Let’s not let this amazing event pass us by without reflection, prayer and celebration. Many of our fathers and grandfathers gave their last full measure of devotion so that we could have this day in freedom. Let’s pass on to the next generation the ethic and integrity that inspired our ancestors to protect and celebrate this human experiment of independence.

Ideas follow in this newsletter.

Opinions expressed in this newsletter, unless otherwise attributed, are my own.

Sheryl Collmer, editor
June 16, 2026
sherylc@coracusa.com

A few months ago, a fellow I know well told me that he just has never seen anything that would persuade him there is a God – and so he takes the scientific view. I knew him well enough to know it was a lie on two counts: 1) He had seen profound evidence of God, as testified by him before he became obsessed with showing that he is smart; and 2) It implied that he had inquired seriously on the matter by studying philosophy and actual science. He had done neither.

His vanity propelled him to get others to think him smart, but he was too lazy to do the actual work of inquiry involved. He just wanted to look smart to the world. Though he is capable of much more, he bought a cheap knockoff of actual smarts from the Walmart clearance rack. He is entirely unaware that many scientists these days are whistling past the graveyard of their pet theories that would prove that matter is all there is.

Actual scientists increasingly know that the most likely explanation for the existence of the universe and life on Earth is intelligent design. They don’t have to believe in the Judeo-Christian God, but the evidence for intelligent design has become overwhelming in the last three decades. Ah, but to admit it is to admit that matter is NOT all there is and that they are not nearly as smart as they thought they were.

So they walk quietly by the evidence, or use impenetrable jargon to try to shout it away, knowing that the midwits who think they are the epitome of smart will go along, none the wiser, equally unwilling to be revealed as some of history’s biggest fools. Their vanity and desire for perceived prominence will be their undoing, if they do not repent. They have a duty to determine for themselves whether there is a God and He is Creator. They can do so, but they refuse in order to protect their perceived status as smart and enlightened.

Many midwits take this position without actually knowing their error, because they want to be seen as smart. When they stand before God the two main questions on the subject will be, “Did you know this was THE vital question?” and “Did I give you the capacity to examine it seriously?” For the midwits, the answer to both will be, “Yes.” In exchange for seeming to be smart without doing any serious work at it, they chose not to ask the questions that could have been determinative, thinking that if all went wrong they could plead they did not know. Wrong. They chose to deny Christ by the things they failed to do (refused to do, actually) in order to coast along on a pathetic and errant cultural zeitgeist.

When confronted with such a one, I usually gently ask questions that expose their ignorance of both science and philosophy. I do it gently so it exposes it primarily to them. Some get enraged by being forced to acknowledge to themselves that their own store of knowledge is a sham. Before these, I usually back off, hoping that the questions will linger internally and set them to serious and rigorous contemplation.

It is an elegantly designed snare that has produced an abundant harvest of the lost for the devil. He reaps them even as they believe they have exempted themselves from the reaping. They have denied Christ by refusing to ask the most basic questions…and think that is a loophole – when it is actually the instrument of their destruction.

This is, by no means, the only elegantly designed snare of the devil, though it is probably the broadest. Another elegant snare is bearing false witness which, to my sorrow, is a growing phenomenon among conservatives and the orthodox faithful. You do not have to know it is false to bear false witness. But that is fodder for another column.

For now, it is sufficient to know that the devil is MUCH more subtle, deceptive, and seductive than modern culture can conceive. His favorite new toy is to convince some of the faithful that it is superior Godliness that moves them to habits of mind that will destroy them.

Putting on the full armor of God means MUCH more than it seems – and those whose main desire is to seem to be smart or Godly are falling prey to their own vanity, inflamed by the devil to do so.

In this edition, I’m taking one favorite article/podcast from each of my most trusted news sources, and digesting it. If you want more, the link to each source is provided.

Jeff Childers, Coffee and Covid. It’s hard to pick a favorite because all the C&C reports are so informative, and the writing is always humorous. (I sometimes think what we need most, after God, is laughter. It would relieve a lot of the pressure we’re all feeling.)

I’m going to go with his vaxx-packed article from Saturday, June 13, Going Viral, because it reports the longoverdue disclosure of some of the Ukraine dirty tricks from 2022. If you are a close reader of this newsletter, or a follower of BioClandestine, you may remember that when Russia moved into Ukraine, their first stops were the USfunded biolabs. Clandestine was the first to make the connection, by overlaying a map of Russia’s first targets on a map of the biolabs. Then came the photos of employees at the labs burning documents. Biden’s State Department denied the biolabs, but was eventually forced to admit to them.

