Language in Thought and Action

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Last week I was reflecting on how to better help the Republican Party get more Blacks engaged in the party and ended up taking a mental stroll down memory lane.

In my freshman year in college at Oral Roberts University, my freshman textbook for my English class was Language in Thought and Action. The author was former Republican U.S. Senator, S.I. Hayakawa from California. He was a university professor and linguist by training.

This book is must reading if you want to truly understand the art of communications and how to better ensure that the message you want to deliver to a person or group is properly received.

Herein lies the problem with the Republican Party when it comes to the Black community.

Republicans are horrible at messaging, especially when it comes to the Black community. In the rare event that the party or a campaign hires a Black, in most cases these hires have absolutely no understanding of messaging and communications.

One of my favorite quotes from Hayakawa’s book is, “meanings are in people, not in words.”

Republicans constantly talk about being the big tent party and the party of Lincoln. Well, that is not what the Black community is hearing by the words and actions of the Republican Party.

I have told this to Republicans ad nauseam, but they have yet to learn this lesson.

For example, when Blacks of a certain age hear Republicans use the term “conservative,” what they hear is Strom Thurmond or Jesse Helms (who were both members of the U.S. Senate and were strong segregationists during the Civil Rights movement). As soon as Blacks hear the word conservative, they shut down because no one ever takes the time to define the word and its meaning in the 21st century.

Another example is when Republicans obsessively talk about giving more power back to the states. Well, to many Blacks this evokes a painful memory and a painful history that they would rather not relive.

I thoroughly understand what Republicans are saying about giving more power back to the sates, but “meanings are in people, not in words.”

In effective communications, it’s not what you say that is important; but rather how your words are received by your targeted audience.

Just imagine a Republican standing before a Black audience today and constantly using the word Afro-American or Colored when referring to Blacks.

When Republicans today attempt to communicate with Blacks, they are using the functional equivalent of words like Afro-American and Colored.

The party and its candidates for various offices are totally wasting money and time with the current approach of communication they are using.

In any effective communications strategy, there must be two elements: an awareness phase and then a call to action.

The awareness phase asks the question what is it that I want to communicate to my audience; what is the takeaway message I want to communicate to my audience; and why am I talking before this audience?

The call to action phase asks the question, now that you have heard my speech, heard my radio spot, or read my comments to you, what is it that I now want you to do?

If you use the two above elements to analyze any Republican communication to the Black community, you will begin to understand why there is no mass movement within the Black community towards the Republican Party.

So, in order for Republicans to begin to effectively communicate with the Black community, they must first define their terms of engagement. When they use the term conservative, what do they mean; how do they define states’ rights? Why should Blacks be open or even listen to the Republican Party and its message?

I challenge Republican to answer these questions without talking about Abraham Lincoln, slavery, or mentioning Civil Rights; or using meaningless phrases like the party of smaller government, less government regulation or individual freedom.

In other words, what is the relevance of the Republican Party to the Black community in 2016?

Notice when Republicans engage with the Black community, there is never a call to action. There is never an email address given to contact a specific person; there is never anyone asking the Black community to “join” the Republican Party by doing this or that. In other words, no one asks for the sale.

If the actress Halley Barry gives you her phone number so you can stay in touch with her and you have many great phone conversations; but you never ask her out to dinner, what have you accomplished?

I had lunch last week with a Black A-list football player who has coached a major Republican presidential candidate’s son. I asked him has this candidate ever asked him to campaign with him and he said no.

You have got to be kidding me. They talk frequently and he has all of this candidate’s private numbers. This is exhibit A in my frustration with the Republican Party.

A Citizen is One Thing — But Natural Born

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Written by Mario Apuzzo, Constitutional expert, defining Natural Born Citizen as the Founders meant. He concludes the only definition is:

A child born in a country to parents who were its citizens at the time of birth, both right of blood and right of soil merge into the child at the moment of birth to create a unity of citizenship and allegiance only to the United States and to no other nation.

Below are some excerpts from Apuzzo’s very recent writing on the subject:

It is treason upon the Constitution and the Framers’ command that for the sake of the national security of the republic, for persons born after the adoption of the Constitution, no person except a natural born citizen is to be eligible to be President and Commander in Chief of the Military, to interpret the natural born citizen clause out of the Constitution and replace it with how we may today define under the positive laws of the Fourteenth Amendment or naturalization Acts of Congress a citizen of the United States at birth, a person who, if not also a natural born citizen, is not born with sole allegiance to the United States.

[ … ]

With these principles to guide us, we can only conclude that de facto President Barack Obama, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio, and Governor Bobby Jindal are all not natural born citizens. None of them were born in the United States to parents who were both U.S. citizens at the time of their children’s birth.

[ … ]

Obama, assuming he was born in the United States, is a citizen of the United States at birth, but only by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment. He is not and cannot be a natural born citizen under the common law because while he was presumably born in the United States to a U.S. citizen mother, he was born to a non-U.S. citizen father.

[ … ]

Cruz was born in Canada, presumably to a U.S. citizen mother and a non-U.S. citizen father. He can be a citizen of the United States at birth, but only by virtue of a naturalization Act of Congress (section 301(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952). He is not and cannot be a natural born citizen under the common law because, while he was born to a U.S. citizen mother, he was not born in the United States and he was born to a non-U.S. citizen father.

[ ,,, ]

Rubio and Jindal were born in the United States to two non-U.S. citizen parents. They are both citizens of the United States at birth, but only by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment. They are not and cannot be natural born citizens under the common law because, while they were born in the United States, they were born to two non-U.S. citizen parents.

White Washing Islam

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The Institute for National Security Studies found that 450 of the 452 suicide attacks it counted in 2015 were carried out by Muslim extremists. The remaining two attacks were carried out by the Kurdish underground and another by a Turkish leftist.

Daily we see atrocities, savagery and slaughter carried out by Muslims, Muslim groups, Muslim nation states and those Muslims who sponsor attacks against Jews, Christians, non-Muslims and Muslims alike.

Abdul Malik Mujahid

Given this overwhelming evidence there remain Muslims and Muslim organizations in the United State devoted to the white washing of Islam. Among these is Sound Vision run by Abdul Malik Mujahid. In a series of emails Mujahid sends followers guidance on how to respond to attacks by Muslims.

It was Abdul Malik Mujahid, who on January 17, 2015, hosted the Stand With The Prophet Conference in Garland, TX.

Alan Kornman in his column “New Garland, TX Video: Standing With the Prophet Conference” writes:

The purpose of this conference and others like it around the country is to launch there new Strategic Communication Center For Muslims. Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid says there purpose is to confront Islamophobia and the vast media network who promote the anti Islam industry – I wish I knew exactly who that is.

Ironically, SoundVision brought in unindicted Co-conspirator Siraj Wahaj, John Esposito, and SoundVision Founder Abdul Malik Mujahid (who said killing is an essential element of Islam) and others to promote their truth challenged message of – peace, tolerance and inclusion.

Kornman asks readers to, “Watch this short video [below] and learn the truth about the foundations of Islamic violence towards themselves and the others.”

On the recent shooting of a Philadelphia police officer Mujahid sent out the following in an email:

Assalamu Alaikum.

Once again bad news has hit our community.

One Muslim in Philadelphia is arrested on shooting a police officer. Two Iraqi refugees are arrested on the charges of supporting ISIS. While Dallas police found another Muslim-hating nut who shot a person dead.

Talking Points

Please don’t remain silent

  • Call your local TV station and speak as a Muslim giving feedback about their coverage. Google your “city name” “tv stations” to find the phone numbers.
  • Tell them that your mosque leadership regularly meets and cooperates with police and FBI to protect ourselves and our neighbors, considering that more than 70 mosques have been attacked in 2015 alone.
  • No sane person can attack police whose job is to protect us all.
  • Mental Health issues: Thank them if they had mentioned in their news coverage that the attacker’s mom is saying that the attacker had mental health issues.
  • If they did not mention it, ask them why they failed to mention the attacker’s mom’s statement about his mental health issues.
  • Ask them if they plan to do a story on Muslims and Sikhs being attacked and murdered across the country. Just yesterday, it was finally determined that the Christmas eve deadly shooting in Dallas was motivated by hate towards Muslims.

