Welcome to the Pack!
Robbie Pitman will teach Social Studies at @ReedsSpringMS and be the head wrestling coach at the High School! He believes that hard work, strong character, and consistency can make a lasting impact on young people.
#OneWithThePack 🐺
It’s not often a teacher gives a talk to a room full of state and local admin.
I told them on behalf of educators everywhere, I was going to make them do the most ridiculous icebreaker I could think of.
"We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity, representing our liberty." —George Washington
🚨 WOW! Vice President JD Vance reveals he initially was not a Christian, but then started to realize — "If the Christians are right about the importance of virtue, and they're right about the importance of being a good father as opposed to how much money you make, and they're right about the importance of being a good husband as opposed to how prestigious your job is, then maybe they're right about these more fundamental questions!"
"I start asking, how do I be a good husband? How do I be a good provider? How do I be good at the things that actually matter? And the more that I asked those questions, the more that I felt like Christianity had the best answers. And it's interesting that that really is how it started for me."
"I didn't have a conversion on the road to Damascus. But I started to see these sort of rays of sunshine, these evidences of truth in Christian teaching."
Feminists love to call housewives "unpaid workers" as if we're being exploited. Let me tell you what my "unpaid" life looks like.
I wake up without an alarm. I make breakfast for my children while my husband heads off to provide for us. I spend my mornings teaching my kids, playing with them, watching them grow. I cook meals from scratch. I keep our home beautiful and peaceful.
Meanwhile, the "empowered" career woman wakes up to an alarm at 6am, drops her kids off with strangers, sits in traffic, spends 8 hours making someone else rich, sits in traffic again, picks up fast food because she's too exhausted to cook, and collapses into bed dreading tomorrow.
And I'm the one being exploited?? The only thing I'm missing is a boss who doesn't care about me and a paycheck that mostly goes to daycare.
The New York Knicks just won their first NBA championship since 1973
Jalen Brunson scored the point that gave the Knicks the lead
He is Christian, attends church, quotes Scripture, and credits God for his talents.
Christianity produces excellence. ✝️
So far in 2026: We’ve had TEAM USA win Gold in hockey. We’ve had astronauts circling the moon. We’ve got the World Cup here. We have UFC at the White House. Everyone is getting skinny. We’re curing pancreatic cancer. It’s America’s 250th.
AND YOU’RE BLACKPILLING?
Tom Bombadil is the most mysterious character in The Lord of the Rings.
He's the oldest being in Middle-earth and completely immune to the Ring's power — but why?
Bombadil is the key to the underlying ethics of the entire story, and to resisting evil yourself...
Tom Bombadil is an enigmatic, merry hermit of the countryside, known as "oldest and fatherless" by the Elves. He is truly ancient, and claims he was "here before the river and the trees." He's so confounding that Peter Jackson left him out of the films entirely.
This is understandable, since he's unimportant to the development of the plot. Tolkien, however, saw fit to include him anyway, because Tom reveals a lot about the underlying ethics of Middle-earth, and how to shield yourself from evil.
The hobbits meet Bombadil early on in their quest, before they reach Bree and the Prancing Pony Inn. He rescues Merry and Pippin from Old Man Willow, and invites the hobbits to stay at his house in the Old Forest.
There, the hobbits realize something strange about him: the Ring has no power over Bombadil whatsoever.
When he wears it, he remains visible. He treats it as a plaything, making it disappear with a magic trick. Indeed, at the Council of Elrond, Gandalf rejects the idea of giving the Ring to Tom, for he would likely misplace it or forget about it entirely.
So just who is he, exactly?
When Frodo asks this very question to Tom's wife Goldberry, she simply responds "He is." It's a cryptic answer that echoes God's famous answer to Moses in the Book of Exodus: "I am who I am."
Thus, many theorize that Bombadil is God, some kind of angelic being, or even the spirit of the Music of the Ainur (due to the fact that he is constantly singing). But Tolkien's letters reveal something considerably more interesting…
In April 1954, Tolkien wrote:
"The story is cast in terms of a good side, and a bad side, beauty against ruthless ugliness, tyranny against kingship… but both sides in some degree, conservative or destructive, want a measure of control.But if you have, as it were, taken a 'vow of poverty', renounced control, and take your delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself… then the questions of the rights and wrongs of power and control might become utterly meaningless to you, and the means of power quite valueless…"
So, Bombadil is a representation of what it means to take pure delight in the world around you — to experience people and things simply as they are, without any thought for what they could be or how you could use them. And this is why the Ring has no power over him.
