Is Science Always Right?

Science is a great discipline and deserves many of its laurels.  However, it is folly to believe science is always correct, that the scientific method is always applied properly, that all scientists are honest/ethical and the outcomes of scientific efforts are proof positive representing truth for all time.  History is replete with examples of scientific claims of established proofs that later proved wrong.  Today so much of science has been turned into tools elitists and governments use to manipulate people for political or financial gain.  The items in this note serve to illustrate the point.  As always I understand time is precious.  Scan the items provided to find those of interest to you.

What?  I thought the President, the Pope, the UN, Al Gore, and certain scientists were telling us that we are facing a global warming catastrophe.  Now some scientists are telling us that by 2030 the sun will go to sleep and we may enter into an ice age.  Quote: "The Earth could be headed for a 'mini ice age' researchers have warned.  A new study claims to have cracked predicting solar cycles - and says that between 2020 and 2030 solar cycles will cancel each other out.  This, they say, will lead to a phenomenon known as the 'Maunder minimum' - which has previously been known as a mini ice age when it hit between 1646 and 1715, even causing London's River Thames to freeze over."  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3156594/Is-mini-ICE-AGE-way-Scientists-warn-sun-sleep-2020-cause-temperatures-plummet.html  
We all know about the debate between those who claim man is largely responsible for global warming/climate change and those who are skeptical of such claims.  This item is worthy of consideration by both sides of the argument. Quote: "Last month, we are told, the world enjoyed “its hottest March since records began in 1880”. This year, according to “US government scientists”, already bids to outrank 2014 as “the hottest ever”. The figures from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were based, like all the other three official surface temperature records on which the world’s scientists and politicians rely, on data compiled from a network of weather stations by NOAA’s Global Historical Climate Network (GHCN). But here there is a puzzle. These temperature records are not the only ones with official status. The other two, Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) and the University of Alabama (UAH), are based on a quite different method of measuring temperature data, by satellites. And these, as they have increasingly done in recent years, give a strikingly different picture. Neither shows last month as anything like the hottest March on record, any more than they showed 2014 as “the hottest year ever”.      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/11561629/Top-scientists-start-to-examine-fiddled-global-warming-figures.html? 

This item adds to that above. http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/07/commenters_excoriate_a_emscienceem_paper_that_denies_global_warming_pause.html

Bad science equals bad models.  Quote: "Greenpeace denies the settled science that bad forecasts mean incorrect theories. Don’t let them change the subject. This is not about some false accusation of conflict of interest. This is about bad science passing for good because it’s politically expedient."  http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2015/02/23/left-panics-over-peer-reviewed-climate-papers-threat-to-global-warming-alarmism/    And where does this bad science lead?  This item provides at least a part of the answer by revealing the political motives consequential from bad science.   http://www.cfact.org/2015/06/11/bonn-update-loss-and-damage-climate-reparation-insurance/?

This Nobel laureate tells President Obama that he is “dead wrong” on global warming.  Ivar Giaever, a scientist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics, challenged Mr. Obama in a July 1 speech at the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany."    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/7/nobel-physicist-obama-dead-wrong-global-warming/#ixzz3fL2KwRFS 

This is one way to win an argument.  Force skeptics to not investigate.   http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/07/prominent_australian_scientists_seek_to_block_parliamentary_investigation_into_the_evidence_for_anthropogenic_global_warming.html 

A couple of quotes highlight the theme of this piece.  Quote: "By the way, the field of science is not the objective discipline that many people make it out to be as Horace Freeland Judson points out in his book The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science. Also take a look at Climate Confusion (Roy W. Spencer) and Big Fat Liars: How Politicians, Corporations, and the Media Use Science and Statistics to Manipulate the Public (Morris E. Chafetz)."  and  "Most of the anti-science charge relates to man-made global warming now called “climate change” since the “there-is-no-longer-any-debate-about-global-warming” claim has fizzled. Research on this subject will show that scientists were convinced in the 1970s that global cooling was inevitable, and if you denied it you were – you guessed it – anti-science."    http://godfatherpolitics.com/21025/homosexuality-should-be-rejected-because-its-anti-science/

This item examines the faulty science that led to the giant expansion of psychiatric drugs.  Studies now suggest they either do little but more likely do harm.  Quote: "Depression and other mental health problems are at epidemic levels judging by the number of antidepressants prescribed each year.  According to CDC data,¹ one in 20 Americans over the age of 12 report some form of depression, and 11 percent of the US population over the age of 12 is on antidepressant medication.²  This despite overwhelming evidence showing that antidepressants do not work as advertised."  And, "The Low Serotonin Theory Was Never Proven True, Yet Spawned a Booming Market of SSRIs."     https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/07/joseph-mercola/antidepressants-dont-work-as-advertised/

Here's what the US's most advanced climate station has to offer in the way of data over the past 10 years.  It finds that we are in a 10 year cooling cycle.  http://spectator.org/blog/63087/america’s-most-advanced-climate-station-data-shows-us-10-year-cooling-trend   And, http://www.libertynewsnow.com/global-warming-fake-usa-in-tenth-year-of-cooling-trend/article1617

This should sadden anyone who wants to trust what scientists do and say.   http://www.libertynewsnow.com/how-did-they-prove-global-warming-is-real-this-time/article1685   And if what this item suggests is true it suggests nefarious government scientific activities in the CIA.   http://www.thealternativedaily.com/alerts/coconutoilsecret/clickspecial.php

