unikitty, Benny and Metalbeard so endearing when combined with what happened in TLM2. Lucy’s okay (moreso in the sequel), Emmet’s cute, President Business is fun but the MVP is definitely Rex Dangervest, who’s this feral monster but with Emmet buried away deep inside ready to flesh him out. When I make LEGO stories, I just have Rex change his mind on rescuing himself after getting the dinosaurs, and instead wreaking havoc in the present. This kills Emmet off in any story I do but it’s a worthy sacrifice. 

LEGO City Undercover: As a video game person I’m kicking myself for not getting into this before. Frank Honey is the best; he’s adorable and weird yet still feeling very much human and basically the Emmet of his city. Rex Fury has grown on me lots since my initial assessment of him,it’s infectious how much fun he has with being a criminal (while Vinnie is more fun when not doing criminal stuff and Chan seems to be more focused on doing criminal stuff as a job. I also think his calmer side is criminally (no pun intended again) overlooked). Also Ellie is underrated, she is the best straight man you could ask for. 

LEGO City Adventures: As I’ve said before, pretty much everyone in LCA is adorable, especially Duke and Harl. Still hoping for more Daisy time in the second season, she could be a riot if played properly and not just a Fendrich stooge. 

Ninjago: Coming in with the hot take here; I prefer the movie version of Ninjago to the series. I think the problem with the series is that it has so much baggage from before the series started to iron out some of its issues and cliches that it’s kinda hard to get into as a new person, whereas movie Ninjago is a lot more approachable and written better off the bat (although I do see why it wouldn’t go down well with existing Ninjago fans). This all just makes me think of that moment in series 11 where Nya sees her worst fear of being normal in an artefact and it shows her movie self, almost as a take that. It just makes me think the show writers are salty about movie Nya kicking show Nya’s ass in being a better character. Also shout outs to Kai, Cole, Zane and Lloyd for being great characters as well (Jay is cute in the movie, his show self can be punted off a cliff for all I care). And I am with the movement to have Cole come out as gay (or at least bi if they want to keep Tournament of Elements I guess). 

Nexo Knights: This show is regarded as another Ninjago wannabe, but it feels very different to Ninjago to me. So much so, there’s not a single one of the heroes I don’t like and they all need to be cherished. Macy gets props for being the best female character to me, Aaron is probably my favourite now and this is a house of Clance for future reference. 

So, with all that being said, what do I think of the prospects for 2020? I think it’s going to be quieter than 2019 to be honest, since there’s a lot winding down, and on the game side there’s been zero announcements. Crash and Spyro having a rest is understandable, Sonic’s going to have to get past the movie before gearing up for 2021 probably (for the record I have no interest in the movie) and Mario just needs to try harder. And with OK KO dead, only LCA is holding the fort for guaranteed new content I want to engage in right now. 

You know what would be fun though? Series 20 of the minifigures theme is due at the end of this year. Wouldn’t it be awesome to use the occasion to give some phsical minifigures to characters who never got them before? LIke, Rex Fury somehow still has enough demand to be a persistent feature in the customs market, give him an official figure (especially since he’s the only character from LCU that’s not Chase that’s even appeared in merch outside the game). Or let Sky Lane get her LEGO Universe look in physical form to go with her LIXS look. Or heck, finally give Rocket Racer his original look, that’s how I discovered the minifigure world in the first place!

[emilyartg210blog]

summary no.4

[Cradle-to-Grave / Cradle-to-Cradle]

Cradle-to-grave is a representation of a linear economy, where the environmental effects of a product are shown from manufacture to disposal. (Take, Make, Waste)

Cradle-to-cradle on the other hand is a circular economy. This means the product is made to be reused in order to eliminate waste in production, use, and disposal. (Making products designed to be recycled in the first place)

[Gore-tex / LCA]

The brand gore-tex made a system to fully understand a product's environmental impact. The system is referred to as the 'Life Cycle Assessment' (LCA). It looks at the whole life cycle of a product.

[David Berman: Final Thoughts]

Here he talked more about embracing sustainable design practices, such as going paperless, and how to live out a sustainable approach.

Near the end, he shared a 3-step pledge for designers in professionalism and personal responsibility. The stages were:

I will be true to my profession

I will be true to myself

I will spend at least 10% of my professional time helping repair the world.

"Don't just do good design, do good"

[Sustainability Guidelines / RGD]

We can apply sustainability practices to every aspect of our professional and personal life. On this website, they shared tidbits to help move forward in that direction at work, when printing, for events and on devices.

[A guide to sustainable graphic design]

In this article, the author shared about things we can do as designers to keep our practice more sustainable and helpful for the world and our clients.

Takeaways:

take and make, not waste

make sustainable practices second nature

design to decrease waste

personal and professional change

implement smart changes

take, reuse, create

the time is now

make with what is made

[img: https://mwmgraphics.com/vectorfunk_2020_visions.html]

[the-record-columns]

Oct. 4, 2017: Columns

Come to the fair...