Of the four incidents listed by Abdul Malik Mujahid, three were carried out by Muslims acting in the name of Allah. The fourth was carried out by Hispanic Anthony Paz Torres, 30 who said he was a both a Jew and a Christian.

Another email from Mujahid deals with the white washing the Islamic State. Mujahid states:

Here is what we intend to do:

1. We will debunk ISIS ideology as utterly un-Islamic by making our voices heard louder than ISIS’s.
2. We will develop step-by-step guides for mosques, MSA’s, and youth groups to engage youth to do better PR and enhanced civic engagement.
3. We will reframe perceptions of American Muslims by retaining PR professionals to counter the $160 Million strong Islamophobia network.
4. We will invest in coalitions to liberate our country from fear, hate, and anger to counter the war-terror-Islamophobia cycle.

In this case they are losing the white washing war to the media arm of the Islamic State. Daily videos are published by the Islamic State showing how fundamentally Islamic they are and give proof that Muslims are committing genocide against Christians in the Middle East.

Mujahid has a tough sell when it comes to Islam because actions speak louder than words.

Trump vs Cruz Feud and Handyman Irv

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The MSM eagerly anticipated Cruz responding to Trump bringing up the issue of Cruz’s eligibility to be president. The MSM hoped Trump’s comments would launch a war of words between the two GOP front-runners. To the MSM’s chagrin, Ted Cruz wisely did not respond to Trump’s remarks. The MSM loves to get GOP contenders at each others throats rather than informing voters of Hillary’s and Obama’s moral, cultural and unconstitutional crimes against Americans.

The MSM hoped a Cruz vs Trump feud would spark talk radio to trash Trump, thus knocking Trump from atop most polling hills. I pray talk radio does not begin trashing Trump. While Cruz is my guy for president, I refuse to trash Trump. As a matter of fact, I am extremely grateful to Trump. Trump has played a huge role in freeing up the tongues of GOP presidential contenders.

Obama, Democrats and the MSM urinate on us daily while telling us it’s only rain and is good for us. I was among those angry, frustrated and hurt Americans who wanted to metaphorically slap the arrogance off the faces of Obama’s Democrat and MSM operatives. Unapologetic, Trump repeatedly slapped them. Americans of all stripes cheered; winning Trump massive instantaneous, enthusiastic and loyal supporters. Clearly, there’s a new sheriff in political town and his name is Donald Trump.

The MSM would have you believe that if racist, sexist, rich dude, Trump is the nominee, Hillary is a shoe in winner of the WH. Hogwash! Polls show that support for Trump crosses all demographics. I witnessed the Trump phenomenon on display in my politically clueless longtime amateur handyman Irv who is shockingly excited about Trump running the country.

Irv is a scruffy looking white guy in his late 40’s; a self-taught electrician and mechanic. Irv lives with his welfare mom and sister in a drug and crime infested neighborhood. Irv worships Obama for giving him a free phone and for caring about the little guy. Irv loves Obama for taking from evil selfish rich people to give to needy people like him.

I know. I know. Irv sounds like a political idiot. However, I like him. You can imagine my surprise witnessing Irv bubbly with excitement about Trump making America great again. Irv has always struck me as someone who does not giving a rat’s derriere about his country. I thought Irv only cared about government freebies. “Trump is gonna clean this mess up!” said Irv. This told me Trump has birthed something truly magical in the 2016 race for the WH.

Ironically, Trump has even paved the way for Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz has been fearless and steadfast in his efforts to defend, preserve and restore freedom and liberty. Both the MSM and GOP establishment, to an extent, successfully branded Cruz a bit extreme in the arena of professional political decorum.

Trump’s non-conventional, no-holds-barred, common man and straight talk brand of politicking suddenly makes Cruz appear not so radical. Cruz’s polling continues to rise, even beating Hillary. 

Displaying class, character and wisdom, Cruz’s rise has everything to do with substance; who he is and what he intends to do day one as president. Cruz has risen high in the polls without playing the MSM’s (Democrat operatives) game of “Trash Your Fellow Republicans.”

As much as I like Trump and would enthusiastically vote for him if he wins the nomination, Ted Cruz trumps Trump on substance, conservative credentials and presidential gravitas. Folks, when that 3am phone call comes, I want Ted Cruz answering it. When the Left wants to jail another Christian for not embracing sodomy, I trust President Cruz to say this ain’t gonna happen on my watch. With all due respect, Trump sided with those who threw Kim Davis into jail.

Realizing I sound like a broken record repeating myself. The crucial question in selecting our presidential nominee is who can we trust to remain true to conservatism when elected? Politicians will say whatever they think you want to hear to secure your vote.

As teenagers, my cousin and I were discussing girls while walking home from a Baltimore yaka-mein joint. He said, “Just tell them you love them.” I replied, “I can’t say that.” He looked at me like I was an idiot. But, I digress.

Ted Cruz’s list of confrontations with freedom grabbers; Obama, Democrats, GOP establishment and the MSM confirms we can trust him seated in the big chair in the Oval Office.

Fearful of Hillary, some Christians and conservatives believe Trump is our only hope for winning the WH. Consequently, they are bashing Cruz, calling him a wolf in sheep’s clothing; even claiming that Cruz is not conservative. Well for crying out loud, please tell me the GOP contenders who are more conservative than Cruz? Trump is certainly not among them.

Also, I think it is unwise to embrace the Left’s language and tactics to attack our candidates; portraying Cruz as the devil.

It turned me off big-time when GOP contenders began saying “amen” to the Left’s accusation that Trump is a racist for simply stating truth and common sense regarding securing our border. GOP contenders feeding into the Left’s bogus narratives is selfish, shortsighted and a betrayal of our party and the American people. Shameful.

Let’s put Ted Cruz in the White House folks.

RELATED ARTICLE: Notes on a Phenomenon by Mark Steyn

Will America Be Reborn?

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There are some, including yours truly that believe America will soon experience a major turnaround for the better.  Still others are predicting her permanent demise on the ash heap of history.  It is true, ­­­our republic is riddled with a plethora of problems.  She is morally, ethically, spiritually and without a doubt, economically crippled.  The wasteful spending of congress and the even more wasteful application of economic decisions by the most socialist oriented president in United States history is placing our nation on the brink of utter collapse.  America’s corporate tax rate remains the Obama preferred highest on planet earth.

When one throws in the zealous over regulation of economic activity that also contributes to the continued reduction of America’s economic power.  A record number of Americans remain jobless and are increasingly feeling hopeless about their prospects of finding employment.  Scores of small and medium sized businesses have closed over the past seven years, because of the never ending piling on of PC and environmental regulations. Thanks to environmental regulation bullying, there are no longer enough jobs to go around for all qualified sovereign citizens of America who want to work.  The Obama era regulatory wall against economic activity is so massive that increasing numbers of Americans believe that their children and grandchildren will experience a much poorer America and fewer opportunities.

One of the long term goals of the progressives has been to weaken the United States, so that their cradle to grave control of “We the People” mission could be accomplished.  In order to accomplish such a gruesome goal, there first had to be a successful changing of the spiritual, moral and ethical focus of the people of America.

One of the major complaints of the promoters of socialism and communism throughout our republic during the early years of the twentieth century was a three pronged statement of disdain.  The progressives complained that they could not change America, because far too many Americans were hard working and creative, had close knit families, also they loved their God and country.  To eradicate American patriotism, the influence of Christian virtues and break up the family structure, government schools no longer remained places of education for the betterment of the individual.  They were transformed into evil dens of indoctrination against all that is good and intellectually advantageous for students.

