🇺🇸SonofZion☔

163 years ago today, Robert E. Lee fought the battle that military academies still call his masterpiece. At Chancellorsville, he was outnumbered more than two to one. Joe Hooker had 130,000 men, the largest army ever assembled on the continent, and he had Lee pinned against the Rappahannock with a plan Lincoln himself approved. Hooker boasted to his officers, “May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.” He had spent the winter rebuilding the Army of the Potomac after Fredericksburg, and he believed he had finally cracked the code. His plan was actually brilliant. Hooker left 40,000 men under Sedgwick at Fredericksburg to fix Lee in place, then marched the rest of his army upriver, crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan, and came in behind Lee through a tangle of second-growth forest the locals called the Wilderness. By April 30, he had Lee caught in a vise. Lee did the opposite of what was expected. He left 10,000 men under Jubal Early to hold Fredericksburg and marched west to attack Hooker, who outnumbered him three to one on that wing alone. When the two forces met on May 1, Hooker lost his nerve, pulled back into the Wilderness, and went on the defensive. Darius Couch later wrote that Hooker was “a whipped man” before a serious shot had been fired. That night, Lee and Jackson sat on cracker boxes in a clearing and made the decision that would define both their lives. Jeb Stuart had discovered that Hooker’s right flank was hanging in the air, defended by the green XI Corps. Jackson proposed taking his entire corps, 28,000 men, on a 12-mile march around the Union army to hit that flank. Lee asked what he would have left to face Hooker. Jackson said, “The two divisions that you have here.” Lee had 14,000 men against 70,000. He looked at the map and said, “Well, go on.” It was insane. Lee split his already smaller army in the face of a superior enemy, then split it again. Hooker did get reports. Sickles even attacked Jackson’s rear guard. But Hooker convinced himself the Confederates were retreating toward Richmond. At 5:15 PM on May 2, Jackson’s men came howling out of the Wilderness into the Union right. The XI Corps was cooking dinner, rifles stacked. Deer and rabbits ran out of the woods first, then the rebel yell, then 28,000 Confederates in a line two miles wide. Two full Union miles collapsed in under three hours. Only nightfall stopped the rout. Jackson wanted more. He rode forward in the dark with his staff to find a way to cut Hooker off from the river. Returning through the trees, his own 18th North Carolina mistook the horsemen for Union cavalry and fired at point-blank range. Three balls hit Jackson, shattering his left arm. Surgeons amputated it that night. Lee, told the news, said, “He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right.” The fighting continued for three more days. Lee reunited his wings, drove Hooker back across the river, and dealt with Sedgwick at Salem Church. By May 6, Hooker was gone, having lost 17,000 men. Lee had lost 13,000, a much higher percentage of a much smaller army, including the irreplaceable one. Jackson seemed to be recovering. Then pneumonia set in. On May 10, drifting in and out, he gave one last order to an imaginary A.P. Hill, then smiled and said, “Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.” He was 39. Lee won Chancellorsville. He lost the only subordinate who could execute attacks like that one, the man whose foot cavalry could march 30 miles a day and appear where no army was supposed to be. Two months later, Lee marched north without him. At Gettysburg, on the second day, he ordered a flank attack on Cemetery Hill that Jackson would have driven home by sundown. Ewell hesitated. The hill held. The Confederacy never came that close again. Chancellorsville is the victory that won Lee immortality and cost him the war.

A man got tattoos at the exact entry and exit points where a Glock bullet had struck his body, immortalizing that moment forever.

Al Gore lost in 2000 as a centrist. John Kerry lost in 2004 as a centrist. Hillary lost in 2016 as a centrist. Kamala lost 2024 as a centrist. If we’re going to win the 2026 midterms, we must abandon centrism all together. If the Democratic Party is to survive we must go left