Shortly thereafter, Russia took evidence of the US biolab activity in Ukraine to the UN Security Council, where it was promptly quashed by the US. Russia also named the players: Hunter Biden and Metabiota, Victoria Nuland, George Soros and the Democratic Party. The Russian general who compiled the evidence and took it to the Council was then murdered by a bomb. Haven’t heard much about it since then, until…

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released specifics about the 120 US-funded biolabs around the world, pumping out illegal gain-of-function viruses. We’re about to get to the bottom of the Covid leak, though we knew years ago where it came from, and why. Now the evidence is coming up.

Various commentors across the internet are recognizing that Clandestine made the connection within 48 hours of Russia crossing the Ukraine border. He was shouted down as a “conspiracy theorist” at the time, but score another one for the conspiracy theorists. Bravo, Clandestine!

Elizabeth Nickson, Welcome to Absurdistan. Nickson only posts once a week, on Saturdays. Even so, the gravity of what she reports takes a toll on her, and on us readers, too. The evil is that grand in scale.

I choose her Substack from June 14, WhiteBoys Summer, subtitled, “the next ten years are going to change the world.” Her premise is that the elite leaders, who have been stealing us blind for decades, have so infuriated young white men that a reckoning is imminent. The natural resources of Canada have been stripped from the people, over a quarter-million young British girls have been raped by the Muslim gangs, the governments of the Western countries basically exist to enable crime and the annihilation of a whole ethnic group (whites). Elizabeth’s observation is that it’s over. White men aren’t having it anymore. All over Europe, there is a backlash.

This is the strongest political movement in the last 100 years. It is actual grass roots. Socialism was invented by the elites to destroy the energy of the working and middle class male. And finally, FINALLY, they are saying NO.

Rod Dreher, Rod Dreher’s Diary. I choose his post from June 4, entitled “Pure Cold Rage.” It deals with the murder of Henry Nowak in Britain by a Sikh man, who then lied to police about Henry being a racist aggressor. The police derided Nowak as he bled out on the street. The killer’s relatives helped him hide the weapon and deceive the police. The hardest thing for Brits to swallow was that the police didn’t even enquire into the white man’s state or story until he was stone cold dead. If you haven’t read up on this incident, you should. It has lit a fire under the Brits, who have had just about enough.

Chris Jackson, Hiraeth in Exile. Chris has been a little sabbatical, which he has more than earned. Looking at apostasy and heresy every day wears a person down. He just started back this week, and I’m going to choose his June 15 article, “No Rails, Rainbow Altars, and Team Jerseys: The New Religion of the Conciliar Church.” He opens with the new archbishop of New York, Ronald Hicks, displaying his Knicks Fever at Sunday Mass. I have never liked priests doing pep rallies at Mass and the whole, “See? I’m a regular guy just like you” schtick. It’s not inherently bad, but it’s MASS, for Pete’s sake. There’s time for secular hoohah the other 23 hours of the day.

Dave, X-22 Report. I choose Dave’s podcast from June 17, entitled “Deep State Got Played, Trump Is Taking It All Back.” If you ever need a little encouragement that things are going in the right direction, give Dave a listen! He ties everything together: the economy, oil prices, Iran, the Deep State, Obama, the central bankers. White-pill yourself here.

BioClandestine. I choose the article titled, “Trump Just Revealed the Big Secret to the World.” How’s that for a headline? Trump announced, at the meeting of the G7, that Obama facilitated Iran obtaining nuclear weapons and that the plan was always to reduce the Middle East to ash. We all knew that, but now Trump is announcing it to the world. Clandestine writes that Trump is preparing the world for what must be done to hold the criminals accountable. It’s going to be shocking, but he’s laying the base. We wanted arrests; I think we’re going to get arrests.

I highly recommend subscribing to Clandestine’s updates. He is short, succinct and analytical. Over time, I’ve also found he’s correct! A typical post is less than a page, and they come out as needed, not on a schedule.

Only 17 days left to plan your blowout! Don’t let it get away from you. I’m a reader, so I’ve started plowing through books to educate myself about how this whole thing really started. My current read is Rise to Rebellion, a novelized history by award-winning historical author Jeff Shaara, who made a name for himself in Civil War history. The sequel is The Glorious Cause.

If you prefer straight history, try Pulitzer Prize winning historian David Mccullough’s 1776.