Since the 1960s dens of indoctrination throughout the United States have done a masterful job of gradually transforming America from a constitutionally limited republic into a mobocracy that places the desires of the PC group above the unalienable rights of the individual.  At one time, before decades of indoctrination, Americans properly understood that each one of us are fearfully and wonderfully made.  They also realized that our rights must not be trampled upon by misguided individuals or the tyrannical government.

However, the result of a multi decade long indoctrination process is a warped mentality amongst many of our fellow Americans.  Many now equate the free exercise of Christian religious beliefs with bigotry and racism.  That craziness occurs because most Americans today don’t know their rights, thus it is as if they don’t have any.

Because of the unrelenting slant of government school indoctrination and dragon media mis-information, many Americans are not even offended when a U. S.  Christian bakery owner loses their business and is forced to pay over $150,000 dollars in fines for not putting a certain decoration on a wedding cake.  Of course, the bakers received very little defense of their right to function according to their Christian beliefs.  On the other hand, Muslim bakeries are allowed to deny decorating wedding cakes for homosexuals.

Also due to rampant indoctrination, millions of wrong-headed individuals support the Obama administrations mission to fill our republic with both illegal aliens and Muslim refugees from Syria and elsewhere. Those misguided souls, don’t even care that illegal immigrants and Muslims are streaming in and plotting to do harm within the borders of our misguided nation.  Of course, the same indoctrinated useful idiots who called the Christian bakers bigots are calling for America to roll over and please the Islamists invading our country.  This example of self-destruction American style must be brought to a halt or the United States of America will soon be one nation gone under for sure.

Just twenty years ago, no president would dream of openly fighting against every single idea, proposal, or piece of legislation that would benefit our republic.  However, the United States is crumbling under the watchful eyes and destructive mission of President Barack recognition of or k Husein Obama.  He’s now officially embarked upon his madman mission of dismantling the God given and Second Amendment recognition of our unalienable right to defend ourselves.  The president is also seeking is seeking to release thousands of dangerous criminals from federal prison while trying to take away our means of protection.

The president added insult to injury by crying crocodile tears on national television over the Sandy Hook shooting victims. What a guy.   Yet Mr. I want your guns does not care enough about Christians being beheaded in the Middle East to allow them to join the throngs of refugees he is allowing into America.  Remember, he said he wants to “fundamentally change America.”  Unfortunately many Americans prefer his destructive mission over the “Make America Great Again” message of Donald Trump on Senator Ted Cruz’s stated desire to restore our nation.  How sad indeed.

But rather than throw in the towel, or sit around and hope that things get better, let us resolve to first ask God to forgive us for allowing the enemies of all that is good to control or heavily influence the school system, the media, the church, the economy and even the entertainment industry.  In order for America to be authentically restored then she must stop indoctrinating each generation of younger Americans against all that is good via the various spheres of influence.  Going forward we must consider the fact that what is taught to one generation dictates the direction a nation takes in the next generation.  In future columns I will be highlighting more cures for what ails America today to help insure happy days in our republic’s future.

God bless you, God bless America and may America bless God.

Moral Clarity at Missouri

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The University of Missouri has been the location of several anti-Semitic acts that the president, Tim Wolfe, appeared reluctant to address. The final vile act, which included the formation of a swastika, was enough to encourage thirty-six Jewish and civil rights organizations to demand the president’s resignation. Concurrently, Black graduate student, Jonathan Butler, heroically began a hunger strike, and within days, both the president and Chancellor Loftin stepped down from their positions.

Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, who usually gets it right, this time said that Jewish students will likely find themselves facing an even more hostile, threatening and unsafe environment because administrators are either too busy or too scared to address anti-Semitism, thereby leaving Jewish students more vulnerable and unprotected. So, should the inmates continue running the asylum? Acts of bigotry are occurring throughout America’s campuses and worldwide, whether or not the students are outspoken. Anything can trigger another “moderate” to becoming an active aggressor, whether the bully is motivated by others’ acts of intolerance and violence or by the relatively unobtrusive prey. Being busy or scared is hardly an excuse for the head of a university to shirk his responsibilities.

Rossman-Benjamin suggested that a president may fear appearing to favor Jewish students. Does she think it’s wrong to favor any victimized students or just the Jewish students? What if there were a second group of victims? Would the administration feel more comfortable and legitimized if a non-Jewish group were imperiled along with the Jewish? In fact, is it not moral to protect and care for the students who are attacked?  An administrator must display the attributes of both ethics and courage to govern such an institution, and use the event as a teaching strategy and warning.

As hate is allowed to fester on various campuses, without administrative interference or penalties, the number of hostilities and kinds of depravity may be expected to increase. These establishments are microcosms of countries around the world, where the hatred and violent behavior may well reach unmanageable proportions, to the point of taking complete control – if they are not stopped now. The University of Missouri must be administered by people who will not have the privilege of remaining ignorant, cowardly, or indifferent, no matter the alibi.  We do not remove our cities’ police forces or our country’s armed forces because of how we might be viewed as pandering to one side over the other. If the administrators are too busy or fainthearted to address the growing bigotry, they are ill-equipped to perform the duties of their position.  Their stated duty, after all, is to “work together on behalf of all citizens.”

All positions change, whether because of a political climate, improved technology or fluctuating needs, and while it is regrettable that terrorism has become a serious issue for the schools as it has for the world, a candidate who assumes the position of leadership during peacetime must be able to adjust his skills and responsibilities accordingly during wartime.

The United States Department of State has adopted a definition of anti-Semitism, which includes advocating the murder of Jews, Holocaust denial, accusing Jews of fabricating the Holocaust, accusations of dual loyalty (loyalty to both Israel and their country of birth), denies Jewish people’s right to self-determination (one-state solution), using symbols associated with anti-Semitism (swastikas and Nazism), holding Israel to standards not demanded of other countries or criticisms not leveled at other countries, harassment (verbal, graphic, electronic, written; offensive, harmful or threatening conduct).  Know your rights and reach out for help: EndBDS.com.

There is a new interim president at the University of Missouri, Michael Middleton. It would appear that he has the will and resourcefulness to protect the school’s citizens, regardless of race or creed. If anti-Israel or anti-Black groups threaten to harm students on campus, we trust they will also face expulsion.  The university administrators need to display the qualities of integrity and courage, attributes that our students must acquire during their formative years in order to be the fine, upstanding American citizens required to restore America to its recognized level of greatness.

Bill Clinton suffers minor injuries chasing MSNBC intern

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Bill_Clinton_Nose_Scratch.jpgCOUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA – Witnesses are coming forward confirming that former President William J. Clinton suffered minor injuries back stage while his wife, Hillary Clinton, attended a town hall event as a part of her presidential campaign yesterday.

According to a dozen witnesses, shortly after his arrival at the event center, Bill Clinton started talking to Nicole Reynolds, a 22 year old MSNBC makeup intern.

“There wasn’t anything malicious at first,” said Brian Hazely, a custodian at the event center. “We couldn’t hear what they were saying, but as time went on you could see she got more and more uncomfortable and even tried to walk away from him. But he kept following her everywhere she went; she just couldn’t get away from him.”

“No one knew what to do,” Alex Knight, an audio technician, told a reporter. “We were specifically instructed not to engage or even speak to any member of Clinton’s staff, let alone Bill Clinton. There was nothing we could do. It was a very uncomfortable scene for everyone to watch. At the same time we could hear Hillary talking about women’s rights over the speakers, which I thought was ironic.”

Another witness, Rebecca Johnson, saw the aging former President finally corner the young intern by the refreshment stand. “At that point he became more aggressive. I saw him pull a cigar out of his coat pocket and show it to Nicole Reynolds. She panicked and it seemed she was about to start screaming. That’s when Hillary’s campaign manager ran over and put his hand over Nicole’s mouth, so the people out at the event wouldn’t hear her shrieking.”