 By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

Once again we are blessed here in Wilkes to have a busy week of entertainment for the entire family.

The Wilkes Agricultural Fair, which is sponsored by the Rotary Club of North Wilkesboro, is going on all this week at the Rotary Fairgrounds off West D  Street in North Wilkesboro. There are more than 25 rides on the midway along with plenty of good food and fun games. It truly is a family event with an amazing array of 4-H exhibits, a wide variety of entertainment, and even a hay bale decorating contest. Really, you have no idea how cool a big round hay bale can look! Also, children can enter the N. C. Department of Agriculture Scavenger Hunt to win a bicycle or a smart tablet computer.

The fair opens each weekday at 5 pm and Saturday at 1 pm. An added attraction n Saturday is the last Lawn Mower Race of the season. Gates open at 2pm, practice begins at 4:30 pm, and racing begins at 6 pm. An admission to the fairgrounds includes admission to the Lawn Mower Race as well.

If you are reading this piece on Wednesday morning, it is about the time that the Rotarians are enjoying their highlight of the fair. Because it is on Wednesday each year that the gates are opened at 10:00 am for what has become the most anticipated event of the year—for both Rotarians and their very special guests--the Exceptional Children and Adults from throughout the county. The parking area of the fairgrounds is literally covered with buses and vans, and the squeals and laughter can be heard across the midway.

The carnival's operator, Bill and Donna Inners of Inners Shows, open up their rides to these very special folks, and the other vendors and acts do the same. These include the E-Z Ride Petting Zoo, NoJoe's Clown Circus, and the ever popular music of Buffalo Barfield and his wife, the lovely Bumadean. To top it all off, there will probably be some of the N. E. W. Extreme Wrestling stars roaming the fairgrounds in full costume, posing for pictures and doing their part to make this very special event even more fun.

While all the Rotary guests and their caregivers are being entertained on the midway, a group of Rotarians, aided by our friends at the Brushy Mountain Smokehouse and Creamery in North Wilkesboro, will be preparing to serve lunch to nearly 600 people. This is no small undertaking, but is cheerfully accomplished by a small army of members, spouses, and other volunteers who always show up to work for this special project. Believe it or not, 600 people will be served hamburgers and hotdogs, with all the trimmings, along with a cookie and a cold drink in 45 minutes or less.

Just to watch the interactions between these children and adults and their caregivers is a blessing in an of itself. It is not uncommon to see tears in the eyes of the people serving the food as they watch the line move along in front of them as everyone prepares to enjoy their lunch and enjoy even more entertainment.

The dedicated people who take care of this myriad variety of special needs children and adults tell us that they look forward to their day at the fair almost like another Christmas.

I know the Rotarians do.

One year it rained every day except for the five hours of the Wednesday Exceptional Children time. Over and over I heard it said,, if that had to be the only clear weather for the week, that was fine with them. One of our past presidents, Tim York, put it best when he said, “Wednesday's special day for the children at the fair is the only Rotary project we never have to send around a sign up sheet for--they just come.”

They get to ride, they get to laugh, they get to see their friends, and they get to enjoy a great picnic lunch; all the while surrounded by people who love and care about them. Clearly, on this day these special children and adults are the rule, not the exception.

And, Rotarians are all the better for it.

Trust

By LAURA WELBORN

Sometimes it seems that life is just about surviving, but after listening to Rev. Anne Dieterle this Sunday I was reminded of the words my mother used to say: “We can’t do everything but we can do something.”

Anne talked about going beyond survival and adding beauty  and joy through play and creativity.  If God is in our lives and we really believe that then we must live like we trust we will not just survive but thrive.  I find myself living like a functional atheist- I want to trust and to believe yet I work like I don’t believe things will be ok.  What we do every day defines us so we need to be intentional in our actions and act like we mean it…

1.       It is about showing up every day with the intention to be your best self, and to do the best you know how, without expecting life to go a certain way.  Focus on what matters—what moves you forward today—and let go of what does not.

 2.      Most of us don’t want to be uncomfortable, so we run from the possibility of discomfort constantly.  The obvious problem with this is that, by running from discomfort, we only do activities and opportunities within our comfort zones.  And since our comfort zones are relativity small, we miss out on most of life’s greatest experiences. We keep doing what we’ve always done, and thus we keep getting the results we’ve always gotten.  Instead go to environments that expand your mind.  Spend time with people who inspire you to stretch yourself.  Take time to do the fun things be creative and play more.

 3.      Remind yourself to take a deep breath when things don’t go your way.  Your results in the long run—good or bad—are always the byproduct of many small decisions, outcomes, and events over time.  The truth is we all fail sometimes.  The greater truth is that no single failure ever defines us.  Learn from your mistakes.  Grow wiser.  Press on.  Character and wisdom are sculpted gradually.  They come with loss, lessons, and triumphs.  They come after doubts, second guesses, and unknowns. 