The Catholic Pope has adopted the liberal/progressive stance on climate change - my way or the highway.  His encyclical, "...sets up a situation where Pope Francis invites dialog but only invites dialog on his terms. You can enter the debate IF you agree there is a crisis and IF you rule out technology as a means of solving the problem. Otherwise you are part of the problem. This is just nuts. It enslaves the outcome to a set of predictions that are highly debatable and rules out any solution other than the one that is pre-ordained. No one is denying that there are areas of the world that have experienced extensive environmental degradation, but this shotgun blast that takes local problems and rolls them into a ball and calls them a global crisis is crazy."   As noted in the piece Pope Francis is the first Pope since 1663 when "...Pope Urban VIII sided with the “scientific consensus” and had the heliocentric observations of Galileo anathemized. That marks, as far as I can tell, the last intervention of the Catholic Church in science. Indeed, Catholic scientists such as Louis Pasteur, the Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel, the Catholic priest Georges Lemaître were on the cutting edge of science. That is, until today."   http://www.redstate.com/2015/06/18/environmental-encyclical-assault-faith-reason/  Scientific consensus was wrong in 1663 and it is wrong today.  This Pope will ultimately regret repeating Pope Urban VIII's mistake.   Here is a cogent opinion piece that points out the blatant hypocrisy of the whole thing.   http://spectator.org/articles/63139/pope-keeps-faith-climate-change

There is little doubt that the EPA both wastes taxpayer money and pursues dubious scientific efforts.  It is in bad need of having its wings clipped.  Check out this piece.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/18/epa-grants-given-to-outside-science-advisers-while/

You might find this item quite interesting.  Quote: "The bible of the psychiatric profession, the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), published by the American Psychiatric Association, is now in its 5th edition. It lists some 300 official mental disorders by name, as well as the criteria which allow licensed psychiatrists to diagnose these disorders in patients.  And yet, in the DSM, there is not one defining laboratory test for any of those 300 disorders. No blood test, no urine test, no antibody test, no brain scan, no genetic assay.  This is supposed to be a science.   But there are no defining tests. Instead, there are groupings and clusters of behaviors, which committees of psychiatrists have decided constitute specific mental disorders."      https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/the-devious-matrix-called-psychiatry/  

To this we might add that filling troubled mines with even more troubled prescribed poisons is one of the constants associated with tragedies such as the recent murders by a troubled young man in Charleston, SC.  Instead of listening to the rants by those who wish to decimate the Second Amendment, we need to examine with great care why prescribed poisons with well known estructive side effects are allowed but guns demonized.  Quote: "It is a well-documented fact that in the 1980s, a shift occurred in the direction of treating the mentally ill. Rather than institutionalize them, the preferred method was to “mainstream” them, encouraging them to function in society while being treated with a mind-numbing array of new anti-depressants being developed by the pharmaceutical industry."  And, "Other drugs linked to mass killers have more often been geared toward treating mental illness. According to a data set of U.S. mass shootings from 1982-2012 prepared by Mother Jones magazine, of 62 mass shootings carried out by 64 shooters, the majority of the shooters (41) were noted to have signs of possible mental illness — the precise kinds of mental illnesses that psychotropic medications are prescribed for."  See the disconnect?   https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/06/no_author/the-big-list-of-drug-induced-killers/  

This is an item some may consider out of place but it deserves to be here because it documents the fact that so called conspiracies sometime prove to be truth and what is told the public are outright lies.  http://theantimedia.org/10-conspiracy-theories-that-turned-out-to-be-true/?
  
Given that the history of global temperatures over the past several years point to cooling more than heating, this piece examines the subject. http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/07/protecting_humanity_from_ice_ages.html

Quote: "The sun is known to be the main driver of all weather and climate. With 99.86% of the mass in our solar system, the great ball of violent fire in the sky has recently gone quiet in what is likely to be the weakest sunspot cycle in more than a century and actually flatlined in recent days. Weak solar cycles, like the current one, have been associated with benign “space weather” that can cause a “Little Ice Age.”     http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/05/hello_al_gore_low_sun_spot_cycle_could_mean_another_little_ice_age.html

Quote: "Temperature readings from the Arctic and Antarctic used to estimate the effects of global warming are nothing more than guesswork, a climate researcher has said. Dr Benny Peiser heads up the Global Warming Policy Foundation, which last month announced its intention to launch a wide-ranging review of the data underpinning claims on global warming."    http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/05/15/polar-temperature-recordings-proving-climate-change-nothing-more-than-a-guess/

This is a case of follow the climate change money trail. You may be surprised by what you learn.   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/414359/global-warming-follow-money-henry-payne   This item suggests that lessons learned in Europe should be applied here in the US.  http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/17/europes-climate-policies-serve-as-a-warning-to-the-u-s/?

Fossil fuels are beating renewables in a big way.  This item explains.  http://dailysignal.com/2015/05/08/the-death-of-the-green-energy-movement/?

Logic is more powerful than propaganda.  The problem is that logic is not taught in schools across the country.  Propaganda is taught and absent a foundation in logic, propaganda wins the argument.   https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/propaganda-is-the-art-of-overwhelming-logic/

Cholesterol has long been vilified as being bad for us, a killer.  Now science says it is okay.  This item offers us a lesson in the folly of claiming that any area of science is ever settled.  Quote: "So what does this mean? Can we simply ignore all recommendations and findings from the scientific community? Of course not. But it should give us a warning against taking studies – no matter how stringently repeated or promoted – as fact. Let science provide us with guidelines, discussions, and ideas. Let it move us forward in the areas of technology, health, and even climate. But let’s not forget that today’s best science could easily be tomorrow’s regrettable joke. Nothing is set in stone."  http://www.leanrightamerica.org/uncategorized/science-never-settled-cholesterol-now-ok/

This item adds to the folly that medical science is always right. And, it illustrates that when medical science and government join hands things can escalate to rendering mandated harm.  The evidence is unquestionably clear that this is the case.  https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/a-totalitarian-society-has-totalitarian-science/  

These items cover some of the history of measles in America and how the medical profession has handled public information.  You may not agree but what is presented is hard to refute given sourcing.  https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/what-sharyl-attkisson-told-me-about-vaccines/   More about vaccines.   https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/measles-outbreak-13-reasons-to-reject-the-hype/  And more.  https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/fake-disney-measles-outbreak-send-in-the-clowns/  And yet more.  http://www.naturalnews.com/048972_vaccine_safety_mainstream_media_Lance_Armstrong.html