“At that moment Bill Clinton grabbed her skirt, but she bit Hillary’s campaign manager’s hand and darted out from that corner,” Johnson continued. “The skirt ripped at the seams and Bill Clinton fell down on the floor, holding the torn piece of clothing in his hands. That’s when his security team rushed over with EMS personnel, worried about what a fall like that could do to a man of his advanced age. But as it turned out, he only scraped his hand and had a small abrasion on his nose, plus a bruise on his elbow from what I could gather.”

According to witnesses, members of Clinton’s traveling staff immediately covered Nicole Reynolds in a blanket and took her to a more private area, as if following a rehearsed damage control procedure. No one claimed to have seen the intern after that. One witness overheard a high-ranking Clinton staffer mentioning “hush money.” In the meantime, Bill Clinton was escorted to a VIP lounge, where he remained for the remainder of the event.

As of yet no comment has been made about the incident by either Hillary Clinton or any of her staff.

EDITORS NOTE: This political satire originally appeared on The Peoples Cube. The below graphic was posted on our Facebook page:

bill clintons war on women

American Icon Converts to Islam — Quaker Oats launches ‘Kareem of Buckwheat’ cereal

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It was announced today that American Icon Buckwheat, of Our Gang fame, has converted to the Muslim faith.

Buckwheat has changed his name to ‘Kareem of Wheat’. In his honor Quaker Oats has launched a new breakfast cereal called Kareem of Buckwheat.

quaker oats logoJohn Stuart, Quaker Oats CEO, in a press release states:

We are please to launch a new line of cereals featuring our favorite American icon, formerly known as Buckwheat. Kareem of Buckwheat is Halal and is produced for our growing Muslim migrant population.

We see this as an emerging market in places like the cities of New York, Dearborn, San Bernardino and Chattanooga. Our overseas branch is focused on launching Kareem of Buckwheat in Germany, France and Great Briton.

As we see more migration to America it is important for companies to provide them with healthy choices when it comes to breakfast options.

Our new corporate slogan is “Go to Halal with a Quaker.”

We want to reassure our Muslim customers that no Jew or Christian has been involved in the production, packaging or shipment of Kareem of Buckwheat. We are an infidel free zone.

Kareem of Wheat

Muhammed M. Mohammed, the Islamic State’s spokesperson, noted:

We welcome our latest convert Kareem of Wheat. Kareem is now our poster child and will be used in future issues of our Inspire magazine.

Kareem will inspire, no pun intended, others to join our cause. Kareem will be a powerful symbol for establishing a global Caliphate where everyone eats Kareem of Buckwheat cereal. The healthy choice for the Muslim Ummah (community).

Our soldiers awaken each morning for prayers. After their morning prayers they gather together to partake of this halal cereal. They are ready to do battle with the infidels, Allah willing.

Josh Earnest, Assistant to the President and Press Secretary in the White House Office of Communications, when asked by a CNN reporter if President Obama will be serving Kareem of Buckwheat to his family and staff, replied:

President Obama supports Quaker Oats’ decision to produce “a new product for our growing Muslim migrant population and their families in America.”

The State Department will be issuing each Syrian refugee family upon their arrival in the United States government vouchers for the purchase of this healthy cereal.

President Obama will be signing an Executive Order requiring all public schools receiving federal dollars to serve Kareem of Buckwheat to students.

Let’s just hope those eating Kareem of Buckwheat don’t become cereal killers.

EDITORS NOTE: This political satire originally appeared in Inspire Magazine and on Al Jazeera America.

On the Horns of a Dilemma

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Yes, Democrats find themselves on the horns of a dilemma.  After shielding a patently ineligible and thoroughly incompetent usurper from public scrutiny for the past eight years, they would love to unmask the two remaining Republican presidential candidates who, like Barack Obama, are ineligible to serve as president… i.e. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.  However, in doing so, they would almost certainly reopen the debate over Obama’s ineligibility at a time when he’s already occupied the office for nearly seven years and is beginning to worry about his legacy, if any.

On August 28, 2008, the final day of the 2008 Democratic national convention, the Democratic National Committee caused official certifications of the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees to be sent to the election boards of the fifty state election boards so that ballots could be printed.  However, unlike all previous nominating conventions, the certifications provided to the state election boards in 2008 were not uniform.  The certification provided exclusively to the State of Hawaii, pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes §11-113, contained the following language:

“THIS IS TO CERTIFY that at the National Convention of the Democrat Party of the United States of America, held in Denver, Colorado on August 25 though (sic) 28, 2008, the following were duly nominated candidates of said Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively, and that the following candidates for President and Vice President of the United States are legally qualified to serve under the provisions of the United States Constitution.” 

Affixed were the names and home addresses of Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  The documents were signed by Representative Nancy Pelosi and Alice Travis Germond, chairman and secretary, respectively, of the 2008 Democratic convention, and notarized by Shalifa A. Williamson.  The remaining forty-nine states received a certification reading as follows:

“THIS IS TO CERTIFY that at the National Convention of the Democrat Party of the United States of America, held in Denver, Colorado on August 25 though (sic) 28, 2008, the following were duly nominated as candidates of said Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively:”

The phrase, “… and that the following candidates for President and Vice President of the United States are legally qualified to serve under the provisions of the United States Constitution” was purposely omitted.  Other than that, all of the documents were identical… even to the misspelling of the word “through” in the second line of the certifications.

So, one might ask, why would the Democrats specifically eliminate the language certifying that Obama and Biden were both eligible to serve “under provisions of the U.S. Constitution?”  Is it not reasonable to conclude that they knew when they nominated him that Obama was not eligible to serve by virtue of the fact that he is not a “natural born” citizen… as required by the U.S. Constitution?  So, if many millions of conservatives and Republicans, including many members of Congress, were aware of Obama’s lack of eligibility, we can only assume that a like number of Democrats were also aware.  So what did Nancy Pelosi know, when did she know it, and how many others in the Democratic hierarchy were aware of Obama’s lack of qualification?

Under the U.S. Constitution, it is the sole duty of members of the U.S. Electoral College to see to it that no unqualified or ineligible person should ever be elected president of the United States and commander-in-chief of the Army and the Navy.  Yet, on December 15, 2009, when the Electoral College met to elect a president and vice president, 365 Democratic electors were so intent upon winning back the White House that they knowingly violated their electoral oaths and elected a man who was not constitutionally eligible to serve as president.

So why did those 365 Democratic electors violate their electoral oaths and their constitutional duties?  There are only two possible answers to that question: 1) They were fully aware of the obligations of a presidential elector and they violated their constitutional oaths because they put the fortunes of the Democrat Party above their duty to God and country, or 2) They had no idea what the Electoral College was all about, or why they were selected to serve as electors.

In the weeks, months, and years that followed, Barack Obama’s selection was challenged in numerous federal, state, and local lawsuits, all of which attempted to overturn the unlawful and illegitimate actions of the 2008 Electoral College.  However, while it is clear that Republican politicians and the courts have been derelict in their duty to “support and defend the U.S. Constitution,” by failing to investigate and prosecute Obama’s ineligibility, we are left to speculate on their reason for doing so.  The most likely answer to that mystery is that they were terrified at the violence they knew would occur in cities all across America if the first black president in U.S. history was disqualified before he had a chance to be inaugurated.

However, the question now arises, will Democrats be quite as forbearing if Republicans choose to nominate an ineligible candidate in 2016 who happens to be white or Hispanic?  Anyone who believes that they would quietly accept an ineligible Republican president… of whatever race or ethnicity… just because Republicans had allowed an ineligible Democrat to run the country for eight years, just doesn’t know Democrats.

That being said, it was only a matter of time before the qualifications of Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) were challenged.  For example, Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) has threatened a lawsuit against Senator Cruz should he win the Republican presidential nomination.  In a broadcast interview with host Alan Colmes of Fox News Radio, Colmes asked, “So you’re saying, should (Cruz) get the nomination, Alan Grayson will file a lawsuit against his candidacy?”  To which Grayson responded, “Absolutely!  Call me crazy, but I think the President of America should be an American.”