To Bombadil, the One Ring is simply a ring, and the possibilities of what can be achieved through its power are of no importance. He is able to resist its evil precisely because he is entirely content with the world around him.
At the end of the story, having accomplished what he set out to do in Middle-earth, Gandalf pays Tom a visit before returning to the Undying Lands:
"I am going to have a long talk with Bombadil: such a talk as I have not had in all my time."
If Bombadil is the epitome of simply enjoying life and being, Gandalf is the epitome of doing. He guides the hobbits, fights the Balrog, and runs up and down Middle-earth to help destroy the One Ring.
But now that he's finally liberated from doing, he immediately heads to Bombadil's. He does so with a sense of relief, as if he's at last able to access a purer and higher mode of being — a sort of innocence that cannot be fully experienced by those consumed by doing.
Of course, by this Tolkien doesn't disparage the value of action. The entirety of LOTR displays the importance of rising up against evil, even in the face of all odds. But with the inclusion of Bombadil, he does remind readers that fighting isn't all there is.
Bombadil reminds us that while it's important to strive and *do*, it is just as important to occasionally step back and *be*. Indeed, your ability to do so plays a crucial role in helping you resist the allure of evil…
Read the full piece here:
https://t.co/aqK2daehIL
The unsung hero of The Lord of the Rings...
A German visiting Auburn, Alabama, to watch Lionel Messi and Argentina play Iceland stopped at a Buc-ee's and ate brisket sandwiches on a stack of deer feeder corn.
A sentence never before uttered in all of human history.
The World Cup begins tomorrow, and many will watch the matches. Soccer reminds us of something we must not forget: life is not a race to show off on our own, but a path we learn to walk together. Anyone who does not know how to pass the ball, even if they have talent, has not yet understood the game. Anyone who does not know how to live with and for others has not yet understood life. #ApostolicJourney
🇺🇸 Most Badass Americans You Don’t Know D-Day Edition: John J. Pinder Jr.
Technician Fifth Grade John J. Pinder Jr. landed on Omaha beach on his birthday. He didn’t make it off.
Born June 6, 1912, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, Joe Pinder was the oldest of three children. His father worked in the steel industry.
He graduated as valedictorian of Butler High School in 1931.
Pinder spent the next several years as a right-handed pitcher in the minor leagues.
He played six seasons in the farm systems of the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, and Brooklyn Dodgers.
In 1941 he won 17 games and was still chasing a shot at the major leagues when the war came.
He entered the Army in January 1942 after Pearl Harbor.
Assigned as a radio operator with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, he fought in North Africa and Sicily.
In Sicily he earned a Bronze Star for staying at an observation post under fire.
On June 6, 1944, Pinder landed with the first waves on Omaha Beach on his birthday.
Communications were shattered. His job was to get a working radio ashore.
He made it off the landing craft. They were 100 yards off the beach.
Then he was hit. A round tore into his face after only a few steps off the boat.
Pinder held the torn flesh of his face together with one hand, carried the radio with the other, and delivered the radio to his unit, while wading thru waste deep water.
That should have been enough. It wasn’t.
Weakened and bleeding, he turned around and went back into the surf and fire three more times to salvage communication equipment.
He even recovered another workable radio.
On the third trip machine gun fire hit him again, this time in the legs.
Still he kept going.
Weakening but exposed on the beach, he helped get the radios working so the men around him could call for support.
While doing so, he was hit for the third time and killed.
Medal of Honor. Posthumous.
It was presented to his father on January 26, 1945.
Pinder was initially buried in Normandy.
In 1947 his family brought him home to Grandview Cemetery in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania.
He was the only professional baseball player awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II.
John Pinder is an American Badass
Thank you, John! 🫡🇺🇸
In a corner of parliament at the far end of the Royal gallery a box lies permantly open containing sand from all five Normandy beaches -a reminder to both houses of the sacrifice & the cause of freedom fought for by brave service people on DDay June 6 th 1944. #DDay
I once spoke with a mother whose 25-year-old daughter is deeply entitled.
She can’t hold a job, doesn’t listen to anyone, and is on OnlyFans.
I asked the mom: Why do you keep picking up after her when you know her behavior is destructive?
Her answer: “I had a hard upbringing. I don’t want her to struggle.”