The whole area of homosexuality vs heterosexuality is a confusing and unsettled mess.  This item offers a review of scientific data based on studies examining a variety of aspects of the respective issues.  It is safe to say the science in this matter is certainly not settled. Legitimate concerns on both sides of the debate abound.  Quote: "Here is compiled data from a variety of sources including pro-homosexual and independent scientific sources that show that “LGBT” is a fictitious socio-political identity, and information leading into where we are today….addressing the claim that change therapy doesn’t work and/or is harmful."  Extensive citing of respective sources is included.  http://libertyalliance.com/change-scientific-data-testimonies-gay-activists-wont-tell/

Al Gore claims that climate change deniers should be punished.  Given facts readily available such a charge is ludicrous on its face.  Punished?  How, for what and on what authority?  Punish people for disagreeing with him?  Is he and his faulty belief beyond challenge?  What audacity he displays.  His belief in manmade climate change is increasingly under fire, all of his dire predictions have failed to materialize and his current claims that those who not agree with him deserve punishment all suggest he is a huckster.  The faithful believe in him but his dubious record speaks for itself.  Should he be punished?  No, but it is a matter of record that he has made himself extraordinarily wealthy using climate change as the means all at the expense of average people.  To me that is everything anyone needs to know about him.   http://ecowatch.com/2015/03/16/al-gore-sxsw-punish-climate-deniers/

Ineptiude, poor oversight, lack of a sense of urgency, etc. cause problems and harms people (even death) as this item illustrates.   http://www.westernjournalism.com/fda-implicated-new-super-bug-outbreak/?

This is a critique of current day science and its application in analysis of the World Trade Center tragedy.  It serves to illustrate that maybe more rigorous scientific analysis is necessary before the matter is finally put to rest.  The case made, seems to me, is pretty strong.  Judge for yourself.   http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/02/science-died-wtc.html

George Burns

Collapsing A Nation

This is a follow up to the last item I shared with you.  It is much shorter yet filled with items that depict the sorry state of our nation, its culture and its leadership.  Please take the time to read as many of the items as you can.  The first four are especially informative.

This is a lesson in how not to run a university or a government or anything for that matter.  Quote: "Professor Edward Schlosser (a pseudonym) recently wrote a provocatively titled piece: “I’m a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me.”  The professor discusses identity politics and the culture of offense that has grown on college campuses."     http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/22/why-professors-are-becoming-scared-of-their-students/

This item by the well known and highly respected Charles Murray is exceptional.  It lays out "The essence of the American goal at the Founding, however imperfectly realized, was to create a society in which people are allowed to live their lives as they see fit as long as they accord the same freedom to everyone else, with the federal government providing a peaceful setting for that endeavor but otherwise standing aside. Beginning with the New Deal, and accelerating from the 1960s onward, that goal was intermingled with other priorities and other agendas. What made America unique first blurred, then faded, and is now almost gone. But the reality of America, at the Founding and today, is that “living life as one sees fit” has very different definitions in different cultural pockets of the country. It is time to consider whether it is not only desirable, but practicable, to return to governance that comes closer to the Founders’ ambition."  Reading it takes a bit of time but is well worth it for the education it provides.   https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/the-united-states-of-diversity/ 

A nation run by big government advocates and giant bureaucracies are inherently inefficient, ineffective and grossly wasteful.  Here is just one example.  Quote: The Social Security Administration administers two major federal disability programs—the Social Security Disability Insurance program, paid for by workers’ payroll taxes; and the Supplemental Security Income program, funded from general tax revenues.  If we apply the 3.1 percent annual overpayment rate identified in the inspector general’s report to all benefits paid over the period from 2004 to 2014, SSA would have paid out $38 billion more in benefits than it should have."     http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/22/report-nearly-half-of-social-security-disability-beneficiaries-were-overpaid-by-government/?

This item provides a brief summary of the five reasons that our nation will collapse.  They are:  1. Unsustainable Debt,  2. Enormous Centralized Government,  3. Overly Progressive Income Tax Code,  4. Moral Decay,  5. Backward Immigration Policy.   http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2015/06/27/5-mistakes-that-will-lead-to-the-fall-of-america-n2018241/page/full   

If that is not enough to make you want to scream, consider this.  The IRS is going from bad to worse.  Quote: "The IRS has been dealing with something of a public relations nightmare, though the right has shown their disgust with more intensity with the agency that’s been accused of targeting conservative groups. Now, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report showing that the IRS awarded nearly $19 million n contracts to 17 companies, even though these entities owed the federal government back taxes. There is a “statutory prohibition” to conduct businesses that owe taxes, according to a statement released by TIGTA. The contracts were drafted between 2012 and 2013."    http://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2015/06/24/good-news-the-irs-awarded-contracts-to-companies-that-owed-taxes-n2016999?

For far too many on the left telling the truth is cause for firing someone who does not agree with their agenda.  Quote: "The website Mass Resistance is reporting that a Doctor who has been working a Harvard-affiliated hospital, Beth Israel Deconess Medical Center (BIDMC), was recently let go because he had voiced his concerns about the hospital’s pro-gay agenda.  Dr. Paul Church is a highly respected urologist who has been on staff at BIDMC for almost 30 years, and in that time has never had a complaint from a homosexual patient about his bedside manner or the way that they were treated. None of that matters in our modern and increasingly intolerant America."   http://eaglerising.com/20018/doctor-fired-telling-truth-homosexual-activity-criticizing-hospital-involvement-gay-pride-events/  Then there are the people who believe themselves to be cultured...this writer catalogues one