Then, on December 9, 2015, a complaint was filed in Vermont Superior Court demanding that the Vermont Secretary of State, James Condos, declare certain candidates ineligible for the 2016 Vermont Primary Election ballot.  The 45-page complaint is titled, H. Brooke Page v. State of Vermont, and names Vermont Secretary of State James Condos and Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell as co-respondents.

The complaint explains that Texas Senator Raphael Edward (Ted) Cruz, was born in Canada to a Cuban citizen father, who was not naturalized until 2005 when his son was 35 years of age; that Louisiana Governor Piyush (Bobby) Jindal was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to parents, both of whom were citizens of India; and that Florida Senator Marco Rubio was born in Miami to two Cuban nationals who came to the United States before Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba.  They did not become naturalized citizens until 1975 when Marco was four years old.

However, lest one gains the impression that the complainant in the Vermont case is a “yellow dog” Democrat, just doing his best to embarrass Republicans and pave the way for a Hillary Clinton presidency, it is important to understand that, in May 2012, the same complainant filed a lawsuit against the Vermont Secretary of State in Page v. State of Vermont, et al, (Civil Docket 611-8-12 WNCV).

That lawsuit alleged that Pete Lindsay, the Socialist Party candidate for president of the United States, at age 27, was too young to meet the 35-year-old standard of the U.S. Constitution; that Yari Osorio, the Socialist Party candidate for vice president of the United States, at age 26, was too young to meet the 35-year-old standard of the U.S. Constitution; that Luis J. Rodriguez, the Justice Party candidate for vice president, born in El Paso, Texas, to parents who were citizens of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico… a Fourteenth Amendment “anchor baby”… did not meet the “natural born” standard of the U.S. Constitution; and that Barack H. Obama, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, whose father was a British subject, a citizen of Kenya, was a citizen of the United States, but not a “natural born” citizen as required by the U.S. Constitution.

The May 2012 complaint went on to explain that, “While (Obama’s) birth in Hawaii makes him a citizen of the United States under the Fourteenth Amendment, he is not a ‘natural born’ citizen and thus is constitutionally unqualified to serve as president or vice president.”

However, given the universal reluctance of the courts to hear any case that might imperil the Obama presidency, even at this late date, it is unlikely that either the Grayson lawsuit or the Vermont lawsuit will ever see the light of day.  Jurists will continue to insist that such challengers lack the necessary standing to question the eligibility of presidential candidates.

But now it appears that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump may have taken the Democrat Party off the horns of their dilemma.  Given Trump’s ability to attract national media attention to anything and everything he says, it may not be necessary for Democrats to raise the issue of Cruz and Rubio’s eligibility.  With Senator Cruz gaining in popularity in recent weeks, approaching parity with Trump in the national and statewide opinion polls, Trump has found it necessary to question Cruz’s status as a “natural born” citizen.

If Trump finds it necessary to continue that line of attack, and if the mainstream media were to take up the issue and pursue it, the result could be devastating.  The “natural born” question could easily drive both Cruz and Rubio out of the race, leaving Trump, Chris Christie, Dr. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, and Jeb Bush as the top contenders.  Left to choose, patriotic Americans would opt for a full examination and definition of the term “natural born Citizen.”  Not only would it settle the issue once and for all, it may be the only way we will ever be able to bring Barack Obama to justice, relegating him to the trash heap of U.S. history.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Difference Between a U.S. Citizen and a Natural Born Citizen

Regulators Are Not Heroes by Adam C. Smith & Stewart Dompe

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Amazon is suing thousands of “fake” reviewers, who, for a fee, have posted positive reviews for various products. These pseudo reviews violate the spirit — and possibly the functionality — of Amazon’s largely self-governed rating system. Customers rely on reviews to guide their own choices, and a wave of sponsored reviews can mislead them into choosing inferior products.

A similar theme plays out in George Akerlof and Robert Shiller’s newest behavioral economics-cum-self-help book, Phishing for Phools. The authors, both Nobel laureates, claim that an unregulated market leads to massive amounts of manipulation and deception. Just how much remains unspecified, but the general thrust of the argument is that regulatory heroes are needed to rein in villainous dealers.

Heroic Regulators?

It is no surprise then that the authors favor heroic efforts of an older progressive sort, such as the works of Alice Lakey or her modern-day counterpart Elizabeth Warren. Their work, respectively, led to the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. These progressives are seen as heroic for taking “action not selfishly but for the public good.” The trouble with such heroes, however, is that they invariably focus not on educating consumers so that they may make better choices but on corralling the cat herd of bureaucrats and politicians into ever-expanding spheres of regulation.

While it is true that consumer regulation can provide focal points that help buyers and sellers interact — in fact, Amazon appealed to just that in its lawsuit — this truth nevertheless misses the pivotal point (and an awkward one for Akerlof and Shiller) that it is Amazon that is working to resolve the problem, not government regulators.

Make no mistake. Akerlof’s classic paper on the quality of goods in a world of imperfect information clearly outlines a problem that markets must address, but it is a problem for both consumers and the market platforms on which they participate. Those platforms have a natural incentive to promote the information consumers need in order to make more informed decisions. The incentives faced by regulators are less well aligned with consumers’ interests. (But advocates of regulation rarely ask what incentives drive government regulators.)

There is another aspect of Akerlof’s model that is telling in this regard: in equilibrium, the so-called “lemons market” should unravel as more and more consumers become frustrated with ever-decreasing levels of quality. Thus, the market platform should topple over. The trouble with this theoretical outcome is that it again fails to account for the empirical observation that it is markets that are solving market problems.

Akerlof’s co-recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize, Michael Spence, would have no trouble with this observation. Spence noted that it is far more interesting to compare the outcomes in the market to what is possible in a world of incomplete information, not to what is found where no imperfection exists by assumption. Spence explained in his Nobel address that when facing a world of imperfect information, the asymmetry between buyer and seller “cannot be simply removed by a wave of the pen.”

Compared to What?

Even when we acknowledge that individuals may be limited in their analytical and decision-making capabilities, we must ask ourselves, “Compared to what?” As noted elsewhere in these pages, every flaw in consumers is worse in voters. Furthermore, the immediate call for greater government regulation ignores the ongoing knowledge problem: acquiring information is limited by the abilities of normal people (after all, we can’t all be heroes). Knowing which transactions to avoid is valuable information, but that knowledge must first be discovered to be shared. If this information is not readily attainable, then it is unclear how regulators will know what market processes to target, much less how to improve on them.

And if the information does exist, then there is an opportunity for entrepreneurial action to gather this information and sell it to consumers. Put another way, market failures that cause individuals to make poor decisions are themselves profit opportunities for entrepreneurs to help people make better decisions.

In a world of uncertainty, ensuring quality can be a powerful competitive advantage. Amazon wants you, the customer, to use its search and recommendation system to buy new products, products that you cannot physically touch and inspect. The review system is one method of overcoming this informational asymmetry. When the integrity of the review system is challenged, Amazon is faced with the prospect of a lower volume of transactions and therefore lower profits.

Private Heroes

This is why Amazon is acting to curtail its rogue members. Retailers can only justify high prices when they can guarantee quality. Amazon’s feedback system constitutes a significant informational subsidy to its users, and the company is willing to create this information (or have it created by users) because it leads to a higher volume of trade and the accompanying consumer benefits that Amazon brings to book readers worldwide.

What Akerlof and Shiller miss is that creating and maintaining a viable platform for trade opportunities is enormously expensive. Having customers exit the door to never return — or perhaps write negative Yelp reviews — causes instability to the market that can be fatal if left unattended.

Rather than focusing on the failure of consumers, the original sin of our humanity, we should instead notice how information entrepreneurs are enabling us to make better choices. The information revolution led by these innovators has changed the world with the costs of distribution lower than ever.These may not be the welfarist heroes of Akerlof and Shiller’s fantasy world but market troubleshooters of the one we actually occupy.