 4.      Calmness is a human superpower.  The ability to not overreact or take things personally keeps your mind clear, your heart at peace, and yourself moving forward.  Take constructive criticism seriously, but not personally.  Listen to others, and then operate with your own intuition and wisdom as your guide.

 5.      Do your best to focus inward whenever you need a moment to refocus. Time spent focusing inward doesn’t just help you—your mind is powerful and your thoughts create ripples in other people’s lives.  When you bring clarity into your life, you bring the best of yourself into everything you do—you tend to treat yourself and others better, communicate more constructively, do things for the right reasons, and ultimately improve the world you’re living in.  This is why praying, or just meditating on positive mantras, on a daily basis can actually make a real-world difference in your life. 

 Start taking the next small, insignificant step (one at a time, every day) and you might be surprised where you end up. (inserts from Marc and Angel Hack life blog)

 Laura Welborn, Mediator, LCAS.  Contact laurawelborn1@gmail.com

State’s Secrets and the Swamp that Needs Draining  

By EARL COX

Special to The Record

President Donald Trump blocked a recent State Department effort to force Israel to return $75 million in military aid, the department’s most recent attempt to erode the U.S.-Israel military alliance. State’s demand was shocking, but it shouldn’t be surprising.

Rex Tillerson's State Department has been embroiled in a power struggle with the White House, thwarting its efforts to remove Obama holdovers - and Trump nominees from filling open staff positions.

But long before Obama appointees clogged Trump's efforts to drain the swamp, previous administrations dealt with State Department undertow. Generally conflicts between DOS and the White House, Congress and the courts, are turf wars over who controls foreign policy. This dynamic has plagued several administrations - and impacted U.S. relations with Israel.

 Anti-Semitism has lurked in State’s corridors for decades, and under the guise of diplomacy, has used subversive or covert tactics to manipulate foreign policy. Despite pressure from his State Department, Herbert Hoover defended the concept of a Jewish state; and under Franklin D. Roosevelt, DOS-mandated immigration policy “severely limited” German Jewish immigration during the Holocaust, and visas for Jewish refugees in Vichy France, according to Rafael Medoff, founding director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies. Harry S. Truman stood against his State Department by supporting Israel’s establishment in 1948—while behind his back an undersecretary threatened to “foment anti-Semitism that could destroy the fledgling Jewish government’s support base in the U.S.” unless Zionist leaders caved to his demands, Medoff said.

The State Department is still working to undermine and intimidate Israel. Recently, it hosted the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, an umbrella of American Muslim groups such as the anti-Israel, pro-BDS, American Muslims for Palestine. The meeting’s announcement on AMP’s website expressed “concern” about “Israel's denial of religious rights for Muslims and Christians.” Israel is the sole country in the Middle East that protects the rights of all religions—Muslims, Christians, Jews and Druze. USCMO secretary general Oussama Jammal remarked the group was encouraged by “the constructive dialogue at the State Department.”

 The Center for Security Policy warned in 2015 that USCMO leads the Islamic Movement in the United States “in pursuit of Civilization Jihad.” Jammal, who has a track record of seeking out strategic relationships with the U.S. government on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood, is connected to Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation, a Marxist-Leninist organization “dedicated to revolution in America,” CSP said.  Another nip at Israel’s heels is the just-released State Department 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism. The report blames Israel for Palestinian terrorism against Israelis, citing the Palestinians’ “lack of hope” in the peace process. Tillerson’s report whitewashes Palestinian Authority leaders’ incitement of violence and financial support for terrorists. It also defines PA calls for terrorism and violence against Israelis as "rare,” and says the PA leadership “does not generally tolerate it.”

  In response, Rep. Peter Roskam, co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, sent a letter to Tillerson noting “harmful mischaracterizations” in the report that impair the peace process. “To effectively combat terrorism,” he wrote, the United States must “accurately characterize its root cause—the PA leadership … and clarify … Palestinian support for terrorism as the leading impediment to Israeli-Palestinian peace."

 In a strike against the heart of its own republic, a senior State Department contracting officer tried to silence two security contractors disturbed by deteriorating security at the U.S. Embassy in Libya prior to the tragic 2012 attack, a recent Fox News report revealed. The officer also asked the contractors to publically agree with State that “guards should not be armed at U.S. embassies” and “they weren't required in Benghazi.” Those responsible for the lapses and cover-up in Libya are still in place, the contractors said.

 The State Department has more than 300 embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions around the world. In a healthy democracy that’s not under siege, this would be an indicator of positive national influence thrin a government divided against itself, it’s dangerous—not only for the U.S.-Israel alliance, but also for the future of American foreign policy

This mammoth organization endangers the democratic process by collaborating with a Deep State—reminiscent of dictatorships with democratic facades. By breaching public trust with secrecy, veiled threats and disregard of human life—including its own—it demonstrates moral compromise and disregard for the democratic process. Unless the Trump Administration can rein it this rogue department, it endangers America and puts our allies at risk. Trump must unclog and drain the swamp before another debacle—or tragedy—occurs.