 
This is what the liberal left and its racist actions/policies over the past 60 years have wrought.  Much of the blame for the most recent increase in such hatred can be directly attributed to President Obama, former Attorney General Holder, the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, SPLC, Al Sharpton, leftist media personalities and selected members of Congress and leftist college and university academics.  They have overtly supported efforts to divide the races.  Whatever their purpose it is not for the good of the nation and its citizens, all races included.    http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/finish-the-mission-kill-slave-masters/?  The attitude of some on the left, as this item suggests, is Culture Smugness and does nothing to advance understandings or promote tolerance of differences.  Quote: "Only the liberal elite could be smug enough to think America is moving from a culture of “hate” to a culture of love under its dictates. Instead, it is moving toward a new culture of hate, one that is marked not by balanced moral judgments but by fanatical fiats. “We are on the right side of history,” its champions claim, but future generations will likely find such deluded moral boasting as far less honorable than the Civil War valor the Left seeks to erase."   http://spectator.org/articles/63215/culture-smugness

The mainstream and alternative media sites have a common theme.  Attack conservatives any way they can even if it displays their hypocrisy.  Quote: "The civility police and tolerance mob find nothing wrong with their ad hominem assaults and vulgar litmus tests. They're just trying to make the world safe from the liberated minds of minority conservatives. Those of us who dare to succeed in America without relying on tribalist entitlements must be dragged back and down by the resentful, seething crabs in the collectivist bucket. We are scorned for abandoning the militant hyphenated fetishism of the left. We are punished for rejecting rigid boxes and boundaries and one-drop blood rules and permanent castes. Assimilation is a Class A felony in the liberal rulebook and a threat to the Democratic grievance racket. Tell me who the real racists and bigots are again."     http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2015/06/26/the-medias-vile-attacks-on-conservative-assimilationists-n2017661?

This piece may be hard for some to read.  Think on it though and you will no doubt come to an obvious conclusion.  Quote: "It’s a cultural revolution slower than Mao’s pace, but with the same destination — a left wing utopia that never really exists, but once you get there if you say otherwise your next meal might wind up being a lead sandwich. And the President’s top and longest serving advisor has the right family background to push in that direction."   http://www.redstate.com/2015/06/25/rush-is-right/

This is one of the billionaire the left loves.  Billionaire George Soros funded Media Matters fully supports liberal causes.  Quote: "In a not so shocking op-ed piece by Media Matters for America founder David Brock, he openly admits that he uses the non-profit organization to defend Hillary Clinton against criticism."  And,  "Furthermore, it isn't just Brock who is in view here. Blumenthal was obviously collecting checks from the Clinton Foundation as well as Media Matters. It seems that both of these men have engaged in open violation of the IRS code. Now the question is, will there be anyone with backbone to hold them accountable in the IRS? I won't hold my breath."
http://eaglerising.com/20073/george-soros-media-matters-admits-breaking-law-and-consistently-violating-tax-exempt-status/

Consider this discussion of the flap over flying the Confederate flag as a consequence of the deadly shooting in Charleston, SC.  It is written by a retired judge and deals with the subject of free speech.  Quote: "In the case of speech, it is especially dangerous to accord the natural rights of persons to the government because the state can use its monopoly of force to silence, drown out or intimidate the speech of any persons it hates and fears. When the state speaks, its expressions have an aura of legitimacy and can be used for narrow, sectarian, even hateful purposes. But the whole purpose of the First Amendment is to keep the government out of the business of speech."  And, "The rule on speech is that all innocuous speech is absolutely protected, and all speech is innocuous when there is time for more speech to address it before the violence it suggests may come about. Stated differently, the First Amendment absolutely bars the government from interference with a person’s thoughts or associations, and permits interference with a person’s expressions only if necessary to prevent immediate lawless violence when there is no time for more expression to do so first."   http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/06/25/confederate-flag-debate-protecting-hatred-preserves-freedom.html

Add this to the above and you have a very troublesome view of what is to come.  http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/06/race_and_the_destruction_of_the_american_republic_.html   Adding to the problems we face is the ever expanding power of unelected official making regulations, rewriting laws and even making law.  This piece provides a synopsis.   http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/06/the_supreme_court_and_the_self_expanding_powers_of_the_unelected.html   And here is another view.  http://townhall.com/columnists/jeffcrouere/2015/06/27/americas-extreme-makeover-is-socialism-in-action-n2018130/page/full

This is a logical follow-on to several of the above items.  Quote: "A lot of honorable (and some very dishonorable) people on both sides of the Civil War, Confederates and Union soldiers, fought to the death over what they thought was right or wrong.  Each side had a story to tell, a story from which great lessons can be learned.  My child, all history is an admixture of glory and honor; cruelty and cowardice; righteousness and injustice; the beautiful and the horrible.  We’ll tell it all.  We’ll not even pretend that some of us are so righteous and pure we have the authority to decree the only stories that may be told are ours.  We will try not to be so self-righteous we think we’re the only honorable people in times of battle or peace.  We won’t attempt to take the mote out of our brother’s eye when we have a beam in our own.  We will not destroy, fail to acknowledge or refuse to learn other people’s histories. Because if we do, we will never learn from it or them."   http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/06/purging_the_history_of_the_south.html

This piece addresses a recent article by Walter Williams.  In it he explores the relationship of slavery to todays problems within the black community.  Williams deals in facts, not hype or emotions.    http://eaglerising.com/20023/data-proves-that-slavery-has-little-to-do-with-the-current-plight-of-african-americans/   Which leads one to deal with this unreality.  It is really sad all this hypocrisy. http://townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/2015/06/26/liberals-are-playing-a-racial-shell-game-n2017713?

This is an example of the consequences of leftist tolerance for you.  http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/19/fearing-another-lawsuit-christian-business-owners-stopped-hosting-all-weddings-now-their-business-is-dead/?