Public-spirited regulators may be the heroes we want, but they are not the heroes we need.

Adam C. Smith

Adam C. Smith

Adam C. Smith is an assistant professor of economics and director of the Center for Free Market Studies at Johnson & Wales University. He is also a visiting scholar with the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University and coauthor of the forthcoming Bootleggers and Baptists: How Economic Forces and Moral Persuasion Interact to Shape Regulatory Politics.

Stewart Dompe

Stewart Dompe

Stewart Dompe is an instructor of economics at Johnson & Wales University. He has published articles in Econ Journal Watch and is a contributor to Homer Economicus: Using The Simpsons to Teach Economics.

Dutch MP Geert Wilders speaks out against Rapes and Sexual Assaults in Germany by Muslims

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Reports of sexual assaults and robberies of women gathered for celebrations in Cologne, Germany on New Year’s Eve have created a firestorm of concern in Germany, but also in neighboring Holland.  Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party (PVV) raised questions in the Hague Parliament of the ruling coalition cabinet members on January 5th.  Today, Wilders sent a letter to Prime Minister Rutte leader of the VVD party ruling coalition requesting preventive actions to foil such possible attacks by migrants and refugees in Dutch reception centers and communities.

Reports of 90 incidents by women victims in Cologne of such sexual attacks and robberies indicated that the perpetrators were “Arabic or North Africa looking” males.  It heightened concerns in this most culturally and ethnically diverse German city and among opposition political leaders who have questioned the wisdom of allowing in more than 1 million predominately Muslim  migrants and refugees from  the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. That prompted  Chancellor Merkel ,who has welcomed the mass immigration wave of Muslims, as a means of dealing with Germany’s acute labor shortage to have the ruling CD government Justice Minister  investigate these  charges and determine if any arrests can be made by local law enforcement. However, reports of riots at reception centers by migrants and refugees have aroused protests in a number of German communities.

CNN updated these developments  arising from the Cologne New Year’s  Eve sexual attacks , “Reports of New Year’s Eve sex assaults in Cologne fuel German migrant debate:”

A spate of alleged sexual assaults and robberies at New Year’s Eve festivities in the German city of Cologne has fueled a political firestorm over immigration in Germany.

Ninety criminal incidents, a quarter of which were sexual assaults, were reported following New Year’s Eve celebrations in the city, Cologne police told CNN.

Police said victims described the perpetrators as gangs of Arab or North African men. Many of the assaults were likely intended to distract, allowing attackers to steal mobile phones and other devices, police said.

Authorities said the crimes, including a rape, occurred around the train station, next to the western German city’s landmark cathedral.

Video footage of the celebrations in the area show riotous scenes, with revelers shooting fireworks into crowds.

In a phone call with Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed outrage over the attacks, labeling them “disgusting” and calling for the culprits to be identified and punished as soon as possible, CNN affiliate ARD reported.

Cologne police Chief Wolfgang Albers said at a press conference Monday that the incidents were “intolerable,” describing them as “crimes of a totally new dimension.”

The episode raised questions about the viability of Cologne’s famous Carnival next month when hundreds of thousands are expected to join celebrations on city streets, he said.

A smaller number of similar assaults also were reported in the German city of Hamburg on New Year’s Eve, Hamburg police told CNN.

The women involved in the Cologne sexual attacks gave evidence of what occurred:

One of the Cologne victims said she was too scared to go out alone following the ordeal.

“The men surrounded us and started to grab our behinds and touch our crotches,” she said.

“They touched us everywhere. I wanted to take my friend and leave. I turned around and in that moment someone grabbed my bag.”

She said she feared she could be killed or raped by the attackers.

“Nobody noticed and nobody helped us. I just wanted to get out.”

Another victim said she had unsuccessfully tried to fight off her assailant.

“But there were so many people around me that there was no control. There was no way out. There was no way to protect yourself,” she said.

“We ran to the police. But we saw the police were so understaffed. They couldn’t take care of us and we as women suffered the price.”

Watch this UK Telegraph video of protests in Cologne against these sexual attacks and robberies of young women allegedly by Arab/North African young men:

Geert Wilders in Hague Parliament

Geert Wilders in Hague Parliament. Source: AP.

In view of these attacks by  Arab attackers in several German cities lead by Cologne,  Geert Wilders and fellow PVV MP Sietse Fritsma,  presented the  Dutch Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Security and Justice in the Hague parliament on January 5, 2016 the following questions:

1.) Are you aware of reports that on New Year’s Eve groups of mostly Arab men assaulted, robbed and raped dozens of young women in several German cities?

2.) Are you also aware also of the statements by female victims who said “They surrounded us and began to grope us? Their hands were everywhere. I had fingers in every bodily orifice”?

3.) Do you agree with Wolfgang Albers, the Cologne Police Chief that we are dealing here with “a whole new dimension of violence”? If not, why not?

4.)Do you agree with us that this new dimension of violence is the result of the import of migrants with a violent, Islamic culture that often regards women and young girls as inferior? If not, why not?

5.)Are you still of the opinion that the word testosterone bomb is a terrible word, as you told the first signatory of these questions during the parliamentary debate on September 17th last year, or do you now finally realize that allowing tens of thousands of Arab men in Netherlands jeopardizes the safety of our citizens?

6.)Do you remember the parliamentary debate on asylum seekers of October 14th, 2015, during which the first signatory of these questions read several reports of women who had been harassed by asylum seekers in the Netherlands? If so, why do you continue to endanger Dutch women by allowing the massive admission of asylum seekers?

7.) Do you realize that, if you continue to leave our borders wide open, it is only a matter of time before mass robberies and assaults such as those in Germany, will also happen on the same large scale in the Netherlands? Do you want to have this on your conscience or are you finally ready to close the Dutch borders to Islamic testosterone bombs?

In a Dutch newspaper, The Post, on-line article by Wilders, “Cologne Assaults May Soon Happen on Large Scale in Netherlands Too,” he wrote:

If we continue to allow asylum-seekers and immigrants from Islamic countries to settle in our country en masse, then what has happened on New Year’s Eve in Germany will soon happen on the same large scale in the Netherlands, too. The first signs are already there.

During the parliamentary debate on October 14, 2015, I quoted from emails of ordinary Dutch citizens suffering from the behavior of asylum seekers and immigrants. These mails referred to young girls being “immorally touched”, daughters being “harassed,” women who are told “I want to f___k you.”

The events in Cologne are the signs of a future which lies before us if the government and the majority of the parliamentarians refuse to face the truth.

Cologne is nearby. Our wives and daughters must be protected. The government needs to wake up. Mark Rutte must do his duty. Our borders must be closed. We must de-Islamize the Netherlands.

Today, Wilders issued a follow up letter to Dutch PM Rutte saying:

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

Yesterday and today, I received hundreds of emails. Hundreds of emails full of fear and indignation. About the horrific events on New Year’s Eve in Cologne.

I have not heard you about those events. I find that very strange. After Paris last November, we now have Cologne. After the Islamic terror, the sexual jihad. But we do not hear you. Hello, Mr. Prime Minister? Are you still there?

What happened in Cologne is repulsive. Fear reigns in Germany, but also in the Netherlands. Don’t you notice it? Thousands of Dutch women worry about their safety. Thousands of Dutch men fear for the safety of their wives. And thousands of Dutch parents are afraid of what might happen to their daughters.

All these people realize that it will not be long before large group attacks on women will also take place in the Netherlands. Testosterone bombs I have called them, but it is far worse. This is sexual terrorism, this is sexual jihad.

On a smaller scale, it is already happening in the Netherlands today. Ever more women are being harassed. Yesterday, the media reported about a girl in the province of Zeeland which had been assaulted by an Arab man. For years already, there is a plague of assault rapes by non-Western men in Sweden and Norway. It is coming our way.