If movies are more your fare, get tickets to the new film Young Washington, arriving with perfect timing at theaters on July 3.

Other Resources
Books: John Adams by David McCullough; Alexander Hamilton or Washington: A Life, both by Pulitzer prize winner Ron Chernow; The American Revolution: An Intimate History, based on the Ken Burns doc series.

Films: John Adams with Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney; The Crossing with Jeff Daniels; The Patriot with Mel Gibson, 1776, a musical, and a host of documentaries like The American Revolution by Ken Burns, and Benedict Arnold, Hero Betrayed with Martin Sheen.

America’s Block Party: host a party on July 3 or 4, and be part of a simultaneous nationwide celebration. See this website for resources for your party: america250.org.

Flag run: Teague “Pure Joy” McCoy, a young patriot who has been running the flag all over to unify Americans, one step at a time. Sign up on the website to receive notifications where he’s going next: unifyusaofficial.com.

Meanwhile, you don’t have to wait for Teague to get to your state. Organize your own flag run/walk. Plot a route, divide it into manageable sections, and have people sign up to carry the flag and hand it off to the next person.

Visit a historical venue: Philadelphia, Washington DC, Colonial Williamsburg, Lexington and Concord. All these links will take you to special 250 celebrations in those locations. Check out more locations of Revolutionary War national battlefields here: americanrevolutioninstitute.org.

The most important thing about this Fourth of July is that we recognize what it actually means for this grand experiment to have endured for 250 years, so that we can honor those who’ve passed it on to us.

I haven’t paid much attention to soccer since a summer league coach said I wasn’t suited to it because all I wanted to do was run up and down the field without handling the ball. But the bug has bitten me! The soccer matches taking place all over the country for the 2026 FIFA championship are revitalizing our country! It wasn’t planned to do that; it was planned to be soccer, but the sight of people from all over the world so obviously enjoying the USA is maybe the best 250th Anniversary we could possibly receive. Texans are learning the Dutch fight song and dance, the Links Rechts (Left Right) so they can join in the massive crowd of orange-clad soccer maniacs from the Netherlands. Once you hear the song, you’ll be humming it absently for the next week. You have been warned.

Crazy Orangemen from Holland are teaching everyone the Left-Right dance.

The Tartan Army from Scotland took over Boston, and now Boston doesn’t want to let them go. So much fun!

In Dallas, Japanese fans stayed after the match, and picked up trash, making quite an impression on the natives.

Norwegians did their “Viking Row” up a Boston escalator in preparation for their next match.

There are literally thousands of World Cup fan videos on Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok. The enormously entertaining sight of so many guests to our country, lovin’ it, has patched up my heart from the slow death of a thousand cuts inflicted on our country in the last several decades.

No one could have planned this. In fact, if it had been planned, it would most likely be rubbish. “Behave in ways that make Americans love their country again.” Nope, the very spontaneity and authenticity is what makes it all sing. Check any of your social media feeds and you will get some great stuff. I’m loving the special bus trips to Bucees, which seems to knock everyone’s socks off, and the reactions to the size of Wal-Marts, the gun ranges inside Bass Pro Shops, free drink refills, the friendliness of Americans, and the great disparity between what they’ve been told about America (bad) and what they’re experiencing (overwhelmingly good).

I don’t think there’s going to be any more effective way to jazz up this country for our 250th than to watch foreigners love on our country. They’re doing for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves.

You can keep up with the FIFA tournament results (oh yeah, there’s soccer, too) venues and dates here: fifa.com.

This series is just what we need right now! It’s a chance to take a look at our mental state, our pursuit of natural virtue, the habits which form our lives while we’re not paying attention.

Everything in our world militates against the thoughtful and deliberate pursuit of a good life. This series helps us reclaim it.

The latest episodes:

• Ep 15 The Bias Blindness
• Ep 16 The Flood Fiasco
• Ep 17 The Discernment Diet
• Ep 18 The Source Problem
• Ep 19 The Narrative Trap
• Ep 20 The Silence That Speaks
• Ep 21 The Sacred Paradox

These talks are organized along three “arcs.”

• Arc 1 Laying the foundation
• Arc 2 Becoming unbreakable
• Arc 3 Becoming undeceivable

If you missed any of the earlier episodes, find them here: Lectio Vitae.

Gas prices are on their way down. AND Iran won’t have a nuclear weapon, the IRGC has been neutralized, and we will shortly have evidence of how Iran got enriched uranium in the first place. Buckle up, seatmates.