And, finally lets review the history of the Democratic party and its long time support of racism.  These are just some of the facts the liberal left does not want you to know.  To top it off on the cusp of nominating Barack Obama for their parties nomination for the presidency of the United States the party leadership "... went out of its way to deliberately erase a full fifty years of Democratic Party history from the official DNC website. What was erased? All reference to your party’s role in slavery, segregation, lynching, and the rest. Those platforms that supported slavery, mentioned above? The number of Democrats who occupied the White House while owning slaves? The platforms that supported segregation — and the Democratic presidents, senators, governors and more who supported segregation? The tie between Democrats and the Klan? All of this and more was simply gone from your website — deliberately and willfully hidden from voters while trying to leave the impression that your party was a historically enthusiastic supporter of civil rights. Which, to understate, is not true."   http://spectator.org/articles/63244/will-democrats-apologize-slavery-and-segregation   And here, http://cfif.org/v/index.php/commentary/54-state-of-affairs/2657-whitewashing-the-democratic-partys-history  

George Burns

A Nation In Decline

Christianity provided the founding principles that established this country.  You may not believe that but it is without question true.  Christianity gave us divinely provided standards of morality which for the first 200 years proved to be well founded as the country flourished.  These moral principles guided our nation throughout the colonization period, our founding period and through the Civil War but started to wane in the late 1800s. The founders warned us that sustaining national morality based on Biblical principles was a must if the country was to survive.  If you do not believe me check the founder's original documents and recorded dialogue and you will learn that to be the case.  We have lost track of the Founder's and their considerable efforts to estaablish a nation unlike any earlier one.  Our Constitutional Republic was a first.  Sadly, for at least the past one hundred years our national morality has slowly eroded.  Over the past 50 years or so it has accelerated and today is moving rapidly.  The liberal/progressive left comprised of politicians, judicial advocates, academicians, all manner of self appointed know it all's, and other secular elitists have slowly replaced the foundation of Christian morality/principles with their own versions of secular humanism.  That is to say the adhere to moral relativism, or human established morality, based on transient human feelings.  That is not a set of standards.  Instead it encourages and permits advocates for any cause to declare or demand a new morality no matter how specious.  To the secular humanist long standing tried and true historic standards are old fashioned and no longer apply.  They know better and as today's elitists they have relegated to the past what works and replaced it with clearly failing so called truths of their own making. They have replaced Christian morality with changeable feel good solutions and far too often the government is complicit by mindlessly sanctioning the latest fad.  Modern day elitists advocating shiftless morality and ethics not rooted in the past think they know best what is right and wrong.  They believe their superior thinking trumps our nation's founding principles and Biblically rock solid God given standards that long stood the test of time.  Just do a quick review of how low our cultural and moral standards have fallen.  The evidence is all around us.  Any truly honest assessment will establish that we are well along the road to perdition.  Here are some examples of the evidence of our decline.  Repentance and restoration of tried and true Christian principles are our only way out of this flawed man made mess we are in. Please read as many as you can of the below items.  They tell the story and are proof positive that serious problems loom if we do not return to the principles that created this country. 

Peruse these statistics captured by a recent poll dealing with the nation's morality.   http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/04/americas-morals-are-slipping-new-poll-finds/?

Things once rejected by civil society are now being normalized.  Quote: "Former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan,  writing in his 1993 article “Defining Deviancy Down” posits  “…over the past generation, the amount of deviant behavior in American society has increased beyond the levels the community can ‘afford to recognize’ and that, accordingly, we have been redefining deviancy so as to exempt much conduct previously stigmatized, and also quietly raising the ‘normal’ level in categories where behavior is now abnormal by any earlier standard.” Moynihan was right.  The predicted disaster to our culture is unfolding before our very eyes.   http://www.redstate.com/2015/06/09/daniel-patrick-moynihan-triumph-deviancy/

This item is about a liberal author who writes in her book regarding how left leaning liberals are destroying the country but, according to this piece, she still does not see the forest for the trees.  It is however a very good assessment of the valid points Kirsten Powers makes in her book.  Quote: "Kirsten Powers’ new book, The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech provides a thorough account of the hypocrisy, intolerance, and just plain nastiness of what she terms the “illiberal left.” It is indeed refreshing to read a self-proclaimed “lifelong liberal” call out the abuses of her co-progressives, even if she breaks no new ground in doing so: informed conservatives are already well aware of what regularly goes on in academia, Hollywood, traditional media, and other environments dominated by the left."    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/06/disconnect_kirsten_powers_the_silencing_how_the_left_is_killing_free_speech.html

This is where we are and it is a dangerous place.  Quote: "For the last few decades, our culture has warmly embraced moral relativism, where right and wrong are determined based on our feelings, and so there is nothing absolute. Morality is entirely relative, which means that you can have your morality and I can have mine. Today, we have moved from moral relativism to reality relativism, where not only morality but everything is determined by how I feel, so you can have your reality and I can have mine.

This is not a matter of a dangerous descent down a slippery slope. This is a matter of falling off the cliff entirely."      http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2015/06/20/from-moral-relativism-to-reality-n2014915/page/full

This is a sad commentary of the lack of interest a huge swath of our population has for reading.  It is likely than many have such poor reading skills that it is not something they want to do.  A major drawback is that it limits their ability to be really informed on topics important to them, their families, their communities and our country. Many, maybe even most, fall into the category of uninformed voters - it is well established that these are voters specifically targeted by huge Democrat campaigns. This is a travesty visited upon us by progressive policies and far too many failing schools.   Quote: "Going from bad to worse, there are entire segments of the American population to whom books, in any form, are alien creatures. We have entire cities where the art of reading is as dead as the Dodo Bird, and this disease of the intellect is growing, not declining. The number of people who do not read books has tripled since 1978 (taken from our reluctant PEW people’s report – and this even includes audio books). The problem is exasperated by the fact that the fastest growing segments of our population, i.e. Middle Eastern immigrants and African Americans are at the bottom of the reading for pleasure (or reading for anything) scale. We are rapidly creating a new class of Americans who have no interest in the written word, other than being able to sign their names on their welfare checks. Inner city schools put little or no emphasis on reading for pleasure, and the results are obvious. Amazon.com is the Mecca for reading in this country. Its top 100 best-sellers for 2014 were composed almost equally of men and women, but not one of them was written by an African American. That statement silently shouts our dilemma."      http://eaglerising.com/19402/readingand-the-decline-of-america/