You do not like to hear this, Mr. Rutte. And that is undoubtedly the reason why you are so quiet now. But you are responsible for this situation. Because, despite all the warnings, you have opened our country’s borders to tens of thousands of people – mostly young men – from an Islamic culture.

I hope that your eyes will finally open and that you will close our borders at once and start to de-Islamize the Netherlands. So that our country may once again be the safe country the Dutch people are entitled to.

Geert Wilders

Geert Wilders MP is leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands

The plague of sexual assaults, robberies  and rapes  of young women by  Muslim migrant young men in Sweden has made it what some allege has become  the rape capital of Europe. Then we have the sexual grooming practices of young British girls by South Asia Muslim émigrés in the UK. With a million Muslim refugees and migrants who broke the borderless Schengen system, they are seeking more than sanctuary and possible economic employment, opportunities.  Rather it may result in establishing virtual no go areas emboldened by sexual terrorism ruled under Sharia Islamic law condoned by EU countries under the guise of myopic politically correct multi-culturalism policies. What they do not comprehend to their undoing is that the great wave of Muslim immigration is a furtherance of the Dar al Hijrah immigration strategy to spread Islamization to Europe and the West.  That is what concerns Wilders and others in the broken borders of the EU with thousands of refugees arriving daily from conflicts in the Muslim Ummah exemplified by the Jihad of the self-declared Caliphate, the Islamic State.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the New English Review.

2016 — A ‘Perilous Year’ for the U.S. and the World

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2016 will be a perilous year for the U.S. and the World primarily because no leadership will be forthcoming from the U.S. during the remainder to the term of President Obama.

Iran is currently building and testing new ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads in violation of U.N. resolutions. The Obama administration promised to deliver to Congress a list of sanctions against Iran. Even though the sanctions were rather mild Iran objected and Obama postponed the sanctions indefinitely. These sanctions may be characterized as a new ‘Obama Red Line’ which he has breached. It is notice to Iran–Iran is no longer constrained by the nuclear agreement which in effect is only binding on Obama and has no legal force against Iran. Further it is notice to Iran that it can continue as the leading state sponsor of terrorism without fear of any action by the U.S.

It is no coincidence that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain (home to the U.S. fleet), Sudan The United Arab Eremites and Kuwait have broken relations with Iran following Obama’s feckless withdrawal of sanctions against Iran. Undoubtedly this was the last straw for Saudi Arabia and other Sunnis. They realize Obama has become the defender and supporter of Iran against U.S.’s former allies.

In effect Obama is trying to create Iran (a Shiite Persian country) as the strong horse in the region against the Arab Sunnis. Obama has picked the wrong horse as there are about one and a half billion Muslims 87% of which are Sunni and 13% Shiites. Added to this mix they see Obama favors Iran over Israel America’s only reliable ally in the region.

It is no wonder that Obama’s favored treatment of Iran over Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni nations has prevented Obama from creating an Arab Sunni coalition to fight ISIS. An effective coalition of Arabs to defeat ISIS must be postponed until Obama is no longer in office and a president that does not follow in Obama’s footsteps is elected.

RELATED ARTICLES:

U.S. Sanctions Delay Could Open Door for Iranian Weapons Violations

Iran’s Ballistic Missiles Are Actually a Huge Problem

Obama’s struggle against Netanyahu

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of L.A. Wants ‘Greater Solidarity with Islam’

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In PJ Media today I discuss more foolish wrongheadedness and disastrously suicidal naivete from today’s Catholic Church:

The contemporary Catholic Church has wholeheartedly endorsed the ideas that Islam is a religion of peace and that Muslims are the first victims of jihad terrorism.

This proposition is enforced as an iron dogma, the one non-negotiable point in today’s comfortable suburban Church: anything goes, everything is winked at, moral teaching is discarded or ignored left and right — but whisper that Islamic jihadists point to the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and supremacism, and you’ll be the new Jan Hus.

A recent piece in the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper entitled “Our Muslim Brothers and Sisters” is just one example of the endless barrage of nonsense that comes from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on this issue — but this example is noteworthy in being particularly counterfactual. It spends a great deal of time admonishing us that the first victims of Islamic jihad terror groups are other Muslims. Its author, Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, apparently believes — along with Barack Obama and numerous other Western leaders — that this proves that the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and the rest are un-Islamic.

In fact, this point only establishes that they believe their Muslim opponents to be un-Islamic — and because Islam mandates death for heresy and apostasy, they kill those opponents.

Rolheiser also says:

But the Muslim religion is not to blame here. There is nothing inherent in either the Koran or in Islam itself that morally or religiously undergirds this kind of violence.

Apparently Rolheiser has overlooked many passages from the Qur’an, including:

2:191-193: “And slay them wherever you come upon them, and expel them from where they expelled you; persecution is more grievous than slaying. But fight them not by the Holy Mosque until they should fight you there; then, if they fight you, slay them — such is the recompense of unbelievers, but if they give over, surely Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate. Fight them, till there is no persecution and the religion is Allah’s; then if they give over, there shall be no enmity save for evildoers.”4:89: “They wish that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve, and then you would be equal; therefore take not to yourselves friends of them, until they emigrate in the way of Allah; then, if they turn their backs, take them, and slay them wherever you find them; take not to yourselves any one of them as friend or helper.”

5:33: “This is the recompense of those who fight against Allah and His Messenger, and hasten about the earth, to do corruption there: they shall be slaughtered, or crucified, or their hands and feet shall alternately be struck off; or they shall be banished from the land. That is a degradation for them in this world; and in the world to come awaits them a mighty chastisement.”

8:12: “When thy Lord was revealing to the angels, ‘I am with you; so confirm the believers. I shall cast into the unbelievers’ hearts terror; so smite above the necks, and smite every finger of them!’”

8:39: “Fight them, till there is no persecution and the religion is Allah’s entirely; then if they give over, surely Allah sees the things they do.”

8:60: “Make ready for them whatever force and strings of horses you can, to terrify thereby the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others besides them that you know not; Allah knows them. And whatsoever you expend in the way of Allah shall be repaid you in full; you will not be wronged.”

9:5: “Then, when the sacred months are drawn away, slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, and perform the prayer, and pay the alms, then let them go their way; Allah is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.”

9:29: “Fight those who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden — such men as practise not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book — until they pay the tribute out of hand and have been humbled.”

9:111: “Allah has bought from the believers their selves and their possessions against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of Allah; they kill, and are killed; that is a promise binding upon Allah in the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Koran; and who fulfils his covenant truer than Allah? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him; that is the mighty triumph.”

9:123: “O believers, fight the unbelievers who are near to you; and let them find in you a harshness; and know that Allah is with the godfearing.”

47:4: “When you meet the unbelievers, smite their necks, then, when you have made wide slaughter among them, tie fast the bonds; then set them free, either by grace or ransom, till the war lays down its loads. So it shall be; and if Allah had willed, He would have avenged Himself upon them; but that He may try some of you by means of others. And those who are slain in the way of Allah, He will not send their works astray.”

Think the Bible is full of violence, too? Sure, but there is actually nothing in the Bible remotely equivalent to the Qur’an’s open-ended and universal commands to wage war against and subjugate unbelievers. Nor will you find calls to violence being taught from authoritative sources of Judeo-Christian religion.