This kind of tension always keeps viewers on edge. 😳🎥

𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗭𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 ACT is announcing new policy to make immigration work for New Zealand. One that welcomes people, but only if they share values of tolerance, freedom and democracy, help build infrastructure, and play by the rules. “New Zealand is a settler society. From those who arrived in open boats 700 years ago, to those who arrived at Auckland Airport this morning, our country has been built by people willing to make a journey to try and build something better,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “Immigration has enriched New Zealand. In less than 200 years, New Zealand has gone from a series of isolated villages, to a network of modern cities connected by road, rail, air, and sea, with electricity, the internet, and the three waters. “Each wave of settlement has also built the Kiwi character that is respected around the world. Kiwis are recognised in everything from business to sport to peacekeeping as resourceful and thoughtful, firm but fair people who keep their word and can fix anything. “Today, Kiwis who are proud of our settler heritage are asking themselves why something doesn’t quite feel right with immigration. ACT believes their suspicions are correct. “Successive governments have let a skilled-migration system become a general-purpose labour tap. They have failed to enforce the rules they set. They have allowed infrastructure to fall further behind. And they have asked too little of people who want to benefit from the Kiwi character without supporting it. “The rate of settlement has overwhelmed the ability to provide infrastructure. Dunedin took 180 years to build, but we add the population of Dunedin in a couple of years while we struggle to build a hospital in Dunedin itself. “We are told that the immigration system is a strict one focused on delivering the right skills to New Zealand. On paper we do have a strict system, but even those who want to believe that cannot see it. Too often they shake their heads and ask, if we have a system targeting skilled migrants, how did a guy who can’t even find an address on GPS get here? “We recognise there are different issues in urban centres compared to rural New Zealand, where populations are lower and it’s a lot harder to find people willing to get up first thing in the morning and do a hard day’s work on the farm. “ACT’s policy restores the basic bargain that New Zealand was built on. People are welcome here if they contribute, respect our democratic values, and help build the country.” ACT’s six-point plan is: 1.⁠ ⁠Deport serious offenders ACT will ensure Resident Visa holders convicted of offences carrying sentences of 10 years or more can be deported no matter how long they’ve been here. This goes further than the Government’s current proposal to extend liability to 20 years. 2.⁠ ⁠Skilled visas for skilled jobs Accredited Employer Work Visas are meant to fill crucial skills gaps, but too often the gaps close and the categories remain wide open. ACT will have each skill category automatically expire every year. To remain open, they would need to show up-to-date evidence of demand. 3.⁠ ⁠Opportunity, not dependency ACT will introduce a five-year welfare stand-down for all residence class visa holders. That means no jobseeker support, accommodation supplement, or income-tested benefits for a migrant’s first five years here. 4.⁠ ⁠A fair contribution for infrastructure ACT will introduce a $6 per day infrastructure surcharge on temporary work visas, on top of existing charges. This ensures migrants contribute to New Zealand’s infrastructure from day one, before they start paying tax. The fee is expected to raise around $80 million a year, while remaining more affordable than comparable visas in Australia and the United Kingdom. 5.⁠ ⁠Stronger English language requirements ACT will extend basic English language requirements to all AEWV types. Lower standards will still be permitted for seasonal workers. 6.⁠ ⁠Enforce the rules There are 20,980 known overstayers in New Zealand right now. ACT will establish a dedicated overstayer enforcement unit within Immigration New Zealand. Platform employers such as Uber and DoorDash will be required to verify and report work rights. Employers who facilitate overstaying will lose their accreditation. Mr Seymour says the policy is designed to rebuild confidence in immigration by restoring fairness and accountability. “People are rightly cynical about politicians promising to slash migration numbers. In 2017, Labour campaigned on reducing net migration by 30,000. NZ First campaigned on reducing net migration to 10,000. The rest is history. “The two parties formed a Government, and after two years of their Government net migration had risen to 80,000. If it wasn’t for COVID closing the borders, they would have held the record for migration under one Government. “We need an immigration system that recognises New Zealand’s heritage as a nation of settlers. We need new migrants to grow and develop, but that migration must work for New Zealand. “Success requires a common set of expectations; respect our freedoms, uphold our democratic values, contribute to infrastructure, speak English, obey the law, and fill genuine gaps in the economy.”

I feel Americans know way more about British history than any other foreign history.

Christians love prayer. It is communication with our King. The Lord already has knowledge of our every need, but still commands us to pray. Why? He wants to hear your voice. He wants you to set aside time to be with Him. Alone. The Holy Bible teaches us how to pray by the examples of God's people crying out to Him. Hannah was desperate, David in trouble, Hezekiah was dying, and Peter wept bitterly after denying the Christ. God is near to the brokenhearted and an ever present help in times of despair. Jesus gives us a beautiful firsthand glimpse of this intimacy when He prayed for the disciples and later travailed in Gethsemane. Unfortunately, Joseph Smith didn't know how to properly portray Christ in prayer, so he took the easy way out when writing his fanfiction account of the counterfeit Jesus that came to the Americas. Joseph just simply asserted that such majestic things should not be documented with pen and ink. Classic conman material. Always the showman, but nothing really to see. It's all sleight of hand. No golden plates and no real prayer from our Lord. Joseph just made it all up. If you've been deceived by LDS brainwashing, there's an easy way out. Pray. Not how you've been programmed to pray, but the way God's people prayed in the Holy Bible. With tears, bare your soul. Get low. Rend not your garments, but your heart. Forsake Joseph's fairytale and cry out to the biblical Christ. Linger in that place a little longer. Lord bless.

“Wow that’s so crazy how birth rates and marriage rates all seem to crater after the late sixties and early seventies! I guess we just need to look at housing expenses and child care, nothing else could be going on.” - endlessly dumb fertility decline discourse It’s simple:

Why do they treat God as if He were an autistic toddler?

“As modern progressives not going to church we have to do more to inculcated moral lessons in our kids,” Ryan Holiday “We watch Ted Lasso with our kids,” NYTimes science reporter “Yes!" 🥴🥴

The sound of freedom.

Some very early concept art by James Cameron for what would eventually become AVATAR