Thoughtful, insightful and on target.  Quote: "A civilized society's first line of defense is not the law, police and courts but customs, traditions, rules of etiquette and moral values. These behavioral norms -- mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth and religious teachings "  The author argues that it was the Greatest Generation that failed to pass along those timeless attributes to the next generation.  To make his point he asks us to consider "What are the massive government spending programs that threaten to bankrupt our nation in the future? The answer would have to be Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Over 50 percent of today's federal budget is spent on these programs. Around the time when many in the so-called Greatest Generation were born (1920), there were no such programs, and federal spending was $53 billion. In 2014, federal spending was $3.5 trillion."  http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2015/06/17/culture-and-social-pathology-n2012686/page/full

The elitist in our culture do not listen to what children of same sex marriages have to say.  The New York Time did a piece that ignored those children that want a mom and dad.  Quote: "I wish the voices of Katy Faust and Heather Barwick would have been included in that New York Times piece. For all of the Times’ concern about the benefits of redefining marriage on children of same-sex couples, there’s little concern about the suffering inflicted on children raised in such relationships. A relentless focus on only one side of this debate has left us astonishingly deaf to their cries."   http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/16/new-york-times-ignores-children-of-gay-parents-who-want-a-mom-and-dad/?

The ACLU is intent on promoting things that destroy long standing cultural norms.  This item lists and briefly discusses only five of their many priorities.  People with a conscience will not like any one of them.    http://patriotupdate.com/articles/is-the-aclu-trying-to-destroy-christianity-or-just-america/

This item expresses an opinion regarding TV coverage of and exploitation of unfortunate people all the while calling it news.  It is confirmation that so much of the media is an instrument of America's cultural decline.  This is the view of many, including me.   http://townhall.com/columnists/lindachavez/2015/06/05/trash-tv-shouldnt-be-news-n2008457/page/full    Miley Cyrus is emblematic of the current day cultural decline.  See what she has to say in this piece.  Should she be a role model for our children?   http://godfatherpolitics.com/22992/miley-cyrus-sex-with-animals-and-consent/   And this item provides a summary of the consequences of the permissiveness and moral relativism of our modern day progressive led society and academic institutions.   http://humanevents.com/2015/06/19/the-creepy-consequences-of-oppression-chic/?   And consider this discussion of the impact of liberal/progressive ideology on our culture.  

This is a tragedy that must be reversed.  Far too many children grow up without a father in the home.  The negative consequences are clear for all to see.  Regarding the recent incident with "...why Rachel Dolezal—a 37-year-old adult Caucasian woman—pretended to be black for the past 20 years."  The author blames "... her father, Larry Dolezal. I blame him in order to make a bold point: we must stop blaming the police, sexism, racism or even our own children every time our children go wild. Instead, we need to develop, hold accountable and appreciate great fathers.  Research shows that a girl’s father—more than her mother and certainly more than the local police department—shapes how confident and mentally secure she becomes later in life." http://townhall.com/columnists/katiekieffer/2015/06/15/white-or-black-girls-go-wild-without-fathers-n2012049/page/full   Many experts lament that this is also a major problem leading to the decay in moral and civil behavior in boys, regardless of race.

This synopsizes the voter condition we are in and how the problem got started and how it is continuing.  Quote: "At the precise moment in history when the United States abandoned any attempt to transmit American values to its own citizens, never mind immigrants, the 1965 immigration act began dumping the poorest of the poor from around the world on our country."     http://humanevents.com/2015/06/17/first-mary-jo-kopechne-then-america/?

A new term has been introduced by the left apparently designed to further advance their PC control over civil debate.  Quote: "The concept of "micro-aggression" is just one of many tactics used to stifle differences of opinion by declaring some opinions to be "hate speech," instead of debating those differences in a marketplace of ideas. To accuse people of aggression for not walking in lockstep with political correctness is to set the stage for real aggression against them."    And, "In a sense, the political left's attempts to silence ideas they cannot, or will not, debate are a confession of intellectual bankruptcy."     http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2015/06/16/micrototalitarianism-n2012793/page/full   High profile comedians are starting to rail against political correctness...GOOD FOR THEM.  Maybe they will even help beat back the harm PC is doing to our society and civil discourse.   http://hotair.com/archives/2015/06/15/bill-maher-and-don-lemon-join-the-anti-pc-crusade-to-save-speech/?

Is illegal immigration the same thing as cultural genocide?  This item discusses that question.  http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/06/colonization_and_cultural_genocide__and_they_call_it_immigration.html

Total PC insanity in the Oregon school system.  "Harvey Scott K-8 School, a public school in Portland, Oregon, has become a nationwide controversy–after the school’s principal, Verenice Gutierrez, declared the childhood favorite “racist.”

Her logic? Peanut butter and jelly is racist–because some immigrant groups don’t eat them."   http://www.libertynewsnow.com/principal-declares-pbj-sandwich-racist/article1597 

Does this seem fair to you?  In modern times tolerance is a one way street.   http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/19/fearing-another-lawsuit-christian-business-owners-stopped-hosting-all-weddings-now-their-business-is-dead/?