But you will find them coming from the authoritative sources in Sunni Islam, the schools of Sunni jurisprudence (madhahib):

Shafi’i school: A Shafi’i manual of Islamic law that was certified in 1991 by the clerics at Al-Azhar University, one of the leading authorities in the Islamic world, as a reliable guide to Sunni orthodoxy, stipulates about jihad that “the caliph makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians … until they become Muslim or pay the non-Muslim poll tax.” It adds a comment by Sheikh Nuh Ali Salman, a Jordanian expert on Islamic jurisprudence: the caliph wages this war only “provided that he has first invited [Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians] to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax (jizya) … while remaining in their ancestral religions.” (‘Umdat al-Salik, o9.8).Hanafi school: A Hanafi manual of Islamic law repeats the same injunctions. It insists that people must be called to embrace Islam before being fought, “because the Prophet so instructed his commanders, directing them to call the infidels to the faith.” It emphasizes that jihad must not be waged for economic gain, but solely for religious reasons: from the call to Islam “the people will hence perceive that they are attacked for the sake of religion, and not for the sake of taking their property, or making slaves of their children, and on this consideration it is possible that they may be induced to agree to the call, in order to save themselves from the troubles of war.”

However, “if the infidels, upon receiving the call, neither consent to it nor agree to pay capitation tax [jizya], it is then incumbent on the Muslims to call upon God for assistance, and to make war upon them, because God is the assistant of those who serve Him, and the destroyer of His enemies, the infidels, and it is necessary to implore His aid upon every occasion; the Prophet, moreover, commands us so to do.” (Al-Hidayah, II.140)

Maliki school: Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), a pioneering historian and philosopher, was also a Maliki legal theorist. In his renowned Muqaddimah, the first work of historical theory, he notes that “in the Muslim community, the holy war is a religious duty, because of the universalism of the Muslim mission and (the obligation to) convert everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force.” In Islam, the person in charge of religious affairs is concerned with “power politics,” because Islam is “under obligation to gain power over other nations.”

Hanbali school: The great medieval theorist of what is commonly known today as radical or fundamentalist Islam, Ibn Taymiyya (Taqi al-Din Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya, 1263-1328), was a Hanbali jurist. He directed that “since lawful warfare is essentially jihad and since its aim is that the religion is God’s entirely and God’s word is uppermost, therefore according to all Muslims, those who stand in the way of this aim must be fought.”

This is also taught by modern-day scholars of Islam.

Majid Khadduri was an Iraqi scholar of Islamic law of international renown. In his bookWar and Peace in the Law of Islam, which was published in 1955 and remains one of the most lucid and illuminating works on the subject, Khadduri says this about jihad:

The state which is regarded as the instrument for universalizing a certain religion must perforce be an ever expanding state. The Islamic state, whose principal function was to put God’s law into practice, sought to establish Islam as the dominant reigning ideology over the entire world. … The jihad was therefore employed as an instrument for both the universalization of religion and the establishment of an imperial world state. (P. 51)

Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, Assistant Professor on the Faculty of Shari’ah and Law of the International Islamic University in Islamabad. In his 1994 book The Methodology of Ijtihad, he quotes the twelfth century Maliki jurist Ibn Rushd:

Muslim jurists agreed that the purpose of fighting with the People of the Book … is one of two things: it is either their conversion to Islam or the payment of jizyah.

Nyazee concludes:

This leaves no doubt that the primary goal of the Muslim community, in the eyes of its jurists, is to spread the word of Allah through jihad, and the option of poll-tax [jizya] is to be exercised only after subjugation [of non-Muslims].

Blissfully or willfully ignorant of all this and much more, Rolheiser says:

It’s time to establish a greater solidarity with Islam.

With Islam, mind you — not with Muslims who genuinely reject all this and want to live in peace with non-Muslims as equals in a secular society without trying to gain hegemony over them….

Read the rest here.

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Palm Beach Gardens political math: 4 + 1 = 2 terms

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That politicians can be shameless should be no surprise, but sometimes the brazenness of their efforts to hold on to their pedestals (and stipends) can still be jaw-dropping.

Case in point: Palm Beach Gardens Vice Mayor David Levy.

In Palm Beach Gardens in 2014, 79 percent of the voters in this northern Palm Beach County city approved a citizen initiative that limited city council members to two consecutive 3-year terms in office. At the same time, 68 percent of voters approved a second measure making the two-term limit retroactive. The message the voters were sending couldn’t be any clearer.

Nonetheless, four-term council member and current vice mayor David Levy has just announced his candidacy for reelection to a fifthconsecutive 3-year term.

What?

Wait, there’s more. When Palm Beach Gardens resident and term limits supporter Sid Dinerstein launched a legal complaint, Levy — who won election in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013 — feigned surprise. “I thought it was fairly clear I could run,” he told the Palm Beach Post.

David Levy

Levy is backing his statement by pointing out that he took three months off back in 2012 so therefore the 2010 election shouldn’t count. The problem for Levy is that the Palm Beach Gardens law was written explicitly to prevent such chicanery. The operative language states that “no individual shall beelected to the office of council member for than two (2) consecutive full terms.”

Often term limits laws are written to limit politicians to serving two full terms in office, which gives sleazy politicians a pretext for claiming — a la Levy — that if they resigned a month or two early they didn’t serve their full terms and hence could run again. Not so in Palm Beach Gardens.

But perhaps we should grant Levy some small praise. He is, after all, providing a public service by demonstrating exactly why term limits were needed in Palm Beach Gardens in the first place.

Palm Beach County voters are welcome to send an email to urge Levy to respect the law that they petitioned and voted for and to leave the council with dignity.

Republicans mentally rape Dem voters with Hillary scandals

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With more of Hillary’s emails being exposed to the nation’s mindset, certain previously suppressed memories begin to emerge out of the subconscious, causing us to doubt her ability to control our reality.

We were not supposed to know or care about Hillary’s ties to Sid Blumenthal. It was for our own good that we didn’t remember who this man was. We were all better off thinking and feeling only what Hillary wanted us to think and feel. Now that the Republicans have ruined this blissful relationship, we begin to feel disturbed by unsolicited facts and unauthorized memories that lead us to question our trusted Democratic leaders.

In what can only be described as mental breaking and entering, the Republicans brutally drag us outside of our safe spaces and repeatedly penetrate us with facts, inseminating us with unwanted ideas, and causing us to perform painful intellectual abortions. This effectively makes us victims of non-consensual mental rape.

The harm becomes obvious already as we begin to wonder, how come Hillary couldn’t protect us from these traumatic facts? Has she lost touch and is no longer all-powerful, allowing the Republicans to send an information tsunami into our previously safe seas of controlled tranquility?

Our sanity depends on knowing that all the faults, lies, and malevolence can only be found among the Republicans. All we want from our news sources is information about how the Republicans made our planet too hot by melting the glaciers out of capitalist greed and racist anger at minorities who live in extreme climates. Any attempts by the Republicans to disprove these beliefs automatically qualify them as climate deniers and mental rapists, thus reinforcing our emotional well-being.

We know that the Republicans have made the world unsafe by exposing what really happened in Benghazi, instead of believing, like the rest of us, in the story about the offensive YouTube video. What difference does it make what really happened? If we could forget, we could live in peace. If the Republicans didn’t prevent us from suppressing the memory of 9/11 and subsequent attacks on America, we would have continued to live in peace with the Muslim world. But the Republicans don’t want peace, they want wars.

We could have had peace with Iran if the Republicans didn’t expose the discrepancies of the Iranian treaty. We could be free of fear of terrorist attacks if the Republicans didn’t mention them all the time, exposing the religion of those who commit workplace violence.

If the Republicans didn’t expose the secrets about Bill Clinton’s affairs, Hillary would not have been forced to cover them up and to attack the female victims. This, in turn, would not have weakened her position on women’s issues and would not have immunized Donald Trump against her accusations of him being a sexist male chauvinist pig.

If the Republicans didn’t say the words “Radical Islam,” there would be no al-Qaeda, Taliban, Boko Haram, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, or ISIS. Syria would be a peaceful nation, Iran would not have developed the bomb, and Saudi Arabia would not have killed the Sheikh.

We need a leader who will keep us safe in our comfort zones by controlling our reality and protecting us from traumatic memories. We need to continue to believe and question nothing. Is that so much to ask?

Thank you for reading this non-pro-Hillary article.


EDITORS NOTE: This political satire column originally appeared in The Peoples Cube.