In 2020, the supply chain experienced disruptions that no one in my generation had ever seen. It became even more apparent to those who believe in the power of self-reliance that it is up to us to take care of ourselves. Backyard farming began booming, along with an increased interest in raising chickens.

Since then, efforts to balance self-sustainable lifestyles have been threatened. Government interference in normal healthy practices continues to grow amid concerns over “public safety.”

During the pandemic, my family added fruit trees to our already-growing vegetable garden and discussed getting chickens. It offered a sense of peace in a time of unprecedented government overreach.

The years to come offered plenty of related concerns. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled its “People’s Garden Initiative.” This encouraged Americans to register their backyard, school, and community gardens and is still being presented as a beneficial collaboration.

But if you read the full breakdown, it advances “equity” and other “DEI” and Green New Deal initiatives that reek of a government takeover. I, like many other Americans who value their freedoms, have not registered my garden because my food belongs to me and is no one else’s business.

Now as avian flu is making headlines, fears that “they’re coming for your chickens” are being realized.

Although the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) admits that “the current public health risk is low,” it also posted that more than 90 million detections have been found in wild birds and backyard and

It didn’t take long for the NFL to come out and condemn recent remarks from Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, saying his views, given during a commencement speech at Benedictine College over the weekend, “are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”

What horrible, non-inclusive things did the 28-year-old Butker say? He committed the crime of giving public witness to his faith, espousing views every faithful Catholic holds — along with a great many non-Catholic Christians.

“Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder,” he said. Butker also heaped heartfelt praise on his wife, Isabelle, and told female graduates that whatever career success they might achieve, their most important title will be “homemaker.”

“Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” he said, eliciting spontaneous cheers from his audience.

This was too much for the NFL — an organization that, as my Federalist colleague Sean Davis noted on X, “was quicker to condemn Butker for being a Christian than it was to condemn Ray Rice for caving in his fiancée’s head on camera and then dragging her lifeless body through the hall.”

The NFL of course has a

A judge ordered that a 2022 Texas judicial election must be redone after finding more than a thousand illegal ballots were cast, far exceeding the margin of victory.

Judge David Peeples ruled Wednesday that the 2022 race between Republican Tami Pierce and Democrat DaSean Jones for the 180th District Court in Harris County must be held again after finding “the true outcome [of the election] cannot be determined.”

Pierce contested the race after losing by just 449 votes to incumbent Jones. Jones, however, filed a motion to dismiss — which was later rebuked by Peebles as being “frivolous.”

Peeples ultimately found 1,430 invalid votes were cast, and declared it was “not realistic or feasible to determine which candidate received those votes.”

“The court has also found that a net margin of 321 votes (1146 to 825) were cast for Jones over Pierce in the extended one hour of voting on Election Day, which the court has found resulted from an official mistake by the Harris County Elections Administration Office,” Peeples wrote.

Pierce argued, in part, that 953 votes were cast by “out-of-county residents whose [Statement of Residence forms] show on their face a residence other than Harris County” and that 245 voters “submitted incomplete [Statements of Residence], which gave no information about their residence.” If a voter has changed residences but still lives in Harris County, he must submit a Statement of Residence testifying that he still meets the residency requirements for voting there.

The judge found both of