Why is it that so many on the left decry Christian morality?  Reverend Franklin Graham made a proposal that Christians avoid spending money in businesses that support things they consider immoral.  Many on the left came unglued.  Why?  Is it that they prefer/accept immorality rather than embrace morality?  One can only conclude so.  Quote: "The idea is simply this: if you can help it, don’t spend your money at businesses that don’t support your moral beliefs. Liberals do this all of the time with companies like Chick Fil A and Hobby Lobby (among many others), so we could probably afford to do the same when we shop."   http://eaglerising.com/19480/reverend-franklin-graham-attacked-for-defending-christian-morality/   Another good discussion of Reverend Graham's position.   http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/06/franklin_graham__how_dare_he.html

Anyone who thinks this decadence is acceptable is dead wrong.  But, it is but just one marker that illustrates the erosion of sexual morality.  But raising up deviance the way the media does invites this kind of consequence.   http://eaglerising.com/19276/more-than-100-people-arrested-in-a-florida-child-prostitution-sting/    The worst continues to unfold.  Cartoons for preschoolers now promote homosexuality.  Quote: "Hulu is broadcasting a cartoon meant for children about a boy who rescues a prince and a princess but then chooses to marry the prince. Yes, the prince, the BEARDED GUY in the photo below.  This effort to teach children not only the joys of gay marriage but also borderline pedophilia is simply reprehensible. It's especially obscene to start in on this topic with preschoolers."  http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/06/new_versions_of_fairy_tales_being_used_to_teach_toddlers_about_homosexuality.html 

And get this, "One of the largest school districts in the country is going to start teaching children that there’s no such thing as boys or girls.  Fairfax County Public Schools, just outside of Washington, D.C. in the Northern Virginia suburbs, has more than 180,000 students. It’s the tenth largest school district in the country.  Now, kids as young as seventh grade–just twelve years old–will be learning all about liberal “gender identity” in their sex ed classes. And tenth graders will learn that the concept of sexuality is a broad spectrum–essentially."  The liberals are on the warpath against normal human sexuality.  This is insanity!  Another quote: "The big lesson, according to Fox News’s Todd Starnes, is “the idea that there’s no such thing as 100 percent boys or 100 percent girls.”   http://www.libertynewsnow.com/teachers-to-7th-graders-theres-no-such-thing-a-boy-or-girl/article1599  

Use of psychiatric drugs is a common theme when confronted with mass murders like the recent one in Charleston, SC.  They more than guns seems to me to be a major part of the problem.  Yes guns deliver the bullets that kill or injure but mind altering drugs used by the perpetrators are known to cause violent thoughts.   http://www.infowars.com/charleston-shooter-was-on-drug-linked-to-violent-outbursts/?   More here.   https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/06/edward-group/antidepressants-and-violent-behavior/    

This item examines a piece by the writer for Salon.  It begs the question does the entire Salon meet the definition of the left's self identified personification of what it means to be "tolerant"?   It is clear to me that neither the editors of Salon or their contributors have an ounce of tolerance for anyone who does not agree with their bigoted ideology.  Quote: "In the end, however, Tayler's motives are beside the point, which is that he feels not only free to unleash this kind of slander against the belief system of the majority of Americans but also that there is no risk that he will be considered, much less called, a bigot or intolerant for doing so. That's because in the leftist-dominated media culture, you can, with limitless vile, insult individuals and groups outside those protected by political correctness with impunity and often with confidence that you'll be praised."     http://townhall.com/columnists/davidlimbaugh/2015/06/16/for-leftists-its-open-season-on-christians-n2012894/page/full    

People who cannot tell fake news from the real thing expose their limited intelligence, willingness to show it and demonstrate their intolerance of people who counter the fake news with facts.  That they have it all wrong matters not so any intelligent conversation is impossible.  Here is a good example.  http://patriotupdate.com/articles/when-real-boobs-consume-fake-news/

Behavior of this type is indicative of a nation that has lost its soul.  Quote: "In recent days, the nation has been shocked by the story coming out of Texas: a 14-year-old girl was raped, her baby forcibly aborted through pills and a lengthy, brutal beating, and then, the stillborn baby was burned on a grill and later disposed of.  While this story couldn’t be more horrific, America needs to realize that forced abortions are not uncommon. Abortion giant Planned Parenthood has been accused of forcing women to end the lives of their own children."    http://liveactionnews.org/stories-of-forced-abortion-all-too-common/

The differences between poor and rich have a number of causes.  This provides a brief discussion of some of them.   http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/14/the-lie-obama-keeps-repeating-about-the-poor-in-america/? 

Bill Maher, a far left atheist, feels quite free to spew his hatred for Christians.  He is unquestionably a hate monger who does not deserve even the tiniest bit of the acclaim he receives.  His senseless and unconscionable rants in no small part are part of the problem we have in this nation.  Anyone with only a modicum of conscience should agree.  And his antics actually highlight the very fact that is the liberal left are the intolerant rather than Christians and conservatives. It does nothing to promote anything good.  Rather it is destructive to civil discourse.  http://www.redstate.com/2015/06/09/bill-mahers-malignant-mockery-persecuted-christians-repugnant-humanity/  

Not the same thing as the above item but related is how the left has a propensity to shut down debate with those having different opinions.  Here is a piece that addresses that very point.  http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/11/how-the-left-shut-downs-debates-an-interview-with-guy-benson/?

This illustrates the intolerance and frankly the total disregard the liberal left has for free speech and the simple human right to have an opinion different from someone else.  Clint Eastwood should be a beacon for all of us to follow instead of the politically correct Hollywood elites this article addresses.   http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/06/no_freedom_of_speech_for_the_politically_incorrect_clint_eastwood.html

What does one think of the US government's "gesture" to Islam by moving traditional July 4th celebrations to June 4th.  Yielding to Islam just gives them more incentive to further intrude into US interests and our culture.  This is not an act of being nice.  It is a cowardly act that emboldens Islamists to continue forcing their culture on others.   http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/06/us_embassy_moves_fourth_of_july_celebration_to_june_4_out_of_respect_for_ramadan.html   When was the last time you heard of any yielding to the interests of others by any Islamic state or group?