Then she added: “I told my daughter to marry rich at least if she leaves him, she’ll walk away with something.” 🤯
This is the mentality of far too many parents today.
They’ve indoctrinated their kids into believing privilege and entitlement are the path forward.
Why are so many 25-year-olds like this?
Because everything is handed to them.
House, mortgage, car, Botox…all covered.
Every mistake is glorified and applauded. Why would they ever change?
This enabling creates a generation that grows up to become criminals, sex workers, or perpetual dependents who can’t hold down real relationships.
And it doesn’t stop with parents.
Society, social media, and even the government reward bad behavior while punishing good character.
This is exactly why so many modern women view marriage; cooking, cleaning, and prioritizing their husband…as “hell.”
They’ve been raised on short-term gratification that feels like heaven…
but leads straight to long-term destruction.
Real fulfillment comes from building something solid with a man you respect, not chasing dopamine hits and safety nets.
Husband first.
Character first.
That’s how marriages last and how strong families are born.
Ray’s Rock - Omaha Beach
On the morning of June 6, 1944, 23 year old Staff Sergeant Arnold “Ray” Lambert came ashore with the first wave of the 1st Infantry Division on the eastern side of Omaha Beach. At this small patch of concrete he saved nearly 20 lives:
The division came under intense fire from several German bunkers surrounding the entrance to the Colville Draw (one of two exits off Omaha Beach). Ray, a medic, immediately went to work.
He was shot in the arm. Moments later he was hit by shrapnel in the leg, but Ray kept pulling men to safety. He pulled nearly 20 wounded soldiers to cover behind this 8ft wide obstacle, treating each soldier before going out in search of others.
After several hours under fire, while pulling a wounded soldier from the ocean, he was struck by a landing craft. It dropped its ramp on top of him, breaking his back. He fell face down in the water, drowning. The craft backed up and nearby soldiers pulled an unconscious Ray to safety, eventually evacuating him off the beach.
Remarkably, Ray had already earned two Silver Stars and three Purple Hearts in Sicily and North Africa, prior to landing in France. But here in Normandy his war would end.
He awoke in a hospital back in England a day later. In the next bed over was his brother, who had also been wounded at Omaha.
When asked about his work on D-Day, Ray simply said, “I did what I was called to do.”
Ray Lambert passed in 2021 at 100 years old. He exemplified the best of American grit and why remembering this day is so important.
Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit. His murder is as tragic as it is enraging. He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it.
Henry was far from the first to so needlessly lose his life, and I fear he won’t be the last. Each time a life like his is lost, the proper response—the only response—is righteous anger. One of the most important things the Trump administration has proven to the world is that stopping the flow of mass migration and defending national sovereignty is a matter of political will and leadership. Anything else is an excuse.
It is because we love the West that we want to preserve it. We love our civilization. We love our country. We love our children. And nobody—nobody—should ever die the way that Henry Nowak died. May God comfort those who loved him, and may God rest his soul.
As I've pondered this over the last few days, I keep thinking about something Clay Jones wrote. In his book, "Why Does God Allow Evil?", Jones points out that when we think of genocide, we think of demented psychopaths running around on murderous rampages. In reality, genocide is mostly committed by normal everyday people including moms, dads, and sweet grandmas who bake cookies for the bake sale.
Jones writes: "It has been fascinating to me that absolutely every genocide researcher I have ever read (and I’ve read a lot of them) and absolutely every genocide victim I’ve ever read—to a person—concludes that genocide is what the average person does...
Professor and Holocaust survivor Fred E. Katz sums up exactly what kind of person participated in the Holocaust. He wrote that 'only a tiny proportion' of the 'massive killings are attributable to the actions of those people we call criminals, or crazy people, or socially alienated people, or even, people we identify as evil people.' Rather, they were actually 'carried out by plain folk in the population—ordinary people, like you and me.'
Katz asks, Who carried out the plans of the 'Hitlers and Stalins'?
His conclusion: 'Ordinary people, like you and me.'
Then he asks, 'Who provides the intelligence, the brain power, the orderly thinking to translate crazy philosophies into a practical course of action?
Ordinary people, like you and me.'
Finally, 'Who provides the quiet sustained effort, the plain hard work it takes to carry out huge programs of murderous action?
Ordinary people, like you and me.'"
One of the reasons the post below is so chilling and horrifically evil is because it is so casual, ordinary, and "nice."
May God have mercy on us.