DIRTY JOBS: Back in 2013, the percentage of U.S. adults who said a college education was “very important” stood at 70. Today, it’s at 31. I’m guessing Mike Rowe is delighted with this trend!
DOUBLE STANDARDS: You know the saying … if they didn’t have double standards, they would have no standards at all.
EVERYDAY HEROES: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9BLeF8h9NRM [2:56] to hear a great story from a woman who is not only exceptionally good at her job, but also funny as … I don’t know what cuz I’m not southern!
MAHA: In 2003, a study entitled “Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.” was published in the Journal of Personality and Psychology. In this study participants were randomly assigned to either list things they felt grateful for, hassles that annoyed them, or life events about which they were emotionally neutral. Those who made the gratitude list were found to feel more hopeful about the upcoming week.
In 2017, a study entitled “Effects of gratitude meditation on neural network functional connectivity and brain-heart coupling” was published in Scientific Reports. In this study, thirty-two people laying in MRI scanners first silently expressed gratitude for their mothers, then recalled someone they resented. While expressing gratitude, participants heartbeats slowed, showing they were calmer, while their brains showed increased communication between brain areas responsible for emotional regulation. When remembering resentment, the opposite happened.
In 2026, a study entitled “Amygdala-putamen connectivity links gratitude to greater well-being” appeared in Dialogues In Clinical Neuroscience. In this study, 363 adults who practiced gratitude showed more prefrontal cortex activity and less in the amygdala. The prefrontal cortex helps you stay rational and override reactive emotional responses, while the amygdala perceives threat and drives aggression.
Gratitude is also known to trigger the release of dopamine and serotonin, two of our feel-good hormones that regulate our moods and emotions. Dopamine is associated with pleasure and reward, while serotonin helps stabilize mood and promote feelings of well-being. We can choose what we think about! If we choose gratitude, we not only train our brains to notice more of the good, but we get feel good rewards that make choosing gratitude easier and easier. Over time, gratitude rewires the brain, which is a scientific explanation for something the Bible has been telling us for millennia.
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5506019/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13101003/#S0004
- https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.84.2.377
- https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/gratitude-changes-your-brain-heres-how-6100160
MIDTERMS: CLICK https://www.facebook.com/reel/1607806971099128 [1:24] what a moderate analyst predicts for the next two years. He’s not wrong. The Trump economy is booming. It’s only gas prices, which are responding to our war to prevent the Islamic nutjobs in Iran from getting nukes. If we had an honest, pro-America media, voters would know this.
- https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/us-economy-adds-165000-new-jobs-in-october-unemployment-rate-dips-to-4-1-percent-6119487
- https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/trump-says-us-locked-and-loaded-for-renewed-strikes-against-iran-6119139
SOCIALISM SUCKS: In 1950, the average Cuban was almost twice as rich as the average Taiwanese person. Today, the average Taiwanese person is about 7 times richer than the average Cuban. One side went communist, and the other went with free markets.
- Source: Maddison Project Database 2023
- https://www.facebook.com/reel/1654397419740072
SPIRITUAL WARFARE: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wh55t1oYg2o [1:34] to hear what the “sweet old lady” did. – Years ago, a friend told me she had tried to enter an occult store and literally could not pass through the door.
TOLERANCE: An unidentified man is in custody for decapitating a statue of Jesus Christ at St. Alban’s Church in Bewsey, Warrington, U K. The perp also painted Arabic graffiti on the monument which reports say meant “no cross s–t.”
GRAMMY NOTES: CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Gt6y82jLMgw [2:48] to hear a stern message delivered by a woman with a wonderful sense of humor. I’m homebound/disabled. The church ladies thought my Dearest was St. Joseph himself for taking our first two to church, but when he decided the baby should start attending as well, they broke out the Hallelujah Chorus. He came home and told me about it, not proudly, but with the same kind of anger and disgust this lady has here. “What does it say about fathers in general that they treat me like that for bringing my own children to church?!” I already loved him, but boy howdy, I loved him even more after that!
SHORTS:
CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wp4YC8wN0zE [2:59] to hear a wonderful true story you won’t want to miss.
CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5Sy3XqfXYaA [2:52] to hear a really inspiring message from the first U.S. soldier to become Miss USA. “Do not fear failure, but please be terrified of regret.”