An example of government over-reach.  Put yourself in these parents place and see if you think it is okay for the government to do what they did to them.   http://eaglerising.com/19589/government-takes-child-and-charges-parents-with-felony-because-son-was-playing-in-the-yard-unsupervised/  

Ever since President Obama took office he has intruded into the military in such a way as to undermine its historic tradition of "honor, duty, country".   Here is just one example.   http://www.redstate.com/2015/06/11/us-army-institution-corrupted-core/   

This is a true but sad commentary.  Wish it wasn't so.   http://patriotupdate.com/articles/how-liberals-distort-american-history/

Contrast this view of art with that prohibited by Islamists at the cost of deathly outrage.  Yet our government, so called sophisticated academics and elitists of all stripes try to convince us these are people we should embrace.  Study what is happening around the globe and tell me exactly what evidence is there that we should dispense with Christianity and embrace Islam.   http://www.1776coalition.com/featured-content/new-york-times-smearing-christians-in-dung?

This Walmart greeter always has nice things to say.  But at least someone was "offended".  When society reaches this point it is really sad.   http://preservefreedom.org/walmart-bans-greeter-from-saying-bless-you-what-they-do-next-is-even-more-unexpected/ 

This is now a socially accepted sexual classification despite significant evidence it is, instead, an emotional problem.   http://hotair.com/archives/2015/06/03/bruce-caitlyn-jenner-im-the-new-normal/?  Here is a bit more insight. http://townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/2015/06/05/bowing-to-the-big-lie-of-bruce-jenner-n2008409/page/full

It is now normal to claim those with whom you disagree should be punished, even put in jail for simply having a difference of opinion.  http://patriotupdate.com/2015/06/senator-use-rico-laws-to-prosecute-global-warming-skeptics/

George Burns

Federal Court Reopening Lawsuit Seeking Information on Top Clinton Aide Huma Abedin

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding today’s decision by U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to reopen a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that sought records about Huma Abedin, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-01363)).

Hillary Clinton’s massive email cover-up is unraveling. We welcome Judge Sullivan’s decision to reopen this lawsuit. Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration concealed records and lied to obstruct federal courts and Judicial Watch from finding out about the secret emails.
The court battle to get to the truth about Huma Abedin’s “special government employee” (SGE) privileges at State is underway. The reopening of this case brings Judicial Watch one step closer to forcing the State Department to ensure that the government records in Hillary Clinton’s “secret” email system are properly preserved, protected and recovered as federal law requires.  Ms. Abedin is part of the Clinton cash raising operation and was even involved in the Benghazi scandal, so this lawsuit could not be more timely.

This is the second Judicial Watch FOIA lawsuit that has been reopened because of Hillary Clinton’s hidden email records.  Judicial Watch is aware of no prior instances of Freedom of Information lawsuits being reopened by federal courts.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/clinton-aide-huma-abedin/ 

Our National Debt: Headed Toward A Fiscal Disaster

You often hear politicians, pundits and concerned Americans declare that Washington is "digging a hole" that future generations will never be able to escape.
But just how deep is this hole?
The Congressional Budget Office gave us a glimpse on Tuesday.
The non-partisan government agency released its annual "Long-Term Budget Outlook," crunching the numbers to figure out what current government spending will cost us 25 years down the road. Its findings are, in a word, terrifying.
The CBO estimates that the federal government will continue to spend significantly more money than it brings in through taxes — hundreds of billions every year, to be precise.
As a result, America's national debt, already at more than $18 trillion, is going to grow faster and faster.
Over the next 10 years, the CBO projects that Washington's wasteful spending will add an additional $7.4 trillion to the debt.
By 2040, America's national debt could rise to well over $54 trillion — more than triple what it is today.

 

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-on-the-right/061915-758144-federal-debt-growing-faster-beyond-18-trillion.htm#ixzz3dnIhIwZ6

How Government Stifled Reason's Free Speech

For the past two weeks, Reason, a magazine dedicated to "Free Minds and Free Markets," has been barred by an order from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from speaking publicly about a grand jury subpoena that court sent to Reason.com.

The subpoena demanded the records of six people who left hyperbolic comments at the website about the federal judge who oversaw the controversial conviction of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. Shortly after the subpoena was issued, the government issued a gag order prohibiting Reason not only from discussing the matter but even acknowledging the existence of the subpoena or the gag order itself. As a wide variety of media outlets have noted, such actions on the part of the government are not only fundamentally misguided and misdirected, they have a tangible chilling effect on free expression by commenters and publications alike.

Yesterday, after preparing an extensive legal brief, Reason asked the US Attorney's Office to join with it in asking that the gag order - now moot and clearly an unconstitutional prior restraint - be lifted. This morning, the US Attorney's Office asked the Court to vacate the order, which it did. We are free to tell the story for the first time.

https://reason.com/blog/2015/06/19/government-stifles-speech

Public Safety Was the Last Thing on Their Minds

Everyone has a story: The time an unlicensed driver rear-ended me. The time an unlicensed driver ran a red light and killed a co-worker’s dog as her husband was walking the dog in a crosswalk. It seems as if there are so many unlicensed drivers in California that authorities are not capable of deterring the unlicensed from getting behind the wheel.

In fact, according to a report by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, 17 percent of licensed California drivers have suspended driver’s licenses — not for dangerous driving but for failing to pay off citations for minor traffic offenses. In March, the U.S. Department of Justice faulted authorities in Ferguson, Missouri, for engaging in a toxic pattern of burying African-American residents in fines and penalties for minor offenses with the goal of serving “revenue rather than public safety needs.” It turns out California has been dishing out the same dirty treatment to its diverse commuting class.

“We literally stumbled onto this issue,” one of the report’s authors, Mike Herald of the Western Center on Law and Poverty, told me. “No one was keeping track of all these things we were loading onto the court system, and no one was keeping track of the number of suspensions.”


Read more at http://spectator.org/articles/63178/public-safety-was-last-thing-